Hong Kong: Turning disability into creativity

A group of artists with disabilities is proving that creativity transcends all boundaries.

With the support of the Social Welfare Departments Arts Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities, these artists are able to explore their potential and develop careers in performing, visual or creative arts.

St James Creation launched the Clay for Tomorrow scheme for ceramists with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. It provides them with opportunities to learn from local ceramic artists and helps nurture their talent by organising exhibitions to showcase their artwork.

Imaginative inspiration

Siu Yu-hang has autism spectrum disorder and is taking part in the Clay for Tomorrow scheme. He has been making ceramics for more than 12 years.

Every week he undergoes four to eight hours of training with instructors to further develop his skills.

Mr Siu said he enjoys making ceramics as it makes him feel relaxed and he is able express himself more freely through his art.

Clay for Tomorrow ceramic instructor Rosanna Li described him as possessing a unique creative style and being detail-oriented with the potential to be an independent artist.

Siu Yu-hang has the ability and skills for pottery-making. I hope that through my encouragement, he is able to strengthen his artistic development, she added.

Community connection

St James Creation Arts Development Officer Gabriel So noted that the theme of the course is bread and baking, and that they are discussing with bakeries the possibility of displaying some of the ceramic works to share the pottery-making process as well as the artists creative achievements.

With the support of the Arts Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities, we can launch a more structured, in-depth and longer-term scheme to attract the participation of professional ceramic artists who can provide training and guidance for disabled people who have great artistic potential.

Clay for Tomorrow is a three-year scheme that provides training for ceramists and organises exhibitions to promote their artwork and strengthen their connection with the community.

The exhibition not only showcases the ceramic works but also helps the public better understand the disabled and lets the artists express their feelings and communicate through the medium of pottery, Mr So explained.

Exhilarating exercise

Another creative pursuit that is beneficial to people with disabilities is dance.

Olivia Chung is partially paralysed. However, being in a wheelchair has not prevented her from enjoying her passion and inspiring others.

I like wheelchair dancing as my confidence grows when I am on stage. I am able to surprise audiences. Wheelchair dancing is liberating for me and the audience can enjoy seeing how happy I am dancing on stage.

Ms Chungs passion for dance was ignited when she was young. That passion led her to become the Hong Kong Rehabilitation Power Chinese Orchestras principal Chinese wheelchair dancer.

Fellow Chinese wheelchair dancer with the orchestra Ng Keung admitted that initially, dance did not seem like an option for him.

When I was injured, I felt that dancing was something beyond my reach, something that I could never do. That is until I discovered I can still dance using a wheelchair. I am no different to able-bodied people. The wheelchair is just an extension of my feet.

Dancing in a wheelchair comes with its own set of challenges, Mr Ng pointed out.

If some of the moves require me to twist or lean forward, I may fall down. The custom-built wheelchair fits my body so I do not encounter this problem.

The orchestra receives funding from the arts fund so it can hire Chinese wheelchair dance instructors and obtain custom-built wheelchairs for its dancers.

Orchestra Head Wendy Hui said the custom-built wheelchairs are made to measure according to dancers disabilities to contour their bodies, adding that they are different to regular wheelchairs as they are built for exercise and dancing, making it safer for dancers to make turns and dance.

Discovering potential

The Government has earmarked $250 million to the Arts Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities to provide funding support to arts programmes and activities.

There are two tiers of projects under the fund.

Grants for tier one projects cover the promotion of elementary and/or continuing arts programmes, training classes or courses for the disabled to give them opportunities to participate in the arts and unleash their potential.

Tier two project grants aim to provide funding support for organising large-scale, impactful and sustainable projects which focus on developing the potential of talented people with disabilities for their career development. Such projects require a longer time of continuous training to develop the talent of the disabled with a potential in arts.

As of August, 59 projects have obtained financial support from the arts fund.

This story has been published on: 2021-10-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: Cele urges police to protect voters

Police Minister Bheki Cele has instructed the South African Police Service to make sure that they defend the right of every South African to cast their vote in the Local Government Elections, which will be held on Monday.

The Minister was speaking at the deployment parade of police officers in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on Sunday.

This comes as at least eight voting stations could not open for special votes on Saturday due to protests in that province.

South Africans all have the right to protest but that right is limited. Your freedom of protest should not interfere with the next person. Therefore, if people say they dont want to go and vote thats fine but they cant say they are not going to vote and stop other people from going to vote.

Therefore, stations will have to be opened, roads will have to be open, burning tyres will have to be doused off Make sure that you assist South Africans and take away any form of hurdle that wants to stop a South African from going to vote, the Minister said.

Cele said that the at least 10 000 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers who will be joining police officers for extra security will not be deployed at voting stations.

Our members of the [SANDF] will work on critical infrastructure like ports and national roads, especially those plazas where people use trucks to block the national roads, the power stations and all others that are supposed to be national key points, he said.

The Minister said police will be working more closely with the IEC to protect the stations and help the IEC to make sure that [voting] stations are opened.

Political violence

Cele told police officers that KwaZulu-Natal in particular is important to secure, as it has seen political killings across the political spectrum in the past.

A total of 119 hotspots have been identified by governments security forces in KwaZulu-Natal alone.

You are in a province where you have to be doubly vigilant and in your double vigilance, you must make sure you stay out of politics and do your job. Your job is defined in the Constitution... what you do is to protect, combat and investigate [crime].

Make sure that you come to policing and not politics, and ensure the safety and protection of all people across the board, he said.

He warned officers to execute their duties within the confines of the law.

You, as police officers, need to uphold the law and enforce the law. Its important that you keep elections safe, you keep the movement of [electoral] material safe and you keep the outcomes safe, with the integrity that they deserve. - SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-10-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Hong Kong: Next JoyYou Card application to open

The Government today announced that eligible people born in 1960 can apply for the JoyYou Card from tomorrow via the Octopus App mobile application or by posting application forms.

The JoyYou Card is a personalised Octopus Card tailor-made for the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly & Eligible Persons with Disabilities ($2 Scheme).

It carries a personal photo and the holders name for identification. Each eligible person will be issued with one card only.

The card will be sent to the applicants Hong Kong postal address within four weeks upon receipt of the completed application.

The Government will subsidise the $20 fee for eligible peoples first application.

For eligible people born in 1957, 1958 and 1959, a total of about 294,000 applications have been received so far, representing about 82% of the estimated local population born in the same years.

On February 27 next year, the Government will launch enhancement and anti-abuse measures of the $2 Scheme, including lowering the eligible age from 65 to 60 to benefit over 600,000 people aged 60 to 64. These beneficiaries will need to present their JoyYou Card to enjoy the fare concession.

Those aged 65 or above may continue to use their anonymous elder or personalised Octopus Cards to enjoy the $2 concessionary fare. Arrangements for them to apply for the JoyYou Cards will be announced in the first quarter of 2022.

Call 2266 2222 for enquiries.

This story has been published on: 2021-10-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: President Ramaphosa: Every vote counts

President Cyril Ramaphosa says citizens have the power to make local government stronger through their vote.

He was addressing the nation in a recorded message ahead of the Local Government Elections, which will be held on Monday.

South Africans will head to the polls tomorrow in what the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has called the most contested Local Government Elections in history.

Local Government Elections are about the issues that matter to all of us: housing, electricity, water, sanitation and decent roads. We all want to get better services.

We all want to have decent, sustainable work. We all want to see our businesses grow and for our communities to thrive. This can only happen if local government is strong, President Ramaphosa said.

He called on each South African to exercise their constitutional responsibility as a citizen to build our democracy through casting their ballot.

I call on each and every South African who is registered to go out [on Monday] and vote for the candidate and the party of your choice. Your vote counts. Every single vote counts.

With your vote, you are building a better South Africa, a South Africa with strong, well run and effective municipalities that can improve the lives of every citizen, he said.

The President said voting is not the only way South Africans can make a difference.

You can also make a difference by visiting one of the hundreds of COVID-19 vaccination stations that will be in operation at voting stations around the country, President Ramaphosa said.

Voting stations are expected to open at 7am to 9pm on Monday.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Local government is in your hands

Parliament has urged all eligible and registered South Africans to honour those who fought for the right to vote by participating in the Local Government Elections on Monday.

At least 26 million South Africans are registered to vote in the elections ,which will determine their representatives in more than 250 municipal councils in the country.

In a statement, Parliaments presiding officers, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces, Chairperson Amos Masondo, highlighted that the right to vote and participate in democratic elections was not always afforded to all South Africans.

We owe it to the many heroes and heroines who fought for freedom and democracy in South Africa, as well as to future generations who should inherit a well-functioning and viable system of local government.

The best way to honour their sacrifices is to exercise our hard earned right to vote peacefully and in a dignified manner, the presiding officers said.

Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo reminded South Africans that local councils are at the forefront of the provision of service delivery such as water, electricity and housing.

Therefore, they said, participation in the local government elections has an impact on how these services are delivered directly to South African homes.

It is your basic responsibility under the Constitution to participate and determine how you are governed and ensure quality service delivery. The Local Government Elections present us with an opportunity to elect leaders that will represent the people in the local sphere of government for the next five years.

By participating in these elections, we will be choosing people to lead in the provision of crucial basic services. We need to always claim our constitutional right to determine and influence how we are governed and hold accountable those we elect.  SAnews.gov.za

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FBI Releases Updated 2020 Hate Crime Statistics

Today the FBIs Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program released amended 2020 hate crime statistics about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. Hate crime statistics for 2020 were originally released in August 2021. Due to a technical issue with submission, only partial Ohio data for 2020 were released. For that reason, modifications were made to Ohios hate crime data in the FBIs database following the release. In turn, these updates affected the national hate crime totals. The updated 2020 data, submitted by 15,138 law enforcement agencies, provide information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

Law enforcement agencies submitted incident reports involving 8,263 criminal incidents and 11,129 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. Highlights of Hate Crime Statistics, 2020, follow. (Due to rounding, percentage breakdowns may not add to 100%.)

This story has been published on: 2021-10-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Eric Velez-Villar Named Assistant Director of the Office of Private Sector

Director Christopher Wray has named Eric Velez-Villar as the assistant director of the Office of Private Sector at FBI Headquarters in Washington. Mr. Velez-Villar, a retired special agent, most recently worked in the private sector.

The Office of Private Sector, under the FBI Intelligence Branch, strengthens partnerships between the FBI and the private sector.

Mr. Velez-Villar started his FBI career as a computer scientist in the San Juan Field Office in Puerto Rico. He became a special agent in 1992 and worked organized crime and drug cases in the McAllen Resident Agency of the San Antonio Field Office in Texas. He transferred to the San Juan office in 1997 and worked public corruption cases and violent crime.

In 2000, Mr. Velez-Villar was promoted to supervisory special agent in the Drug Section of the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters. He was detailed to the Drug Enforcement Administration for two years.

In 2002, he transferred to the Santa Ana Resident Agency of the Los Angeles Field Office, where he worked organized crime cases before he was reassigned to supervise the Orange County Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). Mr. Velez-Villar was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Los Angeles counterterrorism program in 2004, overseeing three regional JTTFs.

Mr. Velez-Villar was promoted to deputy director of the Terrorist Screening Center in 2006, then returned to Los Angeles as the special agent in charge of the offices Intelligence Division in 2007. In 2009, he was named deputy assistant director in the Directorate of Intelligence at FBI Headquarters, in charge of the Intelligence Operations Branch.

In 2012, he was promoted to assistant director of the Directorate of Intelligence and was elevated to executive assistant director of the Intelligence Branch in 2014. He retired in 2016 and served as a vice president for security at the Walt Disney Company. He also established a security consulting firm.

Mr. Velez-Villar earned a bachelors degree from the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

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South Africa: High voter turnout for special votes

At least 80% of voters who had applied for special votes cast their ballot at their voting stations over the weekend.

This is according to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) chairperson, Glen Mashinini, who was briefing the media on the eve of the Local Government Elections, due to be held on Monday.

Mashinini said the commission expects to have visited all those who applied for home voting by the end of Sunday, which will add to the to the high turnout at the polling stations during the special voting process.

While we are pleased as the commission with the turnout over the past two days, the commission wishes to point out that voters who were unable to cast their special vote for whatever reason may still vote at their voting station [on Monday].

Mashini said the two days of special votes offered valuable lessons in how best to execute elections.

The two days of special votes have also offered us as the commission insights that we now believe will enable us to refine our operations to positively impact the voter experience that we expect [for] South Africans, who will be coming out in their large numbers to cast their votes.

Therefore, we urge the 26.2 million compatriots who are eligible to come out and cast their votes at their respective voting stations, he said.

Turning to matters related to Election Day itself, Mashinini reminded voters that voting stations will open at 7am and close at 9pm but those still standing in line beyond the cut-off time will be allowed to cast their ballot.

It is important to emphasise that the eligible voters who will be at the voting station at 21:00 in the queues will not be turned away. The commission wishes to remind all the eligible voters that voters must vote where they are registered.

Further, you must be in possession of a valid South African identity document. Home Affairs offices are open [on Monday] to allow voters to collect their IDs, as well to apply for the temporary voting certificates, he said.

Mashinini said the details of some 140 000 voters could not be captured before the voters roll was closed.

He said those voters will also be given an opportunity to participate in the elections.

These voters will be permitted to vote as though their details were on the voters roll segment of the voting district in which they present themselves. This arrangement is authorised in terms of[the] Municipal Election Act, which allows for a voter to be allowed to vote on presenting proof that they had applied for registration before the proclamation of an election, he said.

Addressing reports of possible inclement weather for some parts of the country that may hinder voting, Mashinini assured that measures and plans are in place to ensure that voters are not left stranded.

The necessary steps have been taken to manage the potential negative effect of the inclement weather on the voting and counting processes. In cases where tents are blown away or theres a disruption with the voting stations, the commission wishes to assure that plans and contingency plans have been put in place to have those stations re-erected or to speedily ensure that we are able to proceed besides those possible disruptions, he said.

The IEC chairperson said the commission has worked with stakeholders from across the board in preparing for the elections, and that the commission has done everything in its power to deliver free and fair elections.

All systems are good for Election Day. It is time now for all of us to work together to make sure that these elections are free and fair and safe, and that the outcome  as it should be  will reflect the will of the South African electorate.  SAnews.gov.za

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RTHK: G20 summit final statement angers climate activists

Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies agreed on a final statement on Sunday that urged "meaningful and effective" action to limit global warming, but offered few concrete commitments, angering climate activists.

The result of days of tough negotiation among diplomats leaves huge work to be done at the broader United Nations COP26 climate summit, which starts this week.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi hailed the Rome gathering, saying for the first time all G20 states had agreed on the importance of capping global warming at the 1.5 degrees Celsius level that scientists say is vital to avoid disaster.

"We made sure that our dreams are not only alive but they are progressing," Draghi told a closing news conference, brushing off criticism from environmentalists that the G20 had not gone nearly far enough to resolve the crisis.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who warned on Friday that the world was rushing headlong towards climate disaster, said the Rome summit was not all he hoped for.

"While I welcome the #G20's recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled  but at least they are not buried," he said in a tweet.

The G20, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for 60% of the world's population and an estimated 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The 1.5C threshold is what UN experts say must be met to avoid a dramatic acceleration of extreme climate events like droughts, storms and floods, and to reach it they recommend net zero emissions should be achieved by 2050.

The stakes are huge - among them the very survival of low-lying countries, the impact on economic livelihoods the world over and the stability of the global financial system.

"This was a moment for the G20 to act with the responsibility they have as the biggest emitters, yet we only see half-measures rather than concrete urgent action," said Friederike Roder, vice president of sustainable development advocacy group Global Citizen.

The final summit document said current national plans on how to curb emissions will have to be strengthened "if necessary" and makes no specific reference to 2050 as a date to achieve net zero carbon emissions.

"We recognise that the impacts of climate change at 1.5C are much lower than at 2C. Keeping 1.5C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries," the communique said.

The leaders only recognised "the key relevance" of halting net emissions "by or around mid-century". This removed the 2050 date seen in previous versions of the final statement so as to make the target less specific.

China, the world's biggest CO2 emitter, has set a target date of 2060, and other large polluters such as India and Russia have also not committed to the 2050 target date.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the agreement was a good signal for COP26, but Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalled he would have liked to see more ambition.

"There's no question that Canada, along with a number of other countries, would have liked stronger language and stronger commitments on the fight against climate change than others," he told reporters.

UN experts say that even if current national plans are fully implemented, the world is headed for global warming of 2.7C, with catastrophic consequences.

Draghi, acting president of the G20, said nations would keep on improving their plans to lower carbon emissions in the years ahead, adding that he was surprised by how far countries like China and Russia had shifted their stance in recent days.

"It is easy to suggest difficult things. It is very, very difficult to actually execute them," he said.

The final G20 statement includes a pledge to halt financing of overseas coal-fired power generation by the end of this year, but set no date for phasing out coal power, promising only to do so "as soon as possible".

This replaced a goal set in a previous draft of the final statement to achieve this by the end of the 2030s, showing the strong resistance from some coal-dependent countries

The G20 also set no date for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, saying they will aim to do so "over the medium term".

On methane, which has a more potent but less lasting impact than carbon dioxide on global warming, they watered down their wording from a previous draft that pledged to "strive to reduce our collective methane emissions significantly".

The final statement just recognises that reducing methane emissions is "one of the quickest, most feasible and most cost-effective ways to limit climate change".

G20 sources said negotiations were tough over so-called "climate financing", which refers to a 2009 pledge by rich nations to provide US$100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries tackle climate change.

They have failed to meet the pledge, generating mistrust and a reluctance among some developing nations to accelerate their emissions reductions.

However, Draghi said the funding gap had narrowed to less than US$20 billion and predicted it could be closed further, with wealthy nations considering using financing from the International Monetary Fund to make up the shortfall.

World leaders will kick start COP26 on Monday with two days of speeches that could include some new emissions-cutting pledges, before technical negotiators lock horns over the rules of the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The United Nations said last week greenhouse gas concentrations hit a record in 2020 and the world was "way off track" in capping rising temperatures. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-10-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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by Paul Nguyen Hung

My priority will be to announce the Good News to indigenous villagers, educate children, and help people preserve their linguistic and cultural traditions, said Fr Guise Ma A Ca, 38.

Hanoi (AsiaNews)  Vietnams first ethnic Hmong priest was ordained in the Diocese of Hung Hoa on 13 October in a ceremony led by the dioceses apostolic administrator, Bishop Phero (Peter) Nguyen Van Vien.

The new priest, Giuse (Joseph) Ma A Ca, is 38 years old. Like him, 10 deacons from the Diocese of Hung Hoa were also ordained priests. The latter is the largest diocese in Vietnam, covering seven provinces and a part of metro Ha Noi (Hanoi).

Due to the pandemic, families and local authorities were unable to take part in the service.

Fr Ca was born in 1983 into a family that includes 11 brothers and sisters. He grew up in Sapa, a parish located in Lao Cai province, home to a large Hmong Christian community. The local parish priest, Fr Phero Pham Thanh Binh, accompanied him in his vocation.

In 2011 he entered the Saint Joseph Seminary in Ha Noi. In February 2020, after his ordination to the deaconate, Fr Ca said: My priority will be to announce the Good News to indigenous villagers, educate children, and help people preserve their linguistic and cultural traditions.

For Hmong people, the Church is not only a spiritual point of reference, but also a cultural one. The new priest has been assigned to ong Heo parish, where some 1,700 Hmong Catholics live.

Sister Maria Khu Thi Quynh Hoa, a Dominican nun from the Diocese of Bac Ninh, expressed joy for Fr Cas ordination. She is the first ethnic Hmong woman religious.

"We are happy and thank God, she said, noting that the presence of a priest of her own ethnic background will encourage many young people to follow their vocation and put themselves at the service of their communities.
Expert claims Hanoi plan to introduce congestion charge infeasible

The Hanoi Department of Transports plan to charge a toll for cars that enter the city centre would be infeasible, claims Nguyen Van Thanh, former chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transportation Association.



Under the plan which is expected to be submitted to the municipal peoples committee, the department will set up 87 toll booths on belt roads for the fee collection from 2025. The booths will operate from 5 am to 9 pm every day.

Traffic congestion in Hanoi



According to Thanh, the toll is necessary for Hanoi to help ease traffic congestion, but currently, the citys public transport can only meet 20 percent of travel demand. The rate should be at least 40-50 percent before the fee collection is imposed.



So, besides bus system development, Hanoi needs to finish metro projects, Thanh added.



Only when public transport is ensured, should private vehicles be restricted from going into the city centre. At present, just two metro projects in Hanoi are being conducted, the Cat Linh-Ha Dong and Nhon-Hanoi Station lines. It is unworkable for the city to start charging cars entering central areas from 2025, he noted.



Nguyen Xuan Thuy, former director of the Transport Publishing House, cities which have more than one million people need to develop metro projects, meanwhile, Hanoi and HCM City have up to more than 10 million people but have built only 1-2 metro lines until now.



Hanoi congestion toll was discussed 4-5 years ago and it was opposed by experts, Thanh said.



Bui Danh Lien, Chairman of the Hanoi Transport Association, recommended that Hanoi should carefully consider the establishment of 87 toll booths. For instance, the fee collection should be connected to online banking or credit and debit cards, instead of using manual methods which can cause traffic jams.



The city should focus on metro and bus system development by 2030 before imposing the fees. It is important for the city to build parking lots so that people can park and ride on public transport.
Digital technology projected to earn USD 74 billion for Vietnam by 2030: Seminar

Digital technology, if exploited to the maximum, can bring over VND1.733 quadrillion (USD74 billion ) to Vietnam by 2030, with the most beneficial sectors including manufacturing, agriculture and food, and education-training.



The information was unveiled in a report on potential of Vietnams digital economy, which was presented at a recent workshop held in Hanoi.




PM attends announcement of direct Vietnam-UK air route

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on October 31 attended the announcement ceremony of a direct Vietnam - UK air route by the Bamboo Airways held in Edinburg city, the UK.













An aircraft of Bamboo Airways (Photo: Bamboo Airways)

The budget carrier is planning to bring regular direct flights linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to London into commercial operation from the end of this year after approvals by the two governments. The initial frequency will be six flights per week, and to daily flights from 2022.



Implemented, the flights will help shorten the travel time to 12-13 hours, or 7 hours shorter than the transit ones.



The route is also opening up chances to increase flights between Vietnam and other top destinations in the world. It is expected to help boosting the relations of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Kenya has sent an athletics official home from the Rio de Janeiro Games after he was mentioned in news reports in connection with possible doping-related activities, the Internatioanl Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday.



Calling the allegations "serious," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the IOC was now waiting for further evidence in connection with the reports by British paper Sunday Times and Germanys state network ARD on Kenyan Olympic athletics team delegation leader Michael Rotich.



"The (Kenyan) NOC has asked him to leave because his presence causes a distraction," Adams said.



In the reports, an undercover reporter caught Rotich by hidden camera saying he knows 12 hours in advance about tests. Asked whether he would share his knowledge for 9,000 pounds sterling (11,800 dollars) for a period of three months, Rotich responds by saying "lets say 10,000 pounds."



Adams said: "These are serious allegations. We are waiting for evidence of malpractice."



Canadian Richard Pound, a former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), said in the ARD broadcast Saturday the latest footage was sufficient to warrant a WADA investigation similar to that he led against Russia last year.



But Adams also pointed out that Kenyas athletics team is "probably the most tested." Citing the athletics body IAAF, he said that Kenyan athletes in the sport have undergone 848 tests since last year, 416 in competition and 432 out of competition.



Kenya was the most successful nation at last years world athletics championships in Beijing with seven gold medals and 16 medals overall.



Some 40 Kenyans have been caught doping since 2011, and WADA only three days ago took Kenya off the list of non-compliant countries after the nations parliament adopted anti-doping legislation.




China injects impetus into global climate governance

Xinhua) 09:37, October 31, 2021

Aerial photo taken on Aug. 23, 2021 shows the scenery of Saihanba forest farm in north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

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 delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, France, Nov. 30, 2015. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

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.

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the Climate Ambition Summit via video link on Dec. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

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.

(Web editor: Liu Ning, Bianji)
One-China principle allows no provocation: Chinese FM

Xinhua) 09:42, October 31, 2021

Photo taken on July 21, 2019 from Xiangshan Mountain shows the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan. (Xinhua/Zhu Xiang)

Taiwan has no other international legal status than being part of China, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

There is only one China in the world, and that is a fact based on history and jurisprudence and allows no provocation, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit here.

Wang made the remarks on Friday in response to a query about individual countries, including the United States, recently declaring support for Taiwan's "robust, meaningful participation in the United Nations system and the international community."

The government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Wang said, noting that it has been universally acknowledged by the global community, and has become a norm of international relations abided by countries.

The course of the 1.4 billion Chinese people advancing the peaceful reunification of China cannot be held back, and Taiwan has no other future than reuniting with the Chinese mainland, Wang stressed.

Taiwan, he added, has no other international legal status than being part of China.

In 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority, deciding to restore the lawful seat of the PRC in the UN, the Chinese diplomat said, adding that it has resolved once and for all the issue of China's representations in the UN and other international institutions in political, legal and procedural terms.

The United States and some other individual countries have recently attempted to make breakthrough on the Taiwan question, which has violated the political commitment they made when establishing diplomatic ties with China, and disregarded the common will of a vast number of UN member states showed in Resolution 2758, Wang said.

The move, he said, has also undermined the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and sabotaged peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Those countries could not stop the one-China principle 50 years ago, and they are even less likely to succeed in the 21st century, Wang said. They will pay the price for it if being bent on going this way, he added.

(Web editor: Liu Ning, Bianji)
Voting for Japan's general election starts as PM Kishida seeks mandate

Xinhua) 10:32, October 31, 2021

Voting for Japan's general election began on Sunday morning with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida seeking a public mandate for his policies regarding COVID-19, the economy and security.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito aim to keep a majority in the House of Representatives, the powerful lower chamber of parliament.

The result of the general election depends on the constituencies where ruling coalition candidates were in close race with those from opposition parties, which have also formed coalition in a bid to take the reins of government.

Polling stations across the country will close at 8:00 p.m. local time, and ballot counting is expected to last late into the night.

Media polls suggested that the ruling coalition will retain its majority, taking at least 233 seats in the 465-member lower house, which has more powers over the upper house with the final say in electing the prime minister, passing state budgets and ratifying international treaties.

Of the lower house seats, 289 will come from single-member districts, where candidates fight head-to-head for votes. Another 176 will be decided through proportional representation which allocates seats based on parties' votes in 11 regional blocks.

According to a Kyodo News survey conducted earlier this week, LDP candidates were in close battles with opposition rivals in about 70 single-member districts, as around 40 percent of voters are still undecided.

The general election is the first major test for Kishida since he took office on Oct. 4. The new prime minister has pledged to stimulate economic growth while redistributing more economic benefits to the middle class under his vision of "new capitalism."

Under Kishida's vision, the government plans to secure more hospital beds for COVID-19 patients as a preparation for a possible sixth wave of infections.

Kishida has also said the government will propose a stimulus package within the year to support people and businesses stricken by the pandemic.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties have claimed that the government has failed its task of COVID-19 response and that the Abenomics policy upheld by the ruling LDP has widened the country's wealth gap as the policy only promoted corporate earnings and share prices but failed to achieve higher wages.

The opposition parties have called for lowering the consumption tax to take off some pressure on low- and middle-class households, allowing married couples to take different surnames and recognizing same-sex marriage.

(Web editor: Liu Ning, Bianji)
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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.

At the same time, the governor's new order empowers Dr. Kristina Box, the state health commissioner, to issue a standing authorization for the administration of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Hoosiers age 5 to 11, assuming such use is endorsed, as expected, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The order also encourages all eligible Hoosiers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible, since unvaccinated individuals comprised 830 of the 834 people admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, and 153 of the 168 coronavirus deaths in the state during the week ending Oct. 16.

According to the Indiana Department of Health, 57.4% of Indiana residents age 12 and up have been vaccinated against COVID-19, or 3.36 million Hoosiers.

Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute

In Northwest Indiana, records show the vaccination rate through Friday was 56.1% in Lake County, 61.7% in Porter County, 56.2% in LaPorte County, 40.9% in Newton County, and 46.1% in Jasper County.

"Despite significant steps being taken in our state, the virus remains a threat to the health, safety and welfare of all residents of Indiana such that emergency conditions continue to exist, and efforts are needed to continue to address, control and reduce the threat posed by COVID-19," Holcomb said.

Hoosiers can get the free COVID-19 vaccine without an appointment, or a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, at 1,113 locations across the state, including retail pharmacies, health clinics, local health departments, and hospitals.

A full list of COVID-19 vaccine distribution sites is available online at ourshot.in.gov.
Press Release

October 31, 2021 Angara: Decline in COVID cases should not result in complacency Senator Sonny Angara cautioned the authorities and the general public against being complacent in observing the minimum safety protocols now that the number of COVID-19 cases is going down in the country. Last October 27, the Department of Health reported a positivity rate of 7.6 percent based on the 41,049 tests it reported on October 25. In its latest report, the OCTA Research Group said the positivity rate in the National Capital Region has declined to five percent, the lowest rate since July 14. The group noted that the World Health Organization considers a positivity rate of five percent or below as acceptable. "It is encouraging to see a steady decline in the number of people getting infected with COVID-19 in the country. Hopefully this trend will continue and we can open up more sectors of our economy faster," Angara said. In spite of this development, Angara said the public and the government as a whole should not let their guards down because there are still a lot of people getting infected, succumbing to the virus, and new variants of the virus continue to emerge. While the supply of vaccines is increasing, the country still has a long way to go to vaccinate a majority of its population. As of October 25, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 reported that over 25 million Filipinos are already fully vaccinated, representing 33.65 percent of the country's target to inoculated 70 percent of its population by year end. The Philippines has received over 100 million doses of vaccines from various sources including COVAX and the donor countries. "Nakikiusap tayo sa ating mga kababayan na hindi pa nababakunahan na ikonsidera na ang magpabakuna. Napatunayan na nakakapagligtas ng buhay ang mga bakuna kaya pumunta na sa inyong mga barangay at magpa iskedyul na," Angara said. The Senator reiterated his appeal for the DOH and local government units to go the extra mile to encourage the citizenry to get vaccinated and to bring the vaccines directly to those who cannot go out such as the senior citizens and persons with disabilities. "We support the call of our Vaccine Czar Sec. Charlie Galvez for LGUs to be more creative and flexible in its efforts to vaccinate its constituents. Many LGUs have successfully conducted house-to-house vaccinations to cater to the senior citizens and other eligible individuals. They could serve as models of best practices that the other LGUs could emulate," Angara said. The government is steadily easing its quarantine restrictions in the NCR and other regions, which would result in the opening up of more economic activities, particularly for the fully vaccinated individuals. Angara reminded the public to continue observing the minimum safety protocols such as wearing face masks and to practice social distancing while outside of their homes even if they have already been vaccinated. "Tayo ay nasa gitna pa din ng pandemiya kaya mag-ingat pa din tayo at magpa bakuna na sa mas madaling panahon," Angara said.
Press Release

October 31, 2021 Lacson: Joint Venture with China in WPS Should Follow PH Constitution More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/lacson-joint-venture-with-china-in-wps-should-follow-ph-constitution Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson is open to the Philippines entering a joint venture agreement with China to develop the West Philippine Sea - but so long as China follows the 60-40 provision in the Philippine Constitution. Lacson, speaking at a presidential forum Saturday evening, said this would show that the Philippines owns and has sovereign rights over the area. "As long as they adhere to the Constitutional provision of 60-40, I am all for it. If it's 60-40 it shows we 'own,' we have sovereign rights over the area," he said at the forum organized by the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Cignal TV and The Manila Times. "If they would adhere to 60-40, I'm all for it. If not we should go back and review our security situation," he added. Under Sec. 2, Art. XII of the 1987 Constitution, the State "may enter into co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens." Lacson cited information indicating the West Philippine Sea is rich in natural gas and oil that could help address our energy needs, and that China has sent geologists to the area as far back as 1968. But he said that if China would not agree to the 60-40 rule, the Philippines can turn to its allies, especially those it has bilateral agreements with. Countries like Australia and Japan and even the European Union have now shown more willingness to patrol the area as they have interests in making sure the area is open to maritime trade. "We should seize the opportunity," Lacson said.
An aerial shot shows the level of Lake Placid on Oct. 18 just two days after a spill gate failed following a flood event. After two weeks of inspecting the dam, GBRA says the dam is unsafe to repair and will leave the gates down until the dam is replaced.
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SpaceCast Weekly is a NASA Television broadcast from the Johnson Space Center in Houston featuring stories about NASA's work in human spaceflight.

They include the International Space Station and its crews and scientific research activities, and the development of Orion and the Space Launch System, the next generation American spacecraft being built to take humans farther into space than they've ever gone before.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

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 31, 2021

- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to the German ARD TV channel on October 28.

- The territory of Tartar, Aghdam, and Agjabadi regions came under artillery fire.

- The Defense Ministry has announced the latest situation on the frontline as of October 31. The list of destroyed military equipment of Armenian troops has been announced. In response to the artillery fire at Gubadli region, a return fire was opened at Armenian troops.

- Qiyameddinli village of Agjabadi region was fired upon. Armenian Armed Forces tried to lay the groundwork for future provocations by bringing phosphorus-laden cargo in the direction of Khojavend.

- A video of the destruction of equipment and manpower of Armenian troops has been released.

- Fighting continued in the direction of Aghdara, Khojavend, Gubadli.

- The reconnaissance and sabotage group of the Armenian Armed Forces was destroyed, and a video of the destruction of two military vehicles was 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 Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Baku has condemned the decision of the US authorities to release from custody the Armenian terrorist, who killed Turkish consul Kemal Arikan in Los Angeles in 1982.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva made the remarks in response to a media question about the release of Armenian terrorist Hampig Sassounian.

"We condemn the decision to release ASALA member Hampig Sassounian, an Armenian terrorist who assassinated Turkish diplomat Kemal Ar?kan in 1982 in Los Angeles, USA. The release of a terrorist is dangerous, and it serves to promote terrorism," she stated.

The spokesperson recalled that while in prison, in an interview with the Armenian military magazine Hay Zinvor in 2012, Sassounian described himself as a soldier. He then expressed a wish to serve in the Armenian military in Karabakh, occupied territory of Azerbaijan at that time, which demonstrates that he is an unreformed terrorist.

"According to the information disseminated in the Armenian media, this terrorist is in Armenia; any attempts to glorify the terrorist must be suppressed," Abdullayeva added.
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry published a video footage entitled "This week of last year".

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 centers, and historic Shusha city.




By Trend

Head of the Brazilian-Azerbaijani Friendship Group on Interparliamentary Cooperation of the Senate of the Brazilian National Congress Antonio Anastasia paid a visit to Ganja, Trend reports.

The head of the friendship group visited the territories in Ganja, where terrorist acts were committed by the Armenian Armed Forces during the 44-day Second War.

Antonio Anastasia was informed about the Armenian terror. The guest, as a sign of respect for the memory of the victims, laid flowers at the destroyed place.
By Trend

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United States President Joe Biden will hold a meeting in Rome Sunday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, a U.S. official said, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

The NATO allies had been expected to hold a bilateral meeting at the United Nations summit on climate in Glasgow next week, but a senior U.S. administration official briefed reporters Saturday that it would take place "tomorrow."

Erdo?an last met Biden during a NATO summit in Brussels in June.
By Trend

On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his American counterpart Joe Biden, Trend reports citing Turkish media.

The talks began at 13:15 (GMT + 4), were closed to the press and lasted about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

The meeting was also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavushoglu.

13:35 (GMT+4) On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his American counterpart Joe Biden started, Trend reports citing Turkish media.

The meeting began at 13:15 (GMT + 4) and is closed to the press. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavushoglu also takes part in the meeting.

The last time the leaders of Turkey and the United States met face-to-face on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels in June.

Erdogan said earlier that the key topic of the upcoming talks with the head of the White House, Joe Biden, will be the issue of Turkey's participation in the program for the development of fifth-generation F-35 aircraft.
By Trend

Azerbaijani servicemen returned to the Motherland after completing regular Command and Staff Courses conducted in the city of Isparta of the fraternal country within the framework of an agreement on cooperation in the field of military education signed between Azerbaijan and Turkey, Trend reports citing Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

First, the national anthems of Azerbaijan and Turkey were performed at the event.

The speakers congratulated the graduates on the successful completion of the course and wished them success in their service.

Another delegation of the Azerbaijan Army has been sent to Turkey, Isparta to take Commando Courses.
Petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) has announced plans to invest nearly 1 billion ($1.37 billion) at its plant in Teesside located north of England.

The investment will go into strengthening operations at Teesside and enabling its chemical cracker transformation, stated the Saudi company.

"This will reduce its carbon footprint by up to 60 per cent in phase one, making it one of the worlds lowest carbon-emitting crackers," it added.

Welcoming the news, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Fantastic to see nearly 1 billion invested in Sabic's Teesside facility, creating and safeguarding 1,000 jobs. It's a huge vote of confidence in the UK's chemicals and processing industry, which is pioneering innovation in clean, green technology."

Sabic has manufacturing units across the globe including in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. It produces chemicals, commodity and high-performance plastics, agri-nutrients and metals. The companys total production reached 60.8 million metric tonnes in 2020.

Saudi Aramco, the worlds largest oil-exporting company, which has a 70 per cent stake in Sabic, also announced plans to become carbon neutral by 2050 in line with the kingdoms goals to cut emissions to protect the environment earlier this week. The kingdom has set a target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.
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.
While the worlds leaders gather in Glasgow to discuss the global effort to fight climate change, the Solar Impulse Foundation and Bertrand Piccard will be there presenting them new tools to enable them to adopt more ambitious environmental policies.

These tools are the result of five years of searching, analysing and promoting more than 1,300 products, processes, and services that protect the environment in a profitable way.

To search through all these solutions, the Foundation launches the Solutions Explorer. It offers a one-of-a-kind search engine that showcases climate solutions from all over the world which are part of an ever-growing, curated, and publicly-accessible database. Businesses, public authorities, and individuals can navigate the Solutions Explorer to help them work towards their climate objectives in a cost-competitive and profitable manner. Its filtering tool enables Solutions to be selected based on sectors, clients, applications, environmental benefits, and technologies. It allows the user to discover new and efficient ways of producing, consuming, and valuing resources.

Piccard, Chairman and Founder of the Solar Impulse Foundation, comments: Now that we have achieved the challenge set at COP22 of selecting 1000 clean and profitable climate solutions, I am coming to COP26 not only with a suitcase full of over 1,300 solutions, but also the tools to place them in the hands of decision-makers in government and business. I would like them to be able to stop talking about the problems without mentioning the solutions, too. The good news is that there are hundreds of them and they are just waiting to be implemented.

To showcase the potential of the Solutions Explorer and to pay tribute to the hosting country of COP26, the Solar Impulse Foundation created a Solutions Guide addressed to the Scottish Government. The Solutions Guide looks at the Scottish context - its environmental and economic situation - and puts forward a selection of technologies from the Solutions Explorer that could help the country reach its ambitious environmental objectives and to do so in a way that improves the quality of life of its citizens.

The Foundation also offers Solutions Guides to non-governmental decision-makers, such as industry representatives and corporations. As part of the Solutions Guide for the Scottish government, the Solar Impulse Foundation presents a case study on the local Scotch whisky industry as a key business in Scotland's economy.

It focuses on The Glenmorangie Company, a brand within the LVMH Group, demonstrating how the Scotch whisky industry could successfully transition towards its declared objective to reach net-zero by 2040.

Going beyond the portfolio of 1000+ clean and profitable solutions, Bertrand Piccard and the Solar Impulse Foundation are ready to share their know-how, experience, and tools with governments and businesses that are ready to take immediate action on their respective paths to net-zero.-- TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) today signed an agreement with A P Moller - Maersk, global integrator of container logistics, committing to an investment of $136 million (SR510 million) over a period of 25 years to set up an Integrated Logistics Park at Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia.

The signing took place in the presence of the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Ports Authority, Engineer Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, and Richard Morgan, Managing Director, Maersk West & Central Asia, together with several officials from related sectors.

The agreement was signed by Omar bin Talal Hariri, President of the Saudi Ports Authority, and Maersk Saudi Arabia President Mohammad Shihab.

Spread over an area of 205,000 sq m, the greenfield project will be the first of its kind at Jeddah Islamic Port offering an array of solutions with the goal of connecting and simplifying the supply chains of importers and exporters in the Kingdom. Maersk will also be investing heavily in renewable energy to power the facility and eventually achieve carbon-neutrality. The project is expected to create more than 2,500 direct and indirect jobs in Saudi Arabia, a statement said.

A vision for the future

Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 lays great importance in capitalising on the Kingdoms strategic location to build its role as an integral driver of international trade connecting the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. Vision 2030 aims to more than triple the share of non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia from its current levels, to reach 50% of total exports. It also seeks to substantially raise the Kingdoms global ranking in the Logistics Performance Index to ensure that Saudi Arabia becomes the regional leader in logistics.

Transport Minister Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser said: We are pleased to enter into this agreement today, which represents another remarkable milestone in strengthening Saudi Arabias position on the regional and global stage. The development of the new Integrated Logistics Park will further enhance the capabilities of Jeddah Islamic Port and contribute to consolidating the Kingdoms position as a leading global hub for maritime transport and logistics services.

Morgan said: We are building an innovative, digital and technologically-advanced logistics infrastructure on the foundations of our strong network of global shipping and logistics services to create value for customers in the region. Our ambition is not only to connect and simplify our customers supply chains, but also be a catalyst in the growth of trade and economies through our customer-centric solutions.

Hariri said: The strategic partnership between the authority and Maersk is an important step to achieve our ambition for Jeddah Islamic Port to become among the top ten ports in the world by 2030. I am confident that this partnership will greatly enhance the distinguished operational capabilities of Jeddah Islamic Port, which ranks first among the Red Sea ports due to its strategic location linking the international shipping route between East and West.

He added: Mawanis new strategy enables the authority to continue developing a sustainable and prosperous maritime transport ecosystem that supports the Kingdoms social and economic ambitions and contributes to achieving the ambitious goals of Vision 2030.

A truly integrated logistics solution for all

The bonded and non-bonded Warehousing & Distribution (W&D) facility will cover more than 70% of the total area, while the remaining part will act as a hub for transshipment, air freight, and LCL cargo. The W&D facility will feature several different sections to accommodate general warehousing (food & beverages, furniture, automobiles, chemicals, textile & apparel, and machinery, appliances & electronics) and cold chain storage (fruits & vegetables, protein, and confectionary & consumables). To cater to the rapid penetration of eCommerce in Saudi Arabia, the facility will also have a dedicated eCommerce fulfilment center. The Integrated Logistics Park will be able to handle annual volumes close to 200,000 TEUs across different products. - TradeArabia News Service
The General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) has signed a contract with Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) for development and manufacture of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) under the name 'SkyGuard.'

The strategic objective of this signing, lies in building a leading foundational base for technological innovation, both regionally and internationally.

Sami also signed an Agreement with Prince Sultan Defense Studies and Science Research Center (PSDSARC), with the objective of further developing the UAV.

SkyGuard is the outcome of numerous R&D efforts, undertaken by the Center and geared towards developing a truly local product, which is satisfactorily compliant with the operational requirements of end Users.

Ultimately, this contributes to the overarching goal of achieving localization of more than 50% of expenditure on defense equipment and services, by the year 2030.

The signing ceremony was attended by Governor of Gami Ahmad Al Ohali, Vice Chairman of Sami Dr Ghassan AlShibl, the CEO of Sami Walid Abukhaled, and a number of key executives from the two entities.

Al Ohali asserted that this signing is expected to add great value by increasing military readiness within Saudi Arabias defence ecosystem, and enhancing both field responsiveness and technical support, as well as expanding high-skilled job creation for Saudi human talent.

Abukhaled said the deal marks a major step towards building a robust local defence ecosystem, comprising indigenous supply chains that satisfy the strategic need to be self-sufficient.

Saudi Arabia draws its Vision 2030 target of localization of defense expenditure from its core national priorities, namely military readiness, strategic autonomy, transparency and efficiency of spend, sustainability of local military industries, and interoperability within and across entities, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
UAE's leading telecom services operator Etisalat said it continued to deliver a steady growth in the third quarter recording a consolidated revenue of AED13.3 billion ($3.62 billion), up 2 per cent over last year.

Announcing the results for the three-month period ending September 30, Etisalat said its consolidated net profit after Federal Royalty hit AED2.4 billion ($653.2 million), thus registering an increase of 1% compared to same period last year.

In the third quarter, consolidated Ebitda amounted to AED 6.7 billion, and resulting in Ebitda margin of 51%.

In the UAE, the subscriber base reached to 12 million, while Etisalat Group aggregate subscribers reached 155.4 million representing a year on year increase of 4%.

Etisalat Group CEO Hatem Dowidar said: "We continued to deliver a steady growth in the third quarter of 2021, demonstrating agility as we address the growing and ever-changing customer needs and market dynamics across our operations."

"We remain focused on achieving key strategic priorities that would enable a smarter digital tomorrow while opening new opportunities to engage with business and customers alike," he stated.

With consistent performance in the first 9 months Etisalat Group management improved full year 2021 guidance for all financial indicators, he added.

On the future outlook, Dowidar said: "We look at the future confidently with a positive outlook for our operations despite the various global macro-economic factors that are reshaping the business environment across our footprint."

"We will continue to channel our efforts towards enabling private and public sectors digital transformation journeys while equipping our operations with the next generation of technologies like AI and robotics to drive efficiencies. Etisalat mobile network reasserted its leadership as the fastest globally due to our sincere efforts in consistently pushing boundaries and delivering added value to our customers, shareholders, and the communities we serve," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Batelco, Bahrains leading telecom operator, announced a net profit attributable to equity holders of the company of BD15.7 million ($41.6 million) for Q3 2021, a 9% increase from BD14.4 million for the same period in 2020.

Likewise, net profit attributable to equity holders of the company for the first nine months of 2021 was BD53.2 million ($141.1 million) , an increase of 6% from BD50.3 million for the corresponding period in 2020.

The increase in net profit is mainly attributable to steady increases in revenues for the first nine months of the year. Earnings per share (EPS) are 9.5 fils for the third quarter of 2021 compared to 8.7 fils in Q3 2020 resulting in an EPS of 32.2 fils for the period compared to an EPS of 30.4 for the same period in 2020, the company said.

Total comprehensive income attributable to equity holders in Q3 2021 was reported at BD13.4 million, a 25% decrease from BD17.8 million in the third quarter of 2020 mainly due to foreign currency translation differences. However, total comprehensive income attributable to equity holders of the company for the first nine months of 2021 is up by 41% from BD43 million in 2020 to BD60.6 million in 2021.

Revenues for the third quarter in 2021 of BD98.2 million ($260.5 million) increased by 2% compared to BD95.9 million in Q3 2020. Similarly, revenues for the first nine months of 2021 were BD296.4 million ($786.2 million), an increase of 4% when compared to BD285.7 million of revenues for the same period in 2020. The increase in revenues is mainly due to YoY increases in fixed broadband, adjacent services and wholesale revenues of 15%, 15% and 3%, respectively, Batelco said.

Operating profit for Q3 2021 is up by 8% to BD21.8 million ($57.8 million) from BD20.2 million in Q3 2020; while year-on-year operating profits increased by 5% from BD67.6 million ($179.3 million) in 2020 to BD71 million in 2021.

EBITDA stands at BD40.6 million in Q3 2021 compared to BD38.2 million in Q3 2020, an increase of 6%. For the nine months of 2021, EBITDA increased by 5% from BD120.1 million in 2020 to BD126 million in 2021, with a healthy EBITDA margin of 43%.

Batelcos balance sheet remains strong with total equity attributable to equity holders of the company of BD478.6 million ($1,269.5 million) as of September 30, 2021, 1% higher than BD473.2 million reported as of December 31, 2020. Total assets of BD999.1 million ($2,650.1 million) as of September 30, 2021 have increased by 1% compared to total assets of BD992.2 million ($2,631.8 million) as of December 31, 2020. Net assets as of September 30, 2021 which stand at BD517.4 million ($1,372.4 million) are 1% higher than BD512.1 million reported as of December 31, 2020. The companys cash and bank balances are a substantial BD196.1 million ($520.2 million), which reflects the 2021 interim dividend of 13.5 fils per share paid in August 2021, it said.

Batelco Chairman Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa announced the third quarter (Q3) 2021 financial results following the meeting of the Board of Directors on October 31st, at Batelcos Hamala Headquarters.

The Board of Directors is pleased with the financial results for the first nine months of 2021, with the positive trend set in Q1 and Q2 continuing for the third quarter. In line with the results and the boards commitment to deliver the best returns for shareholders, its good to also see an increase in Earnings Per Share, compared to the first nine months of 2020, he said.

Batelco continues with its commitment to the community and sustainability and realising the growing importance of sustainability recently established an ESG function to adopt internationally recognised standards across various areas including sustainable energy. As part of this, Batelco Solar Park has recently been completed and commissioned and is already generating solar energy to power the Companys Data Centre at Ras Abu Jarjoor. This initiative which is phase one of a bigger plan supports our goal of becoming a sustainable corporation in the future, Shaikh Abdulla added.

Batelco CEO Mikkel Vinter said: Im happy that we have maintained the momentum set in the first six months of 2021 to deliver sound financial results, with a year-on-year increase of 15% respectively in fixed broadband and adjacent services and 3% increase in wholesale revenues contributing positively to this.

The evolution or our mobile network is ongoing, and to ensure delivery of reliable mobile connectivity solutions, including 5G for new cities and developments, Batelco is extending its reach and coverage to major housing developments being built by the Ministry of Housing and the private sector across Bahrain. Furthermore, to facilitate the adoption of 5G services, Batelco ensures the availability of the latest 5G devices, such as the new Apple devices which were recently launched for Batelcos customers.

As part of the ongoing transformation of Batelcos mobile network, the phase out of the 2G service, which had been in place for over 27 years, is almost complete, with the capacity being used reallocated to support the growth of 3G, 4G and 5G networks, to meet the ever-growing demand for better and wider mobile data services.

Digitisation is playing a major role in how organisations work and transform and to provide businesses with expertise in ICT, digital and Cloud solutions and cyber security, Batelco has established an end-to-end digital systems integrator arm of the Company to address the changing dynamics of the Enterprise sector. Cloud transformation is at the centre of these plans in line with Bahrains cloud first policy, Vinter explained.

Keeping the community and particularly education and youth in mind is also important for Batelco, and we recently signed a partnership with the American University of Bahrain to support education in our society through awarding scholarships for young Bahrainis, giving them the benefit of an international education, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
Intersec, the world-leading emergency services, security, and safety event has unveiled its ground-breaking 3-day conference programme featuring six critical pillars for the industrys first event in 2022.

Emergency services, security, and safety professionals will benefit from dedicated conferences featuring never-before seen speakers and content material.

The extensive development of the show will see the best minds in the industry participate in Intersecs dynamic, new conference programme addressing the sectors most vital issues and opportunities. Each of the six pillars features its own dedicated conference, packed with never-before seen material and speakers, offering attendees a unique platform to benchmark, innovate, collaborate, ideate, and be inspired.

The conferences which will run simultaneously between January 16 and 18, 2022, include:

Global Security Leaders Summit  a hard-hitting summit featuring global security leaders discussing, debating, and exchanging perspectives on global security challenges, strategic initiatives, and cooperation to foster safety and security of all. Topics to be featured involve responding to national shifts and crisis, the future of law enforcement, and leadership in civil defence among others.

Protecting Future Connected Cities and Citizens - brings together global government leaders, municipalities, policymakers, consultants and technology experts to communicate, share ideas and identify solutions required to create and maintain safe and resilient cities using the latest cutting-edge technologies and best practices from around the world. It will feature case studies, demos on how to create safe venues, insights on surveillance tools, principles of protective safety and more.

Agile First Responders Conference - a direct reflection of the industry's most pressing issues, the conference will cover best practice, shared learnings, innovations, tactics and strategy for planning and preparedness, operations and emergency response, resilience and business continuity planning and technical rescue while looking at the industries state of the art technologies to protect lives and assets. Topics in the spotlight include emergency planning and preparedness, operations and emergency response, best practices to manage risk among many others.

Nexus Workshops - provides emergency responders an opportunity for practical benchmarking and knowledge exchange on drills, policies, procedures, and practical training and will cover the before, during and after of incident management.

Safeguarding Critical Infrastructure  a forum to identify potential threats to critical infrastructure, building security and smart construction. Dubai has identified 11 critical infrastructure sectors, this conference in particular has been designed to highlight defence, preparedness, and response strategies for each one.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Focus Day  this focused programme presents Saudi Arabian mega projects, planning and strategy. Project leaders, government stakeholders and experts will share exclusive insights into the current challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid expansion of the regions largest market.

Commenting on the outstanding programme, Alex Nicholl, Messe Frankfurt Middle Easts Head of Intersec, said: For 22 years, Intersec has been renowned for being the only event in the region which brings the entire ecosystem of emergency services, security and safety together at one time. This elevated conference programme is a strong sign of our commitment to ensuring that those who attend derive clear value from the show, by having the ability to immerse themselves and contribute to conversations that will shape the future of the world and their respective industries. The industry is going through exponential rapid change, Intersec 2022 is meeting the demand for knowledge sharing and presenting the most innovative solutions for the industry. We look forward to welcoming visitors and having them experience first-hand the immense work that has gone into making this edition the most compelling show yet.

The 23rd edition of the flagship event is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and will be staged under the theme of Uniting the worlds leading industry specialists for the safety and security of future generations.-- TradeArabia News Service
Spanish infrastructure major Acciona said it has achieved a key milestone in the construction of the Shuqaiq 3 desalination plant, ramping up production during final testing to full capacity of 450 million litres of potable water per day, enough to meet the needs of two million people.

The new desalination plant, by the Red Sea, is one of the largest to be built in Saudi Arabia and is already supplying the water network of Abha and Jizan in the southwest of the country, an extremely dry region.

The plant is equipped with energy-efficient sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) technology and is a key project in the modernisation of Saudi Arabias water sector.

Acciona is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Shuqaiq Three Company for Water (S3CW), owner of the Independent Water Project (IWP).

The project company has a long-term water purchase agreement with the Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC).

The contract included the construction of a large Electrical Special Facility (ESF) to supply the plant with power.

Acciona Shuqaiq 3 IWP Project Director Jesus Garcia Prieto said: "This milestone is the result of good teamwork between the client, our engineers and the construction teams. Now that we are entering the final testing and commissioning stages, we will undertake a number of tests to make sure everything works perfectly."

Acciona is a world leader in desalination using reverse osmosis technology, which emits 6.5 times fewer greenhouse gases than thermal desalination.

It has five very large desalination plants and three large sewage treatment plants under construction in Saudi Arabia. All the desalination plants use seawater reverse osmosis technology.

These include Al Khobar I & II, with production capacities of 200 million and 630 million litres per day respectively; Shuqaiq 3 & 4, with 450 million and 400 million litres per day; and Jubail 3B with a capacity of 570 million litres per day.

Acciona Middle East Managing Director Jesus Sancho said: "We are proud to have reached this milestone at Shuqaiq 3. It proves our commitment to delivering good work to our clients on time, and of our ability to meet the goals of our clients and of local authorities."

In a region with acute water scarcity, demand for desalinated water is being driven by climate change and population growth. Saudi Arabia, which has a population of 35 million, is the worlds third largest per capita consumer of water after the US and Canada.

The kingdom had last year announced a national programme for rationalising water consumption, setting ambitious targets that include slashing usage by nearly 24% by 2022, and 43% by 2030, according to Acciona.

The targets form part of the Saudi Arabias comprehensive Vision 2030 social and economic development plan, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Experts and leaders in the MICE and business tourism sectors praised the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec) for its efforts and strategic role in supporting the sectors recovery phase following the challenges brought on by the pandemic.

They pointed out that Adnecs infrastructure, flexible teams and facilities enabled it to continue building on its successes. Providing a complete turnkey solution, the company was commended for its efforts to lead the recovery phase of the industry by hosting and organising major events locally, regionally and globally.

Adnecs prioritisation of the health and safety of all event attendees, in addition to its partnerships with various stakeholders, allowed all to conduct business confidently and in a safe and secure environment, a statement from the company said.

This recognition came at the conclusion of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Business Events Week (ADBEW) held at Adnec last week, confirming Abu Dhabis position as a leader in the business tourism sector.

Expressing how essential venues are to the recovery phase of the industry, Naji El Haddad, Regional Director for UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, said: "I am excited to join the business event community here at Adnec as part of Abu Dhabi Business Tourism Week. Venues such as Adnec who provide state-of-the-art facilities and services in a business driven and safe environment are essential to recovery."

On the importance of hosting events such as ADBEW at Adnec, MPI Academy Vice President Jessie States said: "As we begin to recognise that international business is on its way and returning, we look to events like this to set the stage for us to really welcome back our industry, community, organisations, governments and businesses, and to look at how creativity and unique places play a role in the future of our business."

Commenting on how Adnec is the ideal hub for like-minded professionals to collaborate, Annalisa Ponchia Baccara, Director of Innovation and Customer Experience at AIM Group International, added: Adnec is the perfect location for a meeting like the ADBEW. After what has been a long period that this community could not really be together, this is a great way to refresh collaboration and think about new ways of conducting business.

IAEE Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Cathy Braden said: It is my pleasure to be here in Adnec for this conference. The safety protocols that have been put in place makes me feel comfortable about being here as business recovery continues.

"Bringing people together is so very important and the relationships and collaborations that comes out of us being together across borders does nothing but bring us together as a global community."

The Abu Dhabi Convention & Exhibition Bureau, part of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), aims to make ADBEW an annual event on the MICE calendar.-TradeArabia News Service
About 240,000 annual two-way tourist traffic between Switzerland and the UAE, the presence of the regions largest Swiss expatriate community in the Emirates, and robust bilateral business and investment ties make the UAE "an important partner for Switzerland in the Middle East", Swiss President Guy Parmelin said.

"With almost 3,000 people, the UAE is host to the largest community of Swiss citizens in the Middle East and North Africa region. Generally, about 140,000 Emiratis travel to Switzerland every year in summer to enjoy its beautiful nature. On the other hand, an estimated 100,000 Swiss citizens visit the UAE yearly," Parmelin told Emirates News Agency WAM.

He added: "The UAE is Switzerlands 11th most important trading partner worldwide."

The UAE is an important partner for Switzerland in the Middle East and North Africa region, Parmelin stressed. "According to the MENA strategy adopted by the Swiss government, our priorities (for relations) with the UAE include economy, finance and science, sustainable development, digitalisation, as well as peace, security and human rights."

The economic relations with the UAE remain strong despite the setback from the Covid-19 pandemic, the President pointed out. "Trade between us reached $13 billion in 2020 and Switzerland remains an important investor with Swiss businesses creating approximately 10,000 jobs in the UAE alone," he said, adding that more than 200 Swiss companies are operating in the UAE.

Parmelin, who arrived in Dubai on Thursday evening on a three-day official visit, met on Friday with Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the Switzerland Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

The president will be meeting with other top Emirati officials as well "to discuss how we can deepen an already very strong relationship, especially when it comes to business and investment".

The bilateral talks will also address global issues such as climate change, including the urgency for climate action by each country and the necessity to agree at the upcoming UN climate conference in Glasgow (COP26) on a rule book under the Paris Agreement, he revealed.

"I believe that there are various areas, in which we could support dialogue and co-operation in the region. The UAE is an important and influential actor in the Middle East and North Africa. Therefore, we regularly discuss political developments in the wider region together, including what is happening in Afghanistan," he said.

"We aim to intensify these exchanges in the run up to the year 2023, when the UAE, and - hopefully - Switzerland too, will be a member of the UN Security Council."

Parmelin attended the Swiss National Day celebrations at the Expo 2020 on Friday. "The Swiss pavilion is a unique architectural experience and I hope many Emiratis will come and see for themselves."

The Expo is unique as it is the first of its kind to be held in the Middle East, Parmelin noted.

"Secondly, it takes place at a very special moment and essentially offers the first real opportunity for meeting people from all over the world on a large scale since the beginning of the pandemic," he said, adding that it will also offer a chance to increase bilateral co-operation on matters related to education, research and innovation.

"I can only say that I am impressed. What this country has achieved in the 50 years since its foundation deserves praise and admiration. I see a country that is both modern and open to the world and at the same time cherishes its traditions and culture. As such, the UAE reminds me of Switzerland."

He welcomed the National Climate Change Plan of the UAE with its priorities that includes the 'UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative', a national drive to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

"At the same time, all our efforts must concentrate on reaching the global goals set for greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2030. Given the negative impact of Covid-19 on the economic growth situation, financing the transition to clean energy has become an even greater challenge," he stressed.

Switzerland will host a Hydropower Conference in Geneva in the fall of 2022, taking up the topic of financing, the President said.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) reclaimed the top spot as the Busiest International Airport in the World this month as capacity through the Middle East hub returned in earnest, said OAG, a global travel data provider.

Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), which occupied the top position for some time, moved into second place and Europes other big hubs are also catching up with Frankfurt (FRA) moving into 3rd place and London Heathrow (LHR) into 4th, it said.

There are eight European airports in the Top 10 Busiest International Airports this month. Antalya (AYT) in 9th place is up from 32nd in October 2019, and Vienna (VIE) is 10th from 22nd two years ago.

Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport handled 13 million passengers in the first seven months of 2021.

Senior Dubai officials project passenger traffic to see significant growth in the next six months on the back of Expo 2020.

Government took strategic decisions and offered the right incentives to enable the country to overcome the effects of the pandemic and put us in the right position to lead the worlds economic recovery, and build bridges across the world to accelerate the recovery process, especially in aviation and tourism sectors, said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), chairman of Dubai Airports and chairman and CEO of Emirates Group.

The economic indicators issued by the authorities suggest we are on the right path, and that we are on the way to full recovery. The start of Expo 2020 Dubai is the start of realising this task, Sheikh Ahmed said in the DCAAs ViaDubai magazine.
Beijing said on Friday that the one-China principle allows no challenge while United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 brooks no distortion, warning that any attempt to challenge the principle and the resolution will only suffer greater defeats.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin made the remarks as he rebuked US officials for accusing China of abusing Resolution 2758. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier that he supported the Taiwan authority's "meaningful participation" in the UN system, which was considered by him not as a political issue, but a "pragmatic" one.

"The US' rhetoric distorts historical facts", Wang said, and he shed light on some historical facts and truths.

The spokesman said that a few countries, including the US, once proposed the so-called reverse-Important Question (IQ) draft resolution and introduced the "dual representation" draft resolution 50 years ago, before the UN General Assembly deliberated on the draft resolution submitted by Albania and Algeria.

The reverse-IQ draft resolution required that any proposal to deprive the Taiwan authority's representation in the UN would require a two-thirds supermajority for approval while the "dual representation" draft resolution allowed the People's Republic of China to join the UN as China's representative, while allowing the Taiwan authority to remain a regular UN member.

The order of the resolutions on the voting agenda was the reverse-IQ draft resolution, the draft resolution submitted by Albania and Algeria, also known later as Resolution 2758, and then "dual representation" draft resolution.

Wang said that reverse-IQ draft resolution failed to pass and Resolution 2758 was passed, restoring the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China in the UN. As a result, the "dual representation" draft resolution immediately became null and void.

Wang noted that these historical facts clearly illustrated that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.

The system, agencies and the Secretariat of the UN should abide by the one-China principle and Resolution 2758 when dealing with Taiwan-related affairs, he added.

"These principles have been universally recognized by the international community as early as half a century ago," Wang said.

The spokesman said that a few countries once attempted to reject the one-China principle and obstruct Resolution 2758, but these moves ended up in failure.

Five decades later, if anyone tries to challenge the principle and the resolution, they will only encounter greater failures, he added.
At the end of the Angelus, Francis appealed on behalf of communities in various parts of Vietnam affected by flooding. He also called on the faithful to pray for the Glasgow climate conference. May the cry of the earth and the poor [. . .] be heard. May this meeting bring effective answers.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  At the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis said before the Word of God, it is not enough to be "skilled commentators"; instead, what is necessary is to let it into one's life.

The pontiff urged the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square for the usual Sunday appointment to draw this lesson from the Gospel proposed in today's liturgy.

Speaking about the passage by the Evangelist Mark in which a scribe asks Jesus which is the first of the commandments (Mk 12: 28-34), Francis focused on a detail: to the Master who indicates the commandment of love, the scribe replies repeating almost the same words.

Why, the Pope asked himself, in giving his assent, does that scribe feel the need to repeat the same words of Jesus? What is the meaning of this repetition?

In urging the faithful to grasp the teaching, Francis said: The Word of the Lord cannot be received like any news item  it must be repeated, made one's own, preserved. The monastic tradition uses a bold but very concrete term: The Word of God must be 'ruminated'. We can say that it is so nutritious that it must reach every area of life.

The Lord, he added, does not seek so much skilled commentators on the Scriptures, but docile hearts who, welcoming his Word, allow themselves to be changed within. This is why it is so important to become familiar with the Gospel, always have it at hand, be passionate about it.

"When we do this, Jesus, the Word of the Father, enters our hearts, becomes intimate with us, and we bear fruit in Him. And thus, each of us can become a living, different and original 'translation' of the one Word of love that God gives us. We see this in the lives of the saints  no one is the same as the other, they are all different, but with the same Word of God.

Such a lesson is particularly valid visa-vis the love for God and ones neighbour, the commandment of love which cannot remain a dead letter.

Let's ask ourselves then, does this commandment really guide my life? Is it reflected in my days?

It will do us good tonight, before falling asleep, to examine our conscience about this Word, to see if today we have loved the Lord and given a bit of goodness to those we happened to meet. May every encounter be like giving a little love.

After the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis issued a special appeal for the communities in various parts of Vietnam subjected to heavy rains that caused extensive floods in recent weeks.

My prayers and thoughts go to the many families who suffer, together with my encouragement to all those, the countrys authorities and the local Church, who are working hard to respond to this emergency.

The pontiff also said that the people of Sicily are in his thoughts, recently battered by bad weather, as well as the people of Haiti, where so many people have lived for far too long in a situation of serious neglect.

"I ask the leaders of nations to support this country and not leave it on its own. And you too, turning to the faithful, look for news about Haiti and pray a lot  let's not abandon them.

In concluding, the pontiff once again called on the faithful to pray for the Climate Conference, COP26, which opens today in Glasgow. Let us pray that the cry of the earth and the poor may be heard. May this meeting bring effective answers.
The failure of the G-20 to set a target for phasing out domestic coal use was a blow to Britain, which had hoping there would be progress on the issue at COP26. The spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Max Blain, said the G-20 communique was never meant to be the main lever in order to secure commitments on climate change, which would be hammered out at the Glasgow summit.
Cross and Die Unknown

State forces say they have killed a notorious separatist warlord named General Cross and Die. The guerrilla leader was killed between October 29 and 30, 2021, in Ntamafe, a locality in Mankon, Bamenda II Subdivision.

Cross and Die was amongst eight separatist fighters killed in different operations carried out by Cameroons military on October 29 and October 30.

Brigadier General Nka Valere, Commander of the 5th Joint Military Region says the notorious Cross and Die manned a separatist camp in Ntankah. He was killed as he attended the funeral ceremony of one of his relatives in Ntamafe on Friday.

Information on the death of Cross and Die was confirmed by Capo Daniel, Deputy Defense Chief of the Ambazonian Defense Forces (ADF) in a social media video released on Saturday.

The exact details behind the killing of Cross and Die are still sketchy as defense officials will not want to comment on the operation. But Capo Daniel in his video release said he was ambushed by security officials in two unmarked civilian vehicles after attending a funeral service. His bodyguards, he continued, were unable to protect him. He also announced that his second in command will take over control of the separatist camp in Ntankah known as New Jerusalem.

Capo Daniel announced a lockdown this Saturday to observe Cross and Dies death but this lockdown was largely unheeded. Many instead went about with their routine activities.

State media reports that separatist General Princewill who masterminded the attack early Friday morning on the Bamenda-Santa highway, around Akum was also killed in a special operation at Mile 87, Bali Road. He was killed along with five others.

Another guerrilla leader, General Tiger was also reportedly killed by state forces.

The ADF has confirmed the death of its fighters, adding that a civilian lady was injured in the shootout.

As Bamenda city-dweller went about their routine activities on Saturday, the remains of warlord Cross and Die laid displayed at the Hospital Roundabout. Onlookers celebrated the death of the separatist fighter, blaming him for untold atrocities carried out in Bamenda.

Brigadier General Nka Valere, Commander of the 5th Joint Military Region, and his collaborators were seen at the Hospital Roundabout on Saturday.

After killing separatist Generals Mad Dog, Lion, Tiger, and Trouble, the military is poised to kill notorious general No Pity after he narrowly missed military bullets during an operation in Akeh.

Bamenda Online reports that Improved intelligence gathering by the security forces, cooperation with the population and increasing disagreement amongst the different separatist groups has helped the military score major successes against the separatist fighters.
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.
Jeannette was bright, she was brilliant and a very caring lawyer who was always interested in seeing the big picture and putting the pieces together. She was well-rounded and had many friends. She was a person who put herself out for others, Ms. Babb said. And with the students she was very patient, nonthreatening, and caring. She had an amazing sense of humor and could find something positive no matter what the situation. She was simply amazing.
Teresa Krebs said she saw those connections online as friends posted about her sons death on Facebook. Old friends were telling one another how they need to start calling each other and skating together again, she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to attend the second session of the G20 Summit at Rome on climate change on Sunday.

He will begin his third day in Rome by visiting the historical centre - the Trevi Fountain. The historical Trevi Fountain has drawn many filmmakers to it who have popularised the Baroque art-styled monument as the epitome of a place of romance.

Later in the day, Modi is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and also meet outgoing Chancellor of Germany Angela Markel.

The PM is also slated to attend a session to discuss Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under Agenda 2030 that has its own set of 17 targets and 244 indicators, universal in nature, thereby, providing a worldwide accepted framework of development.

Later on Sunday, the Global Summit on supply chains will also take place in Rome.

Meanwhile, 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.

For 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.

After the session, the PM will depart for Glasglow to attend the COP26 summit on climate change.

The G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union. Members of the international forum account for more than 80 per cent of world 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 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)

Also Read: BJP failed to fulfil promises made to farmers in UP, alleges Akhilesh Yadav
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

These talks are set to hold amid a fresh row between the two global powers over Washington's support for the "meaningful participation" of Taiwan in the UN.

The meeting between the top diplomats is their first since a stormy session in the US state of Alaska in March during which the Chinese delegation berated Washington.

Wang Yi on Friday said Taiwan has no future other than reunification with China, and it has no international legal status other than being part of China.

Wang Yi said the US and some other countries could not stop the one-China principle 50 years ago, and they are much less likely to succeed in the 21st century. "If they persist, they will pay the price," the minister added.

This comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had on Tuesday called on United Nations member states to back Taiwan's "meaningful" participation in the UN system.

This comes as China has consistently made efforts to limit the island's international participation.

"...We encourage all UN Member States to join us in supporting Taiwan's robust, meaningful participation throughout the UN system and in the international community, consistent with our 'one China' policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances," Blinken had said in a statement.

Arguing for Taiwan's "robust" participation in the UN, Blinken had said that the island's exclusion undermines the important work of the UN and its related bodies.

(ANI)

Also Read: G20 Leaders' Summit tomorrow; climate change, Afghanistan to dominate talks
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and both leaders came to the idea of strengthening the global health architecture.

"Met Sergey Lavrov ... at the #G20RomeSummit & agreed we must strengthen the health architecture, incl @WHO's key role, to prevent health threats. Also discussed upcoming World Health Assembly special session on an international pact on pandemic preparedness & response," Ghebreyesus tweeted.

This meet comes amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the country. Russia registered 40,251 daily new COVID-19 cases and 1,160 coronavirus-related deaths, on Saturday, the federal response center said.

Moscow on Saturday recorded 7,267 new cases, which marks the highest number of new cases among the Russian regions.

(ANI)

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Um, gross. At this point, you haven't been physical yet -- the only "interest" you've shown in Han is in his technical abilities. To viewers who don't know that you two will end up falling in love -- that scene and the one when Han sneaks up behind you while you're working, saying you need more scoundrels in your life? Those interactions feel more date-rapey than romantic.
Directed by Patricia Riggen, who also directed last year's "The 33," the story of the Chilean miner rescue, she brings to life the despair felt by the family during Anna's illness. Much of the film is centered around Christy's tireless search for a cure for Anna, who suffers greatly. Losing her faith, questioning why such a small kid is in such pain, Christy has a hard time recognizing the small miracles that occur every day during their ordeal  the small kindnesses of a receptionist who helps her, or a friendly waitress, Angela (Queen Latifah), who offers friendship when Christy and Anna need it most. Even the love shown by their specialist, Dr. Nurco (Eugenio Derbez), is in itself a small miracle. We come to realize that the larger, more amazing miracles are made up of all these small tokens of love and selflessness.
Its a heartfelt moment born of veracity, for sure. But the title of the piece uses the second person. And although its much easier for a tight ensemble to pull up the drawbridge when its worldview is threatened, this whole live improv business requires a fuller intersection with the people in the seats. Second City has been finding that hard since 2016; understandably so, given that half the country is offended at the comedy of the other half. And now COVID-19 protocols only have made it worse. But there has to be a way back, somewhere in the middle with civility, empathy and tolerance as guiding principals.
Shunsuke Kimura, who filmed the video, told NHK that he saw passengers desperately running and while he was trying to figure out what happened, he heard an explosive noise and saw smoke wafting. He also jumped from a window but fell on the platform and hurt his shoulder.
On Sept. 3 in the 6500 block of South Ellis, MJ was getting his hair braided inside a building when, grainy video evidence shows, right before 9 p.m. a dark-colored vehicle pulled in front of the building, Brown said. Three people got out and started shooting into the building. Two bullets when through the window, hitting MJ in the head. He later died from his injuries on Sept. 5.
While it is undeniable that he had high standards for research and even higher expectations for us, he did not seek to mold us into mini Neds, but rather encouraged us to study topics we were passionate about (and) he was always willing to engage with ideas and treated us as equal partners who could also contribute to his understanding of a topic, Gai said.
For most of us, he was like family, Taylor said. We need to be here to put our respect there and let him know were going to miss him and that we love him, and this is completely for him.
Walking into an exhibition hall at the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University (AADTHU), visitors are met by innovative and prophetic art pieces, such as a space wedding dress, robots, and even art installations examining the future of the world. These works were created for the International Art & Design Workshops, a part of the ongoing 2021 Tsinghua International Conference on Art & Design Education (ICADE 2021).

Artworks made for the "Zero Gravity Fashion" workshop on display in the exhibition for the International Art & Design Workshops held at AADTHU in Beijing, Oct. 29, 2021. The workshops are a part of the ongoing ICADE 2021. [Photo by Zhang Rui/China.org.cn]

"Outer space is a ceiling for art and science, and we want to explore such cutting-edge things," Genifer Zhao told China.org.cn. Zhao is a student in the Department of Information Art & Design at AADTHU who was involved in creating the artworks for the "Zero Gravity Fashion - A Guide to Wearing in Space" workshop. She explained that tutors and students from Tsinghua University, Hunan University and the Berlin University of Arts worked together with professionals from outdoor clothing enterprise Toread to explore ideas of fashion and practicability in a zero-gravity environment.

"We wanted to find out about routines and daily designs, what changes will they go through when they are in a totally different situation and environment? Like a 30-meter-long wedding dress - you might feel like it's too big and not convenient for walking in, but in space, it's not really a problem," she said.

Zhao explained that their designs for the workshop are crossover pieces, with aerospace teachers acting as consultants on the works. They are also not just artistic concepts, but can also be used in different space application scenarios, as all the materials and textiles they used are actually able to be used in space and on a Mars base.

A photo shows an art piece titled "Live" made for the "Crisis Countdown - Ecological Expression of Locality and Globe" workshop on display in the exhibition for the International Art & Design Workshops held at AADTHU in Beijing, Oct. 29, 2021. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

In another corner of the exhibition, the world could end soon, but hope still exists. Dong Runshi, a student from the Department of Painting at AADTHU showed an art piece titled "Live" inspired by the traditional Chinese concept of "bagua" ("eight trigrams") for the "Crisis Countdown" workshop. He explained that the work focuses on the separation and fusion of the eight trigrams, expressing the reverence for natural ecology, and using the form of strata to express the indiscriminatory nature of "human-made" and "natural" things.

He shared the vision of collaborating with other creators for this work: "Even in the technological present-day, when the yin and yang of heaven and earth are in chaos, nature will still have its own law of change, and new life will still survive amid the crisis."

Qin Yexuan, a doctoral student at AADTHU who studies contemporary public art, also showed China.org.cn the art piece she and her fellow workshop participants and teachers had worked on, which is a miniature display of a desert oasis. "We're trying to express our concerns for ecology through an artistic creative language, as no one can stand alone in the face of global climate change. We wanted to explore the relationship between humanity and nature from the internal perspective of human beings. As people live in big or small ecologies, and in complex and diverse backgrounds, many internal problems inside our human society have affected the human-nature relationship," she said.

A miniature desert oasis made for the "Crisis Countdown - Ecological Expression of Locality and Globe" workshop on display in the exhibition for the International Art & Design Workshops held at AADTHU in Beijing, Oct. 29, 2021. [Photo by Zhang Rui/China.org.cn]

The "Crisis Countdown - Ecological Expression of Locality and Globe" workshop is a crossover and cross-university collaboration, involving AADTHU associate professors Feng Fan and Fu Bin, as well as professors from Tsinghua's Department of Earth System Science and Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art in the United States.

Qin said the creators had left room for the audience to think and find their own answers. "The most important thing for contemporary art is asking questions. Here we raise questions for every member of humanity, such as issues of paying attention to ecological environment, how we can live naturally, and whether the weakness of institutions and systems will lead to the failure of mankind's overall destiny."

There are a lot of artworks, designs and imaginative art concepts on display for the International Art & Design Workshops, which is being held in Tsinghua University in Beijing until Nov. 15. The workshop and exhibition sections have gathered multiple international universities and experts from frontier disciplines of art and design, to form five trans-disciplinary and intercultural workshops. All of the workshops aim to amplify the voice of the youth, in order to echo with the theme of ICADE 2021: "ASK: Our Diverse World."

Art works made for the "Robot Carnival - From Characters to Characteristics" workshop on display in the exhibition for the International Art & Design Workshops held at AADTHU in Beijing, Oct. 29, 2021. [Photo by Zhang Rui/China.org.cn]

Besides the "Zero Gravity Fashion" and "Crisis Countdown" workshops mentioned above, another three workshops were held. The "Robot Carnival - From Characters to Characteristics" workshop provided advanced modular robot creative platform components to support members with fast implementation of realistic robot design, and explored the innovative form of future robot design through comprehensive application of knowledge and skills across many disciplines such as robot technology, new media, interactive design and animation. "Communication at a Distance - Designing Across Space and Time" explored the use of software and hardware to eliminate the obstacles of time and space, in order to provide a more intimate and real communication experience. Finally, the "Super Digital Scenes" workshop consisted of two modules - "New Space Economy: City Change Maker" in Beijing and "More than Games" in Shenzhen - which explored the digital content on economy, space, city and the bigger value of video games in the virtual world.
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U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. dollars infrastructure package without the 1.75 trillion U.S. dollars 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 U.S. President Joe Biden's Capitol Hill visit on Thursday, when he met with Democrats in a bid to discuss the 1.75 trillion U.S. dollars 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 U.S. dollars 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 U.S. dollars - 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 prekindergarten 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 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.

Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua "I do think it's likely something eventually passes."

Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua: "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 - favor 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, told Xinhua he is not in favor 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.
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Another 41,278 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 9,019,962, according to official figures released Saturday.

The country also reported a further 166 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 140,558. 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.

The latest data came as coronavirus infections in England have increased to their highest level since the beginning of the year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Around one in 50 people had the virus in the week ending Oct. 22, the highest level since Jan. 2, the ONS reported.

The pandemic appears to be growing in England, as the coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number in England is estimated to have risen to between 1.1 and 1.3.

The R number indicates the average number of people each COVID-positive person goes on to infect.

More than 86 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 79 percent have received both doses, the latest figures showed. Meanwhile, more than 13 percent have received booster jabs, or third doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

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.
Myanmar has been beaten down by its military dictatorship for the last 50 years, yet they do not carry themselves as victims. With the recent developments towards democracy, the people were full of hope, ready to exercise this newfound freedom.

On the first meeting of Myanmars newly elected parliament, the military struck; imprisoning the elected officials, locking down the country and attempting to break the spirit of the people.

Its hard to know how you would feel when those who should be protecting you fire indiscriminately into buildings. Or how you would react if they kidnapped your loved ones in the night and return their tortured bodies to you in the morning. Or if they and shot your child while she huddled frightened in your lap.

Its hard to even comprehend a world in which that happens. Yet my friend who used to live in Myanmar has been receiving texts from his students such as, Papa, Im scared. I have seen the Facebook statuses of friends from the country saying that their house is being fired upon. I think I would not be able to face such vast grief without cloaking it in anger.

I would want to lash out, to hunt down military officers in their homes as they had done to children in mine. In the midst of that imagery, though, I see Jesus. I see him say, Love your enemies. I see the marks of that conviction on those pierced hands, dying for the ones who scarred him so. I see him rising from the impossible because this death and sacrifice holds a promise.

Gods way is higher

Nonviolent campaigns are 5 times more likely to succeed in their goals than violent ones. My instinct to return violence with violence reveals that I trust my own power over that of God to protect and avenge me. Yet the earlier statistic reveals that even in the face of such evil, his ways are higher than mine. Turning the other cheek is not just holding to an ideal for the sake of your enemy; it increases your likelihood of preventing future oppression.

Seeing the benefit of obeying God when military forces could enter your home at any time could be difficult, but if the people of Myanmar do so, they may yet achieve freedom. If there are benefits to those who listen to Him, even in such extreme circumstances, I think there are very real benefits to us who obey when we are commanded, Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Faced with discomfort, those of us who are removed from the situation can avert our eyes. Yet if we demonstrate the fearlessness of Myanmars people in the face of fear, if we hold to Gods commands, there is an opportunity present.

How do we react?

Allowing ourselves to empathise as God has commanded will change us in a way we cannot understand until the change has happened. So I ask that as Christians, we pray for those who are being oppressed in Myanmar the same way we know that Christians there would pray for us.

Opening ourselves to experiencing their grief as if it were our own is terrifying, overwhelming, uncomfortable. Perhaps you have another example of oppression that your heart desires to heal, pray for them.

There is need for your obedience; embracing discomfort is the likely vehicle that God will use to answer your prayers for revival, for change within yourself, closeness with the divine. For what of these things is produced from comfort or contentment?

If you wish to also back this prayer up with action, but dont know what to do, consider emailing this petition to your local member: https://democracyformyanmar.org/australia/ I know that the Australian petition linked here was created after consulting professionals in diplomatic fields, and inquiries have been made of other professionals in best supporting the people of Myanmar.

All the best in your journey.
The petrol station, no matter who you are everybody will find themselves in one at some point in their month. Even if you dont own car, the humble servo is the place where you can grab a drink, a quick feed and the small conveniences you need then continue with your day.

Starting just at the cusp of COVID lockdowns I found myself, being one of the constant faces in the lives of a few people as they had brief reprieve home to get what they need. For the past year and half, for a few days a week thats where Ive been.

My main goal was for it to be a stop gap to pay the bills while I searched to restart a media career that seemingly died before it could even get off the ground.

There were some hopeless times in the opening months, rejections from job appIications mounting, announcements of journalists losing jobs, what was the hope if me getting in if those guys were losing their jobs?

And still the graveyard shifts rolled on, 5am finishes and the occasional 11pm finish Id show up and greet the night-dwellers of our world.

Slowly, things began to change, in the midst of a game-changing global pandemic I was working, not even all my family and friends could say the same, seeds of gratefulness started taking root.

Even more so it was the people I met and spoke to that widened my perspective. The tradie that came in 10pm every night to buy bait to relax and get away from it all, the wife fuelling up to pick up her husband from hotel quarantine at the strike of midnight, homeless people, the 3am coffee drinkers and eventually the revellers from the pub next door.

What I originally saw as my career prison became the place where God showed me to get over my own pride and learn to live.

Everyones got a story

The first hurdle was when I saw my old school friends, teachers and uni lecturers come in. Id mumble through how this was only a small thing until I get back to using my degree and list of the small projects I was freelancing at the time. This isnt where I was supposed be.

But what changed me was my workmates, this wasnt a stop-gap for them. They are parents, empty nesters, young adults, migrants doing what they needed to support their families and lives. There work wasnt what made them, but just allowed them live their lives.

The road plan I had for my life was school, uni, work then progress from there. When that roadmap was disrupted, that deviation meant failure. But in a time where jobs were hard enough to come by, along with the stories of the people that came into the store, that vision was too small.

I didnt notice at the time but as I was looking down at the job I was working, I was simultaneously doing the same with people I worked with.

We can so easily be caught up in longing for more we what God is doing in us at the same.

In the beginning of the James letter to the church of Jerusalem, he informs them to have joy when they face trials, not if. Because when they do face trial, their faith can be built and that Christ in them is being formed at the same time.

Working in a petrol station, was a time I thought Id always hate. It turned out to be the place where Christ taught me to love others more. Whether its the butcher at 2am or the homeless man looking for a sausage roll, everyones got a story, are we willing to listen?
How was the UVA event? my mom excitedly asked my little sister over the phone. Instead of accompanying the rest of our family to a wedding over the weekend, my sister was dressed up to meet with representatives from the University of Virginia, or as I had come to know it, Virginia Techs a
Pharmacogenomics Market Research Report, By Technology (Microarray, Sequencing, Polymerase Chain Reaction) By Application (Cardiology, Neurological Disorders) By End Users (Hospitals, Research Organizations, Academic Institute)-Forecast till 2027

The global pharmacogenomics market is expected to grow at a ~CAGR of 5.8% during the forecasted period,

Get PDF Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1177

Drivers and Constraints Impacting the Market

With the growing prevalence of various infectious and non-infectious diseases, growing demand for personalized drugs, increasing usage in drug discovery process, and increasing awareness about the benefits of pharmacogenomics are stimulating the market during the assessment period. Pharmacogenomics offers effective treatment therapeutics which is both reliable and safe. Thus, increasing awareness about its benefits is anticipated to augment the market growth in the coming years. Also, innovation and rapid advancements of new healthcare technologies such as High Throughput Screening (HTS), next-generation sequencing, and Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) are further influencing the market growth.

On the flip side, lack of consistency in pharmacogenomics and lack of awareness are some of the key factors considered to impede the market growth in the coming years.

Latest Industry Updates

October 31, 2018: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently announced that they have approved the marketing of 23andMes reports on pharmacogenetics. The genetic-testing company claims are designed to assess whether the genetics will affect an individuals ability to metabolize certain drugs which include antidepressants.

Nov 2017: Myriad Genetics, Inc., announced positive results from a double-blind, multi-center, randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of the GeneSight Psychotropic test (GeneSight) on psychiatric treatment response in 1,200 patients with major depressive disorder. GeneSight is one of the leading pharmacogenomics test to help guide medication selection for mental health disorders.

Global Pharmacogenomics Market  Competitive Analysis

Pharmacogenomics in recent years has used a new generation of technology approaches that has led to a revolution in the understanding of disease susceptibility and pathophysiology, providing enormous potential for novel therapeutic strategies.

However, with companies aiming to capture a considerable share of the market segment as early as possible, they are competing and experimenting with various advantage points. The best long-term growth opportunities for this sector can be captured by ensuring ongoing process improvements and financial flexibility to invest in the best strategies.

The noteworthy players operating the global market are Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Israel), Assurex Health Inc. (U.S.), Future Science Group (U.S.), Pathway Genomics (U.S.), Myriad Genetics Inc. (U.S.), GeneDx. (U.S.), GeneTech (U.S.), 23andMe Inc. (U.S.), and others.

Global Pharmacogenomics Market: Segmental Analysis

The global pharmacogenomics market has been segmented on the basis of application, technology, end-user, and region.

By mode of technology, the global pharmacogenomics market has been segmented into sequencing, microarray, polymerase chain reaction, and others. Among these, the sequencing segment has been sub-segmented into pyrosequencing, Sanger sequencing, next-generation sequencing, and others.

By mode of application, the global pharmacogenomics market has been segmented into cardiology, oncology, neurological disorders, and others. Among these, the oncology segment has been sub-segmented into lung cancer, breast cancer, and others.

By mode of end-users, the global pharmacogenomics market has been segmented into research organizations, hospitals, academic institute, and others.

Regional Analysis of Pharmacogenomics Market

Geographically, the pharmacogenomics market span across regions namely, Europe, America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa.

The American region is considered to dominate the global pharmacogenomics market and is estimated to maintain its dominance during the assessment period. The growth is attributed to the presence of developed countries such as Canada and the U.S. along with a well-developed healthcare sector. Also, growing number of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases have stimulated the growth of the market in this region.

The European region is considered to be the second largest market owing to the availability of funds for research and development activities. Moreover, the presence of huge patient population is influencing the market positively. With the presence of developed countries such as France and Germany, the market is likely to flourish during the review period.

Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region owing to the continuously developing economies such as China and India and presence of huge patient population. Meanwhile, the Middle East and Africa hold the least share owing to the presence of poor economy, strict government policies, and low per capita healthcare expenditure in this region.

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North America Clinical Laboratory Test Market information, by Type of Laboratory (Hospital based, Central / Independent, Physician office laboratory and others), Type of Test (CBC and other routine blood test, anatomic pathology, molecular test, immunology test, drug test and others), Country (US, Canada, and Rest of North America), Forecast to 2027

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Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and current reimbursement scenario, helped the North America Clinical Laboratory Test Market to registered decent growth:

Segments:

The North America clinical laboratory test market is majorly segmented on the basis of type of laboratory, type of test, and by country. Based on the type of laboratory, the market is segmented into hospital based laboratory, central/ independent laboratory, physician office laboratory, and others. Based on type of test these are classified into CBC and other routine test, anatomic pathology, molecular test, immunology test, drug test and others. Further on the basis of country the market is classified into U.S., Canada, and Rest of North America.

Top Players:

The North America market consist of players such as AURORA Diagnostics (U.S.), Laboratory Corporation of America (U.S.), LifeLabs Medical Laboratories (Canada), Quest Diagnostics (U.S.), Sonic Healthcare (Australia) are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the North America Clinical Laboratory Test Market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis report.

Regional Analysis:

US accounts for the maximum market share of North America Clinical Laboratory testing market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecasted period. Maximum number of laboratories and clinical testing procedures are the major reason for the highest market growth of this region. Canada, is expected to be the fastest growing region with the CAGR of 6.3% during the forecasted period due to increasing cases of chronic disease and also because of new companies providing laboratory services entering Canadian market.

Competitive Analysis

Quest diagnostics and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings are the two biggest companies of the North America clinical laboratory testing market. Certainly, both the companies offer a wide range of diagnostic testing services, right from routine CBC testing to prenatal tests, and further to highly sensitive cancer and genetics tests.

Globally, Quest diagnostics is the largest independent research and testing lab, and commands around 17-18% share of the total market. LabCorp follows Quest and accounting for around 10-12% market share of the domestic market, but is growing at a faster pace than its main rival.

Merger & acquisitions with other companies and other small players was the key strategy adopted by the major players.

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At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Resear
Veterinary Medicine Market: Information By Animal Type (Domesticated and Companion), Product (Drugs and Vaccines), Route of Administration (Oral, Parental), Distribution Channel (Veterinary Hospitals & Clinics, Retail Stores, Online Pharmacies) and Region (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa) - Forecast till 2027

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Veterinary Medicine Market Dynamics

The major factors contributing to the growth of the market for veterinary medicines include an increase in the prevalence of infectious diseases among animals, an increase in the preferences of pet and poultry farmers, and the cost-effectiveness of such drugs. Government steps towards the welfare of domesticated animals and increasing demand for pet animals are critical drivers in the veterinary medicine market. In addition, a large number of clinical trials and innovative R&D approaches to advanced drugs are driving the market growth. However, high costs of animal health care and lack of awareness of animal health in emerging nations are constraining market growth. Technological advances, such as an increase in medical applications and healthy quality products, offer a range of opportunities for business development.

Veterinary Medicine Market Segmentation

The global market for veterinary medicine has been segmented based on products, animals, route of administration, and end-users.

Based on the products, the global veterinary medicine market has been segmented into injury medicine, disorder medicine, and diagnosis medicine.

Based on the animals, the global veterinary medicine market has been segmented into companion and domesticated animals.

Based on the route of administration, the global veterinary medicine market has been segmented into Parental, oral, and topical.

Based on end-users, the global veterinary medicine market has been segmented into research institutions, veterinary hospitals, veterinary clinics, and others.

Veterinary Medicine Market Regional Analysis

Regionally, the global veterinary medicine market has been segmented into the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.

The Americas dominates the global market for veterinary medicine as it is a well-developed country and has strong animal welfare policies. The Americas have a considerable market share due to high expenditure on health care, especially in the United States and Canada. The high concentration of major veterinary hospitals in the developed countries of the region, combined with reasonable reimbursement rates, adds fuel to the markets growth. The consolidation of major healthcare players in the U.S. also leads to market growth due to an increase in the purchasing power of healthcare players, which results in economies of scale.

Europe is the second-largest market globally due to the growth of the healthcare industry and the penetration of healthcare. European market growth is driven by countries such as Germany and France. Germany is projected to be the fastest-growing market in the evaluation period due to its large pharmaceutical industry. Europes record for the second-largest sector is attributed to animal favored government policies, and tax incentives for pet animals.

The Asia Pacific region is projected to expand rapidly; China and India are likely to lead this market due to the fast-growing healthcare sector, and significant unmet needs over the forecast period. Southeast Asian countries such as China, India, and Malaysia are expected to make a substantial contribution to business growth. The increasing penetration of the veterinary industry in the Asia Pacific expected to fuel the future market for veterinary medicine. Growing awareness of private veterinary clinics and animal welfare among citizens, increasing NGOs working for the welfare of animals and a government campaign for the welfare of pet animals are driving the growth of the market in this region.

Gulf nations such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia are estimated to be driving the Middle East & African market. Other Middle East countries to watch out for are Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and Iran. The African region is projected to experience poor growth due to weak economic and political conditions and inadequate health care development. Other regions are expected to be lagging due to poor social development and tribal identities, such as sub-Saharan Africa. In the Middle East and Africa, lack of awareness and not much development in animal welfare has resulted in limited growth in the region.

Veterinary Medicine Market Key Players

Zoetis, Inc. (Pfizer), Bayer Healthcare AG, Ceva Sante Animale, Merck & Co., Inc. (Intervet), Vetoquinol SA, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Eli Lilly and Company (Elanco/Novartis), Nutreco N.V. and Sanofi S.A. (MERIAL Limited), Virbac S.A. Leading animal feed additive manufacturers are ADM Alliance Nutrition, Koninklijke DSM N.V and Evonik Industries AG, and Cargill Inc. (Provimi).

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Oct. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacinda Ardern's government will face growing calls to deliver on election promises as the covid crisis subsides, according to new research from Lord Ashcroft Polls. Ardern remains the country's most popular politician and voters give her high marks for dealing with most aspects of the pandemic, but questions remain over delivery in key policy areas like crime, transport, health and housing a the most important issue for voters. Lord Ashcroft's research a comprising a 5,000-sample poll and focus groups throughout the country a also explores voters' views of life and opportunity, indigenous rights, the country's place in the world, and current social and cultural issues. The findings include a revealing exploration of how voters see New Zealand's leading politicians and their parties. In his introduction to the report, Lord Ashcroft writes: "Most still feel lucky to be in what they believe is still one of the best places in the world to live, but pressures are crowding in. The cost of living was spiralling, people told us; healthcare was not what it should be, transport infrastructure was lacking, and crime was becoming a frightening feature of daily life in what people had always considered an unusually safe and peaceful country. "Nor is Ardern herself politically invulnerable. Her saintly demeanour has so far served her well, but there is a feeling that she benefits from very professional but tightly controlled PR. When we asked our focus groups to imagine each political party as a house, most thought Labour's would be a normal, cheerful, comfortable sort of place a but 'there would be portrait of Jacinda in the hallway, like Mother Theresa' and the Prime Minister herself would be in the kitchen, pretending to cook.' "No-one will criticise a leader for good presentation, but these things could soon start to grate as attention turns from the pandemic towards her biggest Achilles heel: delivery. The failure of the Kiwibuild scheme to come anywhere close to meeting its homebuilding targets is only the most glaring example of the gap people are beginning to see between empathy and results." Meanwhile, the National Party "seems to people to be divided and demoralized, and with no clear sense of direction. It is hard to escape the parallels with the UK Conservatives in the early years of Tony Blair, when the Tories found it hard to gain a foothold in public debate... There are no shortcuts back to power for a party ejected from office." Lord Ashcroft concludes: "Voters are willing to cut the government some slack while it deals with a crisis. But the post-covid questions are piling up. Before long, they will be looking for answers." Living the Kiwi Dream? Politics and Public Opinion in New ZealandA is available to download for free from LordAshcroftPolls.com, together with full data tables from the poll. LORD ASHCROFT KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. He is a former treasurer and deputy chairman of the UK Conservative Party, and honorary chairman and a former treasurer of the International Democrat Union. Lord Ashcroft has been polling since 2005, mostly in the UK, the US and Europe, winning a reputation for objective and impartial research and analysis. Living the Kiwi Dream? is his first polling project in New Zealand. LordAshcroftPolls.comA //A LordAshcroft.comA //A Twitter/Facebook: @LordAshcroft Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1674223/Living_the_Kiwi_Dream_cover.jpg A A A
HOHHOT, China, Oct. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --A On October 28, 2021, Yili Group released its financial results for the first three quarters of 2021. During the period, Yili achieved a total operating revenue of RMB 85.007 billion and a net profit of RMB 7.967 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 15.23% and 31.82%, respectively. Both indicators reached a record high, and the profit growth of more than 30% far outstripped expectations. Yili's net profit in the first three quarters has exceeded that of last year, signaling a new outlook for the company's growth prospects. The performance also indicated that Yili is now expected to become the first dairy company in Asia to exceed RMB 100 billion in revenue. As Pan Gang, the Chairman of Yili Group, said, "We will invest more in the tracks focused on new consumption trends and aspire to do our best in each of them. We will also accelerate our digital transformation to boost the overall operational efficiency of the Group, in a bid to achieve our strategic objectives." Core products maintain stable growth, while new growth drivers emerge Yili has continued to stand out as the pacesetter of the market in liquid milk, ice cream, and other products. Yili Satine Organic Milk, AMBPOMIAL, and Changqing have clinched first place in their respective market segments. New product sales have risen strongly, with brand potential beginning to emerge as the new force underpinning Yili's performance growth. High-growth categories, including cheese, mineral water, low-temperature milk, and milk formula, have all sustained rapid growth. Yili's Xinhuo adult milk powder has led the market segment in sales volume, while Jinlingguan has been the infant formula brand which has seen the most rapid growth in China's market. During the first three quarters of 2021, Yili's infant formula category has reached a growth rate of more than 30% year-on-year. Yili has now covered major consumption scenarios of cheese. The first three quarters saw a year-on-year increase of 180% in the total retail sales of Yili's cheese business. Strengthening infant formula leadership and entering the nutrition product market Yili has proactively enriched categories and its strategic cooperation since the beginning of 2021. On October 27, 2021, Yili joined hands with goat milk leader Ausnutria Dairy and became the latter's largest shareholder. Ausnutria also features a comprehensive layout in nutrition products and has been licensed with China's quality mark for healthcare products. This will significantly facilitate Yili's future expansion in the health food market. Digitalization empowers the industry to improve operational efficiency Yili has established a dedicated team working in digitalization since 2019 and has developed its digitalization-oriented transformation strategy for the next decade, laying out a roadmap for marketing, products and supply chains. "Digital transformation should be accelerated to ensure our consumer-oriented practice in terms of brand-building and product innovation. That is the major task for Yili in 2021," according to Pan Gang. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1674550/Yili_Group_Revenue.jpg
RIYADH, UAE, Oct. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jazeera Paints, a leading paint manufacturer in the MENA region, is proud to announce that its FIREDAMP W3, a high-quality, fire-proofing paint, has been certified as a Clean Air Gold, a certificate by Intertek, a multinational assurance, inspection, and product testing and certification company, thatA acknowledges the high-quality and eco-friendliness of FIREDAMP W3 paint as one of the first fire-proofing paints certified in MENA markets. The fire-proofing paints are a type of paintsA that aids in preventing the spread of fire and limiting its impact on buildings. The importance of fire-proofing paints stems from building's security and safety. "When a fire occurs," Hani Saraya, Project Sales Manager at Jazeera Paints,A explains, "the paint swells due to heat exposure, creating a protective layer, the layer expands due to the gases released by the fire, then, works as a barrier that suppresses the gas inside, preventing the high heat generated by fire from reaching the surface, and helps prevent building collapse." The market is filled with various types of fire-proofing products depending on the building and surface. Jazeera Paints, however, has highly dependable formulations of fire-proofing paints that encompass a broad range of buildings and surfaces such as iron, wood, gypsum, etc. "We, at Jazeera Paints, are proud to offer Firedamp W3 to our clients as the first certified fire-proofing paints, proving our commitment to regional fulfilment at an affordable price with the highest quality," Saraya adds. Jazeera Paints also offers a list of top-performing, fire-proofing products for each type of surface. Many of these products haveA been utilized in a host of mega-projects across Saudi Arabia. These products include Firedamp 263, a fire-proofing paint that is used on iron surfaces, such as columns and beams; Firewood 150, one of the finest fire-proofing paint for wooden surfaces for its quality of suppressing heat from spreading and protecting wooden materials from collapsing; and FIRETECH, a fire-proofingA paint that is used on gypsum surfaces. All experts strongly recommend using fire-proofing products to limit the devastating impact of fire accidents.A You may findA fire-proofing products available to order from the official Jazeera Paints website at https://jazeerapaints.com along with experts to assist you in your paint selection. Follow us onA https://twitter.com/JPaintsGlobal. About Jazeera Paints Founded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1979, Jazeera Paints is a pioneering paint manufacturer in the GCC and MENA, with an established reputation for manufacturing and exporting high-quality and eco-friendly paints. ItA is a leading company in the paint industry and the first manufacturer to launch "Green Products" that meet the requirements of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the MENA region. Through the Jazeera Paints Academy, Jazeera Paints endeavors to raise the level of quality and progress of the paint industry in the region. In 2012, the academy became the first institution to offer specialized training in paint manufacturing and applications in the GCC and MENA. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1674625/Jazeera_Paints_Fire_Paint.jpgA A
Henderson said in a telephone interview Friday that he cursed at the man but did not use a racial slur. He swore because the employee said, If I have to wear a mask, you do, and kicked him out of the store, throwing his credit card at him, Henderson said. He also said the man followed him out of the store and pushed him as he was getting back into his car, causing him to fall to the ground. Henderson said he didnt spit at him in the store, although he couldnt say for sure that no one spit toward the employee outside.
In January, few people had been vaccinated. Cities and towns continued to adjust to the constraining realities of a public health crisis. How much money West Haven had available to spend from those federal COVID-19 funds ought to have received city officials daily attention. But they did not. Cities get bank statements. More than one person in West Haven must have been responsible for reconciling them. DiMassa, records reveal, did attend one MARB meeting this year  in April, when the board discussed COVID-19 expenses in its budget, of course.
As for critical race theory, we dont know where the district will go in 10 years [so] were running to make sure it stays  small-town Coventry, pushing all our kids to reach their potential and not letting anything infiltrate our schools that would derail that goal,' Christina Williams said. You very much have to look at whats happening on a national level and say what do we need to do to maintain Coventry  and keep our students  at goal and reaching their potential and get rid of all the noise.
Lesser, who Hearst CT reported has filed paperwork indicating he is exploring a statewide run, is one of the Connecticut legislatures most prolific tweeters and frequently engages with Republican critics over social media. He went back and forth with top Republicans several times on Sunday, and accused Proto of having a double-standard when it comes to Nazi references.
From Elizabeth Strout, Oh William! (Random House, 256 pp.) In this second Lucy Barton novel, Lucy tries to understand her attachment to her ex-husband and what shes gotten wrong about their relationship, Connie Ogle writes, calling the book worth reading though not as powerful as My Name is Lucy Barton. Strout brings Lucy slowly into a sharper focus, homing in on her loneliness ... and her nagging certainty that her impoverished childhood has marked her forever as an outsider.
Lubbock, TX (79409)

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Some clouds. Low 43F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..

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Some clouds. Low 43F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.
Mumbai: Fashion model Munmun Dhamecha was released from the Byculla women's jail here on Sunday, three days after she was granted bail in the cruise drugs case in which she was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3.

The Bombay High Court had on Thursday granted bail to her along with co-accused Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, and Arbaaz Merchant.

On Friday afternoon, the HC made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

The release order of Dhamecha was put in the bail box outside the Byculla jail late Saturday evening, after the bond process was completed.

Dhamecha's advocate Ali Kaashif Khan on Sunday said, "She has been released from the jail after completion of all the legal formalities. We are now going to file an application before the NCB seeking permission to allow her to go Madhya Pradesh, as she hails from there."

Her co-accused Arbaaz Merchant, who is lodged at the Arthur Road jail, is yet to be released.

Aryan Khan, who was also lodged in the Arthur Road jail following arrest in the case, returned home on Saturday.

The HC had in its detailed order asked Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha to appear before the NCB's Mumbai office every Friday between 11.00 am to 2.00 pm to mark their presence.

On October 2, the NCB had raided the Goa-bound cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized drugs onboard.
Adilabad MP Soyam Bapurao on Saturday said union ministry of railways has sanctioned Rs 17.97 crore for establishing a new railway pit line at the Adilabad railway station. (PTI file photo)

ADILABAD: Adilabad MP Soyam Bapurao on Saturday said union ministry of railways has sanctioned Rs 17.97 crore for establishing a new railway pit line at the Adilabad railway station.

Speaking to media persons here on Saturday, the BJP MP thanked union minister Ashvini Vaishnav for sanctioning the pit line after he demanded it in Parliament for Adilabad railway station.

Soyam Bapurao criticised TRS and its leaders for projecting it as though the pit line has been sanctioned because of efforts they had made in the past.

The BJP MP maintained that it is he who has got funds sanctioned by central government for laying national highway from Nirmal to Jagdalpur costing Rs 900 crore, Bhainsa to Sangareddy costing Rs1,200 crore, Rebbena-Wankidi costing Rs 1,200 crore, Rs 360 crore for laying roads in Naxal-affected areas in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district, Rs 180 crore under PMGSY and Rs150 crore for super speciality hospital at RIMS in Adilabad.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Southern Air Command of the India Air Force (IAF) conducted a "Unity Run" on Sunday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the country's independence.

The event is part of a series of programmes and activities the central government has planned this year to celebrate 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' in view of the 75th anniversary of India's independence, a Defence Ministry release said.

IAF is conducting the Unity Run at all its stations across India and therefore, will be a part of the Limca book of Indian Records for mass participation, it said.

All Air Force personnel, including civilian employees and their families, of Southern Air Command at Akkulam and Air Force Station Shangumugham here participated in the event, the release said.

The 7.5 kilometre Unity Run was flagged off by Air Marshal J Chalapati -- the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief -- from the Southern Air Command, Akkulam.

On the occasion, two air warriors Sgt Noah Nirmal Tom and Sgt Alex Antony who represented India in the 2020 Olympics at Tokyo were facilitated by Air Marshal J Chalapati, the release said.
These elections scheduled to be held in May, were postponed due to the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. (Representational Photo: AFP)

Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India on Sunday issued the schedule to hold biennial elections to fill six Legislative Council seats under the MLA quota. The TRS has the numbers in the Assembly to win all six MLC seats.

The notification comes just two days ahead of the result for the crucial Huzurabad bypoll result which is expected on Tuesday.

The Huzurabad result is expected to impact the selection of the TRS candidates for the MLC polls as TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has to do a balancing act.

TRS sources said if the TRS wins the Huzurabad bypoll, Chandrashekar Rao will have a free hand to select candidates for the MLC polls. If it loses, Rao will have to use the elections for damage control, especially to silence voices of dissent from seniors who have been expecting berths for a long.

Rao had promised a Council seat to M.C. Kotireddy from the Nagarjunasagar constituency during the bypoll in April. Prem Singh Rathore from Goshamahal constituency and several others who could not be accommodated in the Cabinet and could not be given tickets to contest elections are also in the line for Council seats.

The election will be held on November 29. These elections scheduled to be held in May, were postponed due to the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

The notification will be released November 9 from when nominations will be accepted. The last day for submission of nominations is November 16.

Scrutiny will be held on November 17, while the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is November 22. Polling if required will be held from 9 am to 4 pm on November 29, followed by counting of votes from 5 pm. The results will be announced on the same day. The elections will be held in strict adherence to Covid-19 protocol.

According to a release from the ECI, the term of six members of Legislative Council expired on June 3: Former chairman Gutha Sukhender Reddy, Deputy Chairman Neti Vidyasagar, Kadiyam Srihari, Akula Lalitha and Bodakunti Venkateshwarlu, all from the TRS.
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US President Joe Biden attempted to make amends to the French president after the AUKUS deal caused a rift. The foreign policy, which is done the least effectively, has allies doubt results from its implementation.

French leader Emmanuel Macron has not said much on the status of the three members of the submarine deal.Even with admissions of making a mistake, the US leader has asked the UK, especially since Paris didn't kick out its ambassadors. But, later talks resumed relations.

Australia, France cancelled submarine deal

Last Friday, Washington asked for Macron's forgiveness, how the nuclear submarine pact crossed the line, and how allies are supposed to regard each other, reported the Express UK.

The Biden administration caused the French government billions for subverting its defense contract for diesel submarines and still claiming that Australia did not intentionally keep the offended party in the dark before they told them the deal was off through a message only.

Biden and Macron speak. "What happened was clumsy" says the US President (referring to the announcement of the AUKUS arrangement) @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/6IwndM62ew  Ben Lewis (@benlewismedia) October 29, 2021

Coincidentally the US leader went to the Vatican to iron out what seems to be stoicism in the French reaction.

Canceled deal that breaks Paris' trust

It's been a month since the US and UK with Australia forged the AUKUS Deal to develop nuke submarines for Canberra. Despite the deal made earlier being undermined intentionally, Paris called it a deal, breaking trust in allies' best interest.

According to Canberra, the diesel subs weren't sufficient, and it chose the AUKUS deal. Not only did it jeopardize the deal, but it has marred the relations of Joe Biden and the French president.

Read Also: New Zealand Open To Join the AUKUS Defense Deal; Move Could Start Nuclear Arms Race in Indo-Pacific

Despite what the US said, the escalation has harmed the EU more than the US drove rifts itself, cited the South China Morning Post.

Even the US leader found the reaction of Paris feeling betrayed, and some members of the EU took the side of Paris. His remarks on the matter are even worse, alleged sources that his foreign policy is not up to it and severely lacking.

According to Ben Lewis, SBS Chief International Correspondent, posted on Twitter, it's a start when Biden and Macron were shaking hands. Although, other partners like the London and Canberra might be in the pound. The formal apology done by the US leader is seen as weak by some who are not pleased with Paris getting the upper hand.

Roverchuck, one user posted on social media, mentions that the guy should be flown back to his basement, referring to the US leader. He added all the policies are bad and are shaming the US internationally.

A bitter row between Paris and London over fishing rights has been brewing, considering how diplomatic ties with Australia will play out. The US and UK are doing better with the French, but Canberra is still in the ringer. As appeasement, Biden has said that France is an important partner and ally.

President Macron's answer if he was pleased with the US imploring to restore relations when asked, adding that everything had been made clear. He commented the incident hopefully would not be repeated.

As the French leader kept mum during the meeting regarding other requests, one unnamed official said France was willing to move forward.

Joe Biden and French President Macron are still working on their differences brought about by the AUKUS deal with their respective governments.

Related Article: French Leader Called Off Meeting with Australia Over AUKUS Despite Meeting with Joe Biden

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ukraine fears Russian reprisals after using UAVs to attack separatists when the Kremlin deployed armored units and defenses. Moscow officials sent the units to cities close to the shared border to prevent any hostilities pour-over.

The appearance of drones in the conflict with Russian-backed separatists is feared as an unwanted development by Moscow.

Between Russia and Ukraine, both countries are not on good terms as the US and UK have thrown their support to Kyiv.

Fears of impending war near the Ukrainian border

The recent drone strikes carried out by Ukraine against separatists in its eastern provinces have been a cause of concern, noted Moscow, reported the Express UK.

Footage of the armored units of the Russian armed forces has been posted on social media, and all are deployed in the west of Russian. One of the clips was uploaded on October 27, showing rail trains with main battle tanks, fuel trucks, ambulances, and BYR-80 armored personnel carriers.

The movement of Soviet hardware was seen and recorded by a civilian going to Kursk city, cited Twitter.

One of the videos that the same motorist filmed saw the Iskander tactical missile system on the move on a road near the city of Bryansk.

Military officials have great concern that Kursk and Bryansk cities are close to 200-kilometers from the Ukraine border.

It appears that Voronezh Maslovka railway station is again packed with the Russian military equipment, just like in April.



Comms vehicles, 2S19 Msta-S SPGs on wagons, BMPs, MT-LB armored vehicles and more. pic.twitter.com/pOZhSaNRF4  Status-6 (@Archer83Able) October 28, 2021

Other clips show the Maslovka railway station located in Voronezh crammed with Russian military hardware, like in April, Russia sent 10,000 troops to the Ukrainian borders.

Russian military hardware deployed

Armed units consisted of 2S19 "Msta-S" howitzers, BMP AFVs, and Mt-LB multi-purpose armored carrier that was on the move to secure the border. This fuels Ukraine's fears of Russian reprisals because of the deployment.

A video, said to be filmed on October 27 in the Bryansk Oblast, of Iskander tactical missile systems on the move (presumably 442th Missile Brigade from Kursk). pic.twitter.com/W4RXkH1XCo  Status-6 (@Archer83Able) October 28, 2021

Read Also: Russia Fires at Practice Targets in Crimean Waters To Warn Off US and UK From Further Territorial Violations

Michael Kofman, a director of Russia Studies at the Centre for Naval Analyses (CNA), said this about the situation. He stated that a military movement could be observed and a concern, and it might develop into a serious situation.

Kofman added there might be something happening soon, like in the winter of 2015. But it is not a drill at all, and there are wars in the winter.

During January 2015, a breakout of hostilities involving Ukrainian forces and separatists with the Kremlin's backing. That went on after the ceasefire fell apart in September 2014, called the Minsk Protocol.

It was the one thing keeping a shooting war from erupting, its cessation was unfortunate. Next was a series of armed clashes at the Donetsk International Airport and at Debaltseve, followed by a truce on February 12, 2015, the Minsk II.

Ukrainian drone attack ignites conflict

Next, this week, the use of TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV), made by Turkey to conduct strikes against separatists at Donbas.

One report said a D-30 howitzer was fired on, called a retaliatory strike note by the Ministry of Defense. Previously, two Ukrainian soldiers died after an antigovernment militia attacked them, note the Moscow Times.

Donetsk rebels alleged that Kiev authored a drone attack against an oil facility in Donetsk last Thursday, claiming it failed to cause damage.

A Russian state body on defense said that Ukraine should restrain itself, or the conflict might be more than it bargained for. The move of armor made and Ukraine fears Russian reprisals, but it is own doing allegedly.

Related Article: Putin Slams the West for Military Support of Ukraine; Russia Outrageous at the US for Dubious Moves

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
British PM Boris Johnson spoke to the Chinese leader Xi Jinping who allegedly snubbed coming to the COP26 Summit for climate goals.

China is the only nation to discard the 1.5 Celsius goal, which many nations are unwilling to comply with because it is unrealistic.

Ironically, the push for fewer carbon emissions comes when alternative energy has failed, and Russia sticking to non-renewables is getting pressured to increase natural gas and coal supplies.

UK PM Johnson proposes goals for the COP26 Summit

PM Johnson informed that President Xi had a call between them. He added that commitment to lowering emissions in his country is ignored, reported the Daily Mail.

A call with the Chinese leader confirmed that President Xi would not attend the Summit in person but only through video conferencing.

The non-appearance of the People's Republic of China has made the scheduled meeting in Glasgow a negative because of adherence to older goals which is alleged to have been achieved. New goals are of no interest.

Our objectives for @COP26 are clear.



This is not a chance we can miss.

#CoalCarsCashTrees pic.twitter.com/QtK6LQ0LkZ  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 26, 2021

China is considered to have the highest CO2 emission from any nation, although it submitted an updated plan to the COP26. It plans to reach zero carbon by 2060, with emission peaking by 2030, noted the Straits Times.

Chinese President Xi will attend through video conferencing only

On the way to the G20 Summit, Johnson had a chat with reporters and related his talk with President Xi. Johnson added that he thanked the leader concerning overseas coal.

PM Johnson spoke of emissions with the Chinese leader, who said their carbon emissions will peak by 2030. The prime minister tried to convince Jinping to make 2025 the target date, but 2030 was final.

Read Also: UN Climate Change Conference 2016: Russia, China Not Attending While US Will Join COP26; Will It End Up in Disagreement?

Stating in the conversation where it bordered on alleged preaching is to move away from using coal as an energy source, which will help lessen carbon gas.

He added that coal is needed for China's growing economy, adding that the UK has moved to one percent coal use from eighty percent before by making use of electricity, cited the SCMP.

PM Johnson reminded President Xi when he went to Beijing in 2008, and the UK was forty percent coal-dependent, even convincing the latter that the shift to clean energy could be fast.

According to Downing Street, the transcript of the call between the two leaders shows that China is willing to limit climate change.

The Number 10 spokesperson stated that the UK PM had stressed all nations to get on the COP26 bandwagon against climate change.

He emphasized that to cut CO2 emissions and move to clean energy, with leaving out coal despite its advantages over renewables.

Beijing submits climate reforms before the COP26 Summit

Downing Street mentioned where their leaders are not in agreement, where they clash in some issues. One is the happenings in Hong Kong which have lessened democracy, and the human rights abuse in Xinjiang. Although, common interests exist where cooperation is possible.

Britain sets the target for zero-emission by 2050, asking other countries to follow. But, some countries cannot afford the shift and are still developing.

Alok Sharma, the COP26 President, was not pleased with PM Johnson's statements that he wanted all to adhere. But detractors call the Summit a huge failure in the making, like what the Chinese leader Xi does by not attending personally.

PM Boris Johnson even said that Beijing stonewalled the COP26 Summit by not minding its goals. Many pro-green energy proponents are lambasting such countries as Russia, which is not having an energy shortage. This is a stark contrast to renewables that have failed when non-renewables have fared better.

Related Article: Russia Survives Energy Crunch With Fossil Fuels; Moscow has the Advantage Over the West That Fears the Kremlin

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
As the country's deteriorating economic crisis and widespread famine persist, the Taliban administration has appealed to international nations to unfreeze billions of dollars in central bank currency reserves held in foreign banks.

Taliban Asked The United States To Unfreeze Its Financial Assets

In a published article in Newsweek, during a meeting with US officials in Doha, the Taliban delegation requested the United States of America to unfreeze Afghanistan's central bank deposits. It was the first formal meeting between the two parties since the Taliban gained control of Kabul's government.

According to a statement released by the interim Taliban officials, political concerns were addressed in depth at the conference, and the Islamic Emirate saw full implementation of the Doha Agreement as the best method to resolve conflicts.

When asked whether the Taliban delegation brought up the matter of providing cash to the Afghan central bank during the meeting, spokeswoman Suhail Shaheen responded that all issues of importance were addressed by both sides. Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who led the Taliban delegation, pushed the US to unfreeze Afghanistan's central bank funds, according to a published article in India Today.

Read Also: IMF Refuses to Release $450 Million to Afghanistan; Taliban Cannot Access Most Afghan Central Bank Assets

Billions of Dollars Stored in Foreign Countries

Prior to the Taliban's takeover, Afghanistan's government had billions of dollars in reserves stashed in institutions throughout the world, including the US Federal Reserve and a number of European central banks. These governments choose to freeze these assets after the fall of the Western-backed Afghan government.

Finance ministry spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal said "The money belongs to the Afghan nation. Just give us our own money. Freezing this money is unethical and is against all international laws and values," according to a published report in Reuters.

Meanwhile, Haqmal said that the Taliban rule will protect human rights, with the exception of LGBTQ+ persons, and that women would be allowed to attend school. Women were barred from work and education under the Taliban's previous administration, which lasted from 1996 to 2001, and they were not permitted to walk to specific locations without the presence of a male. The regime's human rights violations have been a focal focus of Western disapproval.

Humanitarian Catastrophe in Afghanistan Looms

A humanitarian disaster looms in Afghanistan, according to Human Rights Watch, as the country's banks remain shuttered and food prices continue to rise. Prior to the regime shift, 30 percent of the nation was suffering from severe food insecurity. According to the most recent statistics acquired by the World Food Programme, that figure has now grown to almost 50 percent.

In a published article in The Guardian, Western powers have tried to avert a humanitarian tragedy, but these countries have refused to recognize the new administration. While the US has said that it would not hand over the majority of Afghanistan's assets, certain European countries have stated that they will consider doing so.

Germany owns around half a billion dollars in Afghan finances, while Switzerland has about $660 million. According to Shah Mehrabi, a member of the Afghan Central Bank's board of directors, the government needs $150 million every month to avert an "imminent disaster." If Iran does not get such funding, Europe may be forced to bear part of the country's agony, according to Mehrabi.

Related Article: World Bank Cuts Off Disbursement of Money to Afghanistan; China Sends Food and Winter Supplies



@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Shinhan Financial Group Deputy President Park Sung-hyun speaks during the 2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Lee Min-hyung



Shinhan Financial Group has pledged to keep developing its measurement system for environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) management to maximize its financial impact across society.



Back in November 2019, the nation's top-tier financial holding firm developed what it called the Social Value Measurement Framework (SVMF) in partnership with Yonsei University.



The company said it would continue to systemize the SVMF, so its affiliates can design their business strategies not just for reaping profits, but also for maximizing social value.



"We have triple bottom lines when pursuing ESG, including eco-friendliness, co-prosperity and trust," Shinhan Financial Group Deputy President Park Sung-hyun said during the 2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum at the KCCI building in downtown Seoul, Friday.



Under the three pillars, the company runs nine ESG activities, including finance education, social donations and financial customer protection, according to the Shinhan executive.











SK Group Vice President Kwon Key-joon, center, speaks during the 2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in Seoul, Friday. From left are Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin, Kwon and Shinhan Financial Group Deputy President Park Sung-hyun. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
McKinsey & Company Korea Senior Partner Richard Lee, left, moderates a panel discussion during the 2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum held in the KCCI building in Seoul, Friday. Second from left are BlackRock Korea Country Head Choi Man-yeon, Swiss Re Korea Branch Head Jonas von Oldenskiold and National Pension Service Global Responsible Investment & Governance Division Head Yi Dong-sub. BNP Paribas Asset Management Global Client Group Head Steven Billiet's face is seen on the screen as he joined the event online. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Kim Jae-heun



Global investors with expertise in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles proposed their investment principles for the post-COVID-19 era, as the role of ESG has greatly expanded as a key facilitator to promote sustainable growth. They further gave advice on how to better cope with ESG-led changes and what changes companies should pursue for each principle of ESG.



Moderated by McKinsey & Company Korea Senior Partner Richard Lee, the four representatives from the National Pension Service (NPS), BNP Paribas Asset Management, BlackRock Korea and Swiss Re Korea Branch shared their insights into and strategies for ESG investment principles during the 2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum at the KCCI building in Seoul, Friday.



Lee opened the discussion by introducing the participants, whose organizations he said represent over $10 trillion that is being managed around the world.



"BlackRock alone has $9.5 trillion, and the NPS also has close to $1 trillion. As they say, follow the money. Money flow really helps understand how the world will move," Lee said.





BlackRock Korea Country Head Choi Man-yeon speaks during the panel discussion of the 2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum held at the KCCI building in Seoul, Oct. 29. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



BlackRock Korea Country Head Choi Man-yeon started with a brief speech on his company's sustainable investments spanning a range of strategies combining traditional investment approaches with ESG insights to deliver both financial and purpose-driven outcomes.



"We believe that sustainable investing is not a temporary theme but is going mainstream. We believe that integrating material sustainability-related insights into our investment processes will improve long-term risk-adjusted returns," Choi said.



It is BlackRock's investment conviction that climate risk is investment risk. Climate change has become a defining factor in companies' long-term prospects. BlackRock seek to provide clients with a clear picture of how sustainability-related issues affect risk and long-term financial performance.



At the time of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's 2020 letter to CEOs, the fiduciary announced commitments that included additional efforts towards cutting out investments in some coal-related businesses from some of its portfolios and increasing the number of sustainability-focused funds that it offers.









Swiss Re Korea Branch Head Jonas von Oldenskiold shared his company's perspective on the environmental challenges.



Mitigating climate risk and advancing the energy transition is one of the three ambitious areas in which Swiss Re has significant knowledge and capacities.



"There has been a drag on economic growth, GDP of 1.6 percent over the last 50 years on average, as a result of natural catastrophes and other climate change-related perils," Oldenskiold said. "Our job is to take risk and we are getting exposed to climate change. If we look back in 2020, we had $190 billion of economic losses that was created by climate change-related perils. Roughly, only $90 million of those were insured, so there is still a big gap."





McKinsey Korea Senior Partner Richard Lee speaks during a panel discussion of the 2021 Korea Times Global ESG Forum held at the KCCI building in Seoul, Oct. 29. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
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.


President Moon Jae-in presents Pope Francis with a cross made out of barbwire from the Demilitarized Zone separating South and North Korea, during their meeting in Vatican City, Friday (local time). Courtesy of the Vatican



Washington, Pyongyang may wait to see next Seoul administration's move



By Nam Hyun-woo



President Moon Jae-in is making a pitch for his Korean Peninsula peace initiative during his meetings with the pope and global leaders, but he is facing a limit in drawing desirable responses, as those leaders and countries are not feeling the same sense of urgency as Moon, whose presidency will end in May next year, in tackling North Korea issues.



Moon met Pope Francis on Friday and asked him to visit North Korea to facilitate a peace mood in inter-Korean relations. The pope showed a positive response to the offer, saying he is willing to go if he receives an invitation from the North.



"Moon told the pope that his visit to North Korea will become a momentum for peace on the Korean Peninsula and Koreans are pinning high hopes on that," presidential spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee said. "The pope responded that if he receives an invitation from the North, he will visit to help Koreans and for peace."



Despite the amicable rhetoric, Cheong Wa Dae did not elaborate whether Moon and the pope exchanged further details such as pre-communication between Seoul and Pyongyang on the potential papal visit or the North's intention to invite the worldwide leader of the Catholic Church.









Due to this, critics said last week's meeting had no tangible progress from September 2018, when Moon suggested the papal visit to the North and its leader Kim Jong-un showed a positive response. In the following month during his first meeting with the pope, Moon talked about the issue and the pope made the same response at the time  he would go if Kim invites him. However, the North has yet to send any invitation to the Vatican.



The Vatican issued a press release on Moon's meeting with the pope mentioning the two shared hopes for peace on the Korean Peninsula, but it made no mention of the offer for the papal visit to Pyongyang, which was contradicting to Cheong Wa Dae's promotion on the pope's intention to visit the North. When asked about any tangible progress since 2018, a Cheong Wa Dae official said, "It was meaningful to reaffirm the pope's intention to visit North Korea."



Since the Vatican's diplomatic protocol requires a country's invitation for a papal trip, Pope Francis' visit to North Korea largely hinges on Kim's decision. However, the current inter-Korean relations are trapped in a stalemate, with the North firing new missiles despite Moon's proposal to officially end the Korean War.



Against this backdrop, time is running out for Moon. South Korea will enter election mode early next year and hold a presidential election in March, thus both the U.S. and North Korea are taking time to address Moon's proposal, apparently considering the possibility of South Korea's shift in North Korea policy with the changing of administrations.





President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden during their encounter on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rome, Saturday (local time). Yonhap
President Moon Jae-in arrives for the G20 leaders summit in Rome, Oct. 30. Reuters-Yonhap



South Korean President Moon Jae-in and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed Saturday to step up efforts to boost the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to developing nations, the presidential office said.



Moon met with the European Union leader on the sidelines of this year's summit of the Group of 20 major economies that opened in the Italian capital on Saturday for a two-day run.



The two leaders agreed to jointly take steps to increase the supply of vaccines to developing nations in a smooth and equitable manner as the pandemic has proven that no one is safe until everyone is safe, the presidential office said in a statement.



They also discussed bilateral trade issues and cooperation on climate change responses as well as ways to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.






By Bahk Eun-ji



Teachers' groups are calling for a thorough investigation and heavy punishment for an elementary school principal who was arrested for allegedly installing a hidden camera in a restroom for female faculty members.



Members of the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations and its Gyeonggi Province branch issued a joint statement, Friday, calling for strong punishment of the principal to discourage others from committing such voyeuristic sex crimes.





A spycam installed in a tissue box was found recently in a restroom for female teachers at an elementary school in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province. The principal of the school who installed the camera was arrested, Saturday. Courtesy of Gyeonggi teachers' union
Former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, right, speaks during local elections in support of Park Soo-hyun of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in this April 2020 file photo. Im is considered a possible candidate for the ruling DPK to run in the Jongno by-election next March. Korea Times file



By Kwon Mee-yoo



The legislative by-elections for two constituencies in Seoul, to be held in March along with the presidential election, are gaining attention, with several political heavyweights being mentioned as potential candidates.



Currently, the two National Assembly seats representing Jongno and Seocho are empty.



Of them, the one for Jongno, located in the heart of Seoul, has remained vacant since former ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon gave up the post in September to focus on campaigning for the party's presidential primary. However, he lost the primary race to Lee Jae-myung.



Jongno has political significance, as winning the central Seoul constituency has given a foothold for the winner to become a national-level politician with a higher chance of running for president. Yun Po-sun, Lee Myung-bak and Roh Moo-hyun were all Jongno representatives who later became presidents.



Due to the significance, and the fact of the by-election being held together with the presidential election, each party is expected to field a candidate who has enough of a political presence and public profile and can team up with its presidential candidate as a sort of "running mate."



From the DPK, former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, who currently works as head of the Foundation of Inter-Korean Cooperation, has been brought up as a possible candidate for Jongno.



Former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae might also run for the Jongno post. The former five-term lawmaker of Seoul's Gwangjin B constituency served as the leader of a predecessor of the DPK. Recently, she ran for the party's presidential primary as the sole female contender but lost to Lee Jae-myung. Choo had a lunch meeting with the presidential candidate last week, positioning herself as an ally to him.



Other female political figures including former Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha and former SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun are also mentioned as possible candidates.





Main opposition People Power Party (PPP) leader Lee Jun-seok, second from left, speaks with students at the University of Ulsan, Oct. 29. Lee is mentioned as one of the PPP's possible choices for the symbolic Jongno constituency by-election. Yonhap
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party, speaks during an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 29. Yonhap



Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party, has said that, if elected, he will launch a real estate supervisory service in an effort to root out corruption in the property market.



Lee made the remark during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Friday, saying he would give the service powers to conduct investigations into any irregularities that arise in the real estate market.



The pledge comes as Lee has been accused of involvement in a massive corruption scandal surrounding an apartment development project undertaken in Seongnam, south of Seoul, in 2015 when he was the city's mayor.



"We have to create a real estate supervisory service with actual powers to wield investigative authority and investigate every day," Lee told Yonhap at a hotel in Seongnam.



"We have to make it so that people can't make money through unfair means," he said, adding that those who do should be denied the right to carry out real estate transactions.



Lee described real estate issues as "the most serious problem" facing the country. If the envisioned supervisory service is launched, he said it will look into irregularities, such as speculative purchases of farmland, and force the sales of plots that are not being used for farming.



"If we institutionalize such measures, we can easily bring the real estate issue under control," he said.



"It's because there is such high public discontent over real estate issues that so many people are voicing their grievances over Daejang-dong," he added, referring to the district in Seongnam where the apartment complex at the center of the corruption scandal was built.



The scandal centers on allegations that Seongnam Development Corp., a city-run entity, helped a little known asset management firm reap 1,000 times its investment in profits from the public-private partnership project.



Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corp., has been arrested on charges of breach of trust and bribe-taking. He is considered a close aide to Lee, although the nominee has denied it.



"I acknowledge that public anger has reached me and for that I have to take political and moral responsibility," he said, claiming it was his fault that there were some "polluted people" under his command.



"Yoo Dong-gyu apparently said when he took the money (bribes) that there would be big trouble if the 2nd floor found out," Lee said, referring to his former office at Seongnam City Hall.



"That's why Yoo Dong-gyu kept it hidden, and if I had known that he was in contact I would have fired him," he said.



The presidential election is slated for March 9. (Yonhap)


Lee Seok-hyun, vice chairman of South Korea's National Unification Advisory Council, a presidential advisory board, is seen speaking with Deputy Assistant of Secretary for Korea and Japan Mark Lambert during their meeting in Washington, Oct. 28. Yonhap



The United States is reviewing the possibility of declaring a formal end to the Korean War from various angles, a ranking U.S. diplomat has said, according to a South Korea official visiting the U.S.



Mark Lambert, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, made the remark in a meeting with Lee Seok-hyun, vice chairman of South Korea's National Unification Advisory Council, according to Lee. The council offers policy recommendations to the South Korean president.



Lambert's remark comes after White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan noted possible differences between South Korea and the U.S. over when a declaration of the war's end could be or should be made.



"We may have somewhat different perspectives on the precise sequence or timing or conditions for different steps," Sullivan said earlier when asked if the U.S. believed an end of war declaration could help restart dialogue with North Korea.



South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 war as a catalyst to resume dialogue with the North.



Pyongyang has stayed away from denuclearization talks since 2019. It also remains unresponsive to numerous overtures for dialogue from the Joe Biden administration that came into office in January.



Lee said U.S. outreach to the reclusive North so far included a dialogue proposal through email.



"The U.S. continues to propose holding dialogue, even sending an email to North Korea in recent days, but North Korea is not responding," the South Korean official said while speaking with reporters in Washington, adding the North appears to be uninterested in talking directly with the U.S.,at least for now.



Meanwhile, a group of U.S. lawmakers is expected to send a letter to President Biden next week to urge diplomatic engagement with North Korea and also U.S. support for the Seoul-proposed end of war declaration, an informed source said.



Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) told Lee that he and Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) had sought to send such a letter to the president this week, but decided to wait for others to join, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.



Sherman was quoted saying that he expected around 10 members of the House of Representatives to sign the letter that he said will also be sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Yonhap)






A U.N. General Assembly committee has approved three draft resolutions concerning North Korea, including one reaffirming the Assembly's commitment to the "complete, verifiable and irreversible" abandonment of Pyongyang's nuclear program, its website showed Friday.







On Wednesday, the First Committee in charge of disarmament and security affairs approved 25 resolutions and decisions, including those related to the North, amid reports that the recalcitrant regime has been doubling down on its nuclear and missile programs.







Among the three resolutions is one entitled "Joint courses of action and future?oriented dialogue towards a world without nuclear weapons." It includes provisions calling for the North to renounce nuclear arms.







"Other provisions would have the Assembly reaffirm its commitment to the complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions," a summary of the committee session reads. DPRK is the North's official name.







Another approved document, titled, "Comprehensive Nuclear?Test?Ban Treaty," carries the Assembly's call for the North to fully comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions.







"The Assembly would reiterate its condemnation of the six nuclear tests conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions and urge that country's full compliance," the summary said.







"It would welcome all efforts and dialogue to that end, including inter?Korean summits and summits between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," it added.







North Korea has been under multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions for its weapons programs, although it has not tested nuclear and long-range missiles since late 2017.







A North Korean delegate rebuked the resolution, claiming hostility from the United States is the cause of the instability of the Korean Peninsula.







The delegate, in a coverage document, cited the committee's adopting a "double standard" of criticizing North Korea, while keeping quiet on joint military exercises between the United States and "its servile forces," apparently referring to South Korea.







The resolution is expected to be officially adopted at a plenary meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in early December. (Yonhap)






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)


gettyimagesbank



By Lee Hyo-jin



The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly influenced the medical industry, boosting its digital transformation and introducing new healthcare models for contactless services.



Telemedicine, which enables doctors to treat patients remotely via telecommunications technologies, was technically illegal here in the pre-COVID-19 era under the Medical Services Act.



But through a revision to the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, since February 2020, the provision of virtual healthcare services has been allowed in a limited manner when the country's infectious disease crisis level is "serious," or at the highest level of alarm.



The revision has led to the emergence of multiple businesses providing telemedicine services. Through a mobile app, patients can now receive counseling from licensed doctors, along with a diagnosis and prescription, without having to visit a clinic.



According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, from February 2020 to September of this year, there have been over 2.7 million telemedicine visits, and about 1.3 million patients have received remote healthcare services.



The reported benefits of the virtual services include expanded access to medical services while reducing disease exposure for both patients and medical staff, and a more efficient use of healthcare staff capacity amid the pandemic.



However, the future of telemedicine businesses remains uncertain, as the country prepares to return to normalcy from November under the government's "Living with COVID-19" strategy.



The telemedicine companies, worried that they might lose the legal grounds for their businesses to operate once the pandemic has been eradicated, have been demanding the government to revise the relevant laws to establish a sustainable business environment.



Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol positively assessed the effects of digital healthcare on public health, but he avoided giving direct responses as to whether the government would support the growth of the industry after the pandemic.



"Contactless medical care has greatly contributed to the enhancement of public health amid the pandemic," he said during a National Assembly audit session, Oct. 6. "But when the country returns to normalcy and the infectious crisis level goes down from the current level, medical services will also have to return to their traditional form."





Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol speaks during a National Assembly audit session, Oct. 6. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun
President Moon Jae-in attends a G-20 summit session on the global economy and health held in Rome, Saturday. Yonhap



President Moon Jae-in on Sunday pledged that South Korea will compete the phaseout of coal-fired power generation by 2050 and contribute to achieving carbon neutrality on a global level.



Moon made the remarks as the leaders of the Group of 20 countries gathered for the second day of the Rome summit, their first in-person gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic, with attention focused on whether they will reach a meaningful agreement on how to fight global warming.



"In line with the carbon neutrality target, the Republic of Korea will complete the phase-out of all coal-fired power generation by 2050," Moon told the summit.



Moon said South Korea will help developing nations achieve carbon neutrality by providing funds and technologies.



"Based on the Republic of Korea's growth experience, we will join efforts of carbon neutrality by developing nations," Moon said. "The Republic of Korea will also step up cooperation with developing nations in the field of green technology."



Earlier this month, South Korea finalized a decision to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from the 2018 levels by 2030, sharply raising its previous goal as part of efforts to curb the pace of climate change.



South Korea also confirmed that it will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as the nation started tackling the challenge of responding to climate change and attaining sustainable growth simultaneously.



South Korea will also join a global pact to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030, Moon said.



Moon urged G-20 leaders to show "solidarity and cooperation" to reduce carbon emissions.



While the first day of the G-20 summit focused on the pandemic and economy, the second and final day of talks will focus on climate change.



Although expectations are low, G-20 leaders have been trying to project unity in phasing out coal and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.



Scientists said the timing of the 1.5 C rise in the earth's temperature is very likely to come before 2040, a decade faster than an earlier prediction, if greenhouse gas emissions remain at current levels.



The G-20 summit is seen as a precursor to next week's bigger U.N. climate conference called the COP26.



South Korea's decision to reduce emissions will be reported during the COP26 talks, officials said.



After Italy, Moon will visit Glasgow, Scotland, to attend the U.N. climate summit, where he will deliver a keynote speech. (Yonhap)


Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae holds a press conference on the government's plan to fully resume in-person school classes at the government office complex in Seoul, Oct. 29. Yonhap



South Korea will fully resume in-person school classes next month in line with the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme, the education ministry said Friday.



In-person attendance at kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools will resume nationwide on Nov. 22, following this year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a state-run university entrance exam, on Nov. 18, according to the ministry.



Universities will be allowed to gradually resume in-person classes starting Monday.



The plan is part of the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme to be imposed for the next four weeks as part of a broader plan to gradually lift the virus restrictions by the end of January.










Despite being a high achiever at her school, she deviated from her initial plan of getting into a prestigious college and debuted as the leader of the girl group in 2010 with the track "No Playboy."



Although the group did not achieve meteoric stardom, it still rolled out a string of hits such as "News" (2012), "Dolls" (2013) and "Wild (2013)."



Only four years later, however, Sera was forced to leave the group.













And during a recent interview with The Korea Times at a studio in Mapo-gu, northern Seoul, the outspoken former idol explained what happened.



"I was kicked out of 9MUSES, because I openly vented all my grievances about our excessive use of sex appeal," Sera said in a composed manner. "In hindsight, I was a bit immature to do so, but back then, putting on skimpy outfits was extremely distressing to me. I could not help thinking that I was what I wore."
Government's policy failures weigh down on state firms



Nineteen out of 40 state-run corporations with assets of 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion) or more have fallen into dangerous financial conditions. The Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC), and Korea Railroad (KORAIL) were among such firms whose operating profits fell short of repaying the interest on their debt this year.



According to data at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the 40 companies' average interest coverage ratio (ICR)  a company's earnings divided by its interest expense  also plunged from 3.4 in 2016 to 0.9 this year. Their combined interest payment this year amounts to 6.4 trillion won, but their operating profit totals 5.5 trillion won, indicating that they have become "zombie companies" that are hard to sustain.



The protracted COVID-19 pandemic and the upsurge of commodity prices have aggravated their performances. However, a more significant reason was the government's passing of financial burdens to them. As the Moon Jae-in administration forced state-owned enterprises to take the costs arising from its policy of phasing out nuclear power plants, reducing irregular workers and shifting to income-led growth.



For instance, KEPCO, once synonymous with a blue-chip state corporation, has been downgraded to a marginal company due to the soaring cost of power generation and subsequent exacerbation of profitability. This situation was due mainly to the current administration's policy to "denuclearize" the energy mix. KEPCO's stock prices have fallen sharply also.



The 40 companies' liabilities, which stood at 476 trillion won before the Moon administration took office, swelled to 550 trillion this year. In contrast, the net profits of 36 state companies, which amounted to 14 trillion won in 2016, turned around to produce a net loss of 206.5 billion won last year. Nevertheless, the number of their executives and employees has risen 19 percent, or 24,000, over the past four years, increasing their labor costs by 2.8 trillion won.



The government pressed state companies to hire more workers to fill the job loss caused by its failed policies. The Moon administration, which advanced the advent of the "era of 1,000 trillion won in state debt" to make up for policy failures with taxpayers' money, has made state enterprises sit on a pile of debt.


Moon asks pope to travel to North Korea



Pope Francis has reacted positively to President Moon Jae-in's proposal for a papal visit to North Korea. His visit, if realized, could help bring peace on the Korean Peninsula. Yet it is uncertain if North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will invite the pope to his country anytime soon.



On Friday, Moon asked the pope to travel to the North, hoping that such a visit will serve as momentum for peace on the peninsula. He made the offer during his visit to Rome to meet the pope and attend the G20 Leaders' Summit over the weekend.



We welcome the pope's positive reaction to Moon's proposal. Presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee quoted Pope Francis as telling Moon, "I am willing to go there for peace and help all of you if (North Korea) sends a letter of invitation."



It is not the first time for President Moon to make such an offer. He delivered the pope a verbal invitation from Kim during their meeting in 2018. At the time the pope also expressed his willingness to visit the North if he receives an official invitation from Pyongyang.



The pope was previously quoted as saying that he wants to walk hand in hand with the leaders of the two Koreas at the truce village of Panmunjeom. He also floated the idea of visiting Seoul and Pyongyang on the same trip. All this reflected his readiness to contribute to easing tensions and making peace on the peninsula, the last frontier of the Cold war.



A possible visit to North Korea by Pope Francis, the religious leader of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world, could carry significant meaning. It could also have positive implications on Moon's push for an official declaration of the end of the Korean War which was halted in 1953 with an armistice, but not a peace treaty. In addition, it could help create an atmosphere conducive to improving inter-Korean ties and resuming the denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang. U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the proposed papal visit to the North as good news.



But the problem is that the North has yet to send an invitation to the pope. It still remains to be seen whether Pyongyang will accept Moon's proposal this time. We urge the Kim regime to give a positive response that could make a breakthrough in its stalled diplomacy with both Seoul and Washington. The North can get much-needed food aid and COVID-19 vaccine supplies from the South and other countries if the pope's visit is realized.



Yet, we should not be too optimistic. North Korea has continued to test-fire ballistic missiles to improve its nuclear capabilities. It has reportedly demanded the suspension of South Korea-U.S. military exercises and a lifting of sanctions as a precondition for an end-of-war declaration. In this situation, Seoul and Washington should work more closely to narrow their differences over how to lure Pyongyang back to dialogue. The North, for its part, must show its willingness to denuclearize before asking for sanctions relief.


Courtesy of Neil Cummings



By David A. Tizzard





About 10 days ago, I began seeing local television news warning viewers that COVID-19 infection numbers would increase during Halloween, claiming that foreigners would be in Itaewon partying and not respecting the nation's social distancing guidelines. The narrative being constructed was unambiguous and early. It was also playing into ready-held stereotypes and beliefs. This situation meant that the narrative was easily disseminated and accepted without too much cognitive dissonance or thought. Moreover, this narrative was of course all being communicated in Korean and largely unobserved by the non-Korean speaking population of the country.



Over the past few days, we have seen the population of residents of foreign nationality become more aware of these reports. There has been outcry at what is seen as unhospitable attitudes toward those of foreign nationality living and working here. Others point to the hypocrisy of relaxing guidelines during the traditional holiday of Chuseok, then tightening them for a western holiday, only to then commence a 'living with COVID-19' system immediately afterward.



Despite regular media offers, I have refrained from speaking about COVID-19 regulations because I am not trained in the field and do not hold any epidemiological qualifications. However, this current situation seems to point to a couple of clear issues in Korean society. The first is the catchall term of "foreigner" ("oegukin," in Korean). I have explored this concept before, trying to remain sensitive to historical and cultural Korean developments but also suggesting that while Korea demands the west be more accepting of its own cultural products, it could perhaps reciprocate in some ways too.






By Song Kyung-jin





Judging by the latest political news stories, we are deep into election season, which culminates with the presidential vote slated for March 9, 2022. Unfortunately, the candidates seem to be in a race to insult and attack each other, often putting their feet in their mouths in the process. Neither is this entertaining nor appreciated.



This type of campaigning simply irks voters and makes them grow weary. Voters do not want to see the Trumpification of Korean politics. They want to hear the vision each candidate has to govern the country and ensure that Korea continues to be a vibrant and thriving democracy.



Every time there is an election in Korea, people often say half-jokingly, "There are no candidates worthy of votes." But this time, those comments are not being uttered half-jokingly. In fact, many Koreans are deeply dissatisfied with the candidates and the divisive politics they preach. Consequently, many more voters are even questioning the validity of the current presidential system.



A recent survey of 17 advanced economies including Korea by the Pew Research Center confirms this sentiment shared by Korean voters. A total of 84 percent of respondents here believe Korea's political system needs to change significantly or even completely reformed. Only three countries  Italy, Spain and the United States  had more respondents feeling that way than Korea.



Koreans want political reforms much more than an overhaul of the economic (72 percent) and healthcare (42 percent) systems. This strong desire for political reforms is not confined to a particular group. The fact that both economic optimists and pessimists want significant political reforms highlights the extent of public dissatisfaction with politics in Korea.



With a little over four months to go before the presidential election, however, there is no time and space for lengthy discussions on political reforms. The nation is faced with a multitude of challenges internally and externally that need adequate policy responses. Youth unemployment, household debt, demographic change, education reforms, widening inequities and inequalities, North Korea, climate change, U.S.-China competition and turbulent changes taking place in the global geopolitical and geo-economic order, to name just a few.



Yet voters have been presented with scant vision for statecraft and policy responses. At this stage, presidential candidates should have prepared and presented at least a snapshot of their policy directions and proposed actions to tackle soaring real estate prices and surging household debt (103.8% of gross domestic product), one of the key reasons for the public's dissatisfaction with the current administration. The same goes for the challenge of high youth unemployment and educational reforms.



What little voters have seen been presented by the candidates so far has been restricted to domestic political issues. The candidates have not voiced a single word on foreign policy, except the huge global success of the Netflix series "Squid Game," if one can be generous enough to count that as a form of Korea's diplomatic "soft power."



I have always wondered why Korean politics is among the most backward institutions in Korea, whose trade dependence, roughly at 60 percent as of 2020, is still one of the highest in the world. Koreans desire a higher international standing of their country, but are generally indifferent to the process of making that happen.



Global uncertainties are increasing at a speed and magnitude not seen in decades and it is becoming much more important and helpful to have as many allies and friends as possible. Some of the best places for forging such alliances and partnerships are multilateral forums and mini-laterals where multi-level, multi-layered consultations take place prior to and after decision-making and action.



Korea should not hesitate to join such multilateral and mini-lateral forums, including the Quad, which is becoming more economic and less military. Pertaining to climate change and environment, social and coprate governance (ESG), let us be realistic and pragmatic and stop trying to confuse the public by adding a "K" to global standards and initiatives.



The candidates will have to come up with a set of sophisticated ideas and initiatives to make Korea a truly capable and reliable ally, partner and friend in the international community. This is the essence of accountable leadership. Confucius taught more than 2,000 years ago, "When the Emperor has done a good act, millions will benefit." That adage still rings very true.



Voters are not looking for a saint to become their next leader. So long as the candidates are not riddled with (doubts about) corruption and a lack of common sense and universal values, voters will look for leadership qualities and a vision on statecraft. That's why candidates must help voters elect the person who is suitable for navigating present waters. Do not make voters distance themselves from politics and become an unintentional and passive accomplice to betraying democracy.





Dr. Song Kyung-jin (kj_song@hotmail.com) led the Institute for Global Economics (IGE), based in Seoul, and served as a special adviser to the chair of the Presidential Committee for the Seoul G20 Summit in the Office of the President. Now, she is the executive director of the Innovative Economy Forum.


In this file photo, children are taken care of by officials from Holt Children's Services of Korea in an airplane before meeting their adoptive parents overseas. Courtesy of the National Archives of Korea



By Kim Yu-kyeong




Judiciary sector urged to double efforts to retain public trust



The Constitutional Court rejected the National Assembly's impeachment of a judge accused of meddling in politically sensitive trials during the 2013-17 Park Geun-hye administration. In a five-to-three vote, the court voided the impeachment of Judge Lim Seong-geun, saying the case was legally null and void as the now-retired judge cannot be sacked.



In the first-ever impeachment case of a sitting judge, the DPK members slammed Lim for interfering with some sensitive cases, including a libel filed in 2015 against a Japanese journalist. The five justices in a majority ruling cited the need to reject the "legally inappropriate" impeachment, of which beneficial purposes cannot be upheld.



This means the court stopped short of deliberating over whether Lim's behavior was unconstitutional. In contrast, three justices opined Lim deserved impeachment as his interference in the trials was a grave violation of the Constitution. They said Lim infringed upon article 103 of the Constitution, that "Judges shall rule independently according to their conscience and in conformity with the Constitution and laws."



As impeachment of a judge requires consents from at least six justices, Lim managed to avoid the disgrace of being sacked. Yet this does not necessarily mean he is acquitted of his meddling in the trials. His assertion is totally nonsense that he just offered advice to junior judges as a colleague. DPK Rep. Lee Tan-hee, who led the impeachment motion, expressed strong regret over the court's decision, saying the justices gave up their duties to protect the Constitution.



There has been controversy over the DPK's attempts to impeach Lim. Critics said the ruling camp was attempting to tame the judiciary and influence future cases affecting ruling camp figures. They also noted the DPK members attempted to humiliate Lim, as the impeachment was improper because Lim was about to step down from his post.



Much controversy has been aroused surrounding the impeachment case. In particular, the revelation of a recorded conversation between Chief Justice Kim Myeong-soo and Lim created a great stir just prior to the National Assembly vote on Lim's impeachment. The recording showed the chief justice was only trying to read the minds of the ruling camp elites while turning down Lim's resignation.



Kim told Lim, who was meeting him to tender his resignation, that "What on Earth will the National Assembly will tell me if I accept your resignation when they are hectic to impeach you? We need to watch the political situation." Kim faced a barrage of demands to quit his post while Lim also took flak for secretly recording the conversation and disclosing it, greatly undermining the public trust in the judiciary.



We urge the judiciary to double its efforts to retain its honor and trust from the people, learning lessons from the unprecedented impeachment case. People have the right to a fair ruling regardless of the political power, and the judiciary sector can obtain its raison d'etre only when it guarantees such basic rights.


A funeral purportedly in Seoul in the late 1890s or early 1900s. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection



By Robert Neff



Korea was once described as "a land where the dead seem to receive more careful consideration than the living and where they occupy the most pleasing of all sites and surroundings." This description may have been true, for the most part, especially when the deceased were affluent men, but for the poor and those without family, it was a land of ignoble endings.



In the late 19th century, Westerners visiting or residing in Korea often described the funerals they encountered  generally for wealthy and affluent individuals  which were quite elaborate and usually held at night. Funerals for the higher classes were usually not held immediately. Sometimes it took months of delay to determine a propitious date for the funeral and a site for the grave.



In the mid-1890s, Isabella Bird Bishop, an English travel writer, described a funeral (held during the daytime) she encountered in the streets of Seoul:



"First came four drums and a sort of fife perpetrating a lively tune as an accompaniment to a lively song. These were followed by a hearse, if it may be called so, a domed and gaudily painted construction with a garland of artificial flowers in the center of the dome, a white Korean coat thrown across the roof, and four flagstaffs with gay flags at the four corners, bamboo poles, flower-wreathed, forming a platform on which the hearse was borne by eight men in peaked yellow hats garlanded with blue and pink flowers. Bouquets of the same were disposed carelessly on the front and sides of the hearse, the latter being covered with shield-shaped flags of gaudily colored muslin. The chief mourner followed, completely clothed in sackcloth, wearing an umbrella-shaped hat over 4 feet in diameter, and holding a sackcloth screen before his face by two bamboo handles. Men in flower-wreathed hats surrounded him, some of them walking backwards and singing. He looked fittingly grave, but it is a common custom for those who attend the chief mourner to try to make him laugh by comic antics and jocular remarks."





A coffin and a dead horse or pony. Circa 1900s. Robert Neff Collection



Horace Allen, the American diplomatic representative to Korea, also described the many funerals he witnessed in his letters home and in his personal writings. He noted that many of the mourners were hired  male and female  and accompanied the bier through the city, escorted by men bearing red lanterns. The whole time the hired mourners kept up "a loud perfunctory chant" that echoed in the darkness of the empty streets.



Of course, these funerals were not cheap. According to Allen, "Money is often spent on these occasions in excess of the circumstances of the family." To help cope with the costs, some people established "burial clubs." This club consisted of three men who would each contribute a little over 33,000 cash (about 11 dollars). The family of the first member of the club to die would receive 30,000 cash, the family of the second member  when he died  would receive 33,000 and the when the final person died, the remaining sum of 37,000 cash would go to his family.



There was also a non-financial cost to funerals. Bishop wrote: "A mourner may not enter the palace grounds, and as mourning for a father lasts for three years, a courtier thus bereaved is for that time withdrawn from Court."



For the common people, funerals were much smaller and simpler affairs, but judging from the accounts, were perhaps more heartfelt than those of their affluent peers. Some Westerners described hearing the plaintive cries of real mourners  family members  as they accompanied their deceased love one through the streets.



According to George G. Gilmore, an American working in Seoul as a teacher in the late 1880s and early 1890s:



"When a death occurs in any family, the neighbors have no excuse for being ignorant of the fact. The women and girls and boys mourn in shrill and penetrating tones that reverberate through the night air with frightful distinctness."



Generally female relatives did not accompany the bier through the streets. Instead, they remained behind and burned the clothing of the deceased  usually in the street in front of the house.





A tomb of the privileged. Circa 1900s. Robert Neff Collection
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
A scene from "Squid Game" / Courtesy of Netflix



Jang Yoo-rim is a senior at the Korean Minjok Leadership Academy in South Korea and a member of the Freedom Speakers International Global High School Union (FSI-GHSU). She prepared this text for the second FSI-GHSU International Youth Forum on Oct. 30.  Ed



By Jang Yoo-rim





I am not a politician, nor am I a policymaker of any kind. At least not yet. I am a teenage girl born and raised beneath the border of Gangwon Province, who nurtured her curiosity of the world while being surrounded by the remnants of war. I am a proud student of the Korean Minjok Leadership Academy who was taught to speak out on my beliefs. Most importantly, I am one of the rising generation in our society that has the potential to change what is wrong.



I have been inspired to speak out after I saw the newly released Netflix series, "Squid Game." I enjoyed the whole series in one sitting. Above all, I was particularly interested in one of the sub-characters, Kang Sae-byeok, a North Korean refugee teenager about my age. I am not the only fan of hers; in a recent survey on Netflix, she ranked number one in popularity among all of the characters in the series even though the actor who played the role didn't have any prior acting experience. Maybe it was because she was one of the few North Korean characters to play a prominent role, or maybe she introduced us to the dark side of our society that many of us were ignorant of  the reality of North Korean refugees in South Korea.?



Our ignorance and misconceptions start from the very moment of seeking refuge. While the majority may generalize the reason for this as due to famine or poverty, the reality is much more complex. Many seek something beyond their basic needs  pursuing their dreams and upholding their ideologies in a democratic environment. Recently a man claiming to be a former government official of North Korea had an interview with BBC Korea. He stated that even one of the most powerful political and economic positions cannot seal the discrepancy between his belief and that of the nation. Regardless of one's status, North Korean society was not a suitable platform for their thoughts and abilities to be appreciated, whereas South Korean society was portrayed as the land of milk and honey through K-media penetrating the border, he said.



However, South Korea is rarely the paradise of their dreams.?






From left is U.S. President Joe Biden, President Moon Jae-in and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong / Korea Times file



Trade-off between peace process, Samsung's US investment looming



By Kim Yoo-chul



The top priority for President Moon Jae-in's attendance at this year's G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, is how to win support from U.S. Security Council members to move forward with his idea of making a formal declaration of the end of the Korean War before the end of his term, next year, and how to narrow differences on the timing and conditions for the steps and expected consequences of such a declaration.



Moon and his foreign policy teams led by Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and intelligence chief Park Jie-won have no doubt this year's G20 Summit is Moon's last chance to break the deadlock in the stalled inter-Korean talks. Moon was hoping to hold another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before or during the scheduled 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.










DL E&C's ACRO Park edition was awarded the top prize in the Environments category in the IDEA Design Awards on October 5. Courtesy of DL E&C
A woman holds a smartphone with Meta logo on it in front of a displayed Facebook logo in this illustration taken, Oct. 28. Reuters-Yonhap



Facebook is now called Meta, the company said on Thursday, in a rebrand that focuses on building the "metaverse," a shared virtual environment that it bets will be the successor to the mobile internet.



The name change comes as the world's largest social media company battles criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its services.



CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the company's live-streamed virtual and augmented reality conference, said the new name reflected its work investing in the metaverse, rather than its namesake social media service, which will continue to be called Facebook.



The metaverse is a term coined in the dystopian novel "Snow Crash" three decades ago and now attracting buzz in Silicon Valley. It refers broadly to the idea of a shared virtual realm which can be accessed by people using different devices.



"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," said Zuckerberg.



The company, which has invested heavily in augmented and virtual reality, said the change would bring together its different apps and technologies under one new brand. It said it would not change its corporate structure.



The tech giant, which reports about 2.9 billion monthly users, has faced increasing scrutiny in recent years from global lawmakers and regulators.



In the latest controversy, whistleblower and former Facebook employee Frances Haugen leaked documents which she said showed the company chose profit over user safety. Haugen has in recent weeks testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee and lawmakers in the UK's Parliament. Zuckerberg earlier this week said the documents were being used to paint a "false picture."



The company said in a blog post that it intends to start trading under the new stock ticker it has reserved, MVRS, on Dec. 1. On Thursday, it unveiled a new sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, replacing its thumbs-up "Like" logo with a blue infinity shape.

Facebook shares closed 1.5 percent higher at $316.92 on Thursday.





Seen on the screen of a device in Sausalito, Calif., Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the keynote address during a virtual event, Oct. 28. AP-Yonhap




Second Vice Science Minister Cho Kyeong-sik speaks during a briefing at the Seoul Government Complex, Friday, on the results of an investigation into the cause of KT's network failure that occurred Monday. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun



A mistake by an employee of a firm KT outsourced for its routing work was to blame for the nationwide network disruption earlier this week, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday.



KT's internet network error disabled both wired and wireless services around 11:20 a.m. on Monday. Most services were back by noon, but some disruptions lasted longer.



The telecom company stated in the days following the network failure that a routing error was the cause and that the large-scale disruption was the result of work that was performed during the day instead of when it was supposed to have been carried out  at night when there is less network traffic.



"We found that an employee entered the wrong command while changing a network router at a location in Busan," Second Vice Minister Cho Kyeong-sik said in a briefing on the results of the inspection into the cause of the network failure.



A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. Routing refers to the designation of network routes for data to reach a service subscriber.



The ministry said disruptions to phone calls and text messaging were caused as people increasingly turned to these mediums when internet services stopped working for them. IPTV subscribers also experienced disruptions as many reset their devices following the failures and traffic surged accordingly.



But the ministry said the fundamental reason for the accident was KT's failure to oversee the firm outsourced to carry out its routing work.



KT had approved the work process to be carried out between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., but this ended up being done in the daytime under KT's consent. In addition, KT managers were not present to supervise the routing process at the time.



There were also systematic problems such as the absence of a simulation testbed that could detect errors in the planned routing, and the absence of a system that could prevent the error from flowing on to affect nationwide networks.



The ministry said it will come up with plans to ensure network stability, such as checking network operators' management systems and introducing simulation systems that can detect errors arising in processes such as routing.



The ministry said it will also strengthen monitoring of network operators to enable early detection of telecommunication disruptions and deal with such problems swiftly.



KT CEO Ku Hyeon-mo said a day earlier the company would compensate those impacted via a center to be set up next week.



The ministry said it will check whether KT follows through with its pledge for compensation.


A Tesla logo is seen at a store in Denver, Colorado. AP-Yonhap



Greater demand for LFP batteries to present opportunities



By Kim Bo-eun



Tesla's recently unveiled plan to power its standard-range electric vehicles (EV) with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode batteries is set to benefit Korean battery makers by opening new opportunities in the market, with other major automakers expected to follow suit.



LFP chemistry batteries, produced by Chinese manufacturers such as CATL and BYD who have the upper hand, currently account for a little more than 10 percent of the market for EV batteries.



Research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie forecast the LFT-type battery could account for up to 30 percent of the entire battery market. However, there are contrasting views in the industry _ that high-nickel batteries will take up the lion's share of the market in the coming years.



The LFP chemistry is able to keep battery prices low, as costs of the material are cheaper than that of nickel, cobalt and manganese (NCM) or nickel, cobalt and aluminum (NCA) batteries. LFP batteries are around 20 percent cheaper than the other high power cells. Plus, LFP batteries are stretchable and considered to be quite stable compared to NCM-based batteries in terms of potential fire risks.



Their largest challenging factor, however, is a shorter travel distance, which means they need to be recharged more often.



Tesla aims to maintain its leadership in the rapidly-growing EV market and it appears to make sense for the iconic U.S. EV maker to diversify its vehicle lineup from premium to budget models based on the type of batteries. With Tesla announcing greater use of the battery in its models, other carmakers may follow suit, launching more short-range models, which would solidify the battery segment and expand the market.



Ford and Volkswagen have expressed interest, according to analysts. Reports said Apple also reached out to CATL and BYD to purchase LFP batteries for the first-generation of its EV, tentatively named "iCar."



Local battery makers' plans



Korean battery makers LG Energy Solution (LGES), Samsung SDI and SK On are showing mixed responses to the EV market leader's plan.



Some view that Tesla's entry into the LFP-based EV segment would provide an opportunity by widening their client base; therefore, helping it increase revenue. None of the three battery makers are currently producing LFP batteries because of thinner margins and low technology barriers and they have focused instead on high-nickel batteries.



LGES admitted that it was currently developing LFP batteries to be mass produced for energy storage systems (ESS), but implied that it is developing a different low-cost battery. An ESS is a device converting electrical energy from power systems into a form that can be stored to be converted back to electrical energy when needed.



LFP batteries are increasingly being incorporated into ESS, given these devices are mainly installed in areas such as deserts, where battery size is less a matter of concern. ESS makers are therefore opting for the cheaper LFP battery.



"For EVs, we are also developing a low-cost cathode material that is cobalt free, which are able to overcome limitations such as the relatively larger amount of electricity to travel the same distance," an LGES executive told investors in a conference call on the company's third-quarter earnings.



LG and Samsung previously produced batteries with LFP materials.



SK On CEO Ji Dong-seop recently said it was also reviewing the possibility of producing LFP-type batteries. SK's newly-launched battery affiliate will update its plan regarding the LFP battery during an earnings call to be held Friday.



"If SK could be able to produce LFP batteries, it would be as a means to expand its portfolio to better respond to market circumstances," an industry official said. "There are market opportunities because demand is set to grow but supply is insufficient. Producing LFP batteries will also make it possible to hedge the risks of soaring battery material costs and safety issues."



High-nickel batteries are known to be more prone to fires, but this remains contested  although Korea's top battery makers have seen damage from fires that erupted in vehicles using their batteries. Local battery makers are expected to be capable of producing LFP batteries due to the relatively low technological barrier.



Samsung SDI, meanwhile, said it is "not considering production of LFP batteries."



The company has been maintaining a "wait-and-see approach" and intends to enter the market only when there will be sufficient demand for the battery type.



"The issue for vehicles with LFP batteries will also be power, which is why Chinese companies are experimenting, such as by getting rid of the battery module to fit in more batteries," another industry official said. "But this can give rise to risks as covers that protect against heat are removed."



Korean battery makers have also been seeking to lower costs by reducing the portion of cobalt and increasing the portion of nickel. Cobalt is the most expensive material among nickel, cobalt, manganese and aluminum.



Even if local battery makers begin producing the battery, this will account for only a portion of their battery production, industry sources said.



"We don't expect a transition toward LFP batteries to occur," an official said.




Students take part in an online class offering science education hosted by the BMW Korea Future Foundation in this provided photo. Courtesy of BMW Korea



By Kim Bo-eun



BMW Korea said Thursday it is seeking to offer a new model for multinational companies' corporate social responsibility efforts here.



The carmaker established the BMW Korea Future Foundation in July 2011. Marking its 10th anniversary, BMW is seeking to engage in activities with greater positive social impact. This is centered on training young students to help them discover interest in the sciences and possibly become innovators in the automotive sector.



This year, it launched a new program for high school and college students, which provides automotive training. Participants are able to learn about BMW's advanced technology in the program.



BMW initiated the program in April at Gyeonggi Automotive Science High School and over 500 students have taken part in the program since.



BMW said it plans to offer the program via both online and offline mediums to enable more students to take part.



The foundation also launched an online class for younger students. This is a live online version of BMW Korea's "Junior Campus" program, where a BMW truck renovated into a science lab travels to elementary schools across the country to provide science classes to students.



The online class was initiated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which made it difficult for the truck to physically travel to schools and offer classes in person.



The first online class was offered in September for 136 students at three schools on Jindo Island in South Jeolla Province. The class seeks to teach students scientific principles and students can also design their own eco-friendly vehicle.



A total of 144,000 children have taken part in the program in the last decade. The vehicle has traveled more than 122,000 kilometers over this period.



BMW is also preparing to launch another project, which centers on using electric vehicle batteries as energy storage systems (ESS). The carmaker is seeking to use ESS to provide electricity for environment-related events, the underprivileged and disaster-stricken areas.



The BMW Korea Future Foundation is the first non-profit foundation of a foreign carmaker to be set up here. In the past decade, a total of 215,000 recipients were provided training or received other forms of assistance via the organization. The foundation made donations amounting to 23.7 billion won as of 2020.


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
Security personnel keep watch outside Wuhan Institute of Virology during the visit by the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Feb. 3. Reuters-Yonhap



Beijing lashed out against a U.S. intelligence review into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday, calling it "political and false" while urging Washington to "stop attacking" China.



The Chinese foreign ministry's retort came days after the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a fuller version of its findings from a 90-day review ordered by President Joe Biden.



The paper said that, without new information, intelligence agencies would not be able to offer a better judgement on whether the virus emerged via animal-to-human transmission or a lab leak.



It added that China's cooperation would probably be needed to reach a conclusive assessment on origins, although stressing that Beijing continued to "hinder the global investigation".



The so-called lab-leak theory says the virus was spread from a research facility in Wuhan, the central city where the contagion was first reported. The theory remains unsubstantiated, and China has repeatedly rejected it.



Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded in a statement Sunday that China had expressed firm opposition to initial findings published in the summary report in August.



"No matter how many times this report is published and how many versions are concocted, it cannot change the nature of this being entirely political and false," Wang said.



He added that the fact intelligence agencies were tapped in origin-tracing efforts was "ironclad proof" of politicization, and urged the U.S. to "stop attacking and smearing China".



Beijing has come under pressure to consider a fresh probe into the origins of the pandemic after a delayed and heavily politicized visit by a World Health Organization team of international experts that failed to conclude how the virus first broke out.



But Chinese officials have resisted this, often maintaining that calls for further information were motivated by politics.



In August, Biden said China was withholding "critical information" on the origins of COVID-19, adding that Chinese officials had worked to prevent access for international investigators.



Although Biden's review was launched while the lab-leak theory gained momentum, the report noted that most agencies believed the virus was not genetically engineered. (AFP)


A handout photo taken and released by Matangi Tonga Oct. 30 shows people waiting to be vaccinated against COVID-19 inside Queen Salote Memorial Hall in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. AFP-Yonhap



Tongans flocked to vaccination centers Saturday after the government warned the main island Tongatapu might be plunged into lockdown next week after recording its first case of COVID-19.



The infected person was among 215 people on a repatriation flight from the New Zealand city of Christchurch.



A routine test on arrival Thursday, while in compulsory managed isolation, returned a positive result the following day.



Prime Minister Pohiva Tuionetoa warned islanders Saturday to prepare for the possibility of a lockdown if more cases emerge but said there was no need for immediate action as it could take "more than three days" before a person with the virus becomes contagious.



"We should use this time to get ready in case more people are confirmed they have the virus," he said.





Young men play a game of rugby at sunset in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, April 10, 2019. The island nation of Tonga has reported its first-ever case of COVID-19, Oct. 29, after a traveler from New Zealand tested positive. AP-Yonhap
World leaders pose for a group photo at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Oct. 30. The two-day summit is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. AP-Yonhap



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.



G20 finance ministers in July had already agreed on a 15 percent minimum tax. It awaited formal endorsement at the summit Saturday in Rome of the world's 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 percent minimum tax. Still, Biden tweeted his satisfaction.



''Here at the G20, leaders representing 80 percent 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.





Medical personnel and world leaders pose for a group photo at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit, Rome, Oct. 30. AP-Yonhap



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 percent of people in the world's poorest countries are vaccinated, while 70 percent 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 G20 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 G20 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 G20 to confirm an additional $100 billion to support Africa's economies.



On the urgent problem of climate change, Italy is hoping the G20 will secure crucial commitments from countries responsible for about 80 percent of global carbon emissions  ahead of the U.N. climate conference that begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, just as the Rome summit winds down.





Italian President Sergio Mattarella meets G20 leaders and their spouses during a dinner at the Quirinale Palace on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, Oct. 30. Reuters-Yonhap
From left, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Joe Biden at the G20 summit in Rome, Saturday. AP-Yonhap



Britain's Prince Charles urged leaders of the world's biggest economies on Sunday to put words into action as they tackled the global climate change crisis on the final day of a weekend summit that is setting the tone for an even bigger U.N. climate conference opening in Glasgow, Scotland.



Warning that "it is quite literally the last-chance saloon," Charles told the Group of 20 leaders that public-private partnerships were the only way to achieve the trillions of dollars in annual investment needed to transition to clean, sustainable energy sources that will mitigate the warming of global temperatures.



"It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands," Charles told the presidents and prime ministers gathered in Rome.



The Group of 20 countries, which represent more than three-quarters of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, are looking for common ground on how to reduce emissions while helping poor countries deal with the impact of rising temperatures. Diplomats said negotiators, known as "sherpas," worked through the night to try to come up with solid commitments on emissions in a final statement to be released later Sunday.



If the G-20 summit ends with only weak commitments, momentum could be lost for the larger annual talks in Glasgow, where countries from around the globe will be represented including poor ones most vulnerable to rising seas, desertification and other effects.



The future of coal, a key source of greenhouse gas emissions, has been one of the hardest things for the G-20 to agree on. However, the U.S. and other countries are hoping to get a commitment to end overseas financing of coal-fired power generation, said a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview President Joe Biden's plans.



Western countries have moved away from financing coal projects in developing countries, and major Asian economies are now doing the same: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the U.N. General Assembly last month that Beijing would stop funding such projects, and Japan and South Korea made similar commitments earlier in the year.



China has not set an end date for building domestic coal plants at home, however. Coal is still China's main source of power generation, and both China and India have resisted proposals for a G-20 declaration on phasing out domestic coal consumption.



COP26 President Alok Sharma said China's carbon-cutting commitments _ known as the nationally determined contribution, or NDC _ so far fall short of expectations.



"In terms of their NDC, it moved forward somewhat from 2015 ... but of course we expected more,'' Sharma told the BBC. He added that while Beijing has pledged to stop international coal financing and reducing domestic coal ''we need to see the details of that.''



British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said before the Rome summit that he tried but could not get a commitment on a coal phase-out from Xi, who did not travel to the gathering.



In Glasgow, Johnson said, "we want these leaders . to focus on the commitments they can make, moving away from the use of fossil fuels, moving away from coal-fired power stations domestically."



Climate campaigners were hoping that rich G-20 countries would take steps to meet a long-standing but yet-to-be-fulfilled commitment to raise $100 billion annually to help developing countries move toward greener economies and adapt to the changing climate.



Youth climate activists Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate issued an open letter to the media as the G-20 was wrapping up, stressing three fundamental aspects of the climate crisis that often are downplayed: that time is running out, that any solution must provide justice to the people most affected by climate change, and that the biggest polluters often hide behind incomplete statistics about their true emissions.



"The climate crisis is only going to become more urgent. We can still avoid the worst consequences, we can still turn this around. But not if we continue like today," they wrote, just weeks after Thunberg shamed global leaders for their "blah blah blah" rhetoric during a youth climate summit in Milan.



G-20 leaders also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and the uneven distribution of vaccines in the world. On Saturday they endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations, a linchpin of new international tax rules aimed at blunting fiscal paradises amid skyrocketing profits of some multinationals.



And after a meeting on the sidelines about Iran's nuclear program, Biden, Johnson, Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Emmanuel Macron made a joint statement expressing their "determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.''



They also voiced concern that Tehran "has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps'' after halting negotiations on a return to the nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. (AP)


Sudanese anti-coup protesters gather in Omdurman, a city adjacent to the capital of Khartoum, Oct. 30. AFP-Yonhap



The U.N. secretary general urged Sudan's generals on Sunday to reverse their takeover of the country, a day after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the largest pro-democracy protest since last week's coup.



Antonio Guterres said the generals should "take heed" of Saturday's protests. "Time to go back to the legitimate constitutional arrangements," he said in a tweet.



He was referring to a power-sharing deal that established joint military-civilian rule following the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.



The U.N. envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, said meanwhile that he met Sunday with Abdalla Hamdok, the deposed prime minister who remained under house arrest in the capital Khartoum.



"We discussed options for mediation and the way forward for Sudan. I will continue these efforts with other Sudanese stakeholders," he said.

Guterres expressed concern about violence against protesters on Saturday, calling for perpetrators to be held accountable.



At least three people were shot dead when security forces opened fire on protesters in Omdurman, a city adjacent to the capital of Khartoum. A doctors' union also said more than 110 people were injured by live rounds, tear gas and beatings in Omdurman and elsewhere in the country.



With Saturday's deaths, the overall number of people killed since Monday's coup rose to 12, according to the Sudan Doctors' Committee and activists. More than 280 others were injured over the past week.



The coup came after weeks of growing tensions between the military and civilians, and the generals had repeatedly called for dissolving the transitional government.



Gen. Abdel-Fattah Buhran, who led the coup, 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.



He also claimed that the transition to democracy would continue, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon, with the aim of holding elections in July 2023.



But the pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.



Meanwhile, the U.N. mission for Sudan is working to facilitate dialogue between the military and civilian leaders.



A Sudanese military official said that a U.N.-supported national committee began separate meetings last week with Hamdok and Burhan to find common ground. (AP)


Dr. Pauline Muchina speaks as 100+ take the streets in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28, ahead of the G20 meeting in Rome, urging the Joe Biden administration to do more to suspend vaccine patents at the WTO, share vaccine technology with the world and increase funding for vaccine production. AP-Yonhap



Leaders of the Group of 20 countries gathering for their first in-person summit since the pandemic took hold will confront a global recovery hampered by a series of stumbling blocks: an energy crunch spurring higher fuel and utility prices, new COVID-19 outbreaks and logjams in the supply chains that keep the economy humming and goods headed to consumers.



The summit will allow leaders representing 80 percent of the global economy to talk _ and apply peer pressure _ on all those issues. Analysts question how much progress they can make to ease the burden right away on people facing rising prices on everything from food and furniture to higher heating bills heading into winter.



Health and financial officials are sitting down in Rome on Friday before presidents and prime ministers gather for the G-20 Saturday and Sunday, but the leaders of major economic players China and Russia won't be there in person. That may not bode well for cooperation, especially on energy issues as climate change takes center stage just before the U.N. Climate Change Conference begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.



Here's a look at some of the economic issues facing G-20 leaders:



Pandemic recovery



The International Monetary Fund says the top priority for the economic recovery is simple: speed up the vaccination of the world population. Yet big headlines on vaccine cooperation may not be forthcoming at the Rome summit.



The G-20 countries have supported vaccine-sharing through the U.N.-backed COVAX program, which has failed to alleviate dire shortages in poor countries. Donated doses are coming in at a fraction of what is needed, and developed countries are focused on booster shots for their own populations.



Negotiations before the summit have not focused on a large number of vaccines that could be made available, though countries talked about strengthening health systems.



Meanwhile, rising consumer prices and government stimulus programs to help economies bounce back from the pandemic may be discussed, but central banks tend to deal with higher prices and stimulus spending is decided at the national level.



Global taxes



One major economic deal is already done: The G-20 will likely be a celebration of an agreement on a global minimum corporate tax, aimed at preventing multinational companies from stashing profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes.



All G-20 governments signed on to the deal negotiated among more than 130 countries, and it now faces an ambitious timeline to get approved and enacted through 2023.



U.S. President Joe Biden has tied his domestic agenda to it _ creating a global minimum tax can allow the United States to charge higher taxes without the risk of companies shifting their profits to tax havens. U.S. adoption is key because so many multinational companies are headquartered there.



The agreement also helps remove trade tensions between the U.S. and Europe. It allows nations including France, Italy and Spain to back off digital services taxes that targeted U.S. tech companies Google, Facebook and Amazon.



Biden goes to the G-20 with his tax and economic agenda still subject to congressional negotiations. That means he will be unable to show that the U.S. is leading on global corporate taxes, though his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said G-20 leaders understand the nature of congressional talks.



''They'll say, 'Is President Biden on track to deliver on what he said he's going to deliver?' And we believe one way or the other, he will be on track to do that,'' Sullivan said.



High energy prices



The summit offers an opportunity for dialogue on high oil and gas prices 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.



Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin plan to participate remotely.



''Perhaps the most important thing the G20 could do is to tell those among them that are major energy suppliers that they should think about their future,'' said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank.



If energy prices are too high in the developed world, it will only speed up the move away from fossil fuels, ''which is ultimately, in the long run, bad for the suppliers,'' he said.



The White House says Biden intends to engage with other key leaders about energy prices, with oil recently hitting a seven-year high in the U.S. at over $84 per barrel and the international Brent crude benchmark reaching a three-year peak at over $86.



''We are definitely in an energy crisis, there is no other way to put it,'' said Claudio Galimberti, senior vice president of analysis at Rystad Energy and an expert in oil market demand.



But he said it's unlikely the G-20 ''can take any decision that has immediate impact.''



So far, Saudi-led OPEC and allies including Russia, dubbed OPEC+, have ignored Biden's pleas to increase production faster than its pace of 400,000 barrels per day each month into next year.



In one bright spot, Russian President Vladimir Putin told state-controlled company Gazprom to pump more gas into storage facilities in Europe, where prices have quintupled this year and fears have spread about winter shortages.



But producing nations ''are in a powerful position,'' Galimberti said. ''There is no one who can put pressure on OPEC+.''



Supply chains



Biden will press for countries to share more information about troubles with supply chains that have slowed growth in the developed world. Port and factory closures, shortages of shipping containers and rising demand have contributed to backlogs at ports and delays for deliveries of everything from bicycles to computer chips used in smartphones and cars.



Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, said the president would push for more transparency about identifying logjams with other governments: ''How do we know, at every level, where there may be bottlenecks or breaks in the supply chain so that we can quickly respond to them?''



Trade expert Chad P. Bown, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, agreed that sharing information can be helpful but said ''there's very little anyone can do'' now about the backups over a lack of shipping containers.



Longer term, leaders can discuss efforts to diversify supply of key goods such as masks, other medical protective equipment and semiconductors.



''There is a call to diversify some production of semiconductors geographically'' away from Asia, Bown said.



The U.S. and the European Union are talking about finding ways to incentivize chip production at home without starting a subsidy war _ for instance, by agreeing on which sectors of the semiconductor industry each side would seek to attract. (AP)


National Fried Chicken Sandwich Day will be observed at Poppy + Rose with the launch of the waffle fried chicken sandwich featuring a sunny side egg, crispy frid chicken thigh, house hot sauce and maple syrup.


AI/ML - Sr Technical Editor, Machine Learning & AI Strategy Seattle , Washington , United States Machine Learning and AI Summary

Posted: Oct 25, 2021 Role Number: 200305257 Join the engineering team that creates Siri along with the cutting-edge machine-learning technologies used by all Apple products. As our technical editor, you'll collaborate directly with our writers and the wider organization to create world-class documentation to facilitate and guide AI/ML engineering efforts. Key Qualifications Exceptional developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, proofreading, and scientific writing skills; authoritative command of American English grammar and punctuation; command of The Chicago Manual of Style; and unstoppable attention to detail

Close familiarity with software development life cycles; demonstrated success in supporting a software engineering team's quickly changing doc needs

Exceptional creativity in communicating complex topics and procedures in approachable, engaging, and technically accurate ways

Eagerness to mentor and collaborate with writers of all experience levels, throughout the editorial life cycle from project definition through publication, maintenance, and eventual doc retirement

Knowledge of trademark and copyright issues a plus Description You'll support a small docs team that facilitates technical knowledge-sharing with the goal of accelerating the evolution of Siri and machine learning technologies. You'll participate in the success of all our deliverables: - Documentation - Artwork and illustrations - Slide decks - Classes and workshops - Editorial guidelines - Glossaries and style guides Our team is driven by a strong, ethical design and information-architecture philosophy. We write and deploy our docs to be engaging and effective, findable and maintainable. You will, among other activities: - Work with writers and with our Technical Illustrator to help create engaging, clear, and error-free technical documentation - Help us develop and maintain subject taxonomies and metadata sets - Perform developmental edits and rewrites as necessary to improve a document's overall structure, approach, tone, and effectiveness - Copyedit and proofread documents for accuracy, clarity, consistency, and style - Present talks, classes, and workshops on issues relevant to writing-thereby helping writers, engineers, and managers alike hone their communication skills The subject matter we write about is highly technical and often complex. You'll have opportunities to learn about machine learning, continuous integration and deployment, natural language processing, software engineering, and other topics as they relate to your work. Any knowledge of these subjects that you bring to the job is a plus. Education & Experience - Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in English, Instructional Design, Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Architecture, Juris Doctor (with emphasis on legal writing), or a related discipline - Minimum of four years' technical editing experience




Sr Product / UX Designer Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Design Summary

Posted: Oct 25, 2021 Weekly Hours: 40 Role Number: 200301430 Apple is seeking an outstanding senior UX designer to work on human interface design for applications on all our platforms including iOS, MacOS, and web applications. The ideal candidate has a proven track record solving complex problems across multiple platforms. She or he has an eye for detail, and possesses a strong blend of interaction and visual design skills. This person is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with product stakeholders, development and engineering team members throughout IS&T and Apple to identify new solutions, improving existing ones, and ultimately influence product decision making. As a contributing member of the user experience design team, this person crafts compelling experiences that meet both business and user needs - but also demonstrates a willingness to take risks, push boundaries, and act as an advocate for the user. In addition to supporting the specific needs of your product's users and focus, the Senior UX designer is also responsible for ensuring connection points across products to create more holistic experiences for Apple employees. Key Qualifications An exceptional portfolio showcasing user experience and visual design work for web, macOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS.

5+ years work experience creating world-class user interface design in web, mobile-web, iOS and macOS app experiences.

Ability to articulate design rationale and share insight into design solutions

Deep expertise of user-centered design principles

Ability to do rapid prototyping

Great written and verbal communication skills

Excellent collaboration skills

Highly professional, with the ability to deliver solid work on tight schedules

Deep expertise of design tools, such as: Sketch, Principle, InVision,

A passion for Apple, its products, and its customers is a must Description Candidate must be a natural collaborator and a great communicator, able to develop and present design ideas in a large team environment. She or he will work closely with cross-functional teams such as Engineering, QA, Business, and Senior Management. Prior experience working within a technical environment is a key requirement. Candidates should possess exceptional visual and user interface design skills, as well as user-centered design principals. The applicant must have an affinity for consistency, color use, typography, and a keen eye for subtle details. While exercising a good eye for aesthetics, candidates must be able to grasp and distill highly complex issues and translate them into clean, focused, understandable solutions. Interest in emerging technologies in web, mobile, and other devices is required. Candidate should be a self-starter, self-motivated, able to work independently, and perform multiple tasks without supervision. Education & Experience Bachelors Degree or higher in Human Factors, Interaction Design, HCI, or equivalent is preferred Additional Requirements Must provide a portfolio demonstrating strong concepts and execution for applications and Web.






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Four million people hit the streets of Sudan yesterday in a national demonstration against Mondays military coup. At the same time, a general strike crippled the entire country, as dozens of trade unions and professional organisations came out in solidarity. This was met with ruthless violence by the counter revolution, resulting in heavy casualties and forcing the masses to retreat. We are now facing a decisive moment for the Sudanese revolution. Either it will go onto the offensive or it could face a bloody defeat. From here, no quarter can be asked or given.

Saturday began with a euphoric mood. The organised masses, represented by the neighbourhood resistance committees, worked tirelessly  despite the on-going media blackout and brutal repression by security forces  to build for yesterdays march of millions. The results exceeded anybodys expectations.

Videos leaked out of Sudan over the course of the day during brief periods of internet connectivity showing huge columns of people on the march, chanting revolutionary slogans, waving flags and demanding civilian rule. The limited coverage makes it difficult to gauge the exact scale and breadth of the demonstrations, but there were huge crowds in Khartoum, Bahri, Omdurman, Zalingei, Nyala, El Obeid, Port Sudan, Kassala, Gedarif, Arbaji, Ibri, Dongola, Al-Nahud, Medani and Kosti. There were also large international solidarity protests in 50 cities worldwide, including Washington DC, Ottawa, Perth, Paris and London.

My fav is gotta be this one, London Westminster, vibes were lit, energy level   + the Sudanese feminists were leading the protest pic.twitter.com/tIPj6US4bo   (@Abdalilah_Adam) October 30, 2021

Crackdown

But despite the power of the revolutionary movement, it has a major weakness. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) at its head have insisted upon peaceful civil disobedience, even in the face of the most brutal repression. This call was echoed by the neighbourhood resistance committees and remains popular on the ground, with one of the main chants being peaceful (referring to the nature of the protests).

Abdallah Altyeb Street in Ryadh, Khartoum. They chant peaceful peaceful  in reference to their protests #Sudan #October30 #_ pic.twitter.com/XXcVke7osY  Sahar Elmahi (@sahar_elmahi) October 30, 2021

This was the same approach the SPA adopted during the 2019 revolution. Even when the reactionary tribal Janjaweed militias were slaughtering dozens of people in Khartoum during the terror in June 2019, the SPA continued to call for peaceful protest and pressure from the international community  in other words, relying on support from the imperialist nations and institutions like the UN.

We must be honest: this naive insistence on non-violent methods puts the revolution at dire risk. There are no levels of brutality to which the counter-revolutionary generals will not stoop in defence of their power and privileges. They demonstrated this again yesterday. It is not entirely clear which security forces took part in repression during the march of millions, although allegedly the Central Reserve Forces (Abu Tera) and Tamazuj (3rd Front), as well as riot police, were involved. In any case, the RSF - Janjaweed militias - were the spearhead. On Saturday afternoon, lines of uniformed militiamen fired teargas and live ammunition to break up the demonstrations, while plainclothes troops infiltrated the protestors ranks to attack them behind their lines. The crackdown was especially brutal in Khartoum and Omdurman, with images emerging of armoured vehicles on the streets and troops firing indiscriminately on unarmed protestors, who could only respond by fleeing or throwing stones.

The exact number of casualties is impossible to calculate, but at least three people were killed yesterday, taking the total number of deaths since the coup to 13, with over 100 wounded on Saturday alone, meaning this number will rise dramatically. There were desperate appeals for blood donors and medical supplies by the Sudanese Central Doctors Union, and reports of the RSF attacking hospitals. They allegedly attempted to storm the Royal Care Hospital in Khartoum, backed by heavy artillery, to arrest the injured protestors there.

Leading activists from resistance committees are being targeted by the militias. In Al-Gineina, Central Darfur, there have been reports of four such arrests. In Riyadhs local committee, there has been a report of one activist being ambushed outside his house the day of the coup. We think they may have pinned his phone. They were waiting for him to leave the house and they captured him they beat him up, pointed the guns at his parents and told them to stay inside or theyre going to shoot all 3 of them. We still dont know where he is, one protestor reported.

Most of the detainees that have been arrested this week have been taken to undisclosed locations. Protestors, activists and journalists were subject to brutal treatment under Bashir's regime after being arrested and taken to what became known as the Ghost Houses. Torture methods included, but were not limited to, being forced to stand up for days on end, being thrown into freezers, and waterboarding. These arrests have been a part of a systematic strategy to weaken the resistance committees, and there have been reports of missing activists over the last two years. Most notably is Mohamed Abubaker Wad Akr, who went missing on 4 April, and whose body was found months later. These methods are being ramped up now.

At the same time, the military ran a misinformation campaign via the state media (which is in their hands), denying that troops were using live ammunition, slandering the protestors as violent thugs, making up stories about the police being shot, and even suggesting the demonstrators were not Sudanese citizens. In Omdurman, the family of a young man killed by the RSF went to collect his body from the city morgue, only to find that his cause of death was officially attributed to COVID-19! The counter-revolution is trying to cover its tracks.

Bankruptcy of pacifism

With the casualties mounting and momentum swinging in the direction of the counter-revolution, the neighbourhood resistance committees made a call for protestors to retreat to their homes and barricade their communities. But even now, after yet another vicious crackdown, a statement issued by the SPA, while condemning the bloodshed at the hands of the army, continued to call for peaceful resistance, the occupation of the streets... and mass civil disobedience. The leadership have also made further appeals for support from the international community. Shaheen al Shaheef, a member of the Khartoum Resistance Committee, told the BBC: People here are very peaceful. These protests are going to continue being peaceful even when faced with the guns.

This is not a strategy for peace, but a recipe for defeat and death on an even greater scale. Unless the masses are prepared to defend themselves, arms in hand, they will simply be mown down. The counter-revolution is perfectly willing to restore the old military dictatorship on a throne of bones. The only way to defeat the coup, once and for all, and prevent further massacres, is for self-defence committees to be immediately established, the masses drilled and armed and a general appeal made to win over any sympathetic army ranks as soon as possible. This is the only way to repel the military.

It seems that General Burhan, the coup leader, is mostly relying on the most-reactionary section of the security forces to facilitate repression. In 2019, there was a lot of sympathy for the revolution from the ranks of the normal soldiers. The SPA was unwilling to agitate for support from the rank-and-file troops, because they knew this would result in an armed clash with the generals.

The Sudanese ruling elite will not give up its power without a fight. Confining the revolution to street protests and limited general strikes only emboldens the counter-revolution, while demoralising the revolutionary masses.

This squeamishness must be abandoned at once. A general appeal must go out to the normal troops  who are nothing but ordinary workers and peasants  emphasising the brutal treatment of their class brothers and sisters at the hands of the RSF, and calling on them to mutiny; and to join, support, train and arm the revolutionary people. Let us not forget that during the occupation at the military headquarters in 2019, some soldiers defended the masses from the RSFs bullets. It is the responsibility of the leaders of the revolution to explain the necessity of these measures, to dispel any illusions in non-violent civil disobedience. Refusal to do so would be an act of criminal irresponsibility by the SPA and leaders of the resistance committees, and amount to condemning the Sudanese Revolution to slaughter.

As far as the international community goes: the imperialist crooks have all announced sanctions and issued condemnations of the military takeover, but this is the extent of their support. Indeed, we know that US envoys were in Sudan shortly before this coup was launched  they probably knew it was coming, and they didnt lift a finger to prevent it. Volker Perthes (Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan) commented on Twitter today that he had been in discussions with the deposed civilian Prime Minister Hamdok about options for mediation and the way forward for Sudan. He pledged to continue these efforts with other Sudanese stakeholders. In other words, the imperialists are trying to cobble together (at best) another rotten compromise with the military. But as we have seen, these old elements of the Bashir regime have no intention of tolerating civilian rule.

For all their hypocritical talk of respect for democracy, the imperialist gangsters are ultimately responsible for the economic strangulation of Sudan for years, principally through foreign debt. They held the country in an artificial state of backwardness and created precisely the conditions that facilitated the military dictatorship of Al-Bashir, which was overthrown solely by the strength of the masses themselves. They are no allies of the revolution.

Blood for blood

There is evidence that yesterdays events are starting to have an effect on sections of the masses. One protestor replied to Perthes statement on Twitter: No mediation after what military criminals have committed against the people. We are now fully aware of their intention even more than before. What we actually need is their elimination from the power and to have a fully civil rule. This is the demand of the people.

Similarly, an older woman in Khartoum whose son was killed during the week was filmed running directly from his funeral directly from Saturdays protests, declaring: blood for blood, I will not accept compensation. This slogan from the 2019 revolution, referring to the blood money that can be paid to the family of a murder victim under Islamic law, shows a willingness to fight the coup to the finish, rejecting all compromises.

This mother just lost her son (a martyr) hours ago, shes literally coming straight from the funeral to the protest. Blood for blood, will not accept Diyah (compensation)

       #30 #_ https://t.co/SNTWSMUNlR  m.Sorkatti (@LeSorkatti) October 30, 2021

The masses also revealed their immense courage and a growing willingness to fight back yesterday. Crowds forced the military to retreat across Al Mansheiya Bridge in Khartoum, armed with nothing but sticks or bare hands.

The SPA has shown some sign of hardening following the brutal clampdown on Saturday. In a statement yesterday evening, it outlined its objectives as follows:

Overthrow of the coup orchestrated by the military council and handing over all its members to immediate fair trials for their crimes against the Sudanese people. No negotiation with criminals, nor a return to the broken agreement, instead, an immediate handing over of power to a full civilian government chosen by the revolutionary forces whose elements believe in radical change and the fulfillment of the goals of Decembers revolution. Liquidation of the National Intelligence and Security Services and dissolution of militias through disarmament and demobilization, instead, building of a professional national army on a doctrine of protecting the people and borders under the command of the civilian authority. Submitting all companies of the security and military forces to the civilian governments authority and putting an end to the interference of these agencies in investment and economic activity. Cessation of intervention from regional and international opposition to our people and their aspirations in [Sudans] political affairs.

These demands are steps forward, showing the pressure of events on the SPA, but they dont go far enough, and will not be accomplished by the failed methods of peaceful civil disobedience. If there is any peace to be found in the future of the Sudanese masses, it will only be obtained through defending their revolution by any means necessary.

While the counter-revolution scored a victory yesterday, the fight is not over. The trade unions have all issued statements confirming that the general strike remains in effect. The masses are back on the streets today. They are increasingly bloodied and enraged. There may come a point where they reject useless pacifism and put pressure on the resistance committees and SPA to meet the counter-revolution strength for strength. This should not happen in a disorganised way but be built for and coordinated by the resistance committees. The workers organisations must be fully integrated into these bodies, which must become the germ of workers and peasants power. It must appeal and send delegations to fraternise with the rank-and-file soldiers and prepare for a final showdown to defeat the bloodthirsty military coup.

Bank of Khartoum Workers Union releases statement announcing a continuation of general strike as part of the nationwide civil disobedience in effect since Oct. 26.



This decision made in coordination w/Sudanese Bankers Association. #SudanCoup#_ https://t.co/7hUnkFZkTi  Munchkin (@BSonblast) October 31, 2021

Ultimately, the resistance committees must link up across the country and develop a programme for the expropriation of the counter-revolutionary generals, capitalists and all remaining elements of the Bashir regime. With these resources in the masses hands, they will be able to carry out a sweeping programme of social and economic reforms to put the democratic, civilian government demanded by the masses on a firm footing. This would lay the foundations for socialism and a worker and peasant regime. But before any of that can be achieved, the bankrupt strategy of peaceful protest must be jettisoned. The fate of the revolution depends on it.
The Benjamin Mkapa African Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition launched with the announcement of the Grand Prize Winner and 16 category awardees. The global competition received close to 9,000 entries from 50 countries worldwide, including 10 countries in Africa

African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) launched its 60th year anniversary this evening at a colorful reception and awards ceremony celebrating AWFs decades of conservation work on the continent as well as the winners of the inaugural Benjamin Mkapa African Wildlife Photography Awards, named in honor of the late former President of Tanzania.

Sixteen winning photographers from across the world attended the ceremony at the Nairobi National Museum. They received honorary certificates and awards for their photographs and videos in the global competition that received almost 9,000 entries from 50 countries worldwide, including 10 countries here in Africa.

The Grand Prize winner, Riccardo Marchegiani, from Italy received a cash prize of US$ 5,000 (KES 555,476) and a large Shona elephant sculpture for his photo Gelada and Baby shot in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. In addition, Marchegiani will be featured with an interview and portfolio in Natures Best Photography magazine, as well as a feature in a special edition devoted to the Benjamin Mkapa African Wildlife Photography Awards.

Speaking as he received his award, Marchegiani said,

It gives me great pleasure to accept this award that is a true testament of the hard work and dedication put throughout the years. I believe that the art form of photography expresses my vision and sensitivity to the beauty of nature. My objective is to raise awareness and encourage conservation in a more sustainable lifestyle.

Other category winners each received prize money of US$ 1,000 (KES 111,095) and a Shona elephant sculpture. They will also be featured in the Natures Best Photography special edition. The categories and category winners include:

Coexistence and Conflict category winner: James Lewin from Kenya for Elephant Orphans from Reteti Elephant Sanctuary at Painted Rock in Samburu, Kenya

Conservation Heroes category winner: Jen Guyton from Germany for Veterinarian with Rescued Pangolin, Mozambique

Wildlife at Risk category winner: Ingrid Vekemans from Belgium for White Rhinoceros Battle, Solio Game Reserve, Kenya

Fragile Wilderness category winner: Anette Mossbacher from Switzerland for Ruacana Falls, Namibia

African Wildlife Behavior category winner: Buddhilini de Soyza from Australia for Cheetahs Swimming across Talek River, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Africa in Motion category winner: Olli Teirilla from Finland for his video, Magical Maasai Mara, National Reserve

African Wildlife Backyards category winner: Javier Lobon-Rovira from Spain for Farmer with Green Frog in His Hands, Anja Community, Madagascar

African Wildlife Portraits category winner: Kevin Dooley from the USA for African Savanna Elephant, Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa

Art in Nature category winner: Paul McKenzie from Hong Kong for Galaxy  Lesser Flamingoes, Lake Natron, Tanzania

Youth International category winner: Zander Gallie from the USA for Mountain Gorilla, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Youth in Africa category winner: Cathan Moore from South Africa for Wildebeest, Timbavati Nature Reserve, South Africa

Speaking at the celebration, AWF CEO Kaddu Sebunya said, Within the context of a rapidly changing Africa, and armed with 60 years of experience, AWF has renewed its vision, and crafted strategic approaches to become a truly global African conservation organization. Through the Benjamin Mkapa African Wildlife Photography Awards, AWF is committed to finding, helping, and amplifying the authentic African voices advocating against the destruction of Africas natural wildlife heritage. We are dedicated to defining and refining Africas agendas for conservation and development, and to represent these voices  trumpet these voices loudly  around the world.

The inaugural photography competition was launched earlier this year to honor the former Tanzanian President, H.E. the late Benjamin Mkapa as an iconic conservation leader and one of AWFs longest-serving board members. In a bid to engage new audiences in documenting wildlife and wild lands conservation in modern Africa, the primary goal of the Benjamin Mkapa African Wildlife Photography Awards is to engage and involve photographers from Africa and around the world at all proficiency levels to share stories from the field that inspire and encourage new advocates for conservation.

The awards ceremony Guest of Honor, Kenyas Cabinet Secretary of Wildlife and Tourism, Hon. Najib Balala remarked: With initiatives such as the Benjamin Mkapa African Wildlife Photography Awards, organizations such as AWF and Natures Best Photography are actively encouraging both international and domestic tourists to visit these unique landscapes and tell authentic stories that emphasize the magic behind Africas rich biodiversity hotspots and its people.

The growing need to hear more African voices from all disciplines speak on behalf of wildlife and wild lands at global stage has been identified, and I am encouraged to see multiple young champions for conservation emerge from within. These young voices are actively coming up with practical solutions that befit the technology advancements, and we must not sideline them at all.

This collection of 79 winning images will be on display at the Nairobi National Museum through mid-January 2022 in a bid to capitalize and engage Kenyan audiences and visitors from around the world. The collection will also be published in a special edition of Natures Best Photography magazine and will be featured in a year-long traveling exhibition through Africa, North America, Asia, and Europe as AWF celebrates 60 years of visionary conservation leadership.

AWF Country Director, Kenya, Nancy Githaiga said, Our 60 years in conservation have shown us just what success can look like. We have seen the continent weather the worst poaching crisis of our lifetime and come out on the other side bruised but still fighting. Conservation interventions have brought back key wildlife species from the brink of extinction, including the black rhino and the elephant, and helped to raise awareness for struggling species such as the giraffe which is often overlooked but has been disappearing before our eyes.

We look forward to achieving more prosperity through strategic partnerships with the government and other stakeholders to further support our new 10-year strategy.

Through this annual competition, AWF is committed to building the participation of African photographers through targeted promotion and capacity building  an important component of our African Conservation Voices initiative.

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Lonely Planet, one of the worlds most renowned travel guide producers, has unveiled its top 10 countries to visit in 2022 with Mauritius named in its top three.

The travel guide company, which has been providing inspiring and trustworthy information for travellers since 1973, published its annual Best in Travel list yesterday. This highly anticipated list shares Lonely Planets expertise on the most desirable destinations and travel experiences for the year ahead.

Lonely Planets Best in Travel list takes into consideration hundreds of recommended destinations worldwide, from which a shortlist is then selected by the guides panel of five travel experts and enthusiasts. In the 2022 edition, the top 10 counties are each chosen for their topicality and readiness to welcome visitors in 2022, their offering of unique experiences and wow factor and additionally their commitment to sustainable tourism practices. This edition places particular emphasis on the best sustainable travel experiences and reveals how tourists can have a positive impact on the world by providing practical advice on sustainable travel choices and informing readers how they can support local communities and celebrate inclusivity.

Deputy Prime Minister, Steven Obeegadoo commented:

Were delighted that Mauritius has been recognised by Lonely Planet as a must-visit destination for 2022. Mauritius has been consistently celebrated in recent years for developing sustainable activities and practices for incoming tourists. From our multitude of green zones, including forests, parks and nature reserves, to our offering of eco-friendly activities such as electric-biking and the banning of single use plastics, Mauritius is an exemplary case of eco-tourism in action.

According to Lonely Planets VP of Experience, Tom Hall, the release of Lonely Planets annual hot list of destinations and travel experiences could not be more timely. After an enforced hiatus, its time to take those long-postponed travel plans off the shelf and make them a reality. Hall also asserted: The lists celebrate the world in all its wonderful enticing variety, from the lagoons and forests of the Cook Islands to the waterfalls and mountains of Icelands Westfjords, via Aucklands natural and urban delights.

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The U.S. Embassy in Mauritius, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), donated one ambulance and one utility vehicle worth half a million dollars to the Mauritius Red Cross.

This donation is part of the ongoing U.S. assistance to support Mauritius response to the COVID-19 and strengthen its public health capacity through a USAID grant of $500,000 (Rs20million).

U.S. Embassy Chargee dAffaires Judes E. DeBaere handed over the keys to the vehicles to Mauritius Red Cross President Samoorgum (Siven) Tirvassen during a ceremony at the Hennessy Park Hotel in Ebene this morning.

With this financial assistance and the hard work of its team, the Mauritius Red Cross Society (MRCS) has offered 24 hours ambulance service during the two lockdowns, provided personal protective equipment for the safety of all its volunteers and trained volunteers on community surveillance and psychosocial support. Mauritius Red Cross will also install sanitizers dispensers in all primary schools in Mauritius and Rodrigues.

During her remarks at the key handing ceremony, U.S. Embassy Chargee dAffaires Judes E. DeBaere said,

The U.S. government has worked with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world for decades and it is a trusted and capable partner. As we continue to face a deadly pandemic that has killed millions, it is vital to support partners like the Red Cross.

Mauritius Red Cross President Samoorgum Tirvassen said, The financial support from USAID through the IFRC has enhanced the capacities for the Mauritius Red Cross Society to fulfill its auxiliary role and assist communities in Mauritius and Rodrigues during these difficult days of the pandemic.

The United States is committed to leading the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over and above the financial support extended to the Mauritius Red Cross, on the September 23, 2021 a shipment of 76,050 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was also made to the Republic of Mauritius. This is currently the only vaccine authorized for individuals under the age of 18.

As President Biden said,

From the beginning of my presidency, we have been clear-eyed that we need to attack this virus globally as well. This is about our responsibility  our humanitarian obligation to save as many lives as we can  and our responsibility to our values. Were going to help lead the world out of this pandemic, working alongside our global partners.

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You know, 2020 was a wake up call that we have to start at the bottom. And we have to restructure the entire government from the ground up, said Lori Phillips, 57, of Danielsville. Im getting more awakened by what is going on within Northampton County. I just dont like that theyre trying to take our freedoms away. What theyre trying to do at the schools and race theory, its just ridiculous.
Reynolds, a Bethlehem city councilman for 14 years and a teacher at Allen High School in Allentown, said he couldnt speak to some parts of Bethlehems history, such as what he said was a failure of Bethlehem Steel to hire Black workers. But he said that if elected, he will try to bring more diversity to city hall.
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International

India and UK to launch solar Green Grids Initiative at COP26

GLASGOW, OCT 31 (PTI) | Publish Date: 10/31/2021 1:09:09 PM IST

India and the UK are set to enhance their International Solar Alliance (ISA) partnership with the launch of a new Green Grids Initiative connecting different parts of the world at the United Nations (UN) COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The new Global Green Grids Initiative  One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG) is an evolution of ISAs OSOWOG multilateral drive to foster interconnected solar energy infrastructure at a global scale. The new Green Grids Initiative, to be launched at COP26 on Tuesday, will mark a merging of flagship interconnection initiatives from India and the UK as part of their bilateral cooperation.

This initiative will bring together an international coalition of national governments, financial organisations, and power system operators to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure needed to deliver a massive scale-up of secure, reliable and affordable power, such as modern, flexible grids, charging points, and electricity interconnectors, the UKs Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, in reference to the joint project.

ISA recently announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to mobilise USD 1 trillion in global investments for solar energy across ISAs member countries. The two organisations plan to work with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to develop a Solar Investment Action Agenda and a Solar Investment Roadmap, which will also be launched at COP26.

India-led ISA, an inter-governmental treaty-based international organisation with a global mandate to catalyse global solar growth by helping to reduce the cost of financing and technology for solar, is designed to establish solar energy as a shared solution that simultaneously addresses climate, energy, and economic priorities across geographies. ISA, headed by Director General Dr Ajay Mathur and with 98 countries supporting its framework, is aimed at facilitating energy transition at a global level, energy security at national levels, while also ensuring energy access at the local level.

The alliance said it is working with development banks to bring the benefits of solar across the world. Apart from bringing down prices for solar water pumps, it is enabling technological transfer, storage solutions, financial assistance, along with skilling and enabling countries to adopt solar.

It added: The ISA is an observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has been an active participant at Conference of Parties (COPs).

To continue with ISAs efforts at global outreach, the ISA Secretariat will participate in the forthcoming 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), to be held under the UK presidency, at Glasgow (Scotland) between November 1 and November 12, 2021.
Regional

Manipur CM attends Go to Hills 2.0 held in Senapati amid boycott

Manipur CM N Biren Singh being given a rousing welcome at Maram Khullen in Senapati district on Saturday.

Correspondent IMPHAL, Oct 30 | Publish Date: 10/30/2021 3:58:09 PM IST

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh was given a rousing welcome by residents of Maram in Senapati district bordering Nagaland where he graced a community outreach programme as chief guest.

During his maiden visit to the interior village which is associated with the legendary love story of King Paikhomba and Maram chiefs daughter Engellei, Singh announced various development projects to be taken up in Senapati district and Maram area of the district.

He also distributed benefits of various schemes of the welfare programmes of different departments under the state government.

To the delight of people of Maram present on the occasion in huge numbers, he announced opening of SDOs office Maram and Maram police station, upgradation of Maram PHC to CHC and Maram Khullen PHSC to PHC.

He also handed over a work order to the agency concerned for development of Sadim Pukhri and Hinga Shrine, associated with the love story of King Paikhomba and Engellei.

Addressing the gathering, the chief minister said that his government functions within a system and every work programme had been implemented after thorough discussion with concerned officials.

That was why his government had been able to maintain a good relation with the public, he claimed.

He asserted that the state government had been working with dedication to provide all necessary infrastructures to every district of the state. He urged the people to refrain from any false information circulated by vested interest groups creating enmity among certain communities while maintaining that the state government always worked for inclusive development.

Singh added that a white paper on fund flow to the hills districts had been brought out recently and it indicated that around 45 percent of the total state budget had been allocated to hill districts in the last two and half years. He also appealed to the youths of hill districts to apply for Start Up scheme as only few had applied for the same so far.

He maintained that infrastructures of certain sectors like road and transport, health, water supply and education among others had been improved significantly under the people oriented programmes taken up by the BJP-led coalition government.

He stressed on the need to develop hill districts in order to achieve overall development of the country and as such t certain development programmes had been taken up under the Hill Areas Development Programme (HADP) of the Central government.

On the controversial proposed new bill on autonomous hill district councils, Singh maintained that the state government will never go beyond the ambit of the Indian Constitution.

He said that the state government was discussing the bill with the Central government as certain contents in the bill were beyond the jurisdiction of the state government.

He added that the state government will never go against the interest of its people and appealed not to insist the government take up steps on matters that couldnt be done by the state assembly.

He also informed that his government was considering providing more autonomy to ADC.

On the occasion, the chief minister flagged off COVID vaccination express for Senapati district and also laid the foundation stone for the science block of Don Bosco College, Maram.

He also released the Maram text book for Class IX and X published by the Board of Secondary Education Manipur.

State PHED minister Losii Dikho, education minister Sorokhaibam Rajen, agriculture minister Oinam Lukhoi, MLA Kongkham Robindro, Senapati ADC caretaker chairman A Kapani, state chief secretary Dr Rajesh Kumar were among others who attended todays community outreach programme hosted by Senapati district administration.
Infotainment

Netflix employees file charges against the company

Oct 30, (Agencies) | Publish Date: 10/30/2021 3:49:58 PM IST

Two Netflix employees at the heart of the Dave Chappelle controversy have filed labor charges against the company, alleging the streaming giant retaliated against them for engaging in protected activity. B. Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager, was fired while organizing a walkout related to Netflixs support of Chappelles comedy special The Closer, which has been widely condemned as transphobic. Terra Field, a trans software engineer, was suspended after posting a viral tweet thread about the issue.

Netflix said it fired Pagels-Minor for allegedly leaking confidential information  a charge they have categorically denied. The company said Field was suspended for attending a director-level meeting she wasnt supposed to, though it reinstated her after finding no ill intent. In the charge, Field says she and hundreds of other Netflix employees were invited to attend the meeting. Now, the employees are filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. They say Netflixs actions were designed to stop workers from speaking out about their working conditions, including the desire to create a safe environment for Netflix staff.

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, says attorney Laurie Burgess. The charge is all about collective action. Its about supporting your coworkers and speaking up for things you care about.

Filing with the NLRB supports the goal of collective action. But its also an easier choice than filing in state court, as both Pagels-Minor and Field signed Netflix employment agreements that require them to resolve disputes in private arbitration, a process that tends to favor the employer. (This is common at large tech companies, though both Google and Activision Blizzard have recently ended forced arbitration due to employee organizing efforts.)

The NLRB investigates all charges it receives. If it finds the allegations have merit, it can try to secure a settlement or, if that fails, issue a complaint. For employees, the best-case scenario outside of settling is getting reinstated with backpay and forcing Netflix to post a notice that workers are allowed to engage in protected activity. (The Verge)

In a carefully worded statement, Netflix implied Pagels-Minor was the source behind a Bloomberg story that contained internal metrics about how much Netflix paid for The Closer. The narrative then spread in the media, though employees who spoke to The Verge said they didnt believe it was true. After Pagels-Minor was fired, Bloomberg continued to publish stories containing internal metrics about Netflix shows.

B., who is 35 weeks pregnant, is now about to lose their health insurance. Amidst all the stress, I am trying to take one day at a time and focus on my health, they said in an interview with The Verge. As a high-risk pregnancy, I have to be careful. We dont 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 has applied for medical leave from Netflix. Since speaking out, she has received a credible death threat and been doxxed. This is what happens with trans people  were tolerated as long as were quiet, but if we speak up we get harassed, she says in an interview with The Verge. It has been a really stressful few weeks, but I intend to keep fighting for our community.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is continuing to stand by the special, although hes walked back previous claims that content on screen doesnt directly translate to real-world harm.

Earlier this week, a Verge investigation found that in 2020, Netflix suppressed search results after the controversy around the film Cuties to quell public outrage. The company did not take similar steps for The Closer.

The trans employee resource group released a list of demands ahead of the October 20th walkout. They want Netflix to invest in trans creators and revise internal processes on commissioning potentially harmful content.

In a statement emailed to The Verge after the original publication of this article, a Netflix spokesperson denied retaliating against employees. We recognize the hurt and pain caused to our trans colleagues over the last few weeks. But we want to make clear that Netflix has not taken any action against employees for either speaking up or walking out. (The Verge)
National

No backend talks with Congress, says Captain as he preps own party launch

CHANDIGARH, OCT 30 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 10/30/2021 4:07:34 PM IST

Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has rubbished reports of backend talks with the Congress leadership to retain him in the party, reports NDTV.

Reports of backend talks with Congress are incorrect. The time for rapprochement is over. Im grateful to Sonia Gandhi ji for her support but will not stay in Congress now, Singhs aide Raveen Thukral quoted him as saying.

Following the former Chief Ministers announcement of launching a new party, The Tribune, a Chandigarh-based newspaper had recently reported that senior Congress leaders are learned to be engaged in backend talks to persuade the former CM to stay in the party. Thukral tweeted on behalf of the former Chief Minister that he will soon launch his own party and will hold talks for seat-sharing with BJP, breakaway Akali factions & others for Punjab elections once the farmers issue was resolved. I want to build a strong collective force in the interest of Punjab & its farmers, he said. Fearing a split in votes in the state ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, the newspaper reported Congress insiders as saying that the party didnt want Mr Singh fielding candidates against Congress nominees as he is likely to attract disgruntled Congress leaders who were denied a ticket and could divide the partys prospective votes.

Captain Singh, while announcing his plans for a new party, had said that many leaders were already in touch with him and that hed reveal their names at an opportune moment. He has also said that his new party plans to contest on all 117 assembly seats in Punjab and is discussing a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP. He said he is open to aligning with breakaway Akali groups to defeat the SAD, Congress, and AAPin the state.

Singh has supported the Centres recent move to expand the jurisdiction of the Border Security Forces (BSF) in the state, which had triggered a debate on federalism and state autonomy.

AAP leader Jarnail Singh on Wednesday asked the Congress why it has not expelled the former chief minister from the party for announcing his new outfit and backing the Centres move of extending BSFs jurisdiction in the state.

Singh had to resign as the Chief Minister last month after a dramatic rebellion by Congress leaders in the state who had been critical of him for allegedly not acting on pre-poll promises that propelled the parts victory in the state. He was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi.
National

Territorial ambitions of China, Pak require Indias armed forces to remain alert: CDS

NEW DELHI, OCT 31 (PTI) | Publish Date: 10/31/2021 1:56:42 PM IST

The territorial ambitions of China and Pakistan require the Indian armed forces to remain alert and deployed along disputed borders and coastal areas round the year, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat said on Sunday. The CDS stated this while delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture at All India Radio.

The quintessential visionary that Sardar Patel was, he had assertively voiced the need of an independent Tibet as a buffer state between India and China, as can be found in his correspondence with the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, he said. Rawat said history is witness to the fact that whenever a country neglects its armed forces, the external powers are quick to exploit it.

In the 1950s, India overlooked this important lesson of history and allowed the security apparatus to drift and the Chinese shook the country up in 1962, Rawat said. We had to relearn this lesson through an ignominious experience. Post-1962, we have had several skirmishes against the Chinese  at Nathu La in Sikkim in 1967, at Wangdung in 1986, at Doklam in 2017 and the recent skirmishes in the eastern Ladakh, he noted.

The outcomes have made it clear that the Indian armed forces are alert and determined to defend national territory, he said. This, he said, has helped the Chinese and our leaders to pursue agreements for maintaining peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and several other confidence-building measures to improve relations.

Territorial ambitions of China and Pakistan require Indias armed forces to remain alert and deployed along disputed borders and also along the coastal regions round the year, he asserted. The current border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted in May last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas of eastern Ladakh and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, India and China completed the disengagement process in the Gogra area in August and in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake in February. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the sensitive sector.

Rawat, in his speech, also recalled the role of the Indian armed forces in controlling the post-partition violence in India. No one had fathomed that the scale of mayhem due to the communal frenzy that was unleashed due to the partition of our nation. Large scale violence between people who once lived as one community resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives in 1947, he said. The police force was limited in numbers, not fully trained or equipped, and was suffering from the trauma of communal fighting, he mentioned.

The communal frenzy of that time was beyond the control of the police. The armed forces were then called in to control the furious rioting and enforce civil order, he added.
International

Vatican sends message of interreligious solidarity on Diwali

Vatican City, Oct 30 (PTI) | Publish Date: 10/30/2021 3:53:05 PM IST

The Vatican, seat of the Roman Catholic church, has greeted the Hindu community, expressing hope that interreligious solidarity can bring light in peoples lives amid despair and uncertainty arising from the challenges posed by the pandemic.

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sent its most cordial greetings on Friday to all Hindus on the occasion of Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, on the theme Christians and Hindus: Together bringing light into peoples lives in times of despair. Diwali will be celebrated on November 4. The statement comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called on Pope Francis at the Vatican and had a very warm meeting and discussed with him a wide range of issues and also invited the Pontiff to visit India.

May the observance of this feast even in the midst of anxiety and uncertainty arising from the present pandemic, and its resultant worldwide crises, light up your lives, homes and communities with the hope for a better future, it said in the statement. The scars of the first and second waves of the pandemic, which upended the lives and livelihood of people, has left the people with a sense of resignation, despair and despondency and we both Christians and Hindus can bring the light of hope in peoples lives in such challenging times, it said.

Bringing light together in peoples lives through interreligious solidarity also validates the usefulness and resourcefulness of religious traditions in society, it said.

Noting that religious traditions, as repositories of wisdom, in times of crisis, have the power of lifting sagging spirits, the Pontifical Council said that they also have the capacity to help individuals and communities to reset their lifes compass with hope, with their gaze fixed beyond their present despair.

It called on the religious and community leaders to nurture the spirit of fraternity among their followers with a view to helping them walk and work together with the people of other religious traditions, most especially during crisis and calamity of every kind.

The power of solidarity unleashed in alleviating the suffering and assisting the needy, more so with an interreligious character and responsibility, gives visibility to the light of hope by putting in evidence the response which adherents of all religious traditions are called upon to make in times of despair and darkness, the statement said.

The Pontifical Council said that greater awareness about one another, interdependence and working solidarity can help the world emerge out of every crisis better.

Even the pressing global issues that threaten to disrupt the harmony between nature and people and the harmonious co-existence of people such as climate change, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, hyper nationalism, xenophobia can be effectively addressed since these are concerns that affect us all, it said.

According to Johns Hopkins University data, there are more than 246,082,500 COVID-19 cases globally with over 4,990,300 deaths.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 16:20:16|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on Aug. 23, 2021 shows the scenery of Saihanba forest farm in north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

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 delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, France, Nov. 30, 2015. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

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.

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the Climate Ambition Summit via video link on Dec. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

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. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-30 18:55:20|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Sept. 30, 2021 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua: "I originally thought this bill would pass in early fall. Now I think the odds are only 50-50."



by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. dollars infrastructure package without the 1.75 trillion U.S. dollars 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.

U.S. President Joe Biden (L) leaves the White House in Washington, D.C. Oct. 20, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Jayapal's statement comes on the heels of U.S. President Joe Biden's Capitol Hill visit on Thursday, when he met with Democrats in a bid to discuss the 1.75 trillion U.S. dollars 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 U.S. dollars 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.

Photo taken on Oct. 28, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The White House earlier this week unveiled a less-expensive version of the original social spending bill. Priced at 1.75 trillion U.S. dollars - 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 prekindergarten 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 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.

People visit the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Oct. 25, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua "I do think it's likely something eventually passes."

Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua: "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 - favor 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, told Xinhua he is not in favor 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. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 02:21:46|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's securities regulator on Saturday published rules for initial public offerings, refinancing and supervision for the newly-announced Beijing Stock Exchange.

Along with related normative documents, these rules are set to come into effect from Nov. 15, according to a statement on the official website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The securities regulator had solicited public opinions on the rules before the release. It has adopted all constructive opinions on protecting the rights and interests of small and medium investors, boosting listed companies' operation capabilities and improving information disclosure, the statement said.

China has decided to build the Beijing bourse into a primary platform for innovation-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises as the capital market evolves to meet the financing needs of various entities. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 04:28:53|Editor: huaxia

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-- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday addressed the Group of 20 (G20) leaders' summit via video link, calling on its members to shoulder due responsibilities and uphold openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation for forging a community with a shared future for mankind.

-- "Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons," Xi said, urging the G20 to play a leading role in building consensus, mobilizing resources, and promoting cooperation.

-- "Developed countries need to lead by example on emissions reduction, fully accommodate the special difficulties and concerns of developing countries, and deliver on their commitments of climate financing," Xi added.

Photo taken on Oct. 30, 2021 shows a view of the Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders' Summit held in Rome, Italy. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday addressed the Group of 20 (G20) leaders' summit via video link, calling on its members to shoulder due responsibilities and uphold openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation for forging a community with a shared future for mankind.

"Let us work together to dispel the dark clouds of the pandemic at an early date and jointly build an ever better future for all of us," said Xi.

The summit, with the theme of "People, Planet, Prosperity," is being held online and offline from Saturday to Sunday by Italy, which holds the rotating G20 presidency.

STRENGTHENING ANTI-PANDEMIC COOPERATION

"Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons," Xi said, urging the G20 to play a leading role in building consensus, mobilizing resources, and promoting cooperation.

Created in 1999, the G20 comprising 19 countries plus the European Union, is a main forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues. The group accounts for 86 percent of the global GDP and two-thirds of the world population. "International expectation is mounting for the G20 to rally more consensus to counter increasingly urgent global challenges," said Liu Zhaoyi, a research fellow at Rhodes University, South Africa.

To actively promote COVID-19 vaccines -- powerful weapons to defeat the virus -- as global public goods, China so far has provided over 1.6 billion doses of vaccines for more than 100 countries and international organizations, and is conducting joint vaccine production with 16 countries, with an initial capacity of 700 million doses per year, as put by Xi.

Staff members work on a production line of COVID-19 vaccine at Uzbek pharma Jurabek Laboratories in Uzbekistan, Sept. 5, 2021. Jurabek Laboratories has agreed with China's Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical on the local production of the ZF-UZ-VAC2001 vaccine. (Photo by Zafar Khalilov/Xinhua)

Proposing a Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative, Xi urged the provision of more vaccines to developing countries to meet the global vaccination target for 2022 as set by the World Health Organization (WHO), encouraging vaccine companies to transfer technology to developing countries, advancing mutual recognition of vaccines in accordance with the WHO's Emergency Use Listing, and providing financial support for global vaccine cooperation.

As developing countries have been hit extraordinarily hard by COVID-19, China has identified the weakest link in the global pandemic response and echoed the latest pledges by G20 members to advance the vaccination drive, said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies. "This demonstrates China's resolve to join hands with the world in weathering difficulties as a major player within G20 and beyond."

"China is ready to work with all parties to enhance vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries and make a positive contribution to building a global line of defense through vaccination," vowed Xi.

Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2021 shows packages of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)



ENHANCING COORDINATION ON INCLUSIVE RECOVERY

Noting COVID-19 has made a complex and far-reaching impact on the world economy, Xi called for strengthening coordination to promote recovery, urging major economies to adopt responsible macroeconomic policies and the improvement of the global economic governance system and rules.

China welcomes the IMF's decision on the new allocation of Special Drawing Rights totaling 650 billion U.S. dollars, and stands ready to lend the new allocation to low-income countries that are seriously affected by COVID-19, added Xi.

"The governance effectiveness and credibility of the G20 depend on a partnership reflecting the evolving international landscape, meaning the rise of emerging markets," said Sun Jingxin, an associate research fellow with the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, adding that China's proposals are aimed at addressing both current economic hazards and the deficit of global governance architecture.

Photo taken on Aug. 15, 2021 shows a view of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo by Suo Xianglu/Xinhua)

On common development, Xi urged the G20 to prioritize development in macro policy coordination and called on advanced economies to fulfill pledges on official development assistance. He also extended a welcome to more countries to actively participate in the China-proposed Global Development Initiative, which is "highly compatible with the G20's goal and priority of promoting global development."

To tap growth potential via innovation, Xi called on G20 members to promote the deeper integration of digital technologies with the real economy, adding that China has decided to apply to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement.

Open and inclusive cooperation championed by China and many other G20 members in the Industry 4.0 era is vital to better economic integration and post-pandemic recovery, Liu Zhaoyi told Xinhua.

CHAMPIONING A GREEN FUTURE

As the G20 represents 80 percent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions, commitments and actions by its members are drawing close attention amid the lead-up to the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change set to open on Sunday, which many G20 members are expected to attend.

Eyeing green and sustainable development, Xi urged the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities for G20 members. "Developed countries need to lead by example on emissions reduction, fully accommodate the special difficulties and concerns of developing countries, and deliver on their commitments of climate financing," Xi added.

Aerial photo taken on Aug. 14, 2021 shows a photovoltaic power station at Masa Village, Hongyuan County of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)



John Kirton, founder and co-director of the G20 Research Group under the University of Toronto in Canada, said that China has always led cooperatively with other G20 members in responding to climate change, as demonstrated by its role in facilitating the ratification of the 2015 Paris Agreement. "Such global co-leadership is desperately needed now."

Expounding on China's moves to undertake due international responsibilities commensurate with its national conditions, Xi said in the past 10 years, China phased out 120 million kilowatts of installed coal-fired power generation capacity. The construction of the first batch of wind and photovoltaic power stations with a total installed capacity of about 100 million kilowatts was launched in an orderly fashion, he said.

Bambang Suryono, chairman of Indonesian think tank Asia Innovation Study Center, said China's investment in the new energy vehicle industry in Indonesia will help boost the country's development of green industries, and has provided "valuable inspirations" for other developing countries to avoid the old route of pollution before treatment.

While sticking to its green transition of the growth model and carbon neutrality goals, Suryono said China, "by uniting with other G20 members, could carry the banner of carbon reduction and help rally forces in future global ecological protection." 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 07:53:14|Editor: huaxia

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An airline staff member assists a traveler at the departures hall of Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, on Oct. 30, 2021. Beginning Saturday, travelers who are 12 years of age or older need to provide proof that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 while taking their trips within Canada or overseas. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)


Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 11:57:18|Editor: huaxia

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Colored lights illuminate downtown Taipei in southeast China's Taiwan March 28, 2017. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

Noting that fifty years ago, the United States failed in its attempt to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" in the United Nations, the Chinese UN ambassador said that any country that backpedals and plays with fire on the Taiwan question will only face even greater failure.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Friday spoke to the press on the recent erroneous statements by the U.S. government in support of Taiwan's "meaningful participation" in the United Nations.

There is only one China in the world, said Zhang, adding that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.

A total of 180 countries, including the United States, have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of commitment to the one-China principle, Zhang noted.

The one-China principle is a consensus of the international community and a widely recognized norm of international relations, which allows no challenge or distortion, he said.

Zhang pointed out that the United Nations is an inter-governmental organization composed of sovereign states, and UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 has solved once and for all the issue of China's representation in the United Nations in political, legal and procedural terms.

Photo taken on Jan. 12, 2019 shows the White House and a stop sign in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Taiwan, as part of China, is not qualified to join the United Nations, sand Zhang, noting that the UN system, its specialized agencies and the UN Secretariat should abide by the one-China principle and General Assembly Resolution 2758 when dealing with Taiwan-related affairs.

The one-China principle and General Assembly Resolution 2758 are unequivocal. There is no room for political manipulation, he added.

Zhang stressed that the recent erroneous statements by the United States, which sought to support Taiwan in expanding so-called international space, have sent wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" forces.

China expresses its firm opposition, said Zhang. The one-China principle allows no challenge and General Assembly Resolution 2758 allows no distortion, he added.

Noting that fifty years ago, the United States failed in its attempt to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" in the United Nations, Zhang said that any country that backpedals and plays with fire on the Taiwan question will only face even greater failure. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 12:33:49|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in Rome, Italy, Oct. 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Mamengni)

ROME, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China will forever politically belong to the group of developing countries and firmly safeguard the common interests of developing countries, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Saturday.

Wang made the remarks during a meeting with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Congratulating Okonjo-Iweala on her becoming the WTO's first African director general, Wang said that this shows the strengthening of the power of the developing countries on the international stage and that China fully supports the director general to perform her duties.

Wang said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had delivered a keynote speech at the first session of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Rome, in which he called for safeguarding the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core and working for positive results at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference.

This fully reflects the great importance China attaches to the WTO's role, said the state councilor.

Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO, Wang stressed that as a firm defender of the multilateral trading system, China is willing to work together with all parties to jointly protect the WTO's authority and effectiveness, promote global trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, so as to consolidate the bedrock of global trade.

Okonjo-Iweala said she was deeply inspired by the keynote speech of President Xi and offered her heartfelt congratulations on the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO.

China's accession to the WTO is of great significance and the WTO attaches great importance to China's important influence and leading role, she said.

The WTO is willing to enhance communication and coordination with China and especially expects China's continued support for the holding of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference.

Talking about "special and differential treatment," Wang said that China is the world's largest developing country because it is still faced with acute problems caused by unbalanced and inadequate development, as well as an arduous development agenda.

He emphasized that China never shies away from its due international obligations.

When it comes to lowering the overall tariff level or actually enjoying "special and differential treatment," China has undertaken obligations far beyond its WTO commitments, he said.

China has never and will never compete with developing countries for resources, Wang said.

With an overall positioning as a developing country, he said, China will continue to shoulder responsibilities and obligations that are commensurate with its own development level and make greater contributions to common development. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 21:45:19|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the first session of the 16th Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's proposals on global COVID-19 campaign and economic recovery are of great significance and have demonstrated China's responsibility as a major country, foreign experts and scholars have said.

Speaking highly of Xi's speech via video link at the 16th Group of 20 (G20) Leaders' Summit on Saturday, they said Xi's remarks have injected new and strong momentum into global solidarity, cooperation and development.

Bertrand Badie, an international relations specialist at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, strongly agreed with Xi's proposal of working in solidarity to combat COVID-19, saying that to prevail over the pandemic, building a global immunity barrier is indispensable, which "requires the strengthening of multilateral institutes, in particular the World Health Organization," and "cannot be just an initiative of a single country."

Workers transfer a batch of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by China at Cairo International Airport, Egypt, Feb. 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Huiwo)

Noting that China has played a positive role in promoting global economic recovery and multilateral trade development, Badie said "in order to face global crisis and threats, it is very much necessary to strengthen inclusive multilateralism."

The Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative proposed by Xi is very important and timely, said Igor Shatrov, head of the expert council of Russia's Strategic Development Fund, noting that as the COVID-19 pandemic is still grim, coordinated efforts of the international community are needed.

B. R. Deepak, chairperson of the Center of Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies at the New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University, also lauded the Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative, saying that the pandemic needs to be "combatted by all nations together by formulating a coordinated approach, sharing information, reposing faith in multilateral institutions."

According to Evandro Carvalho, a Brazilian professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, an economic think tank, the vaccine cooperation initiative proposed by Xi is of great importance as it will provide strong support for developing countries to get vaccines.

A staff member transfers COVID-19 vaccines provided by China's Sinopharm at an airport in Abidjan, Cote d'lvoire, Sept. 18, 2021. (Photo by Yvan Sonh/Xinhua)

Volker Tschapke, honorary president of Germany's Prussian Society, said that China has provided vaccines to more than 100 countries and international organizations, including many developing countries, which shows China's practice of multilateralism.

Xi talked about green development in his speech and reiterated China's carbon peak and neutrality goals on the multilateral stage, setting an example for the world, he said.

"It is in everyone's interest to build a new model of society, (which is) no longer against living things, but in peaceful coexistence with nature and which the Chinese president has called 'ecological civilization,'" said Elisabeth Martens, a Belgian biologist.

Aerial photo taken on Aug. 19, 2020 shows wind turbines in Jiucaiping scenic spot in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

"It is in the field of PPE (personal protective equipment) and vaccines where China has done an excellent job of helping other countries and other people to build the defenses to COVID," said Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's 48 Group Club.

Praising Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind as a "sound philosophy," he said that addressing global challenges such as the pandemic, climate change and terrorism requires the attention and participation of every country as well as cooperation on a multilateral basis. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-01 01:04:05|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 16th G20 Leaders' Summit via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called on the international community to take concrete actions to address climate change and energy issues.

Xi made the remarks while addressing the 16th G20 Leaders' Summit via video link in Beijing.

Climate change and energy issues are today's prominent global challenges, which concern the common interests of the international community and the future of the Earth, Xi said.

The willingness and motivation of the international community to work together to cope with challenges continued to rise, and the key is to take concrete actions, he said.

He called on the world to adopt comprehensive and balanced policies, and balance environmental protection and economic development, as well as addressing climate change and safeguarding people's livelihood. Major economies should strengthen cooperation in this area, he added.

Xi urged for fully and effectively implementing the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, upholding the role of the UN as the main channel, following the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, abiding by international law, and being action-oriented.

He also highlighted the importance of taking stronger actions and enhancing cooperation.

The Chinese president also called on developed countries to increase their support for developing countries, saying that the G20 members should take the lead in the promotion and application of advanced technologies, and developed countries should earnestly fulfill their commitments to developing countries in providing funds to help them cope with climate change.

In the past 15 years, the cut of China's carbon emission intensity has greatly exceeded the climate action goals of 2020, Xi said.

He stressed that China would successively release implementation plans and supporting measures for major areas and industries to achieve carbon peaking, and establish the "1+N" policy framework for carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

China would continue to promote the transformation and upgrading of energy and industrial structures, promote the research, development and application of green and low-carbon technologies, support qualified localities, industries, and enterprises to take the lead in reaching the peak, and make positive contributions to the global efforts on addressing climate change and promoting the energy transformation, Xi said.

At present, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered multiple crises, Xi said, adding that the development achievements made by the international community over the years have been seriously eroded and developing countries are facing unprecedented challenges and tests.

The COVID-19 pandemic has once again shown that all countries, with high stakes in each other's future and converging interests, form a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said, noting that promoting sustainable development in developing countries will benefit the people of the countries concerned, and also affect the future and destiny of the whole mankind and the Earth.

China recently has launched the Global Development Initiative and called on the international community to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote a stronger, greener and healthier global development, Xi said, adding that the G20 should build consensus and step up actions in this regard.

Xi stressed giving priority to development and acting on the people-centered philosophy. He urged all parties to take improving people's well-being and achieving all-around human development as the starting point and the ultimate goal, place development cooperation in a more prominent position in global macro-policy coordination and the G20 agenda, and strive to address problems including poverty and imbalanced development.

He called on the G20 to stick to being action-oriented and promote practical cooperation. All sides should increase input in development, attach importance to the needs of developing countries, and strengthen cooperation in critical areas including poverty reduction, food security, industrialization and connectivity, said Xi.

He added that China successfully hosted the International Conference on Food Loss and Waste in September this year, and stands ready to contribute more Chinese wisdom and solutions through the G20 platform.

The G20 should pursue mutual benefit and build partnerships, Xi said, adding that all sides should support the United Nations in playing a coordinating role, deepening global partnership for development, and building a global community of shared future for development. Developed countries should earnestly honor their development assistance commitments and provide more resources to developing countries.

The Global Development Initiative proposed by China will further synergize with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and jointly advance global development, Xi said.

A leaders' declaration was adopted at the summit.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-01 02:40:29|Editor: huaxia

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ROME, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's remarks at the Group of 20 (G20) summit have built consensus for and injected strong momentum into the realization of global inclusive and sustainable development, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Xi attended the 16th G20 Leaders' Summit via video link on Saturday and Sunday, during which he delivered a key speech themed "Acting in Solidarity for a Shared Future."

Following the end of the summit, Wang received an interview with Chinese central media outlets, during which he introduced Xi's attendance at the summit, and elaborated on the major initiatives and proposals brought out by Xi as well as their significance and influence.

The summit is another important multilateral event that Xi attended following the recent general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference, Wang said.

It is a major diplomatic action for China to deeply participate in global economic cooperation and promote the improvement of global economic governance, Wang said.

When humanity is standing at an important crossroads, Xi, in light of the profound changes unseen in a century and holding high the banner of building a community with a shared future for mankind, has systematically proposed the right direction to work in solidarity to combat COVID-19, feasible measures to revitalize the world economy, and long-term strategies to improve global governance, all in line with the mission and responsibility of the G20, Wang said.

Xi's remarks have fully demonstrated his vision and responsibility as the leader of a major country, Wang added.

PROMOTING GLOBAL ANTI-PANDEMIC FIGHT

Wang said Xi's speech has collected global consensus on pushing forward and deepening global anti-pandemic cooperation.

Xi, the first to call for COVID-19 vaccines to be made a global public good, has announced China's commitment to promoting fair distribution and accessibility of vaccines, Wang said.

China has honored the solemn pledge with a series of solid actions, Wang said, adding that the country has provided over 1.6 billion doses of vaccines to countries across the world, and will provide over 2 billion doses for the world in the course of this year.

As a country that has offered the most COVID-19 vaccines to the outside world, China has made crucial contributions to building a global line of defense through vaccination, Wang said.

During the G20 summit, Xi further proposed a Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative, which includes supporting vaccine companies in conducting joint R&D and production with developing countries, providing more vaccines to developing countries, supporting the World Trade Organization in making an early decision on waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, scaling up cross-border trade cooperation in vaccines and related raw and auxiliary materials, Wang said.

The initiative also includes advancing mutual recognition of vaccines in accordance with the World Health Organization's Emergency Use Listing, and providing financial support for developing countries to access vaccines, Wang added.

Wang said the initiative, which has fully shown China's firm will to stick together through thick and thin with countries around the world, will vigorously promote global vaccine cooperation, and inject confidence and momentum into an early victory over the pandemic.

BOOSTING GLOBAL STEADY RECOVERY

Wang said Xi's speech insists on addressing both symptoms and root causes of the problems to boost steady recovery of the world economy.

In terms of the complex impact of COVID-19 on the world economy, President Xi pointed out that the G20 should play its role as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, step up macroeconomic policy coordination among major economies, and avoid negative spillovers on developing countries, Wang said.

Xi also urged the G20 member countries to make infrastructure development play an important role in propelling economic growth, and deliver more fruitful outcomes from high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Wang added.

Wang said a fairer, more just and rational global economic governance system is a strong guarantee for the world economy to return to the track of growth and achieve medium- and long-term stable development.

Xi's speech is not only based on the present, but has a long-term perspective, as the Chinese president has made it clear that while taking measures to deal with the impact of the pandemic, the G20 needs to further improve the global economic governance system and rules, and make up for the increasing governance deficit, Wang noted.

In addition, Xi announced that China stands ready to lend the new allocation of Special Drawing Rights to low-income countries that are seriously affected by COVID-19, Wang said, noting it once again demonstrates China's consistent position of weathering difficulties together with the vast number of developing countries, and will provide strong support for developing nations to pool resources to combat the pandemic and pursue economic recovery.

ADVANCING GLOBAL COMMON DEVELOPMENT

Wang said Xi's speech has advocated common development and building a global community of development with a shared future.

Development is a master key to addressing all problems, and also the common will of people in worldwide countries, Wang said.

Xi proposed a Global Development Initiative at the United Nations in September, Wang said, noting that Xi has further expounded at the G20 Rome Summit the Global Development Initiative's core philosophy of putting people at the center, and stressed the need to improve people's well-being and realize people's all-round development, and strive to make global development more equitable, effective and inclusive, so that no country will be left behind.

Wang said President Xi's important proposal has been welcomed and echoed by many countries and international organizations including the United Nations.

They believe the Global Development Initiative has outlined a blueprint of cooperation for the world community to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote economic recovery, and is highly consistent with the G20's goal and priority of advancing global development, Wang said.

The initiative will also help forge global joint forces, steer global development towards a new stage featuring balance, coordination and inclusiveness, and help achieve the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development faster, Wang added.

IMPROVING GLOBAL DIGITAL GOVERNANCE

Wang said Xi's speech helps improve digital governance and promote the healthy development of global digital economy.

The new round of sci-tech revolution and industrial transformation has profoundly reshaped human society, with innovations of technologies such as the internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and blockchain accelerating, and new technologies and businesses flourishing against the backdrop of the pandemic, Wang said.

At the same time, individual countries are building high walls and imposing blockades on science and technology, which has undermined the atmosphere of international innovation cooperation and impeded the normal development of digital economy, he said.

In this regard, President Xi emphasized that forming exclusive blocs or even drawing ideological lines will only cause division and create more obstacles, which will do no good but only harm to scientific and technological innovation, Wang said.

Xi also urged the G20 to shoulder responsibilities in the digital era, quicken the development of new types of digital infrastructure, promote deeper integration of digital technologies with the real economy, and help developing countries cross the "digital divide," Wang added.

Lack of rules is a prominent challenge in global digital governance, Wang said.

Noting that Xi announced during the summit that China has decided to apply to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, Wang said it demonstrates China's constructive stance to actively participate in international cooperation on digital economy and the formulation of relevant rules, and also reflects China's firm determination to expand opening-up and align itself with high-level international rules and standards.

BUILDING CLEANER, GREENER EARTH

Wang said Xi's speech cares for the homeland of the Earth and promotes the construction of a community of life for man and nature.

This summit was convened on the eve of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and President Xi has clearly pointed out the principles and directions of international climate cooperation and global climate governance.

Xi stressed that the G20 needs to uphold the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" and push for the full implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, and called on developed countries to lead by example on emissions reduction, 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, Wang said.

These important propositions pointed out the key to the success of COP26 and strongly promoted the joint efforts of the international community to tackle climate change, Wang said.

Wang said during the summit, President Xi elaborated on important propositions such as coordinating environmental protection and economic development, taking into account climate change while safeguarding people's livelihood, and profoundly answered the era's questions of how to safeguard the two bottom lines -- ecology and development, and called on the G20 to strengthen cooperation in this regard.

The remarks provide Chinese wisdom for all countries to explore the modernization of the harmonious co-existence of man and nature, and has won extensive support and appreciation from the international community, Wang said.

As the largest developing country, China attaches great importance to the construction of ecological civilization, and has always been a participant, contributor, and leader in global actions to address climate change, Wang said.

During the summit, President Xi introduced China's important measures to peak carbon dioxide emissions, achieve carbon neutrality, and build a "1+N" policy framework, demonstrating China's role as a major country that honors its words with actions, as well as injecting strong positive energy into the global response to climate change, Wang said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-01 04:54:17|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome, Italy, Oct. 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Mamengni)

The urgent task at the moment is that China and the United States must earnestly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and make political preparations and provide necessary conditions for the next phase of exchanges, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

ROME, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral relations between China and the United States in the past few years have suffered an all-round impact due to the wrong China policy pursued by the United States, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Sunday during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The United States has wantonly interfered with China's internal affairs, Wang stressed, noting that the current U.S. Congress has introduced more than 300 anti-China bills, and the United States has included more than 900 Chinese entities and individuals in various unilateral sanctions lists, which severely disrupted the normal bilateral exchanges.

Moreover, the United States is also patching up various small circles to suppress China on a global scale, and even exerting pressure on many small and medium-sized countries, Wang said, adding that these practices are not in line with the interests of the peoples of the two countries, not in line with the expectations of the international community, not in line with the development trend of the times, and hence China voices its clear opposition.

The important experience accumulated over the past four decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries is that both China and the United States stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation, Wang said, adding that the two sides have learned from contacts in Anchorage, Tianjin and Zurich that they must respect each other and treat each other equally.

Participants attending the Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders' Summit pose for a group photo in Rome, Italy, Oct. 30, 2021. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, attended the summit as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

The Secretary-General of the United Nations has repeatedly called for the world to prevent division and avoid a new cold war, Wang said, adding that the important consensus reached by the heads of state of China and the United States during the two phone conversations this year is that the two sides should restart dialogue and avoid confrontation.

The urgent task at the moment is that the two sides must earnestly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and make political preparations and provide necessary conditions for the next phase of exchanges, Wang stressed.

Wang expressed the willingness to establish regular contacts with Blinken to exchange views timely and in a frank manner on how to manage and control differences between the two sides, properly resolve problems that arise, so as to enhance understanding, eliminate doubts, avoid misjudgments and explore cooperation.

The Taiwan issue is the most sensitive issue between China and the United States, Wang said, adding that if it is handled wrongly, it will cause subversive and overall damage to bilateral ties.

Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2015 shows the national flags of China (R) and the United States as well as the flag of Washington D.C. on the Constitution Avenue in Washington, capital of the United States. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

Wang pointed out that recently, the situation across the Taiwan Strait has become tense again, and the United States has repeatedly stated that this was caused by China's change of the status quo, yet this is not a fact at all but a serious misleading to the international community.

Wang emphasized that the true status of the Taiwan issue is that there is only one China, Taiwan is a part of China, and the mainland and Taiwan belong to the same country, noting that historical experiences have repeatedly proved that any change to this status quo will seriously damage the stability across the Taiwan Strait and even create a crisis.

The crux of the current situation across the Taiwan Strait is because the Taiwan authorities have repeatedly tried to break through the one-China framework, and the United States' connivance and support for "Taiwan independence" forces is also to blame, Wang said, stressing that to stop the development of the "Taiwan independence" tendency is to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait.

We urge the United States to realize the serious harm of the "Taiwan independence," to pursue a real one-China policy, instead of a fake one, to fulfill its commitments to China faithfully rather than treacherously. We also urge the United States to truly implement the one-China policy and put it into actions, instead of saying one thing and doing another, Wang said.

For his part, Blinken reiterated that the United States will continue to adhere to the one-China policy, and the two sides should develop bilateral relations in the spirit of mutual respect. The United States is willing to maintain communication with China, manage differences responsibly, and avoid confrontation or crisis, he noted.

Wang also expressed China's solemn concern over various issues that the United States has harmed China's legitimate rights and interests, and requested the U.S. side to change its course and push China-U.S. relations back to the track of healthy development.

The two sides also exchanged views on important issues such as climate change, energy supply, Iran nuclear issue, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and expressed their willingness to maintain dialogue on addressing various global challenges. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 10:18:19|Editor: huaxia

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BAMAKO, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Seven Malian soldiers were killed and three wounded in two terrorist attacks in western and central Mali, said the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) on its official website on Saturday.

An army escort was ambushed near the town of Mourdiah in western Mali around Saturday noon, resulting in two deaths and two injuries, according to a preliminary report.

In addition, in the town of Segou in central Mali, a pick-up vehicle of a FAMa patrol was attacked by a mine in the locality of Niendjela on Saturday afternoon.

"The 5 occupants of the vehicle all succumbed. The sweep in the area of the incident allowed the arrest of 2 suspects immediately available to the gendarmerie," said the FAMa.

The latest attacks came after FAMa troops suffered two fatal attacks earlier this month.

On Oct. 17, a Malian soldier and four terrorists were killed in an attack on an army post in Acharane in the Timbuktu region in northern Mali.

On Oct. 6, a complex attack targeted a convoy of the Malian army on the Koro-Bandiagara axis at the center of the country, killing 16 people and injuring nine in the FAMa ranks, who responded the attack by killing 15 terrorists and seizing 20 motorcycles.

Since 2012, Mali has been facing serious security, political and economic crises. Independence insurrections, jihadist incursions and inter-communal violence have caused thousands of deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands of people despite the presence of UN, French and European forces. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 20:13:49|Editor: huaxia

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OUAGADOUGOU, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Five police officers were killed Sunday morning in an attack by unidentified armed men on a police station in Sourou province in northwestern Burkina Faso's Boucle du Mouhoun region, according to the national news agency AIB.

The attack took place between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. local time. A vehicle and eight motorcycles were taken away by the attackers, said the AIB.

Like several other regions of Burkina Faso, the Boucle du Mouhoun region has been facing terrorist attacks since 2015. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-01 00:06:32|Editor: huaxia

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Alderman Dan Plato (R), mayor of South Africa's Cape Town, delivers a Special Acknowledgement certificate to Hu Jianhua in Cape Town, South Africa, on Oct. 31, 2021. Cape Town on Sunday honored Chinese resident Hu Jianhua and acknowledged the role of the Chinese community in the fight against COVID-19. Alderman Dan Plato delivered the Special Acknowledgement certificate to Hu Jianhua, who has been living in Cape Town for about 30 years, to honor his "outstanding contribution as a humanitarian and economic developer" in the city. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)

CAPE TOWN, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's legislative capital Cape Town on Sunday honored a Chinese resident and acknowledged the role of the Chinese community in the fight against COVID-19.

Alderman Dan Plato, mayor of Cape Town, delivered a Special Acknowledgement certificate to Hu Jianhua, who has been living in Cape Town for about 30 years, to honor his "outstanding contribution as a humanitarian and economic developer" in the city. Born in 1955 in east China's Shanghai, Hu does trade business, and is a well-known figure in the Chinese community in Cape Town.

Hu is a stalwart in building relationship between China and South Africa's Cape Town, Plato said in an interview with Xinhua shortly after delivering the certificate to Hu, adding that he applauded Hu's role in doing this.

This certificate is also for the entire Chinese community, which made donations including money and materials to help Cape Town and other municipalities across Western Cape Province to fight against the COVID-19, said the mayor.

"They don't just come and make money in Cape Town and South Africa. They give back. That is remarkable," he said. "Their contribution has done wonders in helping us to curb the COVID-19."

Plato also appreciated the Chinese Consulate-General in Cape Town for its contribution during the pandemic.

After receiving the certificate, Hu said this is a great honor for him, which also means he has more responsibility in the future. "I must work hard for Cape Town to make the city more beautiful," said Hu.

Over the years, Hu promotes the export of South African goods to China, including South African wines. Hu and his Chinese fellows actively gave back to Cape Town, including creating job opportunities, making donations to poor students and victims of natural disasters.

Hu also mobilized the Chinese community to jointly lend a hand to the local society. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-01 01:12:41|Editor: huaxia

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HARARE, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has endorsed president Emmerson Mnangagwa as the party's presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.

Mnangagwa's candidacy was endorsed by all the party wings after considering the work he had undertaken to develop the country since winning the 2018 harmonized elections.

The endorsement was made at the party's annual conference which ended Saturday in the town of Bindura, about 60 km north of Harare.

According to the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper, the party's acting spokesperson Mike Bimha said the decision to endorse Mnangagwa was unanimous.

"I want to advise you that all the organs and wings of the party have endorsed President Mnangagwa (as the 2023 presidential candidate). This was the main resolution," Bimha told the newspaper after the meeting.

Bimha said the conference resolved to re-energize the party in preparation for the 2023 elections.

The party also undertook to discipline members who engaged in violence and other vices such as corruption and abuse of office. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 10:15:36|Editor: huaxia

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File photo taken on May 4, 2020 shows Scott Portelli taking photos of a leafy seadragon off the coast of south Australia.(Photo by Rosie Leaney/Hand out via Xinhua)

SYDNEY, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Award-winning Australian photographer Scott Portelli is one of those fortunate people who have turned an unwavering passion into a creative career.

"I've always been fascinated by most animals, wildlife, marine life, nature, our environment, our landscapes," he told Xinhua.

The all-consuming fascination led Portelli to leave his marketing job to take his cameras for some of the world's most scenic regions including the Arctic, Antarctica, Africa, and South Pacific islands.

The images he has captured offer intimate portraits of the rarely seen lives of wildlife, particularly marine creatures ranging from majestic humpback whales, leopard seals, sharks and huge sunfish down to delicate seahorses and translucent jellyfish.

His close and personal portraits have garnered international awards, the most recent being Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year for an ethereal image of a leafy sea dragon staring deep into the camera lens.

Among his other notable works has been a film about humpback whales, Gentle Giants, which was selected for the International Ocean Film Festival in San Francisco last year. Meanwhile his photos have graced exhibitions in such far-flung destinations as Iceland, Britain and Spain, as well as his hometown Sydney.

Portelli hopes the photographs raise his audience's awareness of the importance of wildlife conservation.

"I think the best thing about this job is I go to some of the remotest places on the planet and see these unique animals," he said.

"As a wildlife photographer you try to share that with a wider audience to get people connected with nature and wildlife.

"I enjoy showing people the behaviors of animals that they might not have seen before. I've got photographs, for example, of green turtles eating giant jellyfish. So someone might see that and think: 'I didn't know they eat those things'."

"By connecting people with nature and wildlife, they might take action. Whether by signing a petition or picking up a bit of plastic off the beach or looking at how they have an impact in an environment with wildlife."

The environmental awareness includes understanding of the role of biodiversity for healthy ecosystems.

"A lot of the work I do, I'm trying to show the diversity of our ecosystems," he said. "We have so many creatures in so many symbiotic relationships, so, for example, if you impact one thing in the ocean, then something else takes over.

"If all the sharks die off, then another species will take over which could impact the reef system and so on."

His message is timely amid the environmental conferences such as the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in China earlier this month and the upcoming the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow.

Portelli hopes that the protection of oceans will be featured during the Glasgow summit meetings.

"We need to look at plastic pollution in our oceans and the breakdown of these microplastics that are going to last forever," he said.

"Another thing is the amount of oxygen that comes from the ocean and seagrass. People don't realize that that's a big part of how we, as a species, survive."

"Our oceans are our life blood and are not an unlimited resource. Overfishing, habitat loss, climate change, all these things can reduce our underwater world to a desolate wasteland." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 14:40:57|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Oct. 30, 2021 shows Halloween decorations in front of a house in Canberra, Australia. Residents decorated their houses for the Halloween as coronavirus restrictions in Australia's Canberra have eased significantly. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 16:24:39|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed and nine others injured in a vehicle crash in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Sunday, said rescue officials.

The accident took place when a passenger van carrying around 20 passengers turned turtle in the Attock district of the province, rescue officials in the area told local media.

Police said the over-speeding van overturned after the driver lost control over the vehicle due to brake failure.

The ill-fated passenger van was on its way to Rawalpindi district when it met the accident.

Following the crash, police along with rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital where several of them are said to be in critical condition. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 16:48:30|Editor: huaxia

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HERAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Security personnel have arrested eight people suspected of involvement in criminal activities in Herat city, the provincial capital of western Herat province, said a statement released on Sunday.

The alleged criminals have been rounded up from Police District (PD) 4 and PD 5 of the city and two AK-47 rifles, two pistols, two hand grenades and some military uniforms have been seized from their possessions, the statement said.

According to the statement, the arrested men disguised themselves as security personnel were involved in a variety of crimes including armed robbery and theft.

The Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has vowed to ensure law and order in the war-torn country. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 18:09:44|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese investors pledged investments into Nepal in the first quarter of the current 2021-22 fiscal year close to the amount they committed in the entire 2020-21 fiscal year, Nepal's Department of Industry said.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) committed by Chinese investors totaled 21.91 billion Nepali rupees (182.41 million U.S. dollars) during the first three months of the current fiscal year starting in mid-July, which accounts for 97.37 percent of the total investments pledged by Chinese investors during the whole 2020-21 fiscal year, showed data released by the department.

Nepal received a total of 22.5 billion Nepali rupees (187.32 million U.S. dollars) in FDI commitment in the previous fiscal year.

"Chinese investors have been at the forefront of pledging the highest investments in Nepal for the last several years and it is a continuation of that trend," Jiblal Bhusal, the department's director general, told Xinhua.

China had topped in the FDI commitments to Nepal for six years in a row till the last fiscal year, according to the agency.

Bhusal attributed more FDI commitments to fewer COVID-19 cases in the country. On Saturday, Nepal reported 297 new infections, as new cases have remained in hundreds for weeks, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.

Though regular flights between Nepal and China have remained halted, local agents have been working on behalf of the Chinese investors, said Bhusal.

The Chinese investors had registered 92 enterprises in Nepal in the past three months, covering hotels and restaurants, international cargo handling, mask manufacturing, construction service, software development, packaged drinking water, assembling of electric vehicles and furniture, among others, according to the department.

Nepal received a total of 23.71 billion Nepali rupees (197.4 million U.S. dollars) in FDI commitment in the first three months of the current fiscal year. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 20:22:53|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling coalition of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner Komeito is on course to secure a majority of the lower house of parliament seats following Sunday's general election, Kyodo News exit polls showed on Sunday.

The ruling bloc appears to have retained its majority in the more powerful House of Representatives, securing at least 233 of the 465 seats against opposition parties that had called for the support of voters dissatisfied with the government's COVID-19 response and income disparities.

According to the exit polls, the LDP would have lost many of the 276 seats it held prior to the election, but Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he will claim victory if the LDP-Komeito coalition retains a majority in the lower house.

Voting of the country's general election finished Sunday evening with polling stations closed nationwide at 8:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT), and ballots counting is expected to last late into the night.

The final results depend on the constituencies where ruling coalition candidates were tightly challenged by those from opposition parties that have formed a coalition in a bid to take the reins of government.

This is the first major test for Kishida since he took office on Oct. 4. The new prime minister has pledged to stimulate economic growth while redistributing more economic benefits to the middle class under his vision of "new capitalism."

Under his vision, the government plans to secure more hospital beds for COVID-19 patients as a preparation for a possible sixth wave of infections.

Prime Minister Kishida has said the government will propose a stimulus package within the year to support people and businesses hit hard by the pandemic.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition parties have claimed that the government has failed its task of COVID-19 response and that the Abenomics policy upheld by the ruling LDP widened the country's wealth gap as the policy only promoted corporate earnings and share prices but failed to achieve higher wages.

The opposition parties have called for lowering the consumption tax to take off some pressure on low- and middle-class households, allowing married couples to take different surnames and recognize same-sex marriage. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 23:04:56|Editor: huaxia

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TASHKENT, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Uzbek State Security Service in the Kashkadarya region of the country detained 12 men suspected of being supporters of Jihadist groups, the state news agency UzA said Sunday.

The suspects held regular meetings to watch and listen to video and audio materials that propagate ideas of Jihadism, or Islamic militancy, the report said.

Among the 12 men, aged 26 to 52, are the chairman of the local neighborhood committee, a high school teacher, the mosque's deputy imam, an entrepreneur, and other local residents, according to the report.

A criminal case has been opened and an investigation is underway, it added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 14:54:26|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- The United States has reached a deal with the European Union (EU) to resolve a three-year dispute over tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the bloc, U.S. officials said on Saturday.

"We've reached an agreement with the EU which maintains the 232 tariffs but allows limited volumes of EU steel and aluminum to enter the U.S. tariff-free," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters.

"This agreement is significant in that it will reduce costs for American manufacturers and consumers," Raimondo said, adding the cost of steel for manufacturers in the U.S. downstream industries has more than tripled in the past year.

In return, the EU will drop their retaliatory tariffs on American goods, according to Raimondo. The EU was set to increase tariffs on Dec. 1 to 50 percent on various U.S. products, including Harley-Davidson motorcycles and bourbon from Kentucky.

"I don't think we can underestimate how crippling a 50 percent tariff is. A business can't survive with a 50 percent tariff," Raimondo said.

"We have also agreed to suspend the WTO disputes against each other related to the 232 actions," U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told reporters.

Meanwhile, "the U.S. and the EU have agreed to negotiate the first-ever carbon-based arrangement on steel and aluminum trade, and create greater incentives for reducing carbon intensity across modes of production of steel and aluminum produced by American and European companies," Tai said.

Myron Brilliant, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's executive vice president, said Saturday in a statement that the deal offers some relief for American manufacturers suffering from soaring steel prices and shortages, "but further action is needed".

"Section 232 tariffs and quotas remain in place on imports from many other countries," Brilliant said.

Citing national security concerns, the administration of former President Donald Trump unilaterally imposed a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports in 2018, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, drawing strong opposition domestically and abroad.

Failing to reach a deal with the Trump administration, the EU took the case to the WTO and imposed retaliatory tariffs on a range of American products. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-10-31 16:06:00|Editor: huaxia

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People in festival costumes are seen during the Dia de los Muertos parade in Dallas, Texas, the United States, Oct. 30, 2021. Dia de los Muertos, known as Day of the Dead, is a well-known traditional Mexican holiday to commemorate deceased loved ones. (Photo by Dan Tian/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-01 03:14:08|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The United States and the European Union (EU) have agreed to use a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system to help resolve their three-year disputes over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the EU.

The United States will replace the existing tariffs on EU steel and aluminum products under the so-called Section 232 with a TRQ, according to a fact sheet released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Sunday.

"Under the TRQ arrangement, historically-based volumes of EU steel and aluminum products would enter the U.S. market without the application of Section 232 tariffs to meet the demands of downstream users," the fact sheet said.

"Historically-based volumes" refer to the volume of EU steel and aluminum that was exported to the United States prior to the imposition of the Section 232 tariffs in 2018, according to the EU.

Citing national security concerns, the U.S. administration of former President Donald Trump unilaterally imposed a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports in 2018, under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, drawing strong opposition domestically and abroad.

Failing to reach a deal with the Trump administration, the EU took the case to the WTO and imposed retaliatory tariffs on a range of American products.

As part of a resolution to their disputes over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, the EU intends to suspend its retaliatory measures against the United States that were introduced in June 2018. It will also suspend the increase in retaliatory measures against the United States set for Dec. 1, the EU said.

"In the past year, the cost of steel used by America's auto and appliance manufacturers has more than tripled, creating increased costs for consumers," said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

"Today's news will provide much-needed relief for those workers and industries, the workers and businesses who were threatened with overwhelming retaliatory tariffs of 50 percent and American consumers, who are worried about increasing prices," Raimondo said.

"In addition to the EU eliminating the retaliatory tariffs against the United States, we have agreed to suspend the WTO disputes against each other related to the 232 disputes," U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai added.

Valdis Dombrovskis, EU Commission executive vice-president & EU trade commissioner, said the U.S. decision on steel and aluminum tariffs will "alleviate an important trade irritant" that has hampered EU-U.S. trade relations.

"During the next two years we will work towards a global steel arrangement, which would allow us to remove 232 tariffs for good," Dombrovskis said.

While the deal is a step in the right direction, the "reliance on TRQs is an unwelcome form of managed trade" that will continue to bring about uncertainty for workers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, said Jake Colvin, president of the National Foreign Trade Council.

"Mechanisms such as these that manage international trade undermine competitiveness, create winners and losers, add significant supply chain costs and disproportionately affect small and medium sized companies," Colvin said.

The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users, representing more than 30,000 U.S. manufacturing companies, also expressed concerns that replacing the tariffs with the TRQ will hurt its members because "the threat of tariff reinstatement looms with the surge in steel and aluminum demand expected when the bipartisan infrastructure bill passes."

"This type of government restriction on raw materials and intervention lead to market manipulations and allow for gaming of the system that could put this country's smallest manufacturers at an even further disadvantage," the coalition said, urging the Joe Biden administration to immediately begin negotiations to "lift these damaging tariffs on our other close allies and trading partners."

"U.S. steel- and aluminum-using manufacturers cannot secure the raw materials that they need and at competitive prices, and are losing business to competitors in other countries who are paying far lower prices for steel and aluminum," the coalition said.

The U.S. imported 2.5 million tons of steel from the EU last year and 3.9 million tons in 2019, down from 5 million tons each in 2018 and 2017, according to Bloomberg.

Myron Brilliant, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's executive vice president, said that the deal offers some relief for American manufacturers suffering from soaring steel prices and shortages, "but further action is needed."

"Section 232 tariffs and quotas remain in place on imports from many other countries," Brilliant said. Enditem
Nkayi is one of the districts in the Matabeleland region, which are facing serious challenges in having qualified nurses recruited from the local people.

It has also been difficult for local eligible youth to be recruited to train as primary care nurses at the institution, especially after the introduction of the online recruitment process for trainee nurses.

Indications are that 16 primary care nursing trainees were recruited at Nkayi Hospital through interviews held on September 13 and 17 this year.

The concerned villagers say out of the 16 only four are from Matabeleland, while 12 are from Harare.

Concerns have been raised that locals are being marginalised from training as nurses in Nkayi.

The district has seen an influx of nurses from other provinces who do not speak the dominant local language  Ndebele, a situation locals say disadvantaging patients.

More details of the discrepancy in the deployment and recruitment of nurses emerged during the Nkayi Community Parliament virtual debate, which focused on the topic: What has gone wrong in recruiting nurses in Zimbabwe? A focus on corruption at Nkayi Hospital.

A development practitioner, Nhlanhla Ncube, who is also a villager at Zwelabo in Nkayi, said statutory provisions are ignored, and constitutional provisions violated in the recruitment processes.

Corruption runs  rings all over at Nkayi Hospital, Ncube said.

Qualifying people are excluded at Nkayi Hospital, and this applies to other hospitals in the region.

Those that were not interviewed passed the interview (for primary care nursing training). This is miraculous.

Somebody who never attended the interview passed the interview, and those who attended did not.

The Nkayi community should unite against corruption.

Ncube said most hospitals in Matabeleland were staffed with nurses from outside the province or outside the region, thereby shortchanging the public.

The public is cheated by being given people from outside the region, who will not even understand the illness the patient describes in Ndebele, while those who qualify to do the job fail to get it. It also tells us that Matabeleland people are second class citizens, Ncube said.

Ncube said the government was violating the peoples fundamental rights as some of the deployed people do not like the local culture, the language and the people.

He said the government should give first preference to locals to train and work at local health institutions and lamented the absence of a clear policy on the deployment of nurses leading to the rot.

Likely, the recruitment of nurses at Nkayi Hospital and across the country is run by a cartel as only one tribe benefits most, and this justifies that it is an organized crime, Ncube said.

Human resources professional and human rights defender Descent Bajila, a guest speaker during the debate, said the health institutions were insufficient to serve Matabeleland.

There is general nursing, psychiatric nursing, and primary care nursing, Bajila said.

We are used to general nursing. In Matabeleland, general nursing is trained at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) and Mpilo Central and has three intakes per year, in January, May and September.

There are some which offer two intakes and one intake.

Bajila, a member of a pressure group, Izenzo Kungemazwi Trust, which seeks to empower youths, said those that offer less than three intakes were St Lukes, Tsholotsho, Gwanda and Brunaperg St Annies in Plumtree. At the same time, others are offering primary care training like Nkayi Hospital.

He gave an example that some people applied to the UBH or Mpilo but were offered places at in Harare.

He said was meant to frustrate them not to take the opportunity so that those responsible employ their relatives.

The general government principle is that any Zimbabwean who applies for any opportunity must get it anywhere in Zimbabwe, Bajila said.

This principle is abused because chances of someone from Nkayi being accepted in Bindura are quite scarce.

In contrast, chances of someone from Bindura being accepted in Nkayi are very high.

Generally, hospitals in the country are dominated by people from Mashonaland.

The problem is where are the people from Matabeleland supposed to work in Zimbabwe?

Bajila said the majority of locals that applied to train as primary care nurses in Nkayi were turned down.

Majority of people who are training there are not from Nkayi, he said.

He likened the scenario to that of some applicants for the general nursing course from Matabeleleland that were being called for interviews in Harare.

As Izenzo Kungemazwi, we assisted about 20 with bus fares to Harare, Bajila said.

The Harare guys were shocked to see them attending, and they have now decentralsed the process.

Nkosilathi Ncube of Dlawa Village, who is also a businessman based at the Fudu business centre, said there was clear corruption in the recruitment of nurses and student nurses.

There is a need to expose all corruption, name and shame the culprits, which is when action will be taken against them, Ncube said.

Corruption should not be practiced to divide the people.

Matabeleland North provincial medical director Admire Kuretu said they never received any official complainant about the recruitment of nurses in Nkayi.

There has not been any formal complaint, but the recruitment was done at Mpilo Hospital, UBH and Nkayi Hospital, Kuretu said.

The recruitment was coordinated by the nursing directorate.

If I get any more information, I will let you know, but this recruitment was coordinated centrally. Standard
The Zanu PF government used proxies to capture the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) through the election of a new leadership with leanings towards the ruling party, insiders say.

Florence Taruvinga, a technician with the state-owned power utility Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), emerged victorious, garnering 73 votes against ZCTU president Peter Mutasas 59 in elections held under controversial circumstances.

Mutasa is viewed as an ally of MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa.

Taruvinga, previously Mutasas deputy, is the first woman to become ZCTU president. Zanu PF and MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora were quick to celebrate her victory.

Mwonzora is widely viewed in opposition and civil society circles as a Zanu PF proxy.

Doug Coltart, who followed the ZCTU election process closely as a lawyer for the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz), said the elections were manipulated to tilt the ground in favour of a pro-Zanu PF faction in the countrys leading labour centre.

Artuz and the Footwear Tanners and Allied Workers Union delegates were stripped of their voting rights ahead of the congress under unclear circumstances.

ZCTU wrote to the two unions on October 8 advising them that their voting rights had been stripped basing on legal opinion from the labour bodys lawyers Muchadehama and Makono (MMM).

However, the two unions on October 20 represented by their lawyers Mtetwa and Nyambirai filed an urgent chamber application seeking the postponement of the elective conference until the issue of their voting rights was addressed.

Justice Fatima Maxwell ruled in favour of ZCTU, resulting in the holding of the elective congress.

But Coltart raised concern that proceedings leading to the congress were pre-determined to ensure the capture of the organisation by the state.

The story needs to be told, the human rights lawyer said.

Essentially, it relates to the co-option of the ZCTU by the regime at the just-ended elective congress; some of the shenanigans that have gone on in the lead up to that congress in order to facilitate that co-option.

Coltart added: Its quite concerning, it has implications for the society as a whole.

The labour movement is being co-opted and I think its part of a broader strategy of co-option that the regime appears to be rolling out.

I have been involved in the legal side of things trying to defend the rights of certain unions who were stripped of their voting rights in the lead up to the congress as part of this strategy of co-option.

In an urgent Chamber application, Artuz and Footwear Tanners and Allied Workers Union argued stripping the unions of their voting rights was illegal, discriminatory and irrational.

The decision to exclude the applicants delegates from voting at the general conferences ostensibly made on the basis of their non-compliance with section 9.5 of the ZCTU constitution, which requires that the names of delegates and current membership be submitted to the secretary-general four months prior to the conference, which according to the MMM legal opinions gives a cut-off date of 31st May, 2021, ARTUZ secretary-general Robson Chere said in his founding affidavit.

However, if the decision to hold the general conference in October 2021 was only taken by the general council at a meeting held on the 26th June 2021 and communicated to the 1st and 2nd applicants on the 29th July 2021 and 2nd July 2021 respectively.

Therefore, it was impossible for any affiliates to comply with clause 9.5 of the constitution and it is a fact that none did.

Chere argued the elective conference was supposed to be postponed under the circumstances.

Therefore, this means that all affiliates, whether new or old, are in exactly the same position with regard to non-compliance with clause 9.5 of the constitution.

If however, the ZCTU is determined to go ahead with its general conference on 27th October 2021 without compliance with clause 9.5 by any affiliates on the basis that non-compliance may be ratified, then such ratification must and can only be done with respect to all affiliates.

To ratify non-compliance by some affiliates while refusing to ratify non-compliance for others would be patently discriminatory, arbitrary, irrational and unlawful.

ARTUZ president Obert Masaraure and Mutasa were diplomatic when asked on the next course of action.

Yes, we had issues, Mutasa said. We were not happy about the process, but so far our team has decided to let that be water under the bridge. We are moving on to the next assignment. Standard
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All affected workers must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8, taking the Moderna shot out of the running for those who have yet to get their first shots, as theres a four-week break between doses. Those looking to get vaccinated with the Pfizer shot must get their first jab by Wednesday, according to instructions from UGA and Georgia state.
I do believe that many people are going to realize that they want to congregate back in the offices, she added. By the time this is done and people see that they can have a much better commuting experience than they had prepandemic, that will also be an enticement to say, Im going back to my job in Midtown.
It was coming up that one of the mayors staff on several occasions was assigned to Inspector Redmonds hotel room during their travels, and when I questioned him about it, he basically snaps the paperwork out of my hand and made a beeline over to City Hall, Rugg said in the deposition in connection with his lawsuit alleging Redmond improperly denied him a promotion.
I live by myself so he take care of everything for me because I was living with my other son, said Sara Pinto. But since I lost my other son he take care of me  everything. And also this is his house. Their house.
The shot man is known in the neighborhood, Gomez said. Police said he was 29 years old, but did not immediately release his name.
A man was rushed to Woodhull Hospital in serious condition after he was shot and found collapsed on Willoughby Ave. in Brooklyn on Sunday. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)
My son would never start a fight, never, said Vita Granese, now 75. Anthony was learning how to be a carpenter. And he was at it for a few months when this happened. Eventually, he wanted someday to be married. He was only 20 years old at the time, but he did have a girlfriend.
According to investigators, about two hours before landing at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Cajimat attempted to open the cockpit door and then struggled with flight attendants who were attempting to restrain him.
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, Armendariz said in a statement to the TV outlet.
Police had issued a warrant for Keuntae McElroy, 21, of Texarkana, Arkansas, and had been searching for him since the horrific Saturday scene unfolded. After surrendering of his own volition late Sunday morning, he was booked into Bi-State Jail on one count of felony aggravated assault, with additional charges expected Monday, Texarkana police said.
Another named Will Tyler tweeted, Still dont have my luggage after canceling our flight. Cant get customer service on the phone. DM hasnt been responded to in 12 hours. Absolutely the worst travel experience of my life. Do other airlines treat customers this poorly or is this just American Airlines?
Is there more that we could be working on, more we hope to do? Of course there is, and well keep fighting for it, he said. But what we have on the table, right this minute, in this framework, is historic, its good policy and, of course, good policy is good politics.
In a letter to Apple on Saturday, Cuomo lawyer Rita Glavin demanded that the sheriffs office preserve all records related to the case, including any notes of conversations it had with the woman who accused the ex-governor of groping her, Brittany Commisso.
However, today I tested positive for COVID, she tweeted Sunday. While I have not had close contact in person with the President or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday  and tested negative for four days after that last contact  I am disclosing todays positive test out of an abundance of transparency. I last saw the President on Tuesday, when we sat outside more than six feet apart, and wore masks.
The timing is noteworthy. Our editorial was published on Oct. 21, the 25th anniversary of OHaras trumped-up arrest on seven felony changes for illegal voting, the first time someone was prosecuted for that criminal charge since Susan B. Anthony was arrested, tried and convicted in Rochester for casting a ballot in the 1872 presidential election where GOP incumbent Ulysses S. Grant beat challenger Horace Greeley. But Anthony was only tried once. Hynes ran OHara through the wringer three times until he got a conviction that stuck, in what was Hynes first triple jeopardy prosecution. All on phony charges that were vacated by current Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez in 2017.
Of course, thats not the only consideration. There are understandable worries around the extent to which an injection site can impact public safety in the surrounding neighborhood. As Brandon Del Pozo, former NYPD precinct commander, Vermont police chief and current drug policy researcher and writer, puts it, a safe injection site wont increase drug use but concentrate it where it can be carefully monitored and users can be funneled into other services. Such concentration has its benefits  but few residents, and therefore politicians, will welcome it on a block close to home.
I was raised by two of her biggest fans, who taught me the basic truths of life as they saw it: that you should treat people the way you want to be treated, that you must believe that you can achieve whatever you want to in life, and that Carole King is the greatest songwriter of all time.
She told detectives Andrew was on vacation either visiting his brother in Pennsylvania or gallivanting around Europe. She wasnt sure which and cops noted she didnt seem to care much. But she did know he had left home the last week of March  which cops realized was when the first body part was found.
It feels as if Lynn Nottages 2003 play needs two reviews  one for the first act, an exquisitely written look at the need for connection and the need to hold on to your dreams, and one for the second, in which Nottage veers into melodrama and strangely withholds key emotional moments from the audience.
Among those aiding in the search was the Miya Marcano Foundation, started by Marcanos family after the 19-year-old Orlando college student was kidnapped and murdered. The newly formed foundation has a mission to support, educate and provide resources to families of missing persons while advocating for the protection of students and our most vulnerable population, its website says.
Rubio has followed the governors lead, proving once again that he is too weak to stand up to his party when its leaders attack immigrants. He has stood silently as DeSantis executive order drew criticism from across the state. Even when DeSantis barred state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities  something Rubio has criticized in the past  he had nothing to say. Instead of standing up to help Haitians in need, using his office to coordinate with community groups, or working with the Biden administration, Rubio is standing on the sidelines launching political attacks. Hes spent more time talking to Fox News hosts about the border recently than talking with Haitian families in Florida.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - On the eve of the upcoming session of Libya's parliament as efforts continue to finalise the legal framework for the 24 December elections, the UN Support Mission (UNSMIL) is calling for the adoption of the necessary adjustments, including those put forward by the High National Commission for Elections (HNEC), for the polls to be held simultaneously
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India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Rome to discuss broadening strategic cooperation across the world as the two democracies are raising their relations to new levels.

They discussed "efforts to deepen the US-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership" during their meeting on Saturday on the sidelines of the 16th G20 Summit, according to State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.

New Delhi and Washington have turned to the other side of the Indian Ocean that India straddles after firming up cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region multilaterally with the Quad  the grouping of their countries and Australia and Japan.

Earlier this month, Jaishankar and Blinken held a virtual meeting with Foreign Ministers Yair Lapid of Israel and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- four countries that share many regional strategic interests -- and discussed "future opportunities for collaboration in the region and globally", according to the State Department.

Jaishankar tweeted after the Rome meeting that they had a "good meeting" and "discussed a wide gamut of issues relating to our partnership. Updated each other on important regional concerns".

Price said that efforts to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region through the Quad and common regional priorities were also discussed.

Expanding global access to vaccines was another topic they discussed given India's position as the world's largest producer of vaccines, he said.

India is the linchpin in the Quad's initiative to supply 1.2 billion vaccines that was reiterated at the summit of the leaders of the four countries last month in Washington.

Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India and Scott Morrison of Australia, US President Joe Biden and the then-Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced at their summit that their Vaccine Partnership was on track to expand the capacity of India's Biological E Ltd to produce at least 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of next year.

Price's readout of the meeting between Jaishankar and Blinken also contained the obligatory reference to democracy, which some in India and in the US would latch on to giving it deeper meanings.

It said they discussed "reinforcing their mutual commitments to and support for shared democratic values".

However, despite Biden's statements making his administration the global beacon of democracy, such references to democracy are missing in readouts of Blinken's meetings with leaders of most countries, especially those that are not democratic.

For example, references to democracy were left out of the India, US, Israel and UAE meeting, likely in deference to the Gulf nation.

It didn't figure in the readout of his recent meetings with Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani or Zayed or Saudi Foreign Ministers Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

Blinken and Jaishankar have been in close contact through phone calls and virtual meetings and have met in London in May, in Washington also in May and in New Delhi in July.

They are expected to meet again this year in Washington along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for the 2+2 ministerial meeting of the defence and foreign policy heads of the two nations.
As previously advised, Refining NZ has been focused on concluding the negotiation of Terminal Services Agreements (TSAs) after signing term sheets with all customers earlier this year and having obtained shareholder and lender approvals for the conversion of operations at Marsden Point to an import terminal.

Finalising the TSAs is the key remaining step ahead of the Refining NZ Boards final investment decision. Significant progress has been made with customers on these complex fully-termed agreements, and all parties remain committed to finalising the TSAs as soon as possible. Preparations for a conversion in H1 2022 remain on track.

CEO Naomi James said:

All parties are working hard to conclude these agreements as soon as possible. The team at Marsden Point is doing an exceptional job at keeping the refinery running under the current COVID-impacted situation and with ongoing uncertainty about their future. We all remain focused on ensuring the continued safe operation of the refinery, and on executing our plans for a well-managed transition.

Please see the link below for details

Update on Customer Negotiations

Source: The New Zealand Refining Company Limited

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Z Energy (NZX / ASX: ZEL) (Z) notes the market announcement from New Zealand Refining (NZX: NZR ) this morning on the status of the negotiations of the Terminal Services Agreement (TSA) with its customers. The last significant step ahead of the Refinerys final investment decision on import terminal conversion.

David Binnie, GM Supply for Z Energy said, Substantial progress has already been made on the TSA negotiations and Z is committed to concluding the negotiations as quickly as possible. We remain committed to the import terminal conversion and the schedule remains on track for completion in the first half of 2022.

Please see the link below for details

Z Energy Negotiations with Refining NZ

Source: Z Energy Limited

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T&G Global is selling and leasing back its Whakatu West site at 22 Whakatu Road, Hastings, in a move which will generate $79.545 million to support its growth strategy.

The 9.56 hectare site is being sold to Property for Industry Limited (PFI). The property accommodates in excess of 36,000 square metres of T&Gs post-harvest operations in the Hawkes Bay, including one of its packhouses, two cool stores, warehousing and 3.7 hectares of storage yard.

T&G Globals Chief Executive, Gareth Edgecombe, says the transaction will help T&G free up capital to fuel its growth.

By entering into a sale-leaseback agreement with PFI, we can unlock funds to reinvest back into our core business and new growth activities, while continuing to operate our post-harvest facilities out of the Hawkes Bay, says Gareth.

With strong worldwide consumer demand for our premium apples, including Envy and JAZZ, this capital will be used to fund our operations, continue building out our key global markets, and invest in new technology and our physical assets.

The Hawkes Bay is a pivotal region for our global business and long-term strategy, with about 60% of our apples grown in the region. With interest in commercial real estate at a real high, it made good business sense to recycle these funds into our growth.

PFI Chief Executive, Simon Woodhams, says the acquisition of the site secures a specialised asset for PFIs portfolio, occupied by a tenant operating an essential service.

Were excited about the acquisition of this key site in the Hawkes Bay, which is a vital region in New Zealands high-value primary sector. We look forward to working with T&G into the future, says Simon.

The 15-year triple-net leaseback arrangement with PFI provides T&G with rights of renewal for a further 20 years. The commencing annual rental is $3.5 million plus GST, with annual fixed rent reviews of 2.25%, with an adjustment to market on the seventh anniversary of the lease commencement date.

The unconditional acquisition, which reflects a yield of 4.4%, is expected to settle on 15 November 2021. Both parties will update the market upon the sale being concluded.

Please see the link below for details

Sale and Leaseback Whakatu West Site

Source: T&G Global Limited

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Economic engagement in the North and East could change political dynamics in Sri Lanka

The Global Tamil Forum, since its inception in 2010 has always propagated a negotiated political settlement in Sri Lanka. So, we have actively engaged politicians, civil society in Sri Lanka, externally, foreign governments, international organisations, forums, and all those engagements were to engage and negotiate a political solution for the Tamil grievances in Sri Lanka  Suren Surendiran, Spokesperson for the Global Tamil Forum

by Raj Gonsalkorale

In an interview with Easwaran Rutnam published in the Daily Mirror on the 27th of October, Mr Suren Surendiran, the Spokesperson for the Global Tamil Forum based in the UK has said that there is more the Tamil Diaspora can do for Sri Lanka. This is true and it is a positive sign that greater political engagement might be in the offing.

The GTF and other Tamil Diaspora organisations should however reflect on the strategy they have adopted so far (actively engaged politicians, civil society in Sri Lanka, externally, foreign governments, international organisations, forums - Mr Surendirans words), and question the success of that strategy todate.

The acid test is whether the Tamil Diaspora activity has made Sri Lankan Tamils living in Sri Lanka more advanced economically, socially, politically, and whether they are safe in the country, particularly since 1983, when a section of the government organised a pogrom and drove hundreds and thousands of Tamils out of the country.

There can be a justifiable argument that other than many Western countries taking a hard line attitude towards Sri Lanka, and punishing Sri Lanka economically, and in international fora, this strategy has not helped the Tamils in Sri Lanka or for that matter, other communities in Sri Lanka. Direct political engagement with Sri Lankan governments by the Tamil Diaspora has been cursory at best, and Tamils in the North and East in particular continue to live with hardships faced not just by them, but by many people belonging to other communities as well.

It is widely reported in the media that some young persons in the North and East are also engaged in the drug trade and /or have become addicts, and have become serious alcohol consumers using funds sent to them from overseas sources. This is not confirmed and it is not clear or established what these sources are, if indeed it is the case. If true, these developments are manifestations of frustration felt by many young persons in the North and the East, and it could well lead to developments that the region, and the country, would not wish to experience ever again.

In this regard, anyone who has the welfare of the people of the North and the East in mind should consider fresh strategies that would help the people living there and not leave them where they are now, and have been for a long time.

There is no debate that Tamils in the country faced untold misery in the hands of goons organised by sections of the then government in 1983. Mr Surendirans contention that a majority amongst the more than a million strong Tamil Diaspora didnt leave Sri Lanka to look for economic betterment, but left because Sri Lanka ceased to be a safe place for them and they felt they were not treated equally, is absolutely true. When the State failed to protect some of its citizens, there is no equality or universal justice at all, and when in fact sections of the government itself organised the pogrom in 1983, it was a message that Tamils were not wanted in Sri Lanka. How could anyone challenge Mr Surendrans statement?

However, since 1983, consequent to LTTE terrorism and eventually the war fought by them with the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, neither successive Sri Lankan governments, nor the powerful Diaspora have been able to usher in measures for a long term sustainable peace for the Tamis living in Sri Lanka, and achieve even a fraction of the economic success enjoyed by many Tamils living overseas.

In general, Tamil Diaspora groups have projected an image that on the one hand they were supportive of the cause of the LTTE as it was their cause as well, but on the other hand, they did not support the violent methods used by them to achieve the objectives of that cause. For impartial onlookers it is difficult to see how these two could have been separated as it is known and documented that the LTTE was well funded by sections of the Tamil Diaspora. Given this situation, it needs to be acknowledged that engaging in meaningful discussions with the Tamil Diaspora would have been a difficult political task for successive Sri Lankan governments, at least until 2009.

To the best of the writers knowledge, no Tamil Diaspora group has openly disengaged themselves with or condemned the violent methods employed by the LTTE to achieve their objectives, certainly not till the end of the war in 2009. Some seemed have been of the opinion that means employed were for a justifiable end, and therefore they were justified and even inevitable.

A separate Tamil administrative region

In an answer to a question posed to him, Mr Surendiran was non-committal about how the GTF feels about Sri Lanka needing a separate Tamil administrative region similar to a separate Tamil state. He said, quote Like I said before, we do not want to prescribe a particular solution to the issues in Sri Lanka. We want to see a political solution that is negotiated between the parties concerned and the stakeholders involved to arrive at. So there is no pre-prescribed solution for the Sri Lankan problem as far as GTF is concerned. Unquote.

This has not been the approach that the public has known about how the GTF will engage in political discussions with a Sri Lankan government. Neither has any other Tamil Diaspora organisation been open to discussions in a similar manner without some type of pre-conditions. This is different to the stand taken by the TNA even to date and other Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka who have always insisted on a North East re-merger and the full implementation of the 13th Amendment as starting points for a discussion.

There is hope for a political settlement if the Tamil Diaspora, and hopefully the TNA and other Tamil political parties show a willingness to be open minded and consider different options as to how Tamils in Sri Lanka could be given a degree of self-determination within a united country and where they can be safe, and will be treated equally as other citizens in the country. From a broader political governance point of view, the Diaspora groups should give thought as to how the Tamil voice could be heard and taken note of at a national level if there is a serious desire to influence policy settings and governance at a national level.

What sort of role do you feel the Diaspora should play on the Sri Lankan issue?

In answer to the above question, the GTF also gave some hints as to how the future could roll out, quote by coming out of the country and living in foreign countries under democracy, freedom of speech, that kind of rule of law, having a free speech as you could imagine and also educating ourselves and becoming relatively wealthy. There is a whole series of things in capacity capability terms that the Tamil Diaspora, all the Diaspora, the Sri Lankan Diaspora can offer to Sri Lanka and to bring it up. The other thing is. We left Sri Lanka because we couldnt live there or we felt unsafe to live there. Therefore, we feel that we still are stakeholders in matters that concern our people who are left behind in Sri Lanka. We did a little calculation about this proscription and what impact that is having on the Sri Lankan economy. We worked out roughly as a minimum USD 250 million to USD 300 million of income in foreign exchange that Sri Lanka could have had is being deprived because of this proscription. Right now, I think the forex reserve is about two and a half to three billion US dollars. Thats all Sri Lanka has. A 10 per cent of that could have come from the Diaspora. So that is the deprivation for the people that this kind of proscription and these postures that the government makes has a negative impact on the people of Sri Lanka and the economy. So there is a lot to offer from the Diaspora, particularly the Tamil Diaspora, unquote.

Mr Surendiran has hit the nail on the head here. Indeed, the Tamil Diaspora can do far more than the Sri Lankan government to help those Tamils living in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

However, while he and other Diaspora groups argue for a political settlement first in order to intervene in the economic and social upliftment of the Tamil people living in the North and East of Sri Lanka, and consequently, that of all Tamils and other communities in Sri Lanka, through their engagement, it is worthwhile for the GTF and others to consider doing this in parallel, and not debate whether the egg or the chicken should come first, if the intention as stated, is to help the Tamils living in the North and East in Sri Lanka.

Many members of the Tamil Diaspora no doubt have the economic clout and contacts to invest in export oriented projects in the North and the East, and elsewhere, and provide economic opportunities to people in the region and help to uplift their economic and social status. Prosperity in the North and the East will result in Tamil political parties acquiring far greater strength and negotiation powers to even tilt the balance of power in their favour and thereby influence the outcome of a just political settlement. Economic power brings political power, and in Sri Lanka, what the Tamil people need is effective political power at the central level. Diaspora groups should consider for example, a situation where they control say 10-15% of the countrys foreign earnings, and the power they will have to be treated with equality and respect.

If the Tamil Diaspora is seriously interested in a political solution to this vexed issue, their strategy should shift to acquiring that power through economic power. As discussed earlier in this article, the strategies adopted so far by the Tamil Diaspora has only made some leaders within it to feel important in having access to world leaders and influencing international bodies, consequently, antagonising Sri Lankan governments, but also adversely affecting the Sri Lankan economy which affects all Sri Lankans including the Tamils in the North and the East. Mr Surendiran alluded to this in an indirect way stating that the Sri Lankan economy has been affected by $ 250 -300 million dollars as a consequence of the ongoing conflict, and readers might conclude that had the Diaspora tactics been different, and the approach of Sri Lankan governments was different, the country would have benefitted by this amount if not more.

The current tactics of the Tamil Diaspora has not addressed the situation faced by Tamils living in the North and East of Sri Lanka and in fact, has made it worse for them. It is time the Tamil Diaspora changed tact and placed importance to acquiring greater political power within Sri Lanka by strengthening their economic power in the North and the East through export oriented investments, educational opportunities, industrial and commercial establishments that link them to international practices. The world has changed a lot since 1983, and while the wounds suffered by thousands of Tamil people may never heal, the Tamil Diaspora can help Tamils living in Sri Lanka by garnering enough power to ensure they have a powerful stake in how the country is run in years to come.

If they continue with the current strategies and push for a political settlement as a pre cursor for engagement in economic and social development, it may not materialise as already hard positions of the Sinhala Buddhist majority may even become harder, and a government of whatever hue will find it extremely difficult to undertake negotiations with the Tamil Diaspora for a political settlement. Some cynics may take the view that this outcome of not having a political settlement might well be the real objective of the Tamil Diaspora, as a solution will weaken them, and even make them irrelevant in the absence of a cause to espouse and fight for.
Former Minister of Law and Order Ranjith Madduma Bandara, a man with blood of victims on his palms must be held responsible for Easter Attacks. Here is why.

Editorial

Who are the culprits! No matter what the due process is going to find, but it is the very question of your heart and conscience! Isnt it Mister Minister? Ranjith Madduma Bandara, who was the Minister of Public Administration & Management and Law & Order in the previous government, has issued a press statement to cover up his wrongdoings. It is about the Easter terrorist attacks that took place in 2019. Some say the attacks were a conspiracy by the country's intelligence services. This is a blatant lie. In fact, no critic who is pointing at the intelligence service has so far been able to present any credible evidence.

Minister of Law and Order Played the role of the Minister of Melancholic during the previous regime headed by Wickremesinghe and Sirisena

Former Minister Madduma Bandara's attention has been drawn to the reckless statement made by Fr. Cyril Gamini, a Catholic priest, in which he visualized his hatred without any substantive data to prove his allegations. It also cites a legal comment made by Fr. Cyril Gamini through a third party stating that he could not come to the CID a few days ago.

As far as we know, Fr. Cyril Gaminis statement has posed a serious threat not only to the mere reputation of a person but also to the life of that person and his family members. It also poses a serious threat to the national security of the country. All he has to do is prove his legitimacy by presenting credible evidence that he reaffirmed he owns without jiggery-pokery. If he does not have such credible evidence to present, he should immediately apologize to the nation for his disgusting unholiness.

RELATED EDITORIAL: Sri Lanka: Catholic Church is Not a Conclave of Liars

Is it acceptable for any rhetorician to tell any lie that comes to mind while presenting false information about the serious bloodshed that took place in the country just because he was free to express his views and emotions? What Holly Bible has indoctrinated about lies and liars, A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish. (Proverbs 19:9) And in Romans 3:13, the Bible doctrines that ... their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips.

If Fr. Cyril Gamini cannot take responsibility for his words and place his credible evidence on the table, all he has to do is keep his mouth shut in the name of Almighty and His Son, the Lord Jesus. Then the Lord will show him the path to confess before forgiveness. A priest should not use his priesthood to engage in vile political activities that create internal rifts within the Catholic Church but to preach theology and to perform the duties of a priest.

The damage that can be done to the country by politicizing serious incidents such as Easter Attacks through false hypotheses without any regard for the real fact is irremediable. The country has had several bloodiest experiences since the Millennium City incident in Athurugiriya. Fr. Cyril Gamini or Madduma Bandara may have lost a sense of the state and the importance of men who are working tirelessly to ensure national security. But they have no, whatsoever, a special mandate to manipulate the security of unarmed ordinary people of this country by making various false statements.

There is clear evidence to find the culprits behind the Easter attacks. According to the evidence, Ranjith Madduma Bandara was also one of the key persons who should be held responsible. It is not surprising that this politician, who has grossly neglected his responsibilities when he was in power, is now struggling to cover up his misdeeds.





A part of the letter was submitted to then the Minister of Law and Order, Ranjith Madduma Bandara on May 19, 2018 by then the Director of State Intelligence Service

We decided to expose one of them. A four-page letter was sent to Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara in May 2018 by the then Director of State Intelligence Service. In the relevant letter, Mr Nilantha Jayawardena has meticulously detailed the adverse activities of Zahran Hashim (Mohammed Cassim Mohammed Zahran) to the Minister. The most important point in the letter is that the former head of the State Intelligence Service evidently concluded his classified letter by stating, "... action must be taken to arrest and reintegrate Zahran through a special unit of the police." ( SIS letter dated, 2018 May 19)

However, this politician by proving his sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity has not initiated any action. The letter went in vain. The Minister proved by action he is not the Minister of Law and Order but the Minister of Melancholic, the apt ministerial position for him that the previous regime could have introduced. Should not such ministers, who are trying to become saints by imposing their negligence on others, be held accountable? He should explain to the people what action he has taken on the relevant letter. In whose interest did Madduma Bandara decide to throw away that crucial letter that was sent a year before the terrorist attacks initiated and carried out by Zahran and other fanatics? The sad reality is that no commission of inquiry or other body has taken action against this former minister for neglecting this serious responsibility.

RELATED ARTICLE: Exclusive: Why did no one pay attention to Zahrans final video?

Although the intelligence services did their job properly, the intellectual blindness of such immature politicians undermined the national security of the country. That is what happened during his tenure as Minister. Consequently, the country suffered. But now, these fraudsters come back to the forefront of the media and shamelessly suppress the truth and point fingers at other parties. Before pointing the finger at the other, Madduma Bandara should first check whether he has done his duty properly. Is it not the duty of the authorities to hold this person accountable soon as there is written evidence that he has deliberately neglected his responsibilities as a public representative?
The world has moved away from blindly worshipping a piece of cloth. Yes, there were times when people worshipped nature. That era is gone.

by Helasingha Bandara

Let us skip our characteristic small talk at the beginning of this discourse and meet the dirty dozen straight away.

1.Chamal Rajapaksha- the codger, 2. Mahinda Rajapaksha-the wolf king, 3. Gotabhaya Rajapaksha- the balloon, 4. Basil Rajapaksha-the seven headed Hydra, 5. Namal Rajapaksha- the young pretender, 6. Ranil Wickremasinghe - the shameless, 7.Maithreepala Sirisena- the betrayer, 8.Wimal Weerawansa-the fake nationalist, 9.wasudeva Nanayakkara- the socialist turned capitalist, 10.Udaya Gammanpila- the smiling hyena, 11. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara thero- the paradox , 12. Magalkande Sudaththa thero-the loudspeaker.

None of the above people hold the country or its struggling ordinary people close to their hearts and minds. Everyone in the country should know, in no uncertain terms, that their agenda is to hold on to power, accumulate wealth and develop their kith and kin. It is imperative that all Sri Lankans understand this ultimate truth if they hope to secure a country for the future generations. Every sensible person in the country should therefore conclude that those people are unfit to hold public office and govern for the people of the country as they do not put their fingers on the pulse of the nation. Their hearts do not beat for the welfare of the people, but for their own luxury, comfort, and selfish endeavours. They have no space left in their heads to think about proper governance, law and order or welfare of the people, as their heads are constantly full of thoughts to invent new lies to keep deceiving the public. Sadly, a section of the public is deceived by such lies time and again.

1. Chamal the codger

Nearing 80, Chamal has long passed the retirement age. The dotage combined with low level education has made him indifferent to the tragedy of Sri Lanka and its people. His immaturity, despite natural aging was manifested when he challenged Sarath Fonseka to a fist fight. He has been an ardent supporter of family rule and has immensely contributed to dynasty building and the trampling of the poor people. Thissa wewa mud project is one glowing example of Chamals racketeering.

2. Mahinda the wolf King

Mahinda is better described as a wolf king than a lion king. The lion protects the pride, contributes to a difficult hunt to bring down a larger prey and shares the meat albeit claiming a lions share, and is a brave fighter and a dignified animal whereas wolf is cunning, deceitful and in most instances a scavenger.

The common acknowledgment is that Mahinda has not been far-sighted and intelligent but petty-minded and cunning. Mahinda had the best opportunity to change Sri Lanka for the better. He failed to understand the value of the historic moment and to get his name into history books. Vision, innovation, and creativity were alien concepts to him, and he was blinded by a hunger for power, personal wealth accumulation and nepotism that resulted him dragging himself and the country with him into the deepest abyss. He entirely failed to learn from the lesson that the people taught him in 2015 and continued with the same despotic rule with the same humbugs being oblivious to the devastation that his cronies caused upon the country and its hard-working poor masses. He was accused of many financial frauds although the UNP government was not knowledgeable or capable of discovering where people hide black money. The international community has now opened doors through the Pandora papers where to look. The papers highlighted one of the Rajapakshas from Sri Lanka. Hirunica Premachandra alleged that the money hidden by Nirupama is enough for 800 years even if she spent 100000 Rupees per day. That is not hard-earned money!

3. Gotabhaya the balloon

A balloon has a pretty exterior but empty interior. Gotabhaya was a balloon inflated to be exhibited. Although Mahinda and Gotabhaya stole the entire credit for winning the war and advertised at the post-war political campaigns, their contribution was limited to approving funds for the war. He was not a brave soldier who fought at the battle front, nor was he a military strategist that led the forces to victory. He was just Mahindas cats paw to replace him when Mahinda could not contest for a third term. Gotabhaya does not have the education or experience at the required level nor has he the intelligence and skills to rule the country other than his warped image as a military person who could rid the country of corruption and malpractices and establish the rule of law.

The public were stunned to find out that Gotabhaya is uncharismatic and could have no control over his colleagues. When people realised that the image of a disciplined, straight forward and no hanky-panky leader who would demolish the underworld to create a peaceful Lanka without drugs and crimes, maintain the same law for all irrespective of their caste, creed, social status, or political affiliation, cleanse the parliament and governing apparatus of corruption and enable absolute efficiency, was just a deception, it was far too late to rectify the calamity.

4. Basil the seven-headed Hydra

Basils image as a brilliant brain has not been substantiated. After the defeat of Mahinda at the 2015 election, power was transferred to two selfish, backbiting, and incompetent imbeciles. This was a fertile ground for anyone to grow seeds of deception. The Easter bombing made matters worse and the public thought that the country needed a military leader to stop the re-emergence of terrorism. Among the contestants Gotabhaya fitted the bill well with his pre-portrayed illusionary image, and the people elected him with an overwhelming majority. It was not a miracle that Basil performed at all. Rejecting the image of a genius, I would like to portray him as a seven headed Hydra.

Hydra had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly. The Hydra possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source. Later versions of the Hydra story add a regeneration feature to the monster: for every head chopped off, the Hydra would regrow two heads.

Basil has no sincerity in his inner nature. People should be blind and mad not to recognise that all Basil led political manoeuvres through 2/3 majority and the 20th amendment etc. were to pave the way for his own trajectory to the political fray. Will such a person bear the welfare of the poor in the forefront of his head or rather the seven heads or will he continue to breath out poisonous breath and blood and grow more heads in the place of chopped ones?

5.Namal the young pretender

Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart (20 December 1720  30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain after 1766 as "Charles III". During his lifetime, he was also known as "the Young Pretender" and "the Young Chevalier"; in popular memory, he is "Bonnie Prince Charlie".

He was called the young pretender because both his father the old pretender and himself believed that the claim to the British throne was their divine right.

Namal, our young pretender has been groomed to believe that the Presidency of Sri Lanka is his birth right in the same manner that his father, the old pretender believed that the presidency of Sri Lanka was his divine right as the saviour.

Although the young pretender title is applicable to both Namal and Bonnie Prince Charlie, bonny in Scottish English means beautiful.

Namal is insincere. Like the rest of his clan, he too has learned the main family trait of manufacturing lies. For instance, when nutty Johnston said that they have monetary reserves more than needed for any crisis, while Sudarshanee Fernando Pulle was begging people to donate towards the COVID-19 course, Journalists asked Namal who was right. Namal replied both were right. Johnston was right that we have more than enough money and Sudarshanee was right that people must contribute. Do we need such a two-tongued monster to govern us?

6. Ranil the shameless

The forward-thinking majority of Sri Lankans booted Mahinda in 2015 for his complicity in misappropriation of public funds and the escalation of corruption and nepotism despite his claims that he, and he alone won the war and started all major development projects. Ranils four-and-a-half-year coalition rule delivered nothing tangible other than the squabbles between him and Sirisena. Within a year of his administration the Mahinda Sulanga began blowing with no obstruction because both Ranil and Sirisena were engaged in their personal agendas and did not pay heed to peoples expectations. Ranil should be ashamed to come back preaching new economic theories and suggesting better governance.

He has been identified with the greatest number of defeats in Sri Lankas electoral history that culminated in 2020, being denied his own seat. At that point and numerous times before, the humiliated Ranil announced that he would rescind his leadership and leave young people to take the party forward. Characteristically he then ended up in parliament as a chit MP. He is the epitome of shamelessness in Sri Lanka politics. Are the people complacent enough to return him to power?

7. Maithreepala the betrayer

He deserves to be smeared with human excrement for the monumental betrayal that he committed by the conspiracy to bring back the Rajapakshas whom people had persevered to chase away, not the leadership of the grand old party. Sirisena does not have the necessary education, knowledge, skills, foresight, or the sophistication to take the country from the abyss that it has fallen into. He is a dishonest and incompetent crook that the country should consider to be history.

8.Wimal the fake nationalist

Is he truly a nationalist or an opportunist? The predominant question that should be asked of him is how he manged to accumulate the wealth he possesses without an enormous inheritance. He was known to have come from an underprivileged background. Under Mahindas previous rule and now, Wimal Weerawansa has always searched for ways and words to deceive people. His nationalistic activism has always been a melodrama with the cruel intention of deceiving the public. He has no genuine nationalistic feelings nor has he any intention to help the poor of this country but his own development.

9.Vasudeva the socialist turned capitalist

Marxists, Leninists, communists, and socialists have contributed to political development of Sri Lanka at different points of time but none of those contributions have been able to check the speed of change towards false democracy. While appreciating younger Vasus genuine contributions to politics in Sri Lanka, it must be said that he could not keep his head above the rapids but let him be taken by the current. Instead of retiring with a good name intact, the old Vasu is manifesting infantile behaviour and getting smeared in the attempt to defend this regime for personal gains.

10. Gammanpila the smiling hyena

With its jaws hanging and teeth visible, a hyena appears to be laughing constantly.

While the vocalisations of the spotted hyena might sound like laughing to us, they are anything but a laugh. Hyenas are commonly viewed as frightening and worthy of contempt. In some cultures, hyenas are thought to influence people's spirits, rob graves, and steal livestock and children.

For an expression to be considered laughing, the individual should be expressing an emotion like pleasure, amusement, or joy. Hyenas just arent expressing these emotions when making their laughing sounds.

Gammanpilas perpetual smile is not different to a hyenas laugh. His smile like the hyenas has no emotions attached to it but worthy of contempt.

11. Gnanasara the paradox

A paradox is a statement or situation that may be true but seems impossible and difficult to understand because it contains contradictory facts or characteristics.

Although he is a person, Gnanasara thero can be considered a paradox because he constantly displays contradictory characteristics. While asking the people to respect the yellow robe he does not adopt a priestly behaviour himself to bring about the desired respect.

I do not have historical knowledge to talk about the merits and demerits of his so called saving Buddhism campaign. Based on his verbal and physical outbursts, an outsider may conclude that regarding the good name of Buddhism, his conduct has been more destructive than constructive. My grudge with him is linked to the monks warning to box Sudaththa Thilakasiri who has been making a sincere effort to educate Sri Lankans, and the reiteration that people should respect the yellow robe. People who wear the robe should respect it themselves first for others to follow.

The world has moved away from blindly worshipping a piece of cloth. Yes, there were times when people worshipped nature. That era is gone. The worshipped should not be the robe but the person in the robe. If the person in that cloth is a rogue and does not abide by the discipline preached by the Buddha and in fact preach and practice everything contrary to what the Buddha taught, people will disrespect the person despite him wearing a monks attire.

Sudaththa the loudspeaker

I have a bone to pick with this loud-mouthed political monk. Despite some weaknesses, Ranjan Ramanayake is comparatively a better person than many other politicians. He is not a murderer, thief, or racketeer. The monk took Ranjan to court on seemingly baseless charges using his political influence just to revenge upon Ranjan because he once criticised monks in general. The monk has not opposed any of the large-scale destructions caused upon the people of this country in a similar manner. The imprisoning of Ranjan can only be described as an occurrence of a Neethiyak nethi rataka, by a rate nethi neethiyak.

Neethiyak nethi rataka, by a rate nethi neethiyak, If loosely translated into English, it may sound like  in a country without law, by a law that is non-existent. The Singhalese version coveys a much deeper and broader meaning than the English translation. Neethiyak Nethi Rataka does not necessarily mean in a lawless country but a country in which law is not applied properly. More interestingly rate nethi neethiyak does not just mean a law that is non-existent but non-existent laws are brought in when it suits the rulers. The article Contempt of Court vs. freedom of expression Wednesday, 20 January 2021 published by Daily Financial Times may provide factual explanation to the claim that Ranjan Ramanayake was imprisoned arbitrarily without the backing of a comprehensive written law in Sri Lanka or a law that conforms to national penal codes of any country. Although the opinions are solely based on the information gathered through electronic and print media, it can be speculated that if a future government follows the unprecedented establishment of kangaroo commissions, Sudaththa thero may be sent to prison for at least twice the length of the sentence that wasted Ranjans valuable life behind bars.
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EC examines the need for new rules on solar panel installations IARU Region 1 reports the European Commission is to examine need for new rules on the environmental impact of photovoltaics



IARU-R1 Political Relations Committee (PRC) responded recently to a European Commission Roadmap on the environmental impact of photovoltaics. The radio spectrum is an important finite natural resource which must be protected. While PV technology of itself is to be welcomed, the IARU submission pointed out the inherent problems of non-compliant installations, particularly the installation or retro-fitting of optimisers which can produce significant spectrum pollution for very limited efficiency increase.



The Roadmap and responses may be viewed on the Commission website here

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12819-Ecodesign-European-Commission-to-examine-need-for-new-rules-on-environmental-impact-of-photovoltaics_en



or on this website on the PRC Responses to Public and Other Consultations

https://www.iaru-r1.org/about-us/committees-and-working-groups/prc/prc-responses-to-public-consultations/



Source IARU Region 1 https://iaru-r1.org/
Algiers, 31 October 2021 (SPS) - The Sahrawi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, reaffirmed Saturday that the option of peace, as an alternative to war, is only possible on the basis of respect for international legality, which does not recognize the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara.



"We hope that the new personal envoy of the UN SG, Staffan de Mistura, will be able to convince the other party (Morocco) and those behind it, that three decades of denial of the Sahrawi national reality and the attempts to bury the ceasefire agreement between the two parties, should be enough to convince them that the option of peace is only possible on the basis of respect for international legality, which does not recognise the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara," Ould Salek declared in a statement to APS.



It is "the alternative to the war, which is currently raging between the two armies, Sahrawi and Moroccan," noted the head of Sahrawi diplomacy following the adoption by the UN Security Council of the resolution extending the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for one year.



For Mr Ould Salek, the Security Council, by its approval on Friday of resolution 2602, "understood that there is no longer a ceasefire". "It reached the same conclusion as the African Union before it, by concluding that the war between the two parties has resumed after the aggression of 13 November 2020 (in El-Guerguarat). This was confirmed by Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his report to the Council" on the situation in Western Sahara, he said.



Faced with this stalemate, Mr. Ould Salek cited two options for resolving the four-decade-old conflict: "the two member countries of the African Union (AU), the Sahrawi Republic and Morocco must accept a peaceful solution on the basis for decisions of the AU Extraordinary Summit on Silencing the Guns Strategy and the Peace and Security Council (PSC) summit. "



Or "the Security Council sets a date for the organisation of the self-determination referendum, which is MINURSO's only mission".



"Agreement on one of the two options has now become the only way to achieve a new ceasefire," said Mr Ould Salek.

062/T
China believes that nuclear weapons, the Sword of Damocles hanging over mankind, should be completely prohibited and thoroughly destroyed over time to make the world free of nuclear weapons.

by Qi Zhenhong

Recently, the United States, Britain and Australia announced the establishment of AUKUS, a trilateral security pact which will provide Australia with at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. This is like holding up a "Sword of Damocles" on the heads of countries in the Pacific-Indian Ocean regional countries, which has aroused widespread doubts and deep concerns from the international community, and great threat of nuclear proliferation, arms race and more unstable regional and international security situation.





Firstly, the move is a serious violation of the spirit of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) which brings great risks of nuclear proliferation. The NPT which entered into effect in 1970, is regarded as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime by the international community. However, the Treaty lacks clear provisions regarding the transfer of nuclear reactors for submarines, and the safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is unable to verify whether the relevant materials are used to develop nuclear weapons. The United States, Britain, and Australia had exploited these weaknesses. In addition, the American and British nuclear submarines use weapons-grade highly enriched uranium with an abundance of over 90%. Exporting of nuclear submarines to Australia means that a large number of highly sensitive nuclear materials and technologies are transferred without the effective safeguard of IAEA, which will inevitably bring the risk of proliferation of nuclear technologies and nuclear materials. On September 17th, the Indonesian government issued a statement stressed the importance of Australias commitment to continue meeting all of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations, and called on Australia to maintain its commitment towards regional peace, stability and security.

Secondly, this move may induce a new round of arms race, which will undermine regional prosperity and stability. As a country straddling the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, Australia's construction of nuclear submarines in defiance of the world completely violates the commitments it made when signing the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, and also will cause serious breaches in the efforts of ASEAN countries to build nuclear weapon-free zone and the Indian Ocean to create a "Zone of Peace". In addition, AUKUS attempts to engage in maritime hegemony, which may introduce a new round of regional arms race, thus undermining the precious peace situation in the region and casting a shadow over the security, stability and prosperity in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the AUKUS, a security partnership between Australia, Britain and the United States, "undoubtedly" undermines regional stability. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that Indonesia does not want an escalating arms race and power projection in the region that will threaten security and stability. Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob expressed Malaysia's stance on AUKUS when he received a telephone call from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, saying it would be a catalyst for a nuclear arms race in the Indo-Pacific region. As a country within ASEAN, Malaysia holds the principle of maintaining ASEAN as a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality, and urges all parties to avoid any provocation and arms competition in the region.

Thirdly, this move promotes barefaced "double-standard" and forms racist "small clique". The United States and Britain launched the notorious Iraq War on the unwarranted charge of suspecting the development of weapons of mass destruction, and do not allow Iran and North Korea to possess nuclear weapons, but turn a blind eye to the development of nuclear weapons by their ally Israel and provide nuclear submarines to another ally Australia. Under the barefaced "double-standard", they piece together the "Anglo-Saxon" military cooperation clique with racism and cold war color, and wantonly played and trampled on international rules. According to the Atlantic Monthly, AUKUS is in effect a new Anglo military alliance. The three nations have fought together for most of the past 100 years and are core members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. The announcement (of AUKUS) only reinforces its belief in the difference between Europe and the Anglo-Saxon world.

China believes that nuclear weapons, the Sword of Damocles hanging over mankind, should be completely prohibited and thoroughly destroyed over time to make the world free of nuclear weapons. China has always maintained its nuclear power at the lowest level required by national security, and has always made every effort to maintain the international non-proliferation system and actively promoted the multilateral arms control process. The establishment of a small security clique by the United States, Britain and Australia, frantically probing at the edge of nuclear proliferation, opening the Pandora's Box of the arms race, and undermining peace and stability in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, is a reversal of history trend, which has already been widely questioned and condemned by the international community including its own country and neighboring countries.

Recently, an American nuclear submarine crashed in the South China Sea and went unreported, a hit and run accident sending out a very realistic warning. Although no nuclear leakage caused by this accident has been confirmed yet, its nature is very serious, and there are great hidden dangers in nuclear proliferation and nuclear safety, which will lead to a nuclear disaster if it is not done well. Sri Lanka is located at the center of Indian Ocean. No matter its nuclear submarines frequently entering the Indian Ocean, the nuclear arms race escalating, or some hegemonies ganging up in clique and forcing small and medium-sized countries to take sides, it will inevitably bring huge security risks to Sri Lanka. Therefore, the international community, especially regional countries, should pay serious attention to and resolutely oppose this bad behavior, which seriously undermines regional peace and stability, accelerate the arms race, and undermines international nuclear non-proliferation efforts. We should bring the hanging Sword of Damocles back into its sheath, and jointly safeguard international peace, security and stability.

( The writer is the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka)
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Right now we are asking anyone who has information on the case to call us, Santiago said. All we can do at this point is process the evidence and look for surveillance cameras and find witnesses.
Bahrains Tatweer Petroleum has awarded Intertek, a leading total quality assurance provider to industries worldwide, a contract for the provision of quality assurance solutions

Interteks global team of highly skilled engineers and inspection experts will provide a factory-to-field inspection and quality assurance programme assisting Tatweer Petroleum in validating the specifications, value, and safety of raw materials, products and assets.

It will also verify the quality and compliance of products and procedures throughout the supply chain and secure on-time delivery of products and services.

Catalin Tomescu, General Manager of Intertek Industry Services Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, said: We are thrilled to engage with Tatweer Petroleum and offer Interteks innovative expertise and global reach. Interteks Total Quality Assurance solutions have been utilised successfully by Tatweer Petroleum for over a decade, and we are truly honoured to be entrusted with this additional work scope.

Interteks in-depth experience in the oil and gas sector globally, in the region and our world-class quality assurance services provide our clients with the peace of mind they need to focus on their core business and competencies.-- TradeArabia News Service
Ebrahim K Kanoo has made a donation of automotive parts to the Ministry of Education in line with its vision of bettering the lives of the youth of the nation by investing in education. The parts will be used by the Ministry in public schools who have adopted the official Automotive Body and Paint curriculum.

Officials from Ebrahim K Kanoo and the Ministry of Education met at the companys Training Centre for the handover and to discuss the significant bilateral relations shared between the two entities over the years.

Ebrahim K Kanoo continuously works on to leave a positive and long-lasting impact on the lives of the citizens of Bahrain, specifically for youth in the education field. The donation of a vehicle and parts helps the students stay updated with the latest global automotive technologies and gives them a chance to develop their skills and have better career opportunities in the future.

The Ministry officials thanked the company for its generosity and unwavering commitment to investing in the youth of the nation through unique programmes that directly influence the lives of students, giving them new and exciting opportunities to join an ever growing and fast paced industry.-- TradeArabia News Service
In the face of the global chip shortage, Bosch plans to invest more than 400 million euros ($462 million) in 2022 to expand its wafer fabs in Dresden and Reutlingen, Germany.

Expanding its operations across the globe to meet the growing demand for chips, Bosch will also invest in its semiconductor operations in Penang, Malaysia.

Most of the capital expenditure is earmarked for Boschs new 300-millimetre wafer fab in Dresden, where manufacturing capacity is to be expanded even faster in 2022.

Around 50 million euros 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 euros 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 centre will test finished semiconductor chips and sensors.

Demand for chips is continuing to grow at breakneck speed. In light of current developments, we are systematically expanding our semiconductor production so we can provide our customers with the best possible support, says Dr Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH.

These planned investments demonstrate once again the strategic importance of having our own manufacturing capacity for the core technology of semiconductors, Denner says.

Microelectronics is a key factor in the success of all Boschs business areas. Having recognised the potential of this technology early on, the company has been producing semiconductor components for more than 60 years. This makes Bosch one of the few companies that has a deep understanding of microelectronics as well as expertise in electronics and software. Bosch can combine this decisive competitive advantage with its strength in semiconductor manufacturing.

The technology and services company has been producing semiconductor components in Reutlingen since 1970. They are used in both consumer electronics and automotive applications. Modern electronics in cars is the basis for reducing traffic emissions, preventing road accidents, and increasing powertrain efficiency.

Bosch can draw on its specific semiconductor and automotive expertise to develop superior electronic systems. This benefits our customers and the countless people who want to continue to enjoy safe and efficient mobility in the future, Kroeger says.

Production in the 300-millimetre wafer fab in Dresden started in July of this year  six months earlier than planned. The chips made in the new plant are initially being installed in Bosch power tools. For automotive customers, chip production started in September, three months earlier than planned. Since 200-millimetre technology was introduced in 2010, Bosch has invested more than 2.5 billion euros in its wafer fabs in Reutlingen and Dresden alone. On top of this, billions of euros have been invested in developing microelectronics.

Our aim is to ramp up production of chips in Dresden earlier than planned and at the same time expand clean-room capacity in Reutlingen. Every additional chip we produce will help in the current situation, says Harald Kroeger, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. In two stages, a total of more than 4,000 sq m will be added to the current 35,000 sq m of clean-room space in Reutlingen. The first stage, adding 1,000 sq m of production area for 200-millimetre wafers to bring the total to 11,500 sq m, has already been completed. This involved converting office space into a clean room over recent months and connecting it to the existing wafer fab via a bridge. The new facility has been producing wafers since September.

Weve already expanded our manufacturing capacity for 200-millimetre wafers by some 10%, Kroeger says. The capital outlay for this came to 50 million euros (in 2021). In making this move, the company is responding in particular to increased demand for MEMS sensors and silicon carbide power semiconductors. The second stage of the expansion will create a further 3,000 sq m of clean-room space by the end of 2023. To this end, the company will invest some 50 million euros in both 2022 and 2023. Bosch is also creating 150 new jobs in semiconductor development at its Reutlingen location.

Another portion of the capital expenditure planned for 2022 will go into a new semiconductor test centre in Penang. This highly automated and connected factory is set to perform testing of semiconductor chips and sensors starting in 2023.

In total, Bosch has more than 100,000 sq m of land available on Penangs mainland strip, which will be developed in stages. Initially, the test centre will cover an area of around 14,000 sq m  including clean rooms, office space, research and development, and training facilities for up to 400 associates. Earthworks for the new location started at the end of 2020, and work on the buildings began in May 2021. The test centre is scheduled to start operations in 2023.

The additional testing capacity in Penang is intended to open up the possibility of locating new technologies in Boschs wafer fabs in the future, such as silicon carbide semiconductors in Reutlingen. In addition, the new location in Asia will shorten delivery times and distances for the chips.-- TradeArabia News Service
The UAE has placed gender equality and womens empowerment at the core of its ethos since its founding, recognising the immense potential of women towards nation building, said Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation.

We will soon mark the beginning of another 50 years of prosperity for the UAE, and we are emboldened by the stories of Arab and Muslim female trail-blazers from centuries past and present, brought to life in Expo 2020s Womens Pavilion. Challenging misconceptions and stereotypes, Expo 2020 reinforces the critical role of gender equality and womens empowerment in safeguarding the future of humanity and our planet  and we welcome the world to engage with the Womens Pavilion, reminding us all that every person has a role to play in the journey ahead, Al Hashimy, who is also Director General, Expo 2020 Dubai, said inaugurating the Womens Pavilion in a spectacular celebration at Al Wasl Plaza.

Held under the patronage of Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Gender Balance Council and President of the Dubai Women Establishment, the event was also attended by Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Director General of the Government of Dubai Media Office and Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council; and Cyrille Vigneron, President and CEO of Cartier International.

The four artists commissioned to curate and design the Pavilion, Laura Gonzalez, eL Seed, Nadine Labaki and Melanie Laurent along with Friends of the Maison Monica Belluci, Vanessa Kirby, Ramla Ali, and Amira Casar, Yasmine Sabry, Fatima Albanawi, Dhafer LAbidine, Fouz Al Fahad, Farida Khelfa and Elisa Sednaoui were also among the guests in attendance.

Under the exhibition titled "New Perspectives", the Womens Pavilion by Expo 2020, organised in collaboration with Cartier, invites visitors to celebrate and recognise the central role women have played throughout history, leading up to the present day. By showcasing these contributions, as well as the challenges that women around the word still face, the Pavilion seeks to amplify an important principle: when women thrive, humanity thrives.

Vigneron added: The path to gender equality is a long path and the worst thing we could do is regress. All countries are moving in their own way but we also see regression when it comes to gender equality. We have to move forward from wherever we start, and thats a place to rejoice and celebrate.

Al Marri said the first ever Expo pavilion dedicated to recognising the contributions of women builds on the progress the UAE has made in enhancing womens role in both national progress and social development over the past 50 years.

Our gathering today demonstrates how Dubai is connecting different cultures and markets and offering a platform for forging new worldwide partnerships to address global issues. Expo 2020 Dubai is the first World Expo to have a pavilion dedicated to women with the aim of challenging stereotypes and unlocking new opportunities.

She further said: Though governments play a significant role in advancing womens empowerment, they cannot succeed without meaningful collaborations with the private sector, civil societies, and committed individuals. Improved gender equality, which in turn accelerates economic growth and prosperity, is one of the many outcomes that such partnerships bring. Our leaderships remarkable vision and unwavering support over the past 50 years has created a strong nation that today is a global model for sustainable people-centred growth and womens development. Today, the UAE leads the region in female empowerment according to the UN, and the country is committed to further raising gender equality benchmarks as part of its ambitious future vision and strategy.

In her address, Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, reminded the audience of the impact women can make when they are put in positions of power and influence.

Liz Bohannon, a social entrepreneur and former Cartier Womens Initiative fellow, who has been working to develop businesses that can solve some of the most pressing challenges facing women and girls across the globe, hosted the evening. Guests enjoyed an evening of breathtaking performances by the artist and Friend of the Maison Diana Vishneva, Russian Prima ballerina of Mariinsky theater and Denis Savin, principal dancer of the Bolshoi theater. Diana and Denis performed a lyrical homage to the greatest ballerina of the 20th century Maya Plisetskaya.

Sudanese-American poet and activist Emi Mahmoud left the audience in awe with a powerful spoken word poem celebrating the strength and resilience of women. Concluding the evening was a stunning musical performance by the celebrated pianist Khatia Buniatishvili and a childrens choir from La Maitrise des Hauts-de-Seine de lOpera National de Paris.

The two-day opening programme also included a series of specially curated talks with influential leaders and speakers from a variety of sectors and backgrounds, all addressing womens empowerment from different perspectives.

Hind Alowais, Vice President of the International Participants Department at Expo 2020 Dubai, moderated a conversation between Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former Executive Director of UN Women, and Cyrille Vigneron, focused on the ripple effect that womens empowerment has on society, ultimately demonstrating that womens advancement is key to solving the worlds most pressing issues.

Highlighting the central role of women in maintaining peace and stable societies, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Former Prime Minister of France and President of Leaders pour la Paix, gave the keynote introduction to the talk dedicated to Women and Peace. This was followed by a conversation with Irina Bokova, Former Director General of Unesco; Zarifa Ghafari, activist and politician, youngest Afghan mayor; and Donia Kaouach, Managing Director of Leaders pour la Paix and President of Tunisiennes Fieres.

French-Algerian documentary filmmaker Farida Khelfa led a talk on reimagining education systems with the friend of the Maison Ramla Ali, Somali professional boxer, model, author and racial equality activist; Audrey Cheng, Cartier Womens Initiative fellow and Founder and Board member of Moringa School, and Lin Kobayashi, Co-founder and Chair of the Board of UWC ISAK Japan. Creating new innovative paths to equip girls with the knowledge and skills to thrive was a key topic of conversation.

The day concluded with a conversation on climate change and the role artists and activists can play in raising awareness on one of the most critical issues facing our planet. Vanessa Kirby, actress and film producer, engaged with Salma Abdulai, Founder and CEO of Amaati Co; Kate Horner, Deputy Executive Director of Amazon Frontlines; Melanie Laurent, actress, screenwriter and director; Thyago Nogueira, curator of the exhibition "Claudia Andujar, the Yanomami Struggle"; and Nemonte Nenquimo, Leader of the Waorani and activist, supported by Amazon Frontlines.

Drawing on Cartiers role in supporting artistic expression, a diverse community of creators and artists were brought on to contribute to the design and curation of the Womens Pavilion. Interior architect Laura Gonzalez, together with Dubai born artist Kholoud Sharafi and French light designer Pauline David, designed the upper part of the facade. Commenting on her contribution, Laura stated: When Cartier approached me to design the facade of the Womens Pavilion, this project represented the fact that all women can achieve their dreams. The first impression is very important so Im very grateful for this opportunity.

French Tunisian artist eL Seeds unique calligraphy took over the lower part of the facade. He noted that: The facade was a platform to amplify the voice of women in Nepal and to tell a story. I linked the facade to a calligraffiti project I created in a small village, located two to three hours drive from Kathmandu, which was rebuilt entirely by women using earthquake-resistant bricks, following the earthquake in 2015 in Nepal.

Nadine Labaki, Lebanese actress and the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar in the category for Best Foreign Language Film, directed the short film featured as guests enter the pavilion where she highlights the meaning of gender equality through the lens of young activists from around the world. We need to start thinking in alternative ways and explore how the world can transition to where it should be. The pandemic revealed a lot of failures in our system and things that need to change  the short documentary that I worked on for the Womens Pavilion provided an opportunity to hop on this train of alternative thinking and start the journey, she said.

French actress, screenwriter and director Melanie Laurent took over the second floor of the pavilion to curate an immersive exhibition fostering dialogues across cultural, artistic, and social fields in three sections. She highlighted: Today is better; we have opportunities and we have fought so hard not to have to make this choice for real. Lets hope that for tomorrow, everyone will have the same freedoms.

-- TradeArabia News Service
Thousands of travel industry professionals from more than 140 countries are preparing to visit WTM London (November 1-3) for the largest industry gathering since the pandemic began.

The continuing relaxation of travel rules in the UK and overseas in recent weeks has prompted a surge in exhibitor bookings and buyer registrations because travel to England is now easier.

For those who cannot attend in person, WTM & TF (Travel Forward) Virtual will take place online on November 8-9, offering further opportunities for networking and business deals.

Event organisers have confirmed exhibitors from more than 100 countries signed in, while representatives from more than 141 countries and regions have signed up to WTM Londons Buyers Club.

These stand bookings demonstrate how many countries see the UK as an important source market in their recovery roadmap  and that WTM London is perfectly timed for 2022 inventory, a statement from the organisers said. The event will also host tourism ministers from across the globe, industry experts, keynote speakers among others.

Alongside the face-to-face networking opportunities, WTM London will feature sessions with insights and research about how the sector can recover from the pandemic and reflect the events theme: Reconnect. Rebuild. Innovate.

The show will start with the presentation of the annual WTM Industry Report, which sets out the trends that exhibitors and buyers need to know.

The session will be moderated by Simon Calder, Britain's leading travel commentator, with input from Harold Goodwin, WTMs Responsible Tourism Advisor; aviation expert John Strickland, Director of JLS Consulting; and Tracy Halliwell, Director of Tourism and Convention Bureau at London & Partners.

WTM London will also host the Travel Forward conference (November 1-3), which focuses on the technology driving the industrys recovery, and International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC) which will hold the Invest Finance Restart investment summit (November 1-2), bringing together investors, thought leaders, destinations and entrepreneurs.

Investment will also be the theme of the annual UNWTO, WTTC and WTM Ministers' Summit (November 2) which provides a practical platform for tourism leaders of the public and private sectors to share best practices and explore investment opportunities.

The summit will welcome more than 30 tourism ministers, including the speakers: UK MP Nigel Huddleston, Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Dr Khaled El-Enany, Greece Tourism Minister Vasilis Kikilias, Italy Tourism Minister Massimo Garavaglia, Portugal's Secretary of State for Tourism Rita Marques, Philippines Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Fatima Romulo-Puyat, Sierra Leone Minister of Tourism and Culture Memunatu Pratt, Radisson Hotel Group CEO Federico Gonzalez, CEO of SITA at Airports & Borders David Lavorel, among others.

UK Minister Huddleston said: "It's been a challenging period for the travel and tourism sectors, but the huge international attendance at the World Travel Market is testament to the resilience and hard work of those in the industry.

"This landmark event in the travel sector calendar is once again offering brilliant opportunities to reconnect, innovate and build back better for the future."

Investing in Tourisms Sustainable Future is the theme of the summit, especially as WTM London will be taking place while world leaders are in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). Furthermore, WTMs responsible tourism programme  a fixture for many years  will debate travel and tourisms role in the climate crisis.

Exhibitors and buyers can get their face-to-face deal-making off to a great start with the Speed Networking sessions  five-minute mini-meetings that help forge new business relationships. They will take place between 8.30am-10.00am at N1 entrance from the boulevard (West Entrance) on Monday and Tuesday of the show.

New for 2021 to help networking is the Smart Event tool, a contactless lead capture app that enables exhibitors to scan delegates badges to gather contact information and acts as a digital business card.

Developed by WTM parent RX, the app is available free for registered exhibitors and can be accessed via the Google Play store for Android devices and AppStore for iPhone users. The contactless app is just one way that the event organisers are prioritising health and safety protocols at the venue.

WTM London Exhibition Director Simon Press said: We are excited to be reconnecting with our travel and tourism colleagues from around the world as the sector rebuilds and innovates. It has been heartening to see the surge in exhibitor confirmations and visitor registrations over the past few weeks as the easing of restrictions has given more delegates confidence to travel.

There is substantial pent-up demand for travel in 2022, so its crucial to gain a competitive advantage by doing business, networking and learning about key trends and best practice. WTM London will be the largest gathering of travel industry professionals in the world since the pandemic began so it will be the perfect platform for recovery in 2022.

WTM London takes place from November 1-3 at ExCeL, London, and will be followed by WTM Virtual on November 8-9.-TradeArabia News Service
IHG Hotels & Resorts, a leading hotel company, has announced the signing of a Management Agreement with The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), an affiliate of Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund (PIF) to open the InterContinental Resort Red Sea in the Kingdom.

Situated within the Red Sea Development destination, the new InterContinental Resort is scheduled to open during Phase One of The Red Sea Projects development. Activity for the first phase of development is well underway and is on track to be completed by the end of 2023.

IHG Managing Director, India, Middle East & Africa Haitham Mattar said: With a strong legacy in the country, we remain committed to leveraging the growth opportunities that are aligned with Saudis Vision 2030 and the priority destinations highlighted within the Saudi Tourism Strategy.

"We are excited to partner with The Red Sea Development Company to strengthen our offering in Saudi Arabia and collaborate on sustainability-related initiatives to protect the natural, historical and cultural environments of this destination. We also look forward to building scale in the Kingdom to deliver a landmark development that will cater to the needs of diverse guest profiles.

The announcement comes during Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts diamond anniversary celebrations. The brand has become synonymous with exploration, travel and cultural discovery and the InterContinental Resort Red Sea will exemplify these attributes.

Each of the resorts 210 sea-facing rooms will provide immediate beach access; allowing guests to step out on to the sands of the Red Sea from the terrace. The resort will also feature seven different gastronomic experiences, sprawling pools and recreational facilities, a spa, a health club, and meetings and events spaces.

John Pagano, CEO, The Red Sea Development Company and Amaala, said: Given IHGs expertise and strong legacy in the Kingdom, we are delighted to partner with them to bring world-class hospitality to our guests at The Red Sea Project. IHG is the ideal partner to build our hospitality offerings.

"With their understanding of the local landscape, high standards of quality, their service and focus on sustainability and responsible travel, we are confident that this partnership will see best-in-class results and we look forward to welcoming guests to this leisure destination.

IHG currently operates 37 hotels in Saudi Arabia across five brands including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites and voco. A further 23 hotels are in the development pipeline, due to open within the next three to five years.-TradeArabia News Service
Etihad Airways has announced the launch of flights to the holy city of Madinah from November 27. Madinah will be served three times weekly from Abu Dhabi using a modern two-class Airbus A321.

Fatma Al Mehairi, Vice President Sales UAE at Etihad Airways, said: We look forward to reconnecting Abu Dhabi with Madinah, a city of enormous historic and religious significance for Muslims around the world. Our flights will support the growing demand for religious travel and strengthen the existing air links between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, a key travel market for Etihad Airways.

The service has been timed to provide religious, leisure and business travellers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia with convenient flight options as well as connect seamlessly to major cities in the Indian Subcontinent and Asia for those travelling to and from Madinah through Abu Dhabi, the airline said.

Located in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, Madinah is a three-hour flight from Abu Dhabi. The city is home to Prophet Mohammeds Mosque and burial site and an important holy place for Muslim pilgrims.

The countrys two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah are allowing full-capacity attendance for worshippers who are fully vaccinated following an easing of restrictions earlier in October 2021.

Madinah will be Etihads fourth destination in Saudi Arabia after Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh. The route was established in 2014 but was temporarily suspended in 2020 as a result of travel restrictions following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Guests flying to Madinah are not required to quarantine if they are fully vaccinated with either two doses of Pfizer, Oxford AstraZeneca or Moderna, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson, or have received two doses of Sinopharm or Sinovac plus one dose of Pfizer, Oxford AstraZeneca or Moderna.

Travellers can fly with complete peace of mind thanks to the Etihad Wellness programme, which includes complimentary Covid-19 insurance for all passengers, valid for travel until March 31, 2022, it said. - TradeArabia News Service
Washington, Oct 31 (UNI/Sputnik) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday, according to the State Department's schedule.

The talks will be held in Rome, where the G20 summit is currently underway.

Blinken is also expected to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, according to the US State Department.

On Saturday, Wang Yi held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the two emphasized the importance of convening a summit of UN Security Council permanent members to find an effective response to global challenges.

UNI/SPUTNIK RNJ
China Focus: Digital economy powers China-ASEAN trade

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? 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
According to information published by the NNN website on October 28, 2021, the Nigerian army has taken delivery of 60 Type 85 also named YW531H, a tracked APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) produced by the Chinese company NORINCO.

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China has delivered 60 Type 85 tracked APC Armored personnel Carrier to Nigeria. (Picture source TVC News Nigeria video footage on Youtube)

Since the 2010s, China has delivered a large number of military equipment to Nigeria including 15 F-7M Airguard fighter aircraft, two P18N OPVs (Offshore Patrol Vessels), 120 AR-1 Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, 5 CH-3 drones, one type-62 patrol craft, 3 SH-2 122mm self-propelled howitzers, 2 SH-5 105mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers, 6 VT-4 main battle tank, 6 ZTL-09 8x8 105mm fire support vehicle, four CH-4 armed drones and 2 Wing Loong-2 armed drones.

According to the Ambassador of China to Nigeria, Mr Cui Jianchun, China would prioritize the implementation of its political and economic cooperation with Nigeria, to achieve growth. The two nations established diplomatic relations in February 1971, and today the two countries supported each other to continue a long way internationally.

Given Nigerias open and violent conflict in the Niger Delta region specifically, it is not surprising to see that China has been acknowledging the need to support more military and peacebuilding efforts in order to protect its investment and interests.

The Type 85 tracked APC (Armored personnel Carrier) was developed in the late 1960s by the State Defense Company NORINCO. The hull of the YW 531 is made of all-welded steel which provides ballistic protection against the firing of small arms and artillery shell splinters. The vehicle has a crew of three and the rear part of the hull is able to accommodate up to 13 infantrymen. The roof of the vehicle is fitted with an open-top turret armed with one 12.7 mm Type 54 machine gun.

The torsion bar suspension on either side consists of five single rubber-tired road wheels with the drive sprocket at the front and the idler at the rear. The vehicle is fully amphibious, being propelled in the water by its tracks at a maximum speed of 6 km/h.

The Type 85 is powered by a BF8L413F 4-cycle turbocharged, inter-cooled, V-8 diesel engine developing 320 hp at 2,500 rpm. The vehicle can run at a maximum road speed of 66 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 500 km.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told his Chinese counterpart the United States opposes actions by China that have increased tensions across the Taiwan Strait, a senior State Department official says.

During an hour-long meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit on Sunday, Blinken made "crystal clear" that Washington opposes any unilateral changes by Beijing to the status quo there, the official said.

A recent increase in Chinese military exercises in Taiwan's air defence identification zone are part of what Taipei views as stepped-up military harassment by Beijing.

China claims the island as part of its own territory and views any foreign intervention on Taiwan as interference in its domestic affairs.

The United States wants to manage the intense competition between the world's two largest economies responsibly, the state department official said, adding that both sides acknowledged that open lines of communication are paramount.

While the United States, like most countries, has no formal ties with Taiwan, Washington is the island's most important international backer and main arms supplier, and is required by law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

The United States has long followed a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, though US President Joe Biden said last week that it would come to Taiwan's defence if necessary.

Blinken made clear that Washington had not changed its "one China" policy regarding Taiwan, the official said.

He and Wang did not discuss a recent Chinese hypersonic weapons test that military experts say appears to show Beijing's pursuit of an Earth-orbiting system designed to evade American missile defences, the official said.
Taiwan's air force has scrambled to warn off eight Chinese aircraft including fighter jets that entered its air defence zone, its defence ministry says, at a time of heightened tensions across the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the self-ruled island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

The Chinese aircraft included six J-16 fighters, one anti-submarine aircraft and one surveillance aircraft, the defence ministry said in a statement late on Sunday.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own and has not ruled out taking by force, says Chinese military activities near the island jeopardise regional stability and repeatedly vows to defend its freedom and democracy.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Chinese counterpart on Sunday that the United States opposed actions by China that have increased tensions across the Taiwan Strait, a senior State Department official said.

The official said that during an hour-long meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Rome, Blinken made "crystal clear" that the US opposes any unilateral changes by China to the status quo there.

Wang told Blinken that tensions over Taiwan were caused by US support for pro-independence forces on the island, China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

A recent increase in Chinese military exercises in Taiwan's air defence identification zone is part of what the island's rulers view as stepped-up military harassment by China.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says the island is an independent country and has made modernising the armed forces, which is well-armed but dwarfed by China's, a top priority.

Earlier this month, Taiwan reported 148 Chinese air force planes in the southern and southwestern theatre of the zone over a four-day period, marking a dramatic escalation of tension between the sides.

Chinese aircraft have not been flying in Taiwan's air space but rather its air defence identification zone or ADIZ, a broader area Taiwan monitors and patrols that acts to give it more time to respond to any threats.
Una who? Una OConnor was the scene-stealing actress of James Whales movies "The Invisible Man" in 1933 and "The Bride of Frankenstein" in 1935. Her piercing, shrieking screams when discovering that the Monster was still alive, or when she disturbed the Invisible Man who had firmly told her that he was not to be disturbed"  and woe to her when she did  are classic horror movie scenes. I recently watched "The Bride of Frankenstein," and it is still a heartstopper when in the opening the Monster, assumed dead, slowly appears in the water at the bottom of the burned-down windmill.

Growing up in Auburn, no matter how perfect a day outside, I was glued to the local Saturday afternoon programming: "Monster Movie Matinee." Cue: Scary music, a haunted house on a hill, a dripping candle and, wait for it ... Dr. E. Nick Wittys bejeweled hand creeping out of his satin-lined coffin and, with that deep laugh from the grave, he and his friend Epal invited us to stay for a visit. In the back pages of my 1968 diary I kept a log and reviews of the movies I had watched. "The Bride of Frankenstein" earned my "really good" notation. I decided I would become an actress and wondered if Una OConnor and I were related. We had the same last name, didnt we? Decades passed. The internet arrived. Una and I are not related. Her real name is Agnes. Agnes Teresa McGlade. Oh well.

Born in Belfast, Ireland, on Oct. 23, 1880, Agnes T. McGlade died in Manhattan in 1959 and is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens. I lived in Manhattan for 41 years and although always on my list to visit, I never made the trip. I was busy. Never made it to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Bronx Zoo or "The Phantom Of The Opera" either. I was busy.

Back in New York City for one day last October, I said to my oldest Auburn friend, Tim, who now lives on upper Broadway, was my next-door neighbor on Peacock Street and used to sit on the living room floor inside with me watching "Monster Movie Matinee" all those sunny Saturday afternoons: "Lets go visit Una. Oct. 23 is coming up and it will be her 140th birthday. Ill bring her a jar of mustard. It will be the perfect early birthday present!" The mustard referred to here is the mustard her character Jenny, the innkeepers wife, forgets to bring on the supper tray to Griffin, the Invisible Man, played by Claude Rains. Irritated, and with deliberate annoyance, she goes "clomp, clomp, clomp"-ing down the stairs from his room to the cellar kitchen to fetch the mustard. Director James Whales camera follows those clomping steps down, down, down and then "clomp, clomp, clomp"-ing back up to Griffins room. Upon opening his door  well, if you are a horror fan you know what happens. The sunglasses are off and the unwrapping has begun. Cue: Unas shrieking scream. He did say he was "not to be disturbed," didnt he?

Tim and I went to Holy Family Catholic school together. Our favorite route home was the long way, cutting through the old North Street Cemetery. There was and still is a side dirt road within the cemetery for long-gone groundskeepers. That was not for us; we kicked through the crisp fallen maple and oak leaves that blanketed some of Auburns first settlers.

The October sun warmed our afternoon trip to the Calvary Cemetery. I was stunned to find that it only took 20 minutes on the subway to arrive at the gates. And from here, surprise, surprise, is a direct view across the East River to the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. My not-so-old neighborhood. Una was always right here in my view.

One stop before ours, the subway doors opened and in came a time-travelling busker. An older man, dressed in peasant Renaissance attire. He leaned against the pole and from a tapestry shoulder bag took out a wooden recorder and began to play. OMG! After years of living in NYC, Im now a tourist.

Before stepping into Calvary, we had a lunch of huevos rancheros in a nearby funky outdoor cafe. Above and across the street, the roaring elevated train cast those cinematic afternoon shadows. Just below was a shop called Pins and Needles. Custom embroidery and designs. Next time.

The Calvary Cemetery was established in 1845 by the trustees of St. Patricks Cathedral. Theyre all here. Politicians, movie stars, my dog walkers brother and gangsters. Lots of gangsters. Tough guy Francis "Two Guns" Crowley is nestled up the road from Una. Noted in his Calvary bio; "Eccentric gangster wannabe and cop killer. The boy who caused the infamous Siege of 90th Street." Born on Halloween in 1911 in NYC, executed at Sing Sing in 1932 when he was 20 years old. He always carried two guns on him, hence the nickname. James Cagneys film White Heat is partly based on Crowleys real life story. Bonus fun fact; the funeral of Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather was filmed here.

Knowing that time was tight for my one-day visit, Tim had earlier scouted out the location of Unas grave. Even so, we walked and walked and walked. And walked some more. No matter, we were on a mission. Tim led me to three rows of headstones and told me I now had to find Una myself. Which I did. He surprised me by bringing along my friend Jim Smiths wonderful drawing of Una, which we placed under a visitors rock.

Unas mother died when she was a toddler. Her father moved to Australia. Orphaned, she was brought up by her aunt, and studied at convent schools in Paris. Alone in her young life, she found her home on the stage. The audience and the sound of two hands clapping became family and friends. She studied at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. There, she appeared in the plays of Strindberg, Synge and Shaw. She toured in a number of these plays between New York and London. Una was usually cast as the servant, the waitress, the hotel maid, the drudge. In 1928, at the Royal Court Theatre in a production of "Macbeth," she played the Third Witch. Twenty-one-year-old Laurence Olivier played Malcolm. "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble."

When out of work, she confessed to critic Eric Johns: "I dont know what Im going to do. The end of my savings is in sight and Ill not be able to pay the rent." Enter Noel Coward. Unknown to Una, Noel had been a fan and chose her to appear in his new play, "Cavalcade," at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Smash success! With "Cavalcade" now becoming a film, the Hollywood producers insisted Una reprise her role. In 1933, she packed her trunks and moved back to America, which she made her home. More films followed, including "The Invisible Man," "The Bride of Frankenstein" (the best part-two film ever!), "David Copperfield" with W.C. Fields and, special mention, "Murder!" in 1930. Filmed in Hertfordshire, England, written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Early Hitch. Creaky. Only for the devotee.

"Young Frankenstein," Mel Brooks 1974 hilarious homage to James Whale, features an unforgettable performance by Cloris Leachman. Spoofing Una OConnors character Minnie, reimagined here as Frau Blucher (cue: horse whinny) and now with the truth coming out about her secret relationship with Dr. Victor Frankenstein, she exclaims with deep affection, "Yes! Yes! Say it! He was my boyfriend!"

Leaving Hollywood and moving to New York, Una was back on Broadway with her Hollywood costar Boris Karloff! Both shows were flops. "The Linden Tree," 1948, and "The Shop At Sly Corner," 1949, closed within days of opening. Something about "adverse notices," The New York Times reported. Still ... Id forever cancel my Netflix just to go back in time and sit in the orchestra center and, yes, wait in the rain at the stage door. Una was only 5-foot-2. Boris, when not in costume as the Monster, was 5-foot-11. Four-inch lifts gave him the necessary height when filming. In her book, Mary Shelley described the Monster as 8 feet tall.

Karloff was married six times. Una never.

Connecting the dots, it appears that their friendship was long, and was so perhaps because Una could be a good listener. Heres where I create a memory. Imagine one of those very alive Broadway cast parties. An Upper West Side studio packed with actors and musicians. Lots of booze. Lots of smoking. Lots of laughs. And now Boris is singing to Una, "Five foot two, eyes of blue. Oh what those five feet can do"

Una lived in a small apartment, not far from Carnegie Hall. She died across town on the east side of Manhattan, at the Mary Manning House, of heart failure. A condition she had been afflicted with for years. Her New York Times obit lists some of her numerous films, but strangely enough, does not list our favorite, "The Bride of Frankenstein." Here is a snippet from that obit: "Miss OConnor, who has done radio and television work, was named in 1944 by The Catholic Film & Radio Guide as the outstanding Irish film actress of the year. There are no immediate survivors."

Only us. Her fans. Happy Halloween, Una!

Joanne O'Connor lives in Auburn and can be reached at joanneoconnor1971@gmail.com.

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AUBURN  Less than an hour before one of her films was going to be shown at the Cayuga Film Festival, director Marianne Natoli said she had been holding back tears over the thought that her documentary was going to be shown in front of an audience.

"It makes me so emotional, because I put so much into it and I really loved the process," she said.

Natoli was one of several filmmakers whose projects were screened at the festival, which was held at the Auburn Public Theater Saturday. This first festival, from the theater and Cayuga Community College, showcased 19 short narrative and documentary films from filmmakers either going to school  including high school  in New York state or living in the state.

The documentary from Natoli, who graduated from CCC in May, that was set to be played at the festival was "Living Lab Equipment", about animal testing. It won the festival's Award of Distinction for College  Long Documentary. Natoli said she wants to work in the documentary filmmaking industry.

Natoli described herself as animal lover, and said she felt more invested in the issue she was tackling after her cat, Sheila, died during the time she was working on the film.

Natoli's short documentary on the Richardson-Bates House Museum in Oswego was also shown earlier in the festival, which she was excited about. That project was the winner of the festival's Award of Distinction for College  Short Documentary.

"Watching people watch something I made, it's incredible," she said.

Before the screenings kicked off, festival director Juliette Zygarowicz said this was the first festival many of the filmmakers had been to. A panel of judges were shown films for about six weeks, rated them and gave feedback.

Zygarowicz is a filmmaker who went to CCC at one point and later graduated from Ithaca College in 2019. Having had her films get into festivals in areas such as Philadelphia, Zygarowicz recommended that student filmmakers submit their work to festivals. She praised the work of the filmmakers at the Cayuga Film Festival, adding that the projects were made during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Some students really took advantage of having to be isolated and they made their own films where they starred, directed, edited, all of it," she said. "Others took the safety protocols and ran with them and then just made a film that was COVID-safe and actually made a really nice film with a crew and everything while maintaining those safety precautions."

Steve Keeler, chair for CCC's humanities/communication division, said he talked to Carey Eidel and Angela Daddabbo, the executive director and artistic director, respectively, of Auburn Public Theater, and Zygarowicz, a former student of Keeler's, about the event in fall 2020. He wants to encourage young and new filmmakers to make movies, and thought a way to encourage that would be give them recognition for their work.

Keeler said the festival will be annual, so he has ideas for how he wants to grow the event over the years. Next year, he said, is planned to include a second day and he would like it to be a three-day event. He added that he was excited that the filmmakers are being acknowledged for their efforts.

"I think it's especially important in Auburn to encourage that creative class, because this is a city that has always encouraged the arts and has always encouraged people to be creative. The college is a part of that, the APT is a part of that and I think the festival is a part of that, and we'll grow," he said.

Eidel said he was happy about the diverse stories being displayed on the theater's screen Saturday, and said he is optimistic about the future of the festival.

"The films are so wonderful and this is our first year and we hope to build," he said.

Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.

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Mercedes-AMG has just unveiled its much-hyped new SL roadster. The German luxury car brand last Thursday has introduced the updated Mercedes-AMG SL, one of the longest-running nomenclatures in the automaker's portfolio, for nearly seven decades. Now, the iconic car marque has confirmed that a brand new Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe is on the card, reports Road and Track.

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(Also Read: 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL gets fabric roof, AWD, V8 engine)

The upcoming Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe will reportedly join the new SL roadster. Both the two-door high-performance models will co-exist, claimed Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener.

He also claimed that both the cars will be underpinned by the same architecture and share some components. However, both the cars will target a different set of buyers with their distinctive styling and characteristics.

The Mercedes-AMG SL is meant to be a comfortable luxurious cruiser while the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe is a high-performance sporty track-focused car.

As Mercedes design chief explained, the top of the line SL 63 will get AMG Active Ride Control air suspension as a standard feature, ensuring a comfortable journey experience. There will be hydraulic anti-roll stabilization that takes the place of normally fixed anti-roll bars to keep the SL steady during cornering, without jeopardizing the comfort and stability.

The upcoming Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe is expected to start right where the current model left off. It will compete with rivals such as Porche 911.

The upcoming GT Coupe is likely to carry the same MBUX infotainment system featuring a tiltable and large 11.9-inch portrait-oriented display accompanied by a 12.3-inch fully digital instrument cluster and a head-up display with augmented reality technology, which are available in the newly unveiled SL roadster.

The revamped Mercedes-AMG SL roadster will be available in two variants - SL 55 and SL 63. Both the variants get power from a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine. The SL 55 churns out 469 hp of power and 700 Nm torque. The SL 63 belts out 577 hp power and 800 Nm torque.
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.

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(Also read | US House proposal would give electric vehicles big boost)

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.

File photo for representational purpose only. (REUTERS)

"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.

(Also read | World's biggest oil exporter aims for 30% cars in its capital to be EVs by 2030)

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. 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.

File photo for representational purpose only. (Bloomberg)

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.

(Also read | Global electrified car market to boom to 69.3 million units by 2028: Report)

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.

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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For the third time this year, all 50 Senate Democrats voted to advance major voting rights legislation, and all Senate Republicans voted against allowing a public debate. On Oct. 20, they blocked the Freedom to Vote Act, a bill with commonsense reforms and widespread support. Its a compilation of tried-and-true solutions empowering voters in states  bipartisan reforms that help ensure our elected officials represent we the people, not secret special interests.

Today, many Americans are skeptical about who our elected officials are working for. Seven in 10 of us believe the economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful and traditional parties and politicians dont care about people like me. Yet for three years, Senate Republicans have refused to allow even public debate on a bill to protect our freedom to vote and get big money out of politics. This marks a huge, and troubling, change. Since the earliest days of our country, government by the people has been something Americans agreed on  regardless of party.

The Voting Rights Act is a good example of how the work of keeping our Republic has historically crossed party boundaries. Each time it has been updated, a Republican president signed it into law:

 Richard Nixon signed an extension because The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has opened participation in the political process.

 Gerald Ford supported expanding the act because the right to vote is at the very foundation of our American system, and nothing must interfere with this very precious right.

 Ronald Reagan signed an extension because Ive pledged that as long as Im in a position to uphold the Constitution, no barrier will come between our citizens and the voting booth.

 George H.W. Bush signed an expansion.

 And George W. Bush signed the most recent update (which passed the Senate 98-0) saying, In the America promised by our Founders  every generation has a responsibility to add its own chapter to the unfolding story of freedom.  Weve made progress toward equality, yet the work for a more perfect union is never ending.

How is it that, today, Senate Republicans view protecting the freedom to vote as a partisan issue?

Getting big money out of politics helps ensure that our government works for the people, not for special interests. As with voting rights, that effort has historically crossed party lines. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, legislation passed in 1974 to limit campaign donations and incentivize small donations for presidential elections, a 1976 law expanding disclosure of political donations, and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 were all bipartisan and signed by Republican presidents. More important, these reforms werent just bipartisan  they advanced nonpartisan interests of the people.

How is it that, today, Senate Republicans view protecting our government from special interest influence as a partisan issue?

Gerrymandering  the scheme of designing legislative districts to give some voters more power and other voters less  has been scorned by leaders in both parties. Gerrymandering has become a national scandal, Reagan said in 1987.

How is it that, today, allowing voters to choose their elected officials  rather than enabling politicians to pick their voters  has become a partisan issue?

Large majorities of voters  Democrats, Republicans and independents  support reforms contained in the Freedom to Vote Act. In fact, when Americans get to vote directly on these reforms, theyve largely approved them the last several years. Bold reforms to protect our voices and our freedom to vote like the Freedom to Vote Act, John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and D.C. statehood are supported by Republican voters, just not elected Republicans.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., reached out to Senate Republicans to try to win support for his compromise voting rights bill. However, Democrats cannot throw up their hands and walk away because of continued Republican intransigence. The 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, which granted citizenship, voting rights and equal protection of the law to formerly enslaved people, were passed on party-line votes, but no one would toss them aside on that basis.

Its time for congressional Republicans to learn from the states, listen to the voters and find their way back to the principle of a government by the people. Our generation has a responsibility to add our own chapter to the unfolding story of freedom. Its beyond time for Senate Republicans to advance the Freedom to Vote Act. If they dont, Senate Democrats must reform the filibuster to protect our sacred freedom to vote.

Karen Hobert Flynn is the president of Common Cause. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.

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(Global Times )The US should stop all scapegoating and blame-shifting moves and focus instead on domestic efforts and global cooperation in fighting COVID-19, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Sunday in response to the so-called declassified assessment on COVID-19 origins released by the US intelligence agency.





The US should stop political manipulation and create conducive conditions for scientists all over the world to conduct origins-tracing cooperation. It should stop attacking and smearing China and respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community. It should receive World Health Organization experts and open up its biological labs at Fort Detrick and biological experiment bases for investigation, read the remarks made by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Sunday.

Political manipulation and intelligence-led origins-tracing in disregard of international justice will only further undermine the general atmosphere for science-based global cooperation in origins-tracing, hamper international cooperation in combating COVID-19, and cost more lives, Wang stressed.

The remarks came as US intelligence agencies on Friday released a new, more detailed version of their August review of whether coronavirus came from animals or leaked from a lab.

When the US intelligence agency released the so-called unclassified summary of assessment on COVID-19 origins in August, China made clear its firm opposition. A lie repeated a thousand times is still a lie, Wang noted.

China lodged solemn representations with the US after the intelligence-led origins-tracing report was first released in August, urging it to listen to doubts from the international community and stop politicizing the issue. The Chinese Embassy in the US released a statement slamming the move.

No matter how many times the report is published or how many versions it comes in, it will not change the fact that this report is in essence a political and false one, with no scientific basis or credibility, Wang said in the Sunday statement.

The origins study of the novel coronavirus is a serious and complex scientific issue, which should and can only be carried out by global scientists in cooperation. The use of intelligence agencies to trace the origins is in itself an iron-clad proof of politicization. The US intelligence services have a deplorable track record, with their falsification and deception tactics known by the world, Wang stressed.

Recently, more than 80 countries have stated their explicit position of opposing politicization of origins-tracing and upholding the joint China-WHO study report through various means including writing to the WHO Director-General, releasing statements and sending notes. Over 300 political parties, civil organizations and think tanks from more than 100 countries and regions have submitted a joint statement opposing politicization of origins-tracing to the WHO Secretariat. These are voices of justice in the international community, Wang said.

Global Times




By Hu Xijin



I watched the new James Bond movie last night. It is well made. But the more I watched, the more it looked like comedy. In one scene when they are about to destroy a chemical manufacturing facility located on a disputed island between Russia and Japan, the MI6 official asks whether there are any Royal Navy warships nearby. It turns out there are, and then the missile is launched. Are the British sleepwalking? The Royal Navy is now relying heavily on the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, which has been leaking frequently, to scrape a battle group up. Yet HMS Queen Elizabeth did come to show in the Asia Pacific region recently. But if it is exploited as the basis for the story, it would be too embarrassing.

The UK is a declining empire. The novel coronavirus epidemic has gravely devastated the country, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Many residents of other countries are afraid of taking the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produced by the UK. In the Taiwan island alone, hundreds of people died after receiving the vaccine. Ironically, this James Bond movie is about preventing biological weapons.

The British are really good at this. Although the country is in decline, it is still high-spirited. In the newly filmed 007 movie, the empire seems to be in full swing. But I believe that the Western blockbusters in which characters attempt to save the human race will gradually become ridiculous over time, as these blockbusters will lose the public's psychological foundation due to the relative decline in strengths of Western countries and the continuous disintegration of self-confidence.

In the movie, the disputed islands between Russia and Japan, which should be controlled by Russia, were bombed. If the UK dared to do this in reality, Russia wouldn't waste a minute to respond with hardline measures. A few months ago after Moscow said a patrol ship fired warning shots against British vessels, London declined that any warning shot had been fired.

But I have to praise James Bond movies. They never mess with China. Instead, they are friendly to China. Even when the ties between China and Britain is getting worse, some villains in the movie still "speak Russian." This is because the Chinese film market is huge. In a commercial promoting the James Bond movie, Daniel Craig said "Thank you" in Chinese, showing his appreciation. Chinese consumption power is the strength.

The author is editor-in-chief of the Global Times.
The Billings Chamber welcomes Kyra Cousins, Kelsi Gambill, Emily Pinnow and Cassie Solberg to our staff. Cousins takes the newly-created position of member and operations specialist, and Gambill joins as the communications and marketing specialist for the Billings Chamber. Pinnow comes on board as the Visitor Services manager for Visit Billings, and Solberg is taking on the role as marketing specialist for Visit Southeast Montana. Visit Billings and Visit Southeast Montana, our community and regional tourism marketing organizations, are managed by the Billings Chamber of Commerce.

Cousins is originally from Powell, Wyoming and moved to Billings in 2019. Prior to relocating, Cousins studied outdoor education and recreational services at Northwest College, spending time studying the positive effects of forest fires and presenting findings to the Shoshone National Forest Service. Cousins has been working in customer service for the last five years delivering an exceptional customer experience to both the professional and general public.
"There was 40 to 60 million buffalo here, on this land, and there was 40 to 60 million Natives on this land. They wiped out the buffalo and wiped the Indians out, too," Belcourt said.

Belcourt said he hopes the bison will restore a sense of pride and identity in the tribal community.

"As (the bison) come back and flourish, so too will our people," he said. "We live in some crazy times. Here in the Rocky Boy community, we're having a tough time: COVID-19, death, suicide, just loss. We're lost because we don't know who we are because years ago, it was stripped  the language, the culture. So now we have to find out who we are, and once we do, we're going to be all right. And this (bison return) is a big part of that."

Ashley Young, a member of the tribe's buffalo board, said the tribe hopes to expand the herd and build a visitor center.

"We have big plans. We want to do this big," she said. "Our dream is to expand. From there, it would be OK to slaughter one if we need for ceremonies or to feed our people."

Young said she hopes the return of bison will transform the community.
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 state's 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 state's 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.
There is an ongoing battle regarding the $3.5 trillion reconciliation plan proposed by the Biden Administration, which includes a provision that would require financial institutions, such as our credit unions, to report to the IRS transactional data for any account with at least $10,000 of inflows or outflows annually. This unlimited access to consumers financial data should raise alarms for anyone with a bank or credit union account.

First and foremost, this plan violates consumers privacy by requiring information that does not reflect taxable activity. No evidence has shown that the proposed requirements would substantially aid the IRSs efforts to close the tax gap beyond the information already at the IRSs disposal.

In addition, the plan would impose significant compliance costs on financial institutions. The strain credit unions would suffer to meet these requirements will directly impact members. This is especially true for smaller financial institutions located in rural or low-income communities.

Lastly, the government relies on outdated data systems to store and secure IRS information meaning that your personal data is in jeopardy. The IRS experiences an astounding 1.4 billion cyberattacks annually, along with multiple data breaches. We should not give the IRS further sensitive data to manage.
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'National Enquirer'

"Bill Gates' Showdown With Ex-Wife!" screams the cover. "Disaster At Daughter's $2M Wedding!" Well, not quite.

The story purports to tell of a horrific clash between Bill Gates and ex-wife Melinda at their daughter's nuptials, especially after the Microsoft founder was hit with yet another allegation of making sexually inappropriate advances to an employee. But there's nothing to the alleged clash. The rag's own source says the couple were "civil but frosty," and that "they kept to their respective sets of friends" and were "cordial with each other in public." Oh, the horror.

"Coincidence  Or Too Convenient? Brian's Parents Join Hunt & Body Found!" The body of Brian Laundrie, suspected in the murder of his girlfriend Gabby Petito, was found on the day his parents joined the search party  therefore they must have known their son's body was laying there in the wilderness? How would that have worked, exactly? Did they know he was laying there decomposing, or did they move his body and plant it there? Or could the 'Enquirer' be grasping at straws?

"Angie Wastes Away! Skeletal star scaring pals, risking health." The 'Enquirer' claims that Angelina Jolie has dropped to 98 pounds  even though they reckoned she was 93 pounds more than a year ago. Her slender frame "puts her in danger of the crippling bone disease osteoporosis and potentially fatal cardiac problems," says the ever-optimistic medically-trained 'Enquirer' editorial team.

"Last Call For Liz!" That's Queen Elizabeth to you and me. "The queen has been relying on nightly martinis to help her through the lonely evenings without Philip," according to an unidentified palace courtier who apparently has a propensity for midnight phone calls to the 'Enquirer' news desk. "But her physicians have made it clear that needs to stop right now! They know the next drink she has may be the one that ends her long life." When the 'Enquirer' is conjuring up quotes by palace courtiers, someone should tell them that Brits routinely call their medics "doctors," not "physicians."

"Harry & Meghan's Woke Biz Is Wack!" The royal renegades have teamed up with eco-friendly Ethic investment group, but the 'Enquirer' claims that Ethic's holdings include evil empire Facebook, sweatshop-abusing Nike, Uber with its complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination, and fossil fuel companies Hess and Helmerich & Payne. Who expects ethics in banking anyway?

"Lesbian Wedding Splits Kennedy Clan. Hard-liners horrified JFK granddaughter's marrying California cutie." Are they horrified that she's Californian, or that she's cute?

Caroline Kennedy's daughter Rose Kennedy Schlossberg is reportedly poised to wed California restaurateur Rory McAuliffe, and an unnamed source says: "She's already like part of the family and has been for years." So where's the conflict? The 'Enquirer' quotes the late Jacqueline Kennedy saying in 1963, on seeing the first lady of South Vietnam and US congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce: "I wouldn't be surprised if they were lesbians." And that's the extent of the homophobia displayed by the Kennedy clan "hard-liners," it would seem.

Has any Kennedy family member made a criticism of Rose's impending wedding in the past 58 years? Not that the 'Enquirer' can find. The whole story is just a homophobic dog-whistle.

'Globe'

"Bill Clinton On Brink of Death!" proclaims the cover story. The 'Globe' must have been disappointed to see the former president walk out of hospital under his own steam, after a few days being treated for sepsis. The rag claims he was "just 60 minutes from death." And then he strolled out of hospital, the way one does when returning from the brink. Alleged "life span expert" Dr Gabe Mirkin, who has likely never treated Clinton, estimates that the former president "is down to a skeletal 137 pounds."

"UFO Fired Lasers At US Nuke Missile!" No, it didn't.

Firstly, it wasn't a nuclear missile launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1964  even the 'Globe' story admits "the three-stage missile carried a dummy A-bomb." Secondly, the photo of a flying saucer firing a laser at a missile in mid-air makes you wonder if the words "Photo Dramatization" could have been printed any smaller? And thirdly, the UFO was allegedly filmed circling the missile and firing three beams of light at it while traveling at "an incredible 8,000 mph." What camera technology existed in 1964 to film close-up footage of a missile miles up in the air traveling at 8,000 mph and producing viable images? Maybe the camera crew were using alien technology to capture the close encounter?

"Mick Jagger  Wedding & Baby At 78!" Jagger was seen drinking alone at a bar while on tour, so the 'Globe' concludes that he is lonely after the death of Rolling Stone bandmate Charlie Watts, forcing him to realize that he likes ballerina girlfriend Melanie Hamrick, and therefore "plans to marry her and have another baby!" Because that's how Jagger's mind works  and only the 'Globe' has the sophisticated psychological insight to understand him.

"Harry & Meghan Get Spanked!" Not literally. It's Meghan's father, Tom Markle, calling the couple "childish" and caring only about money. He'd know best, not having spoken to either of them for more than four years.

'People'

"Anguish & Outrage" declares the cover story about the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while filming the Alec Baldwin movie 'Rust.' "Shocking tragedy on Set."

Alec Baldwin is distraught, cinematographer Hutchins is dead, and the film's crew complain of safety violations. "We'll make sure that nothing like this ever happens again," says a friend. Just like it was said by friends of John Eric Hexum. And Brandon Lee. And Vic Morrow . . .

This week 'People' mag offers readers an alternative cover on some copies: "Angelina Jolie  What My Kids Have Taught Me About Kindness." Whatever her kids know about kindness, they haven't shown much of it to their father, Brad Pitt, who has been ostracized by eldest son Pax, and reportedly hasn't spoke to daughter Shiloh in more than four years. Angie says: "My children's kindness has been very healing to me." But can their kindness heal her impending osteoporosis?

It's 'People' mag's "Kindness Issue," featuring a slew of celebrities  rapper/actor Common, Uzo Aduba, Padma Lakshmi, Kristin Chenoweth  and non-pro civilians who are "lighting the way" for others with kindness. Yet another aspirational issue designed to make readers feel hopelessly inadequate.

'Us Weekly'

"Queen's Final Days" laments the cover story. "Battle for the throne  William makes his move." No, he doesn't. The only move that Prince William can make is to kill his father, Prince Charles, and then kill the Queen or force her to abdicate. Otherwise he's stuck waiting for the Queen and Charles to die, while living with the reality of the 1701 Act of Settlement that demands that the royal succession pass from the Queen to her eldest male heir, which would be Charles.

As for the Queen's final days, the tabloids have been regularly predicting her imminent demise for more than a decade, and they've been wrong every time so far. At 95 years old she's going to prove them right one of these days, of course, but she's shown a propensity for doggedly hanging on. "Charles is next in line," concedes 'Us Weekly,' "but there are whispers that William is making his move." Let's see how that works out, shall we?

"Alec Baldwin  Haunted by Tragedy." It's the subject everyone in Hollywood is talking about: the terrible and needless death of a cinematographer. And 'Us Weekly' gives it one full paragraph tucked into the corner of a page, noting that Alec Baldwin, who pulled the fatal trigger, is "overcome with grief," while suffering "shame and depression." That about covers it. Who needs a second paragraph after that?

Elsewhere on the tabloid newsstand

'In Touch' magazine's cover story reveals "Alec Baldwin's Worst Nightmare  18 Months In Prison!" But wouldn't the actor be more terrified of ten years in prison? Or life without parole? What about being buried alive? Or being eaten by rats? If Alec Baldwin's worst nightmare is truly 18 months in prison, he's sorely lacking in imagination. Or maybe it's 'In Touch' mag that's imaginatively challenged.

Duchess Kate is this week's cover girl in 'OK!' magazine, with its headline: "Baby No.4 On The Way." That's been reported numerous times before, and always proved wrong. It seems highly unlikely that Kate would give such news exclusively to OK! mag, but maybe that's what happens when she's blindsided by morning sickness and mis-dials her phone. Let's watch this space.

Onwards and downwards . . .
The Irish newspaper The Independent recently spoke with two separate ghost hunting groups  Irish Paranormal Investigations and the similarly-named-but-apparently-different-because-they're-from-Galway Paranormal Supernatural Investigations Ireland  about their business during this spooky season. As it turns out, the COVID-19 pandemic has actually been a boon for haunted happenings:

Reports of increased activity had included a surging number of contacts from the public about unexplained occurrences in people's homes, not just known haunted houses and castles. It is believed the traumatic impact on society of the world's worst pandemic since the 1918 Spanish Flu has somehow heightened contacts between the living and spirit worlds. Ms Anna Massey [an official from Irish Paranormal Investigations] said such 'step-over' activity between the human and spirit worlds was common in times of societal trauma such as wars and pandemics. "From our perspective as a group we have been getting a lot more contact from people  especially in their private houses," she said. "It is twofold  more people are more aware of what is going on around them now and noticing these step-overs from the spirit realm."

Ms Massey went on to say that there's a benefit here for the ghosts as well: they've been given a chance to rest and recharge, without having to deal with all these tourists stomping all over their homes all the time. Now they're basically at peak power, making sightings even easier. Allegedly.

While the ghosts be ripe for the, uhhh, spotting, it's not clear what sort of impact the pandemic has had on theses organizations' bottom lines.

'Just like history has layers, so does supernatural activity'  pandemic trauma sparks surge in paranormal contact [Ralph Riegel and Seoirse Mulgrew / The Independent]

Spooky! Ghost hunters say Covid-19 has resulted in a spike in paranormal activity [Shane O'Brien / Irish Central]

Image: Public Domain via PixaBay
This week, a lawsuit against Kellogg's had to do with its "strawberry" Pop-Tartswhich contained little strawberry made headlines. Class action lawsuits of the sort have become more common since 2008, which is due in large part to a single lawyer.

According to NPR, Spencer Sheehan has been involved in about 120 or lawsuits over the word "vanilla" being used to market products without vanilla. He's gone after companies that use"fudge" labels on products without milkfat, acompany that make Hawaiian rolls outside of Hawaii, and a company that makes carrot cake without carrots. If he sounds busy, it's because he is: he files about three lawsuits per week. In May 2021 alone, he did the following:

His prolificacy has almost single-handedly caused a historic spike in the number of class action lawsuits against food and beverage companies  up more than 1000% since 2008  in an effort that has vexed food companies and won respect from consumer advocacy groups. NPR

As the plaintiff's attorney on class action lawsuits, Sheehan takes home a chunk of the settlement (estimated 25-35%), and he often claims over $5 million in total damages.
A recent article in Canada's Cambridge Today talked about the efforts by some Canadian school boards to "identify and remove any texts deemed harmful to staff and students." While the brief reported piece focuses specifically on the Waterloo Region District School Board's ongoing efforts to look back at their library, the article does mention the completed actions of several other Canadian school districts:

Earlier this year, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board removed William Golding's classic Lord of the Flies from its curriculum after its advisory committee on equity agreed with a student who said the book's themes were outdated and too focused on white, male power structures. Other books recently removed from Canadian school libraries and/or curriculums in response to complaints about racist, homophobic, or misogynistic language and themes, include Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

In the case of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the specific student complaint came from a self-identified 17-year-old Black, Jewish, feminist social justice activist, who said:

Although I agree that students need to learn about important poets and authors such as Shakespeare, this does not mean that the entire English curriculum should be focused on such outdated and irrelevant material in this day and age. Students need to understand how to pull information from Shakespeare, Orwell, Dahl, Golding, and other authors; however, we shouldn't be memorizing passages of information that we truly can not relate to our modern-day lives. Additionally, without being able to make real-life comparisons, this information does not stick with us so are we really learning anything? OCDSB should make each English course focus on authors, playwrights and poets of marginalized groups, in addition to the classics. Not only will it allow for the English program to be more inclusive, but it will also allow Black, Asian, Middle Eastern and Indigenous students to feel represented.

This, to me, sounds like a reasonable request. There's nothing else in there about Lord of the Flies besides Golding's name (although the student does say "I do not need to listen to my white teachers use the N-word while reading To Kill a Mockingbird, saying that it is 'okay' because they are the teacher"  which, again, fair!).

During a school board committee meeting, however, this student's letter was interpreted as such:

Referencing The Lord of the Flies, (the student who wrote the article) noted that she does not need to learn more about White, male supremacy, which tells the story of a group of boys in a hierarchical order who fight for power and degrade one another. (The article) led to the removal of 'The Lord of the Flies' from the OCDSB English curriculum.

It's not entirely clear in the school board's report if this conclusion was drawn based on the text written by the student in the student paper, or if there was a specific Lord of the Flies complaint presented orally during another session. Either way: this seems like a strange leap from, "I understand why these books are valuable, but can't we have some other books as well?" Instead, it sounds to me like a bunch of older, powerful people who would rather demonstrate their institutional authority than grapple with nuance, and claim they're doing it "for the kids." In my humble opinion, that is the much bigger problem than some young people saying "Can we just do a little better?" and then getting frustrated when they're repeatedly ignored.

Meanwhile, in Texas:

A Texas Republican lawmaker has drawn up a list of 850 books on subjects ranging from racism to sexuality that could "make students feel discomfort," and is demanding that school districts across the state report whether any are in their classrooms or libraries. [] Krause, who chairs the state's House Committee on General Investigating, also directed the districts to identify "any other books" that could cause students "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."

Books deemed 'harmful to staff and students' are being removed from region's public school libraries [Doug Coxson / Cambridge Today]

Lord of the Flies removed from Ottawa school board curriculum [Cosmin Dzsurdzsa / True North Canada]

Four Years of Shakespeare [Kyla Gibson / The Lisgarwrite]

Image: Katy Warner / Flickr (CC-BY-SA 2.0)
One month ago, the sun not yet up Oct. 1, dozens upon dozens of workers poured out of Mercy Hospital's front entrance, joining hundreds of their colleagues on the picket line in South Buffalo.

Since that moment, negotiations have continued but with no deal in sight.

Until Sunday morning, when the Communications Workers of America Local 1133 told its members the two sides "were very close to reaching an agreement" after an all-night bargaining session that concluded at 6 a.m. Catholic Health echoed that Sunday, mentioning the two sides met through much of the weekend and appeared close to a tentative agreement on several occasions before "talks broke down again."

The union said the main outstanding issue is staffing, noting it has concerns about Catholic Health's last proposal. Catholic Health, meanwhile, said it stands by its offer that "includes progressive staffing language."

After getting some rest, the CWA said it planned to return to the table Monday and "evaluate where we are at."

Despite the progress at the table, much of the language used by the two sides publicly remained bitter Sunday. For instance, Catholic Health just after 3 p.m. announced it had started sending notices to striking workers that the health system would stop paying and administering their health benefit coverage, following up on a warning announced several days earlier.

That followed a week in which both sides had turned up the heat publicly.

CWA is running ads with workers saying Mercy is understaffed, putting patient care at risk. Catholic Health, meanwhile, has claimed the union is showing no sense of urgency, criticizing the CWA's tactics as distracting and brutish.

Meanwhile, the strike has become one of the most significant work stoppages locally in years, with 2,000 in-demand health care workers on the picket line.

And the costs are building.

Catholic Health is paying millions each week for replacement workers and has been forced to pass patients off to other local hospitals for treatment and procedures, costing it revenue and squeezing capacity at other hospitals  with burned-out staff of their own.

The health system claims 50 union-represented nurses have quit since the strike began, deepening the staffing crunch at the heart of negotiations.

The CWA workers are nearing their second month without paychecks, though union strike checks and unemployment benefits have kicked in. And now they will have to rely on the CWA's relief fund for health benefit coverage.

Both sides have dug in through the first month of the strike, but maybe that will change as we enter November.

"Usually if it goes past a month, it shows that the parties have very real substantive differences that will be difficult to resolve," said Cathy Creighton, a former labor attorney and the director of the Cornell University Industrial and Labor Relations School's Buffalo office.

"I think it also shows that both sides have been traumatized by the Covid pandemic, and they've been working so hard over the last year and a half that the stress is probably also inhibiting reaching an agreement," she said.

'We definitely do have leverage,' Mercy Hospital nurses say amid strike, labor shortage The ongoing worker shortage could provide leverage for CWA as they continue to negotiate with Catholic Health System, hospital employees and labor experts say.

The stakes are high in this labor battle, one capable of affecting future negotiations between hospitals and workers  both in the hotly competitive Buffalo Niagara market and beyond.

Where things stand

Catholic Health President and CEO Mark Sullivan stood at a podium inside Mercy Hospital on Tuesday, facing a question about whether he saw talks with the CWA as a "bargaining war."

Moments earlier, he had said Catholic Health was weighing whether to continue paying for the striking workers' health insurance as the walkout neared its second month. Since the strike began, he said, the health system had paid more than $1.3 million for the workers' health benefits, something it was not legally required to do.

Catholic Health could cut health insurance for striking workers at Mercy Hospital If Mercy Hospital workers' health insurance coverage is cut off, CWA's relief fund will cover those with chronic conditions or facing health emergencies.

"I'm pretty proud of what Catholic Health did for the associates to offer health insurance at a time when we are spending a ton of money on replacement workers," he said. "It's not a bargaining war. This can end today; it can end right now."

While Catholic Health started the day Sunday by saying it had decided to temporarily hold off on issuing notices to workers discontinuing payment of their health insurance, the health system changed its tune just a couple hours later.

"Catholic Health will resume payment and administration upon ratification of the tentative agreement by the membership," the health system said.

In a negotiations update last week, the health system said its latest proposal includes a minimum 3% wage increase in the first year, followed by general wage increases of 2% in the second and third years and 2.75% in the fourth year, up from 2.5% in its proposal before the strike. In a concession, Catholic Health has agreed to make wage increases retroactive to the first full pay period of June.

On perhaps the dispute's biggest topic, staffing, the union said in an update to members Thursday that the "primary issues continue to be around some of the ratios as well as the penalty for not meeting the ratios." In the union's update Sunday, it appears staffing remains the largest impediment to reaching a deal.

While talks continue, the union has broadened its job actions, targeting Catholic Health board members.

+2 What's the economic cost of Mercy Hospital strike? Both sides feel the pain For Catholic Health, keeping Mercy Hospital open means paying vastly higher wages to replacement workers. For striking workers, each day means more lost wages.

On Wednesday evening, a few workers handed out flyers on the sidewalk in front of the Wegmans on Amherst Street in Buffalo, taking aim at a Western New York-based executive for the supermarket chain who sits on Catholic Health's board. In recent days, the union has circulated the names and phone numbers of Catholic Health's board members, urging workers to call them.

Workers have been going without a paycheck from Catholic Health, but have been collecting weekly checks from the CWA's relief fund since the strike hit day 15 on Oct. 15.

On Friday  day 29 of the strike  those weekly payments increased to $400 per worker. They're also able to file for unemployment benefits, worth up to $504 a week, depending on pay.

But it's still not easy to be out of work.

"We're staying strong. We're taking it one day at a time," said Kevonna Neely, an EKG technician and a certified nursing assistant at Mercy Hospital who has worked at Catholic Health for 12 years. "Of course, we want to get back to work, but we also want to go back to work with a fair, decent contract and be able to take care of our patients efficiently and have the resources that we need."

Potential fallout

Since the beginning of the strike, Larry Zielinski said he believes there's been way too much negotiating in the media by both sides. Back-and-forth emotions and dialogue belong at the bargaining table, he said.

"You keep them in the room until you can come to a conclusion," said Zielinski, a former Buffalo General Medical Center president who is now an executive in residence in health care administration at the University at Buffalo. "When you start to air these kinds of things, all it does is antagonize the other side. And unfortunately, that's what it's gotten to."

More of that has happened over the last week.

Union members on Thursday night, reasoning that "CHS seems to think that eating food while picketing = 'tailgating,' " decided to have a tailgate on the picket line while wearing Buffalo Bills gear. Days earlier, Catholic Health had issued a news release of its own, claiming the CWA was showing "no sense of urgency" in getting its members back to work.

On Thursday, Catholic Health doubled down on that stance, arguing the union had "escalated its pressure tactics" with the television commercials and by leafletting board members' businesses.

At his news conference Tuesday, Sullivan claimed the health system has heard from a growing number of employees who want to settle negotiations.

Since the strike began, he said, more than 50 CWA-represented nurses have resigned from Mercy Hospital, including more than a dozen from the intensive care unit. That could only worsen staffing shortages at Catholic Health at a time when hospital officials across the region say it's become difficult to hire.

Catholic Health renews deal for Mercy replacement workers as 50 striking nurses quit "We want our associates back at Mercy Hospital, spokeswoman JoAnn Cavanaugh said. The longer the strike goes on, however, we will need to consider all of our options.

At nearby Erie County Medical Center, President and CEO Thomas J. Quatroche Jr. said the hospital has seen some nurses from Mercy Hospital apply for positions in the emergency department and critical care since the strike began. He didn't have an exact number of applications and noted there's typically "movement between our institutions" when it comes to workers.

Kaleida CEO Robert Nesselbush said the health system may have gotten a few applications from Mercy workers, though he wouldn't qualify it as a meaningful uptick.

Sullivan also expressed concern about long-term ramifications on the health system.

This ongoing strike is further harming our ability to recruit the talent necessary here, the skilled associates to meet those staffing needs here at Mercy Hospital," he said.

But Nesselbush and other health care executives are closely watching what happens at Mercy, especially since Kaleida will soon be negotiating a new labor deal for thousands of its workers, with the current deal expiring at the end of May.

"A lot of things that are at the forefront of people's thinking is, how do we make this better for both the workers and for the hospitals and health care systems?" Nesselbush said.

"And so, I mean we really need to properly compensate people for the really valuable work that they're doing. I'm pretty supportive of that," he said. "But we also have to recognize that the current reimbursement system does not really support us well.

Lasting impact

Zielinski knows how a strike can linger into an organization's future.

As Buffalo General's president from 2008 to 2011, he remembers hearing nurses talk about their strike at Buffalo General in 1983 that lasted 79 days.

Debora Hayes, CWA's area director who is at the table negotiating with Catholic Health, actually played a key role in forming the local union of nurses at Buffalo General and leading them during the 1983 strike as they fought for their first contract.

And while the 1980s was a different time in the history of labor strikes, the Mercy Hospital walkout is starting to rank among the region's longest for nurses, who almost never went on strike in the last 20 years.

Mercy Hospital nurses authorize a strike, but walkouts almost never happen Of the Communication Workers of America members at the hospital who cast ballots, 97% voted in favor of giving their union the power to call a strike.

In 2001, 170 registered nurses at what was then St. Joseph Hospital in Cheektowaga went on strike for three weeks before approving a new deal. That same year, 127 registered nurses at Lockport Memorial Hospital went on strike for five weeks.

In 1987, a nurses strike at DeGraff Memorial Hospital in North Tonawanda  Hayes was involved in that one, too  lasted 13 weeks.

"Health care strikes are rare and when they do occur, they are normally very short-lived," Zielinski said.

So far this year, there have been 198 labor strikes across the country, according to the Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker. Of those, 24 have been in health care and social assistance  none longer than the ongoing nurses' strike at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass., that started in March.

+2 Health care industry pressures spurring strikes across the country The reasons health care workers cite for striking are similar: They have endured the demands and exhaustion of working through the pandemic and insist hospitals staff up to help shoulder the workload.

In Rochester, the unions representing 1,800 service workers at Strong Memorial Hospital and University of Rochester on Friday announced they had reached a two-year tentative agreement, one week after the previous deal expired and members authorized issuing a 10-day notice of job action to their employer.

Zielinski said if he was leading a health organization with a union contract ready to bargain over, he'd be making one message clear to his negotiators.

"I'm telling my negotiators, 'Don't let this happen here,' " he said. "Don't let it erode to what it's eroded to at Mercy."

Jon Harris can be reached at 716-849-3482 or jharris@buffnews.com.

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Here's a look at what the two campaigns are doing to reach those goals and get out the vote:

+4 On campaign trail, Byron Brown draws on power of incumbency in unconventional write-in bid Brown, a veteran of the city's formidable Democratic politics finds himself in uncharted territory. If he wants to win a fifth term as mayor, he must do it in a write-in effort rarely attempted on such a large scale.

'Write Down Byron Brown'

The place that once was the Schupper House on Seneca Street is now Byron Brown's. Scanlon and his South Buffalo friends and neighbors gather at the tavern to call their neighbors and prepare to go door to door with the same steady message: "Write down Byron Brown."

Hundreds of people have volunteered to help the mayor, Scanlon said, in a culturally conservative part of the city where Brown's previous campaigns have struggled. This time, though, Scanlon said South Buffalo  home to many Buffalo police and firefighters  appears to be rallying around Brown and in opposition to a candidate who has vowed to cut the police budget.

"This has been not a top-down effort here in South Buffalo," Scanlon said. "This has been everyday residents coming together, concerned about the future of the city and wanting to get the mayor reelected and looking for someone to kind of steer or organize that effort, which is where myself and a few others have gotten involved."
I am now in my eighth decade. When I was a young boy I had a friend, Barry Melnick. One day when I was at his house, I watched his dad struggle to go from one room to another room. He was using crutches and was in pain. Later, I asked Barry what happened to his dad. He told me that his dad had polio and was crippled for life because of it. I never got polio. I was vaccinated against polio. Both my siblings were vaccinated against polio. They never got polio. Thousands of Americans contracted polio and died from it before the vaccine. Others, like Barrys dad, suffered for the rest of their lives from this terrible disease. No one protested against the polio vaccine because the disease was so terrible.

On Oct. 26 I read in The Buffalo News about a walkout protest at Moog against a mandatory Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Over 700,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. When the alternative to a Covid-19 vaccine is death or possible lifelong complications, why do so many people refuse to get this vaccine?

I have read that some persons claim a religious exemption, despite every major religious leader urging their congregants to get vaccinated. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has urged all Catholics to get vaccinated. He has directed that no priest should write a letter requesting a religious exemption on behalf of any parishioner.
Graphic image showing someone looking into the sun and alongside a photo of the Earth

The climate crisis is no longer a future concern. In many parts of the world, it has already begun.

Millions of people are living with extreme temperatures, facing a growing threat of flooding or wildfires. Here, five people explain how extreme temperatures have changed their lives.

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'We have many sleepless nights'

Woman wiping sweat from her brow

Shakeela Bano often lays out her family's bedding on the roof of their one-storey house in India. Some nights it's too hot to sleep indoors. The roof can be too hot to walk on. "It's very difficult," she says. "We have many sleepless nights."

Shakeela lives with her husband, daughter and three grandchildren in a windowless room in Ahmedabad. They have only a single ceiling fan to keep them cool.

Climate change means many cities in India are now hitting 50C. Densely populated, built-up areas are particularly affected by something known as the urban heat island effect. Materials like concrete trap and radiate heat, pushing temperatures higher. And there's no respite at night, when it can actually get hotter.

In homes like Shakeela's, temperatures now reach 46C. She gets dizzy in the heat. Her grandchildren suffer from rashes, heat exhaustion and diarrhoea.

Traditional methods for staying cool, like drinking buttermilk and lemon water, no longer work. Instead they've borrowed money to paint the roof of their home white. White surfaces reflect more sunlight and a coat of white paint to the roof can bring down temperatures inside by 3-4 degrees.

For Shakeela, the difference is huge; the room is cooler and the children sleep better. "He would not sleep through the afternoon," she says, pointing to her sleeping grandson. "Now he can drift off peacefully."

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'Heat like fire'

Sidi Fadoua

"I come from a place of heat," Sidi Fadoua says. But the heat in northern Mauritania, in west Africa, it is now too hot for many people to live and work. The heat here is not normal heat, he says. "It's like fire."

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Sidi, 44, lives in a small village close the edge of the Sahara. He works as a salt miner in the nearby flats. The work is tough, and it's become harder as the region heats up due to climate change. "We can't endure such temperatures," he says. "We are not machines."

To avoid temperatures upwards of 45C in the summer, Sidi has begun to work at night.

Job prospects are scarce. Those who once made a living raising livestock can no longer do it - there aren't any plants for the sheep and goats to graze.

So like an increasing number of his neighbours, Sidi has plans to migrate to the coastal city of Nouadhibou, where the ocean breeze keeps the city cooler. Locals can hitch a ride there on one of the world's longest trains, taking iron ore from nearby mines to the coast.

"People are moving from here," Sidi explains. "They cannot stand the heat anymore." The 20-hour ride is dangerous. Locals can sit on top of the carriages where they are exposed to heat and sunlight during the day, before temperatures plummet to near freezing at night.

In Nouadhibou, he hopes to find work in the fishing industry. The breeze may bring respite, but with increasing numbers escaping the desert heat, work opportunities are harder to find. Sidi remains hopeful.

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'How do you put an inferno out?'

Patrick Michell

Patrick Michell, chief of the Kanaka Bar First Nation, first began noticing worrying changes in the forest near his reserve in British Columbia, Canada, more than three decades ago. There was less water in the rivers, and mushrooms had stopped growing.

This summer his fears came true. A heatwave was sweeping across North America. On June 29, his home town of Lytton smashed records, reaching 49.6C. The next day, his wife sent him a photo of a thermometer reading 53C. An hour later, his town was on fire.

His daughter, Serena, eight months pregnant, scrambled to pack her children and pets into the car: "We left with the clothes on our backs. The flames were three storeys high and right beside us."

Patrick raced back to see if he could save the house. He'd grown up dealing with wildfires. But like the climate, the fires had changed too. "These aren't wildfires anymore, they're infernos," he says. "How do you put an inferno out?"

Despite the family's circumstances, Patrick sees what's happened as an opportunity: "We can rebuild Lytton for the environment that's coming in the next 100 years. It's daunting, but in my heart there's that optimism."

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'When I was a kid, it wasn't like this'

Joy

"When I was a kid the weather was not like this," says Joy, who lives in the Niger Delta, in Nigeria. The region is one of the most polluted regions on Earth, and hotter days and nights are increasing.

Joy provides for her family by using heat from gas flares to dry tapioca and sell it at a local market. "I have short hair," Joy explains, "because if I grow my hair long, it could burn my head if the flare shifts direction or explodes."

But the flares are part of the problem. Oil companies use them to burn off gas that is released from the ground when they drill for oil. The flares, which rise 6m (20ft) high, are a significant source of global CO2 emissions, which contribute to climate change.

Climate change has had a devastating impact here, turning fertile lands into deserts in the north, while flash flooding has hit the south. People do not remember such extreme weather growing up.

"Most people here aren't well-informed enough to explain why the climate is changing rapidly," Joy says. "But we're suspicious of the non-stop flares." She wants the government to ban gas flaring, even though she relies on it to provide for her family.

Almost none of the oil wealth has been reinvested in Nigeria, where 98 million people live in poverty. This includes Joy and her family. For five days of work they make 4 in profit.

She is not optimistic about the future. "I think that life [on Earth] is now coming to an end."

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'This heat is not normal'

Om Naief

Six years ago, Om Naief began planting trees on a patch of desert by a motorway. A retired civil servant in Kuwait, she was concerned by the increasingly severe summer temperatures and worsening dust storms.

"I spoke to some officials. They all said it was impossible to plant anything in the sand," she says. "They said the land was sandy and the temperature was too high. I wanted to do something that would astonish everyone."

Om lives in the Middle East, which is warming faster than much of the world. Kuwait is careering towards unbearable temperatures - it is regularly hotter than 50C. Some predictions suggest average temperatures will rise by 4C by 2050. Yet Kuwait's economy is dominated by fossil fuel exports.

The two patches Om planted are modest but they serve a purpose. "Trees fend off dust, eliminate pollution, clean the air, and lower temperatures," she says. Hedgehogs and spiny-tailed lizards now visit the site. "There's fresh water and shade. It's a beautiful thing."

Some Kuwaitis are now calling for a large-scale green belt to be planted by the government. Their shared hope is that Kuwait is ready to make a stand against the climate crisis. Om says they must protect the land and not let it dry out.

"This heat is not normal," Om concludes. "This is our fathers' land. We must give back to it, because it has given us a lot."

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BBC News Arabic documentary team spent the past year filming in 10 extremely hot locations for the series Life at 50C to show how climate change and rising temperatures are impacting peoples' lives around the world. Watch the full series here.

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Top image from Getty Images. Climate stripes visualisation courtesy of Prof Ed Hawkins and University of Reading.
(Reuters) - The United States and the European Union on Sunday ended a dispute over steel and aluminium tariffs and said they would work on a global arrangement on steel and aluminium to combat "dirty" production and overcapacity in the industry.

Following are some key details about the deal:

- The United States will not apply Section 232 duties imposed by former president Donald Trump and will allow duty-free importation of steel and aluminium from the EU at a historical-based volume.

- The EU will suspend tariffs on U.S. products like whiskey, power boats and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, imposed in retaliation for the steel and aluminium tariffs.

- The EU and the United States will negotiate what they call the world's first carbon-based sectoral arrangement on steel and aluminum trade by 2024, with their arrangement aiming to address carbon intensity and global overcapacity.

- The two sides said they will work to restrict access to their markets for "dirty steel" and limit access to "countries that dump steel" in their markets, both of which contribute to worldwide oversupply.

- The United States also published a consultation that brought on board what it called "like-minded nations" like Japan and Britain on issues related to steel and aluminum, with a focus on the impacts of overcapacity on the global steel and aluminum markets.

LINKS:

- Consultations with UK and Japan on steel and aluminum published by U.S. Commerce Dept: https://bit.ly/3BvLben, https://bit.ly/2Y1fThI

- U.S.-EU arrangements on global steel and aluminum excess capacity and carbon intensity https://bit.ly/3mviKc7

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
TORONTO  Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:





Rogers v. Rogers:

Canadas most closely watched corporate intrigue saga is expected to begin a new chapter on Monday when opening arguments are heard in Edward Rogers v. Rogers Communications Inc. at the B.C. Supreme Court. Scion Edward Rogers is battling his sisters and mother for control of the telecom giants board of directors.





Air Canada results:

Air Canada is set to hold a call to discuss its third-quarter results on Tuesday. The airline joined other travel industry companies earlier this month to support the federal governments vaccine mandate for travellers, but said a standardized proof of vaccination system across the country needs to be developed quickly.





Toronto home sales:

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board is scheduled to release October home sales figures on Wednesday. The board recently reported that the market kicked off the fall selling season with an 18 per cent year-over-year decrease in homes sold in September and a 34 per cent drop in new listings.





October jobs numbers:

Statistics Canada is set to release its labour force survey for October on Friday. The agency reported last month that Canadas economy marked a milestone in September as employment returned to pre-pandemic levels for the first time, recouping the remainder of three millions jobs lost over a year ago with a gain of 157,000 jobs in the month.





Enbridge earnings:

Enbridge Inc. plans to release its third-quarter results before markets open on Friday. The company recently filed court documents outlining how Michigan's efforts to shut down Enbridge's Line 5 cross-border pipeline have ``directly and significantly'' impacted the relationship between Canada and the United States.





This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2021.

The Canadian Press
The curtain rose this weekend in Nashville for a singular milestone in entertainment history  the 5,000th Saturday night Grand Ole Opry broadcast.

Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Darius Rucker, Vince Gill, Chris Young and a half-dozen others lined up to celebrate the nearly century-old country music program with live performances from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.

WSM radio carried a broadcast of the show, same as it did in 1925 when the "barn dance" program debuted in downtown Nashville. Some could turn the dial to hear Brooks and company, while others tuned in online or via cable for a video livestream of the performance.

No matter the medium, the Opry delivered what it has promised since family and friends began gathering for broadcasts thousands of Saturdays ago: A night of country music entertainment.

Read along for highlights as six decades of Opry members paid tribute with songs old and new to a show that's withstood wartime, natural diester and a global pandemic.

More: Loretta Lynn enlists Garth Brooks, Luke Combs for Tennessee flood benefit concert at Opry House

A Grand Ole opener

A crash course in country music history opened the show Saturday night with some of the finest teachers in Opry history leading the class.

The band kicked off to an ovation-earning medley from Darius Rucker, Connie Smith, Bill Anderson, Terri Clark and more, with each paying tribute to the songs that artists that helped establish the Opry as an indelible force for generations.

Anderson, a 60-year Opry veteran, kicked off the show with Roy Acuff tune "Wabash Cannonball." A run of cross-country songs followed, including Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" (sung by Smith), Patsy Cline's "San Antonio Rose" (sung by The Gatlin Brothers), Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (Rucker), Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter" (Clark) and Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" (Chris Janson)  and that was just the first six minutes.

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Connie Smith, The Gatlin Brothers, Bill Anderson, Darius Rucker, Terri Clark and Chris Janson perform during the Grand Ole Oprys 5,000th Saturday night show Saturday, October 30, 2021.

Vince Gill's guitar history

Vince Gill brought a piece of music history with him to the show, playing a well-worn acoustic guitar he said was once owned by formative Opry star Sam McGee. One-half of old time outfit The McGee Brothers, Gill said Sam McGee first played Nashville's famed AM radio program in 1926, months before the barn dance program became known as the Grand Ole Opry.

Gill played an acoustic version of "Way Downtown" in tribute to The McGee Brothers.

"What a neat night to be out here," Gill said, adding: "I think every time I come out here to sing songs, I always want to sing an appropriate song. ... Tonight, because the show is the 5,000th, it's a big deal for all of us and all of you."

The Country Music Hall of Famer closed his two-song appearance with "Making Plans," a nod to late "Rocky Top" bluegrass picker Sonny Osborne, who died earlier this week.

Vince Gill performs during the Grand Ole Opryas 5,000th Saturday night show Saturday, October 30, 2021.

'Will The Circle Be Unbroken'

It isn't a night at the Opry without "Will The Circle Be Unbroken."

The country standard and longtime rallying cry for Opry artists came around the night's midway point; some of the most tenured members enlisted for the 5,000th celebration  Connie Smith, Jeannie Seely and John Conlee, who combine for 150 years of Opry membership  shepherded Saturday night's rendition. The trio invited modern Opry stars Dustin Lynch and Chris Young for the performance.

Seely, dressed in a sparkling "5,000" sweater, introduced the classic: "At the Opry we're all blessed to have (an) anthem we turn to in the good times and the bad," she said.

Darius Rucker, Chris Young tribute the classics

Darius Rucker performs during the Grand Ole Oprys 5,000th Saturday night show Saturday, October 30, 2021.

A pair of today's country hitmakers spent time on stage paying tribute to those who came before. Chris Young sang Charley Pride classic "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin'" and Darius Rucker  dressed in a bedazzled black suit he described as "channeling my inner Little Jimmy Dickens"  offered Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight."

Rucker described his time on the Opry stage as "one of my great honors in life."

"I'm so proud of it," Rucker said. "This is my home away from home."

And Young described the night as "absolutely mind-blowing."

"It would be really weird if I didn't honor that and play one of my favorites that I listened to growing up," Young said before "Kiss An Angel ..."

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood close the show

Introduced by Rucker as "crown jewels of country music," a freewheelin' acoustic set from all-star couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood closed the 5,000th broadcast.

Brooks bounded on stage, shaking hands with a front row audience member who said he traveled for the show from Lake Charles, Louisiana. The impromptu meet-and-greet teed Brooks up for an Opry House singalong to live staple "Callin' Baton Rouge."

From "Baton Rouge," Brooks and Yearwood swapped songs, jokes and at least one kiss on stage. Yearwood performed slices of "She's In Love With The Boy," "How Do I Live" and "Runaway Joe," as well as 1990s Brooks duet "In Another's Eyes." Brooks offered the audience "Two Pina Coladas," "The River" and a show-closing take of "Friends In Low Places."

"Happy 5,000 to the Grand Ole Opry" Brooks said. "Can't tell you how lucky we feel to be apart of it."

Opry 5,000 set list

Opening ensemble medley: "Wabash Cannonball" (Bill Anderson), "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," (Connie Smith), "San Antonio Rose" (Gatlin Brothers), "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (Darius Rucker), "Coal Miner's Daughter" (Terri Clark) and "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" (Chris Janson)

Terri Clark: "Better Things To Do"

The Gatlin Brothers: "All The Gold In California"

Dustin Lynch: "Cowboys and Angels"

Bill Anderson: "Still," "When Two Worlds Collide" (with Jeannie Seely)

Chris Janson: "Buy Me A Boat"

The Isaacs, John Conlee and Connie Smith: "Amazing Grace"

Vince Gill: "Way Downtown," "Making Plans"

Connie Smith: "Once A Day"

John Conlee: "Rose Colored Glasses"

Jeannie Seely: "Don't Touch Me"

Ensemble: "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" (Smith, Conlee, Seely, Lynch and Chris Young)

Chris Young: "Kiss An Angel Good Morning," "Gettin' You Home"

Darius Rucker: "Walkin' After Midnight," "Beers and Sunshine"

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood: "Callin' Baton Rouge," "She's In Love With The Boy," "In Another's Eyes," "Two Pina Coladas," "How Do I Live," "The River," "Walkaway Joe," "Friends In Low Places"

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Grand Ole Opry 5000 show: Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Darius Rucker
Stones from the Siksikaitsitapi Medicine Wheel at Nose Hill Park have been moved and red crosses were placed between them. (Supplied by Giovanna Longhi - image credit)

People gathered for a ceremony to reinstate red ribbons for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Calgary Saturday after they were discovered in the garbage.

Across the city, two people were arrested for vandalizing an important cultural site for the Blackfoot Confederacy.

Having the two separate incidents happen in one week shows more education is needed, a Blood Tribe educator says.

Calgarian Giovanna Longhi was walking her dog at Nose Hill Park Friday near the Siksikaitsitapi Medicine Wheel when she noticed its stones had been moved and red crosses were placed between them.

"I was very concerned that the defacing of this property was very, very traumatic for not only the Blackfoot Indigenous peoples of this area...defacing or not understanding our collective history can lead to hate," she said.

The incident was reported to Calgary police who confirmed two people were arrested Friday, but not charged. Police said the case is still under investigation and they are "liaising with the diversity resource team" to determine if charges are appropriate.

In a statement on Monday, the city said parks staff are resetting the stones that were moved and work is being completed on new educational, interpretive signage for the site to explain its significance.

Helen Pike/CBC

Tarra Wright Many Chief, owner and operator at Many Chief Tours, provides educational tours at the Siksikaitsitapi Medicine Wheel. Wright Many Chief is a member of the Blood Tribe and the Blackfoot Confederacy.

She says this is not the first time the medicine wheel has been vandalized, and combined with the red ribbons being thrown in the trash, she feels upset and disrespected.

"I often wonder, does that make people unhappy because it shows that Canada does have a dark history that people didn't know about?"

While the motivation behind both incidents is unclear, Wright Many Chief says people need to know why the medicine wheel and ribbons exist in the first place.

Story continues

The traditional medicine wheel at top of Nose Hill Park was built in 2015 as a sacred spot for reflection and prayer. The rocks, some of which have now been moved, were constructed in the shape of the Siksikaitsitapi logo  representing the Blood, Siksika and Northern and Southern Peigan tribes.

Supplied by Giovanna Longhi

"It's really important to have that space and have that connection...Indigenous people are still thriving in this area and it kind of connects the past to the future," Wright Many Chief said.

'What it's like to be Indigenous in Canada'

Red ribbons honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls were returned to Memorial Drive in Calgary during a ceremony this Saturday, after they were found in the garbage.

The ribbons, each with a name representing an Indigenous life lost, were tied to trees in May on Red Dress Day after ceremony and prayer.

Yvonne Henderson realized the trees were bare while driving by earlier this week as the memorial to Canadian veterans maintained by the Field of Crosses organisation was taking shape.

She scanned the area to see where they were and eventually found them in the trash.

"It's shocking, but it's not at the same time, right? Being Niitsitapi, being Indigenous in Canada, and Calgary especially, isn't the greatest at times," she said.

Henderson attended the ceremony to reinstate the ribbons. Part of her feels happy that they're back, but their removal in the first place is unacceptable and doesn't show any effort toward reconciliation, she said.

"Even though it's not fancy like the crosses behind, even though we don't have the kind of funding to have this kind of beautiful setup  our ribbons are attached to nature," Henderson said.

"We would never go to someone's headstone, who we've never met, and go deface it because that's disrespectful."

Ultimately, Henderson hopes this incident will serve as a teachable moment. Each ribbon has a story of a family, clan, nation and community attached to it, she said.

"Once you start Googling the names, you'll start understanding the actual reality of what it's like to be Indigenous in Canada."

Helen Pike/CBC

News of the ribbons being thrown in the garbage triggered "immediate grief" for Deborah Green, a missing and murdered Indigenous women advocate.

"A lot of prayer and ceremony go into those ribbons, so they're really symbolic of our loved ones who have been murdered or gone missing," she said.

Going forward, Green wants to see respect for the memorials honouring those who have been taken away.

Also, she wants Canadians to be aware of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report and its 94 calls to action, as well as the Reclaiming Power and Place Report  the final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls containing 231 calls to action. Green says many Canadians aren't familiar with the latter.
DNY59 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Some retirees are surprised to learn that the federal government, in certain circumstances, taxes Social Security benefits. Even more surprising to some is that certain individual states also apply their own income tax to Social Security payouts. Fortunately, not many states fall into this category. Even those that do tax Social Security often provide certain exemptions or ways to reduce or eliminate the tax, typically based on age or income. Heres a list of the states that dont tax Social Security, along with some details about those that do.

Find Out: Americans Dont Understand These Facts About Social Security

Be Prepared: 30 Greatest Threats to Your Retirement

States That Dont Tax Social Security

As of 2021, 37 states plus the District of Columbia do not tax Social Security benefits. These states include the nine that dont have any income tax at all, which are:

Alaska

Florida

Nevada

New Hampshire

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Washington

Wyoming

Note that while New Hampshire does tax investment income, it does not tax wages or Social Security payouts.

Avoid These: 11 Social Security Mistakes That Can Cost You a Fortune

Helpful: 17 Tips To Live Comfortably Off Just a Social Security Check

The remaining 28 states plus the District of Columbia implement various credits or exemptions to help taxpayers avoid state-level Social Security taxes. These states are:

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Delaware

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Mississippi

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Virginia

Wisconsin

Washington, D.C.

If you live in any of these states  or the District of Columbia  you wont have to worry about paying state taxes on your Social Security income.

Are You Doomed To Work Forever? What You Can Do If Your Social Security Isnt Enough

States That Reduce Social Security Taxation Based on Age or Income

Colorado

Connecticut

Kansas

Minnesota

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

North Dakota

Rhode Island

Vermont

Specifics vary, but all the states in this category have some type of Social Security offset based on how old you are or how much you make. Colorado, for example, allows taxpayers 55 and older to subtract some of their Social Security income, while Kansas provides a total exemption for taxpayers earning less than $75,000, regardless of filing status. In Montana, some Social Security benefits may be taxable so it advises its taxpayers to complete a worksheet to determine the taxation of their Social Security benefits.

Story continues

See: 35 Countries Where Your Social Security Check Goes Furthest

West Virginia: On Its Way

West Virginia has been gradually phasing out its tax on Social Security benefits, and by 2022, those taxes will be history. For 2021, however, taxpayers will still have to pay state income tax on 35% of Social Security benefits. Thats still an improvement over the 2020 tax year when residents had to pay state income tax on 65% of their Social Security benefits.

Read: Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustments Arent Enough to Pay Higher Costs for Seniors

Utah: Recent Changes

Until 2021, Utah was the only state that taxed Social Security benefits the same way that the federal government does. Under the federal governments system, Social Security was taxed based on a formula involving a taxpayers filing status and the size of their combined income, which was a combination of adjusted gross income, nontaxable interest and half of Social Security benefits. However, the state recently capitulated and now uses its own income-based tax credit system to offset Social Security income for single filers earning less than $30,000 and joint filers drawing less than $50,000.

More From GOBankingRates

Last updated: Sept. 9, 2021

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: All the States That Dont Tax Social Security
There are few things more common in a criminal courtroom than seeing a teenage boy whose involvement in violence has left him shackled in a defendants chair.

On Monday, Kyle Rittenhouse will be the 18-year-old in the defendants chair. His age  17 at the time he shot three men in August 2020, leaving one injured and two dead  puts him in the third-highest demographic of accused killers by age in America according to FBI statistics.

Rittenhouse has other things in common with teenagers who find themselves in trouble.

At the time of the shootings he had apparently stopped attending high school before graduation. He was living with his single mother and sisters in a small apartment, working a part-time job, and was poor enough to qualify for representation by a public defender.

From there, of course, Rittenhouses story sharply diverges from the average.

His trial, which has drawn the focus of the world and the spotlight of national media attention, is scheduled to begin Monday with an effort to pick a jury that hasnt already decided that the teenager is either the hero or the villain of the story in a nation  and state and county  where partisanship has divided citizens into opposing teams.

This is not a political trial. This will not be a political trial, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder told attorneys at a pre-trial hearing about the case in September. And despite the clamor around the case, in the courtroom Schroeder appears to be ignoring the court of public opinion and focusing on conducting the homicide trial as he would always conduct a homicide trial.

Picking a jury

Schroeder expects to pick a jury in two days. By contrast, it took a Minneapolis court two weeks to choose a jury in the similarly politically charged trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd.

Schroeder declined attorneys request to use questionnaires to pre-screen prospective jurors to attempt to weed out those with biases about the case before they were questioned in the courtroom. He has told lawyers his past experience gives him faith that jurors will put aside their personal opinions and focus on the evidence presented in the case.

Kenosha County Clerk of Courts Rebecca Matoska-Mentink said 300 prospective jurors received summons for the case, more than twice as many as are typically called in for a homicide trial. Some of those 300 people were allowed to postpone jury service for cause  for instance if someone was going to be away at college for the trial dates. She said she expects about 150 people to arrive at the courthouse Monday as prospective jurors.

Despite the publicity surrounding the trial, Matoska-Mentink said the number of those prospective jurors who contacted her office with concerns was not unusual. No, Im going to say it was pretty average, she said.

She said jurors who receive summons are randomly chosen from Kenosha County residents 18 and older who are United States citizens. Their names are collected from Wisconsin Department of Transportation data of those with drivers licenses or state identification cards.

We dont make any geographical specifications or limitations, Matoska-Mentink said. "It could be that of 150 people, 120 of them could be west of the I (interstate) or vice versa.

Those prospective jurors will arrive in the courtroom to be questioned by the judge and attorneys in a process called voir dire. The judge can dismiss any prospective juror for cause  for instance if a person states they have personal ties to the case or say they have a firmly held opinion on what the outcome should be. The prosecution and defense can each strike up to seven prospective jurors each for any reason as they try to pick a jury they believe will be most open to their case.

Both the prosecution and defense will be aiming to choose a jury that will be most open to their version of what happened the night of the shootings.

The charges

Rittenhouse is charged with-first degree reckless homicide for the shooting death of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, first-degree intentional homicide for the shooting death of Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis.

He is also charged with recklessly endangering safety for firing his rifle toward other people in the crowd, and for carrying a dangerous weapon as a minor.

Rittenhouse came from his home in Antioch, Ill., to Kenosha on Aug. 25 following two days of protest and rioting that broke out in the city following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police officer. He was armed with an AR-15 rifle he took from the home of the stepfather of Dominick Black, a friend in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse and Black joined other heavily armed men who gathered at Downtown businesses along Sheridan Road (state Highway 32). In interviews Rittenhouse gave before the shooting with some of the many members of the media and independent journalists on the street that night, the teenager said he was hired by owners of a car lot to protect property, and that he was acting as a medic.

The shootings happened later that night  captured on video and shared thousands of times on social media before dawn the following morning.

Polarizing case

The Rittenhouse shootings have been decried by those on the left as an example of the danger of right-wing militias and political violence. On the right, Rittenhouse has been raised up as a hero who was justified in killing people who were part of a mob, with supporters arguing he is being persecuted by the government.

Those who see Rittenhouse as a victim donated enough money to pay his $2 million bond, and he has been free while awaiting trial. Donations are also covering the cost of hiring his defense attorneys, Mark Richards of Racine and Corey Chirafisi of Madison. Both are former prosecutors with successful private practices.

Richards past high-profile cases include defending Racine billionaire Curt Johnson, of the SC Johnson family, who was convicted of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. Richards is also the defense attorney for Tyler Huffhines of Paddock Lake, the accused ringleader of a black market THC vape manufacturing and marketing business whose case ended up on the front page of the New York Times.

Prosecutors hope to prove Rittenhouse was not justified in his shooting of Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, when the two clashed in a parking lot on Sheridan Road and 63rd Street, and that he is guilty of homicide and attempted homicide for shooting men who attempted to stop him as he ran away from that first shooting.

The defense has maintained that Rittenhouse was defending himself against a mob that was trying to kill him  and that he reasonably feared that he would be killed or suffer great bodily harm at the hands of the men he shot  so he should be acquitted of the charges against him. Legal experts have said Rittenhouse has a strong self-defense argument.

Hearing evidence

But, as in most homicide trials, it is difficult for the public to predict in advance what evidence will come out in trial, or what can be learned from witnesses on the stand.

Prosecutors have lost a series of motions seeking to introduce evidence they said would give the jury a better idea of Rittenhouses state of mind the night of the shootings  including being blocked from introducing video taken from a car in which Rittenhouse can be heard saying "Bro I wish I had my (expletive) AR. l'd start shooting rounds at them as people can be seen running from a drug store and loading items in a car.

According to statements in court, the person who was with Rittenhouse when that video was taken was Dominick Black, the same person who accompanied him to Kenosha the night of the shootings and who drove Rittenhouse back to his home in Antioch afterward. Black had been dating Rittenhouses sister and the two became friends.

Now 20, Black is charged with two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a minor. He allegedly was the straw purchaser who provided Rittenhouse with the AR-15.

Uphill battle for the state?

One of the wildcards of the trial which may shed light on Rittenhouses mindset that night will be Blacks testimony. Black is on the states witness list. According to court records, the prosecution against him was adjourned in July based on a mutual agreement between Rittenhouse prosecutor Thomas Binger and Blacks attorney Antony Cotton, indicating that Black is cooperating with the prosecution.

Chris Van Wagner and Jessa Nicholson Goetz  two prominent Madison-based defense attorneys who were initially hired as the criminal defense attorneys for Rittenhouse before quickly dropping out of the case because of concerns about the behavior of Rittenhouses past civil attorneys Lin Wood and John Pierce  said they believe the defense has a strong case.

While video of shooting deaths would typically be a boon for a prosecution, in this case both Van Wagner and Goetz said the video of the second and third shootings helps the defense argument. Goetz said the fact that Rittenhouse is on the ground when he shoots Huber and Grosskreutz makes it more difficult to retreat and strengthens the defense argument.

I would say I think the state has a very problematic case on all counts, Van Wagner said in August. Its a tough case.

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A headline in the satirical newspaper The Onion  Judge Mandates Prosecutors Only Refer to Kyle Rittenhouse as Hero  captured the flavor of the online outcry over recent judicial rulings in the case.

In the case of The Onion, the headline was a joke. But it reflected the firestorm of criticism that followed the decisions by Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder at a pretrial hearing last week.

At the Oct. 25 hearing, Schroeder ruled against the prosecution in a series of motions, including one in which Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger asked that defense attorneys be barred from referring to the three men shot in the case as rioters or looters. Binger said his request was in line with Schroeders long-standing policy of blocking the state from calling people victims during the course of a trial.

Schroeder said he would not decide in advance to restrain the defense from using the description of rioter or looter during closing arguments if evidence presented at trial supports that. That ruling quickly became simplified by outraged commenters to something like judge says men shot cant be called victims but can be called rioters.

Dean of Wisconsin judges

Schroeder is the longest-serving judge in Wisconsin, presiding over cases in Kenosha County since 1983. During a recent hearing he said he believes he has presided over more homicide trials than any judge in the state.

He is known locally for speaking his mind in the courtroom, and for giving defendants stern, and sometimes painful to listen to, lectures during sentencing.

But attorneys who have regularly appeared in his courtroom say the recent criticism of the judge is off-base, some saying that his decisions on motions in the Rittenhouse case reflect Schroeders focus on making sure defendants can present their case at trial.

Kenosha-based defense attorney Terry Rose has been practicing law for 54 years, spending more time than any other lawyer in Schroeders courtroom. I think hes very fair during the course of a trial and allows a criminal defendant to present his case, Rose said. Judge Schroeder is one who is very cognizant of individual liberty  he is very respectful of the Bill of Rights and willing to enforce those rights.

Another seasoned southeast Wisconsin defense attorney, who did want to be identified by name, said Schroeder has a reputation in the area as a tough judge, but that reputation is focused on sentencing, not on the way he oversees trials.

Id say he is very respectful of the defendants rights that are enumerated in the Constitution that ensure the right to a fair trial, a right to cross examine the governments witnesses, and the right to present a defense, the attorney said. He believes those rights are written into the Constitution for good reason, and he allows defense lawyers to present a defense.

While the two defense attorneys said Schroeder has a reputation of being open to defense arguments at trial, he also has a reputation as being harsh at sentencing. And because some 90 percent of criminal prosecutions end in plea agreements rather than trial, that reputation for tough sentences often outweighs his reputation at trial.

There are a lot of people who think he is unduly harsh on some kinds of sentences and that he is unpredictable on some kinds of sentences, said the defense attorney who did not want to be named. I think more mature lawyers recognize that his bark might be worse than his bite, and there are a lot of lawyers who dont substitute on him.

Not one to pigeon-hole

When criminal charges are filed the case is assigned to a judge, and defendants can ask that the case be reassigned. Schroeders reputation at sentencing is such that he has been the judge with the highest number of substitution requests in the system. This year, there were so many substitution requests that the chief judge imposed a rule that any substitution requests for Schroeder automatically be resigned to Racine County Circuit Court Judge Robert Repischak, who had a similarly high number of substitution requests.

A former prosecutor said Schroeders unpredictability on sentences makes it hard to negotiate pleas, and that that leads efforts to move cases from his courtroom.

There are judges around the state who are known for what we call jumping a plea agreement and giving more time, and he definitely does that, but he also does the opposite, the former prosecutor said. Defense attorneys do not feel comfortable advising their clients about the parameters of what might happen  and that makes it very difficult to reach plea agreements in that (court) on both sides.

The former prosecutor said it has been dismaying to watch media coverage of Schroeders decisions in the case be reported through a lens of politics. When someone is as much as an individual as Judge Schroeder, it is very confusing to people in 2021 when people want to put everyone into boxes.
Christian fleeing false blasphemy charge

In an interview with ICC Ilyas Rehmat, a Christian human rights activist, shared the details of the case. "Irfan Masih, a Christian, and [Adnan's accuser], Mehmood worked at a glass and aluminum shop together for the past year."

Mehmood has been described as a fundamental Muslim and reportedly has connections with the Islamic extremist organization Jamaat-ul-Dawat, which has been banned in Pakistan. According to reports, Mehmood kept a copy of the book I Asked the Bible Why Qurans were Burnt at work, which is full of unauthentic and biased religious points of view against Christianity. According to ICC's sources, both the book and the author are supposed to be banned in Pakistan.

"On the day of the incident, Adnan Masih, a Christian pastor trained at the United Pentecostal seminary, covered a shift for his brother, Irfan Masih, at the glass and aluminum shop," Rehmat said. At the shop, Adnan discovered the anti-Christian book and began reading it. Due to its anti-Christian perspective and Adnan's background as an Evangelist, Adnan wrote comments in the book arguing against the anti-Christian viewpoints using Bible verses to support his arguments.

These comments enraged Mehmood, so he took the book with the written comments into a local police station in Lahore and filed a case against Adnan, accusing him of writing blasphemous remarks against Muhammed and the Quran on different pages of the book. Mehmood also contacted members of Jamaat-ul-Dawat and reported the incident.

Upon discovering the accusations against him, Adnan fled Lahore and went into hiding. Those closest to Adnan say that he fears that he will be murdered by Jamaat-ul-Dawat or executed the Pakistani government if he is discovered.

When police were unable to arrest Adnan, they arrested three other Christian men in connection with the incident including Mushtaq Masih, the Christian owner of the glass and aluminum shop where the "blasphemy" occurred; Irfan Masih, Adnan's brother; and Kamram Masih, another relative of Adnan. The police are now using these arrests to pressure Adnan, who remains in hiding, to turn himself in as soon as possible.

Local Muslim community's violent reaction

When news of this incident spread, the local Muslim community reacted with violence. "Hundreds of Muslims carrying weapons and sticks were provoked and led by clerics to attack Christian houses [near where the incident occurred] on October 11, after Friday prayers," a local Christian human rights activist shared with ICC.

"They stoned the houses, broke the doors and windows and shouted slogans against the Christian community and faith. [Fortunately,] the mob was controlled by the police, otherwise we would have seen another 'Joseph Colony incident' in Lahore. Dozens of Christian men and women were reported injured during this attack," the local activist added. The attackers reportedly demanded that Adnan be hanged publically as they rampaged through the Christian neighbourhood.

"All the Christian families have fled from the area to unknown safe places. We are worried for our lives, property, and belongings," the local activist said. "We want to go back to our homes, safely, as soon as possible."

Reaction of the families of the Christians arrested

In an interview with ICC, Hahira Mushtaq, wife of Mushtaq Masih, described her desperation now that her husband has been arrested and imprisoned in connection with this incident. "We have not slept properly for a single night since [the arrest], due to fear of being attacked." Holding her youngest daughter, Tahira said, "I have no more excuses or answers for Sitaish to calm her and keep her from waiting for her father to come home."

"I beg Jesus to set him free as soon as possible," she prayed as she wept for her husband in prison.

Adnan remains in hiding and out of the custody of both the police and the Jamaat-ul-Dawat extremist group. The three Christian men who have been arrested in Adnan's place remain in prison, and tensions in Lahore remain high. Several Christian organizations have attempted to help bring about a peaceful resolution to this most recent blasphemy accusation against a Christian, but many fear this incident could be the prelude to another indecent of communal violence against the Christian community of Pakistan.

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organisation that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For more information visit www.persecution.org
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 31)  The Saudi Arabia government is expected to settle the 4.6 billion unpaid wages and end of contract payments of around 9,000 Filipino migrant workers, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Sunday.

Bello said the payment of the unsettled salaries and benefits will be made during the visit of the Middle East nation's labor minister Ahmed al-Rajhi in December.

"The unpaid salaries of our OFWs can be settled just in time for Christmas," said Bello.

The Labor secretary also said al-Rajhi has appealed to the Philippines to reconsider a possible deployment ban in the Gulf nation, at the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Dialog last week.

Bello warned of a deployment ban in the kingdom due to the unpaid salaries of the OFWs, who were forced to return to the country after they stopped receiving remuneration.

Several weeks ago, he had ordered DOLE line agencies to look into the possibility of the ban, after the Saudi government failed to facilitate the release of the amount despite their courts ruling in favor of the OFWs in 2016.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 31)  A journalist in Davao del Sur was killed by an unknown gunman Saturday evening. Newsline Philippines confirmed Orlando "Dondon" Dinoy, one of their reporters, has died.

"He was killed inside his boarding house past 6 p.m. tonight,"' the Davao City-based media outlet said in a post on its Facebook page.

Newsline Philippines said an initial report indicated Dinoy was in his rented apartment in Poblacion Uno, Bansalan, when the gunman went inside and shot him at close range.

In a statement on Sunday, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) condoled with Dinoy's family.

Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, the executive director of PTFoMS, said the government condemned the crime "in the strongest terms."

Egco said he was coordinating with PBGen Filmore Escobal, the director of Police Regional Office 11, to determine those responsible for Dinoy's killing.

In a separate statement, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said he had ordered an investigation into the incident.

Ipinapaabot ko ang taus-pusong pakikiramay sa mga naulila at kasamahan ni Orlando Dinoy at bilang aksyon ay inatasan ko na ang RD, PRO11 (regional director, Police Regional Office 11) na tutukan ang kasong ito upang mapanagot kung sino man ang may gawa ng krimeng ito, he said.

[Translation: I extend my heartfelt condolences to those left behind by Orlando Dinoy and in response, I have ordered the RD, PRO11 to focus on this case to those responsible for this crime will be made accountable.]

On Sunday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevara said the PTFoMS will "lead and coordinate" the investigation into Dinoy's death.

"The PNP and the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) are member agencies of the PTFoMS. Kasama sila sa lahat ng investigations [They are included in all investigations]. We are calling on all journalists and media persons who feel that their personal security is at risk to immediately inform the PTFoFMS, through its executive director Joel Egco, so that the task force may take all the necessary protective or preemptive measures," added Guevarra.

Dinoy's death comes after a report from the New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists that said the Philippines is the seventh worst country when it comes to prosecuting killers of journalists.

In its latest Global Impunity Index released on Wednesday, the media watchdog noted that the Philippines has 13 unsolved media killings from 11 in 2020, adding that between 1992 and 2021, 85 journalists were "murdered".
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 31)  Top-ranking communist leader Jorge Madlos, also known as Ka Oris, was killed in Bukidnon by state forces, both the military and the National Democratic Front-Northeast Mindanao confirmed on Sunday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines reported that Ka Oris was one of the two casualties in the firefight between government troops and around 30 communist rebels in Barangay Dumalaguing in the town of Impasugong on Saturday.

Described by the AFP as the "top most wanted NPA commander in the country," Ka Oris was the commander and spokesperson of the National Operations Command of the New People's Army. He was also spokesperson of the NDF in Mindanao.

In a press briefing, the Philippine Army presented a photo of what it identified as the NPA leader's body. Through the photo, NPA members who were captured or who surrendered have positively identified that the body was that of Ka Oris, said Major General Romeo Brawner, Jr., the Army's 4th Infantry Division commander.

Brawner said they were in the process of acquiring DNA samples and dental records to ascertain the cadaver's identity.

"But as of now, we are very certain na ang namatay po, ang na-recover natin na cadaver [that the person killed, that the cadaver we recovered] is the cadaver of Ka Oris," he said.

"Ang pagkamatay po ni [The death of] Jorge Madlos, or Ka Oris, has been one of our missions for the past several years already, and finally, we have been able to neutralize Jorge Madlos," the army official added.

According to the AFP, Ka Oris was wanted for a number of criminal cases, including murder, multiple murders, and robbery related to the armed struggle.

Meanwhile, it identified the other casualty as Eighfel Dela Pena, alias Ka Pika or Ka Maui, a medical and communications staff of the NPA.

The military said none of its soldiers died or were wounded in the clash.

NDF: Claim of gunfight untrue

Ka Oris's wife and NDF-Northeast Mindanao spokesperson Myrna Sularte, also known as Maria Malaya, confirmed the deaths in a statement later in the day.

However, she refuted the government's claim that there was a gunfight.

Malaya said Ka Oris was onboard a motorcycle with Dela Pena on Friday evening on his way to get his regular medical check-up and treatment, when they were ambushed and killed. She said both were unarmed.

"Brawner is obviously ashamed to say that they (military) just waited by the provincial highway and attacked Ka Oris and his companion female medic who were onboard a single motorcycle," Malaya wrote.

"We challenge Brig. Gen. Brawner to reveal to the media and the public what really happened, to not be a big liar, for only then can he truly take pride in his achievement of killing Ka Oris," she continued.

Communist Party of the Philippines spokesperson Marco Valbuena said independent pathologists should perform an autopsy on the bodies to determine the actual circumstances of their killing.

"We support the wishes of the families to have the bodies of Ka Oris and Ka Pica be immediately released to them in order for them to conduct a proper wake and give all those who knew Ka Oris the opportunity to pay their last respects," he added.

The NPA leader's death is "a major blow" to the communist rebellion in Mindanao, the AFP said, adding it believes the fall "will usher in eventual peace in the region."

Brawner said the government will now go after Malaya, whom he also urged to surrender.
(CNN) -- "Trick or treat!"

Those words will be echoing in neighborhoods across the country as children go door-to-door in search of delicious treats this Halloween.

Going trick-or-treating outdoors is a low-risk activity, according to CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen. Families should assess if they are comfortable going to higher-risk indoor activities, she added.

In the flurry of all the costumes and decorations, it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of the holiday.

To ensure you celebrate safely, here are some guidelines to follow this Halloween.

Wear a face mask

Covid-19 is a serious concern, so it's important everyone wear face masks when trick-or-treating or attending parties, said Dr. Emily Levy, pediatric infectious disease and pediatric critical care specialist at the Mayo Clinic Children's Center in Rochester, Minnesota.

"Surgical, medical or multi-layer masks are going to be more reliably protective and better fitting as compared to costume masks," she said via email.

If you are invited to an indoor party, it's a good idea to ask if masks will be required, Levy noted. Larger parties with unmasked attendees could lead to the spread of Covid-19, especially for younger children who are not vaccinated yet, she said.

Families should also weigh the risks if they have a loved one who has health complications that make them more susceptible to contracting the virus, Levy said.

Stay safe around fire

Many Halloween decorations, such as jack-o'-lanterns, use fire, and they are often placed in high foot traffic areas like porches and walkways, said Erin McDermott, a spokesperson for the National Safety Council. Try using electric candles for pumpkins to limit the chance of a fire.

Costumes with fabric or other accessories that drag along the ground are at risk of catching on fire.

When selecting your costume, make sure the clothing, wigs and accessories are fire-resistant, McDermott said. It will be clearly marked on the packaging, so if you do not see a tag, assume it is not fire-resistant, she added. In addition, make sure there are no pieces dangling and that the costume is not too long.

Light up your costume

The risk of pedestrian fatalities from vehicles is 43% higher on Halloween compared to other autumn days, according to a 2019 study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

McDermott recommended trick-or-treaters wear reflective tape on their costumes as well as carrying glow sticks and flashlights so drivers can see children more easily.

Additionally, children should use crosswalks, not run between parked cars, and walk instead of running across the street, she said.

Inspect the candy

When children return home from trick-or-treating, grown-ups should inspect the candy to ensure it's safe.

Any candy that is not commercially packaged or that has pinholes in it should be discarded, McDermott said.

If any of your children have food allergies, she recommended adults read the ingredients labels to prevent an allergic reaction.

Some treats, such as hard candies, nuts and gum, can be considered a choking hazard for young children, so they should not be left unattended with those candies, she added.

"When in doubt, throw it out," McDermott said.

Be mindful of trick-or-treaters with autism

For some children and young adults with autism, there are many challenges that arise from trick-or-treating, said Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association.

Many people with autism are unable to speak, which means they may not say "trick-or-treat" or "thank you," she said. Eye contact can also be challenging, and some may not be able to wear a costume due to sensory issues, Fournier added.

For people passing out treats, make sure to greet everyone with understanding and kindness, she said.

"For example, instead of asking and waiting for a child to say, 'trick-or-treat,' just say hello or compliment them on their costume and wish them a Happy Halloween," Fournier said via email.

Some people with autism may choose to use a blue bucket on Halloween to collect their treats, which is a signal to others that the trick-or-treater has autism.

It has recently become a divisive choice, with some saying it sets people with autism apart and potentially makes them a target for abuse, Fournier said.

On the other hand, others believe it's a great way to discreetly alert people that the child or young adult may not be able to participate in all aspects of trick-or-treating, she added.

The decision to use a blue bucket should be based on a person's unique needs, Fournier said.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Here's what you need to know to have a safe Halloween".
" " What began as a project by two students in Stanford University's Ph.D. program is now one of the most influential companies in the world. Adam Berry/Getty Images

What began in the late 1990s as a research project helmed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students in Stanford University's Ph.D. program, is now one of the most influential companies in the world: Google. At first, the students' goal was to make an efficient search engine that gave users relevant links in response to search requests.

While search is still Google's core purpose, the company now provides services and goods ranging from (among many) email and photo storage to productivity software (the Google Docs suite), the internet browser Chrome, the mobile operating system Android, Chrome laptops and the Pixel mobile phone. Google has evolved from that two-man enterprise into a multibillion-dollar corporation. In 2015, it restructured and is now the jewel of parent company Alphabet, making it one of the biggest and richest companies in the world.

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Google has long been the most visited site on the Web, too, making the company's influence on commerce and culture undeniable [source: Lifewire]. Practically every webmaster wants his or her site listed high on Google's search engine results pages (SERPs) because that almost always translates into more traffic. Google has also acquired other Internet companies, ranging from blogging services to YouTube. For a while, the company's search technology even powered rival companies' search engines: Yahoo relied on Google searches for nearly four years until developing its own search engine technologies in 2004 [source: Google].

In this article, we'll learn about the backbone of Google's business, its search engine. We'll also look at other services Google offers. Then we'll take a quick peek at some of the tools, both software and hardware, that Google has developed over the years. We'll also learn more about the equipment Google uses to keep its massive operation running. Finally, we'll take a closer look at Google, the company.
The number of new COVID-19 cases continued to fall this past weekend, though all but four of the counties in the southcentral Pennsylvania region saw at least one new death over the last two days, according to the state Department of Health.

The department reported in its online dashboard that Cumberland County had 114 new cases Friday and Saturday - another drop in new case totals in weekend reportings. The newest total is the smallest increase in weeks without having been affected by a drop in reporting due to a holiday.

Along with a smaller number of positive cases, the percent positivity is also dropping. Judging by just the number of confirmed cases (84) and the number of negative tests reported (322) in the last two days, about 20.7% of the tests came back positive. That's a drop from where the county was seeing about 25% to 30% of its tests coming back positive.

Like Cumberland County, the number of new cases is mostly dropping across the region. Dauphin County saw only 155 new cases, while York County saw a considerable drop to 361 new cases where it had been seeing 400 to 450 new cases each weekend.

Some counties did see an increase in cases compared to last weekend, with Lebanon County seeing a slight rise from the 80 or so cases to 98 new case, and Franklin County also rising slightly to 88 from 74 new cases - though both counties are still seeing far fewer cases than they were a few weeks ago.

The number of deaths, however, continue to rise in the month of October. Cumberland County had another two deaths, while Perry County also saw two new deaths and York County had three new deaths. Counties in the region that saw one new death over the weekend were Dauphin, Adams, Franklin, Blair, Fulton and Mifflin counties.

Hospitalizations fell only slightly in Cumberland County, decreasing by one patient to 94 patients overall in a hospital with COVID-19. Of those patients, 17 are in the ICU (one fewer than Friday) and 17 are on ventilators (one more than Friday). Of the 113 currently staffed ICU beds in the county, only 14 are available.

Dauphin and Franklin counties, however, saw an increase of patients over the weekend.

The number of patients in Dauphin County grew by six to 125 COVID-19 patients, with 36 adults in the ICU (three more than Friday) and 24 on ventilators (another increase of three patients). Of its 198 currently staffed beds, 24 were available.

Franklin County saw another three patients come into its hospitals with COVID-19, raising its number to 58 patients overall. Of the patients, 14 are in the ICU (one more than Friday) and seven are on ventilators. Of its 26 currently staffed ICU beds, six are still available.

School-age children

In its weekly update for the eighth week of the school year, the department reported 72 cases among children aged 5-18 in Cumberland County during the week of Oct. 20-26, a decrease of 46 from the 118 cases reported last week. That brings the total number of cases in Cumberland County for this school year to 1,261.

Statewide, the number of cases among 5- to 18-year-olds decreased for the fifth week in a row with 5,238 cases reported. The state said the total number of cases in that age group for the school year is 59,743.

Early Warning Dashboard

Cumberland County saw a decrease in its in percent positivity and its incidence rate per 100,000 people in the Health Department's weekly update to its Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard Friday. Its percent positivity decreased to 8.5% for the week of Oct. 22-28, down from 10.6% the previous week. The incidence rate per 100,000 people decreased to 123.9, down from 156.7 the previous week.

Philadelphia County, which includes the city of Philadelphia, had the lowest percent positivity in the state for the week of Oct. 22-28 at 3.3% and the lowest incidence rate per 100,000 people at 63.9.

Philadelphia and Sullivan counties each dropped out of high transmission status for COVID, with both listed as substantial spread now.

Penn State Health update (Oct. 29)

Penn State Health lists a COVID-19 dashboard on its website tracking cases at each of its acute care hospitals  Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center, Hampden Medical Center and Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. The dashboard will be updated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Friday's update shows 107 total cases (102 adults, 5 pediatrics) in the health system's four hospitals  25 are fully vaccinated (23.4%) with two in an ICU and no one on a ventilator, 67 are nonvaccinated (62.6%) with 22 adults in an ICU and 12 adults on a ventilator, and 15 are unknown status patients. Four of five children hospitalized are unvaccinated, with two in an ICU and two on a ventilator.

Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill has 20 COVID patients. Ten are fully vaccinated adults (no one in ICU and no one on a ventilator) and 10 unvaccinated adults (one in an ICU and one on a ventilator).

Hampden Medical Center has six COVID patients. Five are not fully vaccinated (two in an ICU, two on a ventilator) and one is fully vaccinated.

Vaccinations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labels Cumberland County as having "high" transmission of the virus  the highest level, which is the transmission level for every county in the state except Sullivan and Philadelphia counties which have dropped to "substantial," the next highest level. Community transmission is determined by the number of new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days and the positivity rate over the last seven days, so the classification could vary from day to day based on those numbers.

In data updated Saturday evening, the CDC says Cumberland County has seen 62.7% of its total population of 253,370 become fully vaccinated. For the county's vaccine eligible population of people ages 12 and older, 72.4% have been fully vaccinated.

County numbers in the southcentral region (for Oct. 31) *cases are 2-day totals:

Adams County (pop. 103,009): 76 new cases; 13,377 total cases (10,942 confirmed, 2,435 probable); 44,096 negatives; 225 deaths (+1); 49.9% of county population vaccinated

76 new cases; 13,377 total cases (10,942 confirmed, 2,435 probable); 44,096 negatives; 225 deaths (+1); 49.9% of county population vaccinated Bedford County (pop. 47,888): 56 new cases; 6,856 total cases (4,672 confirmed, 2,184 probable); 12,458 negatives; 171 deaths; 34.7% of county population vaccinated

56 new cases; 6,856 total cases (4,672 confirmed, 2,184 probable); 12,458 negatives; 171 deaths; 34.7% of county population vaccinated Blair County (pop. 121,829): 199 new cases; 17,706 total cases (13,953 confirmed, 3,753 probable); 47,138 negatives; 388 deaths (+1); 46.2% of county population vaccinated

199 new cases; 17,706 total cases (13,953 confirmed, 3,753 probable); 47,138 negatives; 388 deaths (+1); 46.2% of county population vaccinated Cumberland County (pop. 253,370): 114 new cases; 28,275 total cases (22,128 confirmed, 6,147 probable); 101,899 negatives; 626 deaths (+2); 62.7% of county population vaccinated

114 new cases; 28,275 total cases (22,128 confirmed, 6,147 probable); 101,899 negatives; 626 deaths (+2); 62.7% of county population vaccinated Dauphin County (pop. 278,299): 155 new cases; 34,955 total cases (30,024 confirmed, 4,931 probable); 128,268 negatives; 651 deaths (+1); 58.6% of county population vaccinated

155 new cases; 34,955 total cases (30,024 confirmed, 4,931 probable); 128,268 negatives; 651 deaths (+1); 58.6% of county population vaccinated Franklin County (pop. 155,027): 88 new cases; 21,904 total cases (17,846 confirmed, 4,058 probable); 64,353 negatives; 460 deaths (+1); 45.6% of county population vaccinated

88 new cases; 21,904 total cases (17,846 confirmed, 4,058 probable); 64,353 negatives; 460 deaths (+1); 45.6% of county population vaccinated Fulton County (pop. 14,530): 16 new cases; 2,266 total cases (1,122 confirmed, 1,144 probable); 5,004 negatives; 32 deaths (+1); 31.1% of county population vaccinated

16 new cases; 2,266 total cases (1,122 confirmed, 1,144 probable); 5,004 negatives; 32 deaths (+1); 31.1% of county population vaccinated Huntingdon County (pop. 45,144): 33 new cases; 6,888 total cases (5,661 confirmed, 1,227 probable); 20,692 negatives; 157 deaths; 46.8% of county population vaccinated

33 new cases; 6,888 total cases (5,661 confirmed, 1,227 probable); 20,692 negatives; 157 deaths; 46.8% of county population vaccinated Juniata County (pop. 24,763): 13 new cases; 2,919 total cases (2,659 confirmed, 260 probable); 6,661 negatives; 116 deaths; 40.1% of county population vaccinated

13 new cases; 2,919 total cases (2,659 confirmed, 260 probable); 6,661 negatives; 116 deaths; 40.1% of county population vaccinated Lebanon County (pop. 141,793): 98 new cases; 20,707 total cases (17,710 confirmed, 2,997 probable); 63,123 negatives; 339 deaths; 50.8% of county population vaccinated

98 new cases; 20,707 total cases (17,710 confirmed, 2,997 probable); 63,123 negatives; 339 deaths; 50.8% of county population vaccinated Mifflin County (pop. 46,138): 58 new cases; 7,329 total cases (6,934 confirmed, 395 probable); 17,571 negatives; 200 deaths (+1); 48.9% of county population vaccinated

58 new cases; 7,329 total cases (6,934 confirmed, 395 probable); 17,571 negatives; 200 deaths (+1); 48.9% of county population vaccinated Perry County (pop. 46,272): 19 new cases; 5,328 total cases (4,112 confirmed, 1,216 probable); 13,270 negatives; 124 deaths (+2); 47% of county population vaccinated

19 new cases; 5,328 total cases (4,112 confirmed, 1,216 probable); 13,270 negatives; 124 deaths (+2); 47% of county population vaccinated York County (pop. 449,058): 361 new cases; 62,909 total cases (51,214 confirmed; 11,695 probable); 194,212 negatives; 979 deaths (+3); 55.2% of county population vaccinated

ZIP code-level counts (updated Oct. 31):

17013: 3,390 positives, 15,800 negatives - +14 since Oct. 29

17015: 2,031 positives, 7,700 negatives - +9 since Oct. 29

17050: 3,215 positives, 16,107 negatives - +9 since Oct. 29

17055: 3,623 positives, 18,286 negatives - +17 since Oct. 29

17011: 3,343 positives, 15,295 negatives - +13 since Oct. 29

17007: 481 positives, 1,962 negatives - +0 since Oct. 29

17065: 347 positives, 1,365 negatives - +0 since Oct. 29

17324: 391 positives, 1,414 negatives - +2 since Oct. 29

17241: 909 positives, 3,438 negatives - +2 since Oct. 29

17257: 2,338 positives, 7,768 negatives - +12 since Oct. 29

17240: 223 positives, 698 negatives - +2 since Oct. 29

17025: 1,545 positives, 6,213 negatives - +3 since Oct. 29

17070: 1,441 positives, 5,905 negatives - +7 since Oct. 29

17043: 494 positives, 2,235 negatives - +2 since Oct. 29

17019: 1,703 positives, 6,027 negatives - +10 since Oct. 29

17266: 28 positives, 136 negatives - +0 since Oct. 29

School district and college case counts (updated Oct. 29)

The Sentinel's case counts for Cumberland County school districts and colleges or universities are updated Fridays. The policy for each school districts reporting is noted in the list below.

Big Spring School District (reports active cases in past 14 days with school exposure): 17 student cases and 3 staff cases being monitored as of the sites last update on Oct. 27.

(reports active cases in past 14 days with school exposure): 17 student cases and 3 staff cases being monitored as of the sites last update on Oct. 27. Carlisle Area School District (reports cases as they occur and updates a chart): 10 new cases since Oct. 22; 164 cases this school year (started Aug. 25) according to the charts last update on Oct. 27.

(reports cases as they occur and updates a chart): 10 new cases since Oct. 22; 164 cases this school year (started Aug. 25) according to the charts last update on Oct. 27. Camp Hill School District (posts chart that includes total case count): 1 new student case and 1 new staff case since Oct. 22; 62 student cases and 8 staff cases this school year (started Aug. 25.)

(posts chart that includes total case count): 1 new student case and 1 new staff case since Oct. 22; 62 student cases and 8 staff cases this school year (started Aug. 25.) Cumberland Valley School District (reports weekly and total number of cases with school exposure): 14 cases since Oct. 22; 194 cases this school year (started Aug. 31.)

(reports weekly and total number of cases with school exposure): 14 cases since Oct. 22; 194 cases this school year (started Aug. 31.) Mechanicsburg Area School District (chart lists total cases actively being monitored, updated Tuesday and Friday): 6 positive and presumed positive cases being monitored as of Oct. 29.

(chart lists total cases actively being monitored, updated Tuesday and Friday): 6 positive and presumed positive cases being monitored as of Oct. 29. Shippensburg Area School District (reports weekly and total confirmed case counts involving school exposure): 2 new cases since Oct. 22; 147 cases this school year (started Aug. 19) as of the charts last update on Oct. 27.

(reports weekly and total confirmed case counts involving school exposure): 2 new cases since Oct. 22; 147 cases this school year (started Aug. 19) as of the charts last update on Oct. 27. South Middleton School District (posts notices as cases occur, updates table of case counts weekly on Fridays): 4 new casts since Oct. 15; 72 cases this school year (started Aug. 25) as of the charts last update on Oct. 22.

(posts notices as cases occur, updates table of case counts weekly on Fridays): 4 new casts since Oct. 15; 72 cases this school year (started Aug. 25) as of the charts last update on Oct. 22. West Shore School District (reports active cases with school exposure within past 14 days): 53 student cases and 6 staff cases being monitored as of Oct. 29.

(reports active cases with school exposure within past 14 days): 53 student cases and 6 staff cases being monitored as of Oct. 29. Dickinson College : 2 student cases and 1 employee cases since Oct. 22; 34 student cases and 24 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 30.)

: 2 student cases and 1 employee cases since Oct. 22; 34 student cases and 24 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 30.) Messiah University : 8 new student cases and 6 new staff cases since Oct. 22; 58 student cases and 24 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 7.)

: 8 new student cases and 6 new staff cases since Oct. 22; 58 student cases and 24 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 7.) Shippensburg University: 13 new student cases and 4 new staff cases since Oct. 22; 163 student cases and 21 employee cases this semester (started Aug. 1.)

(Counties with a percent positivity above 5% in a week go on the Department of Health's watch list)

Pennsylvania: Percent Positivity - 8.8% last 7 days (9.1% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 159.5 (175.4 previous 7 days)

Adams County: Percent Positivity - 15.2% last 7 days (16.0% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 192.2 (236.9 previous 7 days)

Cumberland County: Percent Positivity - 8.5% last 7 days (10.6% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 123.9 (156.7 previous 7 days)

Dauphin County: Percent Positivity - 11.9% last 7 days (12.5% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 168.9 (197.3 previous 7 days)

Franklin County: Percent Positivity - 11.7% last 7 days (12.5% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 149.7 (169.0 previous 7 days)

Lebanon County: Percent Positivity - 11.7% last 7 days (12.9% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 174.2 (201.0 previous 7 days)

Perry County: Percent Positivity - 15.2% last 7 days (15.5% previous 7 days) Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 175.1 (164.2 previous 7 days)

York County:

Percent Positivity - 15.4% last 7 days (14.7% previous 7 days)

last 7 days (14.7% previous 7 days)

Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days - 245.2 (258.1 previous 7 days)
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 father of an 11-year-old girl who died after being hit by a car while crossing a Corvallis street has filed a $9.1 million lawsuit against the city and the Oregon Department of Transportation, alleging road conditions contributed to her death.

Roy Daniel filed a complaint in Benton County Circuit Court in May on behalf of the estate of Rhianna Daniel, his deceased daughter. Roy Daniel could not be reached for comment.

Rhianna Daniel was struck and killed by a Nissan Leaf at about 6:41 p.m., Jan. 8, 2020, as she crossed Highway 99W/Southwest Third Street at a controlled intersection. She had just left the First Alternative Natural Foods Co-Op and was on her way home, less than two blocks away, according to the lawsuit.

The driver, Peter Eschwey, was not charged with a crime.

The allegations

The lawsuit alleges that the city of Corvallis and ODOT were negligent, among other reasons, because:

The design of the intersection failed to comply with existing state law stopping sight-distance standards.

Officials did not inspect or maintain the required sight distance standards prior to the collision.

Officials did not fix or modify the intersection to improve sight distances for vehicles, drivers and pedestrians.

They failed to have a policy to recognize and address line-of-sight issues.

There were no signs posted to warn pedestrians about obstructions in lines of sight.

Kristina Edmunson, communications director for the Oregon Department of Justice, said the state could not comment on pending litigation. Steven Lippold, chief trial counsel at the state Attorney General's Office, is representing ODOT in this case.

Springfield-based Robert Franz Jr., attorney for the city of Corvallis, did not respond to a request for comment.

The response

But in answers to the lawsuit filed with the court, lawyers for the city of Corvallis and ODOT both placed the blame on Eschwey and Daniel herself.

The answers allege that Daniel did not take proper safety precautions when using the crosswalk. Specifically, she didn't push the pedestrian signal prior to entering the crosswalk, she didn't wait a "reasonable period of time" for cars to react, she didn't "maintain a proper lookout," zig-zagged in the crosswalk, wore dark clothing and was using her cellphone, among other allegations, according to Corvallis' legal team.

Furthermore, they suggest that Eschwey was negligent that night, failing to look out for pedestrians crossing the street in the marked crosswalk. ODOT's attorney wrote that Eschwey failed to keep proper control of his vehicle and was "driving at unreasonable speed for the circumstances that existed."

Eschwey was originally listed as a third-party defendant on the lawsuit, but was later dismissed. ODOT filed a complaint against Eschwey, but Benton County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Donohue dismissed the case with prejudice. Eschwey is permanently dismissed from the case and cant be brought back to court for this specific matter.

Following the accident, the Oregon DOJ conducted an investigation to see if Eschwey could be charged with manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. The investigation determined that there was insufficient evidence to file those charges against Eschwey.

The collision

The initial complaint filed by Rhianna Daniels estate said Eschwey was driving at around 45 mph, but a video assessment by Corvallis police Detective Ty Volin estimated Eschweys speed at 32-33 mph in the 25 mph speed zone.

Daniel was rushed to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis after the crash where she died of her injuries the next day.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

Wise added it is still early in the case. Following depositions, the parties can either settle or go to trial. Benton County Circuit Court Judge Locke Williams has been assigned to the case.

The lawsuit is asking for $95,329.03 in medical and related billing along with $9 million in non-economic losses.

You tell me how much a young girls life is worth, said Michael Wise, the attorney for Rhiannas estate. We have to prove the value of someones life, which is quite hard when someone is a minor.

Daniel wasnt the first to be hit in that crosswalk  the area has a history of accidents. At the time of the January incident, there had already been two other traffic fatalities at that same block of Third Street. Both of these deaths involved bicyclists. Eric Austin died after being hit by a car in the crosswalk in June 2018. Jeremy Gruver died after being fatally struck by a motorist outside of the crosswalk.

The aftermath

Following Daniels death, community members gathered in March 2020 for a forum to discuss South Corvallis street safety. During the forum, Corvallis residents questioned ODOT and the city for not having enough safety measures in place.

Attendees also asked local law enforcement why they dont prosecute drivers more aggressively in fatal crashes that involve pedestrians and bicyclists.

The crosswalk where Daniels fatality occurred was equipped with flashing yellow lights that can be activated by the user. However, two of the four lights were damaged in a crash in August 2020 and had not been replaced at the time of the January incident.

Following Daniels death, Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson called for safety improvements at the South Corvallis intersection.

The next hearing for the matter is set for Dec. 20.

Maddie Pfeifer covers public safety for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6091 or Madison.Pfeifer@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @maddiepfeifer_

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Welcome to Garballis! Bring us your trash!

This could be the new sign on Highway 99 at the north entry to Corvallis. Republic Services is trying to get permission for a massive expansion of the Coffin Butte dump, less than 10 miles from our town center. Benton County is already welcoming garbage from around Oregon (our countys contribution is currently less than 12%). Now we can really start hauling it in!

Corvallis lovers, check it out. Take a ride up Highway 99, turn onto Coffin Butte Road, and see the size of your local dump. Now imagine that Coffin Butte Road is gone, covered with trash. Also the fields to the left of the dump, all the way up the side of Tampico Ridge, to a height of 250 feet, a mountain of garbage as high as a 25-story building. Thats the plan.

Loop back to town through the sensational Soap Creek Valley, and think about what Benton County means to you. If you dont think we should be funding our beautiful county by serving as a regional trash dump, let your county commissioners know. Find out more at the online Corvallis Planning Commission hearing on Nov. 2.

Maia Fischler

Corvallis

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Also covered are employees who provide support functions such as human resources and billing, as well as other employees who arent supported by federal money, but who are in the same building or workplace as federal contract employees.

People with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs can be exempted from vaccination, but its not clear how broad those exemptions will be. Georgia State told its employees that those who have already been inoculated will have to upload proof by computer.

The share of workers covered is likely to be the highest at the four designated research institutions  Augusta University, the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and Georgia Tech.

The university receives hundreds of millions of dollars annually pursuant to federal contracts, UGA President Jere Morehead wrote on Tuesday. This funding is critical to our mission.

Some schools won't be affected. The University of North Georgia told faculty it has no federal contracts covered by the rules.
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.
The airline also confirmed that local firm APG UK will be its representative in the U.K.

Bamboo Airways chairman Trinh Van Quyet said that the direct flights could commence as early as this year when the resumption of commercial flights between the two countries is allowed.

The airline said it expects to operate six round trips a week between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and London; and increase frequency based on demand.

Bamboo Airways's direct flights would help cut travel time between Vietnam and the U.K. to around 12 hours, seven hours quicker than flights that require transit.

The flights are expected to drop off and take passengers at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2, connecting Vietnam's Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports with the U.K.'s largest airport. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will be used for flights on the Vietnam-U.K. routes, the airline said.

Nguyen Hoang Long, Vietnamese ambassador to the U.K., said opening direct flights between the two countries would boost commerce and people to people exchanges, and would be particularly beneficial for the Vietnamese community in the U.K.

APG UK, a passenger and cargo representation company, will support the airline with sales, marketing and customer support as also issues related to aviation policies and procedures.
A Vietnamese mandarin cap believed to be from the Nguyen Dynasty has sold for 600,000 ($693,243) at a Balclis auction in Spain. Photo courtesy of the Balclis auction house

A Vietnamese Mandarin cap said to be from the Nguyen Dynasty has sold for 600,000 ($693,243) at a Balclis auction in Spain.

The auction was held both online and on-site on Thursday. On the website of the Balclis auction house, the cap was simply described as "Vietnamese Mandarin cap from the Nguyen Dynasty, late 19th century-early 20th century."

It comes with a box in lacquered and gilded wood, and has "some flaws and defects," the website said.

The item was introduced on October 20 with an initial price of 500. The 600,000 price tag was reached after over 10 bidders tried to get their hands on the item. The final bidder is an anonymous online collector.

Tran Dinh Son, a researcher, said the cap belonged to a high-ranking mandarin, was well preserved and similar to artifacts on display in Hue, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, meaning it was not all that rare. Before 1945, several families either buried the caps with the deceased mandarins or kept them for worship.

"I'm surprised to hear that the cap got a record-breaking price. In Vietnam, a similar item could be sold for around $10,000," he said, adding that it was a shame that the cap couldn't be traced back to its owner, as such information would increase its cultural value.

Vu Kim Loc, an artisan who specializes in restoring caps from the Nguyen Dynasty, said he was not surprised to see the cap fetching a high price at a foreign auction. He said there were only around five to seven similar mandarin caps in Vietnam, and caps belonging to high-ranking mandarins were even rarer.

"Besides, I believe the credibility of the auction house is also very important to gain the trust of customers. If they put up fake items, it would only hurt their reputation."

At another auction the same day, a ceremonial costume from the Nguyen Dynasty started at 800 and was sold for 35,000.

Son said Vietnamese artifacts have begun to gain traction on the international auction scene over the past five years, thanks to affluent Vietnamese abroad helping to spread the word.

Historian Duong Trung Quoc said the fact that Vietnamese artifacts are highly sought overseas is a testament to Vietnam's culture and history. However, he said it also means that Vietnamese artifacts were "being lost" and found abroad, a problem that has not been addressed yet.

"Due to wars and natural disasters, many valuable artifacts fell into the hands of Western collectors, and those found inside Vietnam are few. I think the government should begin an investigation into artifacts in countries like the U.S., France and Spain, and try to claim them back either through diplomatic or legal means. Artifacts are not only of monetary value; more importantly, they hold cultural values," he said.

In July, a sword from Emperor Thanh Thai was auctioned in the U.S. at a starting price of $5,000. In 2001, eBay auctioned artifacts found in a shipwreck near the Cham Islands in central Vietnam.
A man is injected with a Covid-19 vaccine shot in HCMC, June 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The HCMC Department of Health proposed city authorities allow third Covid vaccine shots be administered to frontline staff and those at high risk in the next two months.

The booster shot would be given to those who had gone at least six months since receiving their second dose depending on the type of vaccine, Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, deputy director of the department, told a meeting Saturday.

Chau added the city would administer the second Covid vaccine shot to children aged 12-17 in late November.

Ho Chi Minh City, which has fully vaccinated almost 80 percent of its adult population, was the first locality in the country to vaccinate children aged 12-17 against Covid-19 since Oct. 27. By Friday noon, around 86,000 children had been vaccinated in the southern metropolis, according to the municipal Center for Disease Control (CDC).

In 2022, the city plans to vaccinate all children aged three and older. In addition, the health sector would inject third and fourth shots for residents as prescribed by the Ministry of Health.

HCMC started vaccinating frontline Covid workers on March 8 when Vietnam started its mass vaccination campaign.

As of Saturday, 7.3 million people in HCMC have got at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and 5.7 million have been fully vaccinated.

Studies show that Covid antibodies decrease six months after second shots have been administered and vaccine efficacy against the Delta variant becomes lower over time, Reuters reported.

The World Health Organization earlier this month recommended that immunocompromised people be given an additional dose of Covid vaccine, due to their higher risk of breakthrough infections after standard immunization.

Israel, France and other Western nations have already started administering or made plans for booster shots, citing indications they are effective.
A newborn baby at the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Hanoi, January 1, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Hue

It needs much more to encourage childbirth than just a sum of VND8.84 million ($388) granted to those having two children, experts said.

A draft outline of the Law on Population prepared for submission to the government states couples in areas with low birthrates would be encouraged to have two children.

The government would grant couples a sum equal to the minimum wage of the particular region they live in upon having their first child, and twice that upon having the second.

The minimum wage currently ranges from VND3.07 million to VND4.42 million. Under the proposal, women in certain regions could receive up to VND8.84 million upon having their second child.

Professor Nguyen Dinh Cu, former head of the Institute of Population and Social Affairs at the National Economics University, said there are now 21 cities and provinces experiencing low birthrates and given the current population in those localities, if mothers there give birth to a second child every year, around 600,000 babies would be born, which means the state will have to spend VND5.4 trillion ($237 million) per year on the incentive.

The sum is way too big and would burden the state budget, he said.

Meanwhile, VND9 million to raise a child is way too little.

Among regions with the lowest birthrate is the southeast region, home to Ho Chi Minh City. Many couples in this region are migrant workers who have to cover different types of expenses each month, including rent, meaning the incentive would be little more than "a drop in the bucket," said Cu.

Pham Chanh Trung, head of HCMCs Bureau of Population and Family Planning, said giving the monetary incentive to encourage childbirth is not a new method and many Asian peers with low birthrates like Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have already applied it.

"However, many studies have shown the incentive is just one part of many combined solutions."

As for HCMC, couples are placed under lots of pressure, including having a house and a decent environment to raise a child, covering a high living cost, and keeping a job (given the highly competitive job market in the city). In most cases, women have to go to work and therefore, face more challenges in work-life balance.

The decision to have just one child for many couples comes from a reasonable cause: to ensure they will give the child the best of what they're capable of.

Therefore, Trung suggested, policymakers need to listen to the actual demand of parents and seek opinions from experts to come up with suitable solutions because it needs the support of the entire system for parents to take good care of their children.

Cu said in order for the childbirth encouragement to work, solutions need to be diversified.

It is necessary to publicly promote the participation of men in doing housework, taking care of children to ease the burden on women. These days, wives also have to go to work, earn money and as a result, have reduced economic pressure on husbands, he said.

Set to be submitted to city legislators late this year, a draft plan on the population policy for HCMC in 2021-2025 that gathers both experts and public opinions propose several solutions to encourage couples to have two children, including subsidizing or waiving hospital fees for the delivery of the second child and offering families having two children soft loans to access social housing.

Other recommendations include extending maternity leave from six months to one year for having a second child and giving the father a month off, increasing the number of days of annual paid leave from 12 for employees having kids under five, and subsidizing kindergarten fees at public facilities for families with two kids.

Vietnam is among the most rapidly aging countries in the world. It entered the aging phase in 2011 when the number of people over 60 made up 10 percent of the population. That rate climbed to 12 percent last year out of a population of 95 million and is expected to rise to 17.9 percent in 2025, and to more than 20 percent in 2038.

More women in Vietnam are choosing to marry later and not have children, with pressure of employment, housing, living, and education costs factoring in their decisions.

A decision issued last year by then-Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc encouraged people to marry before they are 30 and bear children early.

Nguyen Doan Tu, head of the General Department of Population and Family Planning under the Ministry of Health, said last year Vietnam had an average birthrate of 2.1 and the level is necessary to ensure a labor force because a lower one means the population is aging fast.

Trung said low fertility and rapid population aging create increasing pressure on the social security system for the elderly such as pensions, health insurance, social allowance and at the same time, causes a decline in the labor force, affecting the socio-economic development of the city.

On the other hand, the cost of the birth promotion policy as planned in HCMC will put pressure on the city's budget, while this budget should be invested in improving sustainable development.

However, Cu said: "In the long term, Vietnam needs to have strategies to adapt to the trend of lower birth rates to replace quantity by quality in its labor force."

Some countries have already improved their production output by using robots and Vietnam should learn from their experience so its economy would not be affected by the low birthrate, it was suggested.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in a trip to Indonesia for the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting in April 2021. Photo courtesy of the government portal

PM Pham Minh Chinh left for the U.K. Sunday, leading a delegation to the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference and to France for an official visit.

The delegates include officials and ministers from National Assembly committees and the ministries of defense, foreign affairs, environment and finance.

At the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26), Chinh will attend the opening ceremony, deliver speeches and meet with country leaders, international organizations and other important partners.

Gareth Ward, U.K. ambassador to Vietnam, said Chinh's trip would boost bilateral ties in various fields including traffic management, education, space and vaccines.

Later, he will pay a three-day (November 3-5) official visit to France.

In France, Chinh is set to meet and hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macro, PM Jean Castex and representatives of French businesses.

Nicolas Warnery, French ambassador to Vietnam, said the visit aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between both countries. Several agreements are expected to be signed during the trip.

The COP26 is scheduled to be held in the U.K., under the co-presidency of the U.K. and Italy. Around 30,000 representatives from all around the world will attend the conference, including over 100 country leaders.

The U.K. is Vietnam's third largest commerce partner in Europe, after Germany and the Netherlands. In 2019, the import-export trade turnover between the two countries reached $6.6 billion, with export turnover accounting for $5.8 billion, according to the Vietnam Customs.

France is Vietnam's fifth largest commerce partner in Europe, with the import-export trade turnover between the two countries in 2020 reaching $4.81 billion, a 10 percent drop from 2019's $5.3 billion.
From 2019 to 2020, the poverty rate in California fell from 16.2 percent to 12.3 percent.

Experts have attributed much of this decrease to federal pandemic-related aid like stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment insurance.

In the coming weeks as the state wraps up the distribution of its own stimulus checks. Early next year, researchers will be able to evaluate whether measures to help low-income residents had the same poverty alleviation effects as those passed by the federal government last year.

Golden State stimulus checks sent to help low-income residents

In February the California state legislature approved the sending of direct payments to those making under $35,000.

Golden State Stimulus I: Eligibility Requirements 2020 Tax Return Information Payment Amount If you... Are a CalEITC recipient;

File with an ITIN; and

Made $75,000 or less (total CA AGI) $600 If you are not a CalEITC recipient, but...

File with an ITIN and

Made $75,000 or less (total CA AGI) $1200 You file a joint return with a spouse and... At least one of you files with an ITIN

Made $75,000 or less (total CA AGI) $600 You file a joint return with a spouse and: You are a CalEITC recipient

At least one of you files with an ITIN

Made $75,000 or less (total CA AGI) $1200 Source: California Franchise Tax Board

In late spring, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state had seen a historic budget surplus, despite the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic. In light of this news, the Governor and many Democrats advocated to expand eligibility of the stimulus check program to all those making under $75,000 a year.

Golden State Stimulus II: Eligibility Requirements According to the California Franchise Tax Board, you must: Have filed your 2020 taxes by October 15, 2021

Have had a California Adjusted Gross Income (CA AGI) between $1 to $75,000 for the 2020 tax year. For this information refer to: Line 17 on Form 540 OR Line 16 on Form 540 2EZ

Have had wages between $0 to $75,000 for the 2020 tax year

Been a California resident for more than half of the 2020 tax year

Been a California resident on the date payment is issued

Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer Source: California Franchise Tax Board

How many checks have been sent?



Around nine million people became eligible to receive the $600 direct payment after the requirements were expanded in July. The next batch of Golden State stimulus checks will be sent on 1 November. The batch being sent consists of physical checks sent to eligible residents living in zip codes ending 221-375.

Zip Code Distribution Schedule Last 3 digits of ZIP code Mailing timeframes 001-065 10/04/2021 through 10/22/2021 066-221 10/18/2021 through 11/05/2021 222-302 11/1/2021 through 11/19/2021 303-543 11/15/2021 through 12/03/2021 544-709 11/29/2021 through 12/17/2021 710-998 12/13/2021 through 12/31/2021 Source: California Tax Franchise Board, 2021

How many Californians have received their Golden State stimulus checks?

To date, around half of those eligible have received their check. Andrew LePage spokesmen for the California Franchise Tax Board (CFTB) told an ABC affiliate that on November 1st over 750,000 checks would be mailed. This follows a previous batch sent on 29 October which reached more than 400,000 tax filers through direct deposit.

Physical Checks

At this point, the state has made all direct deposit payments. Those who will receive a physical check may have to wait until January 2022, depending on the zip code they live in.

All tax filers, or those eligible, needed to have submitted a tax return to the CFTB by 15 October to receive a check. Those who submitted their returns very close to the deadline should expect to wait between one to two months before they see their payments.

For those who submitted their return and provided direct deposit information after 1 September, a forty-five-day waiting period should be expected. If no direct deposit information was given at the point of filing, a physical check will be mailed, by the CFTB will need between sixty days to review the information and send the check.
New lava stream could close road to Puerto Naos

During today's press conference, PEVOLCA Technical Director Miguel Angel Morcuende warned that there is a danger that one of the three active lava flows has branched off to form a new one which could cut off a major road if it collapses. Lava flow No.3 continues to be a concern and a new tributary of lava was formed on Sunday, which authorities have classified as lava flow No.11 - it is this stream which is creeping dangerously close to the LP-211 road which gives access to Puerto Naos.

"The most significant change to the situation yesterday was the increased production of ash by the volcano throughout the whole day, affecting the west and north west parts of the island. As for the lava flows, No.3 was the one which experienced the most movement yesterday. Part of lava flow No.11 has been leaking and is in danger of cutting off one of the two main roads to Puerto Naos. The lava is practically hanging over the main road. At the moment, it is about 200 metres away, and there is a very high chance that it might close that road" Morcuende explained, adding that two people had been added to the number of displaced residents who are sheltering in hotels.
-- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday addressed the Group of 20 (G20) leaders' summit via video link, calling on its members to shoulder due responsibilities and uphold openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation for forging a community with a shared future for mankind.

-- "Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons," Xi said, urging the G20 to play a leading role in building consensus, mobilizing resources, and promoting cooperation.

-- "Developed countries need to lead by example on emissions reduction, fully accommodate the special difficulties and concerns of developing countries, and deliver on their commitments of climate financing," Xi added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday addressed the Group of 20 (G20) leaders' summit via video link, calling on its members to shoulder due responsibilities and uphold openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation for forging a community with a shared future for mankind.

"Let us work together to dispel the dark clouds of the pandemic at an early date and jointly build an ever better future for all of us," said Xi.

The summit, with the theme of "People, Planet, Prosperity," is being held online and offline from Saturday to Sunday by Italy, which holds the rotating G20 presidency.

STRENGTHENING ANTI-PANDEMIC COOPERATION

"Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons," Xi said, urging the G20 to play a leading role in building consensus, mobilizing resources, and promoting cooperation.

Created in 1999, the G20 comprising 19 countries plus the European Union, is a main forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues. The group accounts for 86 percent of the global GDP and two-thirds of the world population. "International expectation is mounting for the G20 to rally more consensus to counter increasingly urgent global challenges," said Liu Zhaoyi, a research fellow at Rhodes University, South Africa.

To actively promote COVID-19 vaccines -- powerful weapons to defeat the virus -- as global public goods, China so far has provided over 1.6 billion doses of vaccines for more than 100 countries and international organizations, and is conducting joint vaccine production with 16 countries, with an initial capacity of 700 million doses per year, as put by Xi.

Proposing a Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative, Xi urged the provision of more vaccines to developing countries to meet the global vaccination target for 2022 as set by the World Health Organization (WHO), encouraging vaccine companies to transfer technology to developing countries, advancing mutual recognition of vaccines in accordance with the WHO's Emergency Use Listing, and providing financial support for global vaccine cooperation.

As developing countries have been hit extraordinarily hard by COVID-19, China has identified the weakest link in the global pandemic response and echoed the latest pledges by G20 members to advance the vaccination drive, said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies. "This demonstrates China's resolve to join hands with the world in weathering difficulties as a major player within G20 and beyond."

"China is ready to work with all parties to enhance vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries and make a positive contribution to building a global line of defense through vaccination," vowed Xi.

ENHANCING COORDINATION ON INCLUSIVE RECOVERY

Noting COVID-19 has made a complex and far-reaching impact on the world economy, Xi called for strengthening coordination to promote recovery, urging major economies to adopt responsible macroeconomic policies and the improvement of the global economic governance system and rules.

China welcomes the IMF's decision on the new allocation of Special Drawing Rights totaling 650 billion U.S. dollars, and stands ready to lend the new allocation to low-income countries that are seriously affected by COVID-19, added Xi.

"The governance effectiveness and credibility of the G20 depend on a partnership reflecting the evolving international landscape, meaning the rise of emerging markets," said Sun Jingxin, an associate research fellow with the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, adding that China's proposals are aimed at addressing both current economic hazards and the deficit of global governance architecture.

On common development, Xi urged the G20 to prioritize development in macro policy coordination and called on advanced economies to fulfill pledges on official development assistance. He also extended a welcome to more countries to actively participate in the China-proposed Global Development Initiative, which is "highly compatible with the G20's goal and priority of promoting global development."

To tap growth potential via innovation, Xi called on G20 members to promote the deeper integration of digital technologies with the real economy, adding that China has decided to apply to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement.

Open and inclusive cooperation championed by China and many other G20 members in the Industry 4.0 era is vital to better economic integration and post-pandemic recovery, Liu Zhaoyi told Xinhua.

CHAMPIONING A GREEN FUTURE

As the G20 represents 80 percent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions, commitments and actions by its members are drawing close attention amid the lead-up to the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change set to open on Sunday, which many G20 members are expected to attend.

Eyeing green and sustainable development, Xi urged the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities for G20 members. "Developed countries need to lead by example on emissions reduction, fully accommodate the special difficulties and concerns of developing countries, and deliver on their commitments of climate financing," Xi added.

John Kirton, founder and co-director of the G20 Research Group under the University of Toronto in Canada, said that China has always led cooperatively with other G20 members in responding to climate change, as demonstrated by its role in facilitating the ratification of the 2015 Paris Agreement. "Such global co-leadership is desperately needed now."

Expounding on China's moves to undertake due international responsibilities commensurate with its national conditions, Xi said in the past 10 years, China phased out 120 million kilowatts of installed coal-fired power generation capacity. The construction of the first batch of wind and photovoltaic power stations with a total installed capacity of about 100 million kilowatts was launched in an orderly fashion, he said.

Bambang Suryono, chairman of Indonesian think tank Asia Innovation Study Center, said China's investment in the new energy vehicle industry in Indonesia will help boost the country's development of green industries, and has provided "valuable inspirations" for other developing countries to avoid the old route of pollution before treatment.

While sticking to its green transition of the growth model and carbon neutrality goals, Suryono said China, "by uniting with other G20 members, could carry the banner of carbon reduction and help rally forces in future global ecological protection."
This donation project was submitted by Siemens Vietnam to Siemens Caring Hands and is co-implemented with DEVIEMED  an established non-profit association of German and Vietnamese doctors, with technical support from Siemens Healthineers in Vietnam.



Photo: Siemens

"With the donation from Siemens AG and its employees, Siemens Caring Hands wants to help combat negative effects of the pandemic. I am very grateful that we can use these funds in Vietnam to make a significant contribution to Covid-19 Treatment Hospitals, said Christian Kaeser, Chairman of Siemens Caring Hands.



In response to the Vietnamese government's call on COVID-19 prevention and control, DEVIEMED is very pleased to cooperate with Siemens Caring Hands and Siemens Vietnam to sponsor medical equipment for the hospitals to treat Covid patients, said Prof. Dr. Alexander Hemprich, President of DEVIEMED.



The hand-over ceremony of the mobile X-ray system MOBILETT Elara Max took place at COVID-19 Hospital in Hanoi today with attendance of representatives from Siemens Vietnam, Siemens Healthineers, DEVIEMED and Hanoi Medical University Hospital.



Siemens Healthineers MOBILETT Elara Max is a lightweight and compact system that offers maximum mobility and positioning flexibility even in tight spaces with consistently high image quality. Thanks to its fast, secure, and seamless integration into IT network, the machine allows access to relevant data whenever in need. It is expected to scan more than 100 patients per day.



In treating COVID-19 patients, it is essential to have flexible and powerful machines that are always ready. MOBILETT Elara Max mobile X-ray system is a perfect solution. With this contribution, Siemens has helped us increase resources that are strongly needed for diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients in Vietnam, said Associate Professor Nguyen Lan Hieu, Director of Hanoi Medical University Hospital.



The anesthesia system will be delivered to Hue Central Hospital next week, where it will be used to treat COVID-19 patients with underlying illness, and later children with congenital facial malformations, such as cleft lip and cleft palate, in the central region of Vietnam.



We are very worried and concerned about severe damages caused by COVID-19 to Vietnam. To minimize it, we would like to make significant contributions to assist as many people as possible. This timely donation will help alleviate the negative impact caused by the coronavirus on the medical system and improve access to healthcare, even beyond the pandemic, said Siemens ASEAN & Vietnam President and CEO Pham Thai Lai./.
CANBERRA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye has bid farewell to people from political circle, business, academia, local governments, diplomatic missions and overseas Chinese community before completing his tour of duty.

Through meetings, phone calls and correspondence, he extended his gratitude for their support and assistance during his more than five years' term, and expressed appreciation for their efforts and contributions to promoting China-Australia friendship and cooperation, said a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Australia on Thursday.

He emphasized that a sound and stable China-Australia relationship serves the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples.

The current difficult situation facing China-Australia relations is saddening, Cheng said.

It is hoped that the Australian side will work in the same direction with the Chinese side on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, so as to overcome the difficulties and make joint efforts to bring the bilateral relations back to the right track as soon as possible, he noted.

The Chinese ambassador also thanked the overseas Chinese living in Australia for their efforts to facilitate exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia, building a bridge of friendship between both peoples.

He wished that they could continue to be participants, builders and promoters of China-Australia relations and inject more positive energy into the bilateral relations.

Cheng arrived in Australia in 2016.

Editor: WXL
Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian (L) and Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith attend a handover ceremony of digital transformation system in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Oct. 27, 2021. China on Wednesday donated a set of digital transformation system to the National Television of Cambodia (TVK), aiming at helping the TV station improve its broadcasting quality and efficiency. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- China donated a set of digital transformation system to the National Television of Cambodia (TVK), aiming at helping the TV station improve its broadcasting quality and efficiency.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian handed over the equipment to Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith at an event held at the Ministry of Information on Wednesday.

The system can convert analog video signals from Video Home System (VHS), Betacam, mini DV and other tapes into digital videos such as MOV, MXF, MP4, TS and MPG.

Ambassador Wang said broadcasting sector has been playing a crucial role in helping promote ties and cooperation between China and Cambodia.

"The handover ceremony clearly demonstrates that China has paid high attention to cooperation in the field of broadcasting with Cambodia, and we hope that our cooperation will be bigger in the future," he said.

Kanharith said the equipment is necessary for the TVK as it has planned to switch from analog to digital broadcasting.

"On behalf of the Ministry of Information and the government, I'd like to express my sincere thanks to the Chinese government as well as to the National Radio and Television Administration of China for providing this equipment to us," he said.

According to the minister, the analog broadcasting in Cambodia will be switched off by 2025.

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Editor: WXL
by Peerzada Arshad Hamid

NEW DELHI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Last week fears of coal shortage in India triggered an energy crisis-like situation, prompting chief ministers of several states including Delhi to seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention.

The country's thermal power plants were faced with critically low levels of coal stocks that could trigger outages and thereby impact the South Asian country's fledgling economic recovery.

Alarmed Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and Rajasthan flagged the issue of depleting coal reserves, warning it could lead to a prolonged power crisis across the country and plunge it into darkness.

The warnings forced the federal government to review the situation with coal and power ministries. The federal government has kept on saying the situation was under control and they have enough coal reserves at hand.

Experts say coal-based power plants in the country have witnessed rapid depletion of coal stocks from 28 days at the end of March to just four days by the end of September this year.

The data provided by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) during the crisis showed over half of the country's 135 coal-fired power plants have a fuel stock of fewer than two days.

ALL IS WELL

India's federal finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed worries about a possible shortage of coal and looming threat of power supplies as "absolutely baseless".

"Absolute baseless. There is no shortage of anything. In fact, if I recall the (power) minister's statement, every power-producing installation has the next four days' stock absolutely available within their own premises and the supply chain has not broken at all," Sitharaman said during her visit to the United States.

Sitharaman described India as a "power surplus country".

The Indian government has assured that the situation will normalize by ramping up coal production. India's union minister of coal Pralhad Joshi recently said coal dispatch to power plants will be further increased to ensure sufficient stock with power plants.

GENESIS OF CRISIS

As the economy began to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, a sudden demand in coal production, transportation and supply was witnessed, which in turn pushed the coal prices higher at the international level. The prices of imported coal began to soar in India and the power plants that usually relied on imports became dependent on domestic coal supply.

At the same time, inclement weather also contributed to the coal shortage as mines were flooded hampering the supply of fuel to power generation units.

Reports said India's electricity consumption too has risen almost about 17 percent in the last two months from a year earlier.

Had the crisis deepened, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh would have been the worst affected areas. To avoid a total blackout, some of the states had resorted to load-shedding.

India depends on coal to meet over 70 percent of its power needs, and state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) supplies over 80 percent of the total coal required.

The present ongoing coal crisis in India comes at a time of a broader energy crisis across the world, with the prices of various kinds of fuel including coal and oil rising sharply in the international market.

The current crisis in the availability of coal has been the result of lackluster domestic production and a sharp drop in imports over the last few years.

According to BP (British Petroleum) global energy statistics, domestic coal production in India has stagnated since 2018. Last year the stagnating supply did not cause trouble because of the shutdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise in power demand this year has exposed the government's inability to push domestic production.

REASONS FOR CRISIS

Factors that are being blamed for the insufficient supply of coal this year include short-term issues like flooding in coal mining areas, transport issues, labor disruptions in major coal mining countries and the sudden rise in power demand as the economy revives from the pandemic.

Experts said a combination of factors, operating in tandem, has resulted in this sharp demand-supply disparity.

"The persistent non-payment of coal sale dues by power plants to coal companies has created a serious strain on their working capital position. Some companies were forced to borrow from banks to meet the operational expenses, including disbursement of salaries. According to reports, INR 18,000 crore (2.38 billion U.S. dollars) is currently due to coal producers," wrote Partha Bhattacharyya, former chairman of the CIL in an opinion piece.

Bhattacharyya said the persistent shortage of coal production by the privatized and captive mines forced India to import around 200 million tons of coal.

"Of this, more than 40 percent goes to meet the demands of power plants. A spurt in imported coal prices, mainly due to a major increase in coal imports by China, acted as a brake on imports of coal. This escalated the demand for domestic coal," he said.

CIL HALTS COAL SUPPLIES

The CIL recently announced that it has temporarily stopped coal supplies to its customers from the non-power sector. However, the company assured that this is only a temporary move till the situation stabilizes.

The company said it has stopped all online auctions of coal except those meant for the power sector.

"This is only a temporary prioritization, in the interest of the nation, to tide over the low coal stock situation at the stressed power plants," the CIL said.

Editor: WXL
The Senate  Egypt's consultative upper house  will reconvene on Sunday and Monday to discuss a new law on the rights of senior citizens.
Egypt's navy celebrated on Tuesday the launch of its fourth 209/1400 mod class submarine, the armed forces announced.

According to the statement, the new S44 submarine is the fourth type 209/1400 sub manufactured by German ThyssenKrupp to be acquired by the Egyptian navy, and will enter service soon.

Egypt received the first submarine, S41, in December 2016; the second, S42, in August 2017 and the third, S43, in April of this year.

Addressing the launching ceremony, naval commander Ahmed Khaled said that Egypt has highly skilled cadres who are capable of using the latest techniques in the fields of operation and maintenance.

He said that the new submarine is part of a military strategy aimed at overcoming challenges in the region and maintaining full control over the Egyptian coasts in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

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Top Egyptian and United States navies officials discussed on Tuesday maximizing Cairos participation in the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) to commensurate to its pivotal role as a powerful force for the region.

According to an official statement, the Egyptian armed forces said its navys commander, Lieutenant General Ahmed Khaled, met with Vice Admiral Samuel Paparo, Commander US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces in Alexandrias Ras Al-Tin Naval Base.

They discussed coordinating efforts on means to combat common challenges and threats to the security and stability of the region.

The Egyptian official praised the development of joint military cooperation relations between the navies of both countries, especially in the technical fields and the exchange of expertise in maritime security operations, cybersecurity and joint trainings.

Paparo affirmed his countrys keenness on increasing the aspects of naval cooperation with Egypt through the expansion of joint trainings, adding that Egypt is key to peace and security in the Middle East.

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The four submarines will also help achieve maritime security, and protect Egyptian coasts, as well as promote economic interests between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea

A German S-44 submarine joined the Egyptian Navy in Alexandria on Monday, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement.



This 209/1400 mod class submarine is the last of four that Egypt received with the aim enhance its defense capabilities and combat efficiency, according to the statement



The four submarines will also help achieve maritime security, and protect Egyptian coasts, as well as promote economic interests between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.



The contract for the delivery of the first two 209/1400 mod class submarines to Egypt was signed in 2011.

In 2015, Egypt decided to take the option for two additional units. The first submarine was handed over in December 2016, the second in August 2017 and the third in April 2020.

The S-44 submarine is extremely reliable, can stay submerged for a long time, is fast, and hard to locate thanks to their low signatures.



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In early August, Russia resumed direct flights to Egyptian Red Sea resorts after a 6-year hiatus

Egypt's Ambassador in Moscow Ehab Nasser said 60 flights will be operating weekly from Russia to the Red Sea resort cities of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh as of 27 August.

At a press conference, the Egyptian diplomat said "Egypt warmly welcomes the return of Russian tourists to Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, as it is very important for tourism business organizations and the industry."

The ambassador noted that the resumption of regular flights between the two countries will help in boosting their ties, asserting that tourism is very important for the economies of both sides as it creates more job opportunities.

He made it clear that aviation movement will be running daily between the two countries.

Earlier this month, Russia resumed direct flights to Egyptian Red Sea resort cities after a 6-year hiatus.

Russian airlines and EgyptAir started operating of direct flights from Moscow to Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada airports on 9 August.

In an interview shortly following the resumption of direct flights between Russia and Egypt's Red Sea resort cities, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany stressed that coordination is underway to increase the number of direct flights between the two sides.

Russian travellers are a major contributor to the country's tourism industry, a key source of hard currency.

Russian tourists in Egypt surpassed 3.1 million in 2014, representing 33 percent of all tourists that year.

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The minister also discussed ways to produce the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine locally in Egypt to provide vaccines to Africa in cooperation with international pharmaceuticals

Egypts Health Minister Hala Zayed discussed cooperation on Thursday with Moderna pharmaceutical company representatives to provide its Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Egypt, the ministry of health said.

In a video conference meeting, the minister also discussed ways to produce the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine locally in Egypt to provide vaccines to Africa countries in cooperation with international pharmaceuticals.

She added that Egypt was looking forward to allocating production lines in VACSERA factories to produce the vaccine locally, inviting Moderna officials to visit Egypt and to see the production capabilities of VACSERA factories in 6th of October city.

From their side, Moderna representatives stated that the company was ready to provide Egypt with shipments of the vaccine. They also updated the health ministry on their future plans concerning vaccine production.

Egypts VACSERA started producing Chinas Sinovac locally in late July.

Russias Sputnik vaccine will also be produced locally after an agreement with a private sector company.

Currently Egypts stock of coronavirus vaccines comprise AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik, Sinovac and Johnson & Johnson.

According to source in the Health ministry, Egypt is going to receive Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the second half of September.

Minister Hala Zayed stated last week that ten million people have been vaccinated in Egypt so far. Currently the government is intensifying its mass vaccination campaign in order to reach its target of vaccinating 40 million people by the end of the year.

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Egyptian and Russian paratroopers started on Wednesday the 5th edition of the annual Protectors of Friendship drill in Cairo, the Egyptian Armed Forces announced.

The military exercise is hosted at the East Cairo airbase and will continue till 29 October.

The current phase of the exercise includes several theoretical and practical lectures to exchange training and fighting expertise.

The drills aim to boost strategic cooperation between the Egyptian Armed Forces and Russian counterparts in various fields.

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Qatars ambassador in Cairo said that his country considers Egypt a fertile ground for investment in light of the unprecedented progress and the positive improvements the country is going through in all fields; particularly in the investment climate.

Ambassador Salem bin Mubarak Al-Shafi made the comments during his meeting with Egypts Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait at the ministry's headquarters on Saturday.

Qatari investments in Egypt significantly increased in FY2019/2020 by 77.8 percent to record $679.4 million, up from $382.2 million in FY2018/2019, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Trade exchange between the two countries also went up by 11.8 percent in 2020, compared to 2019, to post $22.7 million.

Al-Shafi assumed his position as Qatar's new ambassador to Egypt in August after Cairo ended a four-year diplomatic and travel boycott of Doha under the Al-Ula reconciliation agreement, which was signed in January of this year.

Officials from both countries have been holding consultation meetings since to explore ways of bolstering bilateral relations.

Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Qatars Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani agreed in a meeting in Baghdad in August to continue consultation to boost bilateral relations during the coming period.

The Qatari diplomat asserted his country's willingness to rejuvenate cooperation ties between Egypt and Qatar in all spheres in order to achieve mutual development for both countries, stressing the existence of the political will to that end.

For his part, Maait stressed Egypts government has managed to create a healthy environment for foreign and local investments in different areas and provided promising investment opportunities in national and developmental mega projects.

Egypts government plans to raise the private sectors contribution to the countrys economic activity to 50 percent over the coming three years, Maait said.

He also noted that the government fosters the private sector to expand its venture and productive activities as a key engine of Egypts economic growth.

Under its Vision 2030, Egypt seeks to boost the private sectors contribution to the GDP and attract further foreign investments.

According to the latest figures, private sectors investments represented 52.5 percent of Egypts total investments in FY2018/2019.

Maait told Al-Shafi that the government acts to enlarge the initial public offering (IPO) programme through listing more state-owned companies over the coming months for the sake of expanding their broad-based ownership and leaving an ample room for the private sector to invest in.

Maait stated that the governments economic reforms have improved the country's economic indicators and achieved the developmental and fiscal objectives during FY2020/2021.

Accordingly, Egypt posted an initial surplus of 1.4 percent of the GDP, decreased the budgets overall deficit to 7.4 percent, and achieved a 3.3 percent in real GDP growth, Maait expounded.

On that basis, global finance and credit rating institutions reassured their confidence in Egypts economys solidness and its ability to counter both internal and external shocks, the minister added.

Maait also reviewed with the Qatari ambassador his ministry's efforts to upgrade Egypts customs and tax systems in order to streamline the procedures in both systems for the investors, lay the foundation of tax justice in the business community, and engage the informal business in the formal economy.

Maait pointed out that the application of the advanced cargo information (ACI) system in Egypts seaports would significantly reduce customs clearance measures, facilitate trade flow, and lure investment.

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Hackers believed to be linked to Iran have breached an Israeli internet hosting company, taking down several of its sites, local media reported.

The cyberattack hit websites including of Israeli public transport companies Dan and Kavim, a children's museum and public radio's online blog, with none of the sites available to users by midday Saturday.

The hacking group known as Black Shadow claimed responsibility for the attack and published what it said was client data, including the names, email addresses and phone numbers of Kavim clients, on the Telegram messaging app.

"Hello Again! We have news for you," the hackers wrote in a message on Telegram on Friday night.

"You probably could not connect to many websites today. 'Cyberserve' company and their customers (were) hit by us," it said.

"If you don't want your data leak(ed) by us, contact us SOON."

Later another message read: "They did not contact us... so (the) first data is here," with the group dumping the information online.

Later Saturday, the group issued another message claiming to have more data, and posted what it said was information pertaining to clients of the Dan transport company, a travel agency and an LGBT dating site, potentially exposing the identities of users.

Israeli media said Black Shadow is a group of Iran-linked hackers who use cyberattacks for criminal ends.

The group breached Israel's Shirbit insurance firm in December last year, stealing a trove of data.

It demanded a $1 million ransom and began leaking the information when the firm refused to pay.

The new attack comes after an unprecedented, unclaimed cyberattack wrought havoc on Iran's petrol distribution system this week.

Iranian media have pointed the finger at government opponents abroad.

Iran and Israel have been engaged in a so-called "shadow war", including several reported attacks on Israeli and Iranian ships that the two have blamed on each other, as well as cyberattacks.

In 2010 the Stuxnet virus -- believed to have been engineered by Israel and its ally the US -- infected Iran's nuclear programme, causing a series of breakdowns in centrifuges used to enrich uranium.

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Egypt has spent $400 million (about EGP 6 billion) to purchase coronavirus vaccines from multiple sources and has administered over 35 million shots to 25 million citizens, the presidential adviser for health affairs said on Sunday.

Egypt has sought to diversify the procurement of coronavirus vaccines to reach its goal of fully vaccinating 40 million citizens or more by the year's end, Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din told local television channel Extra News.

The presidential adviser said the country has administered over 35 million doses to 25 million people since the launch of the vaccination campaign earlier this year.

Egypt seeks to administer around 80 million doses of various vaccines, including the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine which is currently administered to those who are planning to travel abroad, in order to fully vaccinate 40 million people by the end of the year, Tag El-Din said.

Egypt has received over 60 million doses of the Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer vaccines, most of which were donated to the country through the Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative.

On Saturday, Egypt received 3.6 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was donated from the US through the COVAX initiative.

"Were it not for the diversification of coronavirus vaccine procurement, we would never have reached this figure," he stressed.

Egypt has only purchased 1.5 million doses through contracts signed with international pharmaceutical companies.

Tag El-Din said the country also seeks to reach more agreements with more international drug makers to increase the local production of coronavirus vaccines.

Under an agreement with the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) will produce 40 million doses of the Chinese vaccine annually, with the figure slated to increase to 250 million doses by 2023.

Starting 1 December, unvaccinated citizens will not be allowed to enter any government building.

In addition, unvaccinated employees will not be allowed to enter workplaces after 15 November without a negative PCR test every week.

Staff and university students have also been mandated to receive vaccination in order to enter campuses in the new school year that started on 9 October.

Egypt, which is going through the peak of the pandemic's fourth wave, has recorded a total of 330,084 infections, included 18,592 deaths and 277,623 recoveries.

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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi left for Britain on Sunday to participate in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which is set to kick off on Sunday.

El-Sisi's participation in the two-day summit, which includes heads of state and government, came upon an invitation from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson whose country is to chair the event, said Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady.

Egypt was invited to attend the summit in light of its "pivotal role at the regional and international levels within the framework of climate change talks," Rady explained.

The president will focus during the summit on issues of concern to developing countries in general, and African states in particular, as well as means of pushing forward international efforts to combat climate change, the presidential spokesman noted.

The president will also affirm Egypt's keenness on hosting the COP27 summit in November 2022, according to Rady.

In early October, Egypt was selected as a nominee to host next year's event.

In September, El-Sisi stressed in a message before the World Leaders Summit on Climate Change held on the sidelines of the 76th UN General Assembly that Egypt is seeking to host the COP27 on behalf of Africa.

The president is scheduled to hold a meeting with PM Johnson on the sidelines of the summit to discuss means of strengthening bilateral ties and address a host of regional and international issues of mutual interest.

He will also meet with a number of heads of state to review means to boost bilateral relations and tackle regional and international issues.

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The United Kingdoms Minister for the Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly said that what Egypt has achieved in the energy field is revolutionary and has put Cairo on the path to achieving energy security.

This also means that Egypt has many successful stories to tell during its participation in the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 26, Cleverly  who made his first visit to Cairo in mid-October  told Al-Ahram Daily newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived on Sunday afternoon in Scotland to participate in the COP 26 summit slated for Monday and Tuesday in Glasgow under the chairmanship of the UK.

Cleverly expressed his countrys pleasure that El-Sisi will attend the summit, saying that Prime Minister Johnson will be very happy, as he takes the climate issue very seriously.

We also have positive indications towards Egypts positions on the climate issue and environment in general, he noted, adding that his country is already cooperating with Egypt in multiple energy and renewable energy projects.

I am confident that the climate issue is one of the most prominent fields in which we will closely cooperate for a better future for both Egypt and the UK, he added.

Egypt has advanced from 26th place in 2020 to the 20th among the worlds top 40 markets in the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index for 2021.

Under its 2030 vision, Egypt plans to increase the supply of electricity generated from renewable sources to 20 percent by 2022 and up to 42 percent by 2035, with wind providing 14 percent, hydropower 2 percent, photovoltaic 22 percent, and concentrated solar power 3 percent by 2035.

Additionally, Cairo is working on a host of projects to preserve the environment by making use of the countrys plentiful natural gas production. The boom in the North African countrys gas production has been supported by huge gas discoveries and production in the Mediterranean.

Including the Go Green initiative, Egypt has been exerting constant efforts to create and develop an environment-friendly industry by localising modern industrial technologies and creating professional technical cadres to fight pollution and reduce harmful emissions.

Cleverly said that the UK is also interested in investing in renewables, referring to the newly signed deal between the UKs Globeleq and the Egyptian governments Benban Solar Energy Park.

On 14 October, the British independent power producer Globeleq announced the acquisition of the ARC for Renewable Energy Plant at the Benban Solar Park near Aswan, Egypt.

Cleverly confirmed that the UK is interested in investing in the energy field in Egypt after the Benban deal, adding that Egypt is doing well in the field of energy, and it has a huge and promising future.

We have a business sector and companies that are very enthusiastic to work in energy.

During his visit to Cairo, Cleverly held talks with a number of Egyptian ministers and officials, including Egyptian Transportation Minister Kamel El-Wazir.

The British minister said that he discussed with El-Wazir investments opportunities in the transport sectors infrastructure in Egypt.

Transportation projects are so important for Egypt due to its jammed streets, Cleverly said.

I wandered across Cairos streets; It was so crowded. It is a huge challenge, and we have the same issue in London, he added.

I also saw the development in the roads here [in Cairo], and I also saw several modes of transportation, he said, stressing that the UK is very keen to continue to cooperate with Egypt in developing the transportation sector.

Cleverly also discussed the decade-old dispute caused by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a controversial hydropower project that Addis Ababa is building on the Blue Nile, stressing that the UK understands the importance of the Nile to Egypt.

It is an existential matter, he said.

Moreover, he expressed his wish that Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia reach a deal through the negotiations.

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Will Spain have enough gas to heat homes this winter and at what price? Those questions are troubling Spanish authorities as a key pipeline is due to shut this weekend.

Algeria on Sunday is planning to halt shipments through the Gaz-Maghreb-Europe (GME) pipeline, which has been carrying almost 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year.

The pipeline, which traverses Morocco before crossing the Mediterranean at the Strait of Gibraltar, is a victim of the crisis in relations between Algeria and Morocco.

With Algeria having severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in August, a renewal of the pipeline contract that expires on Sunday is unlikely, threatening one of Spain's main sources of gas.

With technical constraints limiting alternative sources and the risk of further price increases, Spain "finds itself in a complicated situation" even if "the risk of shortages is limited," said Gonzalo Escribano, an energy expert at the Elcano think tank in Madrid.

He called the decision "bad news ... at a bad moment" for Spain, which depends on Algeria for half of its natural gas needs.

Despite a big push into wind and solar, Spain remains dependent on imported energy.

What will the impact of GME's closure be on Spain?

Spain's Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera sought to sound reassuring during a meeting in Algiers earlier this week, speaking of "arrangements taken to continue to assure, in the best way, deliveries of gas through Medgaz according to a well determined schedule".

Medgaz is a second pipeline that runs directly between Algeria and Spain under the Mediterranean.

It can carry eight bcm a year, and planned works could see its capacity reach 10.5 bcm.

Algeria also proposes increasing deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by sea.

'Theory and practice'

"On paper, it is enough to ensure the same level of deliveries. But there is theory and practice, and Spain isn't safe from bad surprises," said Thierry Bros, a specialist on the geopolitics of energy who teaches at Sciences Po university in Paris.

Work on increasing the capacity of Medgaz is expected to last into December.

"Valves need to be changed, tests conducted ... You can't rule out delays," Bros said.

But he believes the main problem to be with LNG, which is transported by special ships that keep the gas very cold so it remains condensed in liquid form.

"It could be complicated to find such ships, especially at the moment when there is strong demand for gas in Asia" and shipowners prefer the most profitable routes, Bros said.

And given that Spain has limited storage capacity but plenty of LNG gas terminals, the risk is less about a shortage than the price paid.

"The country will manage to cope" with potential supply problems, "but that will have an impact on the price", said Escribano, noting that gas transported by ship is more expensive than that by pipelines.

In recent months natural gas and LNG prices have soared as the global economy gears back up.

In addition to homes linked to the gas network for heating and cooking, Spain is also reliant on gas-fired power plants and electricity prices have already shot higher.

Soaring energy prices are weighing on Spanish consumers who have already been battered by the coronavirus pandemic, and the government has already moved to temporarily lower electricity taxes.

In one sign the situation is concerning, Spain has recently reached out to its other LNG suppliers -- the United States, Russia and Qatar -- in order to ensure deliveries, according to a source close to the discussions.

Meanwhile, local operators are also making preparations to receive additional supplies.

Enagas, which operates four LNG terminals and the national gas grid, has opened up extra slots for ships.

"We are doing everything possible to contribute to the security of gas supplies," its president, Antonio Llarden, said earlier this week.

Meanwhile the Spanish government is emphasising the preparations that are being made.

"We've increased the level of reserves" and "the capacity to receive LNG ships", Ribera said in a radio interview on Friday.

Ribera said she believes the risk of electricity blackouts this winter to be "very limited".

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President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Glasgow, Scotland earlier today, where he will head the Egyptian delegation in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26).

The Glasgow meeting is being referred to as the last chance conference to get world leaders to agree on the mechanism to implement the steps required to keep global warming at less than 2 degrees Celsius  preferably at 1.5 Celsius.

The objective is to avoid a disastrous increase of 2.7 Celsius during this century, which could have major impacts on agriculture, biodiversity, and water resources.

In the Paris 2015 Climate Conference, world leaders agreed on what needs to be done to reduce global warming. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting down on the use of fossil fuels were the top items on the list of measures agreed upon in the Paris Agreement.

Given the slow level of implementation and unsatisfactory results so far, world leaders need to agree on a rulebook in Glasgow to secure a better and prompt implementation of the 2015 agreement.

Essential to this is developed countries  which cause 80 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions yearly  commitment to take the necessary steps to implement carbon neutrality and to honour the so far overlooked pledge to provide $100 billion to help developing countries meet the agreed upon targets.

The issue of financing international action against global warming was put on the agenda of the G20 meetings in Rome that were held earlier today. Reports coming out of the Italian capital, however, revealed that there was no breakthrough on the issue.

Without clear guidelines on the issue of finance, it would be very hard for developing countries, including middle powers like Egypt, to move as fast as we would all wish to address global warming, commented an informed government source.

In Glasgow, world leaders are expected to discuss timeframes on the implementation of the Paris 2015 targets. However, without an agreement on the finance, it would be very hard for developing countries to meet any of the anticipated deadlines.

Developing countries complain that they are contributing less to greenhouse gas emissions but are suffering the brunt of the devastating impact of global warming and are expected to honour commitments without sufficient financial support and technology transfer.

Egypt is growing more concerned about the rise in the Mediterranean Seas water level, which poses a serious threat to the countrys Delta region. Global warming has also led to longer heatwaves that are having a disturbing impact on the countrys food crops and water supply.

In Glasgow, President El-Sisi is expected to underline Egypts commitment to combat climate change and to review the steps thus far taken in terms of moving to green energy and investing in a green economy.

He is also expected to share Egypts growing concerns on the impact of climate change on its resources.

Moreover, the president is expected to stress the need to divide responsibilities equitably among the countries of the world to keep the global temperatures rate of increase beneath 2 degrees Celsius.

Egypt has been on board with the international environmental agenda right from the beginning, but we have to work within a balance between national development objectives and international climate change commitments, the source said.

He added that our position is that we will honour international obligations within the scope of our national strategies.



In Glasgow, world leaders will be discussing the sequence of adaptation, resilience, and mitigation to confront climate change.

We are fully committed to engage, but if the world wants to be serious about action and not just plans of action, it needs to be clear about providing the required support for countries whose national budget cannot allow any added strains and whose development requirements cannot be cut down, the government official said.

On his way from the G20 to the COP 26, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he expects that the climate change conference talks will be difficult. However, Johnson warned that without a serious commitment, the world would be taking very high environmental risks.

According to press statements made earlier this week by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the world cannot afford a failure in Glasgow.

The risks are far too high, he said.

According to alarming voices in the scientific community, a failure to keep tabs on global warming means larger and more frequent wildfires, a loss of 30 percent of species, longer and tougher droughts, longer and more intense heatwaves, and a devasting rise in sea-level.

International work on countering global warming started in the first UN Summit on Climate Change in Rio De Janeiro in 1992. It was not till 2015, in Paris, that world leaders finally came to terms on a coherent plan of action.

This plan of action requires a considerable boost from the Glasgow conference so that it may finally be implemented.

The COP 26 was initially scheduled to convene in 2020 but had to be postponed for a year due the pandemic.

On behalf of Africa, Egypt is expected to host the COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022.

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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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Egypt has received 72 million coronavirus vaccine doses since the start of its vaccination campaign, 38 million of which have already been administered to people, Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, the higher education minister and acting health minister said.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Sunday night, Abdel-Ghaffar said that Egypt is expected to receive 26 million doses of the Sinovac, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

This will bring the total number of imported vaccine doses to 98 million, Abdel-Ghaffar noted.

The minister also said that the state has allocated 1,079 vaccination centres nationwide and is working on establishing more.

He added that the health ministry will soon expand its efforts to provide specialised vehicles to vaccinate citizens in crowded areas, such as malls, train and metro stations, and others.

Prime Minister Madbouly issued a decree on Friday tasking Abdel-Ghaffar to serve as the acting health minister until incumbent Minister Hala Zayed, who was admitted to the hospital after suffering a heart attack, recovers.

Earlier on Sunday, Egypt received its first shipment of the Moderna vaccine, comprising 784,280 doses, from Canada.

This comes a day after the country also received a total of 3,634,020 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from the US; the fourth and largest shipment of the vaccine to reach the country since late September.

Abdel-Ghaffar affirmed that, with Moderna in Egypts inventory, the country has now secured doses from every coronavirus vaccine manufactured worldwide so far.

The government has set a goal to vaccinate 40 million citizens in the country by the end of 2021.

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The Ministry of Tourism decided to close a hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada for "endangering guests' lives," the Public Prosecution said on Sunday, as 47 foreign guests fell sick after dining in the hotel.

The prosecution said that it received an administrative decision by the ministry department dedicated to monitoring hotels and tourist resorts to also suspend the director of the hotel for three months.

While the prosecution did not name the hotel in its statement, Ahram Onlines sources confirmed that the establishment in question is the five-star AMC Royal Hotel.

The hotel  which was also not abiding by the coronavirus preventive measures issued by the cabinet  will remain closed until the reasons for the closure are addressed, the statement said.

The prosecution also ordered the detention of the assistant director of the hotels food and beverages department, the chief cook, and the head of quality assurance at the hotel for four days pending investigation. The three defendants denied the accusations levelled against them, added the statement.

Moreover, it ordered an urgent investigation into the incident, saying the patients, who have all been hospitalised, include 29 Russians, 14 Estonians, and four Czechs.

Additionally, the prosecution mobilised a specialised health committee to collect food samples from the hotels kitchen, freezers, preparation areas, as well as water samples for examination.

The committee will issue a detailed report on their findings soon.

Some of the patients have already recovered while some remain under medical observation, the prosecution said.

Furthermore, the prosecution assigned a preventive medicine committee to collect samples from the patients for examination and speak with the guests that did not fall sick after consuming the hotels food.

Speaking to Ahram Online earlier today, Sayed Saber, the owner of the AMC Royal Hotel, said many tourists came down with food poisoning after dinner and started showing symptoms  including diarrhea and vomiting  on Saturday.

Saber added that the sick tourists were transferred to nearby hospitals to receive treatment.

The Russian Consul-General in Hurghada, Viktor Voropayev, told TASS  Russias state-owned news agency  that all the patients are in stable condition and will be able to leave the hospital by Monday.

Furthermore, given the AMC Royals closure, its clients have all been relocated to other hotels, according to Voropayev.

The AMC Royal was hosting around 600 guests, including 400 Russian and Belarusian Russians, according to Saber.

The hotel may face financial penalties and even full closure and license revocation over failing to stick to the sanitary requirements, the Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers told TASS.

Russian travellers are a major contributor to the countrys tourism industry and a key source of hard currency.

More than 3.1 million Russian tourists visited Egypt in 2014, representing 33 percent of all tourists received that year.

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Veteran Egyptian socialist politician and former vice-chairman of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) Abdel-Ghaffar Shukr passed away on Sunday at the age of 85.

Shukr served as the vice-chairman of the NCHR from 2012 till October 2021.

Born in May 1936 in a Mounfiya village in Nile Delta, Shukr graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University in 1958.

A son of a village mayor who supported the liberal Wafd Party, Shukr started his political career and activism at the age of 17 when he joined the Liberation Organization in 1953, which was founded by the Free Officers after the 1952 Revolution to replace political parties.

In an interview with Ahram Online in 2012, Shukr said he believed that one of the major mistakes of the 1952 Revolution, which he supported overall, was the dissolution of the parties and ending the country's pre-1952 political pluralism.

In 1958, Shukr joined the National Union that was founded by late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser replacing the Liberation Organization.

In 1963, he joined the Socialist Union, which was also founded by Abdel-Nasser in 1962 as a unified organization that would lead Egypts political life till his death in 1970.

In 1964, Shukr was selected as the education secretary in the Socialist Youth Organization of the Socialist Union.

He was a member of the political bureau of the leftist Tagammu Party, which was founded in 1976 as the late president Anwar Sadat reinstated a multi-party political system.

Following the 2011 revolution, Shukr quit Tagammu to co-found and lead the Socialist Popular Alliance Party.

He served as the director of the Arab and African Studies Centre.

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Ethiopian forces have mounted a fresh battle for the strategic northern city of Dessie, residents said Sunday, hours after Tigrayan rebels claimed to have taken control of it.

The capture of Dessie by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on Saturday marked a new step in its offensive in the nearly year-long war, after it retook most of Tigray from federal forces in June and expanded its presence into neighbouring regions.

But on Sunday, locals said renewed gun battles were under way in the city, with residents ordered to stay indoors by Ethiopian troops, who had returned to Dessie after reportedly retreating a day earlier.

"Soldiers told us they are fighting to take the city again... and told us no one should go out," said Mohammed, a Dessie resident who declined to give his second name.

Desta, a former waiter in Dessie and gave only his first name, said he saw soldiers fighting in the streets.

"They are firing but I had to close my window... to not get spotted", he told AFP.

Another resident Yemesirach, holed up indoors, said she could also hear gunfire, telling AFP she was "at home and scared".

A statement from the Ethiopian military communications office on Sunday said: "The armed forces on the front will continue to clear the group of terrorists."

"They are fighting to eliminate the invading force once and for all," the statement added.

The TPLF did not respond to requests for comment.

Much of northern Ethiopia is under a communications blackout and access for journalists is restricted, making battlefield claims difficult to verify independently.

Exodus

Dessie, which is located in the Amhara region neighbouring Tigray, lies about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Ethiopia's 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.

But on Saturday, Dessie itself saw an exodus, with many people piling into buses and fleeing for the town of Kombolcha, located further south.

Tigray meanwhile has faced near-daily aerial bombardments for almost two weeks as the military steps up its use of air power in the war.

According to a hospital official, 10 people died in an air strike on Thursday, while the UN said two strikes on October 18 killed three children. Another person died in a separate attack this month.

The government said the facilities bombed were military in nature and aiding the TPLF.

The bombings have drawn international censure, and disrupted UN access to the region where an estimated 400,000 people face famine-like conditions under a de-facto aid blockade.

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 humanitarian crisis.

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Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has made his first ever public appearance, officials announced Sunday, after he addressed supporters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

Akhundzada has been the spiritual chief of the Islamist movement since 2016 but has remained a reclusive figure, even after his group seized power in Afghanistan in August.

His low profile has fed speculation about his role in the new Taliban government -- and even rumours of his death.

On Saturday, he visited the Darul Uloom Hakimah madrassa to "speak to his brave soldiers and disciples", according to Taliban officials.

There was tight security at the event and no photographs or video have emerged, but a ten-minute audio recording was shared by Taliban social media accounts.

Akhundzada -- referred to as "Amirul Momineen" or commander of the faithful -- gives a religious message.

The speech did not touch on politics, but sought God's blessing for the Taliban leadership.

He prays for the Taliban martyrs, wounded fighters and the success of the Islamic Emirate's officials in this "big test".

Akhundzada was appointed leader of the Taliban in a swift transition of power after a 2016 US drone strike killed his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as part of the Group of 20 summit on Sunday an outreach designed to ensure that the intensely competitive relationship between the world's two largest economies doesn't veer into open conflicts.

Senior State Department officials described the conversations as candid, constructive and productive, saying that Blinken was clear about US concerns during the roughly hourlong meeting. The officials insisted on anonymity to discuss the exchanges.

One of the US goals is to maintain an open line of communication with China and set a virtual meeting later this year between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Blinken said at the meeting that China has increased tensions with regard to Taiwan and that America wants to continue its ``one-China policy,'' which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. During China's National Day weekend in early October, China dispatched 149 military aircraft southwest of Taiwan in strike group formations, causing Taiwan to scramble aircraft and activate its air defense missile systems. Biden alarmed China shortly after by saying that the U.S. has a firm commitment to help Taiwan defend itself in the event of a Chinese attack.

Asked in a CNN town hall whether the U.S. would come to Taiwan's defense, Biden said, ``Yes, we have a commitment to do that.'' U.S. officials immediately moved to clarify that there had been no change to U.S. posture toward Taiwan.

China and Taiwan separated during a civil war in 1949. The US cut formal diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 in order to recognize Beijing. The U.S. does not openly contest China's claim to Taiwan, but is committed by law to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats toward it as matters of grave concern.

Blinken noted that the G-20 summit is being followed by the United Nations climate summit in Scotland, saying that the US expects China to curbs its greenhouse gas emissions as a responsible global power for the good of the world.

Trade issues did not come up in any detail, as the conversation largely stayed in the political realm. Nor was China's recent test launching of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile discussed by the two leaders.

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G20 leaders meeting in Rome on Sunday committed to the key goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and pledged action on the use of coal, but fell short on a target of zero emissions, according to a final draft communique.

The pledges by the Group of 20 major economies, who emit nearly 80 percent of carbon emissions, are viewed as crucial to the success of make-or-break UN climate talks taking place in Glasgow over the next fortnight.

According to a draft communique obtained by AFP, which several sources said was the final version due to be published later Sunday, the leaders agreed to keep in play key commitments agreed at the landmark 2015 Paris accords.

"Keeping 1.5 degrees within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries, taking into account different approaches," it says.

Diplomats said the language used was tougher than in the Paris deal, but activist groups slammed the final statement as "weak" and half-hearted.

According to the statement, leaders of countries including the US, China, India, Russia, plus the EU, call for clear national plans that "align long-term ambition with short- and medium-term goals, and with international cooperation and support".

But experts say meeting the 1.5 degree target means slashing global emissions nearly in half by 2030 and to "net-zero" by 2050 -- and there is no firm date in the G20 communique, which speaks only of reaching the goal of net zero "by or around mid century".

The leaders did agree to end funding for new unabated coal plants abroad -- those whose emissions have not gone through any filtering process -- by the end of 2021.

- Lacking ambition -

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace slammed the final statement as "weak, lacking both ambition and vision", saying G20 leaders "failed to meet the moment".

"If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines," said Executive Director Jennifer Morgan.

Friederike Roder, senior director at anti-poverty group Global Citizen, told AFP the summit had produced "half-measures rather than concrete actions".

However, French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier said it was too early to write off the success of the Glasgow talks.

Nearly 200 nations are gathering in the Scottish city, with many of the leaders in Rome -- including US President Joe Biden -- heading straight there.

The Rome summit had to "do its utmost" to ensure the success of Glasgow, but "nothing is ever written before a COP", Macron told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

"Let's not forget that in Paris, in 2015, nothing was decided in advance," he said.

China -- by far the world's biggest carbon polluter -- plans to make its economy carbon neutral before 2060, but has resisted pressure to offer nearer-term goals.

India, meanwhile, argues that if net-zero by 2050 is the global goal, then rich countries should be carbon neutral ten years earlier to allow poorer, emerging nations a larger carbon allowance and more time to develop.

- 'Dream big' -

Earlier Sunday, summit host Mario Draghi, the Italian prime minister, Prince Charles and Pope Francis had all called on G20 leaders -- and by extension, the wider group of world leaders meeting in Glasgow -- to think big.

Draghi called climate change "the defining challenge of our times", saying: "Either we act now... or we delay acting, pay a much higher price later, and risk failing."

Prince Charles, a committed environmentalist and summit guest, had also reminded leaders of their "overwhelming responsibility" to keep climate change in check.

"It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you, ladies and gentlemen, as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands," the heir to the British throne told the G20.

Pope Francis later tweeted: "This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities... The time to act, and to act together, is now!"

President Xi Jinping of China was absent from the meeting, as was Russia's Vladimir Putin, although they were participating via videolink.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the United States not to "betray its promises" on Taiwan at a rare meeting Sunday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as tensions run high over the island.

Months of simmering tensions spiked in October after President Joe Biden declared that the United States would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by Beijing -- a statement seemingly at odds with long-held American policy towards the self-ruling island.

The White House quickly walked back Biden's comments -- insisting there has been no policy change -- and both sides Sunday stressed the need to keep channels of communication open to avoid any dangerous souring of relations.

But Wang voiced Beijing's full displeasure in his talks with Blinken, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome.

"We request that the US pursues a real One China policy, not a fake One China policy," Wang told his counterpart, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

"We request the US to fulfil its commitments to China, rather than betray its promises."

According to a senior State Department official, Blinken made clear to Wang that there has been no change to Washington's so-called One China policy -- which is the diplomatic acknowledgement of Beijing's position that there is only one Chinese government.

The military element of the US approach -- set out by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and known as "strategic ambiguity" -- requires the United States to help build Taiwan's defenses but does not explicitly promise to come to its help in the event of war.

Speaking later on CNN, Blinken reiterated that there was "no change" in policy, saying Washington remained "resolutely committed" to making sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself against any aggression.

The meeting marked the first between the two top diplomats since a stormy session in Alaska in March, when the Chinese delegation berated the American side as TV cameras rolled.

It follows weeks of escalating diplomatic rhetoric and military posturing over Taiwan, an island of 23 million which China claims as its own and vows to retake one day -- by force if necessary.

Wang stressed that Taiwan was "the most sensitive" issue between Beijing and Washington, with the potential to wreck relations if dealt with "wrongly", the Chinese foreign ministry statement added.

Stoking Beijing's ire, Taipei confirmed for the first time this week that US troops were training Taiwanese forces on the island.

That came after Blinken called for Taiwan to be allowed greater involvement in UN agencies.

Potentially adding to the unease, the State Department said Sunday that 1.5 million more doses of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine were bound for Taiwan.

"Our donation reflects our commitment to Taiwan, a vibrant democracy, valued partner, and trusted friend," State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted.

Areas of cooperation

The world's two biggest economies -- and strategic rivals -- have been squaring off for months on multiple fronts, from trade to human rights, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the meeting, Blinken raised concerns over human rights, expressing opposition to actions by China "that run counter to our values and interests... including actions related to human rights, Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, the East and South China Seas, and Taiwan," the State Department's Price said in a statement.

But on Sunday, both sides appeared to strike a conciliatory tone on other issues, with Wang expressing interest in establishing regular contact with his American counterpart to help resolve problems.

Blinken noted areas where he said American and Chinese interests intersect and they can work together as well, including "the DPRK (North Korea), Burma, Iran, Afghanistan, and the climate crisis."

"Secretary Blinken underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between the United States and the People's Republic of China," the State Department said.

Biden has pressed ahead with a hardline trade policy against Beijing broadly in line with that of his predecessor Donald Trump, whose bombastic approach sent tensions soaring.

In the latest illustration of that policy, Washington recently ordered China Telecom Americas to discontinue its services within 60 days -- ending nearly two decades of operations in the country and piling further strain on bilateral relations.

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Gearing up to host COP27 next year, Egypt will participate in the UKs 26th Climate Change Conference armed with initiatives and success stories.

Glasgow is preparing to host 197 countries in the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November amid international fears of the devastating repercussions of climate change. It is imperative, the world agrees, the conference comes up with decisive recommendations.

Meanwhile, Egypt is gearing up to host COP27 next year.

One of the current challenges is to hold global warming to below 1.5C, said the UK governments climate chief Alok Sharma, who is leading COP26. Sharma told the media that carbon emissions should be reduced by 45 per cent by 2030. The $100 billion industrial countries pledged to pay towards this end are no longer enough, he added, pointing out that trillions of dollars are needed annually for this purpose.

In any case, the industrial countries paid only $79 billion. Three-quarters of the sum in 2018 was paid in the form of repayable loans, which puts more chips on the shoulders of poor countries.

The world is pinning high hopes on COP26, especially amid the coronavirus challenges and countries demands to work on zero-emission measures, said Yasmine Fouad, the Egyptian minister of environment. Egypt and the UK co-chaired a coalition on climate adaptation and resilience at the 2019 Climate Change Summit, called for by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly meetings in New York.

The issue of resilience and adaptation is of utmost importance for developing countries, given that they are the most affected by the impact of climate change. Seven initiatives on resilience and adaptation have been prepared and they are ready to be implemented once the funding is available. The most important of these is the African Energy Initiative announced by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, Fouad said.

She stated that Egypt had taken several steps to mitigate the effects of climate change, such as the interactive map that identifies the areas most vulnerable to climate change threats to prevent urban expansion. The minister of water resources and irrigation is also working on the same path, she added. Egypt acquired a $34 million grant to build dams in Rosetta, Kafr Al-Sheikh, and the North Coast to meet the challenge of increases in sea levels. Fouad said COP27 will be a good opportunity to receive more funds to counter the dangers of climate change.

Egypt has put in place criteria to choose the COP27 Climate Action Champion, a person who is responsible for mobilising stronger and more ambitious climate action, Fouad stated. The country is also encouraging the business community to do more for the environment while incentivising investment in the field. It is also applying mechanisms to attract the private sector to chip in. The prime minister is the head of the National Council of Climate Change, she noted.

A national strategy for climate change and another for adaptation have been drafted, the private sector, youth, and civil society are taking part and innovative measures to confront climate change repercussions have been taken, she added. The link between climate change, biodiversity, and desertification was one of the important points that Egypt was keen to highlight during its presidency of the COP14 of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Furthermore, Egypt is pursuing its efforts to support the African continent in climate negotiations and the Paris Agreement, and to come up with the two African initiatives for adaptation and renewable energy, Fouad said, noting that the African initiative for renewable energy is an ongoing project.

The minister stated that Egypt is expressing its appreciation for the African Union and African Commission for their support of Egypt in holding COP27  Egypt being the representative of Africa. The country is well aware of the challenges Africa is facing to reduce carbon emission, she said, pointing out that COP27 is a chance to support African demands and to help the continent acquire the needed funds to implement adaptation plans.

At COP26, Egypt will present its success story in expanding in renewable energy, Fouad continued.

Emadeddin Adli, head of the Egyptian Forum for Sustainable Development, said civil society organisations always seek to partner with the government in efforts to combat climate change. There are many models, activities, and initiatives that are implemented in cooperation with the government to protect the environment and avoid the negative effects of climate change, he added, stressing that Egypt is determined to effect radical transformation on the issue of climate change.

Egypt and Africas carbon emissions are estimated at less than five per cent of global emissions, the majority of which are produced by the US, Japan, and Europe, Adli said. Emissions affect the worlds water and food security so Egypt places great priority in adapting to climate change, which may cause a number of challenges, such as drought as a result of the lack of rain  and water in general with the increase in population  the increase in the salinity of the earth, and the rise in sea level, which affects a large part of the Delta and agricultural lands, he explained.

Magdi Allam, advisor to the World Climate Programme and secretary-general of the Union of Arab Environmental Experts, said temperatures are expected to rise by 1.5C by 2025. Developing countries are paying the price of Europes industrial progress, Allam said, adding that the periodic meetings on the climate change agreement, to which Egypt and a large number of countries are signatory, submit annual reports on climate change.

River deltas are witnessing a rise in sea water levels following the melting of ice in the Arctic, which increases the salinity of agricultural lands and water, resulting in water logging, Allam said, explaining that 20 per cent of Egypts Delta coasts have been affected by the rise in sea level and the increase of water salinity. A $300 million project by the Coast Protection Authority and the Ministry of Irrigation is being implemented to counter erosion and the rise of Mediterranean Sea water above the Delta surface.

It is expected that sea levels will rise above ground level by 50cm the world over in the near future, Allam warned.

It is taking Egypt $30 billion to fix the irrigation system in Egypt and counter climate change repercussions, he stated, pointing out that Egypt spent $750 million to deal with the effects of climate change.

Industrial countries heated the surface of the earth and the atmosphere and created a hole in the atmosphere that is difficult to mend, Allam stated. The only solution is to reduce carbon emissions that are produced by 20 leading industrial countries. The European Union is the only committed bloc. The US, China, India, and Russia are still producing emissions that increase global warming.

Ahmed Kamal Abdel-Moneim, executive director of the Environmental Compliance and Sustainable Development Office at the Egyptian Federation of Industries, said the office and federation are taking part in COP26. The office will hold an event on 3 November, on the sidelines of the summit, with representatives of the private sector, to present their success stories.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 28 October, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The navy has kept pace with the overall progress of the Egyptian Armed Forces and is abreast of international naval developments. Before learning of its extensive offshore reserves of gas, Egypts navy was primarily concerned with conventional coastline security.

In the wake of a series of maritime border agreements in the Eastern Mediterranean that followed the discovery of the vast natural gas reserves, and the emergence of national and regional geopolitical and security challenges, it became necessary to equip the navy to perform on the high seas, and Egypt now possesses one of the largest, most modern and powerful navies in the world.

The navy is responsible for safeguarding maritime security across 74,000 square miles in the Mediterranean and 40,000 square miles in the Red Sea, including access to the Suez Canal, one of the worlds most important shipping lanes.

Al-Ahram Weekly was able to observe 24 hours in the life of the Egyptian navy, in the company of naval commander Vice Admiral Ahmed Khaled Hassan Said, aboard Egypts Mistral-class helicopter carrier, Gamal Abdel Nasser. The occasion was the 54th anniversary of the Egyptian Navy, marked on 21 October.

It was the day, in 1967, that the Egyptian navy sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat after it entered Egypts territorial waters, a milestone in the war of attrition that followed military defeat in June 1967. The sinking of the Eilat upended international naval battle strategy by showing that a large warship could be taken out by small military vessels.

The Weeklys day on Gamal Abdel-Nasser began at the Ras Al-Tin naval base in Alexandria, as the Mistral set sail to receive three homebound formations that had just completed exercises with the Greek, American, and Spanish navies. The participant fleets performed a range of combat tasks designed to strengthen maritime security procedures in the Mediterranean and Red Sea theatres, including identifying and assessing surface and aerial threats. The drills also aimed to enhance the interoperability of joint forces in responding to conventional and unconventional threats to international navigation and the flow of global trade.

Vice-Admiral Ahmed Khaled explained that these activities illustrated the level of cooperation with the worlds major navies and reflected the dynamism of the Egyptian navy that is better equipped than ever to safeguard Egypts vital interests at sea.

Egypt now has five naval bases, equipped to accommodate all types of ships, meeting the needs of the northern and southern fleets and to supporting their operations in all strategic directions. Egypt has also rehabilitated the infrastructure of its maritime defence industries, making it possible to manufacture sophisticated hardware such as the Go-wind class corvette in partnership with the French Naval Group. Other technology transfer projects include the joint manufacture with Germany of the Meko-200 frigate. Egypt also makes smaller patrol craft and other hardware in what the Egyptian naval commander described as the three citadels of the naval defence industry  the Naval Forces Shipyard, the Egyptian Ship Repair and Building Company, and the Alexandria Shipyard Company.

Khaled underscored that Egypts naval defence industry makes a vital contribution to national development, saying it is impossible to draw a line between naval strategy and planning and national political, economic and developmental goals.

In terms of military operations, he addressed said the Egyptian navys participation in Operation Restore Hope in Yemen, explaining that maritime security is a multifaceted concept that starts with freedom of navigation and countering the threats posed by piracy, terrorism, drug trafficking, arms smuggling and other forms of organised crime. The evolving nature of the threats has necessitated changes in the definition of maritime security, which conventionally referred to a countrys ability to protect its coastline and maritime boundaries. The scope of security has now expanded to include the ability to ensure the safety of shipping lanes of strategic importance to world trade and the transport of oil and other essential commodities. For Egypt, this involves securing the vital artery that stretches from Bab Al-Mandeb through the Red Sea to the northern entrance to the Suez Canal.

The navy works closely with the other branches of Egypts Armed Forces to defend strategic, tactical, and logistical assets within Egypts national security realm. It has played an important role in the Comprehensive Operation Sinai counter-terrorist drive, isolating the operational theatre from the sea, preventing the escape of terrorist elements, and cutting off supplies to terrorists in Sinai.

In addition to helping secure the northeastern border, the navy has increased its boarding and search operations of suspicious craft in Egyptian territorial waters. The navys special forces unit hunts down suspicious targets close to shore along the northern coast of Sinai.

According to Khaled, the navy also takes part in maritime border demarcation processes, employing specialised technicians with expertise in the complex technical aspects of border demarcation and trained in the latest software applications.

The naval commander spoke about the training of naval personnel, in general, and the facilities available for training. After a solid formation in the Naval Academy, officers are given opportunities to continue their studies and training in the best naval academies in the world. Volunteers and non-commissioned officers are assigned to naval schools or advanced training facilities, depending on their abilities and aptitudes. In some of these institutes, candidates receive theoretical and practical training in non-combat operations, including technical support, hardware maintenance, repairs and all the other services needed to keep the navy afloat. In general, said Khaled, the navy is committed to a modern, scientific approach and to engaging the most competent military experts in diverse specialisations to keep pace with the developments in international naval defence systems.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 28 October, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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A food festival kicked off on Saturday in the city of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, where a group of children learned how to make flour figurines in celebration. These vivid figurines were inspired by Chinese folklore, giving the youngsters a chance to sharpen their hand skills and get creative while also learning about Chinese culture. [Photo: VCG]

A food festival kicked off on Saturday in the city of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, where a group of children learned how to make flour figurines in celebration. These vivid figurines were inspired by Chinese folklore, giving the youngsters a chance to sharpen their hand skills and get creative while also learning about Chinese culture. [Photo: VCG]

A food festival kicked off on Saturday in the city of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, where a group of children learned how to make flour figurines in celebration. These vivid figurines were inspired by Chinese folklore, giving the youngsters a chance to sharpen their hand skills and get creative while also learning about Chinese culture. [Photo: VCG]

A food festival kicked off on Saturday in the city of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, where a group of children learned how to make flour figurines in celebration. These vivid figurines were inspired by Chinese folklore, giving the youngsters a chance to sharpen their hand skills and get creative while also learning about Chinese culture. [Photo: VCG]
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Colorful leaves decorate the Great Wall under blue skies this season, creating natural scenic masterpieces in and around Beijing. [Photo: VCG]

Colorful leaves decorate the Great Wall under blue skies this season, creating natural scenic masterpieces in and around Beijing. [Photo: VCG]

Colorful leaves decorate the Great Wall under blue skies this season, creating natural scenic masterpieces in and around Beijing. [Photo: VCG]

Colorful leaves decorate the Great Wall under blue skies this season, creating natural scenic masterpieces in and around Beijing. [Photo: VCG]
KYODO NEWS - Oct 31, 2021 - 23:59 | All, Japan

<READ LATEST UPDATE HERE>



TOKYO - Japan's ruling coalition retained a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives following Sunday's general election, giving Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a public mandate to implement his COVID-19, economic and national security agenda.

But Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party lost some seats and suffered a number of high-profile losses, with Akira Amari set to resign as the party's secretary general following his defeat to an opposition rival.

The LDP and its smaller partner Komeito secured at least 261 of the 465 seats in the powerful chamber of parliament, enough to effectively control all standing committees and steer the legislative process, according to exit polls and early returns.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, which had criticized the LDP-led government's pandemic response and vowed to reduce income disparities, also fell short of the 110 seats it held despite unifying candidates with other groups including the Japanese Communist Party.

Meanwhile, the Japan Innovation Party, an opposition group that did not join the CDPJ-led alliance, won nearly 40 seats, nearly quadruple the number it held prior to the election.

Citing the fact the LDP alone secured a majority, or 233 seats, in the chamber, Kishida said the outcome gave him a mandate to pursue his campaign promises including bolstering the medical system against COVID-19 and putting the world's third-largest economy back on a growth track.

"Based on this outcome, we want to run the government and manage parliamentary affairs in a steady manner," he told reporters.

Kishida, however, said he will "think carefully about the impact" of the LDP falling short of the 276 seats it held prior to the election.

Parliament is set to convene a special session on Nov. 10 to confirm that Kishida will remain prime minister, with a Cabinet expected to remain largely unchanged to be launched the same day.

Facing his first major test since taking office on Oct. 4, Kishida had promised to spur economic growth while redistributing the spoils to the middle class under his vision of "new capitalism."

The government will secure more hospital beds to treat COVID-19 patients in preparation for a possible sixth wave of infections and will draw up a stimulus package within the year to help people and businesses hit hard by the pandemic, he said.

In addition to deciding whether Kishida would gain a public mandate, the election was also seen partly as a referendum on nearly nine years of LDP-led government under Kishida's predecessors, Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga.

The CDPJ-led alliance argued the government has botched its COVID-19 response, and that the Abenomics policy mix has only served to widen income disparities by boosting corporate earnings and share prices while failing to achieve higher wages.

Photo shows hands of a person listening to a politician making a stump speech in Tachikawa in Tokyo on Oct. 30, 2021, a day before a general election. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Media polls had suggested the ruling coalition would retain its majority in the lower house, which has special powers not given to the upper chamber, the House of Councillors, including having the final say in electing the prime minister, passing state budgets and ratifying international treaties.

Of the lower house seats, 289 were decided in single-member constituencies under a first-past-the-post system. Another 176 were filled by proportional representation, in which parties are awarded seats based on how many votes they get in 11 regional blocks.

Related coverage:

A guide to Japan's upcoming House of Representatives election

Amari lost the single-member district seat in his constituency in Kanagawa Prefecture to the CDPJ's Hideshi Futori, but he will remain in the lower house by taking a seat through proportional representation.

An estimated 55.95 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, according to data collected as of 3 a.m. Monday, on course for the third worst turnout in the postwar era.

A record-low 1,051 candidates ran, fewer than the previous low of 1,131 in the 2005 general election.

A Kyodo News survey conducted earlier this week showed LDP candidates were in close battles with opposition rivals in around 70 single-member constituencies, with about 40 percent of voters still undecided.

The CDPJ challenged the ruling coalition by allying with the JCP and other opposition parties to get behind the same candidates in more than 200 competitive constituencies.

"Our strategy produced certain results," CDPJ leader Yukio Edano said during a program on public broadcaster NHK. "We were neck-and-neck with candidates supported by the ruling coalition."

The opposition parties called for lowering the consumption tax to lessen the burden on low- and middle-class households, allow married couples to take separate surnames and recognize same-sex marriage.

They also argued for abandoning nuclear energy in favor of renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions.

The ruling coalition, meanwhile, criticized the CDPJ and its allies for banding together despite their differing stances on foreign and security policies, saying such discrepancies make them unfit to govern.

The CDPJ put the Japan-U.S. alliance at the core of its foreign and security policy platforms, but the JCP called for abolishing the security treaty between Tokyo and Washington -- a scenario that would please China, Russia and North Korea.

The LDP aims to double defense spending to around 2 percent of gross domestic product to deal with Beijing's military buildup and missile threats from Pyongyang, and says it will consider acquiring the capability to launch strikes on enemy bases as part of efforts to boost deterrence.

Related coverage:

Voters voice hope, concern as Japan holds general election

FOCUS: Voters to keep eye on Kishida's course correction from Abe-Suga era

FOCUS: Political dynasties die hard in Japan's general election
By Joshua Miller, KYODO NEWS - Oct 31, 2021 - 12:41 | Feature, All, World

Speak of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the significance is obvious. "Trinity Site?" Most people are still unaware that it was the location of the world's first nuclear explosion and endures as one of the most consequential sites in human history.

Drifting packs of tourists take turns snapping photographs in front of a 3-meter obelisk where a plaque explains that Trinity is where the first nuclear device was ever exploded on July 16, 1945. Most seem indifferent to what many view as the stage for a dry run to the devastating atomic bombings of the two Japanese cities.

The site, part of the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, opened to the public on Oct. 2 for the first time in two years and saw about 2,500 visitors, a modest downtick from previous years, which site officials attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.

Aside from the plaque and some photographs depicting the site and explosion that occupy a nearby fence, little illustrates the magnitude of what happened there 76 years ago when the Manhattan Project's secret test scattered radioactive ash over the residents, and flora and fauna, of nearby villages.

But at the entrance to the site, a small group of peaceful protestors display signs and hand out pamphlets to raise awareness for "the unknowing, unwilling, and uncompensated innocent victims" of the 1945 test. Public access at Trinity is only allowed twice a year.

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium is seeking compensation from the United States government for the generations of people in the region who have suffered from cancer, which the group blames on the downwind fallout.

The scientific and medical communities are divided on whether there is a definitive link between the Trinity test and the number of cancer-related illnesses in the region, including Tularosa, Alamogordo and Carrizozo, but the anecdotal evidence is undeniable.

"We bury our loved ones on a regular basis. Somebody dies and somebody else is diagnosed," said Tina Cordova, a sixth-generation New Mexican and cancer survivor who co-founded the Tularosa Downwinders in 2005.

"This is the eighth year that we've come here to do this. When we heard that they take tour buses in there, we decided that we would start staging these peaceful demonstrations to make sure that, while they over-glorify the science and industry in there, they hear the history of the people, the actual people, who were subject to this without consent or knowledge."

Cordova was instrumental in getting a bill introduced to Congress in September to amend and extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which recognizes claims related to the nearly 200 atmospheric nuclear weapons development tests conducted by the United States between 1945 to 1962.

The fund, set to expire on July 11, 2022, has paid out nearly $2.5 billion in claims for people living or working downwind of the Nevada Test Site, as well as onsite participants, uranium miners, millers, and ore transporters, according to the Department of Justice. However, since its enactment in 1990, the RECA has never recognized New Mexico as a downwind state.

"The health care coverage component will mean the difference between life and death for people," Cordova said. "And the restitution -- I always say that will mean the difference between people living their life out in poverty or not...We believe it's really had a horribly negative impact on our communities and our state."

Health physicist Joseph Shonka, who co-authored a 2010 government report on the effects of nuclear testing, says that New Mexico downwinders have struggled to qualify for benefits partly because of a nongovernmental report that found "in most cases, it is unlikely that exposure to radioactive fallout was a substantial contributing cause of cancer," recommending compensation based on medical evidence rather than location.

"Only they are making a terrible mistake because they're relying on data that didn't include Trinity at all," Shonka said.

A 2020 study by the National Cancer Institute acknowledged that "it is not possible to know, with certainty, if cancer rates changed in New Mexico in the first decades after the test compared to before the test."

Even so, most New Mexican downwinders are convinced otherwise. Henry Herrera, 87, who was 11 years old when the device was exploded roughly 50 miles southwest of his home in the village of Tularosa, is one of the people Cordova's group is fighting for.

"I had just gotten up, and the first thing I did was go outside. I chopped some wood for mama because we had a wood stove. I had just got a bunch of wood, and I walked up to the front of the house and...(kaboom)!" Herrera said of the explosion at the time. "It was a great big bubble, a cone going up. It was mostly smoke...a little grayish but mostly white. I was just watching it go over from my house," he said.

Herrera, who spent over three decades in the U.S. Navy and toured Japan in the 1950s, said everyone was clueless about what had exploded that day but knew it was enormous.

"I didn't see nothing go up, no missile or nothing. But when that thing hit the ground, let me tell you, whew. It was a hell of an explosion."

By the time the dust had settled, the damage was done. According to the Tularosa Downwinders, the radioactive ash descended onto the thousands of families living within a 50-mile radius of the blast and contaminated the soil, water, crops and livestock vital to the region's small farms and villages.

"A lot of people got cancer here, from all over the area in Tularosa, Carrizozo, Alamogordo, in El Paso even. All the way in Albuquerque," Herrera said. "I'm convinced it's because of the bomb."

Herrera was diagnosed with a parotid tumor, a cancer affecting the salivary glands, in 1998. While touring Japan, he recalled the shock from his Navy buddies after telling them that a bomb similar to the ones that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki had exploded near his home. "They couldn't believe it," he said.

Although the magnitude of what happened at the Trinity Site appeared lost on many visitors, others, such as retired veteran Paul Goulding, 68, who lives in nearby Las Cruces, said, "It's just the effects of a nuclear explosion. And there's victims on both sides of the Pacific. And I think the American public needs to understand that their fellow citizens suffered unknowingly. And are still suffering."

Cordova maintains that environmental racism and the government's lack of accountability for their negligence in conducting such a wantonly dangerous experiment are the major roadblocks in getting New Mexicans reparations but is hopeful that the RECA will be expanded under the Biden administration.

"It's horrific that they've ignored us for 76 years," Cordova said. "What I say all the time is we have to be able to look at this issue now through a different lens. We need to put aside World War II and we just have to say we made mistakes. And these are the consequences of those mistakes. And we have to take care of the American citizens that were harmed in the process, period."
KYODO NEWS - Oct 31, 2021 - 23:59 | All, Japan

BREAKING NEWS: Tokyo train attacker tells police he adores Batman villain Joker

TOKYO - A knife-wielding man in fancy dress started a fire on a Keio Line train in Tokyo on Sunday night, leaving 17 people injured, one seriously, authorities said, as revelers were heading to the city center for Halloween.

Police arrested the 24-year-old man, who identified himself as Kyota Hattori, at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder. A male passenger in his 70s was in critical condition after being stabbed in the chest as the train was moving around 8 p.m.

Hattori was quoted by investigators as saying he "wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty" and hoped to do so if he killed two or more people. He also told them he had scattered lighter fluid.

A fire breaks out on a Keio Line train at Kokuryo Station in Tokyo on Oct. 31, 2021. (Courtesy of @siz33)(Kyodo)
By Sayo Sasaki, KYODO NEWS - Oct 31, 2021 - 21:19 | All, Japan, Feature

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose ruling coalition is certain to remain in power after Sunday's general election, appears poised to differentiate himself from his predecessor Yoshihide Suga in order to avoid quickly following him out of office.

So far, Kishida has apparently not been making the same mistake as Suga on the communication front.

After taking office in early October, Kishida pledged to listen to people's voices and held talks with business operators and others during election campaigning, apparently to draw a contrast with Suga, who was criticized for being out of touch with public sentiment in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"It is evident that Mr. Kishida has better communication skills than Mr. Suga. But people have yet to see the specifics of his policies as his tenure has just begun," said Koji Nakakita, a Japanese politics professor at Hitotsubashi University.

Suga's predecessor Shinzo Abe was in power for nearly eight years, making him Japan's longest-serving prime minister. Suga, who was Abe's chief Cabinet secretary, took over but ended up serving for just a year.

After being elected prime minister on Oct. 4, Kishida quickly dissolved the House of Representatives, the powerful lower chamber of parliament, for an election to seek a public mandate for remaining in power.

While the election was a vote to decide whether the government would be led by Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party or the opposition, it also provided an opportunity for people to give their verdict on the governments of Suga and Abe, and their "one-way communication."

"Mr. Abe returned to power (in 2012) after previous governments had struggled to make decisions. He formed a government that could decide, but it also became a government that did not offer explanations to the people," said Masahiro Iwasaki, a professor of Japanese politics at Nihon University.

"That style was adopted by Suga as well," Iwasaki said. "Now voters want a government that explains."

Abe became mired in favoritism scandals over the government's heavily discounted sale of state land to Moritomo Gakuen, a school operator linked to his wife, Akie, and the decision to approve the construction of a veterinary school under the Kake Educational Institution run by a friend.

Abe stepped down in September last year citing health reasons, after his responses to the allegations failed to convince opposition parties and critics.

Suga, for his part, refused to explain his decision last year not to approve six nominees for the Science Council of Japan who had previously spoken against government policies, a move critics said was politically motivated and an attack on the advisory panel's independence.

Having been criticized for repeatedly declaring COVID-19 states of emergency, he drew fire after saying in August, "We are beginning to see the light" in the coronavirus situation, at a time when many COVID-19 patients were forced to recuperate at home as hospitals in Japan had reached their limits.

Suga stepped down before he could benefit from his government's vaccination drive, which has seen about 70 percent of the population fully vaccinated and a significant decline in coronavirus cases.

"Mr. Suga critically lacked the ability to deliver words that resonate with the people," Nakakita said.

Such an ability was not essential for pressuring bureaucrats to facilitate inoculations, but it was crucial for changing people's behavior so they avoided crowded places and eating out to curb the spread of COVID-19, he added.

During election campaigning, Kishida held talks with business operators and others in a "symbolic move to show he is listening to people and he won't take a top-down approach," according to Iwasaki.

"Whether he can continue that from now on will be key to lifting his approval rate," Iwasaki said.

On the policy front, Nakakita said it is important for Kishida to not only prepare the country for a possible sixth wave of coronavirus infections, but to also reinforce the medical system in the longer run and create a mechanism for the swift provision of financial support to people in need.

As the pandemic brought to light the slow distribution last year of cash handouts due to the different processing systems of local governments, Kishida is likely to push forward with the digitalization of various administrative services under the Digital Agency launched by the Suga government in September.

Kishida has pledged a course correction from "Abenomics," the policy mix under Abe of bold monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reform. The economic policies, also employed by Suga, boosted cooperate earnings but did not lead to increased wages.

Instead, Kishida has proposed a "new capitalism" that places more emphasis on the distribution of wealth.

But he appears to be retaining many of the foreign and security policies of Abe and Suga that called for the reinforcement of Japan's alliance with the United States in pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific to counter China's perceived attempts to alter the status quo in the region.

Like his predecessors, Kishida, who served as foreign minister under Abe, views the Quad security framework involving Australia, India, Japan and the United States as valuable for maintaining a rules-based international order.

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KYODO NEWS - Oct 31, 2021 - 23:30 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Japanese voters expressed their hopes and concerns over issues such as addressing income disparities and bringing COVID-19 infections under control, as the country held a general election Sunday.

"Politicians speak of redistributing wealth, saying only what is nice to hear, but it makes me worried about the public finances," said Mayumi Igarashi, a Tokyo resident, after listening to a stump speech by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the capital on the eve of the election.

Kishida, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and took office on Oct. 4, has vowed to boost middle-class incomes.

Igarashi, 41, expressed hope that the government will move forward with economic policies that have been stalled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Hideki Nakamura, a 46-year-old health care worker in Ome, western Tokyo, expressed frustration over how the government's past policy on reducing the number of hospital beds had led to a strain on the medical system amid the pandemic.

Hiromi Machida, a 54-year-old nursery worker, had high hopes for the policies pledged by the opposition camp.

"I feel the current government does not value people's lives," said Machida, as Yukio Edano, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, made his final appeal in Tachikawa, western Tokyo.

Machida particularly called for child-friendly policies that will be beneficial for everyone.

Hirohito Miyatani, a 46-year-old business owner in Takatsuki in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, said he feels the Japanese economy has slowed down. "I hope politics will create a society in which my child can comfortably raise children."

Meanwhile, also in Takatsuki, Rie Fujii, a 20-year-old university student, urged lawmakers to implement policies on social welfare. She said she is interested in that issue "because you never know when you will need such support."

Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki urged lawmakers to take more action to realize a world without nuclear weapons and provide support to those who suffered the effects of the attacks in August 1945.

"So many people only say things we want to hear ahead of an election, but they take no notice of us after getting elected. I want them to fulfill their responsibilities after being selected by the Japanese people," said Toshiyuki Mimaki, an acting director of an atomic bomb survivors group in Hiroshima Prefecture.

While Kishida's constituency is in the prefecture, Mimaki said he has the impression that the prime minister has taken a step backward in his commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons since taking office.

"As hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors), we will need the help of all political parties. I want someone who has always kept in mind the people in the atomic-bombed areas and worked hard for them," the 79-year-old said.

In northeastern Japan, voters who survived the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster called for lawmakers to address issues faced by those who were forced to evacuate from their homes.

"When it comes to reconstruction, the emphasis seems to be on infrastructure," said Shinichi Kokubun, a 71-year-old who evacuated from Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, due to the area's close proximity to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

"I want politicians to listen closely to what kind of difficulties disaster survivors face," said Kokubun, who lives in public housing provided for evacuees in Iwaki in Fukushima.

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KYODO NEWS - Oct 31, 2021 - 23:23 | All, World

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday blamed each other for the increasing tension over Taiwan, but agreed on the importance of continuing dialogue, U.S. and Chinese government statements showed.

The meeting took place in Rome on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit, as the U.S. administration of President Joe Biden is seeking to manage intensifying competition with Beijing amid tensions on multiple fronts such as over China's assertiveness in neighboring waters and the increasing pressure it is placing on Taiwan.

According to the U.S. State Department, Blinken conveyed his concerns about "a range" of Chinese actions, including alleged human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in its far-western Xinjiang region, its crackdown on Hong Kong, its assertiveness in the East and South China seas, as well as Taiwan.

Reuters reported that the meeting lasted for an hour and that Blinken made "crystal clear" that Washington opposes any unilateral changes by Beijing to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, quoting a senior State Department official.

Wang, for his part, told Blinken that the "conniving U.S. support" for pro-independence forces in Taiwan is to be blamed for fueling the tension, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

He maintained China's position that Taiwan is the "most sensitive" issue between Beijing and Washington and warned that the issue could cause "overall" damage to the bilateral ties if it is mishandled.

Concerns are growing over the situation regarding Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. China has been sending a large number of military planes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone since early October.

Biden, meanwhile, caused consternation on Oct. 21 with his remarks that the United States is committed to defending Taiwan if China mounts an attack, a deviation from Washington's long-standing policy to keep its stance on the matter ambiguous.

Biden administration officials quickly sought to play down the remarks, emphasizing there was no change in U.S. policy and Washington is committed to its "one China" policy, which recognizes Beijing as the "sole legal government of China" but allows unofficial ties with Taiwan and assistance to the island in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability.

Emphasizing that Taiwan is part of China, Wang called on the United States to pursue a "genuine" one-China policy, not a "fake" one, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 as the result of a civil war. Relations have deteriorated since independence-leaning Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016.

Despite the tension, Blinken at the same time underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to "responsibly manage the competition" between the world's two largest economies, according to the State Department.

He also affirmed areas in which the two countries can cooperate, such as issues related to North Korea, Myanmar, Iran, Afghanistan and the climate crisis.

Wang said he would like to engage with Blinken to manage differences and remove doubts.

Blinken is accompanying Biden on the trip to Italy for the G-20 summit and later to Britain for the U.N. climate summit.

While the G-20 meeting was initially seen as a possible chance for Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping to hold their first face-to-face summit talks, Xi opted to remain in China as he has done since the coronavirus pandemic accelerated.

The two countries agreed earlier this month to hold a virtual meeting between their leaders later this year.

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KYODO NEWS - Nov 1, 2021 - 08:11 | All, World

Leaders of the Group of 20 economies on Sunday highlighted the importance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions "by or around mid-century," in what was seen as a vague commitment as many of them head to crucial U.N. climate talks.

They vowed to end public financing for new coal power generation in other countries by the end of 2021, but set no target for phasing out the dirtiest fossil fuel domestically in a declaration issued after their two-day meeting in Rome.

Gathering for the first in-person G-20 summit in two years, the leaders also pledged to help advance a global goal of inoculating 70 percent of the planet's population against COVID-19 by mid-2022, amid concerns that uneven access to vaccines could hamper the world economic recovery.

Climate change was high on the agenda during the meeting in Italy, seen as a precursor to the U.N. climate conference that just started in Glasgow, Scotland.

Chinese President Xi Jinping only joined the G-20 summit via video link and is also not expected to attend the U.N. conference in-person, dimming hopes that the world's largest carbon dioxide emitter will come up with any fresh commitments.

"We will accelerate our actions...acknowledging the key relevance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century," the G-20 economies, which account for more than 80 percent of world gross domestic product and around 80 percent of emissions, said in the declaration.

They also called for "meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries" to keep global warming at 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who chaired the summit, hailed the outcome a "success," saying it is the first time that all G-20 countries recognized the need to aim for limiting temperature rise to 1.5 C, a tougher target mentioned in the Paris climate accord.

The 2015 Paris Agreement sets out a global framework to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change by limiting global warming to "well below" 2 C, preferably to 1.5 C, compared with levels before the Industrial Revolution.

To prevent the 1.5 C line being crossed, U.N. scientists estimate that CO2 emissions will need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero around 2050. But the G-20 declaration did not mention a specific year to achieve carbon neutrality.

Many countries around the world are already seeking to move toward net zero emissions by 2050, including the United States, Japan and the European Union, which are part of the G-20. But other members such as China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are looking to 2060.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres was apparently not satisfied with the G-20 summit outcome.

"I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled -- but at least they are not buried," he tweeted. "Onwards to #COP26 in Glasgow to keep the goal of 1.5 degrees alive."

Global temperatures have already increased about 1 C, and countries have been urged to commit to more ambitious actions ahead of the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties, known as COP26.

On the current state of the global economy, the G-20 leaders affirmed that recovery from the pandemic-induced sharp downturn continued at a "solid pace," underpinned by the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and policy support.

Price pressures in the United States and elsewhere are currently seen as transitory, with bottlenecks occurring as some parts of the economy recover from the pandemic faster than others, resulting in imbalances between supply and demand. But concerns linger over whether this could lead to a more sustained rise in inflation.

The G-20 leaders said they will remain "vigilant" over the global economic challenges, such as disruptions in supply chains, and vowed to work together to address the issues.

On the sidelines of the summit, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a meeting with more than a dozen countries, including Japan, to foster greater cooperation to tackle supply chain disruptions and building long-term resilience to the system.

The G-20 leaders, meanwhile, also rallied behind a deal to introduce in 2023 a 15 percent global minimum corporate tax rate and a system to require multinational companies to pay their "fair share" in levies wherever they operate and generate profits.

The move was widely expected as the G-20 finance chiefs in mid-October endorsed the tax reform plan, which was worked out through international negotiations at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The G-20 members consist of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the EU.

Other virtual G-20 summit participants included Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office less than a month ago and was preparing for a general election on Sunday, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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KYODO NEWS - Nov 1, 2021 - 02:36 | All, Japan

Akira Amari, No. 2 of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, intends to resign from his post after about a month following his projected loss in his single-seat constituency in Sunday's general election, people close to him said.

The LDP secretary general conveyed his intention to other party executives following media projections that he had lost in his House of Representatives constituency, the sources said early Monday.

Despite losing in his district in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, Amari is still expected to secure a parliamentary seat through the proportional representation section.

Amari is projected to have lost to Hideshi Futori, a candidate of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Amari, who was named secretary general last month by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, told reporters earlier Sunday that he would consult with the premier about whether to remain in his post, saying, "The secretary general is the person responsible for elections."

In a TV interview on Sunday, Kishida said, "It is something to think about after a result comes in and I discuss it with him."

Amari, a 72-year-old heavyweight who had served his 12th term as a lower house lawmaker when Kishida dissolved the chamber on Oct. 14, stepped down as economy minister in January 2016 over graft allegations against him and his secretaries. He returned to key party positions in recent years.

The ruling coalition of the LDP and its junior partner Komeito is projected to secure a majority in the lower house, but it saw several other veteran candidates lose in their single-seat districts as opposition parties coordinated their candidates to counter them.

Nobuteru Ishihara, a former LDP secretary general who has served in several ministerial posts, lost to CDPJ candidate Harumi Yoshida in his constituency in Tokyo.

Ishihara, the eldest son of outspoken former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, heads a faction of the LDP and served as environment minister and minister in charge of economic revitalization, among other posts.

Meanwhile, Amari's predecessor Toshihiro Nikai, 82, who had served more than five years as LDP secretary general and was the oldest candidate in the election, secured his 13th term through the single-seat district ballot in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan.

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New Delhi:

The Election Commission on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll speech in Wardha in which he criticised Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's nomination from Kerala's Wayanad constituency does not violate the Model Code of Conduct.

The matter has been examined in detail in accordance with provisions of Model Code of Conduct, R P Act, and Maharashtra CEOs report. Accordingly, EC is of the considered view that in this matter no such violation has been noticed, the poll panel said.

Earlier this month, the Congress had moved the EC against PM Modis speech in which he said that the opposition party was "scared" to field its leaders from constituencies where majority dominates, alleging that the comments were "hateful and divisive".

Complaining against the prime minister's speech in Wardha, the Congress alleged that PM Modi made some "hateful, vile and divisive" remarks against Rahul Gandhi.

"The prime minister through his speech tried to spread hate for electoral gains which is a serious violation of the Representation of People Act," Singhvi told reporters outside the EC office.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court sought the poll panels response on a plea by a Congress MP alleging MCC violations by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah over their alleged hate speeches and using armed forces for "political propaganda".

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it would hear at Thursday the plea of Sushmita Dev, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Silchar in Assam and President of 'All India Mahila Congress', alleging inaction by EC in deciding complaints against Modi and Shah.

The bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, made clear that it would be open to the EC passing "necessary/appropriate orders on the representation(s) of the petitioner (Dev)".

During his speech in Wardha on April 1, PM Modi had said that the Congress is scared to field its leaders from constituencies where majority dominates in terms of voter- base. He, however, did not name Congress chief Rahul Gandhi who has decided to contest the Lok Sabha election from Wayanad in Kerala.

He also slammed the Congress for the Hindu terror metaphor and charged the opposition party with insulting "peace-loving" followers of the religion by linking them to terrorism.

"The Congress insulted Hindus and the people of the country have decided to punish the party in the election. Leaders of that party are now scared of contesting from constituencies dominated by the majority (Hindu) population. That is why they are forced to take refuge in places where the majority is a minority," Modi had reportedly said.




Panna:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said the 'Nyay' scheme promised by his party will jump-start the countrys economy as people will have money in their bank accounts to spend, a power which was taken away by steps like demonetisation and the "Gabbar Singh Tax (GST)".

He also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and repeated his `chowkidar chor hai' jibe.

"Under the Nyay scheme, 25 crore people will get Rs 6,000 per month, amounting to Rs 72,000 per year. In five years, they will get Rs 3.60 lakh in their accounts and that will give them power to purchase from the market," he said.

He said demonetisation and poor implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, which he dubs as the "Gabbar Singh Tax (GST)", has adversely affected purchasing power of people.

Gandhi was addressing an election rally at Amaanganj in Panna district is part of the Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress has fielded Kavita Singh from the Khajuraho seat against the BJP's Vishnu Dutt Sharma.

Seeking to woo the large number of women present at the rally, he said the money under the minimum income scheme will be directly deposited in their bank accounts.

He asked the men present at the event not to get annoyed with him on the issue.

Gandhi said when Modi can give Rs 5.55 lakh crore to 15 big people of the country like Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi, he can easily give Rs 72,000 per year to poor people.

The Congress president asked chief minister Kamal Nath to probe the "Bundelkhand scam" as the purpose for which the money was given by the previous UPA government was not fulfilled.

The development package for the impoverished region was announced when the BJP was in power in the state.

Gandhi criticised Modi for making false promise of giving Rs 15 lakh each to the people of the country ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"I wont say that I will give Rs 15 lakh as I dont lie. But I can promise that I can give Rs 3.60 lakh in accounts of poor families and I will fulfil that," he said.

The Congress leader pointed out that his party promptly implemented the loan waiver scheme announced in states where it came to power after the assembly elections last year.

He said now a days whenever and wherever he says "chowkidar" people reply in unison "chor hai".

The Congress chief has been repeatedly using the "chowkidar chor hai" (watchman is a thief) jibe to target Modi whom he accuses of indulging in crony capitalism and highlight alleged irregularities in the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Earlier, Gandhi addressed one more rally in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, Patharia, which falls in the Damoh parliamentary seat.

While six of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh went to the polls in the first phase on April 29, the remaining 23 constituencies will vote on May 6, 12 and 19.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narender Modi will address an election rally in Maya Bazar in Gosainganj, which is 27 kilometres from the main city of Ayodhya. The Gosainganj area falls under the Ayodhya district although it votes for the Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha seat which votes in the sixth phase - on May 12. This would be PM Modi's first visit to Ayodhya in the last five years. The holy town has been central to the BJP and its Hindutva affiliates' agitation for a Ram temple at what faithfuls believe to be the birth place of lord Ram.

Ahead of General Elections in 2014, PM Modi had addressed a rally in Faizabad, where an image of the proposed Ram Temple at the backdrop of his dais triggered a massive controversy with the Opposition parties including the Congress complaining of the violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by using religious symbols.

PM Modi's visit to the Ram Janmabhoomi is significant as many have accused the ruling BJP of not doing enough for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site of Ayodhya. Right-wing groups also demanded that a special amendment be brought to facilitate the construction of a temple.

Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case, the decade-old socio-religious debate, started back on December 6, 1992, when a group of Hindu Karsevaks, during a political rally, destroyed the mosque claiming that a Ram temple was actually demolished to construct the same. The mosque was built by Mughal emperor Babur in Ayodhya back in 1528.

The BJP, however, in its 2019 election manifesto, has promised to "explore all possibilities within the framework of the constitution and all necessary efforts to facilitate the expeditious construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya".

12:22 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Kumbh mela has been celebrated for thousands of years. But it was during our tenure that the world started talking about it: PM Modi.

12:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In No chaiwala wants his child to become a chaiwala. The poor want to grow and thrive: PM Modi.

12:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "We have started the Ramayan Circuit Project. We have also developed tourism in various places of worship. But the biggest thereat to our religious practices & culture is terror," the PM said.

12:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Responding to the 'chaiwala-pakorewala' jibe of Navjot Singh Sidhu, PM Modi said, "Congress has only mocked poor'.

12:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I understand the pain and struggle of every labourer. I understand their illness. To fight this I have introduced the Ayushman Scheme, says PM Modi in Ayodhya.

12:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 'Ayodhya is the city of Maryada Purshottam Ram', says PM Modi.

12:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi in Ayodhya: Be it SP, BSP or Congress, it is necessary to know their reality. Behen ji used the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar but she did everything which is just the opposite of his principles. SP used the name of Lohia ji but they destroyed the law & order situation in UP.

12:02 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Respect of the country has incresed over the past 5 years, says PM Modi in Ayodhya.

09:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Last year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had changed the name of Faizabad district to Ayodhya, but the name of the Lok Sabha seat has not been changed.

09:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In This would be PM Modi's first visit to Ayodhya in the last five years. The holy town has been central to the BJP and its Hindutva affiliates' agitation for a Ram temple at what faithfuls believe to be the birth place of lord Ram.

09:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The Gosainganj area falls under the Ayodhya district although it votes for the Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha seat which votes in the sixth phase - on May 12.

09:07 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Maya Bazar in Gosainganj, where PM Modi will address a public rally, is 27 kilometres from the main city of Ayodhya.
New Delhi:

Days after serial blasts on Easter Sunday, cable operators in Sri Lanka blocked Islamic preacher Zakir Naiks Peace TV, according to sources. India and Bangladesh have already banned Peace TV, which has often been used by ISIS recruiters for indoctrination and brainwashing youth. The official announcement in this regard is yet to be made.

On Monday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested an Islamic State sympathiser and follower, identified as Riyas Aboobacker, of alleged Sri Lanka bombings mastermind Zahran Hasim from Kerala, the agency said. Aboobacker admitted that he wanted to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala. The 29-year-old told the NIA that he has been following Hasim for more than a year and has also followed the speeches of Zakir Naik, an absconding Indian Islamic preacher and the founder of the Islamic Research Foundation.

Naik has been under investigation since 2016, when the Centre banned his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) for five years. The controversial preacher is accused of inciting youth to take up terror activities, giving hate speeches and promoting enmity between communities.

He is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on several charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The preacher, declared a proclaimed offender by a special NIA court in June 2017, is accused of inciting youth to take up terror activities, giving hate speeches and promoting enmity between communities. The NIA filed a charge sheet against Naik and others before a Mumbai court in October 2017.

The Islamic State has claimed the attacks, but the government has blamed local Islamist extremist group National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) for the bombings. Both Christianity and Islam are minority religions in Sri Lanka, with each accounting for less than 10 per cent of the population. The vast majority of Sri Lankans identify as Buddhist.

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New Delhi:

Labour Day, also known as May Day, corresponds to the International Workers' Day which is celebrated across the globe. This day is observed as a holiday in more than 80 countries including India.

May 1 is also marked as 'Maharashtra Day' and 'Gujarat Day' to mark the date in 1960 when the two western states attained statehood after the erstwhile Bombay state was divided on linguistic lines.

Some banks are also closed However, this holiday varies in different banks from state to state.

State Bank of India:

All branches of SBI will be closed in states such as - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Manipur, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal and Maharashtra (Maharshtra Day).

Punjab National Bank:

All branches of PNB will also be shut in Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal and Telangana.

Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement in the United States in the 19th century when the industrialists used to exploit the labour class and made them work up to 15 hours a day. The workers rose against this exploitation and demanded paid leaves, proper wages and breaks for the workforce. The eight-hour day labour movement advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.

In India, the first Labour day or May Day was celebrated in the year 1923. It was the Labour Kisan Party who had organised the May Day celebrations in Chennai (then Madras).

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New Delhi:

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) on Wednesday reported that the company registered a comprehensive growth 23 per cent last month. In April 2019, Honda registered monthly domestic sales of 11,272 units as against 9,143 units in the same month last year.

Notably, Honda has seen a strong sales growth thanks to the new-gen Amaze as also the WR-V. The company even exported 220 units in April 2019.

HCIL Senior Vice President and Director, Sales and Marketing Rajesh Goel said, "HCIL's April sales growth is primarily due to lower base effect, as there was no Amaze in corresponding month last year during model runout.

Goel further said, The ongoing elections and overall subdued market sentiment continues to affect the sales momentum. Going forward, the industry is heading towards a tougher year impacting sales due to volatility in fuel prices, increase in car prices owing to new regulations and stricter inventory control for smooth switchover to BS6 regime by year end," he added.

Interestingly, Honda is planning to bring more cars to India in 2019. The company had already announced that there would be 6 new models in three years starting 2018. Honda has already launched 3 new models in the country in the form of the new-gen Amaze, CR-V and Civic. Now, lets wait and watch what Honda is going to offer next.

In the month of January this year, HCIL reported an increase of 23 per cent in its domestic sales at 18,261 units. The company had sold 14,838 units in January 2018. On the exports front, the HCIL dispatched a total of 200 units in January 2019.

During the ongoing financial year, HCIL has registered a cumulative growth of 5.7 per cent by selling 153,058 units during April18  January19, against 144,802 units in the corresponding period last year.
New Delhi:

Dismissed BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav's nomination as Samajwadi Party candidate from Varanasi was cancelled on Wednesday by the Election Commission.

The poll panel had asked Yadav to get a no-objection certificate from the Border Security Force (BSF) and asked him to file his response by 11 am on Wednesday.

In its letter, the poll panel had said that employees of the state or central government who have been dismissed for corruption or disloyalty to the state shall be disqualified from campaigning for a period of five years.

"A person who has been dismissed from service from state or central govt within last 5 years has to obtain a certificate from EC stating he/she hasn't been dismissed due to disloyalty or corruption. Certificate wasn't produced before 11am, so, the nomination was rejected," said District Magistrate, Varanasi.

Following the cancellation of Yadavs nomination, Samajwadi Partys Shalini Yadav has been renominated as the joint candidate of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance.

Alleging that the Election Commission was acting on behest of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Yadav said that he will approach the Supreme Court to challenge the cancellation of his nomination from Varanasi.

My nomination has been rejected wrongly. I was asked to produce the evidence at 6.15pm yesterday, we produced the evidence, still my nomination was rejected. We will go to the Supreme Court, said Yadav.

Yadav, a former BSF constable, was dismissed from the service in 2017 after uploaded a video on social media complaining that poor quality food was being served to the troops in the icy, mountainous region along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. He was later dismissed on the charge of indiscipline.

The SP, which is in an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, had earlier declared Shalini Yadav as its candidate from Varanasi, while the Congress has renominated Ajai Rai. Varanasi will go to polls in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 19 and the last date for filing nomination is Monday.
New Delhi:

A 25-year-old woman doctor was found murdered at her flat in central Delhis Ranjit Nagar area on Wednesday. The victim has been identified as Dr Garima Mishra. Originally from Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur, Dr Mishra was staying in the Capital and preparing for upcoming MD exams. Initial reports suggest that Delhi Police is interrogating people living in the vicinity. Two neighbours including a doctor is missing since the murder came to light. Police are suspecting the absconding doctor for allegedly murdering Dr Mishra. The body has been sent to the Lady Hardinge Medical College. And the post-mortem will be conducted once the parents of the victim reach Delhi.

The incident is a stark reminder of high crime rate in the National Capital. A 2018 report had revealed that there was a 6% increase in the total number of crimes registered under the Indian Penal Code. The data released by Delhi Police said that as many as 2,36,476 IPC cases were registered last year, up from 2,23,077 in 2017. In percentage terms, the number of cases filed rose by 6.01%. However, the total number of crimes such as rape, attempt to murder and abduction, among others, have declined by 29.48%.

While total heinous crime in 2018 showed a 11.72% drop, cases of dacoity, attempt to murder, robbery, rape and riot have gone down by 36.11%, 16.26%, 20.15%, 0.78% and 54% respectively, as compared to the year before. Even incidents of snatching and burglary showed a declining trend.

However, there has been an increase in the number of murders, with 477 cases registered in 2018 as compared to 462 in 2017. Out of these, 86.16 per cent cases were solved. The incidents of murder, per lakh of population, showed a significant decline over the last 14 years, coming down to 2.60% last year from 3.29% in 2004.
Colombo:

The US has warned that the terrorist threat in Sri Lanka still remains as active members of the group that carried out the massive suicide attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large, a media report said on Tuesday.

The US Embassy in Colombo has said that at the request of the Sri Lankan Government, US security experts were working closely with their Sri Lankan partners on "fulfilling short term, specific objectives" related to the recent attacks and to bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Nancy VanHorn, the spokesperson at the US Embassy in Colombo that the US believes active members of the attack group that carried out the terror attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large.

"As the (US) Ambassador (Alaina Teplitz) has previously stated and as reflected in our travel advisory, the terrorist threat is ongoing," the spokesperson told the Colombo Gazette.

Sri Lankan authorities said they believed a little-known local militant Islamist group known as National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) was behind the attack that killed 253 people and injured nearly 500 more. However, the NTJ has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, Sri Lanka's worst.

On Tuesday, the Islamic State terror group said it had carried out the attacks, and released video of men it says were the bombers, pledging allegiance to the group.

The attackers targetted three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels.

Ambassador Teplitz has said the attacks are the work of a few individuals and not of an entire community.

As Sri Lanka looks to the future and to implementing changes in security and communications procedures to prevent future atrocities, the US stands ready to assist with lessons learned from our own past tragedies and through our ongoing cooperation with local authorities, the embassy has said.

"These terrible attacks are the work of a few individuals and not of an entire community. Sri Lankans of all backgrounds and faiths have come together to condemn these atrocities. Unity is the most powerful answer to terrorism," the ambassador said recently.

Teplitz further underscored that "while we work together to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice, we must remain vigilant in defending the democratic ideals that form the pillars of a strong society.

"And we must do so without destroying communities of peaceful, innocent people who share the faith of the attackers, but not their warped ideology," she said.

"We must always respect the wonderful diversity of Sri Lanka and fortify the culture of unity that the country needs to thrive," she said.

On April 26, the Department of State ordered the departure of all school-age family members of US government employees in Kindergarten through 12th grade. The Department also authorised the voluntary departure of non-emergency US government employees and family members from Sri Lanka.

"Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Sri Lanka," the State Department said, adding that terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist spots, religious places other public areas.

According to Sri Lankan Foriegn Ministry, one American nationa, two people holding US and UK nationalities were among 42 foriegn nationals killed in the Easter Sunday attack.

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New Delhi:

The Kerala Police have arrested four men who were allegedly involved in wife swapping after a woman filed a complaint to the police that her husband was forcing her have sexual activities with others. The woman told the police that her husband had befriended those people on ShareChat, an online sharing group.

The police in Kayamkulam town in Alappuzha district of Kerala said the practice of wife swapping started in March last year when the victim's husband forced her to have sex with one Arshad, a native of Calicut. The case was filed a week ago and the four men were arrested on Friday after preliminary inquiry.

The investigating officer said the victim's husband contacted Arshad through the social media app, reported India Today.

She said she was often tortured by her husband, an employee of a travel company when she refused to oblige and threatened to divorce her, a police officer said. She said while two women were willing to such relationships she and another woman opposed it vehemently.

According to Hindustan Times, the four men are in 25-35 age-group and hail from middle-class families. A senior police officer said this is the first such case reported in the state involving a social media platform for wife swapping. He said many such sites were under the scanner of cyber wing of the police.

Kayamakulam station house officer CS Sharon told HT that the prime accused was addicted to online chat and came in contact with a couple in Kozhikkode in March 2018. He then established a good rapport with them. Later, both started frequenting each others house and two more couples also joined them. The complainant said she was not willing to continue such a relationship and some men were very violent in nature.

The police said the racket was going on for more than a year and the woman decided to stop it when her husband tried to widen his net.

The men have been charged under Section 366 IPC for luring/intimidating a woman for sexual favours," the officer told India Today.

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New Delhi :

Shaurya Doval, son of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, has been accorded a top 'Z' category level security in view of potential threats to him, officials said on Tuesday.

Similarly, 10 BJP candidates, who are contesting elections from West Bengal, have been accorded security by the Centre for a "limited period", they said.

The officials told PTI that junior Doval has been "brought under the mobile security cover" of a central paramilitary force after a security perception report prepared by central agencies claimed that he faced "threats from people inimical to his father and others".

Post this report, the Union home ministry has ordered deployment of CISF commandos to guard Shaurya Doval (43) under the 'Z' category of VIP cover and AK-47 wielding commandos will be guarding him everytime he moves in any part of the country.

About 15-16 commands have been 'detailed' for the security of Shaurya Doval, they said.

Shaurya Doval heads the think-tank 'India Foundation'.

NSA Doval enjoys the topmost category of 'Z+' provided by the Central Industrial Security Force. Ajit Doval was brought under this security umbrella about four years ago.

In a similar move, the government has accorded a "limited period" VIP security cover to a number of BJP candidates contesting the general elections in West Bengal.

BJP candidates Aupam Hazra, contesting Lok Sabha polls from Jadavpur and Arjun Singh, who joined the party after deserting the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and is contesting from Barrackpore, have been given a 'Y+' cover of central armed paramilitary commandos.

Similarly, Minister of State in the Union cabinet and candidate from Durgapur, S S Ahluwalia, Cooch Behar candidate Nishit Pramanik, former IPS officer and Ghatal seat candidate Bharti Ghosh have been accorded the 'Y+' cover that entails about 5-6 armed commandos. BJP leader Siddharth Shekhar Das has also been given the security.

BJP candidate from North 24 Parganas Shantanu Thakur has been accorded a 'Y' category cover while the lowest 'X' category cover has been given to Dulal Chandra Bar and Khagen Murmu who switched sides to the BJP from Congress and CPI(M) respectively.

A similar 'X' category security cover, that entails about 2-3 commandos with escort vehicle, has been accorded to Kabir Shankar Bose.

All the political people getting security cover in West Bengal will have the armed commandos with them till the polls get over and the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) has directed to withdraw the cover from them by May-June.

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New Delhi:

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) plans to introduce certain changes in its Class 10 examination pattern, with an aim to ease the burden of Class 10 students.

Class 10 candidates can also choose their difficulty level in the Mathematics paper. Those who opt for an easier version, however, could not take mathematics as a major subject in higher studies.

According to report by Indian Express , the current mathematics subject will be called mathematics-standard and the easier level will be called mathematics-basic. The same will be introduced from 2020 onwards as well.

According to a circular by the board candidates will be accesed both internally and through the board examination for Maths and English from the next academic session.

The Board will be conducting two-level exams for class 10 mathematics and English papers from 2020 onwards. According to a report by Indian express, a total of 20 marks will be assigned for school-based assessment in each of the exams.

With this rule being implemented, the regular theory exams will be conducted for 80 marks instead of 100 marks.

Students will have to clear the school-based exams first to gain a seat in the Board examination, a system which was being followed in some of class 12 subjects exams earlier and now has been extended for class 10 board exams too.



Observing that the need for school-based internal assessments is increasing, CSBE has called the move learner-centric

The board has sent the notice to affiliated schools and is likely to be available for the public soon.
New Delhi:

With extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani likely to cross the coastal areas of Odisha on Friday, the South Eastern Railway has cancelled 43 trains scheduled to run between Howrah and Puri, and other destinations in south India over the next two days. According to a forecast by the MeT office, heavy-to-very heavy rainfall may occur in the coastal districts of Odisha and West Bengal on Friday.

Cyclone Fani, which has turned into an "extreme severe cyclonic" storm, is about 450 km from the Odisha coast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in an early morning tweet.

It said that the cyclonic storm is moving northwards with a speed of 5 km per hour in past six hours and is likely to make landfall at Odisha coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali anytime after Friday afternoon, with wind speed of up to 200 km per hour.

In view of the impending landfall of Cyclone Fani, the weatherman has issued an 'Orange message' alert for Odisha, West Bengal and Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh coasts. A total of nineteen districts of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal are expected to get hit by the cyclone, with the Met Department issuing a special bulletin on Wednesday warning about possible destruction in the areas.

Here are the LIVE updates:

20:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 223 trains cancelled along Orissa coastline of Kolkata-Chennai route till May 4 in view of cyclone Fani: Railways

19:44 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In No flight will depart or arrive at Kolkata airport between 9.30 pm of May 3 and 6 pm of May 4 due to cyclone Fani: DGCA

19:31 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Landfall which was expected to be at 5:30 pm tomorrow, is now expected between 12 pm-2 pm. All colleges & soft business establishments will be closed tomorrow: Sangram Mohapatra, Spokesperson, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority.

17:07 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In All GoAir flights in and out from Bhubaneswar Airport (BBI) stands cancelled for 03 May 2019.

17:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In All airlines are requested to offer all assistance for rescue & relief operations in view of Cyclonic Storm FANI. All relief material should be airlifted to be delivered to officially designated agencies. Control room being set up: Suresh Prabhu

14:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness for Cyclone Fani. The meeting was attended by the Cabinet Secretary, the Principal Secretary to the PM, the Additional Principal Secretary to the PM, the Home Secretary, and other senior officials from the IMD, NDRF, NDMA and PMO, etc. The Prime Minister was briefed on the likely path of the cyclone, and the ongoing precautionary and preparatory measures being undertaken.

13:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In ONGC evacuates nearly 500 employees before cyclone Fani makes landfall

Indias biggest oil and gas producer ONGC has evacuated close to 500 of its employees from offshore installations in the Bay of Bengal and moved drilling rigs to safer locations ahead of an impending cyclone that is expected to make landfall on Friday. Sources privy to the development said while operations at Paradip port in Odisha and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh have been shut and ships have been ordered to move out to sea to avoid damage, the refineries are operating but with all precautions in place.

11:57 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Tourists have been asked to leave Puri by Thursday evening, while Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar will remain closed from May 2 to 4.

11:56 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Over one lakh dry food packets have been kept ready for air dropping in the areas to be affected by Fani, the most severe cyclonic storm since the super cyclone of 1999 that claimed close to 10,000 lives and devastated large parts of Odisha.

11:56 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Emphasising that every life is precious, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who reviewed the preparedness on Wednesday evening, said there was a need to give special attention to pregnant women, children, elderly people and differently-abled persons.

11:51 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In According to the SRC, the evacuation of eight lakh people is the largest-ever evacuation operation in the country.

11:50 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Arrangements have been made to start free kitchens to provide cooked food to the evacuees, the Special Relief Commissioner said.

11:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In At least 14 Odisha districts - Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Khurda, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Gajapati, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar - are likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone, which is also likely to impact Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

11:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Airport Authority of India has issued an alert to all coastal airports to ensured that all precautions and SOPs are put in place immediately, reports ANI.

11:24 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In A massive operation was launched in Odisha on Thursday to evacuate over eight lakh people from low-lying coastal areas as the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani moved closer to the eastern coast.

11:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In HR Biswas, Director, Met Dept, Bhubaneswar: Today mostly south coastal Odisha & adjoining interior Odisha will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall. Tomorrow all 11 coastal districts along with & adjoining interior districts will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall.

10:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Odisha government has planned to evacuate around 8 lakh people from seaside villages and low lying areas to safer places by Thursday evening, the Times of India reported.

10:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Odisha Fire Services in the city has kept 50 teams of six members each on alert in the city, news agency ANI reported.

10:07 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm FANI about 450 km south-southwest of Puri at 0530 hrs IST of 02nd May, 2019. To cross Odisha coast around Puri by afternoon of 3rd May, the IMD tweeted on Thursday.



Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm FANI about 450 km south-southwest of Puri at 0530 hrs IST of 02nd May, 2019. To cross Odisha coast around Puri by afternoon of 3rd May. https://t.co/wRl94BRtm1 pic.twitter.com/nzGmV2Jr6O

 India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) May 2, 2019







10:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In a statement on Thursday, the Defence Ministry said, "It is monitoring the developing situation in East Coast of India for Cyclone Fani and authorises the proactive deployment of resources from Indian Navy and Coast Guard for succour and assistance to those in need with minimum reaction time. Coast Guard has deployed 20 teams."

10:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The weatherman has also issued warning to fishermen not to venture into deep sea areas of Southwest adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal, Southwest and adjoining the westcentral Bay of Bengal, along and off Puducherry, north Tamilnadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts on May 2.

10:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In As over 100 trains were cancelled in Odisha owing to Fani Cyclone, the Indian Railways have reportedly arrainged for a special passenger train from Puri to Shalimar in Kolkata, which will commence operation at Thursday noon. The train will start from Puri in Odisha and make stops in Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajapur, Kendujhar, Bhadarak, Baleswar and Kharagpur en route Shalimar. The special train is expected to reach Bhubaneswar at around 1:30 pm.

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New Delhi:

The Election Commission on Tuesday imposed fresh 48-hour ban on Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan for "threatening" poll authorities, "making communal remarks". This is the second time this month that the EC has imposed a ban on him. The fresh ban will come into force at 6 am on Wednesday. Earlier he was barred from campaigning for 72 hours for his 'khaki underwear' jibe at BJP candidate Jaya Prada.

On April 15, Khan was slapped with a poll campaign ban, an FIR and a women commission notice for his alleged "khaki underwear" jibe, while the saffron party mounted a sharp political attack comparing his "disgusting" comments to disrobing of Draupadi in Mahabharata.

The actor-turned-politician, who was earlier with the SP and has now been pitted by the BJP against Khan from Rampur Lok Sabha seat, demanded his immediate disqualification from contesting polls and said she had considered him a brother but he has now crossed the 'lakshman rekha'.

After examining the remarks made at an election rally by Khan, who has often stoked controversies with his speeches, the Election Commission imposed a nationwide ban on him from campaigning for 72 hours.

During the last Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the EC had imposed a ban on Khan from campaigning in Uttar Pradesh for his provocative speeches and had also lodged an FIR against him.

Khan, however, remained defiant and said he did not name any person in his speech and if anyone proves that he had taken any name or maligned anyone then he would not contest the polls.

Without naming the actor, Khan had told the election rally in Rampur "... You got represented (by her) for 10 years. People of Rampur, people of Uttar Pradesh and people of India, it took you 17 years to understand her reality. But, I could recognize it in 17 days that she wears a khaki underwear."

Jaya Prada had represented Rampur twice in Lok Sabha after winning in 2004 and 2009 as a Samajwadi Party leader. Later she was expelled from the party, along with Amar Singh, following differences with Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Last month she joined BJP and has been nominated as the saffron party's candidate against Khan from Rampur, which goes to polls on April 23.

(With PTI inputs)
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New Delhi:

Maharashtra Board Results 2020: Maharashtra Board HSC Result 2020 is likely to be announced in the month of May. However, no official announcement has been made in this regard so far. The fate of over 14 lakhs students will be sealed after Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) announces the Maharashtra HSC Result 2020. Soon after the formal declaration of the results, the same will be available on the official website of the board. We here at News Nation are in close contact with our sources and will be updating all the latest news here. Hence, we request the students to bookmark this page and check it regularly for all the updates.

Maharashtra Board HSC Result 2020  Date of Declaration

The MSBSHSE has not declared any official date for the announcement of HSC Result 2020 but there are reports that it could be announced in the last week of May, 2020. In 2019 too, it was declared on May 28. According to experts, the Maharashtra Board result 2020 declaration date will be as per the MSBSHSEs annual academic calendar so that the students would be able to take up admission to higher classes without any difficulty.

State Exam Name Exam Date (2020) Exam Result Date Maharashtra Maharashtra Board Exam (HSC) March May

Past trends of Maharashtra HSC Result

Maharashtra HSC Results are very important for the future of students as HSC Result 2020 will be considered by universities and colleges for admission to undergraduate (UG) courses. Last year the Maharashtra HSC Result 2019 was declared on May 28. Out of a total of 14 lakh students, around 10.5 lakh had cleared the exam. Lets have a look at some of the important figures about Maharashtra 12th Result.

Total Number of Candidates Appeared: 14,21,936

Total number of candidates passed: 10.5 lakh

Overall Pass Percentage: 85.88%

Pass percentage of Boys: 90.25%

Pass percentage of Girls: 82.40%

How to check Maharashtra HSC Result 2020

In order to help students in the crucial time of checking Maharashtra HSC Result 2020, we have provided some easy steps. By following them, the students will be able to view and download their Maharashtra HSC Result.

Follow these easy steps:

Step 1: Visit the official website of the board i.e. mahresult.nic.in

Step 2: Input all the important information like name, birth date, and roll number

Step 3: Click on the submit button

Step 4: Check your Madhyamik Result 2020

Step 5: Download soft copy PDF / take a printout for future reference





Maharashtra HSC Result 2020 Rechecking/Re-evaluation

Maharashtra Board allows students unsatisfied with the marks to apply for re-evaluation and re-checking their answer sheets. To apply for rechecking/re-evaluation students will be required to pay a nominal fee as directed by the board and submit an application through their respective schools.

About Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education

The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), Pune was founded in the year 1965 under the Maharashtra Act No. 41 of 1965. The jurisdiction of the board extends over the nine divisional boards located at Pune, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Nasik, Kolhapur, Amravati, Latur, Nagpur and Ratnagiri. Almost 30 lakh plus students participate in the bi-Yearly examination conducted by The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education, Pune at HSC and SSC level every year.
New Delhi:

Cyclone 'Fani' has intensified into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' and it will cross the Odisha coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali by Friday afternoon, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday even as it issued a 'yellow warning' for Odisha coast predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places such as Boudh, Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Deogarh, and Sundargarh."Heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places the districts of Boudh, Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Sundargarh of Odisha," said the IMD.

The IMD has issued a formal cyclone alert for Odisha, West Bengal and parts of Andhra Pradesh, and suggested evacuation of coastal areas.

The Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said Cyclone 'Fani' (pronounced Foni) lays southwest and adjoining westcentral and southeast Bay of Bengal about 760 km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha) and 560 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and about 660 km north-northeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka).

Puri district administration has advised tourists to leave the city by the evening of May 2. Non-essential travel may be cancelled, during 3- 4 May, to the likely affected district, the district administration said.

As per the disaster management division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Cyclone Fani is very likely to move northwestwards on till May 1 noon and thereafter recurve north-northeastwards and cross Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali. From there, it will move to the south of Puri around May 3 afternoon with maximum sustained wind of speed 175-185 kmph gusting to 205 kmph.

"It has intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm," Additional Director General of the IMD Mritunjay Mohapatra told PTI.

The wind speed of a cyclonic storm is 80-90 kmph gusting up to 100 kmph. In case of an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm', the wind speed goes up to 170-180 kmph and could gain the speed of 195-200 kmph.

An IMD bulletin in the evening said storm surge of about 1.5 metre above astronomical tide is likely to inundate low lying areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha at the time of possible landfall.

The sea conditions are very likely to be rough to very rough along and off Odisha Coast on May 2 and become high to phenomenal by May 4.Fishermen have been advised not to venture into deep sea areas of northwest and adjoining West-central Bay of Bengal along and off Odisha coast from May 2 to May 4. The expected damage due to Cyclone Fani includes -- extensive damage to all types of kutcha houses, extensive uprooting of communication and power poles, disruption of rail and road link at several places, extensive damage to standing crops, plantations, orchards, blowing down of Palm and coconut trees, uprooting of large bushy trees and large boats and ships may get torn from their moorings.

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New Delhi :

A former Supreme Court employee, who levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, on Tuesday said that she would not to appear any more before the in-house inquiry panel.

The employee said in a statement she won't participate before the three-member panel headed by Justice SA Bobde as she feels that justice will not be delivered to him.

"But due to serious concerns and reservations, I am no longer participating in these in-house committee proceedings," she said in a statement.

The in-house inquiry proceeding into the sexual harassment allegations is distinct from the probe to be carried out by the court-appointed Justice (retd) A K Patnaik panel which would inquire into the claims of an advocate about a larger conspiracy to frame the CJI and fixing of benches.

On April 23, Justice Bobde had said that the in-house procedure did not contemplate representation of advocates on behalf of parties as it was not a formal judicial proceedings.

"This is going to be an in-house procedure which does not contemplate representation of advocate on behalf of parties. It is not a formal judicial proceeding," he said.

He had clarified that there was no time-frame to complete the inquiry and the future course of action will depend on "what comes out of the inquiry" which will be "confidential".

Justice Indu Malhotra was on April 25 appointed a new member of the committee after Justice N V Ramana recused himself. The woman's allegations against the CJI were brought into the public domain by some news web portals on April 20.

She had worked at Justice Gogoi's home office in Delhi and the allegations were carried by the news portals based on her affidavit which was sent to 22 judges of the top court.

In her affidavit, the woman described two incidents of alleged harassment, days after Justice Gogoi was appointed CJI last October and her subsequent persecution.

The woman alleged that she was removed from service after she rebuffed his "sexual advances". She claimed that her husband and brother-in-law, both of whom were head constables of Delhi Police, were suspended for a 2012 criminal case that had been mutually resolved.

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New Delhi:

At least three security personnel were killed in IED blast at a check post in Pakistan's restive northwest district of North Waziristan on Saturday late night.

According to a report published in Xinhua, the explosion hit a check-post located in Raghzai area of Tehsil Shewa in North Waziristan, a district of the countrys northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Three security personnel came under the attack on Saturday when they reached the post to perform their duties. Another paramilitary soldier was wounded in an unfortunate incident.

Soon after the blast, security forces cordoned off the whole area and launched a massive search operation in the surrounding areas to arrest the perpetrators.

Pakistans local media quoted officials saying that an improvised explosives device was planted near the check-post and it was detonated with a remote-control device. So far none of the terrorist group has claimed responsibility.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister K P K Mehmud Khan strongly condemned the blast. He said that the resolve of the government against terrorism cannot be suppressed through such acts of cowardice.

Notably, North Waziristan was a long-time stronghold for the Taliban, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. Pakistan government claims to have driven out the terrorists in a series of military operations in recent years, however, the region still witness occasional attacks.

In the year 2017, the Pakistan government merged North Waziristan with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province with an aim to give equal rights to the 5 million residents of the rugged, tribal region.

It is worth mentioning here that on April 12, sixteen people were killed and dozens injured in a blast at Quetta's Hazarganji sabzi mandi. The blast, which ripped through the Hazarganji sabzi mandi, was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) that had been hidden in the market. Some of the buildings in the vicinity were also damaged in the blast. Quetta is the provincial capital of Balochistan.

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New Delhi :

Former Congress MLA Bhisham Sharma who was expelled from the party last week, joined the BJP on Tuesday in a boost to the saffron party's Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from North East Delhi seat.

Sharma, who was a Congress MLA for two terms from Ghonda Assembly segment under North East Delhi parliamentary constituency between 1998 and 2008, had a long-running difference with the party's Delhi unit chief Sheila Dikshit.

He was expelled from the Congress for six years on charges of anti-party activities.

Sharma was welcomed into the BJP fold by party vice president and its Delhi unit in-charge Shyam Jaju and Manoj Tiwari.

Jaju termed Sharma an "asset" for the BJP who will boost winning chances of the party candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.

Tiwari said, "How can a patriot like Sharma be with Congress whose president uses Gandhi surname but talks about Jinna."

Joining the BJP, Sharma said that he was "pained over Congress leaders questioning surgical strikes and the Balakot air strike... and was feeling suffocated there."

He said that after four decades of association with the Congress he was severing his ties with the party and joining the BJP as he was "inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi".

Sharma also asserted that thousands of his supporters will quit the Congress and join the BJP in the coming days.

A senior Delhi Congress leader said Sharma was issued warning but he did not pay heed to it leading to his expulsion.

He was recently seen in a photo along with Manoj Tiwari, whose Congress rival in the North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency is Sheila Dikshit.
New Delhi:

In a huge diplomatic victory for India, the United Nations on Wednesday designated chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" after China lifted its technical hold on a proposal to blacklist the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief.

The much-awaited ban on Azhar came a decade after New Delhi approached the world body for the first time on the issue.

The UN committee listed Azhar on May 1, 2019 as being associated with Al-Qaeda for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of", "supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material to", "recruiting for", "otherwise supporting acts or activities of", and "other acts or activities indicating association with" the JeM.

However, there was no mention of the deadly Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which was claimed by the Jaish.

Pakistan said it would "immediately enforce the sanctions" imposed by the UN on Azhar and agreed to his listing after all "political references", including attempts to link him to the Pulwama attack were removed from the proposal.

Pakistan foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Pakistan would "immediately enforce the sanctions" imposed on Azhar.

"Formal action will be taken on three counts: assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. That is the requirement...Pakistan is a responsible state and we will take appropriate action," he said.

A UNSC designation will subject Azhar to an assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo. An asset freeze under the sanctions committee requires that all states freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of designated individuals and entities.

However, ANI quoted sources saying that Azhar has been shifted to a safe house in Islamabad from his residence in Bahawalpur by Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

China said it took the decision after it found no objection to the listing proposal by the US, the UK and France following a careful study of the revised materials.

China earlier removed its hold on the proposal moved by France, UK and the US in the UNSC's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee in February just days after the deadly Pulwama terror attack.

A veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, China was the sole hold-out in the 15-nation body on the bid to blacklist Azhar, blocking attempts by placing a "technical hold". All decisions of the committee are taken through consensus.

In recent days, there had been indications that China is likely to come around and will lift its hold on the Azhar proposal.

Beijing put the hold on the proposal on March 13, scuttling yet another attempt to blacklist the JeM chief. The proposal was the fourth such bid at the UN in the last 10 years to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

In 2009, India moved a proposal by itself to designate Azhar.

In 2016 again India moved the proposal with the P3 - the US, the UK and France in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee to ban Azhar, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base in Pathankot in January, 2016.

In 2017, the P3 nations moved a similar proposal again. However, on all occasions China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, blocked India's proposal from being adopted by the sanctions committee.

Keeping up the international pressure to designate Azhar as a global terrorist, the US, supported by France and the UK, moved a draft resolution directly in the UN Security Council to blacklist him.

Beijing lifting its hold is a massive diplomatic win for India, which had relentlessly pursued the matter with its international allies.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad chief was a close associate of Osama bin Laden, terror motivator in several African countries and also known by many as the Pakistani cleric who brought jihad into the religious discourse at mosques in the UK, the official said.

The influence of the 50-year-old overweight terrorist mastermind was so huge that, when he was released by India in exchange for freeing the hijacked Indian Airlines aircraft IC-814 on December 31, 1999 in Kandahar, Laden hosted a banquet for him the same night

Global terrorist for Azhar a big success for India: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the UN decision to declare Azhar a global terrorist is a big success for India's efforts to root out terrorism and proved that the country's voice can no longer be ignored on the global stage.

"It is a matter of satisfaction that a consensus has developed in the world on designating Masood Azhar a global terrorist. Der aaye, durust aaye (Better late than never)," Modi said at an election rally here.

"It is a big success for India's efforts to root out terrorism," he said.

The PM said India's voice is being heard globally and its views can no longer be ignored. "This has been proved today."

He said under the previous "remote-controlled" government, even the voice of the prime minister was not heard, but now the voice of 130 crore Indians is making an impact at the United Nations.

"I want to say it loud and clear that this is just the beginning. Wait for what happens next," Modi said.

The prime minister said he was thankful to the world community for standing with India in its fight against terrorism.

Major powers welcome ban on Azhar

The international community led by the US welcomed the designation of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN and sought "sustained actions" from Islamabad against terrorism emanating from the country.

The US noted that the JeM was a United Nations-designated terrorist group, and Azhar, as the founder and leader of JEM, clearly met the criteria for designation by the United Nations.

"The United States welcomes the addition of Masood Azhar to the UN 1267 ISIL and al-Qaida Sanctions list.

"This listing requires all UN member states to implement an assets freeze, a travel ban, and an arms embargo against Azhar. We expect all countries to uphold these obligations," a State Department spokesperson said.

While welcoming the publicly stated intentions of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the spokesperson said, "We are encouraged by initial steps taken by the Government of Pakistan..."

"We appreciate Pakistani Prime Minister Khan's stated commitment that Pakistan, for the sake of its own future, will not allow the operation of militant and terrorist groups from its territory.

"We look forward to further and sustained actions from Pakistan as outlined in its National Action Plan, and consistent with its international obligations," the State Department spokesperson emphasised.

France, which also backed the proposal to ban Azhar, welcomed the United Nations' move, saying it "signals the successful realisation" of its efforts.

"We welcome the designation today, by the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee, of Masood Azhar on the UN's ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List," according to a statement issued by the Foreign Affairs of France.

In London, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said the UN's designation of Azhar was a positive development for the South Asian region.

"The listing of Masood Azhar, leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group, is very welcome and long overdue, an FCO spokesperson said.

"The UK has consistently called for this action to be taken, and we worked closely with our international partners to ensure the right result. This is a positive development for the security and stability of the South Asia region, the spokesperson noted.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday welcomed the al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UNs move to designate Masood Azhar as a UN proscribed terrorist saying is a step in the right direction.

The 1267 Sanctions Committees decision to designate the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Masood Azhar, as a UN proscribed terrorist is a step in the right direction to demonstrate the international communitys resolve to fight against terrorism and its enablers. We welcome the decision, the MEA said in a release.

This is in accordance with Indias position and in line with the information that India has shared with the members of the Sanctions Committee regarding terrorist activities of Masood Azhar and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. India will continue with its efforts through international forums to ensure that terrorist organizations and their leaders who cause harm to our citizens are brought to justice, the release added.

In a huge diplomatic victory for India, the UN Sanctions Committee on Wednesday designated Azhar as global terrorist after China lifted its hold on a proposal to ban him.

France, the UK and the US had moved a fresh proposal to declare Azhar as global terrorist by the UN in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in February in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. The JeM had claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, China put a technical hold on the proposal, blocking it for fourth time to designate Azhar. The Chinese move was termed "disappointing" by India. On Wednesday, China lifted its hold from the proposal.

In 2009, India first moved a proposal by itself to designate Azhar. In 2016 again, India moved the proposal with the P3 - the United States, the United Kingdom and France in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee to ban Azhar, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base in Pathankot in January 2016.

In 2017, the P3 nations moved a similar proposal again. However, on all occasions China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, blocked India's proposal from being adopted by the Sanctions Committee.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

NBSE Results 2019: The Nagaland Board of School Education has announced the NBSE HSLC and HSSLC Results today. The NBSE students who have appeared for the examination can check their scores on the official website of the board i.e. nbsenagaland.com Alternatively, the candidates can also check their results on this page as we have activated the result link.

CLICK HERE FOR NAGALAND BOARD RESULTS 2019



The candidates can also check their results by clicking on the link given below. We here at News Nation understand the amount of pressure the candidates go through during time. Hence, we have kept the result checking process extremely easy and simple. For the convenience of the students, we have mentioned the steps through which the candidates can check the results:

Visit english.newsnationtv.com/board-results and click on the board page

Enter all the required details

Click on the submit button

Check your results.

The Nagaland HSLC 2019 exams commenced on February 13, 2019, and concluded on February 25, 2019. Nagaland HSSLC exam was held from February 12, 2019, till March 4, 2019. In the year 2018, the overall pass percentage of Class 10th was recorded at 61.86%. For Class 12th, 79.21% pass percentage was recorded last year.



In 2018, total 9,750 students appeared for Class 12th exam and 18,872 students appeared for Class10th exam. The Candidates can also request for re-evaluation of answer sheets. Failed candidates can appear for the supplementary exams by submitting the application form which will be available on the official website of Nagaland Board. The supplementary exams are expected to be conducted in the month of July this year.



About Nagaland Board of School Education:



Popularly known as the NBSE, the Nagaland Board of School Education is the primary school education board in the state of Nagaland. The board operates under the Nagaland state government and looks after the development and propagation of school education in the state. The foundation stone of this education board was laid on November 15, 1973, but it commenced working from October 1, 1974. The Nagaland Education Board deals with all academic operations for the students enrolled in various schools and educational institutes. It conducts exams and declares NBSE result. The organisation also conducts and controls all examination proceedings of the HSLC and the HSSLC.
New Delhi:

In yet another shocking incident of crime against children, an eleven-year-old girl has been allegedly molested by a man in the Nandigama area of Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district on Monday. The accused, identified as K Edukondalu, has been taken into the police custody. An investigation is also underway to find out how the incident happened.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Subhash Chandra Bose, the Nandigama DSP said, "The accused allegedly lured the girl and misbehaved with her when the girl was playing near her house". The incident came to the light after the girl narrated her ordeal to her parents who reached out to the police station and registered a complaint.

A case has been registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act (POCSO) and section 354A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the police official said, adding that further investigation in the incident is on.

Krishna District: 11-year-old girl allegedly molested by a man in Nandigama yesterday; accused taken into police custody. Investigation underway. #AndhraPradesh a ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2019

India has been experiencing an increasing trend of violence against women and children for the last few decades. Common forms of violence against women in India include rape, eve-teasing, molestation, domestic abuse, sexual assault, and murder.

According to the latest data shared by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), crime against children in India has witnessed a steady upward trend with a significant increase of more than 500% over a period of the past one decade (1,06,958 in 2016 over 18,967 in 2006).

More than 50% of crimes against children have been recorded in just five states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi UT and West Bengal. While Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 15% of recorded crimes against children, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh closely follow with 14% and 13% respectively.

Kidnapping and Abduction of children continues to be the biggest crime against children, accounting for more than half of all crimes (48.9 per cent, number of crimes 52,253), as recorded in 2016. The next biggest category of crime against children is rape, amounting to more than 18 per cent of all crimes against children.

Uttar Pradesh recorded maximum number of crimes under the categories of aKidnapping & Abductiona and aPOCSO Acta; in both these categories Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh stand in the second and third slot respectively.

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New Delhi:

In yet another tragic incident, five people of a family, including a six-month-old girl, were killed after a major fire engulfed their residence at the Mayawati Colony of Indiranagar area in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow. The two-storey house in Ram vihar Phase II colony was completely burned down afterA a stockpile of small cooking gas cylinders caught fire early Tuesday morning.

According to reports, the blaze started due to a short circuit and further spread to a gas-stove godown located at the place.A The incident occured at around 6 am on Tuesday, reducing the house to ashes within minutes.

"Lucknow: 5 members of a family died last night after a fire broke out at their residence due to short circuit and spread to a gas-stove godown built there, in Mayawati Colony of Indira Nagar," the news agency ANI reported.

Lucknow: 5 members of a family died last night after a fire broke out at their residence due to short circuit and spread to a gas-stove godown built there, in Mayawati Colony of Indira Nagar. pic.twitter.com/ln11xxj1Zz a ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 1, 2019

The deceased have been identified as 60-year-old OP Singh, 40-year-old Sumit, 42-year-old Julie and her six-months-old daughter Baby. The police is yet to ascertain the identity of the remaining one.A According to Amit Kumar, SP (trans-Gomti), prima facie, the family appears to run an illegal workshop of cooking gas and cylinders inside the house.

Soon after the news of the fire broke out, panic gripped the residents of the locality who rushed to the colony to help douse the fire. Speaking to media, Ajay, a local, said that the fire tenders took time to reach the spot as the house is located in a narrow lane.

However,A CFO VK Singh, claimed thatA six fire tenders were immediately rushed to the spot andA the fire was doused within an hour.

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New Delhi:

Cyclone 'Fani' has intensified into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' and it will cross the Odisha coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali by Friday afternoon, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday even as it issued a 'yellow warning' for Odisha coast predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places such as Boudh, Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Deogarh, and Sundargarh."Heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places the districts of Boudh, Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Sundargarh of Odisha," said the IMD. Puri district administration has advised tourists to leave the city by the evening of May 2. Non-essential travel may be cancelled, during 3- 4 May, to the likely affected district, the district administration said. All leaves of doctors and health staff in Odisha have been cancelled up to 15 May. Those who are on leave have been asked to report back to respective headquarters by Wednesday evening.

Here are the LIVE updates:

21:57 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 22 more trains have been cancelled by East Coast Railway; total 103 trains have been cancelled so far.

18:21 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In On 2 May, heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in south coastal districts, also very heavy rains expected in Puri, Khurda, Koraput and Kandhamal districts. On 3 May, all coastal districts to receive very heavy rainfall: HR Biswas, Director, Met Dept, Bhubaneswar

17:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Naval aircraft are kept ready at Naval Air Stations, INS Dega and INS Rajali to undertake aerial survey of the most affected areas, casualty evacuation and air drop of relief material, as required by the State Administration: Southern Command of Indian Army

17:30 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Ships at Visakhapatnam are standing-by with relief material for immediate deployment to most affected areas to undertake Humanitarian Aid Distress Relief operation. Diving and medical teams are kept ready augmenting rescue and relief efforts in Andhra and Odisha.

17:24 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In East Coast Railways has issued advisory to cancel or regulate trains which might get affected due to Fani Cyclone. The section between Bhadrak-Bhubaneswar-Puri-Visakhapatnam will be cleared so that there will be no train in the section during extreme situation.

17:04 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Naval aircraft are kept ready at Naval Air Stations, INS Dega and INS Rajali to undertake aerial survey of the most affected areas, casualty evacuation and air drop of relief material, as required by the State Administration: Eastern Naval Command

17:03 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In

Eastern Naval Command: Ships at Visakhapatnam are standing-by with relief material for immediate deployment to most affected areas to undertake Humanitarian Aid Distress Relief ops.Diving&medical teams are kept ready augmenting rescue&relief efforts in Andhra Pradesh&Odisha #Fani pic.twitter.com/c4f475pvHE

 ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2019



14:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In According to the latest updates, Cyclone Fani is now around 680 km south-southwest of Puri and 430 km off the coast of Vishakhapatnam. The cyclone is moving towards Odisha at a speed of 10 kmph and is likely to move north-northwestwards till noon on Thursday, after which it will recurve north-northeastwards, Odisha TV reported.

13:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In All state universities and colleges coming under administrative control of Higher Education Dept & located in Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Khordha, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Balasore & Mayurbhanj districts will remain closed from 2nd May to 4th May

13:45 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In EC approves proposal of lifting of provisions of Model Code of Conduct in districts of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati, Ganjam, Khordha, Cuttack&Jajpur to facilitate speedy rescue, relief&restoration activities to face cyclonic storm Fani.

13:41 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress has fielded some candidates to cut into BJP's vote share in UP says Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

13:37 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In

Teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force gear up to face cyclonic storm Fani. The teams left for Bhadrak at 12 pm today from state capital Bhubaneswar.





















13:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on #FaniCyclone : We are prepared for the cyclone. Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam is ready, all necessary measures have been taken. In coordination with state govt of Andhra Pradesh & Odisha, we are ready for the cyclone.



Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on #FaniCyclone : We are prepared for the cyclone. Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam is ready, all necessary measures have been taken. In coordination with state govt of Andhra Pradesh & Odisha, we are ready for the cyclone. pic.twitter.com/WM8psFs8Rv

 ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2019



13:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In According to local media, principal secretary Sanjeev Chopra will look after the relief and restoration work in Cuttack. In Jagatsinghpur, IAS officer Saswat Mishra will oversee preparations; Kisan Kumar in Khurda; Hemant Padhi in Kendrapada; and Premchandra Choudhary in Balasore.

13:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Puri district administration has advised tourists to leave the city by the evening of May 2. Non-essential travel may be cancelled, during 3- 4 May, to the likely affected district, the district administration said.

13:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In The India Meteorological Department issued a 'yellow warning' for Odisha coast predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places such as Boudh, Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Deogarh, and Sundargarh.

13:33 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Cyclone 'Fani' has intensified into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' and it will cross the Odisha coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali by Friday afternoon.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Indias strong diplomacy since 2014 forced many countries to fall in line. The long-time pending bid of India in United Nations was finally supported by China and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar was declared as a 'global terrorist'. Masood Azhars Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is responsible in number of terrorist attacks in India including Pulwama attack in 2019 killing 40 soldiers, Uri attack in 2016 killing 19 soldiers, Pathankot attack in 2016 killing 7 soldiers and Parliament attack 2001 killing 9 people.

It is to be noted that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist organization was formed in March 2000 with a so-called aim of freeing Kashmir from India. Well, you can also say to terrorise India. Three months before JeM was formed, its chief Maulana Masood Azhar was released by India after the Kandahar hijacking episode.

On 24th December 1999, IC-814 was flying to Delhi from Kathmandu. Within half an hour of take-off, the plane was taken over by five Pakistani hijackers and forced pilot to fly to Lahore. However, Pakistan denied the plane permission to land.

India desperately requested Pakistan to allow the plane to land  low of fuel, it could crash any time  and to try and prevent its exit. Pakistan let the plane land and refuel  but no attempts were made to stop it.

The plane next landed in Dubai, where 27 passengers and the body of Rupen Katyal, whom the hijackers had stabbed, were off-loaded. At this point, India requested the UAE and even the US to help, asking them to hold the plane at the airport till a team of Indian commandos could reach there. Unfortunately, the two countries did not offer any help. The plane finally landed at Kandahar.

Afghanistan was then under the control of the Taliban. Taliban, in the name of protecting passengers surrounded the plane. But what they were doing was to make sure Indian commandos could not storm the flight.

According to the media reports, the hijackers wanted the release of 36 terrorists as well as a huge amount of cash. A team of negotiators flew to Kandahar. In the meantime, in India, pressure was mounting, with the relatives of the flight passengers staging protests.

After the negotiations with hijackers failed, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government agreed to their demands and the then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh took the three terrorists including Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar alias 'Latram' to Kandahar in Afghanistan in a special plane to ensure the release of passengers of the hijacked plane.

None of the five hijackers were caught. In the year 2017, three including Abdul Latif Adam Momin alias Abdul Rehman alias Patel, Yusuf Nepali and Dalip Bhujail, were convicted for arranging passports, tickets and arms for the hijackers. Nepali was later acquitted. The acquittal has been challenged. Momins appeal against his life imprisonment is in the Supreme Court. Azhar, meanwhile, is safe in Pakistan.

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Heritage reconstruction has been the topic of countless debates in Nepal for the past few years following the 2015 earthquake. About a month ago, stakeholders poured out concerns about the demolition of houses of Laxmi Prasad Devkota and Narayan Gopal and different plans to turn them into museums to honour respective notable personalities.

As the country gears up to celebrate the birth anniversary of Laxmi Prasad Devkota (Laxmi Jayanti) this Laxmipuja, here we bring an update on the literary personalitys much-debated house reconstruction plan. For this, Onlinekhabar caught up with Nepal Academy Member-Secretary and the Laxmi Prasad Devkota Museum Construction Management Committee Chairman Jagat Prasad Upadhayaya.

Excerpts:

Nepal Academy acquiring private property is an unprecedented event. Why and how did the institution acquire the property to turn it into a museum?

Jagat Prasad Upadhyaya. Photo: Nasana Bajracharya

The idea was first proposed by Devkotas family. The house in question was a property that Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota acquired in the 1940s. After he died in 1959, his wifeMana Deviwas living in the house. Shed died in 1999, leaving the house in the name of the youngest daughter, Ambika Devi Rimal. After Ambika too died, the house finally came in the name of their [Devkota couples] sons.

The sons had first appealed to the government then and there. However, there was no response from the government. Later in 2018, the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli pledged to help the family in their pursuit. The academy just adhered to the PMs decision, following the then cabinets decision.

But, the house was already in possession of the Guthi Sansthan. Property under the Guthi Sansthan cannot be acquired by government bodies. So, in December 2019, what we acquired is the tenantship (partial ownership) of the property and not the complete ownership of the land.

And yes, the acquisition of this kind was probably the first for the academy or any government body. But, since Laxmi Prasad Devkota is one of the notable litterateurs of Nepal, the academy is happy to be a part of the project.

Laxmi Prasad Devkotas house in Maitidevi. Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale

Many are claiming the demolition was unnecessary, and the original house could be preserved. Do you agree with the statement?

No, such claims are not true. The academy decided to demolish the house only because the house was in a dilapidated state already. We did not demolish a perfectly good building. The soil, the wood and the bricks used in the construction had all gone bad. There was nothing we could salvage.

So, to move on with the plan of the museum, we had to clear out the site and tear down any remaining parts of the house. If the house could have been retrofitted, we would have. But, the house did not have any foundation.

Meanwhile, multiple reports from the engineering teams drew the same conclusion for us. Hence, we decided to move forward with the demolition.

Regarding the demolition of the house, the Supreme Court had sought a clarification from you. Has the issue been solved?

Yes, the issue has been cleared. The court was satisfied with the answer and, now, we are moving forward with the construction as planned with a few changes.

The court has asked us to work in close coordination with the Department of Archaeology (DoA) and we are now working in adherence to the courts decision.

So, what are the changes in the construction plan that you mentioned?

One major change is in the design we proposed. The initial reconstruction plan had designs for four storeys, but the DoA directed it should be three only, claiming it had three storeys initially. Despite many photos, the DOA thought the original design of the house had only three floors and not four.

Laxmi Prasad Devkotas house in Maitidevi. Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale

Nevertheless, we have adhered to the directive and changed the design. Consequently, this has changed our plan to set up an auditorium on the third floor, where people could gather and discuss Devkotas many published and unpublished literature pieces to be put on display on the second floor. The plans for the second floor and first floor where the personal belongings of Laxmi Prasad Devkota were to be displayed are as they were.

Finally, the proposed budget will now also change. Previously, it was estimated to be Rs 71 million, but with the change, the final budget is yet to be retallied.

Meanwhile, we will continue with the same contractor, BKOI-MK Joint-Venture. And the area of construction is still the same, spreading across five aanas (1711.25 sq ft) of land out of the 12.25 aanas (4128.39 sq ft), in the same outlook.

Is Laxmi Prasad Devoktas family happy with the developments?

Yes. They were the ones who first proposed the idea, and the house was not in use for decades. The change in design is surely concerning as the public interaction will be changed, but they are happy nevertheless.

Meanwhile, Laxmi Prasad Devkotas birth house in Dhobidhara is still intact and in use by Devkotas nephew. This house, which we destroyed to turn it into a museum, is the house he built and his children wanted the state to take care of. The acquisition, under the Nepal Academy, and museum construction have all been with their consent.

How soon can we expect the museum to be completed?

Reconstruction site of Laxmi Prasad Devkota Museum in Maitidevi. Photo: Chandra Bahadur Ale

The initial plan was to finish early. With the controversies, we had a setback of a few months. But, now, that we are moving forward with the plan, we expect the construction to be finished by mid-April 2022 and inaugurate the building by the end of this fiscal year (mid-July 2022).

There is a construction team in operation for now. After the construction is complete, the academy and its staff will be looking after the building and its operation.

Does the academy have any plan to acquire other properties of personalities like Devkota?

Nothing is there so far. This is also not the academys decision per se. Nepal Academy runs solely on the budget from the government. But, given the chance, the academy will be happy to handle the responsibility.
Kathmandu, October 31

Tourism entrepreneurs of Nepal have demanded that the government provide them with a special package for the revival of the industry that has been severely hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a recent meeting with Tourism Minister Prem Ale, the entrepreneurs said the government should prioritise the industrys revival as it was worst hit by the pandemic.

During the meeting, the entrepreneurs informed the minister of several pandemic-inducted problems such as the closure of businesses, nominal arrival of foreign tourists and a lack of foreign currencies among others. Raja Ram Giri, one of the members of the delegation, says they have requested the minister to form a special committee to address all such concerns.

The minister has listened to us and looks concerned. Now, we will discuss what the special package should include among the stakeholders first, he says.
You can get hundreds of dollars off the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 smartphone right now.

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One of the newest and most striking pieces of tech this year is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 smartphone, and you can get for a hefty price cut if you've got something to trade in during Samsung's pre-Black Friday sale.

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Among its many pre-Black Friday deals, Samsung is currently offering the 5G device for as low as $899that's nearly half off its standard price of $1,799.99. The price cut only applies to those who trade in their Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 smartphone. If you have other devices you're willing to trade in, you can still get a discount on the Fold3. Trading in the Galaxy S21+ smartphone gets you $700 off the Fold3, while the Galaxy Tab S7 tablet has a trade-in value of $350. The devices don't even have to be exclusively Samsung products: Apple's iPhone 12 can be traded in for $650 off the Fold3 while the Apple Watch 3 earns you $40 off your purchase for the Samsung phone.

All you have to do is go on the Fold3's product page, scroll down to select the "Yes, trade-in" option and see which smartphone, tablet or smartwatch is eligible for the trade-in credit. Once you confirm that the device you're trading in functions normally, has no cracks on the screen or camera lens, and is factory reset, you can submit your order for the Fold3. Once you receive the new phone, you have 15 days to send in your promised trade-in device to Samsung. The company says it will provide customers a prepaid shipping label and specific instructions on how to properly send the old device out to complete the transaction.

Sit in on a conference call and take notes all on the same screen with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3.

Samsung boasted about the Fold3's 7.6-inch fold-out display meant for better multitasking and easier reading on the go. When the screen is opened, its Flex Mode feature splits the screen into two halves so you can be present for a video call on one half-screen and take notes on the other screen using the Samsung S Pen ($49.99). Samsung also says it's water resistant and is less scratchable than the prior Fold models.

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If you've been waiting on a deal on the Galaxy Z Fold3, head over to the Samsung website and save.

Dont get thwarted by shipping delays or sold-out favorites this holiday season. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get the product reviews, deals and holiday gift guides you need to start shopping now.

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

This article originally appeared on Reviewed: Black Friday 2021: Save up to $900 on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3
COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT

Odense, October 31st, 2021

Company Announcement no. 31 - 31-10-2021

ESA signs contract with Danish Aerospace Company A/S for an extra E4D

Danish Aerospace Company A/S (DAC) has now signed the contract with ESA for an additional E4D model and more spares. This happened after formally being requested to make an offer for yet another flight model of the companys future E4D-multifunction exercise equipment back in June of this year. (DAC Company Announcement no. 27).

This contract now ensures ESA and NASA will have a full spare flight model available on ground when the equipment will be launched and become part of the standard complement of exercise equipment for the astronauts on the International Space Station ISS.

DAC is now contracted to develop two flight- and three ground models of the new multifunction/crosstrainer equipment for astronauts for the European Space Agency (ESA) called E4D - Enhanced European Exploration Exercise Device.

The E4D equipment combines cycling, rowing, rope pulling and 30+ other weightlifting exercises in one machinery, which gives the astronauts a full body workout and a broader exercise flexibility in their daily training in space.

E4D was initially supposed to be used as a technological demonstration model on ISS and thereby be a precursor for the subsequent versions to be used later, on the Moons Space Station - Lunar Gateway and manned expeditions to Mars.

NASA has recently expressed a wish to also use the equipment operationally, e.g., for a full operational exercise equipment for all non-Russian astronauts on ISS. This means there is a need for an additional flight model, which can be held as a spare, should parts on the existing flight model need servicing or replacing.

NASA and ESA will test and use E4D on ISS. The first flight model of E4D is expected to be launched in 2023 for initial testing before entering full operational service.

The new supplemental contract value is MEUR 1,15 or approx. MDKK 8,55, with a small option for additional services of KEUR 50.

As previously announced, this contract is not expected to affect the companys previously announced expectations for 2021, as the additional models delivery is targeted for 2023.





It is great for DAC to finally have the signatures for this additional E4D flight model for ESA. We have been looking forward to this for some time and are happy to once again be acknowledged for the innovative work we do. Further, we see this as a confirmation of the long and strong collaboration we have with both ESA and NASA. This will help to ensure a good foundation for DAC in the coming years, says Thomas A. E. Andersen, CEO. We look forward to seeing what other opportunities E4D and our other products will bring DAC. Human Spaceflight is right now in a fascinating time, with numerous new Space Station projects being announced and under development.

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Additional information

Danish Aerospace Company A/S has developed the prototype of the new advanced exercise equipment called E4D (Enhanced European Exploration Exercise Devices) under contract with ESA.

NASA and ESAs EEDD-panel, (Exploration Exercise Device Downselect), evaluated DACs E4D multipurpose equipment in the fall of 2019. It was compared to another US equipment in order to recommend which one NASA and ESA should continue to work on for future human travels to the Moon and beyond.

The prototype was tested for 7 weeks at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Among the 25 test subjects were 14 experienced astronauts from NASA, ESA and the Japanese Space organization JAXA. In total, 11 male and 3 female astronauts, all of which had previously flown in space and used existing exercise equipment on the International Space Station ISS, tested E4D. They represented one third of all active and available NASA astronauts.

The EEDD-panel, which consisted of 7 experts from NASA and 3 from ESA, unanimously recommended E4D as the equipment to explore further for Artemis, Lunar Gateway and manned Mars-missions.

The new exercise equipment is based upon DACs more than 30 years of experience with space ergometers and respiratory measuring equipment for human spaceflight.

This company announcement contains inside information.

For further information, please contact:

Danish Aerospace Company A/S:

CEO Thomas A.E. Andersen

Mobil: +45 40 29 41 62

Certified Adviser:

Gert Mortensen, Partner

Baker Tilly Corporate Finance P/S

Poul Bundgaards Vej 1

DK-2500 Valby

Tlf.: +45 33 45 10 00

www.bakertilly.dk

About Danish Aerospace Company A/S:

Danish Aerospace Company (DAC) is a high-tech company operating in the area of advanced medical instrumentation and other engineering fields primarily within space applications.

Our products are based on many years of specialized research and development. These consist of developing, integrating, and applying new as well as established medical technologies to the challenges of functioning and remaining reliable in space. These products and services bring the potential of space research and experience from space operations down to Earth for the benefit of all mankind.

Danish Aerospace Company employs engineers and technicians who deliver full engineering, production and technical services for our customers. We have specialized in customer specific design, development, manufacturing, certification, maintenance, testing, and operations.

The company has developed five generations respiratory equipment for spaceflight, ergometers for astronauts, countermeasures, adapted several commercial medical equipment for spaceflight and has participated in the development of the minus eighty-degree Celsius freezers.

The Companys quality system is certified in obligation to BS EN ISO 9001:2015, BS EN 9100:2018 technical equivalent to AS9100D that is the acknowledged standard in the area.

Note: This is a translation of the corresponding Company Announcement in Danish. In case of discrepancies between the Danish wording and the English translation, the Danish wording prevails.

www.DanishAerospace.com




London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - October 31, 2021) - Catecoin (CATE) is built for creators. According to its team, they launched CATE to allow meme creators to "create and earn with their memes" albeit in a decentralized manner.

This has been a good time for Meme coins, as seen with Shiba Inu (SHIB). For the past few weeks, SHIB recorded one breakthrough after another, taking over the crypto space and flipping over other coins in rankings. Somehow, it surprised everyone in the crypto space when all of a sudden, SHIB began competing incessantly with other cryptocurrencies.







Figure 1: Investors Are Moving Shiba Inu (SHIB) Profit to Catecoin (CATE)

Catecoin (CATE)

However, Catecoin (CATE), another emerging meme coin, seems to be competing with the famed Shiba Inu (SHIB). It is built with the intention of having and adding real value to the meme world.

As stated on Catecoin's official website, CATE reserved 35% of its tokens for both Staking Rewards and Meme Contest. With Catecoin, users can turn their Memes into NFT and earn CATE. Moreover, a user only needs to stake 5,000,000 CATE tokens to Post memes in Portal. Then, all approved memes will be eligible for NFT minting and the purchaser will also get all rewards from that meme/s.

Notably, users can also earn when holding CATE or earn 2% of every transaction done in Catecoin - something that both SHIB and DOGE don't have.

The NEXT Shiba Coin

CATE is gearing towards being the "next Shiba coin". Catecoin is exerting more effort in ensuring that users will be able to benefit and maximize their token and services. In fact, Catecoin is currently developing its play-to-earn game - Rise of Cats, a blockchain-based game.

Reports say that CATE's market cap has already surpassed $100 million and the team reiterated that its next stop is $1B. Surely, with how CATE is progressing, gradually, it will definitely become a meme coin rival sooner or later.

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Meanwhile, there are speculations that SHIB holders are moving their SHIB profit to CATE. For what reason? No one is entirely sure but it is perhaps for further investment options and expansion. The stable progress of CATE might have caught the attention of meme coin holders, who see it as a gateway for more investment opportunities.

For now, CATE enthusiasts are anticipating its NFT marketplace and after that, Catecoin will surely grow even more than it does now. At the time of writing, CATE reports a 100,000,000,000,000 total supply and is trading at $0.000003075.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cateclub?s=20

Telegram: https://t.me/cateclub

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Cateclub/

Pancakeswap Purchase: https://exchange.pancakeswap.finance/#/swap?outputCurrency=0xE4FAE3Faa8300810C835970b9187c268f55D998F

Media contact

Company: Catecoin

E-mail: hodl@catecoin.club

Website: https://catecoin.club/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/101487
Integrity. Do you remember when that meant something within the photography industry? It seems like a lifetime ago. We live in a world of consumption powered by greed and exploitation. We are in the midst of an all-out sprint to the bottom with our beloved industry at stake under the guise of community. Unsplash is at the helm of this ship and continues to devalue photography. The Unsplash Awards just finished their fifth installment and the company continued their exploitative quest for license grabs in exchange for exposure. Oh, and they promise to get your work seen by major brands, which is true. But, we have yet to see that pay off.

This exposure hasnt launched any notable careers, and it certainly hasnt paid the rent or utility bills. However, multi-billion dollar companies have profited handsomely, using the free stock images for ad campaigns. Their platform is comprised of many new photographers who dont realize that exposure isnt the best way to get their work out there. Many of these greener photographers are unaware that their quality imagery has value. Its not that these companies dont see the value of your art; they dont respect you enough to credit you or pay for it. And they dont have to thanks to their questionable license. Its predatory.

Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash. This license does not include the right to compile photos from Unsplash to replicate a similar or competing service.  Unsplash

2021 Unsplash Awards Partners

Our Phoblographer team hasnt been shy in speaking out against the unethical and exploitative travesty that is Unsplash. Weve called out brands (or partners as Unsplash likes to call them) who do not value photographers. Companies like Nike, Airbnb, Etsy, Netflix, Vice, and Conde Naste continue to support the decimation of our industry. Oddly enough, companies like Moment, Medium, Squarespace, Peak Design, Polaroid, and Brevite, who depend on photographers to stay afloat, are also stabbing those photographers in the back.

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We were very concerned when we saw Leica UK and National Geographic among the supporters as judges for the 2021 Unsplash Awards. Editor-in-Chief Chris Gampat reached out to Leica USA to relay his concerns, and they were very clear that this isnt representative of the USA branch nor Germany. In fact, Jason Heward is from Leica UK. Even so, the Leica stamp reflects on the company globally. We were saddened to see two giants who have seen the industry crumble sign on to exacerbate the wound. Its telling and heartbreaking to see how far we have fallen.

Unsplash preys on the vulnerabilities of photographers in the name of community. They tout monolithic brands as their month-long license grab and falsely advertise it as a celebration. Meanwhile, their downloads have reached over 3.7billion and continue to soar. That is 3.7billion free downloads, many of which are downloaded by company giants and used commercially without any attribution or compensation to the photographer. The company recently added limited paid opportunities that very few benefit from on their platform. They also added a donation option to support the creatives who provide the free work that fuels the engine. Its comical, really. If these people and corporate giants wanted to support the artist, they would properly commission them to begin with. Wouldnt they?

How Does Unsplash Make Money?

Until recently, there were no visible sponsored ads on the site. The future of the platform is an ad business with branded content at the front of the wheel. Unsplash is capitalizing on the traffic of their free images for targeted placement ads. They turn around and ask brands to pay more for a prominent ranking within the search results. The monetization model focuses on distribution of the branded content. Their free images found everywhere will bring potential clients back to the site. In return, photographers have a stab at compensation if, and only if, a brand commissions them for branded work within the platform. Thats right, theyre playing both sides, and its photographers who are losing out.

The finality of the blow to our industry in uncertain. This will most likely continue to depress the value of ad photography. We will most likely see other brands follow suit. What is certain is Getty has acquired them. We would hope that this would indicate more briefs and appropriately paid opportunities. Unfortunately, it most likely means they just put the cylinder block on the gas pedal for their race to the bottom.

This is not one of those tech acquisitions where the company is bought to be shut down. Unsplash will continue to operate as a standalone brand and division of Getty Images. The entire Unsplash team will be staying and building Unsplash in the direction we have been. The main difference now is we have access to the resources and experience of Getty Images to help accelerate our plans to create the worlds most useful visual asset library. Unsplash

What Can You Do?

First and foremost, realize that there is value in your work. There wouldnt be such a push for free imagery in the name of a contest if the photos had no value. Brands also wouldnt be looking to Unsplash to commission unknown photographers at a much lower rate than those working in the industry. If youre curious as to the potential value, check out Gettys licensing calculator. Contribute to reputable stock agencies such as Alamy. Check out companies like Cherrydeck, Clickasnap, and Wonderful Machine. They often have creative briefs and work with proper licensing. And theyre nowhere as predatory as the Unsplash Awards.

Exercise your buying power by not supporting the partners who are unapologetic in undermining and devaluing photographers. If you feel strongly about donating your images, find a charity or organization that would greatly benefit from your generosity. They would probably go out of their way to provide proper attribution.

The chance to have your work seen by significant editors or brands isnt worth the sacrifice of what we love and are trying to maintain. Pay attention to the brands who disrespect photographers. Go out of your way to not support them. You would honestly be better off investing in a quality promo and mailing it to these photo editors. They would spend more than half a second scrolling through your digital work.

We need to work together to make sure our industry not only survives but thrives. That starts by taking a stand and creating a call to action. We need to call out the Unsplash Awards for what they indeed are. Its theft without proper credit to the creator. Say no to Unsplash. We implore you to delete any and all content from their platform. Its time to bring integrity back to the industry and demand better. Its an incredibly steep uphill battle out of this, but its not impossible.
Cade Cunningham emerged as the top prospect in this years NBA draft with his dynamic playmaking and pinpoint shooting.

Those things were missing in his debut Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena. He didnt mind too much. Cunningham was simply thrilled to suit up and contribute to the Detroit Pistons first victory of the season, a 110-103 triumph over the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

Cunninghams final stat line was ugly  two points on 1-for-8 shooting and two assists in 19 inglorious minutes.

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) dribbles in the first half against the Orlando Magic at Little Caesars Arena on Oct. 30, 2021.

SATURDAY'S GAME: Cunningham delivers Pistons' first win, 110-103, despite scoring struggles

SHAWN WINDSOR: It's time for more patience with the rookie

STOCK WATCH: This team might have a new best player

The last of his five missed 3-point tries clanged off the side of the backboard and he didnt play after coming out early in the third quarter.

I just missed em, Cunningham said. Im confident in my shot. A couple of them felt really good, a couple were off a lot more than where I wanted them to be, but it comes with it. You miss some, you make some, but youve got to keep shooting.

Rest assured, Cunninghams shot will come around. There was solid evidence during his one-and-done season at Oklahoma State that he was an All-Star level talent.

He was trying to scrape off the rust after missing a portion of the preseason and the Pistons' first four regular-season games due to an ankle injury. He practiced with the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons' new G League affiliate, this week in Midtown while the Pistons were on a road trip. He practiced Friday but he was still trying to make sure his ankle was trustworthy.

That was the toughest thing, just sitting on the sideline watching basketball the whole time and not being able to hop in and play, he said. But all my teammates, they were so supportive the whole time. They wanted me to fully heal. They were just keeping my head on straight, making sure they were talking to me the whole time, not excluding me from anything. I learned a lot while I was sitting out.

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The learning continued Saturday  for others, who saw Cunningham can be a factor on the boards. He grabbed six during the first half and seven for the game.

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) warms up before the game against the Orlando Magic at Little Caesars Arena on Oct. 30, 2021.

As Cunningham settles in, he could eventually turn in a triple-double machine.

Our guards have to rebound, coach Dwane Casey said. Killian (Hayes) is as big as I dont know what. Cade is as big as I dont know what. So they have a length and size advantage once theyre down in the paint. I thought with Cade, he has a nose for the ball rebounding-wise.

While Cunningham struggled with his shot, he also made sure one of his fellow lottery picks had some offensive issues. Jalen Suggs, taken four picks after Cunningham, shot 3-for-13 from the field. Suggs didnt have a field goal until shortly before Cunningham, who was on a minutes limit, departed for good in the third quarter.

Theres a healthy competition among the rookies in this class, particularly the high draft picks. Cunningham came to the party a little late but now hes ready to establish himself.

Im competitive regardless, he said. I want to be better than who I was yesterday and whoevers up against me. But I dont try to compare myself to any of those guys. I have a lot of respect for all of them.

My class is full of big-time talent, he continued. I know where I rank amongst those guys. I just go play my game. Weve been pushing each other so long, talking about the guys in my class, its something Im used to. Im used to us pushing each other to be better. Seeing those guys do their thing, Im happy for them. Now Im excited to get my chance to do my thing.

His "thing" will surely lead to more points and assists than he produced in his debut.

"He knows he's a big-time player," center Isaiah Stewart said. "He knows those shots are going to drop."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons rookie Cade Cunningham isn't worried about his shot
Fredericksburg native Lt. j.g. Andrew Heinlein is serving aboard USS Tennessee, one of the worlds most advanced nuclear-powered submarines.

Heinlein, a 2018 Virginia Military Institute graduate, joined the Navy three years ago.

I joined the Navy because of my family, said Heinlein. My great grandfather served in World War II, and both my parents were in the military. I wanted to be on submarines, specifically, because they allow me to interact with the enlisted more.

Today, Heinlein is a division officer, responsible for the division and reporting to the department head.

According to Heinlein, the values required to succeed in the military are similar to those found in Fredericksburg.

I learned to be patient and know that everything takes its time, said Heinlein. Not everything is going to be super quick.

Known as Americas Silent Service, the Navys submarine force operates a large fleet of technically advanced vessels. These submarines are capable of conducting rapid defensive and offensive operations around the world, in furtherance of U.S. national security.
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.
These campaign blunders always seem on the surface to be pivotal moments, and they are. But thats only because beneath the surface theres been a growing backlash to the candidate and his party that suddenly erupts in the open.

In Allens case, an unpopular president (George W. Bush) who erroneously told Americans that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and manifest incompetency demonstrated by his administration in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, energized thousands of Virginians to work for Jim Webb, who went on to defeat Allen. Macaca was just the fuse that ignited the building backlash.

Similarly, in October 2020 right before the presidential election, candidate Joe Biden said that anyone whos responsible for that many [COVID-19] deaths [about 220,000 at the time] should not remain as President of the United States of America. The COVID death count in America is now 745,565.

Bidens plummeting poll numbers, along with manifest incompetency demonstrated by his administration in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, is a drag on Democrats running local and statewide races. Thats part of the reason why McAuliffes tone-deaf comment sparked an intense backlash among Virginia voters that could cost him the election.
Pakistan's government and the outlawed radical Islamist party Tehrik-e Labaik Pakistan (TLP) have reached an agreement to end a 10-day -- and at times deadly violent -- march calling for the closure of France's embassy and the release of the party's leader.

Neither Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi nor religious leader Mufti Muneebur Rehman, who took part in the talks, gave any details of the agreement at a news conference in the capital, Islamabad, on October 31.

Details and positive results of the agreement will come before the nation in a week or so, said Rehman, who said he had the endorsement of TLP party leader Saad Rizvi.

Thousands of supporters of the banned Tehrik-e Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party marched from Lahore on October 22 toward Islamabad. They demanded the expulsion of Frances envoy to Pakistan linked to the publication in France of political cartoons depicting Islams Prophet Muhammad. 

The protest march saw supporters clash with police at several points along the way. At least seven police officers and four demonstrators were killed.

It wasnt immediately clear on October 31 when the party would end its march. Thousands of supporters halted their march in Wazirabad, about 185 kilometers from the capital on October 29 after roads and bridges ahead of them were blocked. Paramilitary rangers were deployed to stop the protesters from continuing toward the capital.

Sajid Saifi, a TLP spokesman, said supporters were ready to pack up but were awaiting instructions from the party's leadership. He said he hoped party leader Saad Rizvi and all the supporters arrested in recent days would be released soon.

Besides demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador, the TLP was also pressing for the release of its leader, Rizvi, who was arrested last year for inciting supporters to stage an anti-France protest.

Rizvis party gained prominence in Pakistans 2018 elections, campaigning on the single issue of defending the countrys blasphemy law, which calls for the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
The reclusive leader of Afghanistans Taliban made a rare public appearance at a religious school in the city of Kandahar on October 30.

Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada had not been seen in public since he became the Taliban leader in 2016, even after the movement took control of Afghanistan in September.

During his visit to the Darul Uloom Haakimah madrasah, Akhundzada prayed for Taliban martyrs and asked God to reward the oppressed people of Afghanistan who fought the infidels and the oppressors for 20 years.

No video or photographs of the event, which took place under heavy security, have been released, but an audio recording of Akhundzadas remarks has appeared on social media.

During his 10-minute address, Akhundzada prayed for officials undergoing the big test of building the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Akhundzada was a relatively low-profile religious figure in the Taliban before being named the movements leader following the death in a U.S. drone strike of his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansur.

His public profile has been largely restricted to the regular release of messages to mark Islamic holidays.

His appearance in Kandahar has fueled speculation that he intends to take a more active role in running the country.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
courtesy city of Denver Denver City Council members have partnered with the citys health department on a social media campaign intended to promote COVID-19 safety.
This Place is for the Birds, a longtime birdseed and garden center, has offered a pumpkin patch for the last 25 years. There's a rich history to the property, which contains a farmhouse built in 1909. A Frenchwoman, Katie Veen, bought the place in 1935 and spent the next 55 years of her life there, before selling it to Ron Perry, who opened his bird store in the mid-90s. The two developed a close friendship until her death in 1999 at 99.
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.
Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute in Denver and hosts The Devils Advocate with Jon Caldara on Colorado Public Television Channel 12. His column appears Sundays in Colorado Politics.
A view of the Garden of the Gods, Kissing Camels and Pikes Peak from Mesa Road.
PERSPECTIVE: Vote Yes on Prop 120, defend the rights of all Coloradans
Rep. Hugh McKean (R - Loveland) serves as Minority Leader in the Colorado General Assembly. Velma L. Campbell, MD, MPH is a physician specializing in public health, particularly occupational and environmental health. She is the vice-chair of the Sangre de Cristo Group of the Sierra Club.
Ashley Upmeyer, Business Banking Officer and Credit Analyst at Clear Lake Bank & Trust, has successfully completed the 2021 Iowa Bankers Association (IBA) Introduction to Commercial Lending, which was held in Cedar Rapids on Oct. 18-20.

The school is a three-day program sponsored by the Iowa Bankers Association. The purpose of the school is to give students a basic understanding of the principles and concepts of commercial lending. Curriculum involves an extensive case study, classroom lecture, and problem loan exercises.

Upmeyer began her career with Clear Lake Bank & Trust in 2011 as loan assistant. She was promoted to a credit analyst in 2017. Upmeyer manages a business loan portfolio and was critical in Clear Lake Bank & Trusts Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) efforts.

Earlier this year, Upmeyer was promoted to Business Banking Officer/Credit Analyst. Upmeyer has become involved in several Clear Lake community projects serves as a First Mate for the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce.

Abby covers education and public safety for the Globe Gazette. Follow her on Twitter at @MkayAbby. Email her at Abby.Koch@GlobeGazette.com

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There are nearly 14,000 public school districts in America who collectively educate approximately 55 million students. Critical Race Theory (CRT) is not part of the curriculum or standards of any K-12 American school district, asserts Jeanne Dyches, a CRT expert and Iowa State University professor of education (personal communication, Oct. 18). The public school CRT hoax and disinformation campaign was created by Christopher F. Rufo, senior fellow of Koch Brothers Manhattan Institute.

Whats the history behind CRT? Its roots began in the 1970s where law classes like Critical Legal Studies were taught to prospective lawyers. CRT became a component of the course and continues to educate lawyers to address the role of racism for their ensuing law practice and endeavor to eliminate racism (American Bar Association, Jan. 11).

Only gullible parents and legislators  who didnt check their sources  are raising hell in school board meetings and in state legislatures over a concept that only exists, in their mind, because someone with their political preference told them a falsehood; they are lemmings at heart.

Even Mr. Rufo admits to his CRT scheme. His March 15 tweet said, We have successfully frozen their brand  critical race theory  into the public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions. We will eventually turn it toxic, as we put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand strategy. The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think 'critical race theory. We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire race of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.

Ponder who is touting the CRT conspiracy being taught in public schools and ask yourself if their platitudes are fair and balanced: Fox News, The Daily Wire, Breitbart, Newsmax, Koch Brothers Americans for Prosperity, Center for Renewing America, Freedom Works, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), The Heritage Action Foundation, Faith and Freedom Coalition, and White Christian Nationalists.

Americans may recall on Sept. 22, 2020, former president Donald Trump (Rep.) signed Executive Order 13950 banning the use of CRT by federal departments and contractors in diversity training. A federal judge knew the truth and overturned Trumps fictitious executive order (USA Today, Dec. 23, 2020). President Joe Biden (Dem.) formally rescinded the order the first day he took office. But by then, CRT was part of the right-wing conservative's fraudulent campaign.

It is well known there are more than 20 high-profile conservative organizations, including ALEC, who GOP legislators purposely copycat their proposed legislation  word-for-word  into law (Triple Pundit, July 21). In the spring of 2021, Republicans from 26 states were duped and deceived into introducing ALECs supported anti-CRT legislation.

Republican legislators and GOP governors from the following eight states got sucked in  hook, line and sinker  and signed into law the CRT ban in public K-12 schools: Arizona, Iowa, Indiana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas (Understanding the Attacks on Teaching, Aug. 5).

Conservative lawmakers, governors and the GOP have seen early on that their caricatures of curriculum for racial and gender justice could indeed serve as a hot-button culture war ... mobilizing the Republican base that will influence not only the 2022 midterm elections ... but also the less visible elections to control school boards (ibed).

With Nov. 2 being the date to elect school board members, beware of candidates who are touting the ban of CRT in K-12 as they have proven they didnt do their homework and are false prophets. Also let your GOP legislators and Governor know your thoughts on them and their constituents being hoodwinked with the disinformation, misinformation and false public school CRT curriculum campaign.

Steve Corbin is an emeritus professor of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa. His opinions do not reflect those of the University of Northern Iowa. Reach him at Steven.B.Corbin@gmail.com.

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Pittsylvania County Community Action, Inc. is seeking volunteers to assist with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

PCCA offers free tax preparation in Danville, Pittsylvania County and Caswell County, North Carolina. Volunteers are needed to conduct intake interviews, prepare taxes and perform quality reviews. Tax preparers and quality reviewers are required to participate in training and pass a certification test.

VITA is a free tax program offered to low- and moderate-income households, sponsored by and operated under the guidance of the Internal Revenue Service. Volunteers prepare federal and state income taxes for households with incomes below $58,000. Volunteers ensure eligible households receive all the tax credits that are available to them, including the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Recovery Rebate Credit.

During filing season 2021, 10 volunteers successfully completed IRS training and certification. These volunteers provided more than 2,000 hours assisting in excess of 1,300 families and individuals with federal and state tax preparation services at no charge, thus helping taxpayers in the community save tax preparation fees.
Its possible to receive a different booster than the original vaccine, but the health department is urging residents to consult with a doctor or health care provider to figure out which is best for the individual.

The first clinic will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at the 640 Rescue Station located at 1604 Riceville Road in Java. A Friday clinic is planned from 8 a.m. to noon at Three Arc Family Life located at 427 E. Thomas St. in Danville. Another clinic will be hosted Tuesday for employees only of Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services.

In addition to boosters, these clinics will also provide first and second doses. The Johnson and Johnson and Moderna versions are available to anyone 18 and older. The Pfizer shot can be administered to those 12 and up, but a parent or guardian must accompany anyone under 18, the health department noted.

Registration is encouraged, but walk-ins will be accepted. Register by visiting vaccinate.virginia.gov or calling 877-VAX-IN-VA.

Outbreaks

New outbreaks of COVID-19 have grown in recent weeks mainly because of a lag in posting data, Crawford confirmed.
The first units to arrive on scene then found a fire in a medium-sized building that housed a large asphalt boiler and electric switches, pumps and panels.

The building was on fire, which also included all the electrical equipment, Danville Fire Department battalion chief Brian K. Alderson wrote in a news release. Much of the fire was coming from oil leaking from the boiler.

Foam was used to contain the flames and power had already been shut off by plant personnel. Firefighters used a hand line to put out the blaze in the rest of the building.

The boiler was heated by peanut oil, Alderson said in the release. That oil was on fire and leaking out of the building.

After controlling the fire, it was confirmed the runoff moved to a large lagoon beside the main plant, Alderson said. Peanut oil is not considered to have an impact on the environment, especially in the small amount of runoff from the building.

The incident caused significant damage to the building and all of its contents.

The fire department didnt provide a damage estimate in the latest blaze Sunday. Blue Ridge employees were expected to remain on scene throughout the night to monitor the situation, Alderson said.
Permits were reissued for the first two areas and are now facing a second challenge.

A third set of approvals to cross water bodies was stayed last year by the 4th Circuit, prompting Mountain Valley to pursue a different process that has yet to lead to new permits being granted.

One of the arguments made Friday by Sierra Club attorney Elly Benson, who represented the environmental groups, was that the Fish and Wildlife Service did not properly consider climate change in its analysis of endangered species, which include the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter.

Benson noted that when Mountain Valley violated erosion and sediment control regulations hundreds of times, the company repeatedly blamed the infractions on record rainfalls since construction began in 2018.

Thats exactly the kind of impact that a climate analysis would help take into account, she told the three appellate judges  all of whom were involved in earlier 4th Circuit rulings that went against the pipeline.

In defending the latest permits, attorneys for the federal agencies told the court that its earlier concerns had been taken into account.
REIDSVILLE  U.S. Marshals and officers from the High Point Police Department captured Robert Winchester Jr., in High Point on Wednesday afternoon in connection with the Oct. 16 shooting of a Reidsville man.

Winchester, 37, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injuries, possession of a firearm by a felon and going armed to terror of the public, according to the Reidsville Police Department.

He is being held in the Guilford County Jail on a $1,000,000 bond, according to a press statement from RPD spokesman Nathan Lilly.

Investigators with the RPD allege that Winchester shot Tyler Blackwell of Reidsville multiple times at around 4:45 a.m. on Oct. 16 in the 200 block of Graves Street here.

Blackwell was treated at a local hospital for wounds that were not life threatening, police said in a news release last week.

Authorities have not disclosed information about a possible motive in the crime.

Investigators ask that anyone with information about the crime or the location of Winchester contact RPD Investigator Collins at 336-347-2343. To leave an anonymous tip, contact Rockingham County Crime Stoppers at 336-349-9683 or contact Rockingham County Communications at 336-634-3300.
Williams, 63, is currently serving two life sentences, plus 10 years in three separate homicides.

Forsyth County District Attorney Jim ONeill has criticized the commissions work and called it a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Bryson, a 65-year-old retiree who lived alone in a house in Winston-Salem, was found by her son strangled with a lamp cord wrapped around her neck. Her house had been ransacked and her car was found about a mile from her house, the newspaper reported.

The indictment moves Johnsons case to Forsyth Superior Court, where either a date for a trial will be set or prosecutors and Johnsons attorneys can negotiate a plea deal. It will be at least a year, if not more due to the pandemic, before the case is resolved.

Even though Johnson made statements to investigators with the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission that he acted alone in killing Bryson and that Williams was not there, Forsyth County prosecutors have contended they believe Williams made consistent statements about his involvement. They also said Johnson has admitted he was on LSD at the time. Prosecutors argue that Johnson and Williams could have broken into Brysons house and that Johnson just does not remember because of his drug use.

The only other person convicted in Brysons death was Robbin Carmichael, who confessed to his role in Brysons murder after he was arrested on unrelated charges. Carmichael had some of Brysons stolen items and his fingerprints were on Brysons car.
I had been all over the world and just wanted to come back home, Myers said during a recent interview. Myers bought a house in Madison, ran for mayor in 2013, was elected and has served in the role ever since.

Over 50 percent of my life has been in service to others, Myers said.

The son of the late Herbert C. Myers, the mayor graduated in1977 from Madison-Mayodan High School. He attended Western Carolina University where he earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial technology in 1981.

While in college, Myers was in the Air Force Reserve. After graduating, he applied to the U.S. Marine Corps Officers Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in April of 1982.

Among the highlights of his career: serving as an 18th squadron commander; commanding officer for the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif.; deputy commander for Marine Corps Installations West in California; and deputy commander for Expeditionary Warfare Training Group at Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado Island, Calif.

Although he started out as a ground officer, Myers was selected for pilot training and received his wings in April 1986.
Its been a wonderful partnership, said Averett Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Don Aungst.

Averett hired John Earl as the airports inaugural fixed-base operations manager. He has led FBOs across the country, including those in Boston, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as smaller communities in Alabama and Kansas.

Earl told the Register & Bee his role as manager for a new FBO allows him to kind of make my stamp on the company.

The goal was to take something that was brand new and turn it into something that can be considered an industry standard or even above and beyond that, Earl said of why he took the position.

William Sid Allgood, member of the Danville Regional Airport Commission, said during the event, New services and programs are being established by the fixed-base operator that will attract more traffic to the airport.

The impact of the airport on economic development in the region cannot be overstated, said Linda Green, an Averett University trustee and executive director of the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance.
Updated 3:37 p.m.

GREENSBORO  A man shot early Sunday morning has died from his injuries, Greensboro police said in a news release Sunday afternoon.

Police identified him as Mark Anthony Dickerson Jr., 40, of Greensboro.

Officers responding to a report of a "man down" in the 300 block of Edwards Road at 1:11 a.m. Sunday found Dickerson suffering from a gunshot wound.

The department is now investigating the incident as a homicide.

The investigation is continuing, police said.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000. Citizens can also download the mobile P3tips app to submit a mobile tip, or go to P3tips.com to submit a web tip. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.

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Posted 10:15 a.m.

GREENSBORO  Authorities are investigating a shooting in the 300 block of Edwards Road, according to a news release from Greensboro police.

At 1:11 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the area in reference to a call about a "man down."
Nationally, only about 16.5% of ERAP funds have reached the households waiting so desperately for this relief, due to the overwhelming number of applications and limited infrastructure. Greensboro has proven to be well ahead of the curve. In the first three months, GHC received and disbursed $1.5 million. In total, nearly $3 million went to almost 1,000 of our most vulnerable households. Still, more than 700 pending applications have been submitted and more come in each day.

The numbers are one thing, but we have to remember what they represent. Each application is a household on the verge of homelessness. Each household is a family. These are our friends and neighbors; this is our community.

Stable housing is essential to a familys well-being. Families are able to stay together. Children are able to stay in school. Households are able to stay healthier and keep their neighborhood support systems intact. With stable housing, there is not the overwhelming anxiety of wondering where to safely rest at night.
The Montana VA Health Care System launches its COVID booster shot vaccination campaign Thursday.

Veterans and their spouses, household family members and caregivers are eligible to receive the Moderna and Janssen (J&J) vaccines through Montana VA.

The campaign will begin in Billings at the Benjamin Charles Steele VA Clinic on Nov. 4 and will be followed by a three-day booster clinic for Helena-area veterans at the National Guard Aviation Readiness Center near Helena Regional Airport from Nov. 8-10 before expanding to locations in Havre, Lewistown, Missoula, Butte, Kalispell, Great Falls and Bozeman.

Vaccines are the best way we can protect Veterans, employees, and all Montana communities against COVID-19, Dr. Judy Hayman, Montana VAs executive director, said in a news release.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people who completed an original two-dose regimen of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago should get a booster if they fall into one of these categories:

 Persons age 65 years and older

 Persons age 18-plus who live in long-term care settings

 Persons age 18-plus who have underlying medical conditions

 Persons age 18-plus who work or live in high-risk settings

The CDC recommends a booster shot for people who received a J&J (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine who are 18 years or older and who were vaccinated at least two months ago.

Veterans who meet the above eligibility requirements should call and schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Appointments are limited, and veterans must call the MTVAHCS scheduling line at 877-468-8387 and select Option 2, and then Option 2 again to be scheduled. The Montana VA scheduling line is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Unenrolled veterans and veterans spouses, caregivers and household family members are eligible to receive booster shots.

Non-veterans must call the MTVAHCS scheduling line at 877-468-8387 and select Option 2, and then Option 2 again to schedule an appointment.

Montana VA is offering booster clinics at:

Billings-area veterans

Thursday

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Benjamin Charles Steele VA Clinic

1766 Majestic Lane

Appointments requested. Walk-ins will be limited.

Helena-area veterans

Nov. 8-10

9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

National Guard Aviation Readiness Center

3330 Skyway Drive (near Helena Regional Airport; look for signs)

Appointments requested. Walk-ins will be limited.

Each person must bring their vaccine card in order to receive a booster shot. Masking is required at all Montana VA booster events. As booster clinics are scheduled, this information will be available at Montana VA Health Care Systems webpage, https://www.va.gov/montana-health-care.

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For help If you or someone you know is in crisis, the Montana Warmline is at 1-877-688-3377 or http://montanawarmline.org. The Montana Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) is also available.

A recent survey found 41% of Montana high school students  the highest rate ever documented  self-reported symptoms of depression over the last year, and roughly 1 in 10 reported a suicide attempt in the past 12 months.

While state officials and mental health experts are alarmed at the findings, sustainable solutions remain elusive in Montana.

And while the global suffering from COVID-19 over the last year and a half may have played a role in recent numbers, the assembly of factors in a single student's life that may develop into depression and anxiety are too complex to pin mental health struggles on the pandemic alone, the state suicide prevention officer said in a recent interview.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is conducted every other year among grades 7 through 12.

The 2020 survey found the highest rate of students ever to report feeling so sad or hopeless for two or more weeks in a row that they stopped doing usual activities, a metric researchers say is a symptom of depression.

The factors leading to such sadness are complex and in some cases specific to Montana.

"The most important thing is the survey reflects the students' voice," Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen said in an interview last week. "I think it's imperative that adults listen to that student voice."

Considering Montana's longstanding ranking among states with the highest rates of suicides, the survey results may be a dull shock. For the last three decades, the state has been among the five worst nationwide for suicides across all age groups.

But a closer look reveals how dim the last 12 months were for some high school teenagers. Golden Valley County, for example, saw 60% or more high school students report symptoms of depression. In Petroleum County, 1 in 4 students reported attempting suicide in the last year. The Flathead Valley is reeling from nine suicides among students in the last 17 months.

Some have pinned mental health issues among students on COVID-19 measures like remote learning or mask mandates on campuses. Karl Rosston, the suicide prevention coordinator at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, said the collective isolation students experienced last year may end up being a contributing factor, but it's too soon to tell. The rate of students feeling hopeless for two weeks or more in a row has also been steadily rising since 2011.

"We definitely heard a lot more about mental health issues, more depression, more anxiety (related to COVID-19)," Rosston said. He added that the increase hasn't translated to more suicides, at least for 2020.

"We really have to take a look at trends over a 10-year period because of our small sample size in order to get a more reliable and valid statistical analysis," Rosston said.

Several factors are fastened to Montana, like sparse populations and elevation. Studies have found a "threshold effect" where suicide rates increase at a certain elevation, where less oxygen is available to the brain. But Rosston said other factors can be improved, like the stigma that often creates barriers to seeking help. Stigma appears to be a greater hurdle in rural Montana, Rosston said.

"One of the greatest fears around suicide is fear of being judged," Rosston said. "You live and you work in these small rural communities where you know everyone and everyone knows you, and theres a fear of being isolated and judged. I think the stigma is much worse in a rural communities than it is in our urban areas."

A new approach

One possible solution tapped this year is a pilot project funded in part by a state Department of Public Health and Human Services grant and conducted by the Rural Behavioral Health Institute. The Livingston-based nonprofit's project, currently underway in Madison, Gallatin and Park counties, provides a six-and-a-half minute mental health screening completed by 12-year-old students. The results of the screening are delivered through a web-based system to a designated school staff member who can connect the student with resources on the same day. If the school doesn't have a contracted therapist, the nonprofit provides one, oftentimes remotely from Shodair Children's Hospital in Helena.

The institute's executive director, Janet Lindow and implementation director Julie Anderson already conducted the screenings in Park High School in Livingston, and found both buy-in and success. Screening isn't a new idea, Lindow said, but connecting the student to a therapist the same day is.

"Once you identify a child with suicidality, you don't want to leave them hanging, you want to connect them with care," Lindow said. "We could not have better partners as far as therapists who are trained to deal with kids in crisis and that's what were offering to schools."

Without gathering student's personal information, the project is generating data that the Rural Behavioral Health Institute hopes can eventually help the state identify problem areas to address. More immediately, the screenings allow schools to be more proactive than reactive to crises, Lindow said.

Rosston said he's going watch the project "very closely" over the next year, with hopes that if successful the state could bring those screenings to more counties.

Existing program at risk

Mental health resources already in schools, however, are facing some uncertainty. The Comprehensive School and Community Treatment program, which connects a licensed or supervised-in-training practitioner and behavioral health aides with children in school settings, came into jeopardy recently.

For years schools claimed providing physical space and technology like laptops as how they "paid" for their one-third of the cost for the program. The federal government, which covers the rest of the cost, objected to that approach years ago, but had allowed leeway until 2020. The state health department then stepped in with cash to keep the program going, but the Legislature rejected that earlier this year.

Lawmakers did approve stop-gap funding, allocated to the state Office of Public Instruction, to keep the program going while OPI and the state health department try to find a solution for schools' new cash requirement. That pot of money was expected to run dry in September, but is now on pace to last through mid-November, Arntzen said last week.

When that funding does run out next month, Arntzen is hopeful federal COVID relief dollars can refill whatever budgetary holes schools choose to dig in order to keep their CSCT program going.

We need to make sure those services are rendered," Arntzen said.

Arntzen also floated the idea of going a different route altogether from CSCT. Many students who use the program are in special education, Arntzen said, so perhaps schools can channel their resources there.

"That doesn't mean we increase the number of students that are in special education by any means, or prop up the numbers bigger, but I think theres multiple ways to look at this," she said.

Arntzen was not particularly warm, however, to the idea of going to the Legislature in 2023 to ask for money to conduct statewide screenings like those done by the Rural Health Behavioral Institute and emphasized by Rosston.

"Remember, one size does not fit all," Arntzen said, suggesting communities like Missoula and Bainville could see lopsided success through the program. Addressing the current workforce shortage, including paraprofessionals and bus drivers, is already taking up much of Arntzen's attention, she said.

"My job is to talk about the beautiful and wonderful things in education in a positive aspect but also to ring the bell and say we need to do better," she said, adding that the duty to push down the numbers from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey doesn't fall to her office alone. "I've got to work with (the state health department) with this, with county health, I've got to work through so many different entities and it's not just about a classroom teacher, it's about all of us in a state working on this."

Part of Rosston's plan to bring more resources to communities is by training those who are already there, or en route. Rosston has been training primary care providers around the state and encouraging them to conduct risk assessments for all kids over the age 12. Rosston has also expanded assessment trainings to nursing students around the state, many of whom will go on to work in rural health care settings.

"That's probably the most reliable thing that we can do," Rosston said of the screenings. "It's hard for me to imagine us having enough mental health services in our state just because of the rural nature, it's just not economically feasible to have it. But primary care is one that we really are focusing on because most communities do have a health care clinic, or rural doctor or nurse. Getting them trained up is probably our best initiative."

And in recent months, Rosston has gotten a hand in training new trainers, who can take that information to their regions. Jess Hegstrom, the suicide prevention health educator for Lewis and Clark County, is one of several new local trainers who can now bring that education to providers in the area. With additional grant funding, Hegstrom said these trainings will soon expand out to Broadwater and Jefferson counties, and beyond that before long.

The most important thing, Hegstrom said, is that people who are in contact with children are prepared when crisis happens.

"Making sure people know how to help means people won't fall through the cracks," Hegstrom said. "It means that if people get the help they need, they'll probably never be suicidal again."

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For years now weve been subjected to an endless stream of nonsense from those who deny the inescapable reality that our planet is overheating due to human-caused pollution in the atmosphere.

Its now apparent that the cascading effects of global baking  and the concurrent lack of action by our politicians and lawmakers  are creating enormous societal, economic and environmental problems and threatening our very existence.

A quick review of this years climate catastrophes provides a daunting example. The enduring mega-drought in the southwest has fueled enormous wildfires, reduced the mighty Colorado River to a trickle, left crops withering on the vines and in the fields, while exacerbating the Sixth Great Mass Extinction Event for more and more species due to development and destruction of livable habitat.

In the meantime, enormous hurricanes and floods have decimated huge areas on the Gulf and East coasts. Some of the hardest-hit areas just happen to be where the majority of the nations oil and gas refineries are located and the ancillary damage can now be seen at the gas pumps, putting many American families in budgetary straits as prices soar for transportation and home heating fuels.

Of course the same lame politicians who dwell in the climate denial world  and their cohorts who continue to promote drilling, mining, and burning even more fossil fuels  do what politicians always do, blame someone else.

Lately its President Biden who, in their pitiful partisan attacks, is somehow held responsible for the societal and economic impacts from these acts of nature that are, in truth, promulgated by their own myopic climate policies. While more than happy to point out the current higher fuel costs, they offer no realistic options except the same prescription that got us here and has led to massive environmental damage  drill, mine and burn more fossil fuels while continuing to deny the inescapable evidence that doing so will only increase our problems.

They say doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity  and one would be hard-pressed to argue that our current dead-end path on dealing with our own pollution-caused problems is anything but insane. When 99% of the worlds scientists agree that we have to reduce our fossil fuel use and increase our renewable energy use or well perish, one might just think there could be some actionable truth there.

And indeed, there is. IF (big if) our politicians werent so busy beating each other up while kowtowing to their fossil fuel contributors, they might just figure out its long past time to cease the subsidies for fossil fuels and invest those billions of dollars a year in renewables.

Could America lead the way in ensuring every solar-capable home, commercial, and government building in the nation is outfitted with solar panels? Of course we could. And how many solar panels could be installed with even a fraction of the more than $2 billion dollars a day spent on the foolish pursuit of global military dominance? Moreover, those direct investments in local distributed renewable energy will, in the short and long run, keep us a lot more secure than antiquated aircraft carriers and nukes.

We cannot escape the impacts from climate change since there are already too many greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. But time has run out for clueless politicians who deny science and defend fossil fuels as the problems  and the costs  create increasingly severe impacts that realistically, not theoretically, threaten the very future of those they pledged to serve.

George Ochenski is a longtime Helena resident, an environmental activist and Montana's longest-running weekly columnist.

George Ochenski writes from Helena. His column appears each Monday on the Missoulian's opinion page.

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Cory Swanson complained about Merrick Garlands directive to federal prosecutors regarding threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff.

But, apparently, Cory Swanson did not actually read the AGs memorandum before submitting his comment to the IR. The memo includes the following language, While spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution, that protection does not extend to threats of violence or efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views. It continues by noting that threats of violence to public officials are illegal.

The memo says nothing to suggest that federal prosecutors should charge parents who speak up of school board meetings with a crime.

Regardless of the AGs memo, Cory Swanson has a duty to enforce Montana laws. Those include title 45, Chapter 8, M.C.A. regarding offenses against public order. But, it is not apparent that Cory Swanson has read or understands that particular statute.

Moreover, it is not apparent that Cory Swanson understands that his role, as county attorney, is to prosecute violators, not defend them.

John Mundinger

Helena

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VANDALIA  Illinois State Police report an Altamont woman was airlifted to hospital and a 9-year-old girl was injured Saturday morning in a crash south of Vandalia.

The collision occurred about 11:04 a.m. at the intersection of County Road East 900th Avenue and County Road North 2650th Street. The 29-year-old woman who was airlifted and the child, also from Altamont, were both traveling in the same small sport utility vehicle.

The other vehicle involved, a large pickup truck, was driven by a 32-year-old man from Effingham. He was not listed as being injured and was ticketed for disobeying a stop sign and operating a vehicle while using a cellphone.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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The AWCC has witnessed such cooperation. Early on, Ferraro said, a half-inch of rain could fall and the river would become quite muddy where many harmful practices were happening upstream. However, the U.S. Forest Service and private landowners have incorporated better practices into their land management and now, when it rains, Ferraro observed the water will be muddy for a few hours but then quickly returns to clear.

He waved a hand around at the native plants growing along the river bank on the hatchery property. Ferraro said, Were practicing what we preach. Known as riparian buffers, such plant zones create a buffer to prevent or slow pollutants entering a stream from runoff, control erosion and provide habitat and nutrition.

They also noted that some local governments along the Clinch have worked hard to improve conditions along their stretches of the river. Ferraro said some mussel species exist only near Cedar Bluff and that communitys leaders have taken proactive steps to protect them.

Humans want to do the right thing, said Lane. They just dont always have the information, he added, noting that current lifestyles often disconnect people from the world around them.
Charles S. Johnson, sociologist, author, and civil rights leader, was born in Bristol, son of a 42-year pastor of Lee Street Baptist Church. He attended Virginia Union University and the University of Chicago and served in combat during World War I. A scholar of race relations, he was the primary author of a seminal analysis of the Chicago race riots of 1919. He became the first director of research at the National Urban League and was a driving force behind the Harlem Renaissance as editor of Opportunity magazine. At Fisk University, Johnson led the social sciences department, published widely, and established annual Race Relations Institutes. In 1947 he became Fisks first Black president.

In 1865, at the dawn of their freedom from slavery, 42 former members of the white-led Goodson (now First) Baptist Church organized the Anglo African Baptist Church. The congregation met in a series of buildings until, under the leadership of the Rev. Charles Henry Johnson, they built a new edifice just across the street from here in 1905. The Rev. Johnson served the church, later renamed Lee Street Baptist, until he died during his 42nd year as pastor in 1932. After six decades here, the original brick-veneer church, weakened by the periodic flooding of adjacent Beaver Creek, was razed. In 1966, the congregation moved into a new building at 1 West Mary Street.
Chip and Karen are buried next to each other at a cemetery in Greensboro. Chip was always so good with her. He was so loving, Wheeler said.

Wheeler said losing her son was different than when her daughter died. With Karen I grieved for probably a year or more. After Chip died, it was different. I almost couldnt think about it. Wheeler said she was unable to dream, cry or grieve. Its hard to explain the effect it had on me.

One year after Chips death, Wheeler said she did finally dream. She said her son appeared in the dream. For the longest time, we talked, she said. It was just real natural. After a while he said, Well, Mom, Ive got to go now.

Wheeler said she begged her son not to leave. Chip told her he would be OK. It was just a very nice dream, because I got to be with him for so long, she said.

Wheeler said she never felt hatred for the person who killed her son. I knew if I could ever face this person, my only question to them would be, Why? she said.

One concern Young has is that the person responsible for Bartenfields death may no longer be alive. He said he still hopes police can close the case for Bartenfields family.
Any mention that there might be some act of violence at a school, we have an investigator assigned, we get school resource officers involved, and we look at it quickly and closely to determine whether or not there is something actionable there and get to the origin of it as best we can, Capt. Aaron Turk said.

Whether a threat is legitimate or not, the sheriffs office sends additional officers to the schools to assist. Dependent on what the threat is, we may have additional personnel following up throughout the week, maybe even longer than that, Brown said.

All Catawba County Schools resource officers go through solo active shooter and mass threat training, according to Lt. Eric Page. They also do scenario-based training each summer.

Prior to Columbine, the mindset was pull back, wait for SWAT and additional support, then you go in and get the shooter, Page said. After Columbine, they learned there is too many lives being lost while we are waiting on that.  The solo active shooter training teaches (officers) to respond, find the shooter or the threat and neutralize it themselves. Ideally, you want multiple people, but a lot of times thats not going to be the case.
TOKYO  A man brandishing a knife on a Tokyo commuter train on Sunday stabbed several passengers before starting a fire, police said.

NHK public television said at least 10-15 passengers were injured, including one seriously, a man in his 60s.

The attacker, only identified as a man in his 20s, was arrested on the spot and was being investigated on suspicion of attempted murder, NHK said. His motive was not immediately known.

Tokyo police officials said the attack happened inside the Keio train near the Kokuryo station.

Television footage showed a number of firefighters, police officials and paramedics rescuing the passengers, many of whom escaped through train windows. In one video, passengers were running from another car, where flames were gushing.

NHK said the suspect, after stabbing passengers, poured a liquid resembling oil and set fire.

Shunsuke Kimura, who filmed the video, told NHK that he saw passengers desperately running and while he was trying to figure out what happened, he heard an explosive noise and saw smoke wafting.

The attack was the second involving a knife on a Tokyo train in two months.
Joe Biden had extensive experience in foreign affairs prior to becoming president. Most notably, he served as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was heavily involved in U.S. foreign policy while serving as vice president under Barack Obama for eight years.

Yet despite his background, Biden did not manage the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan well. This begs the question  does it matter whether or not U.S. presidents have had significant foreign policy experience prior to becoming president? Have those with more experience in international affairs tended to be more successful in foreign policy endeavors than those with less?

Several of Bidens predecessors had little foreign policy experience prior to becoming president. Presidents Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush Jr. were governors, an office that is typically focused on state-level domestic policy, prior to becoming president. Obama was a nationally-elected public official as a senator for only two years prior to becoming president (during much of which he spent running for the Democratic Party nomination and then the presidency). And Trump became president without having had any experience in a formal role related to foreign policy or even as an elected official.

It is perhaps not a coincidence that each of these presidents suffered significant foreign policy failures.
This is Peter Hitchenss Mail on Sunday column

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. 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. 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 Bells) 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 Englands premier clergyman has received amazingly little media coverage outside our sister paper, the Daily Mail. See

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10081819/Archbishop-Canterbury-face-disciplinary-action-sexual-abuse-scandal-say-lawyers.html

Actually, I can see Mr Welbys 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 Welbys 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 Bells 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.

***********

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.

***********

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.

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 BBCs 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.

Sainsburys 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 childs 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 Sainsburys 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.

Its always one opinion. Its always expressed in such a way as to let you know that, if you disagree the tiniest bit, youd better be quiet about it.

And while its funny in a way, in another way it is not funny at all.

If you want to comment on Peter Hitchens, click on Comments and scroll down
Recall, however, that Joe Biden rejoined the Paris agreement early during his presidency, while ending work on the Keystone XL pipeline. Both are examples of Bidens willful misuse of taxpayer dollars, disregard for working class Americans, and abuse of presidential power. Likewise, both indicate the level of climate radicalism inside the Biden administration.

A book by Steven E. Koonin, Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesnt, And Why It Matters, addresses the flawed data and other missteps that have come to define climate science.

Koonin is well credentialed with a long list of accomplishments in the field, and he served as Undersecretary for Science in the U.S. Department of Energy under former president Barack Obama. He has also worked as a professor at Caltech and at New York University. In other words, this is a scholar whose life has been dedicated to science and someone whose opinion is worthy of attention.

In the lead-in to one of the books chapters titled, Apocalypses That Aint, Koonin sums up the type of reporting weve been subjected to regarding climate science:
Consider that Police Commissioner Dermot Shea pronounced the behavior of the two cops absolutely inexcusable and called for them to be disciplined, but added that he wouldnt expect them to be fired, suspended or placed on modified duty. So apparently theyll get off with a good, stern talking to.

And yes, some will say Gilbert should have expected what he got. Everybody knows you dont question a cop. But that attitude is part of the problem. If youre not causing a disturbance, posing a threat or hindering him in the performance of his duties, why, exactly, cant you question a cop? Especially when said cop is flouting rules everyone else is supposed to obey? Is he not a public servant? Are we not the public?

But then, power unrestrained serves only itself.

The police are esteemed  rightly  for being first responders, for running toward danger. But that is not, and cannot be, a get-out-of-accountability-free card. Wed demand answers from the janitor or short-order cook who behaved as if rules were for other people. Why is it so hard to hold to the same standard men and women in whom we vest such sweeping authority?
MATTOON  For the first time on Saturday afternoon, The Fields Church threw a Pumpkinfest at both their Mattoon and Charleston branches.

Six-year-old Paige Heise was one of the excited attendees at the Charleston branchs first Pumpkinfest.

The schools sent her home with a flyer for this event, said Amelia Heise, Paiges mother. She saw that they had rock climbing, and we had to come.

This seemed like a great, fun, free way to get out of the house, said Nick Dundee, who brought his wife Loran and 3-year-old daughter Estelle to Pumpkinfest in Mattoon.

Its great, even though its cold, said Loran Dundee.

The events are always free, said Travis Spencer, lead pastor at The Fields Church in Mattoon, so they are available for anyone.

We prioritize the next generation, he said. I believe in investing in kids, and so we decided to open the doors to the community and say, Come have fun.

The majority of Pumpkinfest attendees are members of the community, said Spencer, which is helpful since the church is looking to provide fun and safe outlets in the area.

The family-friendly event was filled with activities for several age groups, and is one of many ways the church tries to reach out to the community. The church also holds Easter celebrations and extended Christmas productions.

Probably the variety of activities for all ages helps bring in people from all over the community, said Spencer. The monster truck really helps.

The Mattoon churchs main event for the past few years has been a monster truck show. This year, the show featured Venom, driven by Denver Echternkamp III from Quincy.

Charlestons church offered rock climbing as its main attraction. The church was going to have a hot air balloon, but the wind gusts made it impossible.

Among the other popular events were magic shows and inflatable jumping houses.

The turnout, both churches found, was incredible.

The success is: the church is growing, said Mark Bettinger, lead pastor at the Charleston branch of The Fields Church. We have new people literally every week, our teams of volunteers are growing, and so are different inroads into the community.

Both events together used a team of 90 volunteers to pull everything together.

The success is a welcome sign, since The Fields Church recently took the step to merge two congregations  which was no easy task, though it was rewarding, said Bettinger.

It has been remarkably wonderful  just the unity, even though two congregations have come together, said Bettinger.

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Kairoff was nominated by Steinway Piano Gallery Greensboro.

Born in Los Angeles, Kairoff received masters and doctoral degrees in music performance from the University of Southern California. He also studied in Italy for two years as a Fulbright Scholar and Rotary International Fellow. He joined the faculty of Wake Forest University in 1988 and is currently professor of music and chairman.

This fall, 44 teachers from the United States and Canada were inducted into the Steinway Teachers Hall of Fame with special events hosted at the Steinway factory in New York City. The teachers names are now displayed on a commemorative display wall inside the factory.

* * * *

Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care has been named a 2021 Hospice Honors recipient by HEALTHCAREfirst, a provider of billing and coding services, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys and advanced analytics. Hospice Honors is a program that recognizes hospices providing the highest level of quality as measured from the caregivers point of view.

Award criteria were based on Hospice CAHPS survey results for an evaluation period of October 2019 through September 2020. Award recipients were identified by evaluating performance on a set of 24 quality indicator measures.
You have questions. I have some answers.

Q: I thought Transplant was a unique medical drama. The first episode was a bit unbelievable, but very dramatic. The few episodes that followed were quite interesting. Will it reappear?

Answer: NBC made a deal for a second season of the series, which was a hit in Canada before airing on the U.S. network. The second season finished shooting a couple of months ago, but theres no official airdate that I have seen. CTV, its Canadian home, just says the new season will arrive soon. And it could well be that NBC will not air it until 2022.

Q: What happened to Gibbss dog on NCIS? For a couple of episodes, he had a rescue dog named Lucy. In his last appearance, he was in Alaska, with no mention of the dog at all. Is it in his house all by itself?

Answer: In the episode Unseen Improvements, which first aired in May, Gibbs gave Lucy to his young friend Phineas. Dogs pick their people, Gibbs told Phineas. The minute you got here, she picked you.
They dont believe me

As minutes turned into hours, Barbara Swafford said, her middle son started to call. Hed grown agitated and impatient.

The pain in his gut worsened, and he just wanted to lay down, impossible in a crowded waiting room with social distancing protocols.

Barbara Swafford hopped into her van and headed to Baptist to be with her son because thats what mothers do.

If I wouldnt have, he would have walked away on his own, she said.

She convinced him to wait a while longer, and let him recline in her air-conditioned van. It was a muggy night in late July.

Another hour or two passed. She was running low on gas, and she said James began begging her to just take him home.

He kept saying, Theyre not going to do anything for me because they think Im an addict. They dont believe me, Barbara said.

At that point in her recollection of the worst night of a mothers life, the tears shed been holding back for close to an hour began to well and spill.
Individuals and family members affected by the transition will receive new Medicaid cards in November. They should continue to use their current card until that time

Partners has added about 360 providers over the last six months to ensure that members can choose to continue care with their current providers to ensure continuity of care.

Over the past two months, Partners held several information sessions for members, service providers and community groups to answer questions about the transition. All events were recorded and are available at www.partnersbhm.org/county-realignment.

Meanwhile, a ripple effect of Cardinal losing five counties altogether from a once 20-county network became public this week with the announcement of shutting down its high-profile headquarters in uptown Charlotte by March 31.

Cardinal said in a WARN Act notice filed Oct. 25 with the N.C. Commerce Department that at least 175 headquarters job positions are being eliminated as part of Cardinal joining Vaya Health of Asheville.
When do we get to use the guns?

That shocking question was raised Monday during a rally in Boise, Idaho, conducted by right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk.

The speaker, who has yet to be identified, continued:  No, and Im not  thats not a joke. Im not saying it like that. I mean, literally, wheres the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?

The crowd cheered and applauded the idea of killing fellow Americans on American soil.

Kirks response started off well: Im going to denounce that.

But he continued: They are trying to provoke you and everyone here. They are trying to make you do something that will be violent that will justify a takeover of your freedoms and liberties, the likes of which we have never seen.

So we have a few questions.

Who are they? What exactly have they done to provoke violence? Is it as much as those who promote former President Trumps Big Lie of voter fraud have done?
Crime-and-courts

editor's pick topical alert top story

Evidence stolen from State Patrol facility results in 66 cases dismissed and potential for more

Journal Star file photo State Patrol Col. John Bolduc (from left), Capt. Ryan Dale, leader of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force, and Lincoln Police Department Chief Teresa Ewins participate in a joint news conference on Sept. 24 about an investigation into missing evidence that was linked to fentanyl-laced cocaine which led to multiple overdose deaths. Courtesy photo Bruce Prenda Courtesy photo Candice Wooster

A month after news broke about the theft of more than $1.2 million worth of seized drugs from the Nebraska State Patrols evidence room, it's led to dozens of cases being dismissed in Lincoln.

And more are likely coming.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Bruce Prenda said officials havent yet finished their review.

"Our office has dismissed several cases related to this issue, and we'll continue to review cases and make decisions, as we are required to do," he told the Journal Star.

Similar reviews are happening in the 13 other counties in the State Patrol's Troop H area, too.

Here in Lincoln, Prenda said he can't get into specific cases, but the office ultimately identified 116 open cases that needed to be reviewed. Of those, 66 have been closed; 37 remain open on warrant; and six are open and active.

"We will now be looking more closely into the 37 warrant cases and making individual decisions on those," he said.

Asked about the collective weight of drugs that had been seized in the dismissed cases and if any involved multi-pound drug busts, he said he couldn't get into specifics.

He said he also couldn't say whether the bulk of the stolen evidence had been part of active cases or was scheduled to be destroyed.

In late September, Lincoln Police and the head of the Nebraska State Patrol, Col. John Bolduc, broke the news of a rare security breach, unprecedented in Nebraska. A former State Patrol evidence technician, Anna Idigima, had been arrested on suspicion of stealing $1.2 million worth of drugs from an evidence room so her boyfriend, George Weaver Jr., could sell it.

A laundry list of drugs  more than 150 pounds of marijuana, 20 pounds of cocaine, 10 pounds of fentanyl, 9 pounds of heroin and 3 pounds of meth and 269 pills  had gone missing from the State Patrol's Troop H evidence facility in Lincoln over the summer.

A spate of overdoses, including the deaths of nine people and an unborn child, followed between July 25 and Aug. 19, prompting a health advisory.

It's unclear how many of them investigators have been able to tie to cocaine and fentanyl taken from the patrol's evidence facility. Police said testing still is being done.

As for Idigima and Weaver, they initially faced state charges, but since have been indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana and face 10 years to life in federal prison if convicted.

And a couple of weeks ago, deputies in the Lancaster County Attorney's Office started reaching out to defense attorneys about cases they would be asking to drop.

A number of defense attorneys who spoke with the Journal Star said they didn't get much of an explanation. In some cases, when asked why, deputies said simply: "Don't you read the news?"

Prenda said one of the constraints to responding can be found in state statute 29-3523, which requires that a criminal justice agency respond to public inquiry "as if there were no criminal history record information" when charges are dismissed by the prosecuting attorney.

"There are constitutional and ethical considerations as well," he said, without elaborating.

The statute Prenda was referring to requires the courts to automatically seal cases that end in acquittal, are dropped by prosecutors, resolved through drug court or another problem-solving court or dismissed following a hearing and not the subject of a pending appeal.

It was intended to help give people clean slates so that prospective employers couldn't hold dismissed cases against them.

But its ripple effect leads prosecutors to feel constrained about talking about cases such as these.

And it makes it impossible for journalists to independently confirm details about which cases were dismissed through the courts. District Court searches by the Journal Star have turned up only a few motions to dismiss in cases that involved people participating in drug court and the dismissal of a fourth case involving undercover State Patrol buys of hydrocodone pills.

And, though Lincoln Police initially are investigating whether the overdose deaths were connected to the stolen State Patrol evidence, they have declined to give the names of those who died.

"Our leadership has notified me that we are not commenting on this inquiry," Officer Erin Spilker said this week. She declined to say why.

It's unusual, given that deaths under investigation by Lincoln police usually are public information.

There are a lot of unknowns yet about the full effect of the theft of State Patrol evidence, aside from the number of cases dismissed  66  and the potential for more to follow.

Candice Wooster, a Lincoln defense attorney, said her client whose case was dismissed wasn't very concerned with the how or the why.

But, she said, attorneys are curious how the county attorney's office is deciding which cases are being dismissed.

"And I think we are, as a community, trying to figure that out, Wooster said.

In the case she had, the prosecutor gave her a short-and-to-the-point reason: The drugs seized had been kept and maintained by the State Patrol. Wooster isn't sure if that means the drugs were gone or if a chain-of-custody issue led to the dismissal.

But, she said Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon is respectable, and she fully trusts him to make appropriate decisions.

"So I don't have concerns about that," the defense attorney said. "I think it is just important to figure out how or why the decision is being made."

Related

+17 +17 Lancaster County's biggest drug seizures Local officers make many traffic stops, but few lead to massive seizures of drugs or drug-related materials. Take a look at some of the bigges
A booster shot is recommended after two months for those who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Both Trapp and Dr. James Lawler, a co-executive director of the University of Nebraska Medical Centers Global Center for Health Security, pointed out that it is still predominantly people over age 65 and those with serious health conditions who have especially troubling vaccine breakthrough cases.

That's borne out in the numbers from Bryan, which show that as of Wednesday there were only two vaccinated patients in intensive care  both over the age of 75  and none on ventilators. Among the 12 vaccinated people who have died from COVID-19 this month in Lancaster County, all but one were older than 70.

While Lawler said it's likely that those over age 65 are seeing some decreased effectiveness of their vaccines, he also pointed out that because that age group is so highly vaccinated, it becomes more and more likely that cases will be in vaccinated people. In Lancaster County, for instance, more than 90% of all residents over the age of 65 are fully vaccinated.

Even with the increase in hospitalizations among vaccinated people, Lawler said he's still confident the vaccines are doing their job in preventing serious disease.
And, though Lincoln Police initially are investigating whether the overdose deaths were connected to the stolen State Patrol evidence, they have declined to give the names of those who died.

"Our leadership has notified me that we are not commenting on this inquiry," Officer Erin Spilker said this week. She declined to say why.

It's unusual, given that deaths under investigation by Lincoln police usually are public information.

There are a lot of unknowns yet about the full effect of the theft of State Patrol evidence, aside from the number of cases dismissed  66  and the potential for more to follow.

Candice Wooster, a Lincoln defense attorney, said her client whose case was dismissed wasn't very concerned with the how or the why.

But, she said, attorneys are curious how the county attorney's office is deciding which cases are being dismissed.

"And I think we are, as a community, trying to figure that out, Wooster said.

In the case she had, the prosecutor gave her a short-and-to-the-point reason: The drugs seized had been kept and maintained by the State Patrol. Wooster isn't sure if that means the drugs were gone or if a chain-of-custody issue led to the dismissal.
On a fourth-floor wall in Trabert Hall  what has yet to be pummeled into rubble  is a quote painted in block letters and swirling script that offered inspiration to generations of nursing students who slept and studied there.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

The formidable brick building could take inspiration from the words as construction workers gut its interior to the studs as part of a $23.5 million renovation that local officials say will make it  once again  a hub of Lincolns health care system.

Thats why, on a sunny fall Friday, those officials stood at a podium outside the brick building, donned hard hats and turned some earth to recognize what the old brick walls will become  a place where people can get housing, mental health, substance-use disorder and general medical services.

If this project were just about creating new life for this historic building in the heart of our city, that would be noteworthy in and of itself, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said Friday. But this project is so much more. ... This latest initiative is giving new life to our community members who at times experience extreme vulnerability and it will be providing them with services here that help them thrive.
The audits may well relate to the prosecution of Anna Idigima, Bender wrote in an email. And there may be information in the policy that, if disclosed, could compromise patrol operations or officers. The example about the handling of large sums of money fits that criterion.

But Bender said it seemed excessive to redact nearly the full document: It seems hard to believe that all of it is of such strategic or tactical importance.

Unlike other states, which have limitations on which investigative records can be withheld and for what duration, or that allow requesters to challenge that a record pertains to an investigation, Nebraskas exemption for investigative records is among the most sweeping in the nation, Bender said.

The Nebraska exemption can be invoked by a wide range of state agencies beyond just the traditional law enforcement ones, and it is not limited in duration, he explained. Conceivably, the records could be sealed forever.

Cody Thomas, public relations director for the patrol, said the agency would not release any materials that may be part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged theft from its evidence locker, even as more than 60 drug cases and convictions have been dismissed by prosecutors.
OMAHA  At least two candidates intend to challenge Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh when she runs for reelection in 2022.

Christian Mirch, a lawyer and police officer, and Elizabeth Hallgren, a small-business adviser and educator, have launched campaigns for Cavanaughs west-central Omaha district.

District 6 is bordered, roughly, to the north and south by Maple and Pacific streets and to the east and west by 72nd and 144th streets.

Mirch worked as an Omaha police officer for 10 years and left after finishing his law degree to clerk for Nebraska Chief Justice Mike Heavican, he said. He later worked in private practice at an Omaha law firm, he said, then opened his own practice and does some work for the State Department of Labor. He still works part-time as a police officer in Yutan.

Mirch is also on the board of the Set Me Free Project, which offers curriculum aimed at preventing human trafficking. He was chair of the Douglas County Republican Party but said he stepped down this week in accordance with party guidelines related to running for office.
We are asked to believe her sons night terrors came from sex scenes? To phrase this delicately: Dreams inspired by sex scenes are usually rather more pleasant than that. So it seems reasonable to believe that what really triggered Murphy's son and thus, Murphy, was that malevolent poltergeist and the weight of hate, horror and history it carries.

The upshot is that Murphy ended up in a commercial last week for Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin, as Exhibit A in his argument that parents need more control over what their children are taught in schools. Hes been blasted for the spot, Democrat Terry McAuliffe calling it a racist dog whistle.

It wont surprise you to hear that Youngkin pleads innocent. Apparently, its only coincidence that all this fits as neatly as a jigsaw puzzle piece with the ongoing GOP push to pass laws that ban the teaching of African-American history. To hear them tell it, critical race theory is out to burn their fields and sack their storehouses, and they must stop it by any means necessary.
Why does he do it? I asked.

"First, I do what I do because I like doing what I do," he replied. "Secondly, we face difficulties, especially peoples who have been marginalized. You have to have good ideas. You've gotta think hard. It requires debate to have better thinking. And we need better thinking given what we're up against."

Preach, amigo.

I asked Kennedy what we should make of the fact that Black people seem to have finally found a group of migrants they like: the Haitians.

My own theory starts with the distinctly unjust experience of Black Americans. Native Americans had their country stolen from them, and Mexican Americans lived in the Southwest while it was still part of Mexico. But unlike every other group of Americans, African Americans were kidnapped from their families, shipped to this country in chains and enslaved.

"The result is a lack of empathy," I told Kennedy. "What happened to African Americans in this country was so horrible, so repulsive and so singular and unique-- to literally be owned as property, to be declared by Congress three-fifths of a human being -- that you don't see yourself in anyone else's story. That trauma robbed you of your empathy."
The indictment of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was disturbing and shocking, calling into question the congressmans veracity while again revealing the seedy underbelly of campaign financing.

The first major Nebraska public official to face criminal charges in modern times, Fortenberry is charged with two counts of making false statements to federal investigators and one of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts in conjunction with conversations related to an illegal contribution made to his 2016 campaign

The $30,200 that went to Fortenberrys campaign was part of $180,000 that Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury, who as a foreign national is prohibited from making political contributions in the United States, funneled through a group of Californians to congressional campaigns.

It must be noted that Fortenberry is not charged in conjunction with his campaign taking the money. Nor was former Rep. Lee Terry of Omaha, whose campaign received $5,200 from Chagoury.

Rather, the charges are related to a June 2018 phone call made by that individual to Fortenberry in which the individual reportedly repeatedly told him that the $30,000 had been provided to him by Chagoury and distributed to others at the fundraiser to be donated under their names.
Local

alert

FORT MCCOY

'It's really cold' | 3,000 Afghans still without winter coats at Fort McCoy due to slow distribution

LUCAS ROBINSON, Lee Newspapers Boxes of clothing and other supplies donated to refugees at Fort McCoy in September by the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition.

As temperatures continue to drop in Wisconsin, 25-year-old Arzo Yousofzai has been spending most of her time at Fort McCoy either inside the barracks where shes staying or teaching English classes indoors.

Nearly two months after arriving at the military base from Afghanistan, Yousofzai still hasnt received winter clothes from personnel on base. She got a warm coat for the first time Wednesday  but not from Fort McCoy staff. Another Afghan woman gave her a coat some American friends sent in from the outside.

With hours-long lines to get food, Yousofzai said she would usually skip breakfast and dinner because she didnt want to wait outside in 40- and 50-degree weather wearing only sandals, pants and a T-shirt.

Its really cold, she said, adding she would usually eat lunch at the school where she is bused to each day to teach English to both Pashto and Persian speakers. I skipped my meals. Because of the weather, I could not stand in the (cafeteria) line for four or five hours, and I didnt have any (warm) clothes to wear.

Roughly 3,000 Afghans are still waiting for winter coats due to a shortage at the base, according to Team Rubicon, the volunteer group tasked by the Department of Defense with providing clothes to the base. The shortage is the most recent snag in the push to clothe the nearly 13,000 refugees who have lived at Fort McCoy since fleeing Afghanistan in August.

How to help New or gently used, freshly laundered clothing donations for Afghan evacuees at Fort McCoy can be dropped off at all Goodwill locations in south-central Wisconsin. Donors can also buy items from a Fort McCoy Amazon wish list for refugees, updated daily, at go.madison.com/afghan-aid. Fort McCoy said it's currently in need of new toddler clothing. For the most updated list of needed items, visit: go.madison.com/needed-items. Monetary donations, which are preferable because they allow officials to adapt to changing needs, can be made online or through the mail: Online: bit.ly/Evacuee

bit.ly/Evacuee By text: Text EVACUEE to 24365p

Text EVACUEE to 24365p By mail: Mail a check to the Salvation Army of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Divisional Headquarters, 11315 W. Watertown Plank Road, Wauwatosa, WI 53226. Write Afghan refugees on the memo line.

Mail a check to the Salvation Army of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Divisional Headquarters, 11315 W. Watertown Plank Road, Wauwatosa, WI 53226. Write Afghan refugees on the memo line. To donate to Team Rubicon, the group sorting and organizing the clothing donations, go to: go.madison.com/team-rubicon For updates on Team Rubicon's work to distribute items visit: teamrubiconusa.org/resettlement. Corporations interested in donating or offering services, such as housing or legal assistance, can fill out this form: go.madison.com/corporate.

Refugees waited weeks before getting fresh clothing upon their arrival, reporters discovered. Base policy prohibits bypassing official channels and giving clothes directly to evacuees, though many have done so anyway. Mailing in clothes is also allowed.

Lee Newspapers spoke with four Afghan women who said not only had they gone weeks without a winter coat, but that the distribution of clothes at Fort McCoy is often chaotic, with little time to go through disorganized piles of clothes that might not even fit.

I just expected to have a warm coat and also to have good sneakers, thick pants, said Yousufi, a 23-year-old Afghan woman asked not to have her full name used to protect family members still in Afghanistan. While she also received a coat in recent days thanks to outside help, Yousufi said she spent weeks outside with clothing no heavier than sports shorts and traditional South Asian dresses.

Most of the time I work in the workshops for legal advice, she said. Sometimes I am volunteering in front of the clinic. We are outside so we need warm clothes.

The shortage of coats is not from a lack of inventory or donations.

In late September, base officials said they had more than enough winter coats for everyone after clothing drives led by Team Rubicon. But as coats were distributed to the more than 250 barracks-style housing units on the base, many of the coats did not fit the refugees, said John Stuhlmacher, the head of operations for Team Rubicon.

With volunteers only learning of the shortage last week, Team Rubicon has put out requests for winter clothing to the Wisconsin Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, who will source the coats from partners like the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Goodwill, Lands End and St. Vincent De Paul. Community members interested in donating can drop off new or gently used, freshly laundered clothes at Goodwill locations in southeast Wisconsin or purchase items from an Amazon wishlist for refugees, updated daily, at go.madison.com/afghan-aid.

Base personnel have been recording the sizes for refugees who still dont have a coat, and all the refugees reporters spoke with have had their size taken.

Some 8,000 winter weather kits including coats, boots, mittens and scarves will arrive at the base in mid-November, said Cheryl Philips, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security task force that is leading the Afghan resettlement effort.

Today, each guest at a minimum has winter layers and we continue to add layers for winter, Philips wrote in an email. Each guest has been provided at least two blankets. Additionally, each person will be provided an extra fleece blanket in the coming days.

But Team Rubicons Stuhlmacher declined to put a timeline on how long it will take to get a proper winter coat to every Afghan at the base.

Were starting to fill the shortfall, Stuhlmacher said. Its one of those things that there could be a donation that fulfills all of it tomorrow. We just dont know.

Chaotic store

Yousofzai has had two chances to go to what those on base call the store, a large warehouse full of cardboard boxes that Afghans can sift through to pick out around 10 free clothing items for themselves. But both times she said the clothes were picked over, and she could only find warmer clothes in sizes large or extra large.

We went there (to the store), but there was not any clothes for winter, Yousofzai said. My size is small.  I didnt find any small things for winter.

In her two trips to the store, Yousufi saw a frenzied rush for the clothes and base personnel trying to get refugees through the warehouse as quickly as possible.

We dont know what to do during the picking of the clothes because theyre announcing every five minutes, Time is over. Time is over. Be quick. Be quick, Yousufi said. Sometimes the (girls) who are really small, theyre younger, they cannot pick up even pants for themselves because they are too small and cannot push the other girls.

EMILY HAMER, Lee Newspapers An Afghan women sifts through clothes inside the distribution center at Fort McCoy in late September.

But even after two trips to the store, Yousufi said she and others are still going without other basic items. The 23-year-old said she loans out sandals to other girls to wear in the shower.

A 25-year-old refugee, who also declined to give her name to protect family still in Afghanistan, seconded the difficulty in finding clothes that fit.

I got shoes I just wore today, she said. But I may not be able to use it for the future days because it is like not fitting me and it is really difficult.

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.

On Oct. 3, the 25-year-old Afghan woman said she and another group of young women went to get in line at the cafeteria at 5:30 p.m. and didnt get food until 9 p.m. Last week, she said the lines were still the same: Usually about two hours to get food, but sometimes three, four or even five hours.

Ineffective system

Though it supplies the base with clothes, the veteran-led Team Rubicon did not have prior experience working with clothing donations when it was brought on by the military, Stuhlmacher said. There is no formal contract between the nonprofit and the government either. Instead, Team Rubicon and the commanders at six U.S. military installations housing refugees came to a handshake deal for distributing the clothes.

Nearly two months removed from a mass evacuation from Afghanistan, some organizations and individuals who have worked to donate clothes to the base have grown frustrated. The Milwaukee Muslim Womens Coalition has sent truckloads of clothes to evacuees, yet the base-led distribution of those clothes remains disappointing, said president Janan Najeeb.

Is it theres this big bureaucracy and thats why its taking so long, or is the government not really providing the adequate funding? Najeeb said. This is an ineffective system. Im still quite concerned that people have been there this long and theres still not an infrastructure set up.

LUCAS ROBINSON, Lee Newspapers Janan Najeeb of the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition speaks alongside U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar in front of a truck of supplies donated to Fort McCoy in September.

Ilene Henderson, a former counterintelligence agent for the U.S. Army who served in Afghanistan, said its been a struggle to get clothing directly to evacuees. She also thinks the distribution of clothes at Fort McCoy hasnt taken into account Afghan culture or the trauma the refugees experienced fleeing the country.

You say, Hey, pick out six items and its a totally overwhelming situation, Henderson said. Theyre not used to getting clothes in such a large environment. Theyre not used to our sizes, and theyre just absolutely mentally and emotionally traumatized.

For its part, the Department of Homeland Security task force overseeing the refugees said it has prepared the population for the winter, erecting heated tents, expanding indoor activities and adding more transportation options on base besides just walking.

There is no greater priority of the personnel at Fort McCoy than the safety and health of our Afghan guests as we prepare them for resettlement in the United States, said Philips, the task forces spokesperson.

Grateful still

Despite her lack of warm clothes and a severe cavity that shes trying to get treated, Yousofzai said shes happy to be in the U.S. and grateful to those who helped her get here.

Its better than living in Afghanistan, she said.

Yousofzai was a TV journalist living in Nangarhar Province before fleeing to the U.S. Directly to the east of Kabul, the province was one of the most austere areas in the country for womens rights even before the Talibans takeover, she said.

COURTESY OF ARZO YOUSOFZAI Arzo Yousofzai, 25, was a TV journalist in Afghanistan. She said the Taliban attacked and killed her co-workers. She is among Afghans staying at Fort McCoy who say they are struggling to obtain dental care.

The Taliban attacked and killed some of her coworkers, including a close friend. Yousofzai said it then took three days to escape Afghanistan out of the Kabul airport, watching men and women die around her in the chaos.

For Yousofzai, being alive in the U.S. is a relief. Shes excited to soon go to college at Arizona State University, where she hopes to be reunited with her husband, an Afghan who is currently in France.

Im really happy to come here, she said. Im thankful to God to give me a big chance to come out from all of the problems and all of the risks.

How to help New or gently used, freshly laundered clothing donations for Afghan evacuees at Fort McCoy can be dropped off at all Goodwill locations in south-central Wisconsin. Donors can also buy items from a Fort McCoy Amazon wish list for refugees, updated daily, at go.madison.com/afghan-aid. Fort McCoy said it's currently in need of new toddler clothing. For the most updated list of needed items, visit: go.madison.com/needed-items. Monetary donations, which are preferable because they allow officials to adapt to changing needs, can be made online or through the mail: Online: bit.ly/Evacuee

bit.ly/Evacuee By text: Text EVACUEE to 24365p

Text EVACUEE to 24365p By mail: Mail a check to the Salvation Army of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Divisional Headquarters, 11315 W. Watertown Plank Road, Wauwatosa, WI 53226. Write Afghan refugees on the memo line.

Mail a check to the Salvation Army of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Divisional Headquarters, 11315 W. Watertown Plank Road, Wauwatosa, WI 53226. Write Afghan refugees on the memo line. To donate to Team Rubicon, the group sorting and organizing the clothing donations, go to: go.madison.com/team-rubicon For updates on Team Rubicon's work to distribute items visit: teamrubiconusa.org/resettlement. Corporations interested in donating or offering services, such as housing or legal assistance, can fill out this form: go.madison.com/corporate.
There are few things more common in a criminal courtroom than seeing a teenage boy whose involvement in violence has left him shackled in a defendants chair.

On Monday, Kyle Rittenhouse will be the 18-year-old in the defendants chair. His age  17 at the time he shot three men in August 2020, leaving one injured and two dead  puts him in the third-highest demographic of accused killers by age in America according to FBI statistics.

Rittenhouse has other things in common with teenagers who find themselves in trouble.

At the time of the shootings he had apparently stopped attending high school before graduation. He was living with his single mother and sisters in a small apartment, working a part-time job, and was poor enough to qualify for representation by a public defender.

From there, of course, Rittenhouses story sharply diverges from the average.

His trial, which has drawn the focus of the world and the spotlight of national media attention, is scheduled to begin Monday with an effort to pick a jury that hasnt already decided that the teenager is either the hero or the villain of the story in a nation  and state and county  where partisanship has divided citizens into opposing teams.

This is not a political trial. This will not be a political trial, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder told attorneys at a pre-trial hearing about the case in September. And despite the clamor around the case, in the courtroom Schroeder appears to be ignoring the court of public opinion and focusing on conducting the homicide trial as he would always conduct a homicide trial.

Picking a jury

Schroeder expects to pick a jury in two days. By contrast, it took a Minneapolis court two weeks to choose a jury in the similarly politically charged trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd.

Schroeder declined attorneys request to use questionnaires to pre-screen prospective jurors to attempt to weed out those with biases about the case before they were questioned in the courtroom. He has told lawyers his past experience gives him faith that jurors will put aside their personal opinions and focus on the evidence presented in the case.

Kenosha County Clerk of Courts Rebecca Matoska-Mentink said 300 prospective jurors received summons for the case, more than twice as many as are typically called in for a homicide trial. Some of those 300 people were allowed to postpone jury service for cause  for instance if someone was going to be away at college for the trial dates. She said she expects about 150 people to arrive at the courthouse Monday as prospective jurors.

Despite the publicity surrounding the trial, Matoska-Mentink said the number of those prospective jurors who contacted her office with concerns was not unusual. No, Im going to say it was pretty average, she said.

She said jurors who receive summons are randomly chosen from Kenosha County residents 18 and older who are United States citizens. Their names are collected from Wisconsin Department of Transportation data of those with drivers licenses or state identification cards.

We dont make any geographical specifications or limitations, Matoska-Mentink said. "It could be that of 150 people, 120 of them could be west of the I (interstate) or vice versa.

Those prospective jurors will arrive in the courtroom to be questioned by the judge and attorneys in a process called voir dire. The judge can dismiss any prospective juror for cause  for instance if a person states they have personal ties to the case or say they have a firmly held opinion on what the outcome should be. The prosecution and defense can each strike up to seven prospective jurors each for any reason as they try to pick a jury they believe will be most open to their case.

Both the prosecution and defense will be aiming to choose a jury that will be most open to their version of what happened the night of the shootings.

The charges

Rittenhouse is charged with-first degree reckless homicide for the shooting death of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, first-degree intentional homicide for the shooting death of Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis.

He is also charged with recklessly endangering safety for firing his rifle toward other people in the crowd, and for carrying a dangerous weapon as a minor.

Rittenhouse came from his home in Antioch, Ill., to Kenosha on Aug. 25 following two days of protest and rioting that broke out in the city following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police officer. He was armed with an AR-15 rifle he took from the home of the stepfather of Dominick Black, a friend in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse and Black joined other heavily armed men who gathered at Downtown businesses along Sheridan Road (state Highway 32). In interviews Rittenhouse gave before the shooting with some of the many members of the media and independent journalists on the street that night, the teenager said he was hired by owners of a car lot to protect property, and that he was acting as a medic.

The shootings happened later that night  captured on video and shared thousands of times on social media before dawn the following morning.

Polarizing case

The Rittenhouse shootings have been decried by those on the left as an example of the danger of right-wing militias and political violence. On the right, Rittenhouse has been raised up as a hero who was justified in killing people who were part of a mob, with supporters arguing he is being persecuted by the government.

Those who see Rittenhouse as a victim donated enough money to pay his $2 million bond, and he has been free while awaiting trial. Donations are also covering the cost of hiring his defense attorneys, Mark Richards of Racine and Corey Chirafisi of Madison. Both are former prosecutors with successful private practices.

Richards past high-profile cases include defending Racine billionaire Curt Johnson, of the SC Johnson family, who was convicted of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. Richards is also the defense attorney for Tyler Huffhines of Paddock Lake, the accused ringleader of a black market THC vape manufacturing and marketing business whose case ended up on the front page of the New York Times.

Prosecutors hope to prove Rittenhouse was not justified in his shooting of Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, when the two clashed in a parking lot on Sheridan Road and 63rd Street, and that he is guilty of homicide and attempted homicide for shooting men who attempted to stop him as he ran away from that first shooting.

The defense has maintained that Rittenhouse was defending himself against a mob that was trying to kill him  and that he reasonably feared that he would be killed or suffer great bodily harm at the hands of the men he shot  so he should be acquitted of the charges against him. Legal experts have said Rittenhouse has a strong self-defense argument.

Hearing evidence

But, as in most homicide trials, it is difficult for the public to predict in advance what evidence will come out in trial, or what can be learned from witnesses on the stand.

Prosecutors have lost a series of motions seeking to introduce evidence they said would give the jury a better idea of Rittenhouses state of mind the night of the shootings  including being blocked from introducing video taken from a car in which Rittenhouse can be heard saying "Bro I wish I had my (expletive) AR. l'd start shooting rounds at them as people can be seen running from a drug store and loading items in a car.

According to statements in court, the person who was with Rittenhouse when that video was taken was Dominick Black, the same person who accompanied him to Kenosha the night of the shootings and who drove Rittenhouse back to his home in Antioch afterward. Black had been dating Rittenhouses sister and the two became friends.

Now 20, Black is charged with two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a minor. He allegedly was the straw purchaser who provided Rittenhouse with the AR-15.

Uphill battle for the state?

One of the wildcards of the trial which may shed light on Rittenhouses mindset that night will be Blacks testimony. Black is on the states witness list. According to court records, the prosecution against him was adjourned in July based on a mutual agreement between Rittenhouse prosecutor Thomas Binger and Blacks attorney Antony Cotton, indicating that Black is cooperating with the prosecution.

Chris Van Wagner and Jessa Nicholson Goetz  two prominent Madison based defense attorneys who were initially hired as the criminal defense attorneys for Rittenhouse before quickly dropping out of the case because of concerns about the behavior of Rittenhouses past civil attorneys Lin Wood and John Pierce  said they believe the defense has a strong case.

While video of shooting deaths would typically be a boon for a prosecution, in this case both Van Wagner and Goetz said the video of the second and third shootings helps the defense argument. Goetz said the fact that Rittenhouse is on the ground when he shoots Huber and Grosskreutz makes it more difficult to retreat and strengthens the defense argument.

I would say I think the state has a very problematic case on all counts, Van Wagner said in August. Its a tough case.

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KENOSHA  When Kyle Rittenhouse goes on trial Monday for shooting three men during street protests in Wisconsin that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake in August 2020, hell argue that he fired in self-defense.

Legal experts say under Wisconsin law, he has a strong case. Whats less clear is whether prosecutors will be able to persuade the jury that Rittenhouse created a deadly situation by showing up in Kenosha with an AR-style semiautomatic rifle  and that in doing so he forfeited his claim to self-defense.

Rittenhouse, 18, of Antioch, Illinois, faces six counts, including homicide charges in the Aug. 25, 2020, deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and he could face life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge.

Rittenhouse, then 17, was among people who responded to calls on social media to travel to Kenosha bearing weapons to protect the city from damaging protests that followed a white police officer shooting Blake, a black man, in the back on Aug. 23. (A prosecutor later cleared the officer, ruling that Blake was turning toward the officer with a knife.)

Rittenhouse and all three men he shot are white.

Heres a look at the legal issues in the Rittenhouse case:

What happened?

The Rittenhouse case isnt a whodunit. Bystander video captured the shootings.

It shows an unarmed Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse into the parking lot of a used car dealership. At one point, Rosenbaum throws a plastic bag at Rittenhouse before the two move off-camera and Rittenhouse fires the fatal shots at around 11:45 p.m.

Soon after, Rittenhouse is seen running down a street away from the scene with several protesters on his heels. He falls. Huber appears to strike him in the head and neck area with a skateboard; Rittenhouse shoots Huber, striking him in the heart.

Seconds later, Gaige Grosskreutz steps toward Rittenhouse holding a pistol. Rittenhouse shoots him, badly injuring Grosskreutzs arm. Rittenhouse then gets to his feet and leaves the scene.

Whats the defense saying?

Self-defense, pure and simple. Rittenhouses attorneys say he came to Kenosha not to hurt anyone but to protect businesses from damage and looting. And they say the people he shot left him no choice.

Theyre expected to highlight Rosenbaums pursuit of Rittenhouse, and Huber and Grosskreutz subsequently coming at him. The defense has said Rosenbaum and Huber tried to wrest Rittenhouses rifle away, leading Rittenhouse to fear he would be shot with his own weapon.

The defense also wants to introduce evidence that police handed water to Rittenhouse and other rifle-carrying citizens, and said, We appreciate you guys, we really do. They argue that the friendly greeting contributed to Rittenhouse thinking there was nothing wrong with his presence on the streets that night  and that it undermines any argument that he acted recklessly.

What do prosecutors say?

Rittenhouses trip to Kenosha will be a key part of their case. They portray him as a wannabe cop who came looking for trouble and fame, and that by bringing a rifle to the late-night protest, he was the primary cause of the deadly encounters.

They also argue that Rittenhouse wasnt there to protect businesses but to join other armed counterprotesters with whom he sympathized. Rittenhouse was the aggressor, there with the intent to violently clash with those opposed to his beliefs, prosecutors have said.

Prosecutors had hoped to bolster their case by introducing as evidence a brief video taken 15 days before the protest shootings that shows Rittenhouse watching some men exit a CVS pharmacy and commenting that he wished he had his rifle so he could shoot them because prosecutors say he baselessly thought they were shoplifters. Thomas Binger, the lead prosecutor, said it showed Rittenhouses mindset as a teenage vigilante, involving himself in things that dont concern him. But Judge Bruce Schroeder questioned the relevance of the video to the charges. He ruled it wouldnt be allowed, though he suggested he could reassess that ruling later.

Schroeder has also blocked prosecutors from connecting Rittenhouse to the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys. Rittenhouse was photographed in January in a Wisconsin bar with some Proud Boys members, but his attorneys say Rittenhouse had no affiliation or involvement with the group.

What does Wisconsin law say?

It allows someone to use deadly force only if necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. And it sets a two-part test for jurors.

First, they have to decide if Rittenhouse really believed he was in peril. Hindsight may show he was wrong. But did he sincerely believe it at the time?

Next, they must determine if Rittenhouses belief was objectively reasonable. To make that call, jurors will be instructed to consider whether any reasonable person in Rittenhouses shoes would have also felt they had no choice but to shoot.

What other factors come into play?

Wisconsin law doesnt require someone whose life is in danger to flee before shooting. But jurors can consider whether someone tried to move away from danger as they assess the reasonableness of a self-defense claim. Self-defense cant be invoked by someone if they were an aggressor.

Wisconsin doesnt have a so-called stand-your-ground law that grants wide-ranging rights for a person to stay put and fend off an attack no matter where it occurs.

Rittenhouse faces two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety for firing his gun near people adjacent to those he shot. A successful self-defense argument would seem to apply to all five of counts.

Rittenhouse faces a sixth count, possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, that the defense unsuccessfully tried to get dismissed. Andrew Branca, a Colorado lawyer who wrote the book The Law of Self Defense: Principles, said whether Rittenhouse was legally carrying the gun or not that night shouldnt factor into his right to self-defense.

Will teenager testify?

Defense lawyers normally oppose putting clients on the stand and typically only do so in last-resort bids for acquittals because the risks are too high. But some legal experts say defense calculations change when self-defense is claimed.

Paul Bucher, a Milwaukee-area lawyer and former Waukesha County district attorney, said once jurors hear from the defense that a client feared for his life, they expect to hear straight from the defendant about his or her mindset at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors would surely welcome the chance to try and rattle Rittenhouse on cross-examination in front of jurors.

How do legal experts see case?

Under self-defense law and precedent, Rittenhouses motives for being in Kenosha are irrelevant to whether he had a legal right to shoot when threatened, some legal experts say. What matters is what happened in the minutes surrounding the shooting, Branca said.

If I had a 17-year-old-son, I would not encourage him to engage in this kind of behavior. But poor judgment is not a crime, said Branca, who thinks Rittenhouse has a strong case for self-defense.

Even if it isnt directly relevant to the self-defense claim, legal experts agreed that the question of why Rittenhouse was in Kenosha will loom over the trial.

Everybody in that courtroom is going to be thinking he deserved what he got because he put himself in a hostile situation.  What are you doing down there with a gun? said Bucher.

Branca said the law and facts should lead to Rittenhouses acquittal, but said hes not sure that will happen.

Trials are dangerous and unpredictable  and innocent people get convicted all the time, he said. So its quite possible that Kyle Rittenhouse could be convicted in this case based on that kind of rhetoric, despite the legal merits of the charges.

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KENOSHA  There are few things more common in a criminal courtroom than seeing a teenage boy whose involvement in violence has left him shackled in a defendants chair.

On Monday, Kyle Rittenhouse will be the 18-year-old in the defendants chair. His age  17 at the time he shot three men on Aug. 25, 2020, leaving one injured and two dead  puts him in the third-highest demographic of accused killers by age in America according to FBI statistics.

Rittenhouse has other things in common with teenagers who find themselves in trouble.

He had apparently stopped attending high school before graduation. He was living with his single mother and sisters in a small apartment, working a part-time job, and was poor enough to qualify for representation by a public defender.

From there, of course, Rittenhouses story sharply diverges from the norm.

His trial, which has drawn the focus of the world and the spotlight of national media attention, is scheduled to begin today with an effort to pick a jury that hasnt already decided that the teenager is either the hero or the villain of the story in a county, state and nation where partisanship has divided citizens into opposing teams.

This is not a political trial. This will not be a political trial, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder told attorneys at a pre-trial hearing about the case in September. And, despite the clamor around the case, in the courtroom Schroeder appears to be ignoring the court of public opinion and focusing on conducting this homicide trial as he would any other.

Picking a jury

Schroeder expects to pick a jury in two days. By contrast, it took a Minneapolis court two weeks to choose a jury in the similarly politically charged trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd in police custody.

Schroeder declined attorneys request to use questionnaires to pre-screen prospective jurors, in an effort to weed out those with biases about the case before they were questioned in the courtroom. He has told lawyers his experience gives him faith that jurors will put aside their personal opinions and focus on the evidence presented in the case.

Kenosha County Clerk of Courts Rebecca Matoska-Mentink said 300 prospective jurors received summonses for the case, more than twice as many as are typically called in for a homicide trial. Some of those 300 people were allowed to postpone jury service for cause  for instance, if someone was going to be away at college for the trial dates. She said she expects about 150 people to arrive at the courthouse Monday as prospective jurors.

Despite the publicity surrounding the trial, Matoska-Mentink said the number of prospective jurors who contacted her office with concerns was not unusual: No, Im going to say it was pretty average.

She said jurors who receive summonses are randomly chosen from Kenosha County residents 18 and older who are United States citizens. Their names are collected from Wisconsin Department of Transportation data of those with drivers licenses or state identification cards.

We dont make any geographical specifications or limitations, Matoska-Mentink said. It could be that of 150 people, 120 of them could be west of the I (interstate) or vice versa.

Those prospective jurors will arrive in the courtroom to be questioned by the judge and attorneys in a process called voir dire. The judge can dismiss any prospective juror for cause  for instance, if a person states they have personal ties to the case or say they have a firmly held opinion on what the outcome should be. The prosecution and defense can each strike up to seven prospective jurors each for any reason as they try to pick a jury they believe will be most open to their case.

Both the prosecution and defense will be aiming to choose a jury that will be most open to their version of what happened the night of the shootings.

The charges

Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree reckless homicide for the shooting death of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha; first-degree intentional homicide for the shooting death of Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake; and attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis.

He also is charged with recklessly endangering safety for firing his rifle toward other people in the crowd, and for carrying a dangerous weapon as a minor.

Rittenhouse came from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020, following two days of protest and rioting that broke out in the city following the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey. Rittenhouse was armed with an AR-15 rifle he took from the home of the stepfather of Dominick Black, a friend in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse and Black joined other heavily armed men who gathered at Downtown businesses along Sheridan Road (Highway 32). In interviews Rittenhouse gave before the shooting with some of the many members of the media and independent journalists on the street that night, the teenager said he was hired by owners of a car lot to protect property, and that he was acting as a medic.

The shootings happened later that night  captured on video and shared thousands of times on social media before dawn the following morning.

Polarizing case

The Rittenhouse shootings have been decried by those on the political left as an example of the danger of right-wing militias and political violence. On the political right, Rittenhouse has been hailed as a hero who was justified in killing people who were part of a mob, with supporters arguing he is being persecuted by the government.

Those who see Rittenhouse as a victim donated enough money to pay his $2 million bond, and he has been free while awaiting trial. Donations are also covering the cost of hiring his defense attorneys, Mark Richards of Racine and Corey Chirafisi of Madison. Both are former prosecutors with successful private practices.

Richards past high-profile cases include defending Racine billionaire Curt Johnson, of the SC Johnson family, who was convicted of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. Richards also is the defense attorney for Tyler Huffhines of Paddock Lake, the accused ringleader of a black market THC vape manufacturing and marketing business whose case ended up on the front page of the New York Times.

Prosecutors hope to prove Rittenhouse was not justified in his shooting of Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, when the two clashed in a parking lot on Sheridan Road and 63rd Street, and that he is guilty of homicide and attempted homicide for shooting men who attempted to stop him as he ran away from that first shooting.

The defense has maintained that Rittenhouse was defending himself against a mob that was trying to kill him  and that he reasonably feared that he would be killed or suffer great bodily harm at the hands of the men he shot  so he should be acquitted of the charges against him. Legal experts have said Rittenhouse has a strong self-defense argument.

Hearing evidence

But, as in most homicide trials, it is difficult for the public to predict what evidence will come out in trial, or what can be learned from witnesses on the stand.

Prosecutors have lost on a series of motions seeking to introduce evidence they said would give the jury a better idea of Rittenhouses state of mind the night of the shootings  including being blocked from introducing video, taken 15 days before the shootings, from a car in which Rittenhouse can be heard saying Bro I wish I had my (expletive) AR. ld start shooting rounds at them as people can be seen running from a drug store and loading items in a car.

According to statements in court, the person who was with Rittenhouse when that video was taken was Dominick Black, the same person who accompanied him to Kenosha the night of the shootings and who drove Rittenhouse back to his home in Antioch afterward. Black had been dating Rittenhouses sister and the two became friends.

Now 20, Black is charged with two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a minor. He allegedly was the straw purchaser who provided Rittenhouse with the AR-15.

Uphill battle for the state?

One of the wild cards of the trial which may shed light on Rittenhouses mindset that night will be Blacks testimony. Black is on the states witness list. According to court records, the prosecution against him was adjourned in July based on a mutual agreement between Rittenhouse prosecutor Thomas Binger and Blacks attorney, Antony Cotton, indicating that Black is cooperating with the prosecution.

Chris Van Wagner and Jessa Nicholson Goetz  two prominent Madison-based defense attorneys, initially hired as the criminal defense attorneys for Rittenhouse before quickly dropping out of the case because of concerns about the behavior of Rittenhouses past civil attorneys, Lin Wood and John Pierce  said they believe the defense has a strong case.

While video of shooting deaths would typically be a boon for a prosecution, in this case both Van Wagner and Goetz said the video of the second and third shootings helps the defense argument. Goetz said the fact that Rittenhouse is on the ground when he shoots Huber and Grosskreutz makes it more difficult to retreat and strengthens the defense argument.

I would say I think the state has a very problematic case on all counts, Van Wagner said in August. Its a tough case.

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The headline last week read: Three in drug bust received PPP loans.

The story reported how three of the men and women who were among 15 arrested for alleged cocaine dealing last Wednesday had been approved to receive a total of at least $80,328 in loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal loan forgiveness program to help small businesses cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. About half that money had been paid out, while the rest has not yet been disbursed.

The cocaine charges will, of course, have to be sorted out in court. But the arrests also raise suspicions over whether the federal loans were used to finance illegal drug activity. Suspicions, mind you  those dots have not yet been connected.

We would hope the Small Business Administration, which is in charge of administering the PPP program, and the U.S. Attorneys Office, which prosecutes fraud, are looking at connecting those dots.

We would like to say we were outraged at the arrests and the suspicions they raised, but, in truth, we were not even surprised.

The simple fact is that the PPP program has been rife with lax oversight and allegations of fraud for more than a year. Thats what happens when the federal government places immediacy over financial checking and begins shoveling billions of dollars out the door.

In March 2020, Congress passed legislation establishing PPP with an initial allocation of $349 billion in funding  which later grew to $800 billionto help small businesses and non-profit organizations survive the coronavirus crisis by providing forgivable loans to cover payroll, rent and utility payments.

According to a Pro Publica report earlier this year, At first, encouraged by the Treasury Department, traditional banks prioritized their own customers  an efficient way to process applications with little fraud risk, since the borrowers information was already on file. But that left millions of the smallest businesses, including independent contractors, out to dry. They turned instead to a collection of online lenders that have sprung up offering short-term loans to businesses.

Theyre called Fin-Techs  online financial technology lendersand they proliferated under the PPP program  lured by the governments allowance of 5% of each loan it made. With automated platforms and perfunctory reviews, the Fin-Techs were motivated to process as many loans as possible.

The New York Times reported this summer on an academic study that concluded Fin-Techs made around 29% of the PPP loans, but accounted for more than half of its suspicious loans. The researchers found that around 1.8 million of the PPPs 11.8 million loans  more than 15%  totaling $76 billion had at least one indication of potential fraud.

That echoed an earlier report last spring by Pro Publica, a non-profit newsroom, that found one such online lender, Kabbage, Inc., (which was one of the lenders in the Racine loans) sent 378 pandemic loans worth $7 million to fake companies  mostly farms. One entity categorized as a cattle ranch, Beefy King, was registered in PPP records to the home address of Joe Mancini, the mayor of Long Beach Township (along the New Jersey shore), Pro Publica reported.

Theres no farming here: Were a sandbar for Christs sake, Mancini said. The mayor said he had no cows at his home, just three dogs. The investigative journalism center said other apparently bogus farms that got PPP loans included potato farms in Palm Beach and orange groves in Minnesota.

That reporting, in part, led U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, to send letters to Kabbage, Inc. and three other Fin-Techs, seeking documents and information on their loan handling.

I am deeply troubled by recent reports alleging that financial technology lenders and their bank partners failed to adequately screen PPP loan applications for fraud, Clyburn wrote, This failure may have led to millions of dollars in Fin-Tech facilitated PPP loans being made to fraudulent, non-existent, or otherwise ineligible businesses.

So, no, we wouldnt be surprised if some of those government millions ended up financially supporting a local cottage industry like cocaine dealing. Now well have to wait and see if they can connect the dots.

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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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KEARNEY  Dont let your guard down. COVID still haunts this area.

Susan Puckett, Two Rivers Public Health Departments community health nurse, blames a relaxed public attitude for the fact that the Two Rivers COVID-19 risk dial has been parked in the red pandemic level for the last six weeks.

A couple of smaller towns in the Two Rivers jurisdiction still have lots and lots and lots of COVID, especially in the Phelps and Dawson county areas. In Kearney, its a steady stream, she said.

People hear national news that says COVID is declining. Then our efforts to keep it away begin to decline and we get a reverse effect. Wear your mask, and encourage everyone else to do the same, she said.

Puckett said Two Rivers is averaging about 50 new cases of COVID a day. Last week, we had a little drop in new cases, but thats going back up this week. We are still in the red pandemic zone, she said.

One bright statistic: Nebraska is averaging 212 new cases a day, far fewer than Wyomings 494 and Colorados 391.

She also said that several cases of a mutation of the highly contagious delta variant have been confirmed in Two Rivers in recent weeks.
In a first for the You Finish the Story contest, a group of young writers entered their responses to a prompt that called for suspense, revenge and some good, old-fashioned spookiness.

Six of the seventh-graders in Kathy Wiscos class at Aquinas Middle School entered stories, ranging from a day in the life of one ghost to the world-saving adventures of another.

The winner of the group came to be Adela Piggush, whose entry entitled My Second Life featured a trapped soul seeking to avenge their demise on the night of Halloween.

The Halloween starter gave so much detail, and then I could write whatever I wanted, Piggush said. The prompt was indeed short and open-ended, which called for the fabulous imagination of youth to answer. The theme lets us be ourselves and do the rest.

Adelas classmates also crowed their enjoyment, as each entry leaped into the realms of wild fantasy, adventure and phantasm.

Just being able to put my own twist on it is fun, said Adeliade Bezemek, 12. Being able to decide if its going to be scary or funny was exciting.

I like being creative and there is no limit, said Helen Onyeabor, 13. You can go wherever you want to go.

Writing lets you get creative and I love writing anything, said Grace White, 12, whose story bore the title, Three Kids Saving the World from devil Ghosts. Halloween themes are spooky, and I like writing spooky stuff.

I liked making it up as the story went along, said Ella Tepp, 12, who co-wrote the story The Revenge of the Bloody Ghost! with her classmate Emma Fuchsteiner, 12. Said Emma: You get to think of things and it takes time, and do not rush it or it isnt as good. I think that it was fun and scary.

But of course, it wouldnt be possible to read and share these stories without the work of the teacher and school to encourage their creation.

I was excited to find out that we could even be a part of the larger community of writers, said Kathy Wisco, and grateful we could recognize these young authors as valid contributors to our community.

As any creative, be they young or old, will attest that validation and support are at times the only thing that helps a work of art and passion make it onto the page. Other times, the lack becomes the only thing keeping it locked away.

When young adults are included in real-life opportunities, said Wisco, they are seen as capable people, something everyone needs.

At the end of the day, a community and its people are inter-reliant on each others goodwill and support. The school is a cornerstone of this ideal, and giving back to the community is its goal.

We are going to give our middle-schoolers the opportunity to give back to our local community in our upcoming food drive, Wisco said, so they can again make a contribution to support and be actively involved as valuable members of our area.

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David Britt says most people dont know the significance of the words hell ship.

He wants to change that. His father, Chester Britt, endured three of them during World War II.

Ive talked to senior people and asked them if theyve heard of the hell ships, and they havent, David Britt said. Twenty-two thousand people died on those ships, and nobody knows about it.

Chester Britt was one of the survivors. David Britt wrote a book about his fathers experience as a captive of the Japanese during the war and will present Relentless Hope: A True Story of War and Survival at 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at American Legion Post 52 in La Crosse.

The book details pre-World War II military life in the Philippines and combat there shortly after America entered World War II. It also documents the horrendous conditions suffered by Allied prisoners of war held by the Japanese.

Most of all, it details the love and determination of Chester Britt, a La Crosse native and West Point graduate who was a prisoner of the Japanese for over three years and endured suffering beyond normal comprehension.

In the introduction, readers are warned in bold type that this book recounts horrible details of war, worse than we can imagine. The reality of what POWs endured is unspeakable. We did not change anything to make it socially palatable.

David Britt, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, got the idea to write the book during a 2017 Memorial Day service near his home in Florida.

I look around the audience, and everybody had white hair except for about six Boy Scouts, he recalled. I thought to myself I should write something about my parents so that my children and grandchildren will know something about them.

He describes the book as a love story about my parents, but its also about the war interrupted them and about how my father survived. He said his father was a man of high character who had compassion for other people. Character and compassion were critical to Chester Britts survival as American POWs relied on each other to stay alive.

If you didnt have a circle of men you could depend on, you couldnt make it, David Britt said.

Chester Britt was born in La Crosse in 1915 and graduated from La Crosse Logan High School. He was a tall, active, curious youngster who had a knack for math. He fell in love with his school sweetheart, Grace Runice, and the two married the day after Chester Britt graduated from West Point in 1940.

In September 1940, the newlyweds set sail for the Philippines, where the newly commissioned Lt. Britt taught Filipino officers how to run computations for artillery fire. At first, the assignment seemed idyllic  a newlywed couple sharing their first months of marriage in a tropical paradise. But as relations between the United States and Japan grew worse, families of military personnel were ordered to return home. Grace Britt, five months pregnant with the couples first child, Chester Jr., left the Philippines in April 1941. It would be more than four years before she would see her husband again.

Japan attacked the Philippines within hours after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Allied forces withdrew to the Bataan peninsula, where they were trapped by the Japanese. Dwindling supplies of food and ammunition forced 80,000 Allied soldiers to surrender April 9, 1942. The American and Filipino soldiers were then forced to walk 60-70 miles to a POW camp during what became known as the Bataan Death March.

Its estimated that between 5,000 and 18,000 American and Filipino soldiers died during the march. David Britt wrote those who could not maintain the pace were shot or stabbed or left to die in the road. For Chester Britt, the march was the beginning of what David Britt describes as 41 months of savagery, torture and endless cruelty.

The Bataan Death March was horrible, but the hell ships were worse. With the Japanese losing the war and Americans poised to retake the Philippines, Britt was loaded onto his first hell ship that was scheduled to sail for Japan.

The ship never made it. It left Manila Dec. 13, 1944, but was attacked by American forces and sunk before leaving sight of the Philippines. Britt survived only because he could swim to shore.

The prisoners were loaded onto a second ship two weeks later. The hungry and thirsty prisoners were packed together in unsanitary conditions with little food and water. The book recounts one morning when Chester Britt awoke to discover the two soldiers who were jammed next to him had both died.

Britt was nursed back to relative health in Japan so that he could be used for slave labor. That meant boarding another hell ship to Manchuria, where the Japanese maintained a labor camp in Mudken. As Japans military position became more desperate, conditions at the Mudken camp deteriorated, leaving Chester Britt on the brink of starvation.

Toward the end, he couldnt walk anymore, David Britt said. He was down to 101 pounds.

The Japanese surrendered five days after the Americans dropped the second of two atomic bombs on Japan. However, there were reports that Japan was planning post-surrender executions of POWs, and its likely that only a daring paratrooper raid Aug. 15, 1945, saved the life of Chester Britt and the other Allied soldiers inside the camp.

David Britt said it was a burning desire to be reunited with Grace and meet his first-born son that kept him alive.

In one of his letters, he said he was alive because of a Britt stubbornness, David Britt said.

Chester Britt spent seven weeks in military hospitals before he was finally reunited with his family Oct. 20, 1945. The book contains a clipping from the La Crosse Tribune that reported the event.

He was promoted to captain and resumed his military career at Fort Bliss, Texas, where his math skills were put to use during Operation Paper Clip, a secret American program that employed former scientists and engineers from Nazi Germany to build rockets.

Chester Britts postwar service was cut short by a massive stroke Dec. 1, 1950, which paralyzed his left arm and made it difficult for him to walk. He returned to La Crosse, and his health steadily declined until he died July 6, 1953, at age 38. David Britt calls his fathers death a delayed casualty caused by over 900 days of mistreatment and malnourishment.

Grace Britt never remarried after saying good-bye to the love of her life.

She was a person of grace, which is appropriate because thats her name, David Britt said. She was a wonderful woman, a Godly woman. Her faith sustained her.

The book is filled with photos, copies of letters Chester Britt attempted to send home and other memorabilia of his military service.

We have an unbelievable amount of memorabilia from that period, David Britt said.

It also contains accounts of Chester Britts closest friends and the agony he suffered as many of them died. Of the 22 Class of 1940 West Point officers who were captured in the Philippines, only 11 returned to America alive.

David Britt had lots of help with the project. John Duresky, a Logan High School classmate, edited the book and conducted research for historical accuracy.

John did an incredible job of researching things and confirming what I was writing, David Britt said.

Vickie Graham, another Logan classmate, helped edit the book.

David Britt hopes as many people as possible hear his fathers story.

The big thing for me is for this story to get out, he said. Its a part of history thats largely forgotten.

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The La Crosse County Library will hold two special events at the John Bosshard Memorial Library next week in Bangor.

On Saturday, Nov. 6, at 1 p.m., there will be a dedication of the new Arlan Schmidt Community Room. And on Thursday, Nov. 4, at 6 p.m., there will be an informal meet-the author George Hesselberg.

Only five months ago the Bosshard Family announced their generous gift to fund an addition to the existing building to create a Community Room for the library. The Friends of the Bangor Library also held a fundraising event to raise funds for equipment and furniture for the room. A representative from the Bosshard family will be at the dedication. The name of the room was at the request of Bill Bosshard to honor his friend and co-worker for many years, Arlan Schmidt. Members of the Schmidt family will also be in attendance.

Hesselberg, a Bangor native, worked as a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal for 43 years. The Wisconsin Historical Society Press will release his new book, Dead Lines: Slices of Life from the Obit Beat, on Nov. 2

He is donating a copy to the Bangor library and having an informal meet and greet with the public on Nov. 4.

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When I finally learned about sundown towns, it shook me up.

Michael Stolpa, winner of the special Halloween edition of the River Valley Media Groups You Finish the Story contest, knows the difference between writing something eerie and writing something truly haunting.

Especially when I learned that La Crosse was one, he said, speaking on the penultimate scene of his winning entry. That scene depicts a Black man betrayed and subjected to a brutal, prejudiced and ultimately fatal beating which results in his ghost remaining to reap revenge. We need to know and acknowledge the past. It wasnt always all that grand.

There are also some very good people in our area, he said, adding that Hillsboro, the setting of his entry, was among the early northern towns to welcome freed slaves.

Having grown up in La Crosse, Stolpa says he had few minority friends in the largely homogeneous community. Yet in his youth, he had a stint of freight hauling for work, back in the Smokey and the Bandit days.

This time of travel granted him a rare worldliness, and its benfits werent limited to the interpersonal but extended into the realm of the written word.

What a way to meet a lot of different people. As I traveled, I would try to read a local newspaper at each meal, he explained. It meant exposure to some pretty darned good writers. Mike Royko was a favorite.

This trait of wanderlust held over to his protagonist who, just shy of 16, looks to expand his horizons but never gets the chance. Stolpa, at least, had his share of life to look forward to, as after bouncing around the country for some years, he landed for a time in Colorado.

It was there I was forced to grow up, he said, when I gained sole custody of my son. Moving back home to family made a lot of sense. As did giving up the traveling life for a while.

Thus the decades rolled past, between college, work and community, with his writing making it into trade magazines and the La Crosse Tribune as a guest columnist. Yet, the open world calls to many a soul and isnt easily sated.

I am in the process of retiring, Stolpa said. Near the end of my career, I was traveling again, and this made its impact on his creative process, lending to such works as his recent self-published work Flash Cadillac, a memoir of the old trucking days.

I liked being able to create something that was not there before, he said. At the end of the day the act of writing bears great resemblance to travel, letting the mind wander, reproduce and, most importantly, create anew.

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From the moment Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people on the streets of Kenosha during protests over the police shooting of a Black man, he's personified America's 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 Floyd's 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 officer's 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.

"It's 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.

Rittenhouse's 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."

"I'm worried about empowering more actors like him who think it's glamorous to go kill somebody with a rifle," Busse said.

Rittenhouse made the 20-mile 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. (State prosecutors later declined to charge the officer, saying the knife justified his claim of self-defense. Federal prosecutors also declined to file charges.)

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 group's 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 wasn't a member of any extremist group before the shootings doesn't matter now given how he's 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."

Associated Press writer Doug Glass contributed from Minneapolis.

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Rolf Wegenke, who has led the state association of private colleges and universities for the past three decades, plans to retire from his post next summer.

Wegenke, 73, became president of the Wisconsin Association of Private Colleges and Universities, also known as WAICU, in 1992. The Madison-based organization represents 23 private nonprofit schools and their nearly 54,000 students. WAICU members include Edgewood College and Marquette University.

I think were in a very good place, he said. The presidents have been very entrepreneurial during the pandemic and the last recession and the recession before that.

Among Wegenkes biggest challenges has been confronting the public perception that private colleges are a much pricier alternative to public universities. A focus on financial aid has been a big factor in cutting through that belief.

The average annual sticker price for a student attending a WAICU school is $33,422, he said, but the average financial aid package is $29,007. That means the average out-of-pocket cost for a student is $4,415.

How we can tell that story and get people to listen is hard, he said, especially in more recent years when a growing share of the public is questioning the value of a college degree.

Private colleges have some built-in advantages, Wegenke said. Chief among them is their flexibility to respond to workforce needs. The Medical College of Wisconsin, for example, established two branch campuses in northern Wisconsin to address a shortage of physicians in the region.

One of the interview questions Wegenke fielded before being hired for the job: What would you do to control costs?

Wegenke said he initially panicked. Then he suggested pooling colleges purchasing power.

The idea is among Wegenkes proudest accomplishments as president, though he gives most of the credit to the college presidents who put up their own funds while trusting him to set up the cost-savings agreements. From managing health care plans to purchasing information technology to managing retirement funds, the arrangements have saved $232 million for WAICU members, he said.

Another point of pride: Nearly a third of students attending WAICU schools are eligible for a Pell grant, the federal subsidy for college students from families with the greatest financial need, and 27% are students of color.

Across the University of Wisconsin System, a quarter of students received a Pell grant and about 18% identified as students of color last fall.

Wegenke graduated from UW-Madison and has a doctorate from the University of Chicago. He spent the first 17 years of his career working in economic development for the gubernatorial administrations of Democrat Patrick Lucey, Democrat Martin Schreiber, Republican Lee Dreyfus, Democrat Anthony Earl and Republican Tommy Thompson.

A national search firm will start looking for WAICUs next leader in November or December, with a transition expected in August.

Wegenke has no specific retirement plans aside from sleeping in and spending more time with his wife. They live in Sun Prairie.

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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Two employees of a Native American addiction and counseling center, including its executive director, have been sentenced on charges of embezzling more than $777,000 in federal funds.

Federal officials in Wisconsin say Fredericka DeCoteau, 63, of Cloquet, Minnesota, was sentenced Friday to 2 years in prison and Edith Schmuck, 77, of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison.

They were charged with theft of federal program funds. U.S. District Judge William M. Conley ordered DeCoteau and Schmuck to jointly back restitution of $777,283.

DeCoteau and Schmuck worked at Ain Dah Ing, which has operated as a non-profit halfway house in Spooner, Wisconsin since 1971. DeCoteau was the executive director from 2002 to 2017. Schmuck was the bookkeeper from 1990 to 2017.

The center offers mental health and alcohol and substance abuse services to Native Americans from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin tribes. Its funding came from a federal commercial contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The complaint said DeCoteau and Schmuck paid themselves unauthorized bonuses via payroll checks that were signed using a rubber signature stamp of the center's treasurer. The judge said they lost most of the money at local American Indian casinos.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Motorists on Oregon Pike whove been driving past the vacant Roseville Tavern for the past four years might have something new to view at that location in a couple more years.

A Lancaster periodontist intends to raze the decrepit but marginally historic Manheim Township structure and construct a small two-story office building there, at a total cost approaching $3 million.

Dr. Josh Christman, who has his eight-employee practice in leased space at the Granite Run Corporate Center, would occupy the 5,000-square-foot second floor of his new building. He would find a tenant for the first floor.

I want to be my own landlord, he explained.

Christman has yet to submit a development plan to the township for the site, close to the intersection of Oregon Pike and Roseville Road. Depending on when that happens and when the township acts on it, Christman hopes to start construction in September 2022, with occupancy in fall 2023.

The project follows earlier, unsuccessful efforts by Rutters to redevelop the 1860 Oregon Pike site as well as the adjoining vacant Stauffers of Kissel Hill store.

The York-based convenience store purchased the Roseville Tavern property in 2018 for $675,000 and signed a sales agreement to buy the Stauffers store site, initially proposing an oversized convenience store and a truck stop on the combined tracts 5.3 acres. But the township zoners said no in 2019.

Rutters then proposed a smaller store, but still larger than the township allows, and no truck stop. But in 2020, the zoners rejected that use too. That prompted Rutters to give up on the venture, selling the Roseville Tavern to Christman for $765,000 and letting its agreement to buy the Stauffers site expire.

Christman hopes neighbors welcome his proposal, especially in comparison to what might have been developed there.

Im sure the neighbors will be happier than theyd be listening to trucks idling all night, Christman said. Whod want that? I dont think gas stations make your property values go up.

A car wash now is proposed for the Stauffers site by three brothers who developed the Riptide car wash on Lititz Pike. Coincidentally, that location is next to a Stauffers as well as the Shoppes at Kissel Village.

Christman says hed make his new building highly energy efficient, to give it long-term value. The goal is to put up a building Id like to buy in 20 years, he said. Over time, he said, he might add a third floor that has a kitchen, meeting room and rooftop deck.

The main entrance and exit to the new building would be off Roseville Road, Christman said, using a driveway that gave access from Roseville Road to the backs of the Roseville Tavern and Stauffers of Kissel Hill. Vehicles leaving his property could exit onto Oregon Pike, but would be allowed only to turn right.

Historic review required

The shuttered two-story building now on the site, with a tan-and-brown formstone exterior, doesnt appear to be historic to passersby.

But it is, according to Danielle Keperling, executive director of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, because underneath the formstone is a farmhouse built circa 1875. As such, its listed on the townships inventory of historic resources, prepared by the Historic Preservation Trust in 1991.

Before that, the site was occupied by a tavern that was built in 1826 or 1836, when Oregon Pike was named Dunkerstown Road, according to the Manheim Township Historical Society.

Since what we can see today doesn't appear to match the character or shape of early-to-mid 19th-century structures, I suspect that the tavern was first built at the location in 1836 and then most likely rebuilt using later construction methods and adding a second floor, said Ben Webber, president of the society.

Unfortunately, the exterior changes over the decades really masked what the original appearance was or would be today had it been restored and preserved, rather than covered over, he said.

Those extensive, non-historic alterations resulted in the structure receiving the lowest of four grades of historical significance on the Historic Preservation Trust list, according to township, historical society and county planning officials.

Nonetheless, regardless of its grade, the township zoning ordinance says a building on the historic-property list can only be razed after the Historic Preservation Trust weighs in. The trusts recommendation goes to the townships planning and zoning department and its code compliance department. The departments have final say.

Webber said he hopes Christman reconsiders his plan to demolish the structure and opts instead to restore the building to its historic origins and adapt the space for office uses.

Christman, whos working with Richard F. Mula Architects (soon to merge with CORE Design Group and become CORE Design Group + Mula) and Heck Construction on the project, said hed like to find a way to save the building, but unfortunately its too close to the road.

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In 1995, Erin Shelor uncovered some interesting information as she was researching the professionalization of medicine for her masters thesis. To use a journalism term, theres no sense burying the lead: Shelor became fascinated with accounts of grave robbers (also known as body snatchers, tomb raiders or resurrectionists), who were supplying medical institutions with bodies to analyze in Great Britain during the early 19th century.

Shelor came across some material including reports referring to a hearing in Parliament on grave robbing involving law officials, medical authorities and three mysterious resurrectionists identified only as Mr. X, Y and Z. Those reports, along with accounts of two murder sprees committed to supply bodies to medical institutions  known as the Burke and Hare murders and the Bishop and Williams murders respectively  became an entire chapter in Shelors thesis.

It was just too much fun not to pursue, says the 51-year-old Mountville resident, who has been an associate history professor at Millersville University for 17 years and recently was appointed head of the history department..

According to Shelor, prior to Parliaments passing of the Anatomy Act of 1832, which reversed laws forbidding the dissection of human bodies, British doctors and anatomy instructors found themselves participating in one of the grimmer examples of the economic law of supply and demand: the black market for bodies.

Shelor has incorporated this grisly but fascinating topic into her class lectures and has delivered talks at various recent events, from a benefit for the Lancaster Medical Heritage Museum to a Lecture and Lager event at Lancaster city bar 551 West.

Just in time for Halloween, Shelor expounded on the subject of body snatching  and even gave a particularly lurid lesson on how to rob a grave  during a recent phone interview. (As a content warning, if youre squeamish about bodies, well, youve probably stopped reading a while ago.)

How were doctors learning about anatomy if it was illegal to dissect a human body?

Theres a long history of (dissection) being illegal. A lot of it comes from religious objections. Bu, during the French Revolution, theres a period of de-Christianization in France, and that makes it possible for people to walk away from some of the more superstitious ideas about what happens to their bodies after they die with regard to religion. In France, bodies that went unclaimed were given over to public hospitals. So France became the place to study anatomy because there were plenty of bodies. British and American medical professionals could learn by reading medical journals. But the real problem in places like London or even Baltimore or Philadelphia is there are so many medical students and theyre not seeing the practice of medicine close up and that makes it much more difficult to begin to learn how to be a doctor.

Why did the laws in Great Britain eventually change to allow the dissection of human bodies?

1828 is really a turning point, not just because weve got the hearings before the select committee of parliament and the Burke and Hare murders, but the law itself was being interpreted a little bit differently. In common law it matters what the judge says so were starting to see doctors potentially looking at jail time or large fines if they get caught with a body, so they have a vested interest all of a sudden in making that law different because they dont want to go to jail.

What sort of penalties did grave robbers face if they were caught in the act?

The really spectacular examples  the murders  they were sentenced to death and dissection. For most grave robbers, its usually jail time and its not a ton of jail time. I think the one thing is that the legal definitions are so weird. If (grave robbers) got caught with a body and it was just a body, that was a misdemeanor, but if theyd stolen the grave clothes, that was a felony. Part of their technique was to take the grave clothes off the body and stuff them back in the coffin. One case where a doctor was getting charged because his grave robber didnt follow instructions and the body was found on his anatomy table with the grave clothes, (the doctor) was fined 100 pounds, which was about a third of a yearly income for a middle class guy at the time.

So the demand for bodies resulted in some people committing murders to get bodies?

Theres Burke and Hare in 1828, and then theres Bishop and Williams who killed some folks in London in 1831. Its not completely clear how many victims Burke and Hare had before they got caught but it was at least in double digits. Bishop and Williams were mostly going after homeless people and they would offer them food or drink laced with laudanum and when theyd pass out, theyd smother them because that didnt leave marks on the body. Hey, you wanted it!

Were doctors placing orders on bodies?

So, with the murders, not that we know of. Theres no evidence that doctors were directly involved with those. But with the grave robbers, doctors would put bounties out for particular kinds of bodies or for particular people whose cases were really interesting to them.

Could you make a good living as a grave robber?

Thats the interesting thing  you could, but you would still be basically making money that would put you pretty squarely in the working class. It gets really weird trying to figure out how much you could really make, because these guys who testified didnt want people to know how much they were getting paid for these bodies.

So a grave robber would have to get the bodies pretty soon after they were buried?

Exactly. Youd have to figure out which graves are fresh. You have to get that body back out of the ground pretty quickly  I would guess 24-48 hours because you have a limited time that you can use it for dissection before it really starts to decompose so much that its useless. One of the things that these guys talked about to the select committee is sometimes they would have deals with the parish officials so people attached to the local churches would let them know when there is going to be a burial. Sometimes they would employ prostitutes to pose as mourners just trying to figure out which graves are more recent. Sometimes they would show up at hospitals trying to claim bodies claiming to be family members.

Do you want to know how to rob a grave?

This is not something I thought I would learn when I woke up today, but yeah I do.

The technique is basically this: you dig at the head of a grave and pile the dirt on the foot of the grave. Youre going for, first of all, as we talked about before, a fresh grave, and youre also looking for graves of the poor because they are more likely to be buried without a coffin. But if you hit a coffin, you need a crow bar plus the weight of the dirt on the foot of the grave to pry open the top of the coffin. Then you can use the crowbar as a hook to pull the body out. You toss the grave clothes back in and then you re-smooth out the dirt, but thats the other reason you want it to be a reasonably fresh grave, because no one will notice that its been dug back up.

Wow, I guess I can add that to the list of skills I know now.

(Laughing) We teach life skills here at Millersville.
I will not tolerate people being disrespectful toward candy corn.

Those waxy, triangular (and sometimes pumpkin-shaped) treats are a top-tier Halloween candy. You know its true.

Its hard to think of a candy that visually represents Halloween more than candy corn. Its what the peppermint stick is for Christmas, or what the chocolate egg is for Easter.

People buy tons of candy corn every year. The Illinois-based confectioner Brachs, which produces about 7 billion pieces of candy corn annually, sold more than $73 million worth of the stuff in 2018, according to a Fox Business report.

And yet it seems like everyone hates candy corn  sending one of Halloweens best candies straight from the trick-or-treat bag into the nearest garbage bin.

Comedian Lewis Black memorably called candy corn the worst thing about Halloween.

All of the candy corn that was ever made was made in 1914. They never had to make it again, he said on his 2006 album The Carnegie Hall Performance. We never eat enough of it.

Black went on to say that candy corn tastes like something that was made out of oil.

You could take all of the bags of candy corn, and actually, if you melted them down, you could run a car, he said.

Candy corn was ranked the worst Halloween candy in a CandyStore.com survey of more than 17,000 people this year. Gordon Ramsay listed candy corn as one of the five worst Halloween treats on an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel in 2016, describing the candy as ear wax formed in the shape of a rotten tooth.

Ramsays comments drew laughter from the audience of candy corn-hating heathens.

Not me.

Candy corn does not deserve your hatred.

Year after year, we few candy corn-lovers are subjected to the same tired and unoriginal complaints about those sweet little kernels of goodness.

Voicing a love for candy corn in public is practically unheard of anymore.

In one of the rare somewhat positive depictions of candy corn in popular culture, the caterpillar Heimlich begs a group of flies to let him eat candy corn in the 1998 Pixar movie A Bugs Life. (Of course, it had to be in arguably the most forgettable Pixar movie.) And even here, the unstated joke is that the plump and voracious Hemlich will eat anything  even candy corn.

What exactly is the issue people have with candy corn? That its entirely sugar? Of course its entirely sugar. Its candy.

People dont like its waxy texture? Lots of candy has a waxy texture. Skittles have a waxy texture.

Oh, these people will say, its different with candy corn.

Notice that what these people are saying is that they have a specific and deliberate hatred for candy corn that has no logical basis. Its sick form of sugary discrimination, and I will not stand for it.

There are even people out there who hate how candy corn will flood its way onto store shelves in September. These are people who clearly hate Halloween, and probably also hate the concept of having fun.

Some people simply say they would rather gorge themselves on other candies on Halloween.

Folks. You can eat chocolate any time of year. You can eat lollipops or jawbreakers or any other candy any time of year.

Truthfully, you can stuff your face with as much candy as you want any time of year, though as a nation we  with a somewhat surprising amount of restraint  have decided to limit our annual gluttonous sugar feast to just a single night in October.

But candy corn is almost exclusively a Halloween treat.

In fact, 70% of candy corn sales take place in the eight weeks leading up to Halloween, according to Observer. The other 30% of sales are spread across the remaining 44 weeks of the year.

So what youre really saying when you say you hate candy corn is that you hate the entire season of fall. And that you hate Halloween. Is that the type of person you want to be? Someone who hates fall and Halloween?

Shame on you.

The fact of the matter is that candy corn never hurt you. In fact, it was always there for you when you needed it.

Who was there for you in mid-November when you reached the bottom of your trick-or-treat bag and you needed a quick jolt of sugar?

Candy corn.

Who is there for you every October to start showing up on store shelves to remind you its almost time for Halloween?

Candy corn.

Who reminds you of everything wonderful about fall and the Great Pumpkin and Jamie Lee Curtis screaming in a closet as Michael Myers is coming at her with a kitchen knife?

You know who. Its candy corn.

The fact of the matter is that candy corn deserves your respect.

If you dont like it, dont throw it in the garbage. Give it to a candy corn lover in your life. We exist, and we cant get enough of the stuff.

Now dont even get me started on how much I love those Valentines Day candy hearts.

Erik Yabor is a breaking news reporter for LNP | LancasterOnline. Unscripted is a weekly entertainment column produced by a rotating team of writers.
This story contains links that will take you to our archives site on newspapers.com. This content is free for LancasterOnline subscribers who are logged in. Click here for more information about how to subscribe.

Excerpts and summaries of news stories from the former Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News that focus on the events in the countys past that are noteworthy, newsworthy or just strange.

25 years ago

A longtime staple of the Lancaster County tourist landscape was getting ready to close in 1996, and locals were likely to miss it, too.

The Family Style Restaurant, a fixture on Lincoln Highway East since it opened in 1975, was preparing for its final day in business. Owned by local restaurateurs the Skiadas family, the restaurant had switched to a buffet setup from its original format of large bowls of food served to each table - family style, just like the name said.

Change notwithstanding, the crowds still came. Plenty of tourists (and locals as well) visited the restaurant each year, and the owners said they were closing not due to lack of business, but a desire to focus their attention elsewhere.

What would replace the local landmark? A set of four new restaurants - initially including Applebee's and Fuddruckers, now also featuring Texas Roadhouse and Lancaster Brewing Company, with IHOP occupying the former Fuddruckers spot.

In the headlines:

Detective set for O.J. testimony

Plane hits homes in Brazil, at least 98 believed dead

Superman creators will get monument

Check out the Oct. 31, 1996, Lancaster New Era here.

50 years ago

Road work was the focus of the Sunday News front page on Oct. 31 1971 - specifically, the ongoing construction of Route 222 North toward Reading.

The project was a complicated one, and was divided into four segments which carried a total cost of more than $25 million. The new highway would connect Lancaster with the Pennsylvania Turnpike, at a new interchange to be built near Reamstown.

Aerial photos in the Sunday News showed the progress of the construction project, with the old Route 222 visible alongside the new highway.

Despite the publicity, motorists were a long way from actually being able to drive on the new road. Expected to open to the public piecemeal, the highway wasn't planned to be fully open until late 1973.

In the headlines:

Nixon vows to champion foreign aid

Manson clan member is found guilty

Priesthood celibacy is upheld

Check out the Oct. 31, 1971, Sunday News here.

75 years ago

After World War II ended, life gradually returned to normal for Lancaster residents, and one sign of that change was brining back a Halloween tradition.

"First Halloween parade since war," the Intelligencer Journal headline read, and the city was preparing for a big one, complete with floats, bands, a Halloween Queen and people of all ages in costume.

Sponsored by the Lancaster Jay Cees, there was also a costume contest, with 200 cash prizes to be given out.

The Halloween Queen was Esther McClune of McCaskey High School, and she would be joined in the parade by 11 other queen contestants.

The entire path of the parade was to be illuminated by floodlights, as was the ultimate destination, the John Farnum playground off Water Street.

In the headlines:

U.S. will not disarm alone - Austin

Faith cure fails, polio victim dies

Both parties predict victory at polls in congressional campaign

Check out the Oct. 31, 1946, Intelligencer Journal here.

100 years ago

A freight train derailed near Marietta in 1921, killing two railroad workers.

The engineer of the train, David Brubaker was thrown clear of the wreckage and escaping steam, and thus suffered only minor injuries.

The two men killed were identified as C. C. Everhart and H.S. Smith, of Enola and Harrisburg, respectively.

The Harrisburg office of the Pennsylvania Railroad was investigating the cause of the derailment, which overturned the engine and demolished 10 of the 80 freight cars in the train.

In the headlines:

Coolidge claims Harding anxious to help veterans

Check out the Oct 31, 1921, Lancaster Intelligencer here.
When: Lancaster City Council meeting, Oct. 26.

What happened: City Council unanimously voted to authorize appropriation of $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for affordable housing projects. In addition, council unanimously approved a resolution allowing the $1 million purchase of the 838 Marietta Ave. parking lot to develop the property into multiple affordable housing units. The city intends to enter into an agreement with HDC MidAtlantic, a local nonprofit, to take title to the property and develop it. The nonprofit would eventually become the owner and manager of the property. The city is acquiring the 1-acre lot from real estate developer Gary Neff.

Why its important: In May, the U.S. Treasury Department said ARPA funds could be used for affordable housing. Mayor Danene Sorace recently asked the council to allocate $5 million of the citys $39.5 million ARPA funds to generate affordable housing projects.

Discussion: Before approving the mayors request, council member Jaime Arroyo made a motion to amend the ordinance, asking that when the $5 million set aside for affordable housing would be used, it would come to council first and then be authorized by resolution. This allows city officials to remain engaged in the process and have oversight over the funds. This also gives the public increased ability to hear about and make comments on projects as theyre brought forward, council member Amanda Bakay said. The amendment was approved 7-0.

Quotable: Councilors, I think you should acknowledge that you are now part of the largest direct investment Lancaster city has made in affordable housing. It certainly will not be the last, but this is not nothing. I want to thank you and the community for your support in moving in this direction. Its a collaborative effort, council President Ismail Smith-Wade El said after the motion to allocate $5 million to affordable housing was approved, to which community members, and the mayors administration applauded. This is definitely a start were celebrating, Sorace said.

Snow removal: Council voted to table the proposed snow-related amendments to the citys street and sidewalk ordinance until Nov. 23, to gather more information from the public. At the last council meeting we heard a lot of very important comments about the challenges of parking, Stephen Campbell, director of public works, said. Campbell added that the southeast and the southwest have the greatest challenges in terms of parking opportunities and alternatives and officials are working on finding solutions to address those issues.

Whats next: Councils committee meeting is Nov. 1.
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All over the United States, normally placid and poorly attended school board meetings have erupted into tense and crowded zones of contention. The COVID-19 pandemic has been responsible for much of this  directly, as parents have turned up at meetings to express their views about masking mandates  but also indirectly.

When students were schooled at home, more parents had a chance to observe for themselves the content of their childs education and some were dismayed by it. Something new to most Americans called critical race theory has become the touchstone of the debate. Like all public policy questions, the debate about what to teach in history classes  and how, more broadly, the question of race should be handled in schools  is intensely polarized and the fundamental issues at stake are obfuscated by half-truths.

Some parents who object to the influence of critical race theory on school curricula dont have a very good idea of what it is. And while critical race theory, strictly speaking, isnt taught in local school districts, its basic concepts have influenced education beyond elite law schools. I would like to help people untangle this discussion a little bit in the hope that doing so might move us closer to a vision of education that encompasses teaching some of the hard historical truths about race in our country but rejects some of the excesses that have crept into current pedagogy (which is teacher-speak for the methods and practice of teaching).

I recently retired after teaching social studies for 33 years. Im an old white guy now but once I was a first grade student in Mrs. Walkers class in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I had escaped my initial first grade teacher when my dad came home from duty in Korea in the early 1960s and moved us there from Indiana. Mrs. Walker wasnt anything like my very first teacher. She was warm and caring and Black. The next year I had another Black teacher, Miss Harris. I think that teaching that second grade class might have been her first job out of college. She was nice to me, too. Then my luck ran out. In third grade it was back to an old irascible white teacher again. Over the years, I think those early encounters with benevolent Black authority figures have stood me in good stead (so for instance, in 2008, I didnt freak out because the United States elected a Black man as president).

Living on an Army base in the South at that time I had experiences that werent as pleasant as being in Mrs. Walkers or Miss Harris classes. The U.S. armed forces had been desegregated by President Harry Trumans executive order in 1948 and being a military brat I always had kids of every shade in my class. We lived near one another and played with one another. I was surprised to find out that these same kids and their parents  and my teachers  couldnt go to some restaurants in the local community of Fayetteville and that the Black people who lived there were restricted to certain places. Looking back, seeing segregation close-up (but, of course, not experiencing it as my friends did) was one of the things that formed me as a person and shaped my approach to teaching.

Including the hard parts

One of the complaints put forward about these newly activated parents attending school board meetings is that they dont want the real truth told about American history. I think thats probably true to some extent. There always will be those who want our schools to teach a historical narrative that supports the idea of American exceptionalism and leaves the hard parts out.

In the 1960s and 1970s, there was an increased interest in the history of race relations in America. This started in universities  I remember reading a book about the Ku Klux Klans influence in my home state of Indiana  and then spread through popular culture via popular books like Alex Haleys Roots: The Saga of an American Family, which became a television series. That change was reflected in history textbooks, which started to include more original sources incorporating new voices into the American narrative.

Possibly because of my early experiences, I always felt the need, as a teacher, to augment my lessons. All the textbooks had references to lynching but I thought it was important for my students to see the ugly reality of it so I showed them pictures. I selected photographs of lynchings that were made into postcards so they would know that these atrocities werent just the work of a few deranged people  they took place within a system in which no one feared being punished for these murders.

There are hard facts about our history that need to be taught  that really shouldnt be a subject for debate. But ultimately thats not what the conflict over critical race theorys influence in our schools is about  it is about the context in which those facts are presented.

The 1619 Project

The struggle of the American civil rights era should occupy a central place in any good history curriculum. The teacher will inevitably frame that struggle the same way its leaders did  as a battle to realize the promise contained in our founding documents. As the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his most famous speech, I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. 

Those influenced by critical race theory dont see things this way. They question when the real founding of America was; they reject the idea of equality and embrace what they refer to as equity; and  at the extremes  question the notion of objectivity itself.

The civil rights movement largely tore down the edifice of legal segregation, but there remained the stubborn fact of inequality. What accounted for this? Harvard law professor Derrick Bell and others had an answer for this conundrum: The law systematically privileges people who are white. The law might be increasingly color-blind but its application is not. This idea of white privilege, which is now a commonplace term, is an example of how critical race theory influences education without actually being taught as a theory. Another is Bells view that the law was far from blind, that its application was based on power imbalances, which are part of the system  that there is systemic racism.

Perhaps the most discussed (and complained about) example of what critics view as critical race theorys influence in history education is The 1619 Project. Its named for the year Black slaves were first landed at the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia. Published by The New York Times and edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones, it won the Pulitzer Prize. Its publication was followed by lesson plans and reading guides to make it easier to utilize its content in the classroom. Some of these lessons focused on Hannah-Jones introductory essay.

I approve of the overall aim of the project, which is to emphasize the importance of Black experiences in American life and to chronicle the lingering effects of not only slavery but the discrimination that followed. Like William Faulkner famously said, The past is never dead. Its not even past.

If I were teaching history now, I might have my students read Hannah-Jones essay. However, as with any other class reading, I would encourage students to think critically about what they were reading. I would point out that it did not win the Pulitzer Prize for history but for commentary and explain the difference between the two. I would also point out that her essay contains an egregious factual error  the allegation that one of the main motivations for the American Revolution was the desire of colonists to protect their slaves from the British, who threatened to take them.

If I were still teaching, I would have students read an article in Politico titled I Helped Fact-Check the 1619 Project. The Times Ignored Me, by Leslie M. Harris, a history professor at Northwestern University. Harris, who is Black, notes that she had vigorously argued with the Times fact-checker against the assertion that the American Revolution was fought in large part to preserve slavery in North America. Hannah-Jones work was deeply influenced by critical race theorys focus on power imbalances and Im not surprised by her assertion that all history is framed in certain ways, and there is no such thing as objective history.

I would agree that there are no completely objective historians and therefore no completely objective historical narratives. But that is not the same as saying there are no such things as historical facts.

Question of guilt

The belief that power differentials might be more important than objective facts manifests itself in schools in places other than in the social studies curriculum. In fact, I think most parental objections might be over how race is dealt with at the elementary level. Much of the concern is about the feelings of white children being made to feel as if theyre oppressors.

Commenting, on the website The Grio, on Condoleezza Rices recent criticisms of critical race theory, the writer and music journalist Toure asserted that white children and adults should absolutely feel bad about the past atrocities committed by white Americans. They should feel guilty.

The idea that guilt is somehow passed through someones genes is an abhorrent one to me. Slaveholders sometimes used this reasoning to justify their outrages by claiming that Black people were the sons of Ham who, according to the Bible, had seen his father Noah naked and neglected to cover him up. Collective blame, atonement and absolution are in the realm of religion, not of a humanistic education.

There is a world of difference between an education that fosters awareness and agency and one that fosters mutual resentment. No matter our personal political beliefs, we all should agree that schools should educate, not indoctrinate. And parents should and will demand some control over their childrens education. In fact, many articles in educational literature have found parental involvement to be important to student success.

I continue to believe education can help make people more aware of their countrys past with an eye toward creating a better future. I also believe that although some forces are served by exacerbating educational conflicts, there is a broad consensus among most parents about what that education would entail.

Jeffrey L. Hudson is a former social studies teacher at Lampeter-Strasburg High School and a member of Marietta Borough Council. Hes also co-producer of a podcast called History, Politics and Beer.
I am but one voice, but I know there are millions of voices just like me who believe the Trump administration did so much damage in four years to our great nation that it may take decades to repair it.

Still, I hear right-wing media calling for Donald Trumps return in 2024. Why? To inflict more damage? I still see banners, flags and Trump campaign signs throughout the area  supporting a man with a long history of corruption and failure.

There are many things in life I struggle to understand, but support of Trump tops the list. How can you support a man known for not paying vendors and subcontractors; for his housing discrimination; for hiring immigrants and paying below the minimum wage but then in public ranting against immigrants; for his extramarital affairs; for his association with criminals; for taking advantage of investors; and for not paying federal taxes?

My view of Trump is that he divided our nations races through hate, and he created discontent with his fascist remarks. He constantly criticizes the watchdog media. His political gamesmanship led to a shutdown that hurt millions. He relaxed sanctions on Russia. He trampled all over the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution for his own self-interest. He signed tax reforms for the richest 1%, adding trillions to our national debt.

This is only a partial list. Also, he was impeached twice and saved from removal by Mitch McConnell. He incited a riot against our nation and this great democracy in an attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. And, in my view, his misrepresentation of the COVID-19 pandemic caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Is this the man you continue to support?

Keith A. Brunner

Lititz
Sunday, October 31, 2021

The Kentucky Supreme Court imposed an agreed public reprimand of an attorney for unauthorized practice in a single matter long after he had otherwise ceased to be an active attorney

McCarrick ceased performing legal work around 2005 when he began working for a software company in a non-attorney role. In 2008, McCarrick was suspended from practicing law in Kentucky for failing to complete his continuing legal education requirements. He did not seek to be restored to practice. Instead, he continued his work in the software industry outside of Kentucky, living in various states and moving frequently. He currently works for a software company located in Massachusetts.

He assisted his daughter

After McCarrick returned to Kentucky, his daughter was charged with Theft by Unlawful Taking, Shoplifting in Jefferson District Court Case No. 19-M-13898. Despite being suspended from the practice of law, McCarrick knowingly entered an appearance and appeared in court for his daughter at her arraignment. While there, he told the prosecutor that he was an attorney.

After the arraignment, McCarrick appeared again at his daughters pretrial conference. He represented her in front of the court as the attorney of record. At this hearing, his daughter received diversion, and her case was dismissed. Representing his daughter in these two instances related to her shoplifting charge are the only instances in which he has engaged in the practice of law since 2005. McCarrick does not intend to resume legal practice.

He admitted the charged violations

He expresses remorse and has provided two statements from mental health providers attesting to the debilitating mental setbacks he has experienced during the pendency of these disciplinary proceedings. The KBA and McCarrick agree that the appropriate discipline on the above facts is a public reprimand and direction to pay all costs of these proceedings pursuant to SCR 3.450.

He also deserves a nice gift for Father's Day. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2021/10/the-kentucky-supreme-court-imposed-an-agreed-public-reprimand-of-an-attorney-for-a-single-act-of-unauthorized-practice-long-a.html
And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

In the United States, October 31 is Halloween  the night when magical, frightening creatures and ghosts, the spirits of those no longer with us, walk the land!

Okay, not really. But it is fun to make believe.

To mark the day when children dress up frightfully to collect candy from their neighbors, our program today will be haunted by ghost  expressions!

For example, did you know that the word ghost is also used as a verb? But it does not mean to haunt a place.

When you ghost an event, like a party, you leave without saying goodbye to anyone  even the host! You just disappear into thin air  like a ghost! But unlike a ghost, you do reappear later, at work, for example, or your exercise class.

Some people even ghost a relationship. They simply leave the person without any explanation. That could haunt someone for a long time. It could leave them wondering, What happened? What did I do?

But dear listeners, I would never do that to you. We are in this English learning effort together. There is not a ghost of a chance I will leave. I will keep with it to the end.

Did you catch our next ghost expression? If something doesnt have a ghost of a chance, it is extremely unlikely that it is going to happen.

Our next ghost expression has to do with towns -- empty towns.

If everyone leaves, a town becomes a ghost town. It is a place that no longer has any people living in it or at least very few. It is abandoned. The businesses have all closed and the people no longer have a way to make a living. So, they leave.

To me, an abandoned ghost town is a much sadder, emptier place than a town full of ghosts would be. Ghost-hunting tourists would probably enjoy visiting a town populated only by ghosts, especially on Halloween!

But even a ghost town can be a good place for some workers. For example, writers. A writer just needs a computer.

This would be especially good for ghostwriters. A "ghostwriter" writes books or stories for someone else using that persons name, not their own.

Lets say one of the ghost-hunters wants to write a book about her ghost-hunting adventures. But she is not a very good writer. She could pay a ghostwriter to help her write her ghost stories!

Now, let's imagine that their writing partnership did not go well. Maybe the ghostwriter did not get paid. And the ghost-hunter just ghosted! Then years later they run into each other again at a ghost convention. For the ghostwriter seeing the ghost-hunter is not a pleasant experience. It is like seeing a ghost from the past.

A" ghost from the past" is something unwanted or haunting from your past that comes back to you. Here is another example. If that man or woman who ghosted you years ago, comes back into your life -- they would definitely be a ghost from the past - someone you don't want to see again.

And thats all the time we have for this Words and their Stories. Until next time  Im Anna Matteo. Happy Halloween!

Anna Matteo wrote this for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

_______________________________________________

Words in This Story

haunted adj. lived in or visited by ghosts; troubled or upset

host n. a person (especially a man) who is entertaining guests socially or as a job

abandoned adj. left by the owner; left without the needed protection or care

tourist n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

convention n. a meeting of people for a common purpose




Lake Tuz, Turkeys second-largest lake and home to several kinds of birds, has entirely dried up this year.

Water has also gone down at several other lakes across Turkey. Experts say the lakes are victims of drought brought on by climate change and harmful agricultural policies. They warn that the entire area around the Mediterranean Sea is especially at risk.

Levent Kurnaz is a scientist at Bogazici Universitys Center for Climate Change and Policy Studies. He told the Associated Press, (We have) rising temperatures and decreasing rain, and on the other side, the water needs for irrigation in agriculture. Its a bad situation all over Turkey at the moment.

For hundreds of years, Lake Tuz has been home to huge groups of flamingos that travel and reproduce there when the weather is warm. But this summer, thousands of dead flamingos were found spread out across the dried-up lakebed.

There were about 5,000 young flamingos. They all perished because there was no water, said Fahri Tunc. He is the wildlife photographer who took pictures of the dead birds. He also heads the local office of a Turkish environmental group. Tunc said, I hope I do not come across such a scene again.

Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency reported that a study conducted by Ege University shows that water levels at Lake Tuz began to drop in 2000. The study noted that the lake dried up this year because of rising temperatures, increased evaporation and a lack of rain. The study also noted a sharp decrease in underground water levels around Lake Tuz.

Environmental groups say poor government agricultural policies play a major part in the lack of water in Turkeys lakes.

Farms in the area have started growing profitable but water-intensive crops such as corn, sugarbeets and alfalfa. These crops have used up groundwater supplies, Tunc said. He added that farmers have dug thousands of unapproved wells, while streams supplying water to the lake have dried up.

Tunc is a native of Aksaray, a city to the south of Lake Tuz. He is saddened by the thought that he will not be able to enjoy the flamingos with his 7-month-old son as he did with his 21-year-old son. He remains hopeful, however, that Lake Tuz may replenish itself if the government stops the water-intensive agriculture.

But climate scientist Kurnaz is less hopeful. He said, They keep telling people that they shouldnt use groundwater for this agriculture and people are not listening.

Kurnaz noted, If you dont pay them enough money, the farmers, they will plant whatever is water-intensive and will make money for them.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Susan Fraser and Mehmet Guzel reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

____________________________________________________

Words in This Story

drought  n. a long period of time during which there is very little or no rain

irrigation  n. an act or process of supplying with water or cleaning with a flow of liquid

perish  v. to become destroyed; die

scene  n. the place of an event or action

replenish  v. to fill or build something up again


Last week, the United Nations released a report that warned global warming will get worse in the coming years even if humans immediately stopped producing carbon gas. The UN chief described the report as a code red for humanity.

The report served as a notice for governments and lawmakers around the world to act. But many people are asking what they can do as individuals to make a difference.

Some people might think making a change to their lives would not make much of a difference, said Pim Nusselder. He is part of a Dutch group that asks people to make good choices every day when it comes to using energy, creating waste and buying things.



Nusselder said people might think their individual choices would be like a single drop of water on a boiling surface.

But, Nusselder explained, if 17 million people do 10 good things, it would be like 170 million drops of water on the hot surface.

Thats how you extinguish wildfires, Nusselder said.

The European Union issued a report this year that showed more people than ever are making choices to fight climate change. They are careful about the food they eat and how they get around, the report said.

Nusselder said he understands people may feel a sense of hopelessness. But he said the problem becomes bigger, the longer people wait.

Lukas Janssens is one person working to help keep the planet cooler. He is an urban shepherd in Belgium. A shepherd is someone who takes care of sheep. Janssens said he wants his sheep to be useful.

So, he takes his group of 270 sheep to a cemetery  a place where dead people are buried. The sheep eat grass so that workers at the cemetery do not have to use machines to cut it.

He knows that his business, called The Antwerp City Shepherd, will not prevent global warming.

But it is another step to build a more ecological society, Janssens said.

After the U.N. report, the question remains: Will world leaders choose to protect the environment when they meet in Scotland in November?

Nations are gathering to make decisions designed to keep warming from going more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above readings taken in the late 1800s. Right now, the temperature has increased 1.1 degrees.

No matter what the world leaders do, there are a lot of ways individual people can make choices to protect the environment. People can change what they eat or travel without getting on an airplane, for example.

Benjamin Clarysse is a bio-engineer who works with a number of environmental groups in northern Belgium. He knows not everyone can become an urban shepherd. But he is happy there are a variety of initiatives that people can take.

However, he warns, political leaders still need to promise changes. They cannot just depend on citizens doing their part.

They cannot just say that everyone should just do a little bit of the work, Clarysse said. Depending on just the goodwill of people wont get you there.

Im Dan Friedell.

Raf Casert wrote this story for the Associated Press. Dan Friedell adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

What are you doing every day to help the environment? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. ___________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

code red n. idiom used for an emergency situation

extinguish v. to cause (something) to stop burning

ecological adj. a way to describe the relationships between a group of living things and their environment

variety n. a number or collection of different things

initiative n. a plan or program that is intended to solve a problem
He noted LRHC is the 12th largest critical access hospital in the state.

During her service excellence report, Kirsten Faessler, Chief Operating Officer and Clinic Administrator, reported on a LRHC employee who had been awarded the Caring Kind Award, presented by the Nebraska Hospital Association.

Faessler said employees of a member hospital nominate a fellow co-worker who they feel has gone above and beyond the call of duty to demonstrate compassion for patients, cooperation with co-workers and dedication to excellence in their job responsibilities.

This year Brenna Bartruff, Executive Director of Marketing and Public Relations, was chosen as the recipient of the award.

The nominating letter was read aloud by Faessler, Brenna is one of the kindest individuals you will ever encounter, she works well with all types of people and makes everyone feel welcomed and included. Her leadership and dedication to LRHC and the community is remarkable, she is constantly volunteering and going above and beyond for employees, patients and the community. Brenna is the co-chair for the Nebraska Marketers Association Conference and chairs the Dawson Area Development Leadership Class #17.

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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.
The numbers of daily COVID-19 infections and deaths have continued to decline, both in the region and in Idaho and Washington states.
The city of Solvang on Oct. 11 presented a proclamation of recognition to the Solvang Rotary Club for its fundraising efforts during Rotary International's annual PolioPlus campaign.

The award was issued ahead of the ninth annual World Polio Day, celebrated every year on Oct. 24 by Rotary clubs around the world as progress is being made to eradicate the debilitating disease.

Polio is a virus that spreads by person-to-person contact, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances leads to paralysis. Polio mainly affects children under the age of 5.

Partners in the eradication effort include Rotary, the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Rotary International, which is comprised of 1.3 million members in over 33,000 clubs in 172 countries, launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1985. Since 1988, 99.9% of polio cases worldwide have been reduced, according to reports.

For more information on how to help eradicate polio, go to endpolio.org

To learn how to get involved locally, visit the Rotary District 5240 website at rotarydistrict5240.org or the Solvang Rotary Club at solvangrotary.com.

City of Solvang remains under Stage 2 drought resolution until further notice Solvang residents and businesses remain under a stage-two drought resolution advisory despite a deluge of rainfall this week which did little to address dire conditions.
New York, for its part, denies that and says 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 isnt a flat ban on carrying guns but a more moderate restriction.

Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, said in an interview that part of the problem with New Yorks law is that the chances a person will get an unrestricted permit depend on whether he or she is in a rural or more urban area of the state.

Both gun rights and gun control advocates say that its unclear how broadly the court might be willing to rule and that they will be closely watching arguments for clues, particularly from the courts three newest members.

The three appointees of former President Donald Trump  Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Barrett  are conservatives but were not on the court when the justices last issued major gun rights rulings. Their actions so far have given gun rights advocates reasons to be hopeful, however.
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Larger firms are thinking more about automation, robotics, artificial intelligence strategies and other technologies as a hedge to workforce shortages. Experts have been warning about a demographic tsunami in the Wisconsin workforce for years, but it took the COVID-19 pandemic to drive home the reality.

One curious finding of the survey was that most manufacturers think cybercrime is something that happens to the next company, not to them. Most executives said they feel confident about the cybersecurity tools and processes in place, but Brinkman said it reflected a sense of over-confidence.

This is still an existential threat to most manufacturers, he said.

For some who engage in supplying federal agencies, particularly the Department of Defense, it will soon become a matter of competitiveness. It was announced in early October that government contractors will face possible penalties for not doing enough to secure networks and systems that hold federal data. New contractors who dont have enough safeguards in place wouldnt be able to compete.

Plus, its just a reality of doing business in a world where the most dangerous crooks can be sitting behind a laptop.

Many hacked companies arent around in the same form after two years, Brinkman noted.
To get help

Dane CORE 2.0 offers money to cover past-due and future rent, security deposits, utilities and internet service and is generally open to households making 80% or less of the area's median income, or $79,900 for a household of four people.

Tenants in need of help and who are not currently being sued for eviction should call 608-299-4128. If they live in Madison, press option 2 for Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin. It they don't live in Madison, press option 1 for Urban Triage.

Residents anywhere in Dane County who are being sued for eviction should call the same number and select option 3 for the Tenant Resource Center.

More information can be found at madison.shortcm.li/rent-help.
BOISE  Carol Clark finished nursing school and began her career in the midst of a pandemic.

Elizabeth Steger took a top position at Idahos largest health system, just as its hospitals  and the entire state  reached a crisis tipping point.

Trish Heath worked in nursing administration for years. When COVID-19 pushed Idaho beyond that tipping point and into a full-blown crisis, she returned to the ICU.

More people have been hospitalized in Idaho with COVID-19, admitted to intensive care units and placed on ventilators during the past three months than at any other time in the past year and a half.

The Idaho Capital Sun interviewed dozens of Idaho health care workers about what theyve seen during this fourth surge of the coronavirus, on the front lines of the war with COVID-19.

Nurses have worked through exhaustion, threats, protests and distrust from patients and families.

Idaho is now on Day 41 of crisis standards of care  a framework for mass-casualty style care rationing, when the need for medical care overtakes the resources available.

For most of Idahos roughly 23,000 nurses, this is Day 593 of a statewide public health emergency that changed everything.

I gotta tell you, these health care workers, theyve had a heck of a run, said Idaho Gov. Brad Little during an AARP Idaho town hall Tuesday.

Idahos nursing workforce has been changed by the pandemic.

Even as Idahos population grew faster than any other states, it lost more than 600 registered nurses from its workforce between 2018 and 2020. And another 1,000 registered nurses in Idaho were neither working nor looking for work, according to the 2020 Idaho Nursing Workforce report by the Idaho Center for Nursing.

That was in spite of increased pay over the two-year period, the report said. Statewide, hospital staff nurses made between $26.90 and $42.30 an hour in 2020, or about $56,000 to $88,000 a year at full time, according to the report. Hospitals in the Southwest and North Idaho regions offered higher pay than those in Southeast Idaho, the report showed.

Becoming a nurse in the middle of a pandemic

Carol Clark graduated in May 2021 from Northwest Nazarene University. She already had a job lined up as a float nurse for St. Lukes Health System  a position where the hospital could float her from department to department as staffing needs arose.

Clarks first float assignment was on the neurology floor in the Boise hospital, and since then, I havent moved, she said in an interview Oct. 6.

Her first day was in July, just as the coronavirus delta variant was gaining momentum in Idaho.

Clark works the night shift, starting at 7 p.m. She usually has three to five patients under her care. Some are bed-bound, some are recovering from strokes, spine surgeries or brain surgeries.

The unit isnt a designated COVID-19 unit, but it is one of many overflow areas that local hospitals have turned to when their COVID-19 beds are filled. For Clarks first month on the job, there wasnt a single COVID-19 patient on her floor, she said.

As the surge worsened, that changed.

I remember the first COVID patient I had, she said. I was always worried, do they have enough oxygen?

The neurology floor wasnt originally set up to monitor patients from a distance  at least, not in the way nurses have to monitor COVID-19 patients, who can go from stable to near death in a matter of minutes.

We just have to become set up to do it, Clark said.

The medical team takes each challenge with an attitude of, Lets adjust and make it work, and we come up with clever ways to fix problems, she said. Its been cool to see people come together and support (each other, but at the same time) its tiring, because its just a lot more brain power.

While this was her first job out of nursing school, it wasnt the first time she cared for a patient. Nurses receive hands-on training and work with patients as part of their education. In school, and in her clinical training, Clark learned how certain diseases work  and their treatment and recovery process. But COVID-19 keeps throwing curve balls, she said.

Patients with COVID-19 who seem to be recovering can suddenly crash. They can throw life-threatening blood clots or lose organ function. Their blood oxygen can plummet to suffocating levels with no clear explanation.

Youre always managing something, and its like, whats going to happen? Hows this going to go? she said. If its hard for me, its a lot harder for my patients to have little idea what the next day will hold.

As a night-shift nurse, she bears more responsibility for her patients, because its up to her to reach out to hospital physicians with questions or suggestions, Clark said.

She is learning on the job in a pandemic, during a hospital crisis, when even the most seasoned medical workers are on unfamiliar ground.

Clark said her coworkers include veteran nurses, and she relies on them to answer questions or be a second set of eyes when she feels unsure.

And she finds herself leaning more on other health care professionals outside of work, too. They understand what she sees in every 12-hour shift.

When she has COVID-19 patients who get worse and must be sent to the ICU, it is jarring to leave work and meet up with friends whose jobs arent as life-or-death, she said.

Its a difficult place to be, right in the middle, she said.

Her advice to nursing students, or people considering the profession right now: If youre not passionate about it, it will not be fun.  I go to work sometimes, and Im like, Wow, if I didnt love this, I would not want to be here right now.

Her advice to everyone else: Be careful, be considerate, think about your loved ones, she said. I would love it if people would just ask more questions and be more aware.  Yeah, our hospital is full.

She is a nurse, leading nurses through the unthinkable

Around the time Clark started her first nursing job, Elizabeth Steger was taking the next step in a long nursing career. She joined St. Lukes Health System as chief nursing executive last summer.

Steger talked with the Sun on Sept. 17, the day after Idaho officially moved into a statewide crisis.

She worried that day about her nurses  about their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health, as they confronted the very real possibility they could be forced to ration life-saving medical care.

At one point in the interview, Steger fought back tears.

This has impacted every aspect of their life, she said. I talk to nurses, and theyre working 10 and 11 days of 12-hour shifts in a row.

Theyre putting in those hours because they dont want to let down their patients and their coworkers, she said.

St. Lukes had nearly 4,800 nurses in its workforce as of the end of 2020, according to its annual report on nursing.

A lot of times our nurses are really put in the position of having to make some of those difficult decisions, Steger said.

One recent example: At a St. Lukes hospital, more than one patient needed to go to the ICU, but there was only one ICU bed left. Nurses had to decide which patient went first, Steger said. They made the right call, but it caused them emotional turmoil, she said.

Steger said the health system offered mental health resources to staff early on, but the pandemic took a greater toll as Idaho entered crisis standards.

We are really ramping up our support even more right now, with chaplains (making rounds) on the units and being able to have some real-time, in-the-moment discussions, she said. Were starting a peer-to-peer training, so that all of us can learn a little bit more about how to best listen, and really facilitate those conversations  (to) overcome the devastation, truly, of the pandemic.

Nurses are so focused on their patients, the people right in front of them, and they tend to stuff a lot down and just try to keep going and push through, Steger said. But it does catch up with us.

Some nurses have retired early, she said. Some left the hospital to work in less stressful, or just different, areas. Some left to take jobs in travel nursing. Steger understands those choices, and shes working hard to make sure St. Lukes nurses feel valued, she said.

Ive been a nurse for over 30 years, and I dont think I ever expected that I would find myself in this situation, she said. Thinking about not being able to really truly provide best practice to individual patients, we really are now having to shift to thinking, whats best for our community and how do we really do the most good for the most people.

Steger said the trauma that nurses endure is worse now. The hope brought by vaccines gave way to discouragement, as so many people didnt take them.

I think that that has been one of the hardest experiences of the pandemic is theres an answer, and were not using it. I just, I dont know how to be more effective in winning people over. It feels like we are at a stalemate, she said.

Back to the bedside at St. Lukes

Trish Heath has been a nurse for decades. But for the past 20 years, she didnt take care of patients. She worked in administration at St. Lukes Magic Valley.

Heath is an accreditation specialist, helping the Twin Falls hospital to navigate the process of inspections by regulatory agencies and other organizations  a process that can take anywhere from a couple of hours to four days.

But this summer and fall, COVID-19 once again engulfed the hospital that serves several counties in south-central Idaho.

St. Lukes and other hospitals pulled doctors and nurses from their administrative jobs and outpatient clinics, to help out in the hospitals.

When the Sun interviewed Heath in mid-September  the day before Idaho moved into statewide crisis standards of care  shed been working in the ICU for almost a month.

The machines are different, the medications are different, and theres so much that has changed since Heath worked in the ICU in the 1990s, she said. But the basic cares are still there. So Im able to help with our COVID patients. We turn them on their bellies for a part of the day, and then turn them back up on their backs.

Heath would go into the ICU twice a day to help with that proning routine that is vital to COVID-19 critical care. She would fill up medical carts. She would help bathe patients or take care of catheters.

When she worked in the ICU years ago, it was rare to see a patient hooked up to more than a few different intravenous tubes, she said.

Thats not what she sees with COVID-19 patients.

These patients, every opening in their body has some kind of tube, Heath said. (Before COVID-19) that was kind of a rarity. Now, the ICU is full of these people.

With the ICU beds full, Heaths hospital was forced to place patients in step-down units that really probably should be an ICU, but were not able to do that, we just dont have the room for that.

Other nurses in Idaho hospitals have described the same.

The complexity of the assignment for these nurses is huge, Heath said. And the multiple avenues that they have to monitor for this, is just extreme sensory overload. You know, they do such a fantastic job, and I just think about how that would have stressed us out in normal times, back when I was in the ICU  and these nurses have just stepped up.

While she continued to juggle her job in accreditation, she tried to take some of the weight that her colleagues in the ICU were carrying, she said.

Sometimes I feel kind of guilty that Im not able to take an assignment, she said. I dont have those skills, updated to help them in that way. But at least I can take a little bit of the stress off of them. Thats my goal.

The first week she went back into the ICU, she had to build up a tolerance for the pain she witnessed, Heath said. She toughened up her emotions, as her nursing colleagues have done, she said.

I just never really thought Id ever see this, Heath said.

I remember the days when we saw 174 patients, a census of 174. And that was like, Oh, wow, we are busy. And now its well over 200, Heath said. And people are just still trudging along. And theres nurses that are going into departments theyve never worked.  I heard one (nurse) say, Im a surgery nurse. And here I am in the ICU, working away.

Because of her role in infection prevention at the hospital, Heath would go to conferences and hear warnings that a pandemic would eventually hit the world. For years, she heard that. And she thought, sure, well have a pandemic, I get that, she said. But the level of what were experiencing  you really couldnt imagine it.

As a parent and grandparent, when Heath goes to the ICU and sees these young people struggling to stay alive, or not surviving the disease, its the hardest part, she said.

Even those who survive and leave the hospital are going to have lifelong issues, because the lungs take a huge hit, and theyre going to be dealing with this for a long time, if not the rest of their life, she said.

Heath is one of many health care administrators who wonder how long Idaho nurses can keep witnessing the mass death of their patients  especially when those deaths could have been prevented by a vaccine.

The COVID-19 vaccinations seemed to be a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel, she said.

But so many Idahoans chose not to get a vaccine, and that light at the end of the tunnel? It wasnt even that it faded, she said. It just went out."
WEITCHPEC, Calif. 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 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 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. Its 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.

Its 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, well 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.

Im 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 Im Indian again when I get to burn, he said. Its encoded in my DNA. Its like theres 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.

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As Nadine Koepnick gingerly explored the interior of Twin Falls century-old theater, she ogled intricately detailed fixtures as if shed never seen them before.

We only came to the Orpheum to meet boys, the 89-year-old woman said Tuesday as she reacquainted herself with what was a hangout for teenagers in the 1940s.

I grew up in this theater, Koepnick said, marveling at the details that had slipped her attention some 75 years ago.

Koepnick explained to Orpheum manager Jared Johnson how she and her friends would purchase tall glasses of Coca-Cola from the soda fountain at Peter Pans concession stand next to the theater before buying their tickets to the show.

I think a Coke cost a nickel, she said. I wish I could remember, but its been a few years.

As Johnson escorted Koepnick throughout the building, the two peeked behind curtains, dug through boxes of old props and examined ancient writing on basement walls  where Al Darnall had written his name in 1951.

Im still discovering new things, Johnson said.

His parents purchased the theater in 2014 from Interstate Amusement to create a home for theater geeks, his mother, Stephanie Johnson, told the Times-News at the time. We are envisioning a performing arts center  a community destination.

Jared Johnson came to Twin Falls from an opera gig in Illinois to help his parents restore the theater.

The building has retained much of its original character over the years, he said.

But the building would deteriorate eventually. Someone has to take the building and love it.

In its early years, the theater was a classic. But the Orpheum  considered the Granddaddy of Twin Falls theaters  faced stiff competition over the years.

Early residents liked to be entertained, and the result was a proliferation of silver screens in Twin Falls.

Movie houses are fast becoming almost as numerous as cigar stores or confectionary stands in every part of the country, the Twin Falls News reported in 1907.

The first Orpheum was built in 1905 on Main Avenue South. The buildings lighted sign now hangs at the back of the current theaters stage.

Later, the Orpheum moved with other theaters to Shoshone Street East to what was then known as Theater Row.

In 1912, the Orpheum featured the community-theater production of Gilbert and Sullivans comic opera The Mikado.

By 1915, the Lavering Theatre on Second Avenue East was showing the live plays Peg O My Heart and the laugh-provoking farce His Temporary Wife by the Kenworthy Players, while films Diamond in the Sky and Charlie Chaplins Caught in the Rain played at the Orpheum.

In 1920, the Twin Falls Amusement Co.  headed by A.R. Anderson, C.J. Hahn and H.H. Hedstrom  began work on the New Orpheum at its present site on Main Avenue North. The theater opened to a full house on Nov. 1, 1921, with Mary Pickfords film Through the Back Door.

The theater had a seating capacity of 900 guests.

Sullivan Construction Co. of Twin Falls spared no expenses in the three-story building.

The theater is one of the most modern and beautiful in Idaho, the Twin Falls Daily News wrote. The spacious foyer was tiled and finished with Alaska marble. Marble staircases led to the balcony.

The whole scheme of the interior decoration is, in general, that of the period of Italian Renaissance, with the central motif of the plaster decorations found in the head of the Greek god Orpheus, which occupies the center of the proscenium arch, the News wrote.

A small orchestra pit was placed in front of the stage directly under the head of Orpheus and his lyre.

An eight-piece orchestra accompanied major movies until 1929. The theater also staged many live theater performances.

John Philip Sousa played to a capacity crowd at the Orpheum in October 1927. While in town, Sousa directed the local high school band in a performance of his Sesquicentennial March.

But over the years, the grand old building was not given the respect it deserves, Jared Johnson said.

The gaudy details of the theater fell out of fashion in the 1950s when, under new ownership, the Orpheum gave up on live performances and Intermountain Amusement painted over murals and marble staircases to become a modern movie theater.

In the 1970s, the Orpheum was purchased by Interstate Amusement, which changed the theaters name to the Mall Cinema.

After purchasing the theater, now called The Orpheum Theatre, the Johnson family began extensive renovations to bring back live performances, Johnson said. And during the pandemic, the theatre closed and the family spent 2020 and most of 2021 putting the finishing touches on the renovations.

It was a private endeavor, Jared Johnson said. Its a labor of love.

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A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
As world deaths rise to close to 5 million, U.S. intelligence agencies say they wont be able to conclude whether COVID-19 spread by animal-to-human transmission or leaked from a lab,

Officials have released a fuller version of their review into the origins of the pandemic. China has resisted global pressure to cooperate fully with investigations into the pandemic or provide access to genetic sequences of coronaviruses kept at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which remains a subject of speculation for its research and reported safety problems.

President Joe Biden launched the review amid growing momentum for the theory  initially broadly dismissed by experts  that the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab. Former President Donald Trump and his supporters long argued that a lab leak was possible as they sought to deflect criticism of his handling of the pandemic.

Four agencies within the intelligence community said with low confidence that the virus was initially transmitted from an animal to a human. A fifth intelligence agency believed with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a lab.

Here's a roundup of other COVID-19 developments this weekend:

Also this week, U.S. regulators authorized Pfizers vaccine for younger children after millions of 12- to 17-year-olds already safely got the shot, the only one available for children in the country. Here's an update for parents:
Democratic negotiators appear close to a deal that effectively would halve the original $3.5 trillion asking price of the social-spending bill originally advanced by progressives. Disappointment abounds among progressives who were hoping for maximum financial impact on the lives of lower-income Americans. But since no one anywhere has the mental computing power to fully grasp what a trillion of anything is  be they dollars, stars or grains of sand  non-progressives should be forgiven for failing to get worked up because the final package will only  only  total around $1.75 trillion.

The deal, which the Republican minority announced in advance it would reject, exacts some hard concessions from progressives simply to win the approval of two holdout Democratic senators. Some of the concessions needed to be made because they reached too far and involved spending too much money. In other cases, concessions demanded by Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona were selfish and short-sighted. But since the bill has no chance of passage without their support in an evenly split Senate, they get to have undue influence over the final product.

Particularly galling is Manchins insistence on eliminating caps on methane emissions and measures to reduce coal consumption to reduce global warming. West Virginia is one of the nations largest coal-producing and -consuming states. Manchin is subordinating the planets survival to his own political survival. Delaying action on climate-change issues might be the most politically convenient route for Manchin now, but that doesnt make his obstinacy excusable.

Part of the progressives own miscalculation was in their attempt to throw too many shopping items into the same spending bag. A good example was their bid to include language opening a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, which the Senate parliamentarian correctly rejected because it veers too far from the main subject matter  the budget  of the spending bill.

Manchins and Sinemas obstinacy serves neither their party nor the nation when it comes to making a long-term investment in childrens futures. Of particular concern is the haggling over federal funding for universal pre-kindergarten. Such a measure not only would help working parents reduce their child care costs, but also would put low-income children into classroom settings at an early age. Instead of perhaps being parked in front of a television set in day care, pre-K classes are designed to boost vocabulary and early reading skills, so kids are better able to perform at grade level through elementary school.

Cutting such funding is shortsighted, as is the effort to curtail the governments ability to save billions of dollars by negotiating Medicare prescription-drug pricing. Manchin and Sinema would rob the nation of future rewards just to advance short-term political goals that are just as unfathomable to American voters as are the trillion-plus dollar figures still under negotiation.

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His approach to outdoors scenery stands unique. A vivid, snow-covered farm field provides a perfect example. Its clouds, hazy sunlight and frozen cornstalk stubble look a bit blurry from just inches away, but then blend into a spectacular rural vista at a distance.

If you get close up to my art, its just chaos, Stanfield explained. When you move back, you see it.

He paints in the impressionist style made famous by 19th-century French artists such as Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and noted for bright colors and an emphasis on the use of light. Stanfields subjects can be as humble as a flooded, frozen cornfield or a mud puddle. He often completes them in plein air fashion in a single sitting, outdoors.

I paint the stuff that nobody else pays attention to, he said.

For two weeks, Stanfield set up his easel at a nearby farm every night from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. He painted the same flooded field 14 times in a row. His art palette froze. He developed a sinus infection. A puzzled farmer asked Stanfield what he was doing, to which the artist answered, Im painting.

The resulting paintings catch eyes, though.

I painted the exact same scene every day just to see how it would change, Stanfield 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.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
On Jan. 1, 2022, adults in Missoula County 21 and older will legally be allowed to purchase marijuana for personal use. Voters legalized general-use cannabis for adults last November. The Legislature then created basic statewide laws and regulations.

However, there are still a lot of details to work out, and some of that is up to local governments. In Missoula, officials are considering a local 3% municipal tax on the sale of marijuana, as well as an ordinance requiring dispensaries to have buffer zones away from schools and childcare centers, and between dispensaries to prevent too many from being in the same area.

Although this is related to the sale of marijuana to adults, Healthy Missoula Youth, a coalition of public health and prevention professionals, is concerned what legalization could mean for our youth. The following are our top concerns:

1) Montana youth are at high risk: Montana is fifth in the nation for youth marijuana use, and third in the nation for youth being diagnosed with an addiction. Marijuana is the most-used drug for youth seeking treatment in Montana.

2) Missoula youth use more marijuana than their peers: Missoula high schoolers are more likely to use marijuana on a regular basis than their peers in the rest of the state. In 2021, 25% of Missoula high schoolers used marijuana in the last 30 days vs. 20% of Montana high schoolers. And those Missoula high school students who use regularly tend to use almost every day.

3) Marijuana is not harmless and can negatively affect health: Marijuana use can damage the developing brain and is tied to reduced IQ and school failure. It can also increase their risk of anxiety, depression, and suicide. One in five people who begin using marijuana early will develop an addiction to marijuana (or a cannabis use disorder). The stronger the marijuana is, the more addicting and damaging it can be.

4) Marijuana is much stronger than it used to be: Todays marijuana is much stronger than it was 20 years ago. In 2000, THC potency tended to be around 5%. Now, most marijuana has 17% THC. And some marijuana concentrates (such as dab wax or shatter) can have a potency of up to 99% THC.

5) Youth could start using more potent marijuana: After legalization, our neighbors in Colorado and Washington have seen their youth using stronger, more potent marijuana products. Use of marijuana concentrates has more than tripled in Washington and now makes up 35% of sales. In Colorado, dabbing more than doubled between 2017-2019, from 20% to 52% of high school youth who currently use marijuana.

As a community, we can shape what marijuana legalization means for our youth. The following are strategies backed by research to protect youth from early marijuana use:

1. Do not allow products attractive to youth in shape, packaging, or marketing.

2. Prohibit the use of flavors and flavor names known to attract youth.

3. Raising prices via taxes is an effective strategy to prevent youth from starting to use.

4. Require that marijuana dispensaries are located away from where children are (i.e., schools, daycares, parks, and youth centers).

5. Limit the number of marijuana dispensaries in one area.

6. Prohibit smoking and vaping indoors, in workplaces, housing, and in public outdoor spaces.

7. Dedicate a portion of marijuana tax revenue to public health, public safety, and substance use prevention.

As we move forward, lets make sure to work together to create a community that helps our youth stay healthy and thrive!

Leah Fitch-Brody, Healthy Missoula Youth Coalition facilitator.

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Information from the city says the third station on East Meeting Street will be funded by a $5,000 Smart Communities Grant from ElectriCities, and the remaining $6,242 will come from electric funds for a total cost of $11,242. Site preparation and installation will be done by city workers.

As far as the budget amendment goes, the city says the project previously was budgeted for 2019 but never occurred because a state budget never passed. The amendment will be for $297,164 and includes grant funding of $240,252 with the remaining $56,912 coming from city funds.

Bost Road sewer improvement

The city council also will consider awarding an engineering contract for an N.C. Highway 181-Bost Road sewer improvement project.

City info says the area of North Green Street, St. Marys Church Road and Bost Road has the potential for housing construction and business development, but the sewer system, including the Bost Road pump station, is old and approaching end-of-life status and experiencing capacity concerns. Thus, the city says a full design of an upgrade or replacement is necessary to ensure adequate sewer service in the area to existing and future customers.
I was a Raleigh bureaucrat, and had the opportunity to visit all parts of North Carolina, so when my wife and I chose Morganton as the place we wanted to live, we knew what we were doing, and we have never regretted that decision. In my 19 years of school in Michigan and Wisconsin, I learned very little about American history however, so when I first saw the statue on our courthouse lawn, I was surprised to see it was a Confederate soldier facing north. This was our home now, though, and I wanted to be a good fit into the culture of the location we had selected, so I didnt let it bother me.

Now it is 40 years later, and it bothers me. Critical Race Theory has been all over the news this year, and as a result I now understand how ignorant I was. I didnt realize my parents would not have gotten any of their home loans if they had not been white, and I thought the playing field had been leveled by the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Establish a business improvement district. Formulate a lighting plan. Redesign streets so theyre more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. Create medians, green spaces and plazas. Make the Original Mine Yard a full-time public park.

Those are just some of the recommendations in a draft Uptown Master Plan unveiled this week that private consultants, county officials and economic development advocates have been working on for months.

Its designed as a vision document and guiding tool the community can use to transform Uptown into a place that ensures a high quality of life, character and diverse economic vitality, and it includes recommendations for putting it into motion.

This is a visioning document, Karen Byrnes, Butte-Silver Bows community development director, told commissioners during a presentation of the draft plan this week. This is a document about a vision of what wed like to achieve but with actual goals and items.

The 213-page document, which could be tweaked and finalized in December, says implementation is the key and it includes steps, strategies, time frames and potential funding sources for getting that done.

They start with formation of an implementation team that would meet monthly to review progress, with annual updates presented to the public and commissioners each year for at least the first five years.

But some of the suggestions, including alley and street enhancements, marketing efforts and wayfinding, have been tried and talked for years. So has one of the plans top priorities  establishing a Business Improvement District, or BID, in the heart of Uptown.

Several Montana cities have a BID, where property owners essentially tax themselves and spend the money on maintenance, security, promotions, landscaping or other capital improvements in a specified area.

At least 60 percent of property owners must agree to a BID, but the idea has never gotten far in Uptown Butte. Dave Palmer, when he was the countys chief executive in 2018, said there were concerns about who would be in charge and mistrust about outcomes.

A lot of this weve heard before, Bob Worley, a longtime member of the board that oversees the Uptown Revitalization Agency, said of the master plan.

He liked some of the recommendations, including extended curbs at intersections and specially paved or painted crosswalks. But, he said, Weve done studies like this before and until we get some of these implemented, it will be another one that goes on the shelf.

Commissioner John Sorich raised the same concern this week, while Commissioners John Riordan and Jim Fisher raised pragmatic concerns and questioned costs.

Developing the plan is costing close to $200,000, money that came from the URA and three state grants, including one obtained through the Butte Local Development Corp. Its money going to Colorado-based DHM Design and other consulting and architectural services.

I hope were getting what we want for our money, Fisher said. It bothers me sometimes that we get people (consultants) from bigger cities that come in that dont fully understand Butte the way it is.

Commissioner Josh ONeill backed the effort, saying it was a necessary part of economic development. And Byrnes said its recommendations were driven locally.

There is an Uptown Master Plan Steering Committee and an Uptown Master Plan Association comprised of local business owners and leaders, county officials and economic development groups, and more than 45 meetings were held with hundreds of people chiming in.

We had more participation in our public meetings than I think anyone could ever say theyve had in public meetings over a plan, Byrnes said, adding that Uptown business owners were also surveyed for input.

We really feel like this is publicly driven and weve been listening to what the public wants to see, she said.

THE MASTER PLAN

One of the plans key vision statements is making Uptown a clean, safe, walkable and vibrant destination.

Having a clean and safe Uptown is vital, Walker Christensen, a principal at DHM Design, said during a public Zoom presentation on the plan this week. People need to feel comfortable. They need to be able to walk around and explore.

There are numerous recommendations under that category alone, with establishment of a BID that could fund some of the improvements at the top. A lighting plan is also needed, the report says, preferably done by a firm that specializes in lighting design.

The lighting should match the historic character of Uptown and the plan could include poles, fixtures, bases, festoon lighting for public spaces and alleys, holiday lighting receptacles for trees as well as speakers and the potential for security cameras.

The plan calls for street designs that improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and other features that enhance the character and feel of Uptown. They include bump outs at street corners, more trees, bike racks, terraced seating and building murals.

Plazas and green spaces should be created, the plan says, and it lists several ways to turn alleys into a tremendous asset that provides a convenient pedestrian cut through and a rich urban experience.

The plan recommends the Original Mine Yard, which is already used for festivals and events, become a full-time public park with expanded multi-use lawn spaces, more trees and shelters for shade and an enhanced playground.

The close proximity of this park to the Uptown Core makes it ideal as a primary outdoor green space, the plan says. A conceptual plan and cost estimate should be developed as the next step.

Another vision statement is making Uptown Montanas premier urban core, with improving occupancy in vacant buildings or spaces through marketing and other efforts among top recommendations.

Although there are over 50 entirely vacant buildings in the Uptown Urban Core, the large size of the buildings coupled with the expense and unknowns involved in renovation has resulted in predominantly occupied street level stories and vacant or partially occupied upper levels, the plan says.

There is a section geared toward historic preservation that includes recommendations for a website dedicated to it, design guidelines and possible zoning changes.

Also, the report suggests, Identify, fund develop, and maintain a program that identifies two to three historic properties, located within the Uptown Core, to focus preservation efforts upon, each fiscal year.

There are several recommendations designed to tell the stories of Butte, America. They call for arches or other gateways to Uptown at Main, Park and Montana streets; signs and other wayfinding measures to help visitors get to and then get around Uptown; and establishing an Uptown welcome center in a highly visible location.

The visitor center can be staffed by volunteers but should also be able to be operated as self-service, the plans says. There can be maps, displays and interactive screens with up-to-date information on activities, events and attractions in Uptown.

The plan suggests 10 initial projects that include:

 Create a lighting plan

 Establish a public art committee/murals/public art

 Wayfinding and gateways

 Rewrite zoning codes and create design guidelines for infill/new development, renovation and adaptive reuse of buildings in the Uptown Core

 Establish a Business Improvement District

 Intersection and pedestrian safety improvements at Main Street and Montana Street intersections from Galena Street to Granite Street

 Market vacant buildings

 Market Uptown as unique destination

 Develop the Original Mine Yard to be a full-time public park

 Develop an Uptown Core welcome center

The document also includes a chapter on ways to implement the plan and who should take the lead on certain goals. It begins with establishment of the implementation team.

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

Byrnes acknowledges that some of the suggestions and recommendations have been covered in previous studies. They were good ideas then and now, she said, and this plan builds off of some of those.

But this plan is the first of its kind geared specifically toward Uptown Butte, Byrnes said, and there is an action plan for putting it into motion.

The Master Plan Steering Committee is an active group that has formed a nonprofit organization and its members, along with Butte-Silver Bow and others, are committed to following through in the short-term and long-term, she said.

During the Zoom presentation this week, Joe Willauer, executive director of the Butte Local Development Corp., said months and months of work had gone into the plan and its being finalized at a time when investment and development in Butte is high.

At council this week, Commissioner ONeill applauded the plan.

Everybody in this room here goes out of town to other places and sees the beauty and everybodys like, Oh gosh, I wish we had that in Butte, he said. You have to have a plan about this. Weve got to keep an open mind and be positive about this.

Byrnes made similar statements to council.

There are communities in the state of Montana that have streets that look like these visions and they were done in those Montana cities, she said. We are unique and special in a lot of ways but we deserve the same great things.

But there are still concerns among some about follow-through.

Commissioner Sorich recalled a grand 30-year improvement plan for the Greeley Neighborhood, which is in his district, released a decade ago. It was full of great ideas, he said, but just kind of got shelved.

I really hope we can keep our eye on the ball and keep this moving and not let it fall between the cracks, he said.

Fisher said he hopes good things come from the plan but still has some pragmatic concerns.

Weve got out-of-state people coming into our community telling us what they think is going to work for us, and I just hope they understand the demographics of our community with such things as the prerelease Uptown and the mental health thing Uptown and reconstruction of certain buildings Uptown, Fisher said Friday.

And, he said, I just hope its not put on a shelf when its all done and forgot about like a lot of things we have studied around here.

To view the draft plan and submit comments, go to: https://uptownbuttemasterplan.com/

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On Friday, the Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest announced final approval of the Record of Decision for its Forest Plan.

Most notable in that mouthful of federal paper is the fact that the approved plan officially recommends permanent wilderness status for the Big Snowies Wilderness Study Area, 98,000 acres of incredibly wild country, part of a geologically unique mountain range in the center of Montana that serves as a water source for an enormous surrounding area.

Of the million acres of WSAs in Montana, there is no more precious place.

Nobody can ever accuse the Forest Plan process of not being thorough. There was extensive opportunity for public comment and indeed, hundreds of comments were received from Montanans urging the Big Snowies WSA receive permanent wilderness designation.

Yet even as the Forest Service decision was made official, the Big Snowies WSA is facing a serious threat:

Steve Daines.

Just a few days earlier, Montana's junior senator, at a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in Washington, announced his intention to introduce a bill to release hundreds of thousands of acres of WSAs from wilderness study status. He didn't specifically mention the Big Snowies WSA  but he certainly did in 2017, when he introduced an ultimately unsuccessful bill to remove the designation from several WSAs  specifically including the Big Snowies.

The context in which Daines announced his intention to introduce another WSA bill is also important. The subject of hearing at which he spoke was the Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Act, a bill introduced by his Montana colleague, Sen. Jon Tester. The bill, the product of literally decades of discussions with stakeholders (including timber-industry, ranching and motorized-recreation advocates), would add about 80,000 acres to the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Mission Mountains wilderness areas, protecting the four most important tributaries to the Blackfoot River.

While he praised the "collaborative efforts" of the Blackfoot-Clearwater stakeholders, he basically took the BCSA hostage. He said that he would only support its passage if it were tied to his as-yet-unseen bill to release hundreds of thousands of acres of WSA lands.

We disagree with Senator Daines on both the specifics of his action and the way he chose to do it. The BCSA should not be "horsetraded." Either he believes in the work that was done, and believes in keeping these important parts of Montana's public lands wild and public, or he doesn't. To tie the fate of the BCSA to making many other wildlands in Montana open to industrial development is a cynical ploy that reveals Daines' lack of commitment to the work his constituents have done.

"I want to be clear that I support wilderness designations when they are fully supported by the local community, stakeholders, and the best available science," Daines said.

Well, local support for both the BCSA and the Big Snowies WSA's wilderness designation is thoroughly documented.

The local groundwork has been completed on both of these well-deserved wilderness projects, Senator. Honor your constituents enough to reflect their true wishes in the United States Senate.

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UAW picketers at the John Deere Moline Seeding Plant and Milan Parts Distribution Center gathered at their assigned gates wearing neon green vests over their sweatshirts and jackets Friday morning.

The green vests are part of new safety protocols to make the conditions at the strike sites safer after Richard Rich, a Local 79 member, was struck and killed by a minivan as he crossed the street to the picket line at John Deere Parts Distribution Center in Milan on Wednesday.

Rich, 56, was crossing the Rock Island-Milan Parkway at Deere Drive. He was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the UAW leadership, he was a 15-year employee of the Deere PDC.

Brian Rothenberg, a spokesperson for the UAW, said each local union is instituting its own improved safety protocols at its respective strike sites.

In some cases it is dictated by the site setup and logistics, Rothenberg said.

Jen Hartmann, director of public relations & enterprise social media for Deere & Co., said the company has been in communication with the UAW about updates in safety protocols.
Sahagun noted the overwhelming bustle and financial activity that took place at the market in the capital city of Tenochtitlan, modern-day Mexico City, during the Aztec ritual feasts.

All manner of foods and goods were sold to citizens to celebrate the Aztec feasts of the dead. In this respect, there wasnt much distinction between commercial and religious activity. The religious feasts supported the market and vice versa.

The Catholic religion also emphasized commercial activity in relation to All Saints and All Souls Day. According to 16th- and 17th-century Catholic belief, the majority of souls landed in purgatory after death, rather than heaven or hell. It was the responsibility of the living to help alleviate the suffering of souls in purgatory and assist them in getting to heaven. This could be done through prayer or by making offerings to the souls.
ROME (AP)  Britain is naming a thinning Antarctic ice mass the Glasgow Glacier, to symbolize the vast implications for the world of a climate conference that starts Sunday in the Scottish city.

More than 120 world leaders will join British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Glasgow for the COP26 summit. Britain is calling the gathering one of the world's last chances to keep alive the goal, agreed in Paris in 2015, of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Scientists from the University of Leeds in England have studied a chain of glaciers in the Getz basin of Antarctica, and found their journey from land to ocean sped up by an average of 25% between 1994 and 2018 due to climate change, shedding 315 gigatonnes (347 billion U.S. tons) of ice and contributing to rising global sea levels.

The glaciers, which lie in the British Antarctic Territory, will be named after cities that have hosted climate conferences, reports or treaties, including Rio, Kyoto, Paris and Glasgow.

Johnson said that by naming this glittering giant of nature after the city where next week humankind will gather to fight for the future of the planet, we have a stark reminder of what we are working to preserve.
A child wears a face mask on the first day of New York City schools, amid the coronavirus disease pandemic in Brooklyn, New York on Sept. 13, 2021.
SAN FRANCISCO  Premiering Nov. 5, the California Academy of Sciences newest original, all-digital planetarium show, "Living Worlds," takes viewers on an exploration of the ways life has transformed Earths surface and atmosphere over billions of years and invites audiences to journey through the cosmos in search of life in our solar system and beyond.

Narrated by Daveed Diggs, "Living Worlds" is the eighth original in-house production by the Academys Visualization Studio. The breathtaking, thought-provoking show carries viewers across our globe and to the farthest reaches of space in a quest to understand life as an essential quality of our home planet.

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Along the way, see how light and color can help planetary scientists spot a living world, even from great distances. From the awe-inspiring expanses of space to microscopic amoebas living high in Chiles Atacama Desert, to the ice-covered ocean of Saturns moon Enceladus, Morrison Planetariums 75-foot dome will immerse viewers inside cutting-edge visualizations and hyper-realistic virtual environments.

Living Worlds takes viewers on a journey to answer some of our biggest questions: How does understanding lifes influence on our planet inform our search for life elsewhereand what would it mean to find evidence for extraterrestrial life? said Ryan Wyatt, senior director of Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization. We hope that viewers will come away with a deeper understanding of our living world in a cosmic context and that they will be inspired to seek an active role in regenerating life on Earth.

On Oct. 9, "Living Worlds was named the winner of the 2021 Dome Fest West #BestOfEarth award for Science and Education in its Global Festival Premiere at four film festivals worldwide from Oct. 8-10: Dome Fest West in Los Angeles; the FullDome Festival in Jena, Germany; Fulldome UK in Plymouth, United Kingdom; and at the Dome Under Festival in Melbourne, Australia.

"Living Worlds" begins the quest for life in the stark, rugged Atacama Desert of northern Chile, a place with environmental conditions so extreme that scientists run experiments there to simulate trips to Mars. Yet this area retains life-friendly microclimates that are home to a multitude of living creatures, such as the single-celled Cabrolae amoebal.

Zooming out to look at Earth from space, viewers are given a new lens through which to see its pale deserts, blue oceans, and green forests: these colors indicate a planet that harbors life. Using spectral data direct from astrobiology researchers, we see what colors reflected by a planet can reveal about the chemistry of its atmosphere, and we learn how, by teasing apart different wavelengths of light, we can uncover a planets spectral fingerprint and detect signs of life.

"Living Worlds" encourages viewers to consider how a deeper understanding of our own planet can aid in the search for life across the cosmos. Viewers are taken back in time hundreds of millions, then billions of years when microscopic life may have plunged our entire planet into a deep freeze, land, and oceans almost entirely covered over by ice and snow. This episode changed our planet forever, setting the stage for other forms of life to take hold and illustrating how Earth and the life it supports evolve in tandem.

Just as life was taking hold on Earth, Mars was losing its capacity to support abundant life. Zipping across its barren, cratered surface, viewers see evidence of hydrothermal activity that could once have provided energy for life, tour a region of sunken canyons known as Nili Fossae, and imagine what future missions to Mars might look like. From here, the journey continues to Saturns moon Enceladus, going deep below its icy crust into a vast, world-spanning ocean.

Although Earths current spectral fingerprint is viewable even from many light-years away, it shows a world out of balance, with signs of unnatural pollutants and escalating carbon dioxide threatening to warm our planet dangerously. As viewers are brought back to our planet, they are afforded a glimpse into a hopeful future: drylands turn green, biodiversity flourishes, and the planet pulses with life. "Living Worlds" asks audiences to imagine a future in which technology enriches our planet, and to reflect on ways we can partner with our living world to regenerate and strengthen life on Earth.

The California Academy of Sciences in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park, it is home to an aquarium, planetarium and natural history museum, as well as innovative programs in scientific research and environmental education. Museum hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission includes all exhibits, programs, and shows. For daily ticket prices, visit www.calacademy.org or call (415) 379-8000 for more information.
American Canyons main drag of Highway 29 could get another hotel, though adding gas stations beyond an upcoming Circle K looks doubtful.

This week, the city Planning Commission had two discussions that could affect the Highway 29 ambiance. It recommended the City Council allow a Hampton Inn and favored a ban on new gas stations, pending a few details to be worked out.

American Canyons highway stretch is the first look at Napa County for many visitors. It is a mixture of new shopping centers, old buildings and vacant lots.

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A three-story, 112-room Hampton Inn with such features as a fitness center and meeting room would be just south of Donaldson Way. It would replace, among other things, a house with a windmill in front of it on a 2.5-acre lot that is largely vacant.

We are very excited to bring this project to the city of American Canyon and we think it will be a good fit and energize the surrounding businesses, said Al Shaghaghi on behalf of the developers.

City officials spent months mulling over when the city might reach the saturation mark for hotels. The city has Fairfield Inn & Suites, Holiday Inn Express & Suites and Doubletree. A Home2 Suites is planned. The huge Watson Ranch development is to have a hotel. There are several potential hotel sites.

Thats a major reason why the City Council last December expressed some hesitation to rezone land for a Hampton Inn.

The Hampton Inn developer a few months ago submitted a marketing study by Economic and Planning Systems, Inc. It looked what would be the Hampton Inns competition  upper midscale and upscale hotels  in southern Napa County.

Between 2023 and 2025, growth in hotel demand is likely to support an additional 275 additional rooms, which might be satisfied by the proposed Hampton Inn or other hotel proposals, the study said.

The Planning Commission wanted to make sure any hotel built on the site remains at a certain level of quality. It recommended at least a three-star Forbes rating be required. Forbes awards up to five stars.

I think the bottom line is I like the project. I think the project makes sense. I think it fits, Commissioner Eric Altman said.

Next, the City Council will make a final decision on the Hampton Inn.

Planning commissioners also tackled the gas station issue.

American Canyon has spent several months looking at a possible ban on new gas stations. The city has three along its 3.5-mile stretch of Highway 29 and a Circle K is to be built.

Other gas stations have been mentioned. Developers withdrew an application for a Rotten Robbie fuel station. An application from 7-Eleven to add fuel pumps is on hold pending the ban outcome.

Enough is enough, the Planning Commission seemed to agree, though it took no vote. The rationale wasnt so much trying to avoid a gasoline alley look as combatting climate change.

We really hope that American Canyon can serve as an example to other jurisdictions throughout the valley on how to move forward together toward a fossil-free future, Lori Stelling of Napa Climate NOW! told commissioners.

The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions is transportation, city Community Development Director Brent Cooper said. The single largest source is passenger vehicles.

So there is a tie in here to service stations that sell fossil fuels, Cooper said.

But the Planning Commission couldnt arrive at a recommendation to the City Council in one night. Delaying action was making certain all of the legal details are correct on how to deal with gas stations that stop operating.

Existing gas stations would be non-conforming uses. Commissioners agreed if one stops operating for six months, the gas station use shouldnt be reestablished.

Thats one of the issues with the nonconforming use, Cooper said. Over time, you want to phase them out.

But putting the details into legal language will take more time. That includes looking at exceptions for such things as natural disasters and perhaps estate probate issues.

Existing gas stations under the proposed ban could not expand in such a way that they dispense more gasoline or other fossil fuels.

Long-time local climate change activist Jim Wilson liked what he saw with the proposed new gas station ban.

It was very exciting for me as a resident of Napa to see you personify this idea of decisive, near-term action, Wilson told planning commissioners.

No member of the public during Thursday's meeting objected to the proposed new gas station ban.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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American Canyon Police reported the arrests of two men shortly after a burglary at the Walmart late Saturday afternoon.

Just before 5 p.m., officers were sent to the store at 7011 Main St. after receiving reports that a man had broken into a jewelry case with a crowbar and then stolen merchandise, according to Sgt. Nicol Dudley.

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After two men were seen leaving the Walmart with stolen items and then leaving in a black Mercedes-Benz, officers stopped the car in the store parking lot and arrested 54-year-old Robert Ivan Micheletti of San Pablo and 56-year-old Dewayne Lee Woolridge of Richmond, Dudley said.

Both men were booked into the Napa County jail for investigation of burglary, possessing stolen property, criminal conspiracy and possessing drug paraphernalia. Micheletti also was booked on allegations of vandalism, shoplifting, and possessing burglary tools, and faces a felony warrant in San Mateo County, according to Dudley.

Woolridge was released Saturday night and Micheletti just after midnight early Sunday morning, according to jail booking records.
Napa Countys five Board of Supervisors districts drawn a decade ago are out-of-date and out-of-balance and that means shifting the lines.

The magic number for each district under Census 2020 is 27,659 residents. Though districts don't have to have exactly that number, existing ones established under Census 2010 no longer achieve the required, rough parity.

For example, Supervisor Belia Ramos's District 5 in the faster-growing, more-urban south county has 29,822 residents. Meanwhile, Supervisor Diane Dillon's District 3 that includes the slow-growth heart of wine country has 25,824.

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Other factors to consider when drawing new lines include keeping communities of interests together  areas that have a shared culture, characteristic, or bond. Downtown Napa might be considered such an area.

All of this is more than mere doodling on a map. Redistricting can affect political power. The Napa County Board of Supervisors sets policy on such hot-button topics as vineyard development in watershed land, groundwater management, housing in the unincorporated areas, and wine county tourism.

Supervisors at 2 p.m. Tuesday will begin discussing how to draw the new lines. They'll hold another workshop on Nov. 16, could take action on Dec. 7, and face a Dec. 15 deadline. The needed population data from Census 2020 came to the county only in August and further adjustments from the state in September, which led to a tight schedule.

People can participate in the Tuesday session in the Board chambers at 1195 Third St. in Napa or on Zoom. Go to https://bit.ly/3vTecPS for more information.

The Board of Supervisors decides what the final maps look like, county Registrar of Voters John Tuteur said.

Meanwhile, the public can go to https://districtr.org/event/Napa_County and help. A computer program allows users to sketch in boundaries and see how many people live in their proposed districts and the population breakdowns by ethnicity.

Those who dont want to draw districts from scratch can modify a "minimum change" map that Tuteur created. Submitted maps can be seen by the public on the website.

Those who balk at using high-tech devices can participate the old-fashioned way.

If you dont have a computer, you can certainly draw a map and submit it to us by regular mail, Tuteur said.

Tuteur on Oct. 21 held a Board of Supervisor redistricting workshop. Questions arose.

Resident Jim Hinton asked if approved developments that will bring more residents to an area should be a factor. American Canyon has started building its Watson Ranch community that is to have hundreds of new homes.

But the districts must be based on the snapshot that is Census 2020.

You cant underfill a district because you know more people will be coming the next decade, Tuteur said.

Tuteur has some questions for the Board of Supervisors and the public. One is whether each supervisor district should extend into the unincorporated area. An alternative might be to have one district represent most of the city of Napa. Presently, every district has a piece of Napa.

American Canyon doesn't have a big enough population to be a district in-and-of-itself, Tuteur said. District 5 will have to take in other territory besides the city. But it will also have to take in less non-American Canyon territory than the present version.

Another question is whether a wine appellation American Viticultural Area would qualify as a community of interest, Tuteur said.

Residents caught in a district switch wouldn't immediately have a different supervisor when the Board of Supervisors adopts new lines in December. People represented by Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza in District 4 would still be represented by Pedroza, even if the new map shows them in Dillons District 3.

But, Tuteur said, for election purposes, these people would vote in June 2022 as members of District 3. Then, come January 2023, they would be represented by whoever is elected as the District 3 supervisor.

David McCuan, political science professor at Sonoma State University, has long observed the Napa County political scene. He see redistricting as being important.

Theres a lot at stake here, McCuan said.

Changing the lines can increase the diversity of interests on the Board of Supervisors  not only who supervisors are but what they represent, McCuan said. A diversity of interest allows you to put together different coalitions with different ideas on priorities, he said.

The Napa County Board has some supervisors who have served a long time, McCuan said. That means there is a backlog of people who want to get involved who have different views.

He compared Napa County to New York, which has a more rural upstate area, and New York City. In Napa County, there is the more-rural upvalley and more-urban south valley.

Its a good ground zero for testing the quality-of-life issues in California, McCuan said. Napa is squarely ground zero for that. Its not really really rural, its not really urban, its everything.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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Wang Yi to meet Blinken in Rome, US says

Wang Yi arrives in Rome on Friday ahead of the G20 talks. Photo: AP

Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, in Rome on Sunday, according to the US State Department, in what will be only their second face to face session amid acute tensions between the two powers.



The meeting in Rome, where both diplomats were attending the G20 summit, is listed on Blinken's public schedule for Sunday.



It will be the first between Wang and Blinken since a stormy session in Alaska back in March during which the Chinese delegation berated the American side as TV cameras rolled.



Tensions are high between the world's two biggest economies on a plethora of fronts, including trade, human rights, Taiwan and the Covid-19 pandemic.



Earlier this week Washington ordered China Telecom Americas to discontinue its services within 60 days  ending nearly two decades of operations in the country and piling further strain on relations between the two countries.



US President Joe Biden has pressed ahead with a hardline trade policy against Beijing broadly in line with that of his predecessor Donald Trump, whose bombastic approach sent tensions soaring. (AFP)
PM's majority on the line as Japan goes to polls

A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Tokyo. Photo: AP

Japanese voters went to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to endorse the conservative government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida or weaken the new premier and possibly return the world's third-largest economy to a period of political uncertainty.



The vote is a test for Kishida, who called the election soon after taking the top post early this month, and for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been battered by its perceived mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.



Already, Kishida has struggled to advance policies to help poorer people, while securing a big boost in military spending.



With his lacklustre image failing to inspire voters, the LDP is on the brink of losing its sole majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time since 2009, opinion polls show, although its coalition with junior partner Komeito is forecast to remain in control.



Several key LDP lawmakers are also facing particularly tough contests, including Akira Amari, the party's secretary general.



"Revolving-door prime ministers is a weakness that many outside of Japan fear," Sheila A. Smith, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a blog post. "Prime Minister Kishida will need a unified party and a strong electoral showing on October 31 if he is to successfully tackle Japans difficult national agenda."



Turnout will be crucial, since higher turnout tends to favour the opposition, but many are choosing to vote absentee.



The biggest opposition group, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is expected to gain seats but not come near toppling Kishida's coalition.



Still, a big loss of LDP seats could lead to party infighting, returning Japan to an era of short-lived administrations that diminished its global stature, until Shinzo Abe helmed the country for a record eight years to September 2020. The dovish Komeito could also gain more clout within the coalition.



Uncertainty is high, with the Nikkei newspaper estimating 40 percent of single-seat districts have close races and recent polls showing some 40 percent of voters undecided. (Reuters)
Hong Kong records one imported Covid case

The CHP says the imported case was detected at the airport. Image: Shutterstock

Health authorities recorded one imported Covid-19 case on Sunday, involving a woman who had flown into Hong Kong from the United Kingdom.



The 37-year-old tested positive for Covid upon her arrival at the airport on October 29. Health officials say she carries the L452R mutant strain.



The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said she started having symptoms on October 26. She had been fully vaccinated, receiving two doses of the BioNTech vaccine in Hong Kong in May.



The CHP is also investigating an overseas case, involving an 18-year-old who travelled to Singapore.



He tested positive for Covid-19 when he arrived in Singapore on October 24. He had received both doses of the BioNTech vaccine in July.



Health officials on Sunday ordered all residents of the building in Tsz Wan Shan whwer he lives to take a Covid-19 test



Fewer than five preliminary positive cases were recorded.



The city has so far recorded 12,346 confirmed coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
Tsz Wan Shan building given compulsory testing order

The Centre for Health Protection is also following up on the case with Singapore's health authority. File photo: RTHK

Health officials on Sunday ordered all residents of a building in Tsz Wan Shan to take a Covid-19 test, after an 18-year-old resident tested positive on arrival in Singapore on October 24.



Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection, under the Department of Health, said the man had travelled to Singapore on flight TR981 and his specimen, which was collected in Singapore on the same day, had tested positive.



As the man had been in Hong Kong during the incubation period, health authorities here ordered mandatory testing at Ching Tak House on the Tsz Ching Estate, as a precaution.



The Centre for Health Protection is also following up on the case with Singapore's health authority.



The man had received two doses of the BioNTech Covid vaccination on July 8 and July 30 in Hong Kong.
Wang blames US for tensions over Taiwan

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken (left) and Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi (right) meet in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Photo: AFP

Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday that tensions over Taiwan were caused by US support for pro-independence forces in Taiwan, China's foreign ministry said in a statement.



Wang, who is also a state councillor, urged the United States to correct its "wrong course" on various issues and return Sino-US relations to a track of healthy development, the statement said.



In a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Rome, Wang told Blinken that Taiwan was the most sensitive issue in their relations, the statement said. (Reuters)
Good Morning America

After suffering unspeakable abuses and deprivation at the hands of their parents, the Turpin siblings -- it seemed -- were on the path to a new life: a future with the resources needed to start fresh, to make up for the years they were locked away from the world. Nearly four years ago, after authorities rescued the 13 Turpin siblings from their family home in Perris, California, where they were subjected to brutal violence and deprived of food, sleep, hygiene, education, and health care, advocates and county leaders assured the siblings -- and a concerned public -- that help was on the way. "We are confident, given what they've been through and how resilient they are, that they're going to be really successful," said Jack Osborn, a court-appointed attorney for the seven adult children, after their parents' sentencing in 2019.
Washington  Tens of thousands of Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. during two decades of war and reconstruction may be at high risk in Taliban-run Afghanistan, according to a group of international advocacy groups including Amnesty International, Oxfam, Freedom House and nearly 100 other organizations. In a letter to several senior U.S. officials, the groups expressed frustration with the Biden administration's failure to evacuate at-risk Afghans more quickly.

"We call on the Biden Administration to prioritize their safe evacuation before it is too late," the letter warned.

"Some of these individuals assisted U.S. and allied armed forces. Others worked for or alongside U.S.-based and funded organizations to secure women's rights, establish a free press, or provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance to their countrymen and women," the groups said. "All are now bound by their shared fear for their safety. If the White House does not move to evacuate them with haste, it will leave an indelible stain on this Administration's stated commitment to a foreign policy centered on human rights and its repeated commitments to support at-risk Afghans."

Transcript: Secretary Antony Blinken on "Face the Nation"

The letter, exclusively obtained by "Face the Nation," is dated October 28 and addressed to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and others. In it, the organizations urge the Biden administration to act now to evacuate and resettle a broader spectrum of at-risk Afghans, and to reveal its strategy for doing so.

The letter expressed disappointment in "the Biden Administration's overly narrow list of priority stakeholders for evacuation." The administration is prioritizing American citizens, legal permanent residents and family members of those two categories, as well as embassy employees and recipients of special immigrant visas (SIV).

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"While these individuals are undoubtedly deserving of U.S. evacuation support, thousands of other Afghans face an immediate need for protection due to their affiliation with the U.S. Government," the advocates argued. "The failure to prioritize them as well imperils their lives."

The letter also highlighted reports from the United Nations as well as international human rights monitors like Amnesty and news organizations: "The Taliban is targeting Afghans, including those who have worked with U.S. and allied armed forces, as well as women's rights advocates and other activists, with retaliatory killings and violence."

It concludes: "If the U.S. does not bring these vulnerable Afghans to safety, it will have failed to uphold its commitment to human rights and turned its back on the very causes of human dignity and freedom it claims to uphold.

Asked about the letter on "Face the Nation," Blinken said that the administration is working on evacuations from Afghanistan "24/7."

"We have teams of several hundred people at the State Department and also in other parts of our government working on this every single day, starting with any remaining Americans, and, of course, Afghans at risk," Blinken explained. "We will work it until we make good on our commitments. We have a program that, you know, involves those who applied for special immigrant visas. Those are Afghans who worked closely with us, with the defense, with the military, with our diplomats, we're working on that."

There has been much coverage of the challenges facing Afghans who worked with the U.S. military, but there has been less attention paid to those at-risk Afghans who worked for nongovernmental organizations, the media or U.S. government-funded projects. The letter cited their work as "no less significant" than those SIV applicants and called on the Biden administration to prioritize this group of Afghans who may apply for P-2 visas as part of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

Asked about the number of those in need of evacuation, Blinken said, "We've got about somewhere in the vicinity of seven or eight thousand people who have clearly qualified for the [SIV] program, and in one way or another, we're working to get credentialed and to bring out, along with their immediate family members."

Blinken did not give a number on additional P-2 applicants for whom the advocacy groups are appealing. He did say that the U.S. is "doing everything we can to make good on our ongoing commitments, including the Afghans at risk that we want to help."

The administration's recently resigned top diplomat for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, told "Face the Nation" last week that even the total number of American citizens who remain in the country is not entirely clear to the State Department, "I think it's very likely that it'll be in hundreds." He explained that the department has tried to get in touch with as many people with U.S. citizenship or residency as possible, but that "some were ambivalent about going or staying. Some wanted to bring 65 members of their families who were not Americans with them. If they couldn't bring all of them, they were not willing to leave themselves. So, lots of issues."

The State Department has directly facilitated the evacuation of at least 129 U.S. citizens and 115 lawful permanent U.S. residents since August 31. Dozens more have also been able to leave the country via land or charter flights without direct assistance from the U.S.

The U.S. airlifted nearly 130,000 people out of Afghanistan  one of the largest mass evacuations in America's history  after the Taliban took over the capital of Kabul in August and before the U.S. military's withdrawal.

Nature: Undersea Indonesia

Time to plan for your death!

Shin Lim's magic
Different variations of the Dune poster have ignited a controversy surrounding Chinese audiences and media portrayals.



The initial claims: Earlier reports claimed that Black actor Sharon Duncan-Brewster was removed from the poster of Dune in China and replaced with Taiwanese actor Chang Chen; but the conversation grew more complicated as this was proven to be mostly untrue.



The controversy began when photos surfaced which showed Taiwanese actor Chang Chen in the spot of Black actor Sharon Duncan-Brewster on promotional posters for the movie in China.

This controversy drew comparisons to an earlier, verified incident in which Black actor John Boyegas image was shrunken for the promotional poster for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in China.







Star Wars' Finn (who happens to be black) and Chewbacca (happens to be Wookiee) get shafted in China. HT @asmuniz pic.twitter.com/ATpvcd51L6

 Ray  (@raykwong) December 1, 2015





The rebuttal: However, social media users quickly pointed out that multiple versions of the posters were circulating in China, complicating the initial narrative.



Although one version of the promotional posters does show Chen and not Duncan-Brewster, this promotional poster was not developed for Chinese audiences but was used previously in Western countries as well.

Photos on social media demonstrate that both versions of the poster are being circulated in China, just as they had been in Western countries.







Did y'all not link the original tweet because you knew it was already deleted/retracted but you still really wanted to push this story?https://t.co/SxvMA1Q8Cm

 Daniel Dumbrill (@DanielDumbrill) October 26, 2021







The controversy plays into a larger conversation about Chinese audiences and media and questions about anti-Black racism in East Asia.



Featured Image via Douban (left), @wbpictures (right)

Story continues

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A young actress who worked on the movie "Rust" issued a statement sharing her condolences with the family of accidental shooting victim Halyna Hutchins.

Alec Baldwin was holding a gun on the set of the film that somehow went off, discharging a live round that killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza. As authorities in New Mexico continue to investigate the incident, representatives for child actress Jayde Martinez issued a statement to Fox News sharing her and her familys sympathies for Hutchins' loved ones and wished Souza a speedy recovery.

"On behalf of our client and her parents, we would like to extend to the family of Halyna Hutchins, Director of Photography, our deepest condolences," the statement reads. "We are thankful to learn that Director Joel Souza was released to begin his recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone associated with the Rust production and to everyone in the entertainment industry as this affects us all."

HILARIA BALDWIN DRIVES HUSBAND ALEC AROUND IN POSH SKI TOWN AFTER DEADLY RUST SHOOTING

An actress who worked on Alec Baldwin's film Rust issued a statement regarding the accidental shooting incident on the set of the movie Rust. Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

Indeed, Deadline previously reported that the on-set shooting incident has led to numerous conversations among film and TV studios regarding the use of real firearms and live ammunition on set. The ABC series "The Rookie" was among the first to publicly note that it will no longer allow live firearms on its sets.

Martinez is listed on IMDB as "Kiowa Girl" on "Rust." The Kiowa are a Native American tribe indigenous to the Great Plains of the United States. They eventually migrated southward, though.

RUST ARMORER BREAKS SILENCE ON ALEC BALDWIN SHOOTING INCIDENT, BLAMES PRODUCERS

The statement from Martinezs reps adds her voice to the handful of cast and crew members who have spoken out about the tragedy, including Baldwin.

An aerial view of the film set on Bonanza Creek Ranch where Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins VIA REUTERS

On Saturday, more than a week after the shooting incident took place, Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, spoke publicly about the incident for the first time. Baldwin, 63, spoke to photographers in Vermont where he said he is cooperating with police and has been speaking to them every day.

Story continues

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Calling Hutchins his friend, the actor noted that the crew was working well until the "horrible event" happened.

Halyna Hutchins was a rising star in the cinematography world when she was hit with a projectile on set that ultimately killed her. Photo by Fred Hayes/Getty Images for SAGindie

"We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened," he explained.

In addition to cooperating with the investigation, Baldwin has done his best to be there for Hutchins' family. Prior to leaving New Mexico, where he was not asked to stay by authorities, Baldwin met with the victims husband and their young son at the La Posada hotel in New Mexico.
Cambodia is demanding an explanation from New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art on how relics from the Khmer Empire ended up in its possession.



Recovering stolen treasures: Cambodian authorities are focused on 45 items that they believe were looted from the country during war and then acquired by the museum between 1977 and 2003, The New York Times reported.



In the claim, Cambodias Culture Minister Phoeurng Sackona cited a former temple looter known only as Lion who reportedly admitted to ransacking numerous Khmer shrines between the 70s and the 90s.

Accompanied by Cambodian officials, Lion revisited the sites where he and others stole the artifacts. The items were later sold through brokers in Thailand.

Lion, who is currently in his 60s, claimed that he personally stole 33 of the 45 items in question. He has reportedly apologized for taking part in the looting and now wants the antiquities to be returned to Cambodia.

Sackona expressed shock and disappointment in the number of Cambodian statues in the museum.

We want to see the truth come out, we want to see all the facts come out about this. We want them all returned, the official was quoted as saying.

In addition to the 45 artifacts, Cambodian officials are also looking into some 150 items which were purportedly stolen from their country as it was enduring war and genocide from the 1970s to the 2000s.



Mets response: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has since responded to assure Cambodian officials that they have a long and well-documented history of responding to claims regarding works of art, restituting objects where appropriate.



In a statement, the Met expressed its willingness to cooperate with any inquiry and revealed that it has reached out to the U.S. Attorneys office.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, which recognizes Lion as a credible looter, has assisted Cambodia in recovering similar artifacts in the past.

In a high-profile 2013 case, two 10th century Cambodian stone statues, which had been on display at the Met for nearly two decades, were eventually returned to Cambodia, according to the Associated Press.

Earlier this year, a private owner who purchased relics from Lion also voluntarily returned one looted artifact.





Story continues





Repatriation of looted or stolen cultural artifacts from Western museums back to previously occupied countries remains a struggle despite efforts and demands from governments.



Featured Image via Met Museum

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Oct. 30When Canadians are allowed to cross into the U.S. at land borders starting Nov. 8 they will not be required to produce a negative COVID-19 test, according to Congressman Brian Higgins' office.

On Friday, the U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed visitors crossing for non-essential purposes will be required to be vaccinated and prepared to verbally attest to and/or provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination status as outlined on the Centers for Disease Control website.

Higgins (NY-26), who serves as co-chair of the Canada-U.S Interparliamentary Group and the Northern Border Caucus, said, "There has been a slow, painful drip of information detailing the reopening of the Northern Border rather than clear and concise directives the public needs and deserves. This is contributing to frustration and confusion. Initial details are welcome and with just a week to go, explicit information is needed to allow people to comfortably and confidently cross the border."

Higgins said he has also advocated for and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control agreed to accept mixed-vaccine doses and World Health Organization authorized vaccines verification of fully vaccinated status, a measure that will open the door for nearly four million Canadians who received the AstraZeneca vaccine or a combination of doses to be eligible to cross the U.S. border.

Details have not yet been released on the time when the land ports of entry will open on Nov. 8. The Department of Homeland Security also indicates that "Customs and Border protection will soon share additional information about the steps eligible travelers will need to take to enter the United States under the new rules."

Higgins is cautioning against any addition of excessive or redundant requirements, such as testing or pre-registration, which would obstruct the free-flow of people across the U.S.  Canada border.

Congressman Higgins' Western New York district, which encompasses the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, includes three land border crossings.
The campaign bus for then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is seen parked in front of the Iowa State Capitol on February 03, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A Biden-Harris campaign bus was surrounded by a convoy of Trump supporters in October 2020.

Democratic staffers say that the City of San Marcos refused to send a police escort, according to an amended federal lawsuit.

They also allege that Democratic staffers were called a slur by city officials, the lawsuit says.

Four days before the 2020 presidential election, a convoy of vehicles flying flags, supporting then-President Donald Trump, mobbed a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a Texas highway.

The "Trump Train" incident caused staffers of then-Democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to cancel all remaining campaign stops in Texas. And, according to an amended federal lawsuit, inflicted "ongoing psychological and emotional injury."

-Dr. Eric Cervini (@ericcervini) October 31, 2020

But, as the amended lawsuit alleges, the City of San Marcos refused to send a police escort. Instead, they called Democratic staffers a variation of the R-word and privately mocked them, according to texts and 911 audio recordings obtained by the plaintiffs.

Officials also made fun of a campaign staffer's "hard breathing." The lawsuit details that they said they should just "drive defensively" or "leave the train," per a transcript of a call between a New Braunfels dispatcher and San Marcos police corporal Matthew Daenzer.

Plaintiffs say that the defendant's failure to protect them is unlawful. They cite the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which, in part, prevents groups from "conspiring to obstruct free and fair federal elections by intimidating and injuring voters and denying them the ability to engage in political speech" and imposes a duty on Americans to protect targets of political intimidation.

The amended complaint details the incident which Trump, at the time, acclaimed. "I LOVE TEXAS!" Trump tweeted along with a video of the incident, the Daily Beast reported.

Story continues

"Defendants deliberately chose to ignore reports of at least forty vehicles forming a self-labeled vehicular 'Trump Train' on Interstate 35 ('I-35') with the express purpose of terrorizing and intimidating supporters of the Democratic ticket," the lawsuit alleges.

"For at least ninety minutes, including during the entirety of the stretch of I-35 inside the San Marcos city lines, the Trump Train pursued and terrorized the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs tried to get help. They repeatedly called 911. They requested police escorts."

The amended lawsuit, filed by several Democrats, including former Texas state Senator Wendy Davis and Harris staffer David Gins, asks for damages and a jury trial.

The defendants include Chase Stapp, director of public safety for San Marcos, San Marcos Police Department, Assistant Police Chief Brandon Winkenwerder, SMPD Corporal Matthew Daenzer, and the City of San Marcos.

No one has been charged over the incident, but the FBI said in November 2020 that it was being investigated.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Just days until the start of the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, here is what passed for good news for Fiji's small delegation: President Biden hadn't refused to meet with them.

"The meeting has not been secured but not ruled out yet," Satyendra Prasad, Fiji's ambassador to the U.N., texted Friday. "Let's see," he wrote, hopefully. "These things fall in place on the day [of]."

For small nations like Fiji and other Pacific islands, scoring in-person meetings with the leaders of the world's wealthiest and most powerful countries has never been more crucial  or more difficult. Their survival is at stake. These nations face massive environmental challenges, from rising sea levels that could erase entire villages and decimate the tourism industry, to the destruction of coral reefs.

In the last five years, Fiji has endured 13 cyclones, three of them of the most destructive Category 5. After one of those storms, the country's gross domestic product, a measure of goods and services provided, fell by 30%.

An aerial view of the Fiji's Coral Coast. Climate change is posing a long-term threat to the region's marine environment. (Reef Explorer Fiji via AFP via Getty Images)

The country must confront the likely prospect of having to relocate scores of coastal communities where life may soon become untenable because of rising sea levels.

"Every two to three months you have to face people who've just lost their homes and they look to you and they ask you: 'Yet again?'" Prasad said. "You think about moments like that at these big international meetings."

Because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, only four Pacific island nations  Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Tuvalu  will be represented by their heads of state this year at the global climate summit, leaving the other 11 with smaller teams of delegates and volunteers from nonprofit organizations. This has fueled concern that the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and least responsible for the carbon emissions causing rising temperatures, will barely have a presence at what's widely considered the most important climate conference since the 2015 Paris agreement.

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"For Pacific states, I am quite concerned," Prasad said. "We are not big players on the global stage, but this is an exceptionally difficult year."

As a result of the island countries' thin attendance, the burden of representing those who can't travel to Scotland will fall largely on the leaders who can. Prasad said he expected the four heads of state, including Fiji's prime minister, to be working "almost 24/7" during the two-week summit, holding what he described as "the equivalent of one year of Zoom meetings in a day."

On small island nations' agenda: pressing the leaders of wealthy, industrialized countries to devote more money to helping them cope with the effects of climate change and transition to cleaner sources of energy.

In 2009, the U.S. and other developed nations agreed that by 2020 they would provide $100 billion a year to developing countries. But that promise has never been fully realized. Wealthy countries have failed to raise more than $80 billion annually. And, in a recent report, diplomats from Canada and Germany announced they wouldn't be able to meet their target until 2023  three years late.

The sun sets behind the mountains of Viti Levu island in Suva, Fiji on May, 2000. (Torsten Blackwood/AFP via Getty Images)

Frank Bainimarama, the prime minister of Fiji, has gone much further in his request for aid. In a speech before the U.N. General Assembly earlier this year, he called on wealthy countries to increase their financial commitments to at least $750 billion annually beginning in 2025. The limited financing that does exist for developing countries is often out of reach because of complicated loan requirements, he said, adding that future aid should take the form of grants that don't require struggling countries to take on more debt.

"I am tired of applauding my people's resilience," Bainimarama said. "True resilience is not just defined by a nation's grit but by our access to financial resources."

Concern that the leaders of developing countries wouldn't be able to attend the summit has been growing for months, prompting a coalition of more than 1,500 environmental advocacy groups to call for the summit to be delayed again this year, as it was in 2020. In September, the chair of the 46-nation group of least-developed countries, known as LDCs, called out Britain's quarantine requirements and the lack of commercial flights out of Pacific island nations as impeding their ability to participate and make their case in person.

Last week, England announced that it was ending requirements for travelers to quarantine and removing the final seven countries from its "red list" for coronavirus risk. But that decision came too late  small countries without easy access to vaccines and money for travel had already finalized their limited delegations.

"Not having their voices there definitely affects representation and inclusivity," said Tracy Kajumba, a researcher at the London-based think tank International Institute for Environment and Development.

Women and people from developing nations are already underrepresented among delegates and event organizers, she said, and that imbalance will likely be worse this year. "These are the voices that really need to be at the COP," she said.

Prasad said the leaders of Pacific island nations who are attending the conference will have to speak on behalf of their missing peers, ideally in as many face-to-face meetings with leaders of G-20 countries as possible.

Getting on those leaders' schedules is tricky for small island nations under normal circumstances. It often means agreeing to meetings during the conference late at night or early in the morning, or on the margins  such as catching heads of state as they're leaving one appointment and heading to the next.

"Our leaders have to be firm and very clear and sometimes quite undiplomatic in making sure they're able to project what our communities and our people want them to do," Prasad said.

Pacific island and developing countries have been able to exert influence in the past. In 2015, they fought for, and won, language in the Paris climate agreement committing world leaders to hold rising temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, and to 1.5 degrees Celsius if possible.

But since then, most industrialized nations have failed to meet their emissions reduction targets. And a recent U.N. climate report found that even if countries impose the strictest cuts to atmosphere-warming greenhouse gas emissions today, global warming is likely within the next two decades to surpass 1.5 degrees.

Fiji and other Pacific island nations' mission in Glasgow is clear: keep the 1.5 targets alive, Prasad said. "We can't contemplate a future above that."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Participants on the opening day of Cop26 in Glasgow (Rex Features)

The sponsors of the Cop26 climate summit have made bold pledges to get to net zero, but an investigation by The Independent has uncovered a substantial  and often hidden  reliance on controversial carbon offsets to get there, which environmentalists have branded a license to keep polluting and a greenwashing scam.

These 11 firms  Microsoft, Unilever, Sky, SSE, Scottish Power, Sainsburys, Reckitt, National Grid, Hitachi, GSK, and NatWest Group  have had their logos plastered all over the website of the biggest climate change event of the year, and inside its Glasgow venue, with each company hyped as a leader in their sector trailblazing the way towards net zero.

Last year they generated 260bn in revenue, but collectively pumped out more than 375m tonnes of carbon.

Most have committed to reducing their carbon output to net zero by 2050, and in many cases much sooner, but when you dig below the surface, there is a very significant reliance on carbon offsetting that environmentalists say hugely undermines their credibility as climate change leaders.

Carbon offsets refer to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or increase in carbon sequestration  such as by planting trees  used to compensate for a companys own emissions. Typically they involve companies in the global north continuing to pollute but seeking to abate their emissions in their net zero commitments by investing in afforestation or, even more controversially, the apparent avoidance of deforestation, in the global south. We found that:

Sky is 50 per cent reliant on offsets to get to net zero, Scottish Power 37 per cent and Microsoft 36 per cent;

Sainsburys plans to meet its 2030 target of cutting scope 3 emissions  indirect emissions upstream or downstream of its own operations  by 30 per cent without offsets, but this leaves it almost 70 per cent short of net zero and would, the supermarket admits, require use of offsets or new technology to go further;

Five Cop26 sponsors refused to put a number on their expected use of offsets, claiming that this data was commercially sensitive or that that they will be used for residuals only  while declining to specify how much residuals are expected to comprise;

Only National Grid said it plans to meet its commitments without resorting to offsets in any shape or form.

Responding to our findings, Greenpeace said: This is incredibly disappointing and doesnt sound like climate leadership. We are seeing companies make shiny pledges to get to net zero but not backing it up with credible action and over-relying on somebody else to sort out the problem. Offsets are a cynical and dangerous form of greenwashing that will harm our ability to do the innovation needed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C  the goal of the Paris agreement. In short, offsets are a get-out clause and a scam.

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Environmentalists say the problem with offsets is that they avoid investment in the much-needed transformation that will reduce a companys emissions. Greenpeace added: In some cases they involve paying people not to cut down trees, but it is very hard to prove additionality  that this wouldnt have happened anyway  because a lot of action or legislation to curb deforestation is already in place from local governments. Its also an opaque, non-transparent market in which calculations of how much you are reducing emissions are simply estimates and like staring into a crystal ball.

There is still no legal requirement in the UK for companies to publish their reliance on offsets in meeting their eye-catching goals, and many Cop26 sponsors fail to do so. It means that transparency over offsets is still a choice, despite widespread concerns over the quality of offsetting schemes in a system that is voluntary and unregulated.

Some Cop26 sponsors have sought to be more discerning about the offsets they use, saying they would avoid certain types. For instance, Microsoft said it had changed their policy and would no longer invest in offsets that pay someone not to cut down trees on the land they own (carbon avoidance) and instead buy only offsets that lead to planting more trees and actual carbon removal. Sky said it would invest in offsets, but only credible ones, adding: There are currently not enough credible carbon offsets out there.

The sponsors names emblazoned across the Cop26 venues wall (Alamy Live News)

Similarly, consumer goods conglomerate Unilever said it would not purchase avoided emissions credits to meet carbon reduction targets and that avoided emissions and carbon removals should be identified separately within the carbon contract nomenclature. NatWest said it would use offsets but understood carbon offsetting is only an interim solution.

Some Cop26 sponsors argued that because scope 3 emissions  which amount to over 90 per cent of their total emissions  are out of their direct control, they need offsets to reach net zero. But Greenpeace said: That is not taking responsibility for the huge power these corporations exert over their upstream and downstream chain. They have used their influence to change behaviour when it comes to human rights abuses in factories that supply them, so why not when it comes to climate change.

Environmentalists also question whether there is enough land globally to accommodate all the planned offsets. A report by Oxfam this year showed that using land alone to remove the worlds carbon emissions to achieve net zero by 2050 would require new forests equivalent to five times the size of India, or more than all the farmland on the planet. Oxfam added that too many corporations were hiding behind unreliable, unproven and unrealistic carbon removal schemes in order to claim their 2050 climate change plans will be net zero.

The recent wildfires also put a dent in the credibility of offsets, with Microsoft acknowledging that wildfires raging in North America had resulted in a significant portion of their offsets going up in smoke, releasing carbon into the atmosphere instead of abating it. Weve bought forest offsets that are now burning, admitted Elizabeth Willmott, its carbon programme manager, at a climate change conference earlier this year.

But is there a level of offsetting that is acceptable and commensurate with staying below the 1.5C rise on pre-industrial temperatures, the goal of the Paris Agreement? It varies by economic sector, said Greenpeace. A few sectors  such as steel, chemicals and cement  legitimately need a small degree of offsetting to get to zero, but in most sectors the technology is already there and there is no case for relying on offsets, even for residual emissions.

How Cop26 sponsors rely on offsetting to hit net zero

SAINSBURYS:68 per cent reliant on offsets

Emissions: 27.8m tonnes of CO2e

Commitment: Invest 1bn over 20 years to become net zero across scopes 1-2 by 2040, and cut scope 3 by 30 per cent by 2030.

Offsets reliance: Cuts of 8.9m tonnes planned without prioritising offsetting, but to go further and get scope 3 to net zero by 2030 would, they said, require new technology or carbon offsets  amounting to 18.9m tonnes.

SKY: 50 per cent reliant on offsets

Emissions: 2.34m tonnes

Commitment: Net zero by 2030

Offsets: Our target to be net zero will be met by an absolute reduction in emissions of 50 per cent and by offsetting the remaining 50 per cent of our emissions  amounting to 1.17m tonnes  through natural carbon sinks and technology. We wont get to net zero by reducing emissions alone.

SCOTTISH POWER: 37 per cent reliant on offsets

Emissions: 9.57m tonnes

Commitment: Invest 10bn in clean energy over five years to cut scopes 1-3 by 63 per cent by 2030 via permanent carbon removals and without offsets, but also  as part of the Iberdrola Group  to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Offsets: There is a stark mismatch between the Scottish Power target that gets them 63 per cent to net zero by 2030 and the pledge imposed by their holding company Iberdrola Group to be 100 per cent net zero by 2030  with the implication that 37 per cent of offsets amounting to 3.5m tonnes will be needed to achieve the group goal.

MICROSOFT: 36 per cent reliant on offsets

Emissions: 15.6m tonnes

Commitment: Carbon negative across scopes 1-3 by 2030.

Offsets: Microsoft say 5.7m tonnes of carbon offsets  50 per cent of scope 3  will be needed to meet its 2030 goal.

GSK: 20 per cent reliant on offsets

Emissions: 15.9m tonnes

Commitment: GSK will split into two companies in 2022. Its pledge for its biopharma business (70 per cent of emissions) is to be net zero across scopes 1-3 by 2030, and for its consumer healthcare business (30 per cent of emissions) to be net zero across scopes 1-2 and across scope 3, for select (unspecified) brands only.

Offsets: We aim to use carbon removals [offsets] for 20 per cent of our biopharma footprint  which amounts to 2.22m tonnes. (Use of offsets for the consumer healthcare business has yet to be announced.)

NATIONAL GRID: 0 per cent reliant on offsets

Emissions: 35.9m tonnes

Commitment: Net zero across scopes 1- 3 by 2050.

Offsets: We aim to be net zero exclusive of offsets across scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2050.

NATWEST GROUP: Unspecified reliance

Emissions: 8.4m tonnes excluding most scope 3 financed emissions (associated with their lending and investment activity) which the bank has yet to calculate

Commitment: Cut scopes 1-3 by 50 per cent by 2030 and net zero across scopes 1-3 by 2050.

Offsets: Currently 132,000 tonnes of offsets are used and at least 120,000 tonnes will be maintained through to 2025. But this excludes the very big number that will likely be required to reduce total financed scope 3 emissions.

HITACHI: Unspecified reliance

Emissions: 110.53m tonnes

Commitment: Cut scopes 1-3 by 50 per cent by 2030, and by 80 per cent by 2050.

Offsets: Offsetting will be needed for emissions that cannot be minimised via renewables, energy efficiency or other means, but the exact figures are commercially sensitive.

UNILEVER: Unspecified reliance

Emissions: 98m tonnes

Commitment: Net zero by 2039 across scopes 1- 2 and across some scope 3 amounting to 32m tonnes, but this pledge excludes indirect scope 3 emissions of 66m tonnes, which relate to their customer use of products.

Offsets: To achieve its net zero pledge relating to 32m tonnes, the priority is to remove emissions in absolute terms and offsets will be used for residuals only, though what comprises residuals is too early to say. Regarding the remaining 66m tonnes, it is also too early to say how much offsets would be used as these emissions are outside our direct control but carbon markets have an important role to play.

RECKITT: Offsets reliance under consideration

Emissions: 39.6m tonnes

Commitment: Net zero across scopes 1- 3 by 2040.

Offsets: We are considering the need for offsets to achieve our ambition for 2040, but our aim is to reduce our emissions as far as possible in advance of that.

SSE: Unspecified reliance

Emissions: 11m tonnes

Commitment: Net zero across scopes 1-3 by 2050.

Offsets: Offsetting does not play any part of SSEs plans, the firm said, however offsets would be needed to neutralise residual emissions, which are not specified.

Note: Emissions comprise scope 1 and 2 (emissions from a companys own operations) and scope 3 (emissions upstream and downstream of the companys operations)

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Cop26 news: Prince Charles calls summit last chance saloon
Climate change is linked to more extreme weather like flooding which killed 200 people in Germany this summer

Will COP26 be a climate "turning point" as Boris Johnson wants, or more "blah blah blah" of the kind Greta Thunberg condemns?

At face value, things do not look promising, for a simple reason: the previous 25 of these giant conferences failed to turn off the tap of the greenhouse gases that are driving up global temperatures.

Despite three decades of talking, the planet is now at least 1.1C hotter than the pre-industrial level - and rising.

Even if everyone sticks to their current promises to reduce emissions, we'll still be on course for a dangerous increase of 2.7C by the end of the century.

For this conference, however, expectations for real progress are higher than usual.

That's partly because the risks are hitting home. This year floods killed 200 people in Germany, heatwaves struck chilly Canada and even the Siberian Arctic was burning.

And scientists now have the evidence to say it's unequivocal that human activity is behind climate change and that's making violent extremes more likely.

They're also clearer than ever that avoiding the most damaging temperatures means halving global carbon emissions by 2030 - a deadline looming close enough to focus minds.

And we are seeing something unimaginable even a few years ago: an unprecedented flurry of countries and businesses, some more plausibly than others, pledging to go net zero by mid-century.

That means any greenhouse gases they're still releasing by then should be balanced by an equivalent amount absorbed from the atmosphere, through tree-planting for example.

So will Glasgow be the venue where the world shifts towards a zero-carbon future?

In truth, it's never likely that a single meeting could ever achieve that.

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COPs were set up specifically for governments to tackle climate change, and the annual round of conferences does remain the only forum to tackle the problem collectively.

But they operate by consensus between nearly 200 countries that all have very different perspectives.

"Try herding 200 cats," one official once told me.

Many of the nations that are rich in oil or coal have been downright hostile to the whole climate agenda, and have tried everything to slow it down.

Others that are poor and vulnerable see rising temperatures threatening their very existence and are desperate for help.

At the first COP I reported from, in the deep freeze of a Montreal winter in 2005, the pace of talks matched the glacial weather.

Negotiators were arguing overnight over 'square brackets' that marked unresolved and impenetrable points in a text that was never destined to leave much of a trace.

When they finally reached agreement at dawn - and I spotted the then UK environment secretary Margaret Beckett with tears in her eyes - I asked a veteran observer what was being celebrated.

"They've agreed to keep talking," he said, without irony. "So the process continues."

And the conferences have rolled on, more or less productively, and at the nine I've witnessed so far, there have been some painful scenes.

In Nairobi in 2006, I heard a frustrated German minister ask why anyone bothered to turn up.

In Bali in 2007, the top UN official, exhausted and exasperated, started weeping openly.

And in Copenhagen in 2009, clumsy hosting triggered walkouts that nearly led the talks to collapse.

Yet one former UK government adviser, who was at the heart of those negotiations in Denmark, believes that COPs, for all their faults, are an essential mechanism.

Without them, according to Prof Mike Jacobs - now of the University of Sheffield - "emissions would have risen even higher than they are now".

He says having "a simultaneous and collective commitment" forces governments to stay focused on the problem.

And that led to the COP that stands out as a rare example of success - Paris in 2015.

The French government, supported by a carefully cultivated alliance, ushered in the Paris Agreement, the first accord of its kind to tackle climate change.

This was a landmark moment because never before had every country agreed to act together to limit the rise in temperatures to 2C or, if possible, a lower target of 1.5C.

More on Climate Change bottom strapline

COP26 climate summit - The basics

Climate change is one of the world's most pressing problems. Governments must promise more ambitious cuts in warming gases if we are to prevent greater global temperature rises.

The summit in Glasgow is where change could happen. You need to watch for the promises made by the world's biggest polluters, like the US and China, and whether poorer countries are getting the support they need.

All our lives will change. Decisions made here could affect our jobs, how we heat our homes, what we eat and how we travel.

Read more about the COP26 summit here.

More on Climate Change bottom strapline

Yes, the most difficult small print was left unresolved and the accord is entirely voluntary - no country is obliged to cut its emissions faster than it wants to.

But Prof Jacobs reckons that setting up a global framework generated a sense of momentum, which in itself has proved significant.

That's because more and more of the world's governments are now setting their own targets for renewable energy or phasing out petrol and diesel cars, and that sends a message to businesses that the agenda is serious.

So investments in wind and solar power have recently been so vast that their costs have tumbled, which in turn makes a zero-carbon transition more feasible.

And provided the Glasgow talks don't collapse in acrimony, that signal of a greener direction should get even more attention.

It could be a 'tipping-point' where big investors start to shift their trillions of dollars out of fossil fuels - a few days ago Europe's largest pension fund announced it would do just that.

Already the giant carmakers are having to gear up to go electric, and shipping companies - long accused of dragging their feet - are under pressure to clean up too.

Plans to decarbonise even the most polluting industries - with so-called 'green cement' and 'green steel' - are becoming more mainstream.

But the speed of this response is the key question for COP26.

As things stand, given all the pledges made so far, greenhouse gas emissions are actually set to rise by 16% by 2030, rather than fall by 45% as the science demands.

And if the picture remains unchanged after a fortnight of talking, the accusations of failure will come thick and fast.

A second challenge is finance for the poorest countries, hit hardest by rising sea levels, floods and droughts, and needing help to go green.

They've long felt let down, seeing promises unfulfilled, including a key pledge that was seen as a fundamental issue of trust, for assistance worth $100bn a year to be delivered by now.

Prof Saleemul Huq, an adviser to the prime minister of Bangladesh, is among those cynical about the whole process.

"This annual shindig is redundant - it's not as if climate change is an issue just once a year.

"It's happening now for everyone, every day, not some time in the future - it needs attention all the time."

So what is Prof Huq expecting?

"I presume they'll manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat in the end but you journalists must check the details of what's announced - is it really what they say it is?"

Ultimately, the conferences provide a focus for climate action but they can never lead to a transformation overnight.

The observer in Montreal was right: it's about a process.

And in a sign of managed expectations for Glasgow, there's talk of the next gatherings: COP27 in Egypt, and COP28, maybe in Qatar.

More on climate summit top strapline

The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.
A Honduran man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a child and deported earlier this year has been arrested in Michigan after returning to the U.S. illegally, federal authorities said Saturday.

Border Patrol agents from the Detroit Station were tipped off by a concerned citizen to the presence of 51-year-old Juan Dias-Pineda in White Lake Township, about 40 miles outside Detroit, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a news release.

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER JUST UNDER 200,000 IN SEPTEMBER, AS FY 2021 BREAKS RECORD

Dias-Pineda, a native of Honduras, had been charged and convicted in April 2020 for criminal sexual conduct with a person under thirteen years old. He was sentenced to 207 days confinement and five years probation. An immigration judge on May 6 ordered Dias-Pineda removed from the U.S., and he was formally deported on June 9.

Following his illegal return to the U.S., Border Patrol agents apprehended Dias-Pineda on Thursday.

"Our streets are safer with the criminal off the streets and out of our community," said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Robert B. Simon. "I am extremely proud of the fast and professional work these Agents completed in a small timeframe to remove him from the streets of Michigan."

Dias-Pineda was processed for a Reinstatement of a Prior Order of Removal and presented for prosecution to the U.S. Attorneys Office for violation of 8 USC 1326(b)(2), Re-entry of an Aggravated Felon, the agency said.
By Jeff Mason and Philip Pullella

ROME (Reuters) - An emotional U.S. President Joe Biden, who has come away from his visit with papal backing in his conflict with conservative U.S. bishops, on Sunday praised Pope Francis for being "everything I learned about Catholicism."

Biden, the second Catholic president in U.S. history, choked up as he spoke about his late son Beau and his own feelings about the pope and Catholicism at a final news conference in Rome at the end of the G20 summit of leaders of the world's richest nations.

"This is a man who has great empathy. A man who understands that part of his Christianity is to reach out," Biden said. "He is a really, truly genuine decent man."

Conservative U.S. bishops want to deny Biden the right to receive communion, the central sacrament of the faith, because of Biden's support for abortion rights.

The same bishops, some of whom supported Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, have clashed with the pope on issues including climate change, the death penalty and nuclear weapons.

Biden has said he personally opposes abortion but, as an elected official, cannot impose his views on others.

"He is everything I learned about Catholicism from the time I was a kid going from grade school through high school," Biden said.

In an apparent reference to the pope's critics, Biden said "I have great respect for people who have other religious views but he's just a fine, decent, honourable man, and we keep in touch."

After he met the pope on Friday, Biden said the pontiff had told him he is a "good Catholic" who can receive the sacrament.

Biden did just that when he went to Mass the next evening at St. Patrick's, the English-language church of the American Catholic community in Rome.

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Biden spoke in response to a reporter who asked how he felt about the pope's backing and whether it meant the communion debate should be put to rest.

He answered by heaping praise on the pope as someone "looking to establish peace and decency and honour, not just in the Catholic church but just generically."

Biden choked up as he recalled how when Francis visited the United States in 2015, while Biden was vice president, the pontiff took time to console the extended Biden family over the death of Biden's son Beau earlier that year at the age of 46.

"He didn't just generically talk about it (Beau's death from brain cancer), he knew about it. He knew what he did, he knew who he was, he knew where he went to school, he knew what a man he was," Biden said.

"It had such a cathartic impact on his (Beau's) children, and my wife, our family, it meant a great deal," Biden said.

(Fixes quote in paragraphs 1 and 7 (learned not admire)

(Writing by Philip Pullella; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Giles Elgood)
A Florida foster mother charged with beating and strangling 4-year-old Joy King-Castro to death in August had just four months earlier faced allegations of physically abusing a pair of foster siblings, according to police records.

Child welfare workers in April removed the siblings from Lakeisha Mitchells Titusville foster home and reunified them with their mother ahead of schedule due to the injuries seen" on one of them, records obtained by USA TODAY show.

One sibling had facial abrasions and bruising, a lump on the back of their head where a patch of hair was missing and bruises on their buttocks, an April 20 police report states. An investigator also noted markings on one childs ribs and back that appeared to be from some type of cord or thin instrument.

The children told a Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF ) investigator that Mitchell, 41, spanked them with her hand, belts, shoes and a spatula and that some of the bruises resulted from falls, according to the report. Mitchell was not charged.

The death of Joy King-Castro devastated the caseworker who handled her placement without knowing the 4-year-olds last foster mother had previously faced allegations of abuse. I loved this little girl. She was not just a kid I had to stick in a placement somewhere, said Kirsten Larson. "She was a real person. She was wild, sassy and brilliant."

Despite the allegations, Brevard Family Partnership, a nonprofit that contracts with DCF to oversee child welfare services in Brevard County, placed Joy and another young child with Mitchell in June, according to Joys former caseworker, Kirsten Larson, who came forward to USA TODAY following the newspapers ongoing investigation into Floridas child welfare system.

Larson resigned Monday from her position as care coordinator and housing specialist at Brevard CARES, one of the nonprofits sister agencies that works with parents to prevent child abuse and neglect.

In a letter to Brevard Family Partnership executives that Larson provided to USA TODAY, Larson wrote that she was devastated by the news of Joys death and had even considered offering to foster Joy herself because she had been shuffled between caregivers who didnt seem to know how to connect with her.

I loved this little girl. She was not just a kid I had to stick in a placement somewhere, Larson wrote. "She was a real person. She was wild, sassy and brilliant.

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Larson also laid blame at the feet of agency officials who she said had allowed Mitchell to continue fostering children and withheld their knowledge of Mitchells prior reports from caseworkers.

Their error in judgment cost this child her life, Larson wrote. Joy would still be alive today if we had closed Ms. Mitchells home. Its great that its closed now, but it took the murder of a child to make that happen.

Child welfare and domestic abuse: Florida blames mothers when men batter them  then takes away their children

Partnership CEO Philip Scarpelli declined to comment because the situation remains under investigation. Attempts to contact Mitchells family were unsuccessful. Joys relatives could not be reached or declined to comment.

DCF did not respond to questions about why it did not revoke Mitchells foster license after the April reports.

Lakeisha Mitchell faces first-degree murder charges in the August death of 4-year-old Joy King-Castro. Four months earlier, she was investigated following allegations of physically abusing two other foster children in her care, records show.

Larson told USA TODAY that it was not until she stood at Joys hospital bedside that she learned of the earlier allegations against Mitchell.

When Mitchell was accused of abuse in April  her second such complaint Brevard Family Partnership disciplined her by issuing a corrective action plan that required Mitchell to do little more than watch training videos where they tell you Dont hit kids, Larson said.

In June, one week after Mitchell completed the plan, Partnership placed Joy in her home, Larson said. A 2-year-old child was placed there soon after.

Few foster caregivers face repercussions

The missteps Larson cited in Joys case are not uncommon in Florida.

As USA TODAYs six-part investigation revealed last year, state lawmakers rewrote rules in 2014 to make it easier to seize children from their parents, but they did not have a plan for where to house the growing numbers. As a result, caseworkers placed kids in dangerously overcrowded homes and with foster parents who later faced charges of physical and sexual abuse. Nearly 200 boys and girls were sent to live with foster parents on whom the state had some evidence that abuse had occurred.

In January, a government official who asked not to be identified provided reporters with foster parent corrective action plans, license revocation notices and a spreadsheet of 4,300 abuse hotline complaints against state caregivers from 2015 to 2020  records that DCF officials and executives in charge of nonprofit groups that run the child welfare system on the local level had refused to hand over.

Joy King-Castro was a sweet girl with a sharp intellect who could read people like a book, her caseworker recalled. But she had suffered a lot in her four years and could be difficult to manage. She was a good girl. Wild, but good, Kirsten Larson said. And even if she wasnt, no child deserves to be hurt by anyone but particularly by people who are supposed to be protecting them."

Hundreds of the complaints detailed children being starved, beaten and molested, yet DCF told USA TODAY that the allegations  many of them from teachers, health care professionals and day care workers  did not rise to a level that would trigger an immediate investigation. Instead, they were classified as foster care referrals  potential license violations that may prompt an administrative review.

Among the five years of records were just 58 corrective action plans in which foster parents agreed to take training courses and accept additional monitoring to retain their licenses.

After USA TODAYs investigation in March, DCF conducted an internal audit of more than 1,100 complaints against foster caregivers. The review found that nearly 40% of the allegations were accurate and an additional 21% were partially accurate.

Florida child welfare: State confirms flaws with handling of complaints following USA TODAY story

Caregivers faced few repercussions: Just 1% had their foster license revoked. Another 1% had to complete a corrective action plan.

A former case manager with more than a decade of experience working with foster parents in Central Florida said corrective action plans are meaningless and unenforced.

Asking that she not be identified because she still works in the child welfare system, she recalled a case of a foster family that was accused multiple times of using physical discipline. The caregivers were asked to re-sign paperwork agreeing to not use corporal punishment and complete virtual training.

If you dont follow (the plan), you still get kids, the former case manager said.

'Wild, but good

Joy was a sweet girl with a sharp intellect who could read people like a book, Larson said. The girl also could be difficult to manage, especially for foster parents who expected little well-behaved angels instead of kids who had been through trauma.

Joy was one of those kids, Larson said.

DCF removed Joy and her siblings from their mother because of ongoing physical abuse by the womans partner, who struck the children on their arms, legs and faces with a belt, court records show.

From the time she entered foster care in January, Joy was shuffled among several homes, Larson said.

When Mitchell agreed in June to care for Joy, Larson said she thanked Mitchell for not giving up on the girl. Mitchell seemed incredibly sincere, she said, adding that she never saw indications of abuse during her frequent visits with Joy.

It was not until Mitchells arrest that details of life inside the foster home became public.

More on child welfare in Florida: Florida took thousands of kids from families, then failed to keep them safe.

Mitchell told police on Aug. 23 that Joy threw herself to the ground and pretended her legs didnt work. She said she placed Joy upright and fully clothed in a bathtub of water and left the room because she believed the girl was faking unconsciousness, a probable-cause affidavit states. Mitchell said when she returned to the bathroom, Joy was unresponsive and her face was submerged.

Joy was hospitalized in critical condition and pronounced dead two days later at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando. A medical examiner determined the child died from a combination of brain bleeding caused by blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. There was no evidence of drowning, the affidavit states.

Mitchell told police that Joy had extreme behavioral problems and had been speaking with demons.

At a bail hearing Monday before Judge Samuel Bookhardt III, an attorney for Lakeisha Mitchell said 4-year-old Joy King-Castro claimed falsely that people had hurt her and exhibited "self-injurious behaviors."

Mitchell faces charges for first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm, neglect of a child and child abuse.

At an all-day bond hearing Monday, Mitchells attorney, Jason Wandner, highlighted Joys behavior, quoting a report by an analyst who stated she did not believe Joy could feel empathy or pain like a typical 4-year-old.

The analyst documented Joy falling down, exhibiting self-injurious behaviors and claiming falsely that people had hurt her, Wandner said.

He described Mitchell as a decorated veteran and said police and prosecutors had jumped to conclusions.

Starved, beaten, molested: Reports detail thousands of Florida foster care complaints, yet few caregivers punished

Prosecutors played a deleted video extracted from Mitchells cellphone. The clip showed what Mitchell had described as Joy having an episode, prosecutors said. Mitchell could be heard saying during the recording: I dont even care. Die. Die, bitch, die.

Titusville Police Detective Parker Landis looks over photos shown during a bond hearing for Lakeisha Mitchell. He had questioned Mitchell's statements about leaving 4-year-old Joy King-Castro alone in a bathtub while she was unconscious. "What did you think was going to happen?" he asked her during a recorded interview played in court.

Mitchell remains incarcerated at Brevard County Jail. Her bond hearing is set to continue Dec. 6.

For Larson, the immediate future brings a move out of state and a search for a new job as she grapples with questions of guilt and responsibility.

I just want people to know how simple it would have been to prevent (Joys death), Larson said. She was a good girl. Wild, but good. And even if she wasnt, no child deserves to be hurt by anyone but particularly by people who are supposed to be protecting them.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida foster mom charged with murder faced earlier abuse allegations
US President Joe Biden has vowed a major push to promote democracy worldwide. But since he took office, democracy has faced repeated setbacks.

Among three nations whose democratic transitions had inspired the most hope, Myanmar and Sudan have seen generals roar back, sacking civilian leaders and suppressing street protests, while in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring a decade ago, the president seized wide-ranging powers.

Military juntas have also grabbed power in the West African nations of Guinea, Mali and Chad, while in Afghanistan, Taliban insurgents seized power after a US troop withdrawal brought the quick collapse of the Western-backed government.

While local factors are at play in each country, experts see common trends including economic insecurities exacerbated by Covid-19 and climate change, ruling elites who failed to meet aspirations and the growing role of China, which can support nations shunned by the West.

"There is an increase in attacks on democracy around the world -- and not in the demand for democracy," said Derek Mitchell, the first US ambassador to Myanmar after its transition a decade ago.

"It's a matter of old mindsets dying hard, particularly in militaries where people don't give up power and privilege easily," said Mitchell, now president of the National Democratic Institute, which promotes democracy worldwide.

- 'No magic bullet' -

Fulfilling a campaign promise, Biden has announced a two-part summit of democracies starting in December.

He is drawing a sharp contrast with his predecessor Donald Trump, who openly embraced authoritarian leaders seen as useful and who inspired a violent mob that on January 6 attacked the US Capitol as it certified Biden's victory.

With the possible exception of Afghanistan, where Biden's decision to end the two-decade US war has been hotly debated, few link democracy's woes to the current occupant of the White House.

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"Democracy takes literally decades to consolidate and it takes years to erode. So I think there's very little that any administration could do in the first nine months tangibly moving the needle on global democracy," said Frances Z. Brown, who worked on supporting democracies in Barack Obama's White House.

Crucially, Biden responded quickly to the coups in Myanmar and Sudan including suspending aid, said Brown, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"It shows the United States is watching and it cares. There's no one magic bullet but I think it all matters," she said.

Biden has also taken a distance with Trump allies, halting some military support for Saudi Arabia and leveraging part of its aid to Egypt on human rights progress, although activists say he should go further.

Scott Warren, a visiting fellow at Johns Hopkins University's Agora Institute, said that Biden inviting leaders to a summit was insufficient and that he should prioritize civil society and youth.

"Sometimes the US strategy toward democracies can be very reactive. I think having a more proactive strategy -- what conditions are going to be necessary in the long-term -- is really important," he said.

State Department spokesman Ned Price acknowledged there have been "setbacks in certain countries" on democracy but added, "We will continue to lead that charge."

- 'Shock to system' -

The Economist Democracy Index rated the global state of democracy in 2020 at its lowest since its survey began in 2006, fueled not only by coups but by the rise of right-wing populists in democracies.

Jonathan Powell, an expert in civil-military relations at the University of Central Florida, said the economic blow from Covid-19 has hastened the democratic decay.

"When you have countries that are already dealing with a very delicate balance between authoritarianism and attempting to maintain some form of democratic stability, when you have some sort of a shock to the system, even if it doesn't necessarily seem as bad as what some other countries are dealing with, it can really have a critical impact," he said.

The rise of China has also offered an alternative, he said.

"It's not on the scale that we would have had during the Cold War with the Soviet Union," Powell said.

"But it is a similar dynamic where if you do have one side cut off military or economic assistance, there is a foregone conclusion that you can go to the other side," he said.

Mitchell, the former ambassador, acknowledged the Beijing factor but called it overemphasized, saying Chinese leaders acted opportunistically.

But he said that the United States, with its intense polarization and the January 6 violence, no longer offered the same powerful model.

"Certainly those who are fighting for their own democratic rights are not giving up because the United States can't get its act together," Mitchell said.

"But I think we'd rather have the United States demonstrating how democracy can deliver."

sct/md
Associated Press

Khari Hasan Kalo peered out of the window of the repatriation flight as it touched down in northern Iraq. It's a place he and his family had hoped never to see again after they left for Belarus two months ago, driven by dreams of a new life in Europe. Kalo, 35, had begged for loans and spent his savings on the ill-fated journey to the Belarusian capital of Minsk, the first stop on a journey to the West.
Kyle Rittenhouse, left, in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 25, 2020. He has been charged with killing two men and wounding another that night. (Associated Press )

The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse starts Monday. Whats going on trial isnt just the teenager accused of killing two men during a chaotic night in Kenosha, its also the idea of the self-appointed authority to take up arms  essentially, vigilantism.

Rittenhouse wasnt law enforcement. He wasnt a member of the military. He didnt even live in Wisconsin, let alone the city where civil unrest and protests happened after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Rittenhouse is charged with killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber on Aug. 25, 2020, and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz. He has pleaded not guilty.

But before we hear the prosecutions case or Rittenhouses claims of self-defense, lets be clear about one thing: Rittenhouse was carrying an assault rifle in a state that prohibits minors (Rittenhouse was 17 at the time) from carrying firearms in public, with exceptions for hunting. He has said he went to Kenosha armed to protect businesses from looters.

An acquittal wouldnt just set Rittenhouse free, it would set a legal precedent for other citizens to grab a gun and take the law into their own hands.

You start making that OK and good luck getting that genie back in the bottle in a country with more guns than people.

The truly unnerving thing is that judging from the video footage, law enforcement did not see Rittenhouse as a threat. In fact, before the shootings, officers gave him water as a show of their appreciation. And even after the shootings, even as bystanders yelled at nearby officers about what had happened, Rittenhouse was not seen as a threat. In fact, he just calmly walked away from the scene.

The irony is that had local police viewed Blake  who was shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha officer  in a similar fashion, there would not have been unrest in Kenosha to begin with.

But Blake, who was holding a knife as he was trying to return to his vehicle in broad daylight, was seen as a threat and treated as one. Rittenhouse, who was out patrolling chaotic streets with an assault weapon at night, was not.

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In August, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that prosecutors had a video of Rittenhouse, sitting in a car outside a CVS, saying he that he wished he had his assault rifle so he could shoot at some men leaving the store.

The county prosecutor said in court papers that the video demonstrates that the defendant fervently sought to insert himself as an armed vigilante into situations that had nothing to do with him. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the video proves that the defendant was ready and willing to use deadly force in a situation where it was completely unjustified."

According to the authorities, Rittenhouses friend, Dominick Black, allegedly bought the semiautomatic rifle for Rittenhouse because Rittenhouse was still a minor. Black allegedly asked Rittenhouse to join him on his crusade to protect local businesses.

What about any of this feels like law and order? It's more like a scene from one of The Purge movies, dystopian horror flicks where all crime, including murder, becomes legal once a year.

Rittenhouse and his friend felt they had unbridled power to be enforcers, and that resulted in multiple shooting deaths. To decide this isnt a crime would say more about our future than Rittenhouses.

@LZGranderson





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Iraq war veteran Lavon Johnson, 35, plays his piano inside his tent along Veterans Row on Saturday morning. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Two days before the impending move and Lavon Johnson had yet to pack.

But the Iraq war veteran didn't seem too worried as he sat at the piano he'd rescued from the trash two blocks away. He began to play Beethoven's "Fur Elise" along San Vicente Boulevard near Brentwood. His American flag  held up on one side by a hanger attached to his tent  waved in the breeze.

Johnson planned to be the last one out of the Veterans Row encampment, where he has lived for about a year. His way of ensuring that the nearly two dozen unhoused veterans remaining made it out safe before a scheduled cleanup on Monday.

"It never takes me long to get ready," the 35-year-old said with a quick smile.

The encampment, adjacent to the historic Veterans Affairs campus in West Los Angeles, has become a focal point for homelessness in the city, with mayoral candidates making visits regularly over the last year. The last census of homeless people in Los Angeles County found roughly 3,900 homeless veterans among the countys total of 66,000 people without housing.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, who visited the encampment in October, said last week that the about 40 veterans from Veterans Row would be housed by November.

Emily Mohoroska, 31, has been living on Veterans Row since February. At right is U.S. Army veteran Robert Reynolds, 33, and his dog Diva on Saturday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Already by Saturday, 14 people had moved from the sidewalk into tents on the sprawling VA campus, said Robert Reynolds, a veteran advocate with AMVETS. Another three have registered to go in, but have not yet moved.

Reynolds credited the movement to media attention, McDonough's visit and the two deaths tied to Veterans Row.

"It's very frustrating that it's taken this long," said Reynolds, an Army veteran. This whole thing is a disservice to the veterans and a disservice to the taxpaying community, because these guys are supposed to have benefits. This property is intended for them. They should be housed here. Theres no reason they should be all over the streets.

All Johnson has known throughout his life is the military.

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Born in Germany to parents in the Army, Johnson went on to enlist in the same branch in June 2004. He was stationed in Ft. Hood and deployed to Iraq in 2006 and 2007.

If you ask him when and how he got to California, he'll tell you he doesn't remember. But he can recall what's happened since he's been here. Especially the year he's spent living in the Veterans Row encampment.

"It's like I was sent here," Johnson said, as he looked at the 20 remaining tents along the sidewalk.

Asked why he thought it took so long to get the veterans help, Johnson is quick to answer: "Pride. Money. Nobody wants to admit a mistake was made."

Around 11 a.m., Johnson rode his bike alongside the tents, popping his head in to check with some of the veterans. He passed more than a dozen flags and a few signs notifying everyone of the scheduled cleanup.

To those along the line, Johnson is considered the protector. He often stays up at night to make sure everyone is safe. A reminder of the danger is scrawled in blue on a wall: RIP Andre.

This site was connected with two homicides within six months this year. In April, Pedro Flores, 34, was arrested on suspicion of murder and assault with a deadly weapon after he ran over a person living in the encampment, allegedly dragging the mans body 200 yards under his vehicle. In September, the encampment was the site of a stabbing that killed an unhoused male veteran.

Reynolds has had more than one nightmare about veterans getting killed along the street. The Iraq war veteran once slept in a sleeping bag along the street after not being allowed into a VA program in 2018 because of his service dog.

"I saw veterans all over the sidewalk, no outreach coming out, police coming through and removing them every couple of weeks," the 33-year-old said. I grew up in a large military family and was always taught to respect veterans. And so seeing this struck the deepest chord. I just couldnt believe I was seeing people that went to combat sleeping on the sidewalk and dying out here.

A sign in support of housing homeless vets rests outside a tent. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Outside the tents were signs posted about the plight of homeless veterans: "We fought for you please fight for us." Black storage bins were placed outside tents with a sheet to document inventory for the move.

Reynolds has helped set up 20 tents on the VA campus, including new cots, blankets and towels for those moving in from Veterans Row. A U-Haul will arrive Monday to help load up everyone's belongings in order to place them in storage, if needed.

Ronald Estrada-Ortiz, a Marine Corps veteran, got moved onto the VA campus two days ago. He was able to bring clothing and two backpacks with him.

Estrada-Ortiz enlisted when he was 18  he graduated from high school on a Wednesday and was a Marine by that Friday  motivated by the events of 9/11.

"I bleed red, white and blue," he said. "I love this country."

A homeless veteran sits outside his tent along Veterans Row. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

But he expressed frustration at the length of time it took for veterans to get help, calling it "a money issue." He also questioned misperceptions community members might have about the unhoused.

"We just got dealt the wrong hand," the 35-year-old said.

When ask when he's supposed to move, Johnson said he is winging it. He doesn't like making plans anymore.

"Everyone wants me in there," he said, from his place at the piano. He doesn't really want to move, but he'd go though because, as he jokes, "these guys can't watch out for themselves."

He only plans on taking the "bare necessities" with him. That includes the piano he rescued six months ago.

He points out an information booth on the VA campus. His piano's new home.

U.S. Army Veteran David Lawrence Echavarria, 60, zips up one of many tents on the VA campus that will house homeless vets currently living on Veterans Row. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The US Department of Justice has reached an $88 million settlement of lawsuits filed by the families of nine slain churchgoers who were shot by self-proclaimed white supremacist Dylann Roof in Charleston, South Carolina, six years ago.

The victims  Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cynthia Hurd, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Ethel Lance, Susie Jackson, Myra Thompson, and Rev. Daniel Simmons  were attending an evening service at the historically Black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church when Roof gunned down the congregants.



Nine victims of the Charleston church shooting. Top row: Cynthia Hurd, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton Middle row: Daniel Simmons, Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders Bottom row: Myra Thompson, Ethel Lee Lance, Susie Jackson. Collage courtesy of NBC News.

Their families, 14 plaintiffs, filed a series of lawsuits against the FBI for negligence arguing the incident may have been prevented if the agencys background check picked up on Roofs felony charge.

It never did. Instead, after submitting his information and waiting three days  the time period in which the FBI could have blocked the purchase of a firearm while the check was completed  Roof purchased a Glock 41. Two months later he targeted the Black church.

According to the DOJ, families of those killed will receive settlements ranging from $6 million to $7.5 million, and survivors will receive settlements of $5 million.

The mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church was a horrific hate crime that caused immeasurable suffering for the families of the victims and the survivors, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

Since the day of the shooting, the Justice Department has sought to bring justice to the community, first by a successful hate crime prosecution and today by settling civil claims.

Rev. Pickneys daughter says the DOJs decision helps move the needle forward in the country acknowledging racism.

For the first time, I think, in so long  as a young African American woman to see the government acknowledge the fact that racism still exists and how prevalent it is in our community and then actively try to combat it in every way that they can and to acknowledge that gun violence is an issue and to do everything they can to correct a mistake  is so important, she said.

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In 2017 Roof pleaded guilty to nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and a weapons charge for the massacre he spent months planning. He became the first person in US history to be sentenced to death for committing a federal hate crime.

In August 2021 he unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and sentence. In their ruling, a panel of three judges said Roof slaughtered nine Black people who welcomed him to worship.

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 would hear of the mass murder.
Oct. 30INDIANA, Pa.  An Indiana County man charged with delivering a fatal dose of heroin to another man in 2019 is in jail after being apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.

Andrew Kirk Rankin, 33, was taken into custody in Indiana County by federal law enforcement officials  after spending nearly two months on the run on drug delivery involving death charges and several other felonies related to the overdose.

At the time those charges were filed, Indiana County District Attorney Robert Manzi Jr. said that was the first time someone was criminally charged with being responsible for another person's overdose in the county. A two-year investigation that included electronic record searches enabled it to occur.

"The charge of Drug Delivery Resulting in Death is a challenging one to prove," Manzi said in a press release. "Typically, people involved in the drug trade do not leave behind much evidence of who they sell to or where they purchase drugs."

Manzi said investigators were able to obtain evidence of conversations between Rankin and the overdose victim about an agreement to sell the drug. Later, attempts were made to sell stamp bags of the drug to other people with the same personalized markings on the heroin the deceased Indiana County man used.

Rankin was arraigned before on-call Magistrate Robert Bell Sr. and transported to Indiana County Jail in lieu of $100,00 bail.

His preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 10, online court documents showed Saturday.
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand  On Saturday, New Zealand reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases in a single day: 160.

The South Pacific island nation has been virtually free of the virus for most of the pandemic, eliminating it through a combination of border restrictions, quarantine requirements, testing, contact tracing and extended lockdowns. In August, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered a nationwide lockdown after the discovery of a single case, the countrys first in six months.

More than two months later, the lockdown continues in Auckland, New Zealands largest city, but the outbreak driven by the more contagious delta variant of the virus has grown to more than 3,000 cases.

With little hope of getting back to zero Covid, New Zealand is now moving away from its policy, following other Asia-Pacific countries like Australia and Singapore in trying to find a way to live with the virus after largely evading it for so long.

Lockdown measures are set to end once 90 percent of those 12 and older have been fully vaccinated, which is expected by the end of next month. But as restrictions are eased the number of cases is expected to soar, and critics say a higher price will be paid by New Zealands minority communities, including the Indigenous Maori population.

Compared with New Zealanders overall, Maori have higher rates of poverty, less access to health care and are more likely to live in larger households where the virus can spread more easily.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern receives her first Pfizer Covid vaccine in Auckland, in June 2021. (Alex Burton / AP file)

Were just on the precipice of seeing a lot of Maori die, Indigenous rights activist Joe Trinder said.

New Zealands lack of cases has kept its Covid-19 death toll among the lowest in the world, at 28. But government modeling suggests that by next year the number of cases in the greater Auckland area could reach 5,300 a week, almost as many as New Zealand has recorded since the pandemic began.

That has raised concerns for Maori and Pacific Islanders, another minority group, both of whom are concentrated in Auckland. The two groups account for about a quarter of New Zealands population but three-quarters of cases and hospitalizations in the current outbreak. They also have lower vaccination rates, with just over half of eligible Maori fully inoculated compared with more than 73 percent of the overall population.

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Theres going to be a lot of tangi, Trinder said, using the Maori word for funerals.

Health workers and a Maori warden at a Covid testing site in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Adam Bradley / Sipa USA via AP)

Dr. Michael Baker, an epidemiologist at Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand, blamed social inequities for the recent spread of delta among Maori and Pacific Islanders.

Many were living in precarious housing, he said, in some cases with mental illness and alcohol and drug dependence. Contact tracing proved very difficult in these populations, and infections continued to spread despite a huge outbreak control effort.

Government medical advisers have argued that a high inoculation rate will limit the number and severity of virus cases as more New Zealanders are exposed to the disease, preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed as they have been in the United States.

Ninety to 95 percent of people who get Covid-19 will have a mild viral illness which requires no treatment but will need monitoring, usually at home, one adviser, Dr. Jeff Lowe, said this month.

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Sally Dalhousie, chief operating officer of The Fono, an affordable health care provider in Auckland, said such a plan places the burden on the community.

It works if you have a small family and a reasonably sized home, she said. When youve got a whole lot of people crammed into a small home, its just not a feasible solution.

Critics say New Zealands lockdowns have been disastrous for low-income households in other ways as well. Even before the August outbreak, estimates by the Auckland-based Child Poverty Action Group suggested 18,000 more children were pushed into poverty as a result of the first lockdown last year. Maori and Pacific Islanders bore the brunt of this wave, the group said.

Officials said last week that more low-income households had been made eligible for weekly cash grants.

They also announced tens of millions in spending to increase the Maori vaccination rate, which got a big boost this month at a Super Saturday mass vaccination drive for all New Zealanders. But efforts have been hindered by the spread of vaccine misinformation among Maori and Pacific Islanders, who Trinder said have a high level of distrust toward the government based on their experiences of injustice and oppression.

Candice Luke of Pataka Kai, a national food pantry program, said she hesitated to tell fellow Maori that she had been vaccinated until someone more senior than me got it.

If youre part of a larger community, like a church group or a cultural group, and theyve made a collective decision not to vaccinate, its very difficult to go against the grain because thats your support system, thats your family, said Luke, who lives in Auckland.

Auckland's Pacific Communities Encouraged To Get COVID-19 Vaccine At Pop-Up Drive-Through Clinics (Hannah Peters / Getty Images)

Experts say efforts to vaccinate Maori against Covid-19 have been most successful when they are led by respected members of the community. In Te Whanau a Apanui, a Maori community on the North Island, more than 70 percent of residents had been fully vaccinated even before the August outbreak, said Dr. Rachel Thomson, a general practitioner at the local health clinic.

Thomson said the clinic worked with the community, including the local tribal council, to inoculate selected members of each of the 13 hapu, or subtribes, who then spread the word to others.

If Maori nationwide had been empowered to provide a service to their own early, she said, we would be in a better position.
Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique will miss Tuesday's crucial Champions League clash against Dynamo Kiev with a calf injury, the club said on Sunday.

"Tests this morning confirmed first-team player Gerard Pique has a right calf strain and will be out for the forseeable future," the club said on their web site.

The statement did not say how long Pique was expected to be out.

Pique limped off in the 70th minute on Saturday as Barcelona drew 1-1 at home against Alaves in La Liga in the team's first outing since the sacking of coach Ronald Koeman. He was replaced by Clement Lenglet. The result left Barcelona ninth in the table.

Barcelona are third in Champions League Group E after losing their first two games 3-0 to Bayern Munich and Benfica and then beating Kiev 1-0, with a goal from Pique, at the Camp Nou.

They have three points, one behind Benfica.

gr/iga/pb/nr
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday questioned the U.S.' political will to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, saying that President Biden could simply issue an "executive order" on the matter if he wished to, Reuters reported.

Why it matters: Amir-Abdollahian's comments come only a day after Biden and the leaders of Germany, France and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement urging Iran to return to nuclear negotiations soon to avoid a dangerous escalation.

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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," the leaders said.

The leaders reiterated their determination that Iran should not develop a nuclear weapon and expressed concerns about the country's latest nuclear advances.

What he's saying: Iranian officials have said that the progress in the country's nuclear program is reversible if the U.S. lifts its sanctions, per Reuters.

"It is enough for Biden to issue an executive order tomorrow and they [U.S. officials] announce they are rejoining the pact from the point where his predecessor left the deal," said Amir-Abdollahian, according to Reuters.

"If there is a serious will in Washington to return to the deal, there is no need for all these negotiations at all," he added.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the negotiations with Iran during an appearance Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"We still believe diplomacy is the best path forward for putting the nuclear program back in the box it had been in under the agreement," Blinken said.

He also warned that the U.S. is looking at "other options if Iran is not prepared to engage quickly in good faith" to return to the deal.

"Iran, unfortunately, is moving forward aggressively with its program," Blinken noted.

The big picture: The U.S. pulled out of the Iran deal in 2018 under the Trump administration, and Iranian government officials then violated the limits placed on its nuclear program.

The Vienna talks to return to the deal have been frozen since Iran's new hardline president was elected in June.

Last week, Iran's new chief nuclear negotiator said the nation would resume negotiations in Vienna before the end of November, with the exact date to be set this week.

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Update: Aaron Coleman on Monday was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery in Johnson County.

Kansas Rep. Aaron Coleman, who has a history of alleged abusive behavior, was arrested Saturday night on a charge of domestic battery.

Overland Park police took Coleman into custody at 8:15 p.m. Saturday and he was booked into the Johnson County Jail at 12:45 a.m. Sunday, according to jail records.

Colemans arrest prompted new calls for his resignation.

The 21-year-old Democratic lawmaker has been accused multiple times of inappropriate behavior, including by a former girlfriend who said he slapped and choked her. The circumstances of Saturdays arrest werent immediately known.

Coleman appeared to remain in custody as of Sunday afternoon, according to jail records. A call to his phone went unanswered. He is set to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

The episode led to fresh demands for Colemans resignation on Sunday. House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, called the developments extremely disturbing news.

We are watching closely to make sure we gather all the facts. His constituents and the State of Kansas would be better served if he were to resign and get the help he badly needs, Sawyer said in a statement. However, I want to reiterate again that the House Democratic Caucus does not condone this behavior in any way, shape, or form.

The freshman lawmaker already faced a legislative inquiry earlier this year over allegations of inappropriate behavior, but the investigating committee ultimately issued only an informal letter of warning that amounted to a mild reprimand. At the time, lawmakers involved in the inquiry noted that the alleged behavior had occurred before he was elected.

Just months later, Coleman now faces allegations of criminal behavior while in office.

House Speaker Ron Ryckman, an Olathe Republican, said that given what little information is known, I am concerned for everyone involved.

I know that law enforcement will thoroughly investigate and assess the situation so that we can take appropriate action, Ryckman said in a statement.

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Coleman broke into Kansas politics in 2020 with an upset primary defeat of Rep. Stan Frownfelter in Kansas City, Kansas. Allegations of abusive behavior were made public, but Coleman, running in a heavily Democratic district, faced no Republican opponent on the ballot.

He ran as a left-wing candidate, supporting progressive policies that have virtually no chance of advancing in the Republican-controlled Legislature. But since before his election, accusations of personal misconduct and episodes of bizarre behavior have dominated the attention paid to him, turning him into a quasi-outcast in the House.

Earlier in October, the Kansas Department of Labor warned Coleman to stay away from its Topeka headquarters after the agency said he repeatedly tried to gain access to employee-only parts of the building.

But the most serious concerns about Coleman have often centered on his behavior in relationships, in particular his relationships with women. Before Coleman took office in early 2021, seven incoming Democratic legislators -- all women -- called on him to resign. They demanded Coleman face accountability for violence against women.

Coleman has previously been under a temporary order not to communicate with the former campaign manager of a political opponent, who had said Coleman sent her harassing messages, came to her home twice and tried to get her evicted. A former staff member in Sawyers office has also described threats Coleman made against her and that he had called her and threatened physical violence against Sawyer before the election.

Coleman has previously tweeted that Gov. Laura Kelly would face an extremely bloody Democratic primary. People will realize one day when I call a hit out on you its real, he tweeted. He later deleted the tweet.

Coleman has rejected previous calls for his resignation. But if he were to resign, Democratic precinct committee members in his district -- House District 37 -- would choose his replacement.

The process for forcefully removing Coleman from the House is potentially arduous. Any legislator can file a complaint to trigger an investigation. The investigating committee could recommend the House censure or expel Coleman. Expelling Coleman would then take a two-thirds vote of the House.

Coleman is the third Kansas legislator to face allegations of criminal conduct this year. Rep. Mark Samsel, a Wellsville Republican, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after he allegedly kicked a student in the groin while substitute teaching. And Sen. Gene Suellentrop, a Wichita Republican, drove the wrong way down I-70 in Topeka while drunk. He pleaded guilty in October to driving under the influence and reckless driving.

More information should be gathered and then we should ascertain what action needs to be taken at that point and then when we have made that decision on how to move forward I hope that the majority party moves with us. Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat, said.

There really has been a rash of inappropriate behavior from legislators in a bipartisan, bicameral situation and no ones going to trust us, and they shouldnt until we start holding people accountable in the same way that we would hold other people.
A man brandishing a knife on a Tokyo commuter train stabbed several passengers before starting a fire, which sent people scrambling to escape and jumping from windows, police and witnesses said.

The Tokyo Fire Department said 17 passengers were injured, including three seriously.

Not all of them were stabbed and most of the injuries were not serious, the agency said.

The attacker, only identified as a man in his 20s, was arrested on the spot and was being investigated on suspicion of attempted murder, NHK said.

His motive was not immediately known.

Nippon Television reported that the suspect told police he used an earlier train stabbing case as an example.

NHK said witnesses told police that the attacker was wearing a bright outfit, a green shirt, a blue suit and a purple coat, and looked like a comic book character or someone going to a Halloween event.

Tokyo police officials said the attack happened inside the Keio train near the Kokuryo station.

Television footage showed a number of firefighters, police officials and paramedics rescuing the passengers, many of whom escaped through train windows.

In one video, passengers were running from another car, where flames were gushing.

NHK said the suspect, after stabbing passengers, poured a liquid resembling oil and set fire, which partially burned seats.

Shunsuke Kimura, who filmed the video, told NHK that he saw passengers desperately running and while he was trying to figure out what happened, he heard an explosive noise and saw smoke wafting.

He also jumped from a window but fell on the platform and hurt his shoulder.

Train doors were closed and we had no idea what was happening, and we jumped from the windows, Mr Kimura said.

It was horrifying.

The attack was the second involving a knife on a Tokyo train in two months.

In August, the day before the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony, a 36-year-old man stabbed 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo in a random burst of violence.

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The suspect later told police that he wanted to attack women who looked happy.

While shooting deaths are rare in Japan, the country has had a series of high-profile knife killings in recent years.

In 2019, a man carrying two knives attacked a group of schoolgirls waiting at a bus stop just outside Tokyo, killing two people and injuring 17 before killing himself.

In 2018, a man killed a passenger and injuring two others in a knife attack on a bullet train.

In 2016, a former employee at a home for the disabled killed 19 people and injured more than 20.
With shipping delays mounting and cargo piling up at Los Angeles County ports, local officials are tightening the rules on lingering shipping containers that surround the docks , part of an effort to ease congestion of freighter ships anchored along Southern Californias coast.

Beginning Nov. 1, carriers will be charged $100 per container, with the fee increasing $100 per container per day  but the fee will not be assessed until Nov. 15.

Collected fees will be reinvested by the ports in programs to increase efficiency and address congestion, according to the announcement.

This is not intended as a pass-on cost, rather it's intended as let's move the cargo, Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach Executive Director, said in a press conference on Wednesday. In an effort to ease the logjam, Long Beach recently relaxed rules that constrained the amount of cargo-staking at ports.

The global supply chain crisis has heightened the need for local ports to make room for bottlenecked cargo. The terminals are running out of space. We need to make room in our terminals, approximately 530,000 container units are sitting on those waiting ships, Cordero added.

In response, the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced days ago that ocean carriers will be charged for every container that overstays their visit within the port complex: nine days or more if being moved by truck, and three days or more if being moved by rail.

Cordero said that 30 to 40% of the cargo on the marine terminals have been there longer than 9 days.

Were trying to protect our own

A sign blocks trucks from entering in Wilmington, near a key port in Long Beach. The port has been one of 2 backlogged Southern California hubs at the center of a worsening supply chain crisis.

Meanwhile, the lack of shortage space for containers has fed a major bottleneck at Southern California ports. Empty containers are piled up at truck yards, outside warehouses  and some are even dumped on the side of the road.

Truckers, however, insist it's a function of the port crisis, rather than negligence on their part.

They are on the streets because nobody is receiving, said Carlos Rameriz, a truck driver, in an interview with Yahoo Finance.

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Drivers don't care. They just drop it on the street. There's a bunch of empty containers on Washington Street because the [ports] have no place to put them and they get tickets, after tickets, I dont know who pays for them, Rameriz added.

Some of those empty containers are sitting on chassis because theres no other space as Rameriz has described. The congestion has also caused drivers to idle with unattended trucking trailers because unloading containers from the ships has been going pretty slow, according to observers .

Its become a vicious cycle as a flood of imports continue to swamp Southern Californias beleaguered ports ahead of the holiday. And with overflow at the ports, containers are finding their way to residential streets.

Unattended chassis litter a street in Wilmington, near a key port in Long Beach. The port has been one of 2 backlogged Southern California hubs at the center of a worsening supply chain crisis.

One accident in particular was the source of a scary sight for one neighborhood, after a shipping container flattened a car after falling off a truck. No one was injured but it happened in Wilmington, near the Port of Los Angeles, where the oceanic gridlock is leading to a similar effect on the streets.

It's a very ugly hazard, Vivian Martinez, a Wilmington resident, told Yahoo Finance in an interview.

Residents living near the ports have complained about the encroachment of containers and how trucks are backed up in the streets at all hours, even before Long Beach eased its zoning rules.

They won't park here. We don't allow it. If they try to come through here, I'll go out with a trashcan or our cars, [it makes] the trucker go all the way back, Martinez said.

Residents like Martinez have had enough of this long time problem that has exploded since the pandemic. Some have erected barriers on both ends of the street, with signs that say No Trucks  the latest chapter in a crisis that stems in part from unintended consequences of local ordinances designed to allay residential concerns .

Were trying to protect our own, Martinez added.

Officials have responded to these concerns by cracking down on businesses for stacking containers in violation of local zoning laws.

Law enforcement has issued over 400 citations for illegally parked trucks with containers, L.A. City Councilmember Joe Buscaino, told Yahoo Finance in a statement.

My office is actively working with the Port of Los Angeles to identify viable parcels of Port owned land in industrial areas to store containers and conduct trucking operations away from neighboring residential areas, Buscaino added.

Buscaino noted that he found some success in identifying parcels, and his next step is to identify an operator who can facilitate the organization of containers being processed at these new locations.

This follows Governor Gavin Newsoms executive order that aims to ease the backlog. He directed government agencies to look for state-owned properties that could temporarily store goods coming into the ports.

Newsom asked the state's Department of General Services to review potential sites by Dec. 15, but its still unclear if L.A. will follow Long Beachs lead in relaxing container stacking rules.

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @daniromerotv

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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
Oct. 30COLUMBUS  Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA, director of the Ohio Department of Health, announced on Thursday additional quarantine options, "Mask to Stay" and "Mask to Play," for school districts and local health departments across the state.

Out-of-school quarantining has the unintended consequence of reducing in-school learning and can place an added strain on parents, schools and local health departments, the department said in a news release.

"While vaccination and masking remain critical components of ensuring a safe school environment, to support in-school learning, we offer an in-school alternative to out-of-school quarantining for students and school staff exposed to COVID-19 in school settings and during school-related activities," Vanderhoff said. "Those exposed outside of school-related activities, such as in the household, should continue to follow standard quarantine guidelines."

The proposed changes incorporate mask-wearing and testing to reduce the chance of spread of COVID-19 within structured school settings and provide a safe alternative to out-of-school quarantine.

The options below only apply to direct contacts in a school environment  those individuals who are identified as being directly exposed to COVID-19 by a positive case in a classroom or other school setting. COVID-19 is spread through sneezing, coughing, talking and breathing.

The best practices for distancing are three feet, with everyone masked, and six feet, if not masked. Tests can be either PCR or antigen tests, but they must be proctored or observed. The full guidance is available at https://tinyurl.com/3tby34b5

"The 'Mask to Stay' and 'Test to Play' options are informed by a growing body of national experience, as well as from a pilot in Warren County, and experience shared by other local health departments pointing toward a low number of direct contacts that convert to cases within school settings," Vanderhoff said.

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Mask To Stay

Direct contacts in a school environment, regardless of vaccination or masking status, may remain in the classroom environment if they:

1. Wear a mask for 14 days after their last date of exposure.

2. Self-monitor, or parent-monitor, for symptoms of COVID-19.

3. Isolate and get tested if they start to experience symptoms associated with COVID-19 (regardless of level of severity).

4. Consistent with guidance for others quarantining in lower-risk environments, students and staff may discontinue these quarantine procedures after seven days  if they meet two basic criteria: one  they don't develop symptoms, and two  they test negative between days 5-7.

While parents and students are responsible for symptom monitoring, if school staff or school nurses see a child exhibiting symptoms they should act accordingly.

Test to Play

Asymptomatic contacts in a school environment may continue to participate in extracurricular activities if they:

1. Wear a mask when able. This includes wearing a mask during transportation, such as traveling on a team bus to and from games; while in locker rooms; while sitting or standing on the sidelines; and any time the mask will not interfere with breathing, the activity in which they are participating, or create a safety hazard.

2. Test on initial notification of exposure to COVID-19.

3. Test again between days 5-7 following exposure to COVID-19. If they are negative at this time, they will test out of quarantine after day 7 and can resume normal activities.

School districts are also encouraged to consider same-day testing for athletic competitions where there is the potential of school-to-school exposure.

Those who are fully vaccinated, as well as those who consistently wear masks in school, can already remain in the classroom if exposed to COVID-19 in a school setting.

There are many opportunities in Ohio to be vaccinated, including walk-in and scheduled appointments statewide at pharmacies, federally qualified health centers, doctor's offices, community vaccination sites, and local health departments. There is ample supply of vaccine for boosters, as well as first and second doses, for Ohioans. Ohioans can check their eligibility and book an appointment online at gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov or by calling 1-833-427-5634.

Ohioans who want to learn more about the safety, efficacy, and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines should talk to their doctor, nurse, or pharmacist, or visit coronavirus.ohio.gov/vaccine to learn more.
Brazilian authorities said Sunday that nine firefighters had died in a cave after the roof collapsed while they were training inside.

The accident occurred as a group of 26 firefighters were on a training exercise in a cave near the city of Altinopolis, the Sao Paulo fire department said on Twitter.

"There were 9 dead and one person rescued. There are no more victims at the site," it said.

Earlier, officials had said there were three dead and six missing. The identities of the victims were not disclosed.

A previous report from the Altinopolis mayor's office said 15 firefighters were still buried, and that three of the victims who were rescued suffered fractures and hypothermia.

Five people in total were taken to a local hospital and discharged, according to the mayor's office.

Police and emergency health teams had joined firefighters earlier Sunday in a desperate effort to free those still trapped, but the work was hampered by heavy rains.

Access to the remote site was difficult, and threats of new collapses complicated the rescue attempts.

Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria had said on Twitter he would provide "all the support and resources necessary for the rescue of the victims."

Speaking to GloboNews, Cristina Trifoni, mother of one of the instructors participating in the training event, explained that the group had planned to spend the night inside the cave.

"What happened is that the entrance to the place they were in collapsed. I'm desperate," she said, standing next to relatives of other firefighters who anxiously awaited word on the rescue effort.

Altinopolis is known for its caves, a major regional tourist attraction.

jm/bbk-to/mdl
Tonga NEIL SANDS/AFP via Getty Images

Five hundred and ninety-seven days after the World Health Organization first identified the novel coronavirus as a pandemic, the small island nation of Tonga has confirmed its very first case of COVID-19, NPR reports.

Tonga's Prime Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa said that the positive case came from a traveler who'd arrived in the country on a flight from Christchurch, New Zealand, on Wednesday and had been isolating in a quarantine hotel. The traveler was reportedly fully vaccinated and had a negative test result prior to leaving for Tonga. "We should use this time to get ready in case more people are confirmed they have the virus," Tu'i'onetoa reportedly said in an address to the nation.

Tonga has a population of about 105,700 people, making it roughly the size of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Its geographical isolation, in the South Pacific, is a large part of what has helped it to avoid a major outbreak  though it's also been a matter of luck. Fiji, which lies about 500 miles to the west of Tonga, was hard hit by the Delta variant in April.

Prior to the news of the New Zealand traveler testing positive, only about 49 percent of Tongans had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Tonga's Minister of Health, 'Amelia Tuipulotu, said citizens have since rushed to get their shots and "now we have coverage of first dose of about 86 percent and a second dose of about 62 percent."

The Pacific nations of Tuvalu and Nauru are now the only countries in the world to have credibly not reported any COVID-19 cases, CNN reports.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  The U.S. Air Force said Sunday it flew a B-1B strategic bomber over key maritime chokepoints in the Mideast with allies including Israel amid ongoing tensions with Iran as its nuclear deal with world powers remains in tatters.

The B-1B Lancer bomber flew Saturday over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes. It also flew over the Red Sea, its narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Egypts Suez Canal.

The Strait of Hormuz has been the scene of attacks on shipping blamed on Iran in recent years, while the Red Sea has seen similar assaults amid an ongoing shadow war between Tehran and Israel. The Islamic Republic has denied being involved in the attacks, though it has promised to take revenge on Israel for a series of attacks targeting its nuclear program.

Fighter jets from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia flew alongside the bomber.

Iranian state media did not immediately acknowledge the flyover. Irans mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The flyover comes after a pattern of such flights by nuclear-capable B-52 bombers since the Trump administration as a show of force to Iran. Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew America from Irans 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Tehran agree to drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

In the time since, Iran has abandoned all the limits of the deal and drastically reduced the ability of international inspectors to keep watch over their program. While Iran insists its program is peaceful, the U.S. intelligence agencies, Western inspectors and others say Tehran had a structured military nuclear weapons program through the end of 2003.

President Joe Biden has said hes willing to re-enter the nuclear deal, but talks in Vienna have stalled as a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took over as president. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday he still saw hope for diplomacy in this situation.

Biden sending a B1-B bomber into the region allows him to send a clear message of reassurance to regional allies, as the U.S. Air Forces Central Command put it on Twitter. But it doesnt involved a nuclear-capable bomber.

The B-1B came from the 37th Bomb Squadron based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.


(Bloomberg) -- Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said U.S. gasoline prices could decline by early December and singled out OPEC as a reason for why Americans have been paying more at the pump.

Most Read from Bloomberg

That oil market is controlled by a cartel, Granholm said on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday. That cartel is OPEC. OPEC controls more than 50% of the petroleum supply and more than 90% of the petroleum reserve.

In addition, the oil and gas industry cant flip the switch after coming out of a pandemic, she said.

Granholms comments came as President Joe Biden attended a Group of 20 summit in Rome, where a U.S. official told reporters that the countrys talking to other energy-consuming nations about how to press OPEC+ to boost output. Still, Granholm refrained from any signal that the administration might draw on the nations Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Read: As Oil Races Toward $100, Consumers Tell OPEC+ Enough Is Enough

She cited a projection by the U.S. Energy Information Administration that prices should come down at the pump to $3.05 by the beginning of December.

Well see if that actually happens, she said on NBC. But theyre the best objective data that we have.

Earlier Than Expected

Granholms comments suggest a faster timeline than one outlined by Biden, who said on Oct. 21 he expects gas prices to stay high into next year. He cited policies by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other foreign producers.

As of Saturday, the national average daily price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.40, compared with $2.14 a year earlier, according to data compiled by the American Automobile Association.

Asked whether the administration is considering releasing oil from the strategic reserve before the end of the year, Granholm said Biden has a series of tools at his disposal, though theyre limited because it is a global market.

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Ill let the president make that decision and make that announcement, she said.

The U.S. Energy Department said in early October it has no plans at this time to tap into the nations oil reserves. The assurance followed a Financial Times report that Granholm had raised the prospect of releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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By Michael Martina

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States is delivering an additional 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan, a senior U.S. administration official told Reuters, increasing to 4 million the total number of shots donated by Washington to the self-ruled island, which is under increasing pressure from China.

The new delivery of Moderna Inc doses will depart from Louisville, Kentucky, on Sunday aboard a flight belonging to Taiwan's China Airlines, the official said.

"Our vaccines do not come with strings attached" and were not donated to "secure favors or extract concessions," the Biden administration official said, in an apparent reference to criticism that Beijing is trying to strengthen its geopolitical clout through so-called vaccine diplomacy.

The official added that Taiwan was a "vital partner" on global health issues.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen thanked the United States and said the donation showed that the U.S. support for Taiwan was "rock-solid."

"Based on the solid foundation of this friendship, Taiwan will continue to deepen partnership with the United States on all fronts," she said in a Facebook post late on Sunday

The United States gave 2.5 million doses to the island claimed by China in June, making it among the first international recipients of U.S. vaccines.

At the time, U.S. officials said China was attempting to block vaccine purchases by Taiwan for political reasons, which Beijing denied.

Japan, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania also have donated COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan, where about 70% of the population has received at least one dose, according to Taiwan media. Only about 30% of the country's 24 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Under pressure to share its coronavirus vaccine supply with the rest of the world, the United States has donated 200 million doses to more than 100 countries, the White House said earlier in October.

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Taiwan, a key hub in the straining global technology supply chain, grew at its slowest pace since the second quarter of 2020 in the July-September period as coronavirus curbs to contain a local outbreak hit consumption.

The United States, which like most countries has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, has watched its rising tensions with Beijing with alarm. President Joe Biden's administration has vowed to boost ties with the island, which under U.S. law Washington is required to supply with the means of defense.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; additional reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Diane Craft)
A US Air Force bomber escorted by fighter jets from allies including Israel has flown over key waterways in the Middle East where American and Iranian naval vessels have faced off.

The B-1B Lancer passed over the Gulf, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Suez Canal and Gulf of Oman, the US Central Command, or Centcom, said in a statement Saturday.

It also flew over the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for a fifth of world oil output at the head of the Gulf that Iran considers a strategic area of influence.

"The bomber task force mission... was intended to deliver a clear message of reassurance," Centcom said.

Fighter jets from Israel, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, all US allies opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran, escorted the US bomber over their respective airspaces.

"Military readiness for any contingency or mission - from crisis response to multilateral exercises to one-day presence patrols like this - depend on reliable partnerships," said Centcom commander General Frank McKenzie, the head of US forces in the Middle East.

Egyptian fighter jets also accompanied the B-1B, a supersonic bomber that can carry the heaviest conventional payload of all the US military's planes.

In January, a US B-52 bomber, also capable of carrying nuclear weapons, flew over the Middle East.

Since February, Iran and Israel have been accused of engaging in what analysts have called a "shadow war", in which vessels linked to each nation have come under attack in waters around the Gulf in tit-for-tat exchanges.

The regional patrol, Centcom's fifth such operation this year, comes as talks aimed at reviving the 2015 deal to limit Iran's nuclear program have stalled.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly offered to return to the nuclear accord, but his administration has voiced growing frustration over delays after a hardline government took office in Iran.

Then-president Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and imposed sweeping sanctions, leading Iran to step up contested nuclear work in retaliation.

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Two months after refusing to intervene, the US Supreme Court is to hear challenges on Monday to a Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

The nine-member court, which includes six conservative justices, will listen to two hours of arguments by parties in a closely-watched case with far-reaching human and political ramifications.

Texas, the country's second-largest state, is being sued by Democratic President Joe Biden's Justice Department and a coalition of abortion providers, accused of enacting abortion restrictions they say are "plainly unconstitutional."

Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8) bans abortions after a heartbeat can be detected in the womb, which is normally around six weeks, when many women do not even know they are pregnant.

Laws restricting abortion have been passed in other Republican-led states but were struck down by the courts because they violated previous Supreme Court rulings which guaranteed the right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, which is typically around 22 to 24 weeks.

The "Texas Heartbeat Act" differs from other efforts in that it insulates the state by giving members of the public the right to sue doctors who perform abortions, or anyone who helps facilitate them, once a heartbeat is detected.

They can be rewarded with $10,000 for initiating cases that land in court, prompting criticism that the law encourages people to act as vigilantes.

The framing of the Texas law has complicated the intervention of the Justice Department because of a principle called "sovereign immunity," said Mary Ziegler, a professor of constitutional law at Florida State University and visiting professor at Harvard University.

"The Eleventh Amendment of the US Constitution limits the circumstances under which states can be sued," Ziegler told AFP.

"The Supreme Court has carved out an exception that allows plaintiffs to sue to get an injunction when an official is enforcing a potential unconstitutional law," she said.

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"Texas says that under SB8, no official is theoretically allowed to enforce the law," Ziegler said. "Texas has successfully argued to date that it is immune from suit."

- 'Why are they making me keep it?' -

The Supreme Court was asked by abortion providers to block the Texas law when it took effect on September 1 but the court declined to do so citing "procedural issues."

Biden was among those who criticized the court for failing to tackle a law that "blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade," the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that enshrined a woman's legal right to an abortion.

On the ground, clinics in Texas, fearful of potential ruinous lawsuits, closed their doors and the number of abortions in the state fell to 2,100 in September from 4,300 a year earlier, according to a University of Texas study.

Planned Parenthood, one of the largest providers of women's health care in the nation, sent a 30-page legal brief to the court containing testimony from women and doctors affected by the Texas law.

A 16-year-old Texas girl identified as F.P. said she is not ready to have a baby but may not be able to afford to go to another state for an abortion.

A single mother identified as D.O. said she is seeking an abortion after she "finally got away" from an abusive relationship.

One patient, identified as I.O., was 12 years old.

"The mother said they could not travel out of State -- they had barely made it to the Texas health center," the brief said. The 12-year-old was quoted as saying, "Mom, it was an accident. Why are they making me keep it?"

Clinic staff recounted crying with patients after telling them they would be unable to provide abortions because of the new law.

- 'Is there a fifth vote?' -

The Supreme Court could make a decision at any time after oral arguments but is widely expected to rule before hearing another abortion case on December 1.

In that case, the court will hear a challenge to a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks.

At least four justices appear ready to block the Texas law: the three liberals on the court and Chief Justice John Roberts, who expressed concerns about SB8 when it previously appeared before the court.

"Now the question is 'Is there a fifth vote?'" Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, asked on a podcast.

Abortion providers are cautiously optimistic.

"We are hopeful the court will step in and block SB8 from continuing to wreak havoc," said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood.

Vladeck said he saw the court potentially "splitting the difference."

"They could strike down the Texas law but allow the Mississippi law to remain on the books," he said. "And then everyone's pissed off and the court can say 'Look we're not partisan.'"

chp/cl
Ashland residents in Richmond, VA accused a tow trucking company for using their fork lift to steal cars. After police caught wind of the alleged "tow trucking pirate," they determined that the tows were justified.

In a statement reported by Richmond's 6 News, Richmond Police Department were not immediately alerted, once the tows happened. Therefore, they were unaware and could not verify its immediate legitimacy.

"While RPD officers were following the proper procedure for taking a report of a stolen vehicle, information provided by the tow company, which alerts public safety agencies to a legal tow, was not immediately forwarded to RPD. Therefore, RPD officers and detectives were not made aware the vehicle had been lawfully towed while investigating the missing vehicle," Richmond Police said in a statement.

REP. DONALDS BLASTS BIDEN'S SPENDING PLAN: SOCIAL SPENDING WILL MAKE OUT EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS WORSE

Select Recovery Agents' owner, Nicholas Ficarra and some of his staff displayed their sense of humor when the accusations were made by posting a video dressed as pirates. He spoke with 8 News in regards to the incident.

"We thought hey, lets make some light out of it," he said.

Ficarra also stated that they were only doing their jobs.

"A bank hired us to pick it up, we picked it up and brought it back here," Ficarra said. "We did 1000 percent what were supposed to."
PRAGUE (Reuters) -Volkswagen's Skoda Auto will resume production on Sunday at most of its production lines after a two-week outage caused by a shortage of semiconductor chips, a spokesperson said.

Skoda, the Czech Republic's biggest exporter, has said on Oct. 7 that it would "significantly reduce or even halt" production from Oct. 18 until the end of the year because of the global shortage of chips hobbling the automotive sector.

"I can confirm that most of Skoda Auto's production lines will resume work after a two-week outage tonight, starting with the night shift at 10:00 p.m.," Kamila Biddle said, confirming an earlier report by CTK news agency.

The Czech Auto Industry Association has said Czech carmakers will produce quarter of a million fewer cars than expected this year because of the global microchip shortage, costing the automotive sector 200 billion crowns ($9 billion) in sales.

The car sector is the backbone of the Czech economy, employing 180,000 workers and accounting for a quarter of industrial output.

The Czech economy expanded slower than expected in the third quarter, showing a recovery losing steam as external demand declined and the global supply crunch hit the car sector.

($1 = 22.1630 Czech crowns)

(Reporting by Robert Muller;Editing by Alison Williams and David Evans)
A cloth painting of George Floyd near the Minneapolis intersection where he was killed in May 2020. Voters in the city will decide the future of the Police Department. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

The council members stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a city park adorned with massive letters reading Defund Police.

Days earlier, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer a few blocks away, unleashing massive protests nationwide. Now hundreds of protesters had gathered in the park. They wanted justice. They wanted accountability. They wanted reform.

We should and can abolish our current Minneapolis police system, Councilwoman Alondra Cano said at the time.

On Tuesday, more than a year after Floyds death, voters in Minneapolis will decide whether to replace the citys embattled Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety, an effort that, should it pass, could lead to similar measures in cities all across the country.

If voters approve, the Police Department, and the office of its chief, would be removed from the city charter and a minimum funding requirement would be eliminated.

The new department, which could still include police officers, would be led by a commissioner nominated by the mayor and appointed by the City Council.

Not detailed in the ballot language is exactly what the new department would do or how it would specifically operate. Many of these questions will be answered by the mayor and City Council if the measure passes. Funding for the department would still come from the city, the total being determined, as it is now, by elected city officials.

For months, residents of Minneapolis, where violent crime has spiked recently, have battled over whether to support Question 2.

Most everyone here agrees that policing needs to change  its impossible to watch the video of Floyds final breath and think otherwise, critics say  but theyre split on how that should happen, especially in the aftermath of nationwide demonstrations that demanded departments reform even as they angered many police officers who felt unfairly vilified.

Its a debate that has divided Democratic politicians, who hold most of the political power in Minnesota and its largest city. Progressives like U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and state Atty. Gen. Keith Ellison, who successfully prosecuted former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in Floyds murder, support the measure.

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Now more than ever, we need to drive a conversation in Minneapolis about how we can have both safety and human rights, both a feeling of security and a feeling of hope, Ellison wrote in a recent Minneapolis Star Tribune op-ed. The vote on the charter amendment gives us that opportunity.

Moderate Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Gov. Tim Walz, oppose the measure, as do Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, who is up for reelection, and Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo.

At a news conference last week, Arradondo said that to vote on a measure of reimagining public safety without a solid plan and an implementation or direction of work  this is too critical of a time to wish and hope for that help that we need so desperately right now.

For much of the past year, Frey and Arradondo have touted wide-ranging policy changes, including bans on police chokeholds or neck restraints, and a requirement that officers intervene if a colleague uses improper force.

Even so, the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year opened an investigation into the training, tactics and discipline of the Minneapolis police force.

Building trust between community and law enforcement will take time and effort by all of us, but we undertake this task with determination and urgency, knowing that change cannot wait, U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland said at the time.

A September poll by the Star Tribune of 800 likely voters found that 49% supported replacing the Minneapolis Police Department with a new department of public safety while 41% were opposed. Ten percent were undecided.

Early voting began in September.

Jamar Nelson, 43, who lives on the predominately Black north side of Minneapolis, understands why some people want to re-create a public safety system in the city: He still bears a scar after being beaten by police raiding his apartment in 2000.

For quite a long time I was anti-police, he said.

Nelson is a member of the local group, A Mothers Love Initiative , which works with families of victims of gun violence.

While he supports reforming the police, as well as how mental health crises are handled, he is fearful about what could happen if the measure passes.

In his neighborhood, hes recently seen more gunfire, robberies and traffic violations  straight lawlessness, he said. A friend lost her only son in a shooting at a convenience store.

Nelson attributes the spiraling crime to a diminishing police force: The department has shrunk to 588 officers, down about 300 since Floyds killing, and not all of the remaining officers work patrol. Some have left the department citing post-traumatic stress disorder from the unrest after Floyd's death and due to low morale within the ranks.

That is ridiculously scary, Nelson said.

But others in the city see swift change as necessary.

D.A. Bullock, 51, a documentary filmmaker who also lives in north Minneapolis, supports Question 2.

Hes noticed a rise in violence but said the police have never been readily available.

In 2019, someone shot at a neighbor's house  a "big and traumatic moment for many in the neighborhood, he said. The police arrived within about 15 minutes and taped off the area but didnt seem interested in getting information from neighbors.

About a month ago, Bullock was driving home at night when a man fired a gun in the air. Bullock pulled over and watched. The agitated man jumped in his car and drove off. A cop then drove by slowly, flashed a light and drove away.

I feel like theyve always treated north Minneapolis with kind of a disdain  like its our fault for living there, Bullock said.

It feels to him, he said, as if police want residents to feel stressed, like theyre living in chaos, so they'll vote against the amendment out of fear.

That's an intentional sort of disdain for people who live in the city, he said. Of trying to show us how much we need them and how much we should never dare to question.

Lee reported from Los Angeles, and Winter, a special correspondent, reported from Minneapolis.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Jess Griesel

Teenager Jess Griesel does not seem the usual red beret-wearing member of South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) - the party intent on upsetting the country's political landscape.

She is a 19-year-old white, Afrikaans-speaking undergraduate who was recently elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC) of Cape Town university on an EFF ticket.

But in a country as racially charged as South Africa, her stance has not gone down well with some people. When Ms Griesel announced her SRC candidacy in September, one social media user described her as a "race traitor".

Twenty-seven years after the end of white-minority rule - when Nelson Mandela was elected as president in South Africa's first democratic election, calling the country "the rainbow nation" - Ms Griesel tells me the backlash shocked her.

Nelson Mandela led the African National Congress (ANC) into government in 1994

"Being called a race traitor was something that I found very interesting and very telling about South Africa today. It insinuates that there's still an 'us' and a 'them' club."

To understand the reaction she has faced - one needs to understand how the EFF has shaken up politics in South Africa.

Formed in 2013, it is led by the fiery Julius Malema, who has modelled himself on Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez and unapologetically promotes the interests of poor black South Africans.

The party describes itself as "a left-leaning, radical, anti-imperialist and economic emancipation movement, inspired by the broad Marxist-Leninist school of thought."

Members are disruptive, literally and figuratively.

They are often accused of being anti-white. That is because they have repeatedly demanded that white South Africans give up the land taken from black people.

Some EFF supporters occasionally sing the apartheid-era chant "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer", a highly controversial song that a court ruled as hate speech and which is seen as being directed against the white farming community.

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Parliamentary theatrics

What is undoubtedly the case is that "Red Berets" are unhappy with the status quo.

A few years ago, EFF MPs memorably shook the establishment by their antics in parliament, which is dominated by the African National Congress (ANC) - the liberation movement that has governed since the end of apartheid.

"Pay back the money," they repeatedly shouted in unison, while hitting the desks in front of them with their palms.

EFF MPs go to parliament in miners or maids uniforms

The male MPs were dressed in red construction overalls, their female counterparts were in red dresses and white aprons - the signature EFF uniform representing workers.

The nation watched the theatrics on national television as the speaker of parliament tried in vain to calm the situation.

They were demanding that then-President Jacob Zuma, who has been embroiled in corruption allegations for years, give back taxpayers' money for cash spent renovating his private home.

The former head of state has since returned some of that money and denies any wrongdoing, but he is emblematic of the problems the ANC has faced over the last few years.

With local elections to be held on Monday, the governing party faces a trust deficit, especially following the nationwide power outages of recent months and years.

The rolling blackouts are crippling an economy that has already been bludgeoned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a result, the rate of joblessness now stands at a record 34.4%.

The main opposition party - the Democratic Alliance (DA), which traditionally has a white support base - wants to capitalise on the ANC's failures.

It has repeatedly claimed it governs the most efficient municipalities in the country.

But empirical evidence paints a different reality: areas dominated by people who are not white, such as the Cape Flats, Nyanga and Gugulethu, in the DA-run Western Cape, are rocked by alarming murder rates, gangsterism and joblessness.

Like Ms Griesel, the EFF hopes voters will want to cause an upset.

'You can't pretend to be blind'

Her success during the university vote - she was one of 15 people elected to the council - proves just how popular she is among her peers.

"I plan to be the eyes, ears and voice of the students and continue to represent them to the best of my ability," says the teenager, who is studying politics, philosophy and economics.

Although born eight years after the fall of apartheid, Ms Griesel says she has always been aware of the legacy of its racist policies.

South Africa is Africa's most industrialised economy - but it is also one of the world's most unequal

"I grew up in a family that, from a very young age, allowed me to question things. When you live in South Africa you see things.

"You can't pretend to be blind to the inequalities and the socio-economic issues that South Africa presents."

She is referring to joblessness and poverty in black communities.

But that is not the only factor that gave birth to her activism: "I went to a high school where there was plenty of blatant racism and inequality.

"So, ever since then, I have adopted the idea that everyone who had a historic part in creating the inequalities of today, has a personal responsibility to take ownership and try to be a part of dismantling the systemic racism and oppression that still exists in South Africa today."

"People see pro-black parties such as the EFF as anti-white parties, and that's not the case"", Source: Jess Griesel , Source description: Cape Town University student, Image: Someone holding up an EFF sign that says: "Black Lives Matter!"

Ms Griesel wonders why those who have trolled her do not understand that her race should not decide how she acts.

"People see Black Lives Matter and they think that means white lives don't matter.

"It's the same insinuation that people see pro-black parties such as the EFF as anti-white parties, and that's not the case."

As a white person Ms Griesel, however, remains very much an outlier.

This does not mean there has not been change.

"In university spaces there are a lot more white EFF students," she says.

But the reality is that the group she is referring to is quite small.

There is still a long way to go before South Africa sheds its skin of identity politics.

Short presentational grey line

Mpho Lakaje is a journalist based in Johannesburg.

More on race relations in South Africa:
Reproduced from Pew Research; Chart: Axios Visuals

About half or more residents of more than a dozen nations think their own country is doing a good job dealing with global climate change, according to polling by Pew Research Center.

Why it matters: The United Nations climate summit began Sunday  kicking off two weeks of international debate about what the world is doing to slow climate change and deal with its impact.

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President Biden arrives Monday, eager to tout a domestic spending bill that would allocate $555 billion to addressing climate change.

By the numbers: Just under half of Americans say the U.S. is doing a good job at dealing with climate change.

That's the lowest percentage for the countries polled, except for South Korea and Taiwan, according to Pew.

However, people in other countries are less positive about the U.S.' actions on climate change. Most European adults see the U.S. as doing a bad job addressing addressing the issue, including three out of four Germans and Swedes, according to Pew.

People in Singapore and New Zealand are most confident in their response to climate change, with a third of Singaporeans saying they are doing a "very good" job.

Go deeper: What to know about COP26 in Glasgow

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Everyone has been talking about the Big Quit movement sweeping across the U.S. and beyond. Experts are grappling with statistics showing record-breaking labor shortages  from Amazon warehouse floors to centers of the care and knowledge economy.

For centuries, work has been at the heart of how the vast majority of us measure our worth  as citizens and as human beings. Today, it is the ticket to survival in 21st-century America.

For the first time in recent memory, workers are wresting back some of their power as employers struggle to fill vacancies and devise new methods to entice people back to work. Could this be the end of corporate exploitation, bad bosses, long and thankless hours and the beginning of something new? A new form of freedom?

As a historical sociologist of labor, I believe this is a crucial moment for reflection. What exactly are we running toward? Is the solution to the ills of modern work to go out on our own? What lessons can history teach us?

After slavery was abolished in the 19th century, ex-slaves, migrants and the working classes were all told to cherish their freedom  but they quickly learned that freedom meant work. Productivity became central to the human endeavor, the gold standard for personal flourishing and social progress.
To his credit, Bush Senior stopped at liberating Kuwait. He declined to invade Iraq. But the psychological damage was done. Back during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini cast America as the Great Satan. The term must have resonated among Muslim fundamentalists throughout the Middle East. The Great Satan had attacked and wiped out an Islamic force. That must have been the extremists takeaway from the first Gulf War.

A few years after that war, as a civilian professor, I tried to tell a Muslim exchange student that, while the majority of Americans are nominally Christian, America is not a Christian nation. He wasnt buying it. He had been indoctrinated to believe otherwise and to view America with suspicion.

And then in 2003 Bush Junior had to go and invade Iraq in search of imagined weapons of mass destruction. As a 60 Minutes report at the time would reveal, young Muslim men tended to believe the extremist recruiting narrative  that America was intent on destroying Islam. To the radicals throughout the Middle East, we were crusaders one and all.

America has a long history of ignoring the values, sensitivities and constraints of other cultures. Our own ethnocentricity doomed our cause in Vietnam. Maybe we had to fight that first Gulf War. But hindsight is 20/20. I cant help thinking that if we had left the Middle East to Middle Easterners, there very well may not have been a 9/11. And that would have meant no Iraq War and no war in Afghanistan. Im reminded of an old saying: No good deed goes unpunished.

A former enlisted Marine and a Vietnam veteran, Palm retired from the Marine Corps as a major and went on to an academic career. He lives in Forest and can be contacted at majorpalm@gmail.com.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida seized a motoring metaphor earlier this month when he pledged to make the fight against global heating an "engine for economic growth." But one of the biggest brakes on his ambitions may be the country's powerful carmakers.

The government's pledge to make the nation carbon neutral by 2050, reaffirmed by Kishida, has come under fire all year from the auto sector. Figures including Akio Toyoda, head of the industry lobby group as well as the president of the world's largest car manufacturer Toyota Motor, question how the target will be achieved. While acknowledging the need for carbon neutrality, Toyoda issued a stark political warning that seemed to clash with the COP26 goal of speeding up the switch to electric vehicles (EVs).

Japan should not narrow its focus solely to EVs, but rather "search for options that suit Japanese circumstances," he said at a news conference hosted by the auto lobby in September. That was a rebuff to the official aim of a rapid transition to electric-powered vehicles and an end to sales of new gasoline-only vehicles by 2035. "In carbon neutrality, our enemy is carbon -- not the internal combustion engine," Toyoda added.

Toyoda may be unusually outspoken for a Japanese business leader, but he is no outlier. So far, Honda Motor is the only Japanese automaker to announce a complete phaseout of gasoline cars, including hybrids. It has vowed to sell only EVs and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) by 2040.

Carmakers' reluctance to forsake the combustion engine is not the only trend stymieing the government. Japan's heavy dependence on fossil fuels means that even many electric cars are currently partly produced, and even powered, by burning coal.

What's more, EVs are generally more expensive and have a more limited range per charge than Toyota's Prius-like hybrid vehicles. An EV is also more energy-intensive than a traditional vehicle because of the battery, which requires the extraction and refinement of metals like copper and nickel.

How Japan deals with this motor industry carbon conundrum is of crucial importance, given the country's economic heft and the power of its example in Asia and beyond. In April, the nation revised its target of a 26% carbon emissions cut by 2030 from 2013 levels, its commitment under the 2015 Paris climate accord. Instead, it raised the goal to at least 46%. As of 2019, the latest figures available, it had managed a reduction of 14%.

In 2030, renewable energy is to account for 36% to 38% of Japan's electricity mix under a government plan approved in October. That would be double the 2019 level. But coal will still account for 19%, even as countries such as the U.K. and France have vowed to phase it out altogether. ...continue reading
New Delhi: In the fresh event of an incessant series, unidentified persons ransacked a Hindu temple at Kotri in Pakistans Sindh province, creating a wave of resentment amongst local Hindus, Pak vernacular media reported.

The incident took place on Friday. After breaking idols, the persons ran away taking lakhs in cash and other precious goods. Kotri police have registered a case but had not made any arrest till the time of going to press. The minority minister has sought a report from area SSP, Pahenji Akhbar reported.

According to the Pak vernacular media, on Thursday night, unidentified assailants stole jewellery, gold idols, offerings, UPS batteries and other valuables from the ancient Shiv temple in the Darya Band area of Kotri, Jamshoro, Hyderabad.

The accused also damaged the idol of Goddess. The stolen jewellery and other items are worth Rs 20 to 25 lakh. In a video procured from the attacked temple, the idol of Shiva can be seen destroyed.

Watch the video post to the attack on the anciet Shiv temple :

Following the incident, A video of the attacked temple was shared by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and its national spokesperson Manjinder Singh Sirsa who have demanded strong action against the miscreants.

I urge @DrSJaishankar to please take up this matter with your counter part in Pakistan immediately and ensure the safety and security of minorities.@ANI @thetribunechd @republic https://t.co/WOF2l2Dibg  Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) October 30, 2021

I urge Minister of External Affairs of India, S Jaishankar, to take up this matter with your Pakistani counterpart immediately and ensure the safety and security of minorities, Sirsa added.

The miscreants have reportedly left a message after looting and vandalizing the house of worship, saying that it is a gift to the Hindu community ahead of Diwali.

Previously, in a similar incident, a Krishna temple was in Pakistan was vandalised ahead of Krishna Janmashtami.
Superintendent Eric Knost thanked the Ambassadors for recognizing the school for the award and congratulated the LCHS faculty.

Ive been involved with Blue Ribbon schools before, so I know it doesnt happen overnight, he said. We cant even apply until were recognized by our own state that we are among the best in the state. Theres no doubt about it: Excellence doesnt happen in schools without you that are on the frontlines. Without you connecting with kids the way you do and doing what you do, it doesnt happen.

Board member Amie Adkins also talked to the staff. She said she is a 1995 graduate of Lewis Central and a second-generation LC grad.

Ive never been so grateful to the school as I am when youre  taking care of my kids when theyre not under my wing, she said. Ive also done your job  a long time ago  and every day I am grateful for all of you who are working hour after hour  Im bursting with pride.

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Principal Joel Beyenhof asked those who were alumni to stand, and almost half of the faculty stood up.
Josh Schamberger, president of Think Iowa City, said his son started working at Target in June. He worked part-time over the summer and now weekends during the school year, and has received two retention bonuses and an increase in pay during that time.

Schamberger said his organization has also tried to be incredibly flexible with what employees need.

Banta said the goal is to have approaches be proactive rather than reactionary.

I'm optimistic that we're going to find our path forward, but it's likely not going to be any one item, Banta said. It's going to be a combination of a number of different things, and we're going to be learning as we go.

Some experts have said that early retirements during the pandemic have contributed to the nations workforce shortage. But not all employers in Iowa are seeing that.

At UnityPoint Health-Waterloo, there wasn't a rash of early retirements affecting the workforce, said spokesperson Carson Tigges, noting it was about the same as in years' past.

"There may be a narrative that individuals who are close to retirement are choosing to accelerate that and leave healthcare due to the pandemic, but we don't have any data that supports that," Tigges said.
Now that we have our new political maps for the next decade, we can start to look ahead at what the next elections in Iowa might look like.

But first, we will pause only briefly here to remind readers that it was suggested in this space one week ago that it seemed more likely than not that Iowa Republican state lawmakers would approve the second set of proposed redistricting maps, which is exactly what they did this week during a special session of the Iowa Legislature.

Now that our little back-patting session is out of the way, lets talk about the future.

While political considerations are not, as stated in Iowa law, to be a factor when the states nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency draws up the maps, the reality is new boundaries create political impacts.

Perhaps the most interesting pending decision will come from U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The Republican is in her first term representing the current 2nd District, but her home in Ottumwa was drawn into the new 3rd District. If she stays put  and assuming she would survive any potential primary challenge  she could possibly face U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, a Democrat who is serving her second term representing central Iowas 3rd District.
And some property owners who hire someone to do their taxes decided it wasnt worth paying their preparer more to file another form.

We suspect that might be different this winter if word gets around sufficiently that theyll be splitting $548 million in LB 1107 credits this year, rather than one-fourth as much.

But, good gracious, if senators want Nebraskans to know theyre serious about property tax relief, why not deliver it where they can see it?

North Plattes actual 2021 property tax bills this December will be only 1.4% lower than the ones last December. Thats because only one of the two state tax breaks  the smaller one  is on it.

We can think of better ways to noticeably deliver property tax relief while its there (recalling our prediction that these credits will fade away the next time state budgets get tight):

 Lawmakers could just have added this years fourfold increase in LB 1107 tax credit funding to the older Property Tax Credit Fund.

Then North Plattes net December tax bill  with both tax credits on it, not just one  would be 15.4% lower than it was last year with just the one credit.

You dont think folks wouldnt notice that?
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Facebook/Getty Images

This week, Mark Zuckerberg did his best to distract from the Facebook Papers  an immense trove of damaging information leaked by the whistleblower Frances Haugen  by announcing that the social network was forming a new parent company called Meta. Zuckerberg said the company was making a long-term pivot to the metaverse, a kind of layer of digitality over real life  think virtual meetings with avatars and augmented-reality glasses, stitching the physical you into a pixelated world.

Facebook wants to be the backbone of that new virtual space, not just in software but hardware too. Its the same totalizing perspective that has driven the company to become the worlds dominant digital public space. It remains to be seen whether the metaverse will capture peoples imaginations  and judging from the widespread mockery of Zuckerbergs creepy unveiling, that seems questionable  but the truth is that Facebook has already succeeded in layering itself over nearly all of humanity.

It seems obvious to say that that Facebook is too big. Thats true, but companies like Apple and Amazon are bigger, with more wealth and more employees. What the Facebook Papers show is that it is scale, even more so than size, that makes Facebook so dangerous.

Consider India, home to more than a billion people and Facebooks largest market. Among the many damning revelations in the Facebook Papers was that it was moderating content in only a handful of the subcontinents 22 official languages. That stark lack of capacity contributed to the growing tide of anti-Muslim violence under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

And even that modicum of oversight was late in coming. Until 2018, Facebook had no tools to detect hate speech in Hindi, and nothing in Bengali until 2020. Just to be clear, those are, respectively, the third and seventh most spoken languages on earth. Its hard to decide if it is the hubris or the neglect that is more staggering.

Thats just one country. When you consider the fact that Facebook is the de facto internet in many parts of the globe, its role becomes as absurd as it is dangerous. Perusing the litany of revelations in the leaked documents, it starts to dawn on you just how completely, utterly weird it is that a private company on Americas west coast should be involved in social unrest and communal prejudice in India, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Britain.

As the company loves to tout, Facebook is closing in on 2 billion daily users and 3 billion monthly active users. That doesnt include the legions of people who might not use Facebook but do turn to WhatsApp or Instagram, the former being a central mode of communication in Asia. Facebooks user base comprises over a third of the worlds population  which is even more surprising when you consider that another third isnt even online yet. Only 3 billion people were alive in total in 1960.

The thing about that kind of scale is that it veers into what philosophers would call the sublime: It beggars human imagination, escapes it, overwhelms. Even for the most vociferous critics of Facebook it becomes hard to keep track of what the company does, right and wrong, simply because there is so damn much of it.

The seriousness of Facebooks various flaws is only compounded by their expanse. In Ethiopia, misinformation and extremism on Facebook added fuel to the fire of ethnic violence in the countrys ongoing civil war. As in India, language was an issue: Facebook did not have any software that could detect hate speech in Amharic and Oromo, Ethiopias two most common languages.

Language is only part of the problem, however. As reported by Rest of World, Facebook also cowed to the hard-right concerns of the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party and its fascist RSS wing. Posts by the latter, which compared Muslims to pigs and spread misinformation about the Quran, were not flagged due to political sensitivities. Moreover, the surge in recent years in conspiracy theories about love jihad  the idea that Muslims convert Hindu women through interfaith marriage  often went unchecked on the platform simply due to a lack of sufficient investment.

In Vietnam, the government threatened to shut off access to Facebook if it did not censor anti-state posts. Zuckerberg was personally involved in complying, despite his public free-speech rhetoric. While of course all global companies have to deal with local laws, it doesnt make it any less alarming that a solitary CEO has the ability to sway the political currents of so many countries.

One could go on: about Facebooks slowness in responding to human trafficking in the Philippines, or that CNN found human trafficking on Instagram as recently as this month; or the removal of posts by Palestinians amid the violence in the region earlier this year. It is precisely the endlessness of it all that is the point. As any scholar will tell you, a key part of making analysis possible is managing the scope of the object of study. Facebook stymies both oversight and understanding because of its unimaginable scale.

Unfortunately, in Congress and other legislatures around the world, talk of regulating Facebook is laughably behind the curve. While lawmakers werent looking, the company became the social-media infrastructure of the world  in charge of messaging, commerce, political discourse, news distribution, and more  and there has been no genuine reckoning with that fact or a legitimate proposal for an alternative.

It has never been clearer that this is far, far too much for any one company to manage, and especially a company with an unusually powerful CEO. Facebooks scale is both ridiculous and a threat, not just to social stability, but also to our ability to imagine something better.

The Facebook Papers are a reminder of the irreducibility of a massively complex world. The very best of algorithms and an army of employees cannot hope to understand it, let alone responsibly oversee its online communications. The world is simply too much, and Facebook, in this one respect at least, not enough.
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More consumers getting a charge out of electric vehicles

Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter Ed Lyness, 90, of Allegheny County, spends his afternoon reading while his Tesla charges at Giant Eagles charging station in North Strabane Township. Lyness said it usually takes an hour for his car to reach a full charge. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter At a glance, it appears Ed Lyness, 90, is filling his tank, but upon closer inspection its clear hes actually charging it. The super charge for electric vehicles at Giant Eagle in North Strabane Township looks similar, albeit more futuristic, than traditional gas pumps. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter Ed Lyness charges his Tesla at the charging station at Giant Eagle in South Strabane Township. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter A row of electric charging stations is located beside the GetGo, next to Giant Eagle, in South Strabane Township.

Parker Burroughs wasnt plugged into the electric vehicle movement, but he had a growing appreciation for electricity. So when he needed a set of wheels, he realized it didnt have to be like every other vehicle he had driven  gasoline-powered models.

Three years ago, I had solar panels installed on my house and began producing some of our electricity, said Burroughs, a South Franklin Township resident. So I thought it only made sense that since I was making hotricity, I should have an electric car.

Burroughs, retired editor of the Observer-Reporter, scouted around and ended up leasing a Volkswagen ID.4 from a dealership in Peters Township. He drove it home on July 1 and is electrified by his decision.

Im tickled to death by this electric vehicle, he said. It has great pickup, and its smooth and quiet. Im shocked that more people dont have electric cars around here.

That will likely change, just as it is occurring across the nation and abroad.

EVs, as they are known informally, are trending upward. There are more than 5.6 million electric vehicles worldwide, according to a policyadvice.net posting in August. That is a 64% increase from 3.4 million in 2018.

And their popularity continues to grow for reasons that include being economical long term; having a reputation for smooth performance; and being eco-friendly at a time of climate crisis.

These vehicles have an electric motor, which does not emit exhaust from a tailpipe, sending carbon dioxide, ozone and particulates into the air. Vehicles with an internal combustion engine, which burns gasoline and diesel, do release those toxic elements.

Automakers have responded to burgeoning demand by ramping up production of models in various sizes and shapes. Tesla remains the dominant force in the EV market, but General Motors, Ford Motor, Volkswagen and other companies are investing heavily in it. GM, according to a recent report in the New York Times, is doing so with a goal of doubling its revenue to about $280 billion by 2030.

Dave Coffman, co-dealer principal at Ford of Uniontown, said his company is projecting that by 2030, the electric vehicles market will be 50% of its business.

Interest has far exceeded what I anticipated, Coffman said. This is definitely a big trend in the auto industry.

Washington County has certainly entered the EV fray. East Washington council voted in June to purchase a Tesla for the borough police department. The car has not been delivered yet, but Mayor Demond Nixon said recently that it will arrive soon, after it is outfitted with equipment at a facility in Indiana.

Six EV charging stations were installed on the Washington & Jefferson College campus in February, thanks largely to a $25,000 grant from West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund. There are two stations at each of three locations; all are available to students, staff and the general public.

People are charging there most days, said Corey Young, director of W&Js Center for Energy Policy and Management. He added that a couple of professors plug in there.

There also are charging stations at Giant Eagle and Tanger Outlets, both in South Strabane Township, but otherwise are not commonplace in the region. Their numbers are increasing, however.

Many owners charge their vehicles at home, and Burroughs is among them. He said he had to install a 220-volt outlet in his garage for a Level 2 charger, the most common charger in service. He said he charges once a week for four hours, resulting in a 20% to 80% charge. He said he drives locally for the most part, and an 80% charge gives him a range of about 250 miles.

One criticism of EVs is that they are not ideal for lengthy trips. A long-distance commuter would be wise to scout out charging stations ahead of time, because at some point he or she will have to pull into a station and recharge.

I would purchase an electric vehicle tomorrow, except that my family lives in Maryland and that is a little beyond the charge limit, Young said. I dont know if I want to delay an hour to get it charged  if I can find a station. Thats the nut that has to be cracked.

Although stations are not commonplace, they are becoming more prevalent. The state Department of Environmental Protection announced in June that it had added at least 500 new electric vehicle plugs statewide. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission recently added them at five plazas, but only two are in Southwestern Pennsylvania: New Stanton and Oakmont Plum.

There are an estimated 43,000 public charging stations nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. A little more than 900 are in Pennsylvania. California is the leader among states, with 5,000-plus  approximately five times the runner-up, New York.

The initial financial outlay for electric vehicles seems formidable, yet federal, state and utility programs help to defray the cost.

They really arent expensive, Burroughs said. He pointed out that his VW cost $41,000, but he got a $7,500 tax credit. When you take that into consideration, (the cost) is similar to the average SUV these days. Im leasing for $450 a month.

Employing his math skills, Burroughs has determined that his EV is highly cost-effective compared with gas-powered cars. If a car or truck gets 20 miles to the gallon, the owner is paying 18 to 20 cents a mile. Im using about $12 in electricity per month, for 650 miles. That works out to about 2 cents per mile.

As with just about everything during the pandemic, the EV market is dealing with supply chain shortages. These vehicles arent plentiful in the region, said Gary Flannery, owner of Washington Auto Mall in South Strabane. A lot of manufacturers are not necessarily bringing electric vehicles here.

Jeff Paletta, who works in the showroom, said Ford of Uniontown has a limited number of EVs, including a couple of Mach E models that are due to arrive. He said supply issues are starting to lighten up a bit for all vehicles. We have a 20- to 25-day supply. We usually have enough for 120 days.

Paletta, whose family operated an auto dealership in Fredericktown for many years, said the major problem within this chain is a severe lack of semiconductors, which began a year or so ago when COVID slowed production down.

Global warming is another hot topic, of course  literally and figuratively. Carbon dioxide, the most common and dangerous greenhouse gas, is present at its highest levels recorded. CO2 is a major contributor to this phenomenon, which is resulting in temperature extremes, heavy precipitation and droughts.

The burning of fossil fuels  by humans  is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

President Joe Bidens spending proposal, amounting to trillions of dollars, devotes a formidable amount to climate. His policy is hitting a snag in Congress, though, and within his own party. Democratic senators Joe Manchin III (West Virginia) and Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona) have been opposed to the overall cost. Climate spending could be reduced.

Dr. Varun Rai is working to help stave off climate change. He is an expert on energy transition and adoption of sustainable energy technologies, and was the featured speaker last month at a virtual webinar presented by W&Js Center for Energy Policy and Management.

We have to experience a decline in CO2 emissions beginning right now, said Rai, a professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. He directs the schools Energy Systems Transformation Research Group and its Energy Institute.

During a nearly hour-long presentation, he said it is imperative climate change be reversed over the next decade. He advocates carbon capture and storage, and to strive to reach net zero emissions.

One of his recommendations is to electrify energy services in transportation, buildings and industry through 2030. That includes increasing the number of EVs to 20% of total vehicles on the road, and deploying heat pumps in 25% of residences.

Young said a jump in electric vehicle usage raises an interesting quandary across Pennsylvania. An increase in electric vehicles takes away from gas-tax revenue. In the long term, wed be doing a lot better with emissions, but how do we pay for roads and bridges?

In a state like Pennsylvania, with a fairly hefty tax on gas, that would leave a tremendous gap.

There is still a big gap between the use of gas-powered vehicles and EVs, to be sure, but the demand for the latter is on the ascent. With the cost of petrol continuing to soar, Parker Burroughs anticipates more of a move toward electric.

I think people will be getting tired of buying gasoline.
The next crunch could be caused by actual shortages of fossil fuels, just like this years record coal prices were caused as much by the sudden spike in demand.

Just two years ago, many forecasters predicted that oil and gas prices were likely to remain lower for longer.

Less than two years ago, the energy industry was being advised to get used to the fact that oil and gas prices would be lower for longer because there was so much supply. Coal was on its way out, and the future looked green and bright.

Fast forward to October 2021. We have record-high gas prices, oil over $80 per barrel, and a boom in coal demand that has led to a surge in prices that even a year ago was probably unthinkable for many. Whats next? Apparently, nobody knows.

Oil demand was supposed to be nearing its peak, but now, forecasters are revising their forecasts because oil demand appears to be quite resilient to all attempts to stifle it artificially.

Gas demand is through the roof and so are prices. And, like on oil, analysts are split in their opinions of whether this is only a temporary, short-lived problem or whether it could extend over a longer period.

This will be a crisis that is reoccurring over the next three or four years, simply because we dont have a lot of new natural gas supply coming into the market in that period, Richard Gorry from JBC Energy Asia told CNBC this week. By 2025, the situation may change, but I think we definitely have a couple of years where were going to be looking at high energy prices, he added.

Energy Aspects Amrita Sen goes further: in a recent opinion piece for the Financial Times, Sen argued that high fossil fuel prices are here to stay, but instead of trying to bring them down, stakeholders should embrace the fact. The reason: higher fossil fuel prices will help us move away from them and replace them with lower-carbon energy sources.

Others, however, believe the current price spike is a temporary occurrence. Citi Researchs head of energy strategy, Anthony Yuen, told CNBC that the current prices were the result of a confluence of factors. This, he said, could cause a decline in demand growth and push the market into a potential oversupply.

Never say never, he told CNBC. It partly depends on [the] weather. But then, once you factor in a number of supply and demand factors, the situation probably will be much better.

On the supply side, U.S. companies are planning billions of investments in another wave of LNG export facilities. Russia is pumping at a record pace and planning further production boosts. Qatar is expanding its gas production capacity substantially over the next few years, and Australia has set its sights on becoming the worlds largest LNG exporter.

Yet, according to Energy Aspects Sen, higher gas prices, at least in LNG, are here to stay because of the slowdown in new final investment decisions amid the recent glut. Theres underinvestment in both oil and gas, Sen wrote for the FT, and this may not change the way it changed during previous commodity cycles because of the ESG pressure investors are putting on the energy industry together with banks and other lenders.

Today, investment in fossil fuel is vilified and financing has become sparse as big western banks withdraw, Sen wrote, adding that we have not yet seen the full effect of that slowdown in oil and gas investments prompted by the rise of the ESG trend. This means that oil, gas, and coal prices still have higher to go. Because demand is sticking around.

Fossil fuels currently account for some 84 percent of global energy demand, according to Sen. This is the same figure as it was in 1980. This means that demand for oil and gasand to a lesser extent, coalis a stubborn one, and it can only be reduced with radical measures or natural trends such as underinvestment that leads to prohibitively high prices.

Yet planned investments in oil and gas are high enough to prompt the UN Environmental Program to warn they are too high for Paris Agreement comfort. In a recent report, the program warned that oil and gas production plans by the 15 biggest producers are at great odds with the Paris Agreement emission targets. In other words, these 15 biggest producers continue to bet on oil and gas, despite emission ambitions, including their own stated net-zero targets.

So, it will be a while before supply catches up with demand, but the price spike appears to be susceptible to the mitigating effect of news reports such as the one about Gazprom beginning to pump gas into European storage hubs after filling up the ones at home. This effect, by the way, has prompted suggestions that the energy crunch in Europe was not in fact caused by a shortage of gas but was more of a speculative nature and the result of trader jitters.

Yet if Energy Aspects Sen is right about the seriousness of underinvestment, the next crunch could be caused by actual shortages of fossil fuels, just like this years record coal prices were caused as much by the sudden spike in demand as the years of underinvestment as the developed world cheered the demise of the dirtiest fossil fuel.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Tensions in the South China Sea have been percolating for years now. Even in relatively calm times when the battling claimants of the contested waters manage to stay out of the headlines, the reality out on the sea is rarely tranquil. In fact, a recent report from the South China Morning Post has revealed that Chinese boats have been harassing Civilian vessels in the Malaysian and Vietnamese portions of the South China Sea on a daily basis for years. Extending from Singapore and the Strait of Malacca in the southwest to the Strait of Taiwan in the northeast, the South China Sea is a geopolitical hotspot as one of the most important trade routes in the world, not to mention the home of valuable oil and gas reserves as well as lucrative fishing grounds. The United States Energy Information Agency (EIA) estimates that the South China Sea contains approximately 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in proved and probable reserves.

Huge, overlapping sections of the Sea are currently subject to claims by Brunei, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. China has staked the largest claims to the South China Sea (at more than 85% of the total area) and has been the most aggressive in defending these claims, with a huge show of military might and navy vessels patrolling the waters. Last year, during another flare-up of tensions, the Asia Times reported that Chinas most recent rash of aggressions was a bid to shut down Vietnamese resource development projects as Beijing aims to force all foreign oil companies out of the South China Sea, leaving itself as the only potential joint development partner for rival sea claimants.



Source: CSIS

Vietnam is far from Beijings only victim, however. Indonesian drilling has also been targeted in the so-called Tuna Block in the Natuna Sea, in the same waters where these two nations have clashed in the past over fishing rights. And now, according to the recent reports from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Malaysia has been bearing the brunt of Chinese bullying on a daily basis for the past two years. The Malaysian state-owned oil company Petronas has been developing several oil and gas fields in the Luconia Shoals, where Chinese vessels have been reportedly driving dangerously and erratically with the intention of dissuading civilians to take contracts in the area.

Related: Oil, Gas Rally Lifts Chevrons Quarterly Profit To 8-Year-High

Beijings competing claimants to territory in the South China Sea have long accused it of using a paramilitary maritime militia, consisting of hundreds of civilian fishing boats, to help enforce its claims, The South China Morning Post reported this week. The Chinese government claims that these swaths of civilian fishing boats are not dispatched by the military, but that they join of their own accord, although many other governing bodies (including the United States) believe that the vessels are directly under the command of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy.

An all-out oil war in the South China Sea would be extremely costly for China, and ultimately may not be in the countrys best interest. Invading another nation is costly, and in this region, the battle could easily turn into another kind of forever war. And then theres the fact that China risks destruction in the very waters that it wants to claim, imperiling valuable infrastructure. There are a lot of reasons why China should not and likely will not push its competing claimants hard enough to start a war, and many more reasons that much lesser military powers like Malaysia and Indonesia should just grin and bear the abuse, but Beijings behavior over the past few years has shown that China is more than willing to test those boundaries.



By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

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The optimistic response to a recent discovery in the Ivory Coast by Italian oil giant Eni, the first big find in the country in two decades, suggests that many African states are not yet ready to give up on fossil fuels and make the shift to renewables.

In September, Cote dIvoire announced a major offshore oil and gas discovery, following initial exploration success in 2014. The positive outlook led several international oil firms to battle over the countrys oil reserves. A 2019 licensing round saw the government sell exploration blocks for a total of $185 million, with Italys Eni taking a major stake, with two exploration blocks- CI-501 and CI-504, as well as Frances Total taking on exploration and production activities in the country. Britains Tullow Oil had previously won licenses in the region in 2017.

Oil major Eni stated last month that it had discovered up to 2 billion barrels of oil and an additional 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas from the Baleine well, located about 60km off the coast. The well offers the first deepwater commercial discovery in over 20 years.

The discovery adds to the Ivory Coasts proven reserves, which previously stood at around just 100 million barrels. Eni shares the newfound reserves with the state government, which holds a 10 percent stake. While the countrys output is significantly lower than Africas biggest oil producers, at just 50,000 bpd, the discovery offers optimism around potential new finds in unexplored areas.

Several major international players have shown interest in the West African region, hoping to develop the regions oil industry before the global demand for oil decreases. West Africas upstream oil and gas market is expected to achieve a CAGR of around 6.7 percent between 2020 and 2025. Underexplored oilfields and low production costs are two of the main drivers for oil firms investing in the region.

Its not just the Ivory Coast that were seeing develop its oil and gas industry, as several countries across the continent are going full steam ahead with oil projects this year, attempting to strike while the iron is still hot.

Another West African country looking to luck out on recent discoveries in Senegal. Between 2014 and 2017, several major oil and gas finds were made in region, with discoveries of 1 billion barrels of oil and over 40,000 billion cubic feet of gas.

Within the same region, BP is expected to commence drilling operations in the Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea-Conakry (MSGBC) basin at the beginning of 2022. BP hopes to develop its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG gas project, expecting to produce 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually. Australian firm Woodside Energy will commence output of both oil and gas in the regions Sangomar oilfield by 2023.

This month, Norwegian firm BW Energy also announced ventures in West Africa, gaining two blocks near its Dussafu asset in Gabon's 12th licensing round, which has been repeatedly delayed since 2019 due to the pandemic. BW will work in partnership with Vaalco Energy and Panoro Energy as the operator of the G12-13 and H12-13 blocks for an exploration period of eight years. At present, Gabon is thought to have 2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, but once again, there is significant potential in the exploration of underdeveloped oilfields.

Beyond West Africa, Tanzania in the east of the continent is racing to develop its natural gas reserves. Following the halting of talks with international companies in 2019, President Samia Suluhu Hassan aims to start development on the countrys LNG industry by 2023. With an estimated 57 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, Tanzania is eager to commence operations before the global demand for oil and gas begins to wane as the energy transition picks up momentum.

Not forgetting the East African state of Ugandas modern success story, with its first commercially viable oil discoveries in the Lake Albert Rift Basin taking place in 2006 and 2009, the country has gradually developed its national oil and gas industry. It is now expecting to boast a major oil pipeline, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which will be capable of transporting 210,000 bpd from two national oilfields, operated by TotalEnergies and CNOOC, to the Tanga port in Tanzania for export. Despite several hold-ups, Uganda hopes the EACOP will be operational by 2025

While many African countries need to attract the investment of international oil majors to develop their burgeoning oil sectors, these emerging economies will nevertheless reap the rewards of a newly developed oil and gas industry, at a time when many western states are turning their backs on fossil fuels and where demand is still high. The untapped oil and gas potential of several African oil regions and the low-cost production prospective is winning the favor of several major international players, who are shifting their focus to Africa and the Caribbean.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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His Legislative Bill 324 also established the Independent Processor Assistance Program to help small locker plants make the transition to a federally inspected facility. No money was allocated to the program in 2021, but Brandt has hope that federal pandemic recovery money can be found in 2022 to provide $1 million in grants or more.

An attempt to bring back country-of-origin labelling, or COOL, is also underway.

U.S. cattle producers argue that prices for American cattle get depressed when lower-grade, cheaper beef raised in Brazil or other foreign countries is mixed into hamburger processed in the United States. But COOL, which had been the law of the land, was rescinded in 2015 after the World Trade Organization ruled that it discriminated against products from Mexico and Canada.

In September, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill to require the USDA and trade representatives to come up with a new COOL, one that is WTO-compliant, to label beef that is raised, fattened and slaughtered entirely in the United States as a product of the USA.

Obtaining a bigger slice of the profits in the beef business will take a multifaceted approach, according to Ashley Kohls, a vice president with the Nebraska Cattlemen.
To be sure it is all not a wilderness, the Bee wrote. There are some bright spots in the way of comfortable, frugal homes that have tarried behind in the general exodus of the more prosperous population that made room for the encroaching railroad tracks, but in the main the district is poor  poor in the fullest, most inclusive sense of the term.

The majority of the dwellings were constructed from odds and ends of lumber, discarded tin roofing and whatever else was found in the dumps. Others were little more than caves in the bluff with a shack built over the front  dugouts  that had as their only advantage being sheltered from winters cold winds. Sanitation was poor.

Another squalid area adjacent to the Bottoms was the Winspear Triangle from Cass to Grace Streets and from Fifth to Eighth Streets at its widest point. For years, the ownership of the Winspear Triangles 30 acres was in dispute between the city and the railroad. The city eyed the strip as early as 1918 for a Port of Omaha as barge traffic was increasing. But squatters again thought the land was theirs, making sales and giving deeds. About 1924, one squatter decided to sell all the land and made out a deed. The other squatters went to court.
Jerome Rankine, a Black resident in the Kingfield neighborhood on the citys more affluent southwest side, strongly backs the amendment. Rankine, who also sits on his neighborhood association board, says dropping the citys requirement for a minimum number of officers would open the way to innovative ideas to change policing.

Unfortunately, the way that our city charter is set up, we lack the power to turn those ideas into reality, he said. Im voting yes because a yes vote is a vote for taking the barrier to change out of the equation and taking these imaginative ideas of how our policing system can be better.

Rankine's board last week endorsed a vote in support of the public safety question. He said his own neighborhood is divided on the question, and that's fine: "There are no monoliths that cut cleanly across lines, theres no opinion that cuts cleanly across lines of race, he said.

If we are in a movement against police brutality then I feel like all should be welcome in that movement, he said. We have seen Minneapolis police take lives over the last several years and theyve taken the lives of all races and backgrounds, so I feel like there should be no barriers to entry when it comes to being part of the movement.
Most of the county officials interviewed expressed frustration that the ARPA funds cant be used, under current guidelines, for normal county expenses, such as maintaining roads, replacing bridges or buying equipment.

But that may change. The U.S. Senate recently advanced a proposal to allow ARPA funding for regular government services, and the House of Representatives will consider a similar measure.

So some county officials are waiting and watching. Time is on their side  counties, cities and states have until Dec. 31, 2024, to obligate their ARPA funds. They have until the end of 2026 to actually spend the money.

One of the things we preach to our folks is that were not in a rush, we have time, said Cannon, of the county officials group.

Right now, the money can be used for four general purposes:

Responding to public health emergency and the negative impacts of COVID-19, such as providing grants to impacted businesses.

Maintaining government services impacted by a reduction in tax revenue caused by the pandemic. While there werent losses in property taxes, some counties saw a drop in lodging taxes, according to Cannon, when people stopped booking hotel and motel stays.
Biden comments came in response to a reporters question about the modest pledges made during the G-20 summit.

We made commitments here from across the board in terms of what were going to bring to (COP26), the president said. As that old trade saying goes, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pushed back at the West's target date.

Why do you believe 2050 is some magic figure? Lavrov asked at a news conference. If it is an ambition of the European Union, it is the right of other countries also to have ambitions....No one has proven to us or anybody else that 2050 is something everyone must subscribe to.

Italy's Draghi said the declaration went further on climate than any G-20 statement before it. He noted that it referred to keeping the 1.5-degree global warming target within reach, something that science shows will be hard to accomplish unless the world dramatically cuts emissions from fossil fuels.

We changed the goalposts, Draghi told reporters.

Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau said that G-20 leaders were able to get together was in itself a success given the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor has done many things well during the pandemic, particularly during the early weeks. As time wore on, he often discounted medical advice and indulged in the nations regrettable politicization of a public health crisis, eroding confidence in medical guidance when it is needed most.

Nebraskas outcomes  so far  have been quite good compared with other states, which Ricketts fairly touted in his column. Our mortality rate is among the nations lowest. The only clear drag on the states economy is a lack of workers  a serious challenge that predates the pandemic.

The states chief executive certainly gets to claim a measure of credit  though we believe some of the success occurred in spite of Ricketts, such as cities imposition of mask mandates he opposed and initially threatened to block, delaying their impact on reducing spread of the coronavirus.
Now, unfortunately, these statesmen would be labelled, RINOS  Republicans In Name Only  by latecomers too ignorant of the true Republican ideals to bother straying too far from Donald Trump. I too remember the embarrassment and frustration on the party wasting political gains and time just to have a show trial of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Newt Gingrich and Jerry Falwell were riding a wave of win-at-all-cost politics.

That is where we as a party returned with Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthys band of crazy fanatics. Isnt it sad to have many of your beliefs held hostage by unscrupulous opportunists who play us for fools while telling us how much they love America?

Robert Hathaway, Omaha

'Woke' woes

I am beginning to tire of the word "woke." It is very evident that corporations have fully embraced the idea of being woke. I have noticed that 40% or more of the actors in print media or in TV commercials are now people of color, although they represent just 17% of the U.S. population.
NORMAL  Rivian and the Town of Normal are under the national spotlight.

Rivian's Brian Gace said in the report that their R1T pickup truck is "the coolest thing on the planet."

The nationally-broadcast show noted how Normal's uptown business district is thriving, and Heartland Community College already offers EV mechanics classes.

One student told Tibbles in the story that his post-graduation plans were to "go to Rivian, baby. That's my goal."

The video story included an interview with Pam Locsin, owner of The Garlic Press, who shared how she's very happy to "be back to Normal," and that businesses are wanting to set up shop in town.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos said he's happy the town and Rivian are getting the recognition.

"'The Today Show,' the New York Times and the Financial Times have all written about Rivians success in this community and its very gratifying," he told The Pantagraph Sunday morning.

In NBC's news package, the mayor told Tibbles the town is trying to look toward the future and grasp opportunities such as with Rivian.

He elaborated to The Pantagraph on how the EV company's employees generate many other jobs in the region. Koos also said he thinks the company will benefit from the leverage of other companies that want to be near Rivian, like their suppliers.

"That generally happens when you have an operation that large," the mayor said. "Were pretty sure thats going to come as a result."

He expects the success will continue to grow in the community, adding they have full support from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and federal legislators.

"They all think this is really good for the region," the mayor said.

Statistics released by the Illinois Department of Labor show unemployment rates dropped by 2.2% last month, down to 4%.

Koos also took in Locsin's enthusiasm from her interview.

"Theres just a sense of excitement in the community that Rivian is now in production," he said, "and its a huge economic boost for the region that we live in, with all the new jobs and the sales of those vehicles.

"Were all pretty pumped about it."

Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison

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Around the Illinois Small Business Development Center of McLean County at Illinois Wesleyan University (SBDC), we are anxiously anticipating our biggest holiday of the year, and the most important sales opportunity of the year for our small business clients: Small Business Saturday, November 27th.

Over recent years, the five days after Thanksgiving have aligned themselves into an Olympics of retail: Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, followed closely on the calendar by Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday.

For its part, Small Business Saturday was an invention of American Express in 2010 to encourage shoppers to support their local small and independent retailers as the holiday shopping season went into overdrive. The Day has been sponsored by the Small Business Administration since 2015. Last year, the American shopping public made purchases of nearly 20 billion dollars during the event, a new record.

Im afraid to say that this may be a make-or-break holiday shopping season for a lot of local small businesses. In a survey conducted last month, fully two-thirds of U.S. small operators reported that COVID-19 has impacted their businesses.

Most of our clients have already started to prepare and if you have a small retail business, you should, too. I think you need to focus on three areas: Operations, Promotion, and Outreach.

Operations  The full weight of media attention is about to come to bear on small businesses and their positive impact on their communities. To reap long-term benefits from the blitz by creating new, loyal customers, you need to ensure that the shopping experience is seamless and rewarding.

Make certain you have enough help. Its all hands on deck! Make sure you have enough inventory. You also want to check that you have plenty of capacity in your online selling options. Make sure you prepare your website for an influx of customers by checking page load speed, checking smartphone optimization as mobile phones account for 54% of ecommerce sales, and by ensuring website security to keep customers safe.

Promotion  Were asking our friends and neighbors to buy local with their holiday shopping dollars. In return we have to offer them a deal or perhaps delivery service. Be creative!

Outreach  You must take advantage of the synergies that come from one big push by all the small businesses everywhere. Promote in all of your usual advertising and marketing channels (and some new ones?) and mention Small Business Saturday. Use your online sales infrastructure to extend the benefits of the boon into Cyber Monday. Create a partnership with a local non-profit to extend the benefits into Giving Tuesday!

There are a lot of opportunities for small businesses in the weeks ahead. Why not reach out to SBDC and well help you make sure your enterprise is ready to take advantage of them? Stay safe and well! Illinois Small Business Development Center of McLean County at Illinois Wesleyan University website: www.mcleancosbdc.org (homepage, click top right button to request a meeting.)

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A firefighter recently denied a religious exemption from the vaccine man-date, said this is the hill on which he will die. He said their family complied with the mask mandates, but this is where he draws the line; he will not get the vaccine. He had made the decision months ago, but when it came down to the wire, would he give up a very nice career just because he didnt want to get vaccinated? He did.

Many across America are doing the same. This situation reminds me of Venezuela where Maduro came in and replaced all the high-paid professionals with his cronies. They didnt know what they were doing, and the country fell apart.

Pilots at SouthWest airlines quit their jobs rather than get the vaccine. Why? It might have been because in May and June three British Airways pilots died unexpectedly, the youngest being in his thirties. Some think it was from the vaccines.

The aforementioned firefighter had nineteen others in his group try to fight the man-dates. The ones granted religious exemptions and allowed to stay on, are not allowed to be in contact with the public. They are put on driving duty, etc. He thinks they will be laid off in the future because they cant perform their duties.

Almost 2,000 government employees in Washington state, and thousands of healthcare workers nationwide, have refused to comply with the man-dates, and lost their jobs.

Me, to our government officials, Stop the mandates.

Lauretta Marigny, O'Fallon

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The Chief Executive Officer of K. Badu Agrochemicals, Dr Augustine Kofi Badu is set to receive a historic International Honorary Fellowship Award at The Law Faculty Auditorium, Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science and Technology come 10th November 2021 by George Fox University, USA.



The prestigious award from the higher learning institution, established in 1891 is the first-ever to an African.



In a letter of notice addressed to Dr Augustine Kofi Boadu ahead of the Honorary Conferment. and signed by Professor Tyler Cuddeford, PT, PHD Associate Dean, George Fox University College of Physical Therapy, it stated that the governing council at George Fox University in Newberg OR, USA, has the pleasure of informing Dr. Augustine Kofi Badu, that the joint committee of the faculty of the College of Physical Therapy has approved the recommendation proposed by Rectitude International Mission and its affiliate with the Bureau of Research on Governance, Commerce, and Administration (BORGCA) to receive an Honorary Fellowship (Doctor of Science) in AgriBusiness Management.



"We wish to recognize you, of your outstanding achievements, commitment, dedication to hard work; henceforward to be conferred with an Honorary Fellowship.



The governing council of George Fox University is now proud to inform Dr Augustine Kofi Badu of the Honorary Fellowship that the university will confer on you, Doctor of Science in AgriBusiness Management [Honoris Causa] coming Wednesday, 10th November 2021 at 2 pm at the Law Faculty Auditorium, KNUST."



It added, "On behalf of the university, I congratulate you on your achievements for this award and look forward to presenting you with this honorary title and award."













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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James Mensah, the Facility Manager of West Hills Mall and Samuel Annum Adjei, a contractor, have been arrested by the Weija Divisional Police Command for blocking the entrance of China Mall with rocks.



According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Juliana Obeng, Head of Public Affairs Unit, Greater Accra Regional Police Command, preliminary investigations suggested that the West Hills Mall was competing with China Mall for clients, hence the blockage.



She said on Saturday, October 30, 2021, at about 0200 hours, the Police at Weija received a distress call from the security man at China mall that some persons were there with a dumping truck, tipping off rocks at the entrance of the China mall located behind the West Hills Mall.



DSP Obeng said Police immediately moved to the scene and upon arrival, they observed that the entrance to the mall had indeed been blocked with rocks.



She said the two suspects immediately took to their heels upon seeing the Police.



However, the suspects were given a hot chase, arrested and sent to the Command for questioning, DSP Obeng said.



She said James and Samuel both admitted to the offence and had been cautioned.



DSP Obeng said they were presently in Police custody assisting with investigations, meanwhile, the rocks have been moved from the entrance of the China Mall.







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 John Boadu, National Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asked Party members to eschew complacency and concentrate on touting the remarkable achievements of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led-government to break the eight-year electoral cycle in Ghana.



According to him, the breaking of the eight-year jinx remained the surest way the Party could maintain the confidence of the electorate and sustain accelerated socio-economic development across the country.



Mr Boadu gave the advice while addressing members of the Party at its Regional Annual Delegates Conference held in Cape Coast at the weekend.



"Hard work, peace, unity and harmony, remain the surest way the NPP can break the eight-year cycle, therefore, we must guard against complacency, bickering, backbiting and wrangling.



"We must rather intensify political campaigns and sell the many achievements of the government to particularly the voting masses at the grass-roots level, he noted.



He mentioned the implementation of the free Senior High School policy, One-District-One-Factory, One-Village-One-Dam, Planting for Food and Jobs, Rearing for Food and Export initiatives and the school feeding programme among others, as laudable poverty-intervention strategies of the government which must be touted to break the eight-year jinx.

The General Secretary also announced that the Party will soon embark on regional and constituency tours to audit the capacities of its communicators as part of its strategy to break the eight-year election cycle.



We are re-invigorating our communication team and very soon the party will come to the region and constituency to do an audit of our communicators and make sure that they are well resourced in order for them to be able to respond to this vile propaganda the National Democratic Congress (NDC) churns out every day, he said.



Mr Boadu noted that even though the NPP administration had initiated good policies and programmes, the NDC had resolved to mislead the citizenry with false information, a situation he believed if not checked would thwart governments efforts in propagating its achievements.

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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" " Despite studies that show otherwise, many students still believe in the efficacy of late-night cramming for exams. PeopleImages/Getty Images

Here's a familiar scenario. It's the day before a big calculus exam, and you haven't studied for whatever reason (short on time, too many other exams packed into the same day, etc.). Around 10 p.m., you finally sit down to review the calculus materials. Six hours later, you catch a short "nap" before rushing to school. You take the exam, and it seems to go fine. Although it wasn't your best effort, you pass and promise not to repeat the cycle when it's time for your next one.

This is what's known as cramming. And while students, parents and educators have long known it's not ideal, in desperate circumstances, it works to some degree. And by some degree, we mean it might save your GPA. But cramming doesn't provide long-term learning, according to Dr. Robert A. Bjork, distinguished research professor in the department of psychology at UCLA where he focuses on how we learn versus how we think we learn. (Spoiler: We are usually wrong.)

"[Cramming] can have pretty dramatic effects on the exam," Bjork says. "It will work in the sense of performance on an exam administered right at the end of cramming. [Students] get an impression that it really works, but it just works on the short term. It's accompanied with a dramatic forgetting rate after that." This is especially problematic when one lesson provides foundational information for the next, like in a math or language class.

Forgetting most of what you learned is not the only downside to cramming. Researchers have found that losing sleep while pulling an all-nighter also leads to residual academic problems for days after the cramming session. You can imagine the negative effects of an ongoing cycle of procrastination and cramming.

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Spaced-out Learning

More than a century of research shows that if you study something twice, retention goes up, Bjork explains. Studying and then waiting before you study more produces even better long-term memory. This is called the spacing effect.

"It's often something students don't understand," Bjork says. Rather than reviewing material right away, students benefit from spacing out their study sessions. There are many arguments about why spacing works better for long-term retention. One relates to encoding.

When a student studies something from a book and reviews it immediately, the student will encode the information in the same way, Bjork explains. However, the more ways students can encode information, the better they will understand it and the longer they will know it. This means that even studying the same material in two locations can help them encode it in different ways; therefore they learn it more successfully.

Another idea is that the harder it is for our brain to recall something, the more powerful the effects of that recall will be for long-term learning. For example, if you are at a meeting and encounter someone new, you might recall their name immediately, which probably won't help you remember it the next day. However, if you need to recall the person's name an hour into the meeting and do so, you'll have a better chance of remembering it a day or a week later because you had to put in effort to recall it.

A third reason why spacing works is that people pay less attention to the second presentation of material they have just seen because the information is already familiar. When the material is spaced out, it's no longer as familiar, so people pay more attention.

Dr. Will Thalheimer, founder of Work-Learning Research, which focuses on research-based innovations in learning evaluations, explains that when it comes to learning, presenting material more than once is beneficial, but doing it over time is even better and "facilitates long-term remembering." And while spacing may slow the learning process because you'll be studying for more than one evening, it significantly reduces forgetting.

However, many students continue to opt for cramming and believe in its efficacy.

A 2009 study by UCLA's Dr. Nate Kornell found that spacing was more effective than cramming for 90 percent of the participants; just 6 percent of those who crammed learned more than those who studied using the spacing effect. In three experiments, researchers tested spacing against cramming, yet despite the findings in favor of spacing, participants believed that the cramming style was more effective.

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Mixing It Up

If the spacing effect sounds like a lot of waiting around to review material, recent studies have shown the positive effects of mixing up different material while studying. This concept, called interleaving, consists of working on or studying one skill for a short period of time, then switching to another one, then maybe a third, then back to the first.

A 2015 study tested interleaving in nine middle school classrooms teaching algebra and geometry. A day after the lesson for the unit was complete, the students trained with interleaving scored 25 percent better than students who received standard instruction. A month later, the interleaving group was up 76 percent.

This is great news. Studying for an exam or completing a big project doesn't need to feel so daunting, and interleaving has benefits for writing, too. Rather than trying to block out two hours to study for a math test, study math for 30 minutes before you move to French and then work on an essay. Go back to math later.

"That produces substantially longer and better retention," Bjork says. "It has a lot of implications that we are exploring."

There is a message here for teachers as well as students. Instead of teaching a topic in a block and going to the next topic, teachers can spend a short time on a topic, go on to others then return to the earlier topics.

"There is a lot to learn about how to learn," says Bjork. "People's intuitions are not the best guide."

Now That's Interesting A 2012 UCLA study from professor of psychiatry Andrew J. Fuligni and UCLA graduate student Cari Gillen-O'Neel found that staying up and foregoing sleep to study is actually counterproductive. No matter how much a student studies daily, if they sacrifice sleep in order to study more, they're likely to have more academic problems  not less  the next day.
Climate protesters including from Extinction Rebellion have gathered in Glasgow to keep up the pressure.

Global COP26 climate negotiations are the "last, best hope" to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C alive, said summit president Alok Sharma as he opened the meeting on Sunday.

The Glasgow gathering, which runs to November 12, comes as an accelerating onslaught of extreme weather events across the world underscores the devastating impacts of climate change from 150 years of burning fossil fuels.

"We know that our shared planet is changing for the worse," Sharma said at the opening ceremony, as protesters gathered in the Scottish city to pile pressure on governments.

Experts warn that only transformative action in the next 10 years will help stave off far more cataclysmic impacts.

And the warming of the planet did not pause for the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the UN meeting to be delayed by a year.

The last year alone has seen a once-in-a-thousand-years heatwave and scorching wildfires in North America, extreme rainfall and flooding in Asia, Africa, the US and Europe and severe drought in Madagascar, which Sharma said has been referred to as the "first climate-induced famine".

In a stark reminder of what is at stake, the World Meteorological Organization said Sunday the years from 2015 to 2021 were on track to be the seven hottest on record.

Climate impacts in the last year include a record-shattering heatwave in North America and severe wildfires.

'Precious planet'

COP26 inherits its central goal from the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, which saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels, and 1.5C if possible.

That deal left many crucial details to be worked out, while emissions reductions remain woefully insufficient to avert global warming.

In August a bombshell "code red" report from the world's top climate science body warned that Earth's average temperature will hit the 1.5C threshold around 2030, a decade earlier than projected only three years ago.

And last week a UN report said even the latest, most ambitious carbon-cutting commitments would still lead to "catastrophic" warming of 2.7C.

COP26 now marks the "last, best hope to keep 1.5C in reach", Sharma said.

"If we act now and we act together we can protect our precious planet," he said.

Activists have mobilised in Glasgow to urge the delegates on, with Extinction Rebellion campaigners kicking off the proceedings on Saturday in a march of protesters in white face paint and flamboyant robes.

Severe drought in Madagascar is causing what some have called the first climate-induced famine, Sharma said.

Greta Thunberg also arrived in the Scottish city late Saturday on a train that was mobbed by waiting journalists.

But others hoping to arrive in eco-friendly style were thwarted by severe rail delays.

'Investing in extinction'

Much of the world's hopes for wrestling down emissions rest on the G20 richer nationswhose leaders met in Rome at the weekend and whose economies account for about 80 percent of carbon pollution.

They committed to the key goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C and pledged to bring a halt to international funding for coal plants without emissions capture facilities.

They also pledged to reach a target of net zero carbon emissions "by or around mid-century", falling short of setting a clear 2050 date, as campaigners and summit host Italy were hoping for.

The world's focus on decarbonisation has sharpened in the face of increasingly dire warnings from scientists, central banks and security services about the threat posed by climate change, as well as global youth protests.

But governments under pressure to reboot their Covid-lashed economies continue to subsidise fossil fuels, even as they tout renewables.

Sharma urged all countries to work together.

UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa told the Glasgow opening ceremony that nations must turn away from business as usual or accept that "we are investing in our own extinction".

More than 120 heads of state and government will make the trip to Glasgow for the UN meeting, including US President Joe Biden, France's Emmanuel Macron, India's Narendra Modi and Australia's Scott Morrison.

But President Xi Jinping of China, the world's largest emitter, has not left his country during the pandemic and will not be travelling to Glasgow.

Vladimir Putin of Russia, another major polluter, will also be a no-show.

Sharma said more than 21,000 representatives from governments were registered, as well as nearly 14,000 observers and 4,000 media representatives.

With poorer nations least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions hit hardest by its impacts, inequality overshadows the COP26 negotiations.

The failure of rich countries to cough up $100 billion a year starting in 2020 to help developing nations lower emissions and adapta pledge first made in 2009will complicate the already fraught talks.

 2021 AFP
In this Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021 photo provided by NASA, from left, European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer of Germany, and NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron gather for a photo after arriving at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX has bumped its next astronaut flight for NASA until Wednesday, Nov. 3, because of rough wind and waves offshore. Four astronauts were supposed to blast off from Florida early Sunday morning on a six-month mission to the International Space Station. Credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA via 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.

For crew launches, SpaceX requires good weather all the way up the Eastern Seaboard and across the North Atlantic to Ireland, in case something goes wrong and the capsule has to make an emergency splashdown.

Calmer conditions are expected Wednesday. The one German and three U.S. astronauts will remain at Kennedy until then.

This will be SpaceX's fourth astronaut flight for NASA in 1 1/2 years and the company's fifth passenger flight overall. Last month, SpaceX launched its first private flight, sending a billionaire and his three guests into orbit.

Explore further SpaceX needs to tame toilet trouble before weekend launch

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Wade Kitner looks at the northern lights as he fishes in Ventura, Iowa, on Tuesday, June 23, 2015. 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 the Halloween weekend, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Credit: Arian Schuessler, The Globe Gazette via AP, File

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.

It might sound like something from a science fiction movie. But really it just means that a good chunk of the northern part of the country may get treated to a light show called the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.

Geomagnetic storms as big as what might be coming can produce displays of the lights that can be seen at latitudes as low as Pennsylvania, Oregon an Iowa. It could also cause voltage irregularities on high-latitude power grids as the loss of radio contact on the sunlit side of the planet.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Despite the best efforts of local health officials, only 68.8% of Warren County residents and 57.6% of Washington County residents were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Friday.

The state average is 66.4% and Warren Countys rate is the eighth-highest in the state.

However, these numbers have ticked up only very slightly during the last two months. As of Sept. 1, 65.5% of Warren County residents and 54.1% of Washington County residents were fully vaccinated.

In an effort to give the vaccination campaign a literal shot in the arm, the two counties are working together on a new campaign to overcome vaccine hesitancy in the region. More details will be released in the coming weeks, but it will include outreach by representatives from both counties with help from local physicians and community groups, according to Warren County Health Services.

The goal of the campaign is to include factual information about the benefits of vaccination and the effectiveness of the vaccines, according to a statement from the county.

The vaccines are having the desired effect of building immunity to COVID-19, and we arent seeing recipients who are suffering serious side effects from the vaccine, which some cite as a concern, said Health Services Director Ginelle Jones in an email. We urge anyone who hasnt gotten a shot yet to contact your medical provider and please educate yourself about the numerous benefits of these vaccines.

The state last week also launched a new webpage to combat COVID misinformation. Among the myths are that the vaccine can cause infertility, the development process for the vaccines was rushed, and that the vaccines change peoples DNAs.

Another component of the local campaign is to make it convenient for people who are on the fence about the vaccine or lack effective transportation to get to a clinic.

Warren County Health Services is planning additional clinics for the northern parts of the county, where the vaccination rates are lower. By ZIP code, North Creek is the lowest in Warren County at 48.8% followed by Athol at 50.8%. The highest rates by ZIP code are Bakers Mills at over 99%; Bolton Landing at 87.9% and Chestertown at 78%.

In Washington County, among the lowest rates are in Hampton is at 39% and Huletts Landing at 39.4%. The highest rate is Middle Granville at over 99%; Kattskill Bay at 77.1%; and Cossayuna at 75.2%.

A third component is to educate people about the rules regarding quarantine, which Health Services said many people find confusing.

People who have been fully vaccinated and are not showing symptoms do not need to quarantine after exposure. They should test between the third and fifth day after exposure and must wear a mask in public indoor settings, according to the state guidance.

Also as part of the campaign, Warren County is posting stories to its COVID Hub website at https://warren-county-ny-covid-19-warrencountyny.hub.arcgis.com/pages/covid-stories.

The most recent one is about a 58-year-old Queensbury resident named Joe (last name withheld), who admits that he did not take COVID seriously and neither he nor his wife got vaccinated.

Then, Joe and his wife and 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter all got the virus. Joe had gotten monoclonal antibodies because of some prior health issues and did not get seriously ill.

However, both his 46-year-old wife and son were in the hospital at the same time and his wife nearly died. Joe said he had never been so scared in his life.

His son spent a week in the hospital and his wife spent two. She still has the after-effects of pneumonia and the family has over $10,000 in medical bills.

Health Services Director Jones said she hopes the campaign will encourage people to get the shot.

Our region continues to deal with the impact of the delta variant of COVID-19, which has included more illness among younger people, and we know that without our good vaccination rates, we undoubtedly would have lost more lives during this surge, she said.

Vaccination rate trends

The following is a chart tracking the percentage of people who are fully vaccinated and have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine over the last two months.

Date Warren County Warren County Washington County Washington County

Fully vaccinated One dose Fully vaccinated One dose

Sept. 1 65.5% 69.6% 54.1% 57.4%

Sept. 6 65.9% 70% 54.4% 57.8%

Sept. 13 66.4% 70.5% 54.9% 57.7%

Sept. 20 66.9% 71% 55.3% 58.3%

Sept. 27 67.3% 71.4% 55.8% 59.2%

Oct. 4 67.8% 71.9% 56.3% 59.7%

Oct. 11 68.1% 72.2% 56.7% 60%

Oct. 18 68.4% 72.5% 57% 60.2%

Oct. 26 68.6% 72.7% 57.5% 60.6%

MICHAEL GOOT

7d0d1324-3804-11ec-8faf-00163ec2aa77

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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Erdogan did not follow through on the threat, but it reflected the rising tensions with the U.S.

I cannot honestly say that there is a healthy process in Turkish-American relations, state-run Anadolu news agency quoted Erdogan as saying in September.

Erdogans office said in a statement that the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere in which the leaders expressed a desire to further strengthen and improve Turkey-U.S. relations and agreed to establish a common mechanism accordingly.

The statement also said there was satisfaction with the mutual steps taken on climate change.

Turkey was kicked out of a U.S. program to buy F-35 combat planes and defense officials were sanctioned after it bought the Russian-made S-400 system. The U.S. strongly objects to the use of Russian systems within the NATO alliance and says it poses a threat to the F-35s.

Turkey maintains that the S-400s could be used independently without being integrated into NATO systems and therefore pose no risk.
This week, Donald Trump Jr., a man with as little decency as his father, offered a T-shirt for sale on his website: Guns dont kill people. Alec Baldwin kills people.

It was a slimy and predictable attempt to mock the actor, who accidentally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a prop gun on the New Mexico set of their movie Rust.

Never mind that a 42-year-old woman had died in a heartbreaking accident, that Baldwin was devastated and inconsolable, that an entire industry has been upended. Trump Jr. pounced to score political points and has not backed down in the face of fierce criticism.

Spare me your fake sanctimony, Trump Jr. tweeted Monday. The media is in full on panic mode to protect Baldwin from ANY criticism because they agree with his politics.

Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who owns a restaurant called Shooters Grill and proudly carries a gun to work in the U.S. Capitol, got snarky on Twitter as well: Saddened to hear about the tragedy that occurred on the set of Rust. Perhaps Alec Baldwin should have spent his time learning basic firearm safety like keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction and trigger discipline as opposed to attacking Americans constitutional rights.
JESSE GODDERZ VS. NICK DINSMORE & MORE: 10/30 OVW SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: APOCALYPSE LIVE REPORT FROM LOUISVILLE, KY

By Brian Cannon on 2021-10-30 23:22:00

This is the OVW Saturday Night Special Report for Apocalypse on Saturday, October 30, 2021.

Tonight, National Champion "Mr. Pec-Tacular" Jessie Godderz defends against OVW Original Nick Dinsmore!

The Nightmare Cup semifinals and finals take place as Southern Discomfort, Dysfunction, the Fanny Pack Party, & the team of Ca$h Flo & Dimes all look to advance and win!

Plus, the Heavyweight Title is on the line as Ryan Howe defends against the Kentucky State Champion Luscious Lawrence, plus much more!

APOCALYPSE:

Bryan Kennison & Shannon the Dude are on commentary, Eric Cornish & AJ McKay are the ring announcers.

NIGHTMARE CUP SEMIFINAL: Dysfunction: Brandon Espinosa & The Iron Bear Tom Coffey vs. Southern Discomfort: Jebidiah Blackhawk & Snake Williams Jr.

Dysfunction attacks Discomfort as they make a beeline into the ring. Snake gets launched outside and is on the floor grasping his leg. Back inside, Espy lands on top of Jeb and Tom holds down Jebs legs on the outside to get the 1-2-3!

WINNERS: DYSFUNCTION by pinfall.

NIGHTMARE CUP SEMIFINAL: Ca$h Flo & Big Money Dimes (w/The East End Villain Josh Ashcraft) vs. The Fanny Pack Party: Dustin Jackson & The Fanny Pack Kid Kal Herro.

Dimes thinks hes the big man early, trying to take down Kal and chokeslam him to no avail. Dimes & Ca$h take control after Ca$h trips Kal up off the ropes. They keep him away from his corner as they chop him and work him over. Ca$h tries to slam Dimes on Kal, but he moves. Ca$h then tries to drop and elbow on Kal, but Kal moves again. He leaps for Dustin, but Ca$h catches him and throws him back to their corner. Kal elbows Dimes, and then goes through Ca$hs legs to tag Dustin. Dustin fires away and hits a dropkick, but Ca$h leaps up and sits on Dustin out of the corner. Dimes tags back in and tries a chokeslam. Ca$h tries to assist, but Dustin slides out and dropkicks them down. He tags Kal in, and Kal hits a bionic elbow to Ca$h to knock him out of the ring, then delivers a knee to Dimes after tagging Dustin back in. Dustin connects with the running boot and gets the 3!

WINNERS: FANNY PACK PARTY by pinfall.

The Complete Package Tony Bizo (w/The Apex Intellectual Ricky Jones) vs. Reverend Ronnie Roberts.

Ronnie with a hot start. He hits Bizo on the outside and leaps off the top with a flying cross body back inside. Ronnie delivers the Lords legdrop, then hits Jones on the apron. Ronnie turns into a spinebuster. Bizo hits him in the ropes, then Jones comes over and chokes Ronnie. Bizo hits Ronnie some more, but Ronnie starts hulking up. Ronnie with some big rights, then Bizo knees him and throws him to the corner. Bizo prays for him to stop, but Ronnie hits another big right and kicks him in the face. He delivers a neckbreaker drop and sets up for the Mighty Hand of God, but Jones grabs his foot, then Bizo hits the Bizo Bottom. He locks in the sharpshooter. Ronnie gets to the ropes, but Jones has the ref distracted. Bizo pulls him back to the middle. Ronnie crawls to the ropes again, but Jones pulls the rope back and Bizo pulls Ronnie back. The ref gets on Jones & Bizo. Bizo tries to roll Ronnie up with a handful of tights, but the ref sees it. Ronnie then rolls Bizo up with the tights, and the ref doesnt see it and counts the 3!

WINNER: RONNIE by pinfall.

Mr. Zero Gravity AJ Daniels vs. The Hood Ninja Hy Zaya.

Hy with a quick start, taking AJ down. AJ rolls out and Hy dives out on him. AJ comes back and throws Hy into the ringpost. Back inside, Hy ducks a kick and comes back with the leg lariat. AJ comes back and tries a suplex, but Hy reverses and nails an inverted piledriver. He goes up top and connects with Ninja Vanish to get the 3.

WINNER: HY ZAYA by pinfall.

RUSH TITLE 2-OUT-OF-3 FALLS MATCH: The Star of the Show Star Rider vs. Gustavo (c).

Quick exchanges early. Star with a roll-up that gets the 3 and the first fall! More quick pin attempts by Gustavo. Star back with a kick. They exchange blows, but Gustavo gets a roll-up attempt and gets the 3 for the second fall. They exchange blows and Star knocks Gustavo to the outside. Star flies out on him. Gustavo comes back with a flying headscissors that sends Star into the ringpost. Gustavo throws Star into the barricade. Back inside, Star comes back and locks Gustavo up in the corner and super kicks him. He slams him down for 2. Gustavo comes back and sends Star outside. He kicks him in the face and hits a reverse hurricanrana. He covers him inside for 2. He tries again for 2 and goes up top. Star catches him with a super kick. He hits a knee and covers for 3, but the ref says no, Gustavos arm was under the ropes. Star stomps him in the face. He connects with a brainbuster. He goes up top, but Gustavo rolls out of the way of Orions Belt. Gustavo hits his finisher, but Stars foot is on the ropes. The ref proceeds to count to 3, not seeing it.

WINNER and STILL RUSH CHAMPION: GUSTAVO by pinfall.

Double A Arie Alexander vs. The Queen of the North Freya the Slaya.

Arie tries to lock Freya up and then lock up the leg, but Freya slings her off. She misses a boot in the corner. Arie hits her and tries to throw her, but Freya doesnt budge. She hits her in the ropes, chopping her, and then dropping a leg across the back of her head. Arie kicks Freya away and grabs her in the corner, but Freya grabs her by the throat and slings her off the top rope. Freya slams her down for the 3.

WINNER: FREYA by pinfall.

HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Kentucky State Champion Mr. Juicy Luscious Lawrence vs. Rockstar Ryan Howe (c).

Luscious with the early offense, he drops Howe and delivers the Swingers Party. Howe comes back with a kick below the belt in the corner while the ref is distracted. He kicks Luscious in the gut. He misses the rock n roll fistdrop and Luscious butt bumps Howe in the corner, then delivers the Rump Thumper. Howe comes back and takes Luscious down, but gets caught in the booty buster in the corner. Luscious with some clotheslines and goes up for a double axehandle. Howe moves and rolls out of the ring. Luscious slides out, but Howe traps him in the apron and hammers him in the back. They exchange kicks and hits on the apron. Howe hangs Luscious up saddle sore across the top rope. Howe connects with the Chart Topper, but Luscious kicks out at 2. Howe covers again for 2. Howe sets Luscious up on the top rope. He hits him and goes for a superplex, but Luscious blocks it and hits him off. He delivers the double axehandle for 2. Howe goes for the neckbreaker drop, but Luscious reverses and connects with the One Night Stand. A cameraman gets in dressed as Spider-Man and blasts Luscious in the back with a camera. Its Tony Bizo.

WINNER: LUSCIOUS by DQ, but STILL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: HOWE.

NIGHTMARE CUP FINAL: Dysfunction: Brandon Espinosa & The Iron Bear Tom Coffey vs. The Fanny Pack Party: Dustin Jackson & The Fanny Pack Kid Kal Herro.

The FPP keeps Dysfunction off balance early. Tom hits Dustin on the apron and Dysfunction takes control. Dustin tries to sunset flip Tom. Tom goes to sit on him, but Dustin moves and tags Kal. Kal falls out of the ring after Espy pulls down the ropes and they work over Kal for a while. Espy sits on him in the ropes and delivers a huge backdrop. Tom locks Kal up in the Iron Bearhug. Kal tries to crawl through the legs to tag Dustin. Tom grabs him, but gets jaw-jacked and the tag is made. Dustin comes in firing and hits Espy with a neckbreaker off his knee for 2 as Tom breaks the pin. Tom flips Espy onto Dustin and covers for 2 as Kal breaks the pin. Dustin fires away on Espy and dumps him out. He leaps out to the apron and hits a cannonball on Espy. Tom takes Kal down on the outside and Espy trips Dustin up on the apron. Dustin gets flipped inside. He superkicks Espy, but as he tries to suplex him into the ring, Tom grabs his feet and tries to hold them. Kal breaks the pin at 2 and gator rolls Espy to their side of the ring. Dustin kicks Tom in the face as Kal knees Espy. Dustin nails the running boot and gets the 3!

WINNERS of the 2021 NIGHTMARE CUP: FANNY PACK PARTY by pinfall.

NATIONAL TITLE MATCH: Mr. Wrestling Nick Dinsmore vs. Mr. Pec-Tacular Jessie Godderz (w/Shannon the Dude) (c).

They lock up. Off the ropes, Jessie takes Nick down. Nick with a snapmare and cover for 1. Test of strength, and Jessie takes Nick down. Nick comes back and locks up Jessies arm. He chops Jessie, but Jessie rakes his eyes. Jessie takes him down and stomps him. He locks his legs around Nick, but Nick moves his legs around to apply pressure back to Jessie. Jessie kicks him and covers for 2. He locks in a modified abdominal stretch on the mat. Jessie hits him, but Nick starts firing up and hits Jessie back, then connects with a big boot and legdrop. He covers for 2. Nick goes for a Rock Bottom, but Jessie counters with a stunner for 2. Jessie misses a charge in the corner and Nick rolls him up for 2. Jessie comes back and locks in the Adonis Crab. STD gives him leverage, but the ref misses it. Jessie breaks the hold. Off the ropes, they collide. Jessie gets up first and climbs up. He goes to drop a fist, but Nick catches him with a boot and kicks him. Nick sets up for a stunner, but Jessie shoves him toward the ref. Nick stops himself, but turns into a spear from Jessie for the 3.

WINNER and STILL NATIONAL CHAMPION: GODDERZ by pinfall.

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Now, we want to take the opportunity to urge you to make your voices heard.

Weve never quite understood why school board races are largely ignored. Even in a year when the public isnt arguing about masks and pandemic precautions, the work these people do  and the decisions they make  are crucial for the future of our community.

This year, weve heard a lot about how parents of school-age children need to get involved in these elections.

We couldnt agree more. But we also think that's true in years when there isn't so much debate and argument about remote learning and masks in schoolhouses.

Dont get us wrong. Decisions that our school boards made during the pandemic were important, whether it was to require masks or implement remote learning. But we think it's important to put those decisions into context: Last fall and winter, when cases were skyrocketing and vaccines were mostly unavailable, local boards took more precautions; this fall, during a smaller spike in cases and a greater level of vaccinations, most local boards, though not all, steered clear of more aggressive steps.
The 2021 Empty Bowl event designed to increase awareness of hunger in the Bitterroot Valley and raise funds for local food banks will take place in two luncheons with limited seating on Saturday, Nov. 13.

Organizer Robin Ireland said Empty Bowls missed last year due to COVID-19.

We are overdue in gathering together to support one another and the local food banks, Ireland said. They really need our support as they get ready to prepare the food boxes that go out during the holidays as well as keeping their shelves stocked with healthy food.

The Empty Bowl event is offering two luncheons, each with limited seating to be able to spread out for COVID-19 concerns, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the St. Francis Pastoral Life Center.

This year's luncheon will feature soup made by BJ's Restaurant, The Stock Farm, Cherry Street Cafe, Trapper Creek Job Corps, Bitter Root Brewing, The Edge Restaurant, Bouilla and The O'Hara Commons & Sustainability Center. The Hutterite Colony in Stevensville will make 12-dozen dinner rolls. The Knights of Columbus will help in the kitchen.

Tickets cost $25 each and are available at Chapter One Book Store and Clayworks! In the Bitterroot.

Proceeds will go to the local food banks, Haven House in Hamilton, Darby Bread Box, Pantry Partners in Stevensville and the Victor Food Bank.

Empty Bowls has received a $1,500 grant from The Power of Change program sponsored by Ravalli Electric Co-op. The funding has been used to help purchase clay for bowls, a banner and table for Apple Days, tickets, church rental, supplies for the luncheon and seed money for next year's program.

Ireland said Empty Bowls also received generous personal donations, including $1,000 collected during Apple Day where they handed out over 40 bowls. Now they are in the process of making more bowls to offer a good selection at the luncheon on Nov. 13.

Were shooting for 150 bowls for the luncheon and another 50 bowls to be used for donations at the studio, Ireland said. Even though we hosted two throwdowns, we did not get the same response we had in previous years due to COVID so we have had to rely heavily on Clay Works! members to make lots of bowls.

The Clay Works! potters are scrambling to make extra bowls with new ways to glaze and decorate them to provide a good selection.

Bitterroot Empty Bowls was first offered in the Bitterroot Valley in 2014-16 by the Bitter Root Cultural Heritage Trust as a feature event for ARTrageous in the Bitterroot. Clay Works! Potters made and donated bowls for the 2016 program.

In 2017, members of Clay Works! In the Bitterroot cooperative formed Empty Bowls In the Bitterroot, a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, with Bitter Root Resource Conservation and Development Area, Inc. as the registered agent for the corporation.

Empty Bowls is an international project to fight hunger and food insecurity, personalized by artists and art organizations on a community level.

Empty Bowls in the Bitterroot has an eight-member committee, President Robin Ireland, Vice President Vivian Yang, Secretary and soup contractor Debbie Crane, bake sale organizer and bowl maker Cheryl Bouman, bowl maker extraordinaire Sidney Mehlschmidt, advertising Phyllis Green, farmers market helper and bowl maker Eve Meng, bowl counter and general helper Nancy Spagnoli and general helper Cathy Eastwood. Ninety percent of the proceeds are distributed to the local food programs selected each year by the Empty Bowls committee.

In four years, Empty Bowls in the Bitterroot has raised $17,000 through luncheons, auctions and bake sales. The money has then been donated to all the local food banks, the Community Meals Program, Counsel on Agings Meals on Wheels Program, Salvation Army Food Vouchers, SNAP-Ed and the Bitterroot Backpack Program.

The need is still here.

Food insecurity is still a reality here especially with the high price of housing and difficult time folks are having staying employed during the ongoing pandemic, Ireland said. Come to the luncheon, we promise you will have a good time, with good food, music, a raffle and a wonderful bake sale to raise money for the building fund at Clay Works!

The bowls that you get to take home as a reminder of empty bowls in the community will be as beautiful as ever.

Donations are always welcome at Clay Works! In the Bitterroot, 325 West Main Street, Hamilton, MT 59840. For more information, email clayworksbitterroot@gmail.com or visit Clay Works! Facebook page.

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For help If you or someone you know is in crisis, the Montana Warmline is at 1-877-688-3377 or http://montanawarmline.org. The Montana Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) is also available.

A recent survey found 41% of Montana high school students  the highest rate ever documented  self-reported symptoms of depression over the last year, and roughly 1 in 10 reported a suicide attempt in the past 12 months.

While state officials and mental health experts are alarmed at the findings, sustainable solutions remain elusive in Montana.

And while the global suffering from COVID-19 over the last year and a half may have played a role in recent numbers, the assembly of factors in a single student's life that may develop into depression and anxiety are too complex to pin mental health struggles on the pandemic alone, the state suicide prevention officer said in a recent interview.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is conducted every other year among grades 7 through 12.

The 2020 survey found the highest rate of students ever to report feeling so sad or hopeless for two or more weeks in a row that they stopped doing usual activities, a metric researchers say is a symptom of depression.

The factors leading to such sadness are complex and in some cases specific to Montana.

"The most important thing is the survey reflects the students' voice," Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen said in an interview last week. "I think it's imperative that adults listen to that student voice."

Considering Montana's longstanding ranking among states with the highest rates of suicides, the survey results may be a dull shock. For the last three decades, the state has been among the five worst nationwide for suicides across all age groups.

But a closer look reveals how dim the last 12 months were for some high school teenagers. Golden Valley County, for example, saw 60% or more high school students report symptoms of depression. In Petroleum County, 1 in 4 students reported attempting suicide in the last year. The Flathead Valley is reeling from nine suicides among students in the last 17 months.

Some have pinned mental health issues among students on COVID-19 measures like remote learning or mask mandates on campuses. Karl Rosston, the suicide prevention coordinator at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, said the collective isolation students experienced last year may end up being a contributing factor, but it's too soon to tell. The rate of students feeling hopeless for two weeks or more in a row has also been steadily rising since 2011.

"We definitely heard a lot more about mental health issues, more depression, more anxiety (related to COVID-19)," Rosston said. He added that the increase hasn't translated to more suicides, at least for 2020.

"We really have to take a look at trends over a 10-year period because of our small sample size in order to get a more reliable and valid statistical analysis," Rosston said.

Several factors are fastened to Montana, like sparse populations and elevation. Studies have found a "threshold effect" where suicide rates increase at a certain elevation, where less oxygen is available to the brain. But Rosston said other factors can be improved, like the stigma that often creates barriers to seeking help. Stigma appears to be a greater hurdle in rural Montana, Rosston said.

"One of the greatest fears around suicide is fear of being judged," Rosston said. "You live and you work in these small rural communities where you know everyone and everyone knows you, and theres a fear of being isolated and judged. I think the stigma is much worse in a rural communities than it is in our urban areas."

A new approach

One possible solution tapped this year is a pilot project funded in part by a state Department of Public Health and Human Services grant and conducted by the Rural Behavioral Health Institute. The Livingston-based nonprofit's project, currently underway in Madison, Gallatin and Park counties, provides a six-and-a-half minute mental health screening completed by 12-year-old students. The results of the screening are delivered through a web-based system to a designated school staff member who can connect the student with resources on the same day. If the school doesn't have a contracted therapist, the nonprofit provides one, oftentimes remotely from Shodair Children's Hospital in Helena.

The institute's executive director, Janet Lindow and implementation director Julie Anderson already conducted the screenings in Park High School in Livingston, and found both buy-in and success. Screening isn't a new idea, Lindow said, but connecting the student to a therapist the same day is.

"Once you identify a child with suicidality, you don't want to leave them hanging, you want to connect them with care," Lindow said. "We could not have better partners as far as therapists who are trained to deal with kids in crisis and that's what were offering to schools."

Without gathering student's personal information, the project is generating data that the Rural Behavioral Health Institute hopes can eventually help the state identify problem areas to address. More immediately, the screenings allow schools to be more proactive than reactive to crises, Lindow said.

Rosston said he's going watch the project "very closely" over the next year, with hopes that if successful the state could bring those screenings to more counties.

Existing program at risk

Mental health resources already in schools, however, are facing some uncertainty. The Comprehensive School and Community Treatment program, which connects a licensed or supervised-in-training practitioner and behavioral health aides with children in school settings, came into jeopardy recently.

For years schools claimed providing physical space and technology like laptops as how they "paid" for their one-third of the cost for the program. The federal government, which covers the rest of the cost, objected to that approach years ago, but had allowed leeway until 2020. The state health department then stepped in with cash to keep the program going, but the Legislature rejected that earlier this year.

Lawmakers did approve stop-gap funding, allocated to the state Office of Public Instruction, to keep the program going while OPI and the state health department try to find a solution for schools' new cash requirement. That pot of money was expected to run dry in September, but is now on pace to last through mid-November, Arntzen said last week.

When that funding does run out next month, Arntzen is hopeful federal COVID relief dollars can refill whatever budgetary holes schools choose to dig in order to keep their CSCT program going.

We need to make sure those services are rendered," Arntzen said.

Arntzen also floated the idea of going a different route altogether from CSCT. Many students who use the program are in special education, Arntzen said, so perhaps schools can channel their resources there.

"That doesn't mean we increase the number of students that are in special education by any means, or prop up the numbers bigger, but I think theres multiple ways to look at this," she said.

Arntzen was not particularly warm, however, to the idea of going to the Legislature in 2023 to ask for money to conduct statewide screenings like those done by the Rural Health Behavioral Institute and emphasized by Rosston.

"Remember, one size does not fit all," Arntzen said, suggesting communities like Missoula and Bainville could see lopsided success through the program. Addressing the current workforce shortage, including paraprofessionals and bus drivers, is already taking up much of Arntzen's attention, she said.

"My job is to talk about the beautiful and wonderful things in education in a positive aspect but also to ring the bell and say we need to do better," she said, adding that the duty to push down the numbers from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey doesn't fall to her office alone. "I've got to work with (the state health department) with this, with county health, I've got to work through so many different entities and it's not just about a classroom teacher, it's about all of us in a state working on this."

Part of Rosston's plan to bring more resources to communities is by training those who are already there, or en route. Rosston has been training primary care providers around the state and encouraging them to conduct risk assessments for all kids over the age 12. Rosston has also expanded assessment trainings to nursing students around the state, many of whom will go on to work in rural health care settings.

"That's probably the most reliable thing that we can do," Rosston said of the screenings. "It's hard for me to imagine us having enough mental health services in our state just because of the rural nature, it's just not economically feasible to have it. But primary care is one that we really are focusing on because most communities do have a health care clinic, or rural doctor or nurse. Getting them trained up is probably our best initiative."

And in recent months, Rosston has gotten a hand in training new trainers, who can take that information to their regions. Jess Hegstrom, the suicide prevention health educator for Lewis and Clark County, is one of several new local trainers who can now bring that education to providers in the area. With additional grant funding, Hegstrom said these trainings will soon expand out to Broadwater and Jefferson counties, and beyond that before long.

The most important thing, Hegstrom said, is that people who are in contact with children are prepared when crisis happens.

"Making sure people know how to help means people won't fall through the cracks," Hegstrom said. "It means that if people get the help they need, they'll probably never be suicidal again."

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Coyotes and golden eagles may help keep infectious diseases like brucellosis from spreading, a recently published study has found, raising questions about the advisability of predator control and the use of lead bullets.

Brucellosis can be spread from infected cow elk when their aborted birthing materials are touched by cattle. Brucellosis infection in livestock leads to mandatory quarantine and testing that is expensive for ranchers.

Scavengers and predators that find and consume an infected elks afterbirth appear to lessen the chances for the disease, caused by bacteria, from infecting other animals  including livestock, dogs, elk, bison and even humans.

Our research indicates scavengers  particularly coyotes, eagles, and foxes  are important species on the landscape for removing brucellosis transmission risk, especially on private rangelands, ecologist Kimberly Szcodronski and research biologist Paul Cross of the U.S. Geological Survey write in their study, published Oct. 14 in the journal Ecosphere.

Ravens, crows and magpies were some of the first species to show up at the test sites, possibly alerting other scavengers.

That was another thing that caught our attention is the role avian scavengers played, Szcodronski said, especially when compared to other studies conducted in Wyoming.

All told, 15 different species visited  including black bears and wolves, skunks and pine martens  for the free USGS meal.

It was just surprising how quickly the remains were removed by scavengers, Szcodronski said.

Removal of the test material was often consumed within 16 days. Depending on the conditions, brucellosis can persist in infected birthing material on the landscape for several weeks to months.

Consumption was more likely in grasslands as opposed to forest and sagebrush lands, possibly because the fetuses were easier for scavengers to see and smell.

The main takeaway is that scavengers can potentially reduce the risk and potential spread of brucellosis between elk and livestock, Szcodronski said.

Scavengers

Erik Molvar, of the conservation group Western Watersheds Project, said the study emphasizes the need for robust populations of native predators. A similar claim has been repeatedly echoed by wolf advocates as Montana legislators and the states wildlife agency have loosened restrictions on wolf hunting and trapping.

Molvar said Montana and other western states need to get more comfortable with allowing nature to do its job rather than targeting predators and scavengers as nuisance species.

A little humility about coexisting with nature would come in handy, he said.

Coyotes can be shot year-round in Montana and are sometimes targeted by ranchers and the U.S. Department of Agricultures Wildlife Services to reduce depredation on livestock, especially sheep.

While acknowledging the role of scavengers in a healthy ecosystem, Gail Keirn, legislative and public affairs specialist for the USDA-APHIS-WS National Wildlife Research Center in Colorado, said her agency attempts to focus on specific animals causing damage in very limited areas.

Paradox

The study highlights paradoxes for ranchers and wildlife agencies. Should ranchers reduce predator control efforts on lands near infected elk populations to lessen the likelihood of brucellosis transmission to their cattle?

The study pointed out: there was a high probability (88%) that ranches with active scavenger reduction have slower removal time of abortion materials, potentially exposing those ranches to higher spillover risk given the same background rate of brucellosis prevalence in elk.

Recognizing the fallout such findings may trigger, the researchers acknowledged the complications.

We recognize that although mammalian scavengers can help reduce disease transmission risk, there is a balance for ranchers to consider between the costs of negative impacts to livestock operations from mammalian scavengers and the benefits they provide in removing abortion materials from rangelands, the researchers wrote. Studies suggest that livestock losses to predators appear to be relatively low on a landscape scale, but losses are not uniform spatially and small losses can represent a significant burden to ranchers which may lead to more aggressive scavenger removal actions.

On the other hand, public Forest Service lands although allowing hunting still saw high scavenger removal rates of the test material, Szcodronski noted. That could be due to their abundance on public lands or it may be that the landscapes are so large and connected, she speculated.

The study also highlights another issue: Should hunters be required to use only copper bullets to reduce lead poisoning in golden eagles? Golden eagle populations have declined across the West with studies pointing toward lead poisoning as a major cause, in addition to the birds colliding with human-made objects like wind turbines and power lines.

Lead poisoning is prevalent in golden eagles in southwest Montana with lead being detected in the blood of 97% of wild-caught eagles in southwest Montana, with 45% of those showing acute lead levels, the scientists noted. Much of this lead poisoning likely comes from hunter-killed carcasses and from recreational shooting of ground squirrels, coyotes, and other unregulated species. These studies highlight the potential importance of carcass removal programs and using more wildlife-friendly non-lead ammunition for hunting and demonstrate the role state game agencies, conservation groups, and the hunting public can play in reducing the amount of lead available to scavengers on the landscape while educating others on the potentially harmful effects of lead-based ammunition.

Area

The study was conducted at 264 sites in southwest Montana in 2017 and 2018. The research required Szcodronski to study more than a quarter-million photos.

The analysis used disease-free cattle fetuses placed across different landscape types  grasslands, sagebrush and forest  to document which scavengers may arrive at an abortion event and how quickly they would find the material. Remote cameras were set up to document what animals visited. VHF radio transmitters were installed in a portion of the fetuses, collected from a slaughter house, to track how far away the material was moved.

The 13 study sites were spread across private lands in the Madison, Paradise, Gallatin and Ruby valleys as well as public lands in the Gravelly Range and Tobacco Root Mountains in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and in the Custer Gallatin National Forest near Yellowstone National Park.

These regions are part of Montanas Designated Surveillance Areas for brucellosis in elk, where the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks works to prevent transmission from elk to cattle and monitors infection rates. Under the agencys brucellosis management program, tools such as hazing, fencing and lethal removal are used to keep elk and cattle separated, especially during the spring when elk give birth.

Disease

Brucellosis, which infects an estimated 20% of elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, can cause pregnant elk, bison and cattle to abort. About 60% of Yellowstone National Park adult female bison have been exposed to brucellosis, one reason the state of Montana has fought to keep the animals from migrating into the state in winter. Livestock in the DSA are monitored and vaccinated against brucellosis.

February through July is the window for elk abortions, with most incidents concentrated from March through May.

Infected birthing material is the main way brucellosis is spread, as animals come into contact with tainted fetuses. The study documented deer, bison, pronghorns and cattle touching the uninfected test fetuses. At least 142 elk visited the aborted fetuses, including two cases where 20 elk showed up within one hour.

Concentrations of elk, such as at winter feedgrounds in Wyoming, can raise the risk of disease transmission. But studies in Wyoming have also shown that these large gatherings of elk can attract scavengers to clean up aborted fetuses, helping to explain why brucellosis infection rates are now about the same in fed versus free-roaming elk, the study noted.

A separate 2009 study found that 70% of elk fetuses were removed by scavengers within 24 hours from Wyoming state feedgrounds, while 38% were removed within 24 hours from neighboring winter range locations where elk were not fed.

A similar study near Yellowstone in 2012 estimated the mean removal rate of (bison) fetuses was 18 days.

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While every region across Virginia is experiencing significant increases in COVID patients  HHS recorded 150 total in Richmond-area hospitals  hospitals in the Roanoke area are at capacity.

Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital has the most COVID patients in the state with 57 and zero available ICU beds. VDH data details that as the rise in hospitalizations is happening, so is the volume of visits to the ER.

During the week ending on Aug. 7, there were more than 67,000  slightly lower than the all-time high of 70,000 in March 2020.

Nearly 7,300 of Augusts figures  about 11%  were COVID-related. The last time figures were this high was at the end of January.

In a Wednesday news conference, Ballad Health  a hospital system serving Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee  reported 160 COVID patients, causing higher wait times in its emergency department.

By Monday, the patient number rose to 179. About 30% are on a ventilator.

Its easy to stand up here and say the worst is yet to come, but what does that look like? said Jamie Swift, Ballads chief infection prevention officer. It looks like more hospitalizations and more deaths. Its more stress on our frontline care workers and more burnout on our frontline workers. It means more sick children in our pediatric intensive care units.
Democratic Supervisor Mary Biggs, a former teacher, said the reduction in funding to the schools would then lead the district to turn to supervisors to make up the deficit. Biggs comment was a reference to a long-held view among supervisors that the schools ongoing funding hurdles are largely due to insufficient funding from the state.

Biggs also referenced the recent positions taken by the Christiansburg Institute, the local NAACP branch and the Montgomery County Education Association to explain her stance against vouchers.

My whole life, I have dedicated to public education funding and I believe public education is the great equalizer, she said.

Fellow Democratic Supervisor Sara Bohn said research also suggests vouchers have had a negative impact where they have been used.

Republican Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve Fijalkowski, however, attempted to allay some of the fears over the issue by pointing out that hes seen additional state money that could be dipped into for the vouchers and prevent any cuts in public school funding.

Before supervisors took action on the legislative priorities, they heard comments from several speakers on both sides of the voucher issue. Many repeated previously expressed points in favor or against vouchers.
The authoritys membership is expected to include a number of municipalities in the New River Valley, as well as Virginia Tech and Radford University. Each of them will share in the cost of operating the station expected to be built somewhere in the Christiansburg area.

Montgomery County Attorney Marty McMahon told supervisors this past week that one of the purposes of the authority will be to acquire property for the future station. He, however, clarified that the ordinance and agreement do not bind the elected body to any monetary obligations at this time.

The return of passenger rail has for years been the focus of a campaign that either involved or received strong support from a number of regional figures and public officials.

Advocates of returning rail to the New River Valley anticipate that the service will help drive future economic development and provide an alternative means of long-distance travel, among other benefits. The travel benefit has been particularly touted due to the fact many Tech and Radford students are not natives of the region.

The formation of the authority was made possible earlier this year when Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation authorizing the creation of such a body.
Fully vaccinated Virginians are receiving COVID-19 booster shots at more than double the rate of people getting their first dose, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis of Virginia Department of Health data.

Of the nearly 728,000 vaccinations recorded between Sept. 27 and Fridaya timeframe that widened the eligibility for Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster shots to millions of residentsthe majority were third doses or boosters.

Less than a quarter were first jabs against the coronavirus.

The pattern is unsurprising, said Dr. Michael Stevens, interim hospital epidemiologist at VCU Health. But its widening the gulf between who faces the least and most severe risk of infection heading into the winter months.

Every person who gets vaccinated sort of helps the overall population prevent COVID from spreading in the population, but until you get to that magic herd immunity number, which people talk about and no one knows quite exactly what that number is, no. Were not going to stop seeing spread in the community, Stevens said. Were not going to stop seeing surges.
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 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.
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.
Linwood Holton held his head high and smiled as he walked forward into a future more hopeful than the one he left behind.

At his side, his oldest daughter Tayloe mirrored his smile with one of her own. The photo that captured those smiles was taken Aug. 31, 1970, while Holton, Virginias first Republican governor since the days of Reconstruction, accompanied Tayloe as she prepared for her first day attending a mostly Black high school in Richmond.

Seven years earlier, Alabama Gov. George Wallace, a Democrat, stood in a high school entrance and made a show of preventing two Black students from entering, following up on the promise in his inaugural speech, Segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.

Holtons choice sent the opposite message, all across the country. The photograph depicting the short yet monumental walk he and his daughter took appeared the next day on the front page of The New York Times.

Holton, too, had made a promise in his inaugural address. The era of defiance is behind us, he said. Let our goal in Virginia be an aristocracy of ability, regardless of race, color or creed.
On Monday, Solvang City Council members unanimously directed city staff to work with the Planning Commission on measures that could legalize sheds across the city. They are to develop options for side and rear setback requirements specifically relating to small storage sheds on residential lots.
" " The odds are pretty low you have an unknown double. Toshiro Shimada/Getty Images

If the new horror movie "Us" and the many evil-twin plotlines in soap operas are to be believed, there's a doppelganger lurking around out there just waiting to take over your life with your partner, boss and best friends none the wiser. ("Doppelganger" is a German word meaning "double-goer," a person who looks exactly like you but is no relation.) Fortunately for those of us who scare easily, the math says that it's just about impossible.

"If we are talking about measurements of the face there is a 1 in a trillion chance that 2 or more people will match one another on 8 measurements of the face," emails Dr. Teghan Lucas, forensic anthropologist at The University of New South Wales and Flinders University, both in Australia. She published a study on the subject of doppelgangers in 2015 where she compared people for eight facial and eight body measurements to see how alike they really were. Some of the fastidiously precise facial and head measurements she refers to include ear length, head circumference and the distance between the centers of the right and left pupils.

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When she looked at the rest of the body, the odds of finding a doppelganger became bleaker. "If we look at measurements of the body, the chance is even lower at 1 in a quintillion based on 8 measurements. This is because these measurements are larger and thus have a larger range which means there is less chance for people to match each other."

So, the more measurements you consider, the less likely it is that anyone's going to 100 percent stack up against another person in true doppelganger fashion. "Two people may look very similar to the naked eye but when you start measuring they will not match each other," Lucas says.

Despite these odds, many of us have had the experience of being approached by a stranger and asked if you were someone you weren't, or related to someone they could not possibly be. So it's tempting to believe in the potential for doppelgangers.

"A lot of the people we see as doppelgangers are people we don't know very well," explains Dr. Michael Sheehan, a neurobiologist at Cornell University. "You're a lot more likely to see a doppelganger of an acquaintance than your mom. You know your mom really well. If someone looks similar you can appreciate it," he says, adding that you'd nonetheless be likelier to quickly spot the differences, as opposed to someone you don't know as well.

"There's only so much variation out there," he says. "Some people will happen to look similar."

Just because doppelgangers aren't really a thing doesn't mean that researchers will stop their investigation into body characteristics any time soon. In fact, the subtle differences in human features are becoming more important in criminal investigations, as found by Lucas and co-researchers in the International Journal of Legal Medicine study. "We looked at whether the face really was the best for identification and we found that it wasn't; measurements of the body are more unique than those of the face," Lucas explains. "This is extremely useful as many criminals who are caught on CCTV systems (such as those robbing a bank) cover their face, so we needed to find out if we can use the body in the same way as the face is used and we can!"

Even if you do run across someone who looks eerily similar, it's likely that time, hairstyle and other factors will distort any doppelganger potential. "Growing up one of my younger brothers was like the spitting image of me when I was 3," Cornell's Sheehan says. But time has done a number on that. "We look similar-ish now, but not the same."

Now That's Cool Doppelgangers might not be real, but some of these celebrities and their historical "twins" are insanely uncanny. Wondering who your celebrity twin is? Upload a photo of yourself to PopSugar "Twinning" to see who you match up well with.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Furniture in a shipping container burned, a turkey frying incident damaged a deck and some vinyl siding, a car was cut up and an air ambulance flew in Saturday morning.

Hot dogs and hamburgers were served and fun seemed to be had by all  which is about right for Howe Springs Fire Rescues third annual Community Risk Reduction Open House.

For the fire department it was part standard Fire Prevention Week open house with the added benefit of invited guests, said Howe Springs Fire Chief William Dillon.

Those guests included Florence County EMS, Florence County Sheriffs Department, MUSC Health Florence, McLeod Safe Kids, South Carolina Forestry Commission, Fire Safe South Carolina, State Farm and A&I.

All came with supplies of pamphlets and tchotchkes to reinforce their safety messages.

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Theyre all here to educate the public, Dillon said.

The goal of the event was to teach participants how to be safe and to protect their families, he said.

The highlight of the department annual open houses is their live demonstrations  a vehicle extrication, a live fire and a turkey frying demonstration.
I have had a chance to fly pretty good-sized jet airplanes and the very smallest of airplanes, he said.

Joye always enjoys the challenge of flight.

You are responsible for getting people in the back from one place to another safely, Joye said. And the weather can make flying tricky.

It is good to be 40,000 and 50,000 feet up in the air, Joye said. I cant really describe it.

Throughout his flying career, Joye has enjoyed flying small airplanes as much or almost as much as I do flying one of those big jets.

When asked if he still flies, Joye said, Oh yeah!

A friend of mine owns a twin engine airplane and I get a chance to fly with him sometimes, he said. I just fly and if I have to sit in right seat, I do. I just like to be there.

Mr. Aviation, is how his wife Beverly describes him. He would rather fly than eat when he is hungry. If you mention airplanes, he is all for it.

She called the recognition awesome.
We actually do think the U.S. can still put the target within reach, but its going to require a lot of sustained follow-up action by the executive branch and states after Congress is done to get the rest of the way there, said John Larsen, an energy systems expert and co-author of the study.

He called Biden's goal, set at a virtual climate meeting at the White House in April, ambitious" but said it's "better to aim high and push as hard as you can when the science is telling you thats literally whats required.''

The climate target is a key requirement of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which Biden rejoined on his first day in office. Its also an important marker as Biden moves toward his ultimate goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Biden also has announced a plan to double financial aid to poorer nations to $11.4 billion by 2024 so those countries can switch to cleaner energy and cope with global warmings worsening impact. The plan puts rich nations close to their long-promised but unrealized goal of $100 billion a year in climate help for developing nations.
SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks on a screen during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, June 29, 2021. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

By Cecilia Yap and Ditas Lopez

Elon Musks Starlink is in talks with two Philippine telcos to launch its ultrafast satellite internet in a country with slow speeds and poor connectivity.

Transpacific Broadband Group International Inc. said its looking to partner with Starlink for its satellite broadband venture, planning to roll out the technology by 2022. It signed an agreement with operator ABS Global Ltd. for a low-earth orbit satellite station in Pampanga province, north of the capital, according to a statement Thursday.

Low-earth orbit satellite technology offers a combination of affordability, speed, flexibility, ease-of-setup and a 27-millisecond low-latency bandwidth, it said in a stock exchange filing.

The Philippines ranks 72nd in the world for mobile internet speed and 64th in terms of fixed broadband, according to the Speedtest Global Index.

Starlink, a unit of Musks SpaceX, has deployed more than 1,700 satellites in low-earth orbit, a number that could eventually top 30,000 if it receives the necessary regulatory approvals and market demand warrants.

Meanwhile, fiber-optic broadband operator Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is talking to several satellite providers including SpaceX to complement its network, CEO Dennis Anthony Uy said.

We would like to utilize low-orbit satellite technology to bridge the gap in areas that are unreachable with fiber optic cables so that we can provide quality broadband connectivity to the majority of our people, Uy said. Converge in March said it sees room for growth by targeting the 90% of the Southeast Asian nations 110 million population that is still without high-speed internet.

Transpacific Broadband shares gained 5.6% in morning trade in Manila, building on Thursdays 5.9% rally. Converge was down 2.6%.

 2021 Bloomberg L.P.
The mass-marketing of the Day of the Dead is evident in the costumes that people buy for the day. Man Hon Lam / EyeEm Getty Images

As a Mexican-American who celebrates Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, at the end of October and beginning of November, Ive noted an increasing concern the past several years that the holiday is becoming more commercialized.

Indeed, for those who hold the holiday sacred, its jarring to see the extent to which its now mass-marketed. The evidence is everywhere. The holiday aisles of Target are stuffed with cheap Day of the Dead crafts during October. Halloween stores sell Day of the Dead costumes. Nike makes Day of the Dead shoes. California and Arizona sell Day of the Dead lottery tickets. Disney famously tried to trademark Dia de los Muertos before its 2017 film Coco. The examples go on and on.

The bottom line is that Dia de los Muertos and its associated imagery, skulls and skeletons have become trendy and a prime opportunity for companies to make a profit.

But as a researcher of culture and performance, I know only too well that the truth is Day of the Dead has always been commodified.

The roots of commercialization

Day of the Dead is what anthropologist Hugo Nutini calls a syncretic holiday, meaning its a cultural product of two different religious traditions that hybridized during the European colonization of the Americas.

Day of the Dead brings together the annual feasts for the dead celebrated by pre-Hispanic Indigenous cultures such as the Aztec, Maya, Zapotec and Mixtec peoples. During Mexicos 300-year-long colonial period, which started in 1521, these Indigenous rituals were merged with the Spanish Catholic holy days for the dead known as All Saints, celebrated on Nov. 1, and All Souls on Nov. 2.

Early Spanish chroniclers in Mesoamerica such as Diego Duran and Bernardino Sahagun documented the Aztec feasts for the dead known as Miccailhuitontli and Huey Miccailhuitl. Duran wrote in the 1570s that he was astounded to see how lavishly the Aztecs spent on supplies for their offerings to the dead.

Sahagun noted the overwhelming bustle and financial activity that took place at the market in the capital city of Tenochtitlan, modern-day Mexico City, during the Aztec ritual feasts.

All manner of foods and goods were sold to citizens to celebrate the Aztec feasts of the dead. In this respect, there wasnt much distinction between commercial and religious activity. The religious feasts supported the market and vice versa.

The Catholic religion also emphasized commercial activity in relation to All Saints and All Souls Day. According to 16th- and 17th-century Catholic belief, the majority of souls landed in purgatory after death, rather than heaven or hell. It was the responsibility of the living to help alleviate the suffering of souls in purgatory and assist them in getting to heaven. This could be done through prayer or by making offerings to the souls.

In Mexico that meant Spanish colonizers and newly converted Indigenous Catholics were tasked with purchasing directly from the church candles and other religious items that could be used in offerings to those souls in purgatory. Additionally, they could pay their local priest to say special prayers for the souls during Dia de los Muertos, a practice that remained in effect through the 20th century.

The colonial era

As Day of the Dead became a more popular and elaborate festival in Mexico, the associated commercial activity grew in size. According to anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz, in the 1700s Day of the Dead generated the largest annual market in Mexico City.

In fact, the plazas and streets were so overwhelmed during the holiday with vendors, carts, booths and makeshift markets that the local government deemed it a public disorder. Mexico Citys mayor and city council eventually had to control Day of the Deads economic frenzy by enacting laws and issuing vendor permits. In other words, the holiday had become so commodified in Mexico City that it required government regulation.

By and large the markets and vendors in Mexico sold items related to the holiday  food, candy, bread, alcohol, candles, toys and religious items. However, according to Lomnitz, by the 1800s, the Day of the Dead markets in Mexico City were also selling clothing, shoes, furniture, tools, home decor and many other things.

The swell of commercial activity on Day of the Dead also presented an opportunity for musicians, dancers and other entertainers to perform on the streets for money. In short, Day of the Dead in Mexico City and other urban areas carried both religious and economic significance.

Modern-day commercialization

Day of the Deads commercialization was also quite pronounced in rural Mexico. A number of anthropologists in Mexico and the U.S. writing about Day of the Dead in the early and mid-20th century make special note of the sizable holiday markets. They write that villages are transformed into commercial fairs where people gather from communities many miles away to buy and sell foods, goods and services during the festival.

Many guidebooks and travel brochures highlighted Day of the Dead as a cultural event for tourists to attend and buy folk art related to the holiday. Additionally, Mexicos tourism industry positioned certain regional celebrations as the most traditional Day of the Dead festivals for tourists to explore.

Mexican candy in the shape of sugar skulls being sold on the occasion of the Day of the Dead in Michoacan, in the western part of Mexico. fitopardo/Moment via Getty images

Hellier-Tinoco has shown how Mexicos selling of the Day of the Dead on the rustic island of Janitzio in the state of Michoacan transformed the small community ceremony into a spectacle attended by more than 100,000 tourists a year.

Given all this evidence, there doesnt appear to be an era when Day of the Dead wasnt intimately tied to financial activities and profiteering. But the holidays commercialization has also ensured its survival.

In 2019, I talked to a grandmother building a Day of the Dead ofrenda, an altar with offerings for her familys dearly departed that included candles, food, flowers, and festive decorations. For years shed tried to get her grandchildren to help her erect the altar for their ancestors, to no avail. It wasnt until they watched Disneys Coco and saw sugar skulls at Target that they took interest in the holiday. Now they eagerly help their grandmother build the altar.

Commercialization is and has been transforming Day of the Dead. But, from what Ive seen, its also giving a new generation a chance to be proud of their culture.

___

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Mathew Sandoval is affiliated with the Mesa Arts Center, an arts nonprofit that stages an annual Day of the Dead celebration. He serves on its annual Day of the Dead organizing committee. Dr. Sandoval is also affiliated with the Hollywood Forever Cemetery's Dia de los Muertos festival, serving as a judge for its altar competition.

___

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SIOUX CITY -- When a jazz musician says he's "in the woodshed," it means he is sequestering himself, digging deeper into the music.

Michael Widjaja, 17, said worrying about his dad's coronary bypass surgery in addition to the sudden interruption of school due to COVID-19 concerns forced him into serious "woodshedding" mode.

"I had a part-time job at Chick-fil-A, but all of my school extracurricular activities were canceled due to the pandemic," the East High School senior explained. "Because of that, I had nothing to do but practice, playing my trumpet."

Apparently, all that practicing paid off.

First, Widjaja was selected to be a part of the Iowa High School Music Association's All-State Music Festival. Then he was accepted to play as part of the All-National Honor Ensemble with the National Association for Music Education's All-National Symphony Orchestra.

Widjaja will be one of just six trumpet players from across the United States to have the honor of playing with the All-National Honor Ensemble during a virtual event, taking place Jan. 22-24, 2022.

"I auditioned for it even though I had really low expectations," he said. "Instead, I thought auditioning would make me a better musician and a better person."

Widjaja admitted being stunned at the news he made it all the way to a national symphony orchestra.

"I still can't believe that one of the six trumpeters in the entire United States chosen came from 'little' Sioux City, and that the trumpeter turned out to be me," he said with a big grin. "It just goes to show if you're willing to work hard, you will be rewarded."

Needless to say, Widjaja had spent years working towards this moment.

Born into a family where music education was encouraged, he began playing piano at age 4.

The youngest of seven siblings, Widjaja said his musical instruments were always "hand-me-downs."

"I started playing trumpet in the fifth grade with my sister's rusty old trumpet," he said, chuckling at the memory. "Before my sister played it, it was our cousin's. So, it was a hand-me-down twice before I got it."

Widjaja credited the music teachers he had while attending Sergeant Bluff-Luton Community Elementary and Middle School for their encouragement.

Plus he said Ryan Kisor, a Sioux City native who is now a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in New York City, was an early inspiration.

"Ryan was a trumpeter who started in school bands before hitting it big in New York," Widjaja explained. "Ryan proved it can be done."

While Widjaja is disappointed that this year's All-National Honor Ensemble will be virtual, he's making the most out of the opportunity.

"We'll be recording ourselves playing and it will be compiled into one big video," he said.

Despite that, Widjaja is excited to connect with symphony orchestra director LaSaundra Booth as well as some of the best young musicians in the country.

"Those are the types of the connections that will allow me to make the next big step in life," he said.

Widjaja is nothing if not ambitious. He's hoping to go to either the University of North Texas, in Denton, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) or even the Juilliard School of Music.

"I'm Indonesian and there is a stereotype of Asian kids as being insular and not being sociable," he said, shaking his head. "I'm very sociable and I'd love to focus on the performing side of music."

Already, Widjaja has been willing to work hard to achieve his musical dreams.

"Talent is important," he said. "Being a kind human being and a compassionate member of society is even more important."

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"Let Poland be Poland!"

That was the call of American conservatives, four decades ago, when the Solidarity movement of labor leader Lech Walesa arose in the port city of Gdansk to demand their freedom of the Communist system imposed upon Poland by the Soviet Union after World War II.

A decade later, Poland broke free of the Soviet Bloc and Warsaw Pact, and later joined the European Union and NATO.

The question that has arisen today also has to do with issues of Polish identity and independence.

Specifically, can Poland be Poland -- and still remain in the EU?

In recent years, the ruling Law and Justice Party has revised its governmental structures. The judiciary has been subordinated, brought under greater central supervision and control, and a disciplinary chamber has been established and empowered to remove judges.

Such action, says the EU Commission in Brussels, violates basic EU law, which applies to all member states and trumps national law.

Brussels wants the chamber abolished.

Moreover, on issues such as homosexuality, abortion and the media, the Polish government has taken stands more consistent with its Catholic traditions than with the social agenda of a secularized Europe.

The same holds true for the Hungary of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Poland and Hungary are ostracized as "illiberal democracies."

At a rally of tens of thousands in Budapest Saturday, Orban told supporters that Washington, the EU in Brussels, and billionaire George Soros are using their money, media and networks to bring to power the Hungarian leftist opposition in next April's parliamentary elections.

"But what matters," said a defiant Orban, "is not what they in Brussels, in Washington and in the media, which is directed from abroad, want. It will be Hungarians deciding about their own fate.

"Our strength is in our unity ... We believe in the same values: family, nation and a strong and independent Hungary."

Let Hungary be Hungary.

In this social-cultural-moral clash inside the EU, outsider Vladimir Putin comes down on the side of the traditionalists and nationalists in countries where Christianity retains a hold against secularism.

This weekend, Moscow released excerpts of Putin's blistering attack on a woke West at last week's gathering of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi:

"We're surprised to see things happening in countries that see themselves as flagships of progress," said Putin. "The struggle for equality and against discrimination turns into aggressive dogmatism verging on absurdity.

"Opposing racism is a necessary and noble thing, but the new 'culture of abolition' turns into 'reverse discrimination' ... Here in Russia the absolute majority of our citizens don't care what color a person's skin is.

"People who dare to say that men and women still exist as a biological fact are almost ostracized ... not to mention the simply monstrous fact that children today are taught from a young age that a boy can easily become a girl and vice versa.

"Let's call a spade a spade: This simply verges on crimes against humanity under the banner of progress."

In the clash between Poland and the EU, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged that a solution be found acceptable to both, rather than engaging in a long and bitter battle that leaves one side victorious and the other estranged.

Yet, today, Poland is being threatened with economic sanctions, including a possible withholding of annual EU stipends and money set aside for EU nations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to these threats, Prime Minster Mateusz Morawiecki is accusing the EU of "blackmailing" Poland and holding a "gun to our head."

"If you want to make Europe into a nation-less superstate," says Morawiecki, "first gain the consent of all European countries and societies for this."

Membership in the EU is popular in Poland, and the government has not threatened a walkout, a "Polexit," like the "Brexit" that British Tories voted for in 2016 and carried out.

Still, Brussels fears that successful Polish defiance of its demands could lead other EU nations to make demands, and the grand project of creating a European superstate, a One Europe whose member nations are accorded limited rights similar to those of the 50 states of the American Union, could collapse and fall apart.

National governments receive from membership in the EU not only the benefits of open markets, free trade and travel from one nation to another, but also, for nations like Poland and others in eastern and southern Europe, annual transfer of wealth from the EU.

The chokehold the EU has on its members is money. Brussels can cut off the funds transferred annually to Poland, as well as funds voted to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, together a goodly slice of Poland's GDP.

The questions raised by the rebellious Poles are fundamental: Which takes precedence, when they come into conflict, Poland's constitution and Poland's laws, or the laws of the European Union?

Conflict appears inevitable, and the Poles will ultimately have to decide whether their country and constitution transcend EU law, or the reverse is now true.

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  At least 66 criminal cases have been dismissed a month after authorities announced that more than $1.2 million worth of drugs had been stolen from a Nebraska State Patrol evidence room, and more dismissals are likely.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Bruce Prenda said his office has closed 66 cases, and it is still reviewing 43 more. Similar reviews are happening in 13 other counties served by the State Patrol evidence locker where the thefts were discovered.

Our office has dismissed several cases related to this issue, and well continue to review cases and make decisions, as we are required to do, Prenda told the Lincoln Journal Star.

Prenda declined to say how much of the stolen evidence was linked to active cases and how much of it was scheduled to be destroyed.

A former State Patrol evidence technician, Anna Idigima, and her boyfriend, George Weaver Jr., have been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute the drugs. Both of them have pleaded not guilty. Authorities said more than 150 pounds of marijuana, 10 pounds of fentanyl and 3 pounds of meth disappeared from the State Patrol evidence facility in Lincoln over the summer.

The Nebraska State Patrol says it is reviewing its evidence handling and storage procedures.

Lincoln Police are investigating whether the overdose deaths of nine people and one unborn child over the summer are linked to the stolen drugs.

Lincoln defense attorney Candice Wooster, who had one of her cases dismissed, said she would like to know more about how prosecutors are deciding which cases to dismiss, although she trusts Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon to make appropriate decisions.

I think it is just important to figure out how or why the decision is being made, Wooster said.

But Prenda said state law limits what prosecutors can say about cases that are dismissed because they are supposed to reply to any inquiry about those cases as if there is no record of them. Courts are also required to automatically seal cases that end in acquittal or are dropped by prosecutors.

That law was intended to ensure that prospective employers couldnt hold dismissed cases against people, but the law makes it difficult to track which cases have been dismissed because of missing evidence.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Lincoln Journal Star.

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BRIDGEPORT, Neb. (AP)  One small western Nebraska county is using roughly half the federal coronavirus aid money it is set to receive for bonuses of up to $10,000 each for county employees.

Morrill County officials approved the bonuses in August as hazard pay for the county's roughly 50 employees, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The county is set to receive about $900,000 from the federal program.

Most of the state's 92 other counties are still deciding how to spend the roughly $376 million they will share from the American Rescue Plan Act, but the Morrill County Attorney and officials with the Nebraska Association of County Officials say using the money for premium pay is allowed.

Jon Cannon, the executive director of the counties group, said hes telling officials not to rush to spend the money because they have until the end of 2024 to decide what to use it for.

Morrill County officials say the bonuses were warranted because of the work employees did throughout the pandemic, which included keeping the courthouse in Bridgeport open the entire time.

There were a lot of things you couldnt use it for, said Jeff Metz of Angora, the chairman of the three-member Morrill County Board. We ran across that one of the allowable expenses was hazard pay. We felt that fit with what we were trying to do.

It sent a nice message to the employees, Metz added.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Omaha World-Herald.
DES MOINES -- A shortage of willing workers was an issue before COVID-19 reached Iowa and the U.S. The pandemic, business leaders say, exacerbated the issues.

While policy changes to unemployment benefits have not yet boosted workforce numbers in Iowa, businesses continue to search for ways to find workers.

The federal government made an additional $300 per month in unemployment benefits available to help ease the financial pain of workers displaced during the pandemic. Some states, including Iowa, moved quickly to eliminate those benefits, saying the extra money was leading people to choose to collect unemployment checks rather than return to work.

But since those states stopped the aid, the workforce shortage and related issues remained. Workforces in the 25 states that maintained the extra federal benefits until the program expired in September saw better workforce growth than the states that ended the extra benefits early, according to an analysis of state-by-state data by The Associated Press.

Policymakers were pinning too many hopes on ending unemployment insurance as a labor market boost, Fiona Greig, managing director of the JPMorgan Chase Institute, which used JPMorgan bank account data to study the issue, told The Associated Press. The work disincentive effects were clearly small.

In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds cut off the extra benefits effective June 12.

Now that our businesses and schools have reopened, these payments are discouraging people from returning to work, Reynolds said in a statement at the time.

But there has not been a significant increase in the states workforce or a dent in the worker shortage since then.

Since June, Iowas labor force participation rate has remained essentially flat: it was 66.6% in June and 66.8% in September, according to state data.

Only 6,500 more people were working in Iowa in September than were in June, according to state data. Thats less than one-half of 1% of the total state workforce of nearly 1.6 million.

The states unemployment rate --- 4.0% --- also was the same in September as it was in June, according to state data.

And the number of unemployed Iowans in September (66,100) was virtually identical to what it was in June (66,600), according to state data.

Reynolds spokesman said the decision to cut off extra federal unemployment benefits was one element in the governors effort to address the states workforce shortage. The spokesman also noted the number of working Iowans has increased two of the past three months, said the number of Iowans seeking employment through state workforce development offices has increased 190%, and that the state is seeing some of the lowest number of initial unemployment claims in 20 years.

Iowas workforce shortage is a complex issue and the governor is focused on developing and implementing comprehensive strategies to resolve it. Ending (extra federal unemployment) enhancements was just one way to encourage individuals to return to the workforce in the near term, Reynolds spokesman Alex Murphy said in an email. The bigger opportunity is transforming the unemployment process to a re-employment system which is already underway at (Iowa Workforce Development).

Murphy is referring to recently announced changes to Iowas unemployment process, including requirements that Iowans receiving unemployment benefits conduct more work searches and work 1-on-1 with a state official to find a job.

These types of solutions will help meet our goal of more Iowans working, Murphy said. We want to be sure no Iowan who is receiving unemployment benefits unnecessarily remains on the sidelines. We cant sustain our highly touted economic recovery based on temporary enhancements.

Whether those changes are more effective than previous moves remains to be seen. Meantime, employers across Iowa continue to deal with a shortage of willing workers.

Iowa is in the midst of the most acute workforce shortage in a generation, said Joe Murphy, executive director of the Iowa Business Council, an organization comprised of CEOs and top executives from the 22 largest employers in Iowa. While this has been a concern for businesses for years, the pandemic has pushed this to crisis levels in many industries.

At the root of this situation is Iowas lack of population growth. We need to recruit more people to Iowa from high-cost states, retain more of our graduates, and work with our federal delegation to pass comprehensive immigration reform," Murphy said.

Ron Corbett, the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliances vice president of Economic Development and a former Cedar Rapids mayor and candidate for governor, also said Iowas stagnant population growth is an issue, forcing companies to get creative in order to attract workers.

Companies are trying to take remote work concepts and utilize people from outside the area, Corbett said.

As workers have found that working from home frees up their time to spend on other priorities, employers have often began to shift to some form of remote work permanently, or at least a hybrid between a physical and remote work environment, Corbett said. This expands the laborshed to all corners of the U.S. or sometimes even beyond the countrys borders.

But in Cedar Rapids, an industrial city with many manufacturing jobs, not all employers have the option to offer remote work, Corbett said. People who work in restaurants or as nurses, for instance, on the frontlines also have to be physically present to work.

As another incentive, Corbett said more companies than not are now paying well above $15  turning what once seemed like a longshot dream among Democratic officeholders into reality as employers compete for workers in a labor force thats been slow to rebound from the pandemic.

Corbett pointed to UnityPoint Health boosting the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and Mercy Medical Center & MercyCare Community Physicians following suit soon after with a minimum wage hike to $15.25 an hour in December 2020.

Now that most businesses have rushed to up their wages to compete, those pay bumps dont give a competitive advantage, Corbett said.

Employers might then turn to other incentives such as signing or referral bonuses. Corbett said he has seen some bonuses totaling $2,500 from area companies, which then might encourage workers to tell their friends and acquaintances about the perks.

Marion Economic Development Corporation President Nick Glew said the organization just recently put out a survey to its business partners last week, trying to identify any common skill gaps in workforce applicants.

Our idea was, are there any consistent shortcomings as far as training is concerned, Glew said. Could we partner with Kirkwood and leverage ARPA dollars to help upskill the workforce?

But Glew said the responses he has been hearing are the issues arent about training.

The responses have been, We just cant get bodies to walk through the door for these jobs, Glew said.

Glew said he hasnt heard of any local examples of companies offering signing bonuses or using any creative methods to get employees.

He said he thinks part of the reason for workforce shortages has to do with baby boomers retiring due to the pandemic.

I think theres a fair amount of that population that worked before the pandemic, but they could have retired before, he said. But the pandemic happened and they just didnt come back. And thats a large portion of the labor force. We knew these challenges would come, but it just came faster than we expected.

As companies are navigating what return to work looks like, employees want policies that promote flexibility, said Tom Banta, vice president of the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD). Wage increases are also part of the discussion, he added.

"On the lower end of that hourly scale, those rates have gone up 30 to 40 percent in some cases, if not higher, Banta said. Theres certainly wage increases as one solution to this.

Banta said ICAD primary works with interstate commerce companies, and the conversation has largely focused on retention.

Companies  such as CRST and the University of Iowa  are working to engage employees who might be looking at other opportunities, Banta said. Retention is increasingly more important for companies, he said.

Target has focused on retention, offering flexibility and more hours to its current employees. The company also announced an initiative to offer workers free undergraduate and associate degree programs.

Josh Schamberger, president of Think Iowa City, said his son started working at Target in June. He worked part-time over the summer and now weekends during the school year, and has received two retention bonuses and an increase in pay during that time.

Schamberger said his organization has also tried to be incredibly flexible with what employees need.

Banta said the goal is to have approaches be proactive rather than reactionary.

I'm optimistic that we're going to find our path forward, but it's likely not going to be any one item, Banta said. It's going to be a combination of a number of different things, and we're going to be learning as we go.

Some experts have said that early retirements during the pandemic have contributed to the nations workforce shortage. But not all employers in Iowa are seeing that.

At UnityPoint Health-Waterloo, there wasn't a rash of early retirements affecting the workforce, said spokesperson Carson Tigges, noting it was about the same as in years' past.

"There may be a narrative that individuals who are close to retirement are choosing to accelerate that and leave healthcare due to the pandemic, but we don't have any data that supports that," Tigges said.

Teachers and school district staff locally also weren't leaving en masse. Cedar Falls Community School District spokesperson Janelle Darst said they had "not seen a change in the number of early retirements," while Waverly-Shell Rock superintendent Ed Klamfoth also said he had seen "no change" in their early retirement rate.

At long-term care facilities, which bore the early brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, early retirements didn't seem to factor in. That was true even for the larger facilities, like Western Home Communities in Cedar Falls, according to spokesperson Linda Bowman.

At NewAldaya Lifescapes in Cedar Falls, CEO Millisa Tierney said there were a few planned retirements since the pandemic's start in March of 2020, but hadn't seen any increased early retirements "at this time," noting she "would not be surprised" if employees began considering that option more.

Nonetheless, finding employees to replace those leaving normally was still something NewAldaya struggled with.

"The increasing challenges of workforce shortage, as we move from pandemic to endemic, further burdens our team members and the organization," Tierney said.

Cedar Falls Utilities also had not noticed a rising number of early retirements, according to CFU spokesperson Mollie Strouse.

Reporters Gage Miskimen, Marissa Payne, Amie Rivers, Izabela Zaluska contributed to this story.

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Somewhere, Robert Ray is smiling.

The late Iowa governor was a leader in the 1970s in opening the states doors to refugees from war-torn Southeast Asia.

He responded to a call from President Gerald Ford, asking states to provide new homes to people who were looking for a safe place to live and work.

Those refugees became productive, contributing members of society and showed naysayers those seeking a life in the United States werent coming to live out their worst fears. Many of the newcomers settled in the Sioux City area, landing jobs in the meatpacking industry and other businesses.

Ray was praised for making his state a welcoming home. His response: We really only had two choices: We could either turn our backs as countless others suffered and died or we could extend a hand to help and, in doing so, prevent tragic loss of innocent lives.

Once again, Iowans have been asked to step up and, this week, local agencies said up to 150 Afghan refugees could be calling Siouxland home.

Thats good news on several fronts. Iowa can enforce its reputation as a welcoming state and it can begin filling those jobs that have been vacant since the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on businesses.

The refugees are American allies who aided our countrys war effort and were vulnerable under Taliban rule, according to Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. They want to be here. They want to lead productive lives.

Because there is a language barrier and an affordable housing shortage, there will be hurdles. But local agencies  like the Mary J. Treglia Community House and Lutheran Services in Iowa  have pledged to help find jobs, housing and, for younger refugees, a workable transition into our schools.

Also in tow: The Iowa National Guard and the 185th Air Refueling Wing. Theyll be assigned to an undisclosed location in the United States to help with Operation Allies Welcome.

Then, once the Afghans arrive, its our turn to show how good we, as Iowans, can be.

Talk to folks who benefited when Ray stepped up nearly 50 years ago and theyll tell you it was a win/win for everyone.

Opportunity is knocking. Once again, we have a chance to demonstrate the door is open to a brighter future.

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SIOUX CITY -- The phone rings.

The caller on the other end says, "Hi grandma, It's your favorite grandson."

The elderly woman responds, "Oh, Hi, Johnny."

What the woman doesn't realize is that the person on the other end of the phone is not actually her beloved grandson, but a scammer. He has gleaned information about her grandchildren from her Facebook page and is using it to steal her retirement savings via a scheme that's been dubbed the "grandparent scam."

The scammer claims Johnny was traveling overseas, ran into some trouble with the law, and, now, needs several grand to get out of jail. Can grandma send money to bail Johnny out?

The woman obliges and wires the money immediately.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, up to 5 million older Americans lose at least $36.5 billion annually to financial exploitation. But, they're not the only ones who are falling victim to scammers, who use phone calls, emails and messages sent via social media sites to target their victims.

"We do have quite a few elderly that run into scams," said Sgt. Mike Manthorne, of the Sioux City Police Department's Investigative Services Bureau. "Younger people are actually getting involved in more of an extortion-type crime. There's kind of two general schemes that they're using."

Water bill phone scam

Last month, the Sioux City Police Department warned the public about a scam with callers pretending to represent the City of Sioux City.

The department said in Facebook posts that members of the community have reported receiving robocalls from the City of Sioux City claiming that their water bill is late.

"The call goes on to say if it's not paid, then water will be shut off," the post stated.

The city sends two written notices of a late payment, in addition to the invoice. The city also does not call customers after hours.

IRS scam

The IRS is another entity that scammers like to impersonate. But, Manthorne said there's a simple way to determine whether the communication that you received is legitimate.

The IRS doesn't normally initiate contact with taxpayers by email. The agency does not send text messages or contact people through social media. When the IRS needs to contact a taxpayer, the first contact is normally by letter delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

"(Scammers) either threaten that they have a warrant or they're the IRS and they're trying to collect money. (Victims) are going to have FBI agents show up at the residence if they don't mail them money," Manthorne said.

Manthorne said he would be "very suspicious" of any entity demanding bank account or credit card information.

"No legitimate organization is going to ask you for gift cards or Apple Pay cards or things like that. They'll send you an invoice, especially if it's a federal organization. That's not how they operate. They may contact you with an official document and tell you that you owe back taxes or something like that, but they're not going to expect you to pay upfront when they contact you," he said.

Spoofed emails

Manthorne said he received an email indicating that his Amazon account had been hacked and that he was to call a 1-800 number immediately.

"I called it and the person that answered didn't answer the way I would have expected someone from tech support or from Amazon to answer. It was kind of a casual hello kind of thing," he recalled. "I ended up saying, 'I'll call you back later. I want to find out more about what this is all about.' He was trying to keep me on the line."

Later on, Manthorne called the number again. And, this time, the person on the other end tried to convince him to let "tech support" log into one of Manthorne's devices.

"I thought, 'OK, now I know what's going on.' They're basically trying to get all of your passwords and access to your computer," he said.

Although scammer have gotten pretty good at copying logos and using language that mimics that used in legitimate emails from Apple, Amazon, Netflix and other companies, Manthorne said there are red flags to watch out for.

Spelling and grammatical errors in the messages are key, as well as the sender's email address.

"People can set up a hyperlink to say anything they want, so they can re-key it to look like Amazon.com or Netflix or whatever they want, but if you hover over it, you will see the actual username and URL. That will be something really weird. It may even have a foreign country," he explained. "We have dot coms in the United States, but you'll see dot CA if it's in Canada."

Manthorne said opening the email probably won't result in any viruses of keylogs being downloaded into your system, but clicking on a suspicious hyperlink included in the email likely will. Keylogs are a type of monitoring software designed to record keystrokes made by a user.

"After you open that keylog, every keystroke is seen by the hacker. Anything you key in after that, they can see that. If they pay really close attention, they can see patterns. And, based on those patterns, they'll actually find out what your passwords are for all your accounts," he said. "That's a real good reason why you should avoid clicking on any kind of links."

If you can't tell whether the email if from a company you have an account with, Manthorne said you should contact the company directly, rather than reply to the email.

"Actually go to the website of that company and go to their consumer support," he said.

Online dating scams

Manthorne said he has investigated cases where tens of thousands of dollars were lost to scammers, who sought pictures from victims or sent pictures of the person they were pretending to be online via dating or social media sites.

He said you have to be extremely cautious about who you're exchanging photos and information with. He said scammers will pose as whomever you want them to be.

"You don't know who they are. They're sending pictures, but you don't know that's them," he said. "Then, they'll say, 'Well, I'm actually underage. I'm a minor, so now you're in trouble for soliciting a minor. And, I'm going to ruin your career and ruin your life.' You start sending money," he said.

Manthorne said it's difficult to track down highly sophisticated scammers who use phony IP addresses and fake Tik Tok and Snapchat accounts.

"It's not a real person, so you run into a complete dead end on those type of things," he said. "It comes down to trying to identify who that user is of those accounts."

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Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group.

Dear Care and Feeding,

I am struggling with how to best support my eldest child, a high school senior whose grades are good, who has good friends and participates in extracurriculars and works a part-time job, and who is dead set against college. And in theory I am fine with that, because even though his dad and I are both college grads and college has always been the assumed path for all our kids, we do know that college isnt the right choice for everyone. But our son has become 100 percent anti-school of any kind. His goal is to open his own business in the hospitality field, and yet he refuses to consider any sort of post-high-school education, training program, skill development course, entrepreneurship/business mentoring program, or anything else that might help him reach his goal. There are lots of local options for such things in this field and most are very affordable. We are able and willing to help pay for them. But he considers all of these to be school and believes that all he needs is grit and determination and hard work. He considers any suggestion about putting together even a rough plan for his post-high-school life and career to be insulting evidence that we are not supportive. He is an independent (and stubborn) thinker and I believe he is very capable, even if a bit naive at not quite 18. And I very much do support his goals and want to help him achieve them. But we are really worried about him. He thinks that by skipping college hell be getting a head start on his peers in a career, but I think he is risking being left behind. Do we need to be stern and tell him he cant live at home (he has no plans to move out anytime soon) unless he is doing some kind of a formal career training program? Is there some advice we could give him that could help him see the future more realistically, or do we just let him experience the consequences of his bad choices? All of our friends with kids his age are focused on college acceptance and financial aid right now (as are the guidance counselors at his school), so I have no one to brainstorm this with. I am a traditional-minded and risk-averse person, so maybe I simply dont have the imagination to see what he sees?

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Lost, Alone, and Worried

Dear LAaW,

I am here to brainstorm this with you! You are not alone!

I dont think you have a lack of imagination. I do think you might be worrying excessively, though. Hes still in high school, he isnt even 18 years old, he is indulging in a fantasy (that has unfortunately been stoked, Im sure, by a superficial message thats been promulgated by self-help gurus and inspirational speakers, and that seems to have drifted its way over to your child) without any plan for a means of achieving it. But he has plenty of time to course-correct in any number of ways.

He does not risk being left behind. He is still a kid. That he is taking a less common path than his friends are doesnt mean he is making a mess of his life. I understand that youre worried, but I hope you can take your foot off that gas pedal. Step back from all the advice and options youve been throwing at him. Hes not ready to hear any of it. He may be telling you that hes insulted by your suggesting that he needs any sort of schooling or mentoring to get where he (currently thinks he) wants to be, but I suspect hes mostly feeling overwhelmed.

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I think it would OK to tell him, gently, that you know hell be fine no matter what he chooses to do, that you love him and have faith in him (and do your damnedest to mean every word of it), and leave it at that for now. I dont see sternness as whats necessary here. Reality will begin to sink in as the school year nears its end: he has to do something with his time. Give him some leeway to figure that out. Easing off on the pressure may help him do that. You dont mention what he means to do, practically speaking, once he isnt spending his days at school and the hours after it engaged in extracurricular activities. Does he suppose that hell continue at his high school part-time job? If so, what will he do with the rest of his time? Daydreaming about his future hotel empire isnt going to cut it (for him or for you). Does he plan to get a full-time job? You may decide to tell him he has to (which will be appropriately stern when the time comes, if he continues to live at home and he isnt in school or a training program). Perhaps he hasnt begun to think about any of this yet (perhaps he doesnt want to think about it yet, or perhaps he simply cant). Give him some time. Graduation is still months away, and youre in a position to offer him essential support (i.e., a roof over his head, meals) when he finds himself facing choices about what to do next. (And he can make plenty of what you consider bad ones, by the way, without wrecking his life. I think you all may need to take a breath right now.)

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From this weeks letter, Our Son Keeps Saying He Loves Me More Than His Dad: Just today, my son said, Dad, I love you one heart but I love Mom two hearts.

Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband and I have two daughters (late elementary school-age) who are close to my brothers two daughters of the same ages. My husband and I have a somewhat more structured approach to parenting than my brother and his wife do: our daughters homework is checked nightly, theres dessert only on set nights during the week, there are limits on screen time, etc. I know there are both pros and cons to our approach, and I try not be judgmental of others parenting styles. The problem is that as our two families have lately resumed in-person activities, and my daughters have been having regular sleepovers at their cousins home, were finding that they are difficult to deal with upon their return. Ive tried hard to avoid the assumption that interaction with their cousins is causing this misbehavior, but the pattern is clear: on weeks when my daughters dont see their cousins, their behavior is noticeably better, whereas the day after one of these sleepovers, theyll push back on our rules, theyre disrespectful to my husband and meusing language Ive heard their cousins useand they are really irritable (and irritating). We tried skipping the sleepovers and instead having playdates with their cousins (in case lack of sleep was the issue), but that made no differencethey still came home imitating their cousins, debating our rules, and generally being unpleasant. Weve also tried to be direct in explaining that different households have different rules, and that when they are at home, they must continue to abide by ours! But this isnt getting us anywhere. I dont know what to do. Im wary of approaching my brother because I dont want to come off as arrogant or critical. Is there a way for me to rein in my daughters while still encouraging them to have a strong relationship with their cousins? Is their misbehavior just the price of doing business, so to speak, or is there anything I can do to curb it? Please advise.

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Over It in Ohio

Dear Over It,

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but your nieces bad influence on your daughters is just the beginning. You ask whether the irritating fallout of your kids visits with their beloved cousins is the price of doing business; Id ask you in return to think harder about what you mean when you invoke that expression. Because this is really about more than the business of letting them spend time with their cousins. Its about their living lifeliving in the world thats bigger than your households, and trying to make sense of it.

Your kids are simply discovering that there are other ways to live (and to be). The fact that your daughters snap back into shape after a day or soand that if theyre away from their cousins altogether they behave in reassuringly familiar waysmeans that they are still the same kids youve raised them to be. But it isnt surprising that after a trip to a looser, less structured, its-OK-to-talk-back-to-the-grownups environment, theyd experiment with what it might be like to live that way once they get home, flexing their muscles, questioning the rules they live by, acting up a little. What Im here to tell you is that the cats out of the bag: they now know some things they never knew before. And unless you plan to make sure they never experience any other households environments, or you hope to strictly control those experiences (carefully vetting their friends families to make sure their home environments closely match yours), rather than making your children pull back from their relationship with their cousinsor curbing what youre calling misbehaviorI believe it would be more helpful to all of you if you were to adjust your expectations. Think about reframing/renaming in your own mind what happens in the first 24 hours after the kids get home from their uncles house, as well as your reactions to it. As they get older, there will be many forces besides yours acting on them (thats just part of their growing upand you know that, right?).

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As for your brother, you most certainly should not approach him on this subject (to say what, exactly? I dont care for the behavior your children are modeling for mine?). Instead, invite your nieces to spend more time at your house, where you can demonstrate what your childrearing style looks like. It will be good for them, too, to find out that their parents ways arent the only ways. (And sometimes kids who are raised without much structure crave it. The grass is always greener.)

One more thing. Before you know it, your kids will be teenagers, and you will have to learn to appreciate their core strengths and to accept with forbearance a certain amount of healthy, age-appropriate rebelliousness. I wish I could tell you that you can inoculate them, and yourself, against the possibility of truly worrisome behavior once theyre in their teens, but that isnt possible. With any luck, if it occurs, it will be short-lived (my own, as I recall, went on for about two years; my father, on his deathbed, finally forgave me for it). In any case, youd do well to recognize that pulling the reins tighter rarely solves that problem.

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 If you missed Fridays Care and Feeding column, read it here.

 Discuss this column in the Slate Parenting Facebook group!

Dear Care and Feeding,

My tween has requested they/them pronouns and a new name. We are changing our habits on the pronouns, but we havent gone along with the name change. Though their first name is stereotypically feminine, we more often use the shorter stereotypically masculine form (think Samantha to Sam). Their middle name is gender ambiguous. These names were chosen with much love following a family/cultural naming tradition. While we are supportive of using any version of these given names to reflect our childs gender, we arent on board with a name change. We will not call Sam(antha) Simon, Stevie or Susie. Is this so wrong?

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Whats in a Name?

Dear WiaN,

Yes, its wrong. Call your child what they want to be called. Why does this matter so much to you? Yes, you chose a first and middle name lovingly, with family traditions and your culture in mind. Many of us do that. And then our children are born bearing those names and we raise them doing the best we can, teaching them the things we know and believe, offering them guidance of many kinds, making every effort to keep them safe and healthy. And as they begin to grow up, we help them become independent and strong. Insisting on using the names you bestowed upon your child at birth, after they have let you know this is not what they want to be called, is a way of saying, I dont care who you say you arethis is who you are to me, and thats what matters. I know thats not the message you want to give your child.

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Dear Care and Feeding,

Is my sister trying to mess with me through my daughters birthday gift? My sister, Ashley, and I have never been close. Growing up, our parents always pitted us against each other because (so they have claimed) they thought this dynamic of competition would help us become successful. It did not work, and our relationship has always been strained. The last straw was when my father left more money to me than to Ashley in his will. This seemed to really bother her, and we havent talked much since he passed.

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Last weekend, my daughterwho is transturned 7. My sister knows that Isabella is a trans girl, but for her birthday she sent a plush dinosaur. It seems to me that giving Isabella a birthday gift that isnt girly was a passive-aggressive way of getting at me. So I asked Ashley about it. She claimed that she doesnt see dinosaurs as particularly gendered and that she herself (supposedly) liked dinosaurs as a child. I dont buy it. Dinosaurs are known to be a boyish interest. (For what its worth, Isabella seemed happy enough about the gift and thanked Ashley over the phone. But I cant tell if she was just being polite to her aunt.) Am I overthinking this, or am I right to be suspicious?

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Dino Dig

Dear Dino,

Let me get this straight. You are a sufficiently forward-thinking person to fully support your trans childs identity (yay for you!) but also so backwards-thinking that you have the genuinely wacky idea that dinosaurs are for boys? I will confess that its hard to concentrate on the meat of your question (Does my sister hate me? Is she expressing this hate by meanness toward my child?) when my brain is spinning ceaselessly around the central mystery of your letter.

But Ill try. I dont know if your sister hates you, though your father leaving the two of you unequal amounts of money was a seriously cruel parting gestureunless there are extenuating circumstances you havent mentioned here, like Ashley is well off financially and you are desperately strapped. If addressing your years-long conflict/competition with your sister was really important to you, and your financial situations are comparable, you would have taken matters into your own hands and made the bequest equitable after the fact, so that your parents misguided, mean, bizarre child-rearing tactic didnt end up getting the last word. So I would say that the troubles between you two cant be laid entirely at Ashleys feet. As to whether her (possible?) antipathy toward you found its expression in the gift of a stuffed dinowhich is in no way I can imagine, no matter how I much I stretch my imagination, a toy that only a boy could lovethe only possible answer is what on gods green earth are you talking about?

Michelle

More Advice From Slate

My 14-year-old daughter dresses like shes going to a nightclubhalter tops, tube tops, short shorts, high heels, bare midriffs. I want to encourage her sense of style and help her to be positive about her body, but this is not OK, and we cant stop fighting about it. What should I do?
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/as-low-as-you-can-get-prince-andrew-slammed-for-victim-shaming-sex-abuse-accuser-as-gold-digger-1090362394.html

As Low As You Can Get: Prince Andrew Slammed For Victim Shaming Sex Abuse Accuser As Gold-Digger

As Low As You Can Get: Prince Andrew Slammed For Victim Shaming Sex Abuse Accuser As Gold-Digger

In court documents filed on Friday, Prince Andrews legal team called his sex abuse accusers civil lawsuit frivolous, claiming the alleged Epstein victim... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

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Prince Andrew has been accused of victim shaming his accuser in the sex abuse civil lawsuit he is currently facing. After the Duke of Yorks defence branded Virginia Giuffre a money-hungry liar stirring up a media frenzy to achieve another payday in a court motion cited by the Daily Mail, swift and relentless backlash was triggered from outraged women's groups and campaigners.Karen Ingala Smith, chief executive of London-based charity NIA, working with women and children who experience sexual violence, similarly fumed against the royal. Baseless Lawsuit Virginia Guiffre, 38, filed a civil lawsuit against the Duke of York in September, alleging she had been trafficked out for sex by the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epsteinwhen she was 17 and below the legal age of consent under New York law. According to the woman, she was forced to engage in intimate relations with the Queens son on three occasions: at the London townhouse of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's alleged pimp, in early 2001 at Epstein's New York mansion, and on the tycoon's private island in the Caribbean. Maxwell is currently in jail, charged with grooming and sex trafficking girls for the financier. The formal allegations against Prince Andrew are battery and infliction of emotional distress. On 29 October, in his court motion to dismiss the case against Prince Andrew, the royals lawyer Andrew Brettler was cited as saying:Jeffrey Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 after being charged with multiple child sex offences, with his death officially ruled a suicide. Brettler, acting in line with the court-imposed deadline to respond to Giuffre's suit  added that Giuffre had initiated a baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expense and at the expense of those closest to him. According to Prince Andrew, Guiffre had been intentionally stoking a media frenzy allowing sensationalism and innuendo to prevail over truth. The defence team had also made reference to a 2015 report published in the New York Daily News that claimed Giuffre also was trained to and did, in fact, recruit other young women into Epsteins sex trafficking ring. She was like head b****, a source had been cited as saying in the outlets report. Attorneys for Prince Andrew filed a court motion that Virginia Giuffres lawsuit be dismissed as also 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. Virginia Guiffres legal team, who agreed earlier to share the Epstein settlement agreement with the royals defence, insisted it would be irrelevant to the case.Furthermore, in an added twist to the case, Prince Andrew's 2019 BBC Newsnight interview will reportedly be used in the civil lawsuit against him, according to Guiffres lawyer Sigrid McCawley, cited by The Telegraph. McCawley claimed the shocking interview was very helpful and her team was examining it for inconsistencies. Furthermore, McCawley reportedly planned to subpoena the Duke of Yorks ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and daughters Beatrice and Eugenie to question his alibi that he was in Pizza Express in Woking on the day in 2001 when Giuffre claims she was first forced to have sex with him. Prince Andrew had dismissed all allegations against him in the November 2019 car crash BBC interview, denying Virginia Roberts Giuffres claims and insisting he had no recollection of ever meeting the woman. The royal, who has since permanently resigned from all public roles over fallout from the Epstein scandal, suggested that an existing photo showing the two of them together might have been doctored.Earlier this week, US Judge Lewis A. Kaplan set a deadline of mid-July 2022 for the submission of all evidence in the civil sex assault case, including a potential deposition from the Duke of York.

mandrake A hooker is a hooker whether a teen or older, so calling a spade a spade or a hooker coming back to fleece the client is sirt of cheap, assuming also she was well paid by epstein/maxwell! 1

Ian Treasure She's a damn groupie turn gold-digger in the process of destroying innocent people lives. FOH whore 0

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ghislaine maxwell, prince andrew, jeffrey epstein, virginia roberts giuffre
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/at-least-15-people-injured-after-knife-fire-attack-on-tokyo-train-reports-say-1090364190.html

At Least 15 People Reportedly Injured After Knife, Fire Attack on Tokyo Train - Video

At Least 15 People Reportedly Injured After Knife, Fire Attack on Tokyo Train - Video

Police have detained a knife-wielding man in the western Tokyo city of Chofu, according to media reports. 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

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At Least fifteen people were injured after a man had spread a hydrochloric acid around the train and set it on fire on the Keio Line train in Tokyo, according to Kyodo News. Police immediately arrested the suspect, who was carrying a knife.A video circulating on Twitter showed passengers evacuating through windows to escape the train.The suspect is being questioned by the police. The man is believed to be around age 20 years old, according to reports. Six ambulances arrived at the site of the incident.The incident took place at around 8:00 p.m. local time on Sunday.

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japan, asia & pacific, attack
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/erdogan-says-biden-showed-positive-approach-towards-supplies-of-f-16-jets-to-turkey-1090371057.html

Erdogan Says Biden Showed Positive Approach Towards Supplies of F-16 Jets to Turkey

Erdogan Says Biden Showed Positive Approach Towards Supplies of F-16 Jets to Turkey

ANKARA (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden has demonstrated a positive approach towards the supplies of F-16 jets to Turkey, the country's President Recep... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

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f-16

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The two presidents met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday."The agenda included the topic of the F-16s ... We saw a positive approach from Biden on this issue. Our heads of the defence ministries are involved in this process," he added.Commenting on the US supply of weapons to the Syrian Kurdish self-defence forces, he expressed concerns, saying he hopes that "this process will not continue this way in the future."

Tom One Erdogan Must have been sniffing something at the time of the meeting/ conversation, if it even ever occurred. Bidum certainly wouldnt have said anything of the sort. The F-16 to Turkey is never going to happen. 2

Lyle Milroy Too funny! Erdogan paid for F35's but will now take the lesser F16 because Turkey dances to Americas whims. 2

11

turkey

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news, turkey, united states, f-16
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/ex-us-admiral-urges-washington-to-beware-the-bear-amid-collapse-of-russia-nato-ties-1090370371.html

Ex-US Admiral Urges Washington to Beware the Bear Amid Collapse of Russia-NATO Ties

Ex-US Admiral Urges Washington to Beware the Bear Amid Collapse of Russia-NATO Ties

Relations between Russia and NATO hit new post-Cold War lows this month, culminating in the suspension of the blocs mission in Moscow. On Monday, Russian... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T17:55+0000

2021-10-31T17:55+0000

2021-10-31T17:58+0000

russia

james stavridis

nato

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James Stavridis, a retired US admiral and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, has urged the alliance not to take Russia out of its sights as the Western alliance continues its pivot to focusing on China, adding that the bloc can still mend ties with Moscow, if certain conditions are met.In an op-ed for Bloomberg, Stavridis commented on Russias move this month to suspend its mission to NATO and order the closure of the blocs Moscow office in response to the expulsion of eight Russian diplomats from the alliances Brussels headquarters.That hasnt happened, he noted, with the crisis in Ukraine following the 2014 coup, sanctions, the Russian counterterrorism operation in Syria, unsubstantiated US claims about Russian cyberattacks, and nerve-agent poisoning allegations leveled by the West against Moscow, culminating in the freezing of the mission.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at one time a big supporter of Russia-NATO cooperation, said rather tartly that if alliance officials had any further business with the Russian Federation, they could take it up with the Russian embassy in Belgium, Stavridis complained, pointing to Lavrovs announcement of 18 October ordering the closure of the blocs representation in Moscow.Encouraging the bloc not to look past Russia to focus on China, the admiral stressed that nor is it possible to look at the China threat without factoring in a Russian role.With this in mind, the armchair strategist urged NATO to keep the focus on Russia found in the blocs new strategic concept. Yes, there must be future focus on climate change, cybersecurity and, of course, China; those are the big changes of the past decade. But beware the bear, the reason NATO was formed after World War II, must keep primacy, Stavridis emphasized.This, Stavridis suggested, would require the alliance to increase its vigilance in the Arctic, continue to sanction Russia, strengthen cyberdefences, continuemilitary drills in Ukraine and Georgia and provide the two countries with action plans toward membership, plus standing up to Russian provocations at sea and in the air around the Baltic and Black Seas.As for the NATO-Russia Council, the retired admiral suggested that the bloc should remain ready to restore its operation under the right conditions, but only when combined with a strong and united front, and keeping Moscow at the center of NATOs strategic focus.Stavridis did not elaborate on what these right conditions might be. However, in the past, relations between the bloc and Moscow were at their best between the late 1980s and through the 1990s, when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian leader Boris Yeltsin made an endless series of concessions to the bloc in an effort to end the cold war and improve relations with the West.NATO responded to Soviet and Russian goodwill by incorporating every single member of the defunct Warsaw Pact alliance, plus the three Baltic republics of the former USSR, and four republics of the former Yugoslavia, into the alliance, in spite of a 1990 commitment by Washington not to do so. Since 2014, the bloc has also dramatically beefed up its deployment of troops near Russias borders, and held large-scale drills simulating direct conflict with its eastern neighbour.In 2016, a US Aegis Ashore missile defence system was made operational in Romania, with a second facility currently wrapping up construction in Poland. Moscow has expressed special concern over these facilities, pointing out that their MK-41 universal missile launchers could easily be converted to fire offensive, potentially nuclear-tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles, with a flight time to Moscow of mere minutes.

https://sputniknews.com/20211023/russia-china-conduct-first-joint-naval-patrol-in-pacific-ocean-1090152499.html

https://sputniknews.com/20210926/clinton-and-yeltsin-got-drunk-in-kremlin-restroom-book-claims-1089424356.html

vot tak Another bug-eyed world domination propagandist. Piss on him. 11

shahid khan NATO is a treacherous organisation. they are not to be trusted. we come in peace....... like hell you do! 11

14

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Ilya Tsukanov

Ilya Tsukanov

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Ilya Tsukanov

russia, james stavridis, nato
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/first-ever-jewish-dating-site-launched-in-the-gulf-to-cater-to-the-needs-of-a-growing-community-1090358017.html

First-Ever Jewish Dating Site Launched in The Gulf to Cater to The Needs of a Growing Community

First-Ever Jewish Dating Site Launched in The Gulf to Cater to The Needs of a Growing Community

Before the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, the number of Jews residing in the area did not exceed several thousand. But a... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T05:44+0000

2021-10-31T05:44+0000

2021-10-31T11:30+0000

persian gulf

news

middle east

israel

dating

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On Sunday, the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities (AGJC), a people-to-people network from the Gulf Cooperation Council, launched a first-of-its-kind dating website that's aimed at pairing up local Jewish singles.JSG, which stands for Jewish Singles in the Gulf, will encourage participants to fill out a questionnaire and then a group of matchmakers recommend matches.Boosting Jewish PresenceDr. Elie Abadie, a AGJC Rabbi based in Dubai who played a pivotal role in making the idea of a Jewish dating website a reality, says the platform is user friendly and the information that's given is confidential.It is not really clear how big the Jewish community in the Gulf is. Reports suggest that a small number of Jews reside in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where they have moved for business purposes.In the United Arab Emirates, before it signed a normalisation agreement with Israel, there were about 150 families, or roughly 2,000 to 3,000 people. Bahrain, another signatory of the historic Abraham Accords, reportedly housed a tiny Jewish community of about 50 members.Now, with the agreements signed and visa regulations easing, the Gulf is expected to attract more Jewish people, who will be coming to the region for pleasure, business and studies. And Abadie says the newly launched website can become a useful tool for many of them.Practising Jews disapprove of inter-religious marriages. This is specifically true for men, who are encouraged to marry only Jewish women, who are responsible for transferring Jewish lineage to new generations.Enhancing All Facets of Jewish LifeThe dating platform is only one of the initiatives introduced by the AGJC that aims at enhancing all facets of Jewish life in the region.In the past year since its establishment in the Gulf it has organised weekly Shabbat dinners and played a pivotal role in setting up a local kosher food organisation that caters to Jewish traditions and eating habits.But Abadie says the AGJC is not planning to stop at that.For now, however, Abadie takes "one step at a time," focusing on the launch of the dating website, and he is certain that it is only a matter of time until this service becomes a success.

Barros Jews are like rats! 5

keyboardcosmetics Isn't that racist? We can well imagine what the Jews will say if I start a dating site with the aim of pairing ethnic-Europeans. Go on, I dare anyone to try it. 2

11

persian gulf

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persian gulf, news, middle east, israel, dating
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/g20-rome-experts-point-at-advances-in-covid--economic-recovery-limited-success-on-climate-1090368671.html

G20 Rome: Experts Point at Advances in COVID & Economic Recovery, Limited Success on Climate

G20 Rome: Experts Point at Advances in COVID & Economic Recovery, Limited Success on Climate

The Group of 20 has concluded its annual summit in Italy, showing progress on global taxation and vaccines distribution but leaving many blanks on... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T17:12+0000

2021-10-31T17:12+0000

2021-10-31T17:12+0000

news

g20 summit

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For two days Romes EUR district was turned into a fortress: the G20 summit venues were guarded by beefed up security forces. Unlike some previous summits, such as the 2017 Hamburg G20, the meeting of the world leaders in Italy has not been marked by violent protests. Nevertheless, several rallies, including a small gathering of environmental activists were played out in the capital.Most protests revolved around environmental issues, with groups, such as Fridays for Future at the forefront. Other rallies around the capital were organised by union workers and opponents of the Green Pass COVID certificate.Despite some discontent in the Italian capital, it looks like the host nation decided to show a positive example to fellow G20 members when it comes to national reconciliation, making it possible to work on the summit's strategic goals. Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who entered office in February of 2021, has the support of various political forces from the left, the centre, and right. According to Deputy President of the EU Policy Committee in the Italian Chamber of Deputies Matteo Luigi Bianchi, the peoples trust allows Draghi to focus on economic growth and prosperity  the same goals that the Italian Prime Minister and his fellow leaders discussed at the G20:Italians trust their government with Premier Draghi, its a wonderful thing. The government sets sights on growth and on fewer taxes to stimulate the companies. Everything is focused on the economy.Discussions on the prosperity and the economy were key at both plenary sessions and bilateral meetings at the summit, and some experts say that the leaders have made serious steps forward in this area. Besides the deal on the first major overhaul of the worlds taxation system in many years which would increase taxes for global corporations, some G20 members decided to help impoverished nations through the IMF.We also saw another key component: several countries signalling that they would channel some of their new special drawing rights (SDRs) just created at the International Monetary Fund, to poor countries.  says Director of the G20 Research Group John Kirton.  France had done it a few weeks ago. Canada yesterday said it would too, and it would give 20% of its new SDRs- the same figure as the French.Despite the official summit motto -People, Planet, Prosperity - not mentioning COVID-19 directly, it was a hot topic for the world leaders. Even though some member states were successful in rolling out vaccines domestically, the lack of international coordination between G20 nations on how to approach the pandemic was clearly visible.However, according to Kirton, bloc members managed to move forward when it comes to vaccine distribution.The big number one thing they had to do was to respond to the current emergency, making credible promises to provide doses, or dollars to buy doses or support for domestic manufacturing to poor countries, particularly the largely unvaccinated ones, rather than save all their own doses to give their citizens a third shot. So, yesterday it was highly encouraging to see several G20 countries make announcements of additional doses or dollars.Summit sessions on the environment did not seem to bring any significant breakthroughs. The leaders confirmed once again their commitment to the principles of the Paris Climate Accord. But critics, especially those who took to the streets around the G20 perimeter in Rome, say that the Paris agreement, which was signed in 2015, is not obligatory for individual countries, and many of the worlds biggest economies decide for themselves how much effort they dedicate to preserving the environment.Nevertheless, according to Nobel laureate Riccardo Valentini, who is known for his research of forest ecology, the Rome meeting itself has become a good warm up ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Scotland which began on 31 October and will focus exclusively on the environment:I think that the G20 is very important now because it was very close to the conference in Glasgow. And in reality, this is the only place where leaders can speak more freely on this topic, they can exchange views and make some commitments.The Group of 20 was created in 1999 to address the global economy, financial stability, and environmental issues. The bloc currently consists of 19 member states and the EU. In December Italy will hand over the presidency in the G20 to Indonesia, with the next G20 summit to be held in Bali.

https://sputniknews.com/20211031/global-net-zero-emissions-keeping-15c-within-reach-on-agenda-of-opening-cop26-1090360827.html

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news, g20 summit
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/general-election-kicks-off-in-japan-1090358528.html

General Election Kicks Off in Japan

General Election Kicks Off in Japan

TOKYO (Sputnik) - Polling stations have opened in Japan where elections to the lower house of parliament are taking place on Sunday. 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T05:15+0000

2021-10-31T05:15+0000

2021-10-31T05:15+0000

asia & pacific

japan

election

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The polling stations opened at 07:00 local time on Sunday (22:00 GMT on Saturday ) and eligible voters will be able to cast their ballots until 20:00 local time on Sunday (11:00 GMT).Voter turnout in the first three hours of Japans general election amounted to 6.32 percent, according to the Japanese authorities. This is 0.83 percentage points lower than in 2017.Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is expected to retain the majority of seats in the lower house with the partys candidates likely to occupy at least 233 out of the total 465 seats (289 single-member districts and 176 elected under proportional representation).A total of 1,051 candidates from nine parties are competing for the parliamentary seats. The general election has already set two records. This is the shortest period between the election of a prime minister, which Fumio Kishida won on October 4, and the dissolution of parliament, which took place on October 14. Moreover, the election campaign this year was the shortest in the post-war history of Japan.

Hess Unlike most countries, in Japan things never change. US-sponsored fascist dictatorship will continue as usual, masquerading as "democracy". 0

1

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asia & pacific, japan, election
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/house-dems-reportedly-eager-to-pass-infrastructure-social-policy-bills-by-2-november-as-biden-win-1090367355.html

House Dems Reportedly Eager to Pass Infrastructure, Social Policy Bills by 2 November as Biden 'Win'

House Dems Reportedly Eager to Pass Infrastructure, Social Policy Bills by 2 November as Biden 'Win'

Joe Biden visited the House Democratic Caucus meeting on 28 October to implore lawmakers to rally around the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T15:11+0000

2021-10-31T15:11+0000

2021-10-31T15:11+0000

joe biden

house rules committee

news

us

sen. joe manchin (d-west virginia)

gop

house democrats

kyrsten sinema

g20 summit

cop26

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House Democrats are hopeful that Bidens much-touted $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and $1.75 trillion social safety net package will be passed by lawmakers as early as 2 November, according to Axios. House progressives, some of whom leveraged their support for the infrastructure bill on the condition that the Senate will pass the social spending measure first, are meeting virtually on Sunday afternoon, according to Democratic aides cited by the outlet. House leadership reportedly informed committees they have until Sunday to wrap up changes to the Build Back Better bill, which aims to expand the nation's social safety net and combat climate change. Subsequently, the House Rules Committee will meet on 1 November to consider the legislation in a session that is popularly known as the mark-up session. Members of the committee study the viewpoints presented, with amendments potentially offered, and members voting to accept or reject these changes. Afterwards, a floor vote might happen on 2 November. However, it was added that the schedule is not set in stone yet. Biden Desperate for a Win The reason for the highly ambitious timeline, given the dissent the massive economic and climate package has sown both along party lines and within the US Democratic Party ranks  between moderates and progressives  is purportedly the US presidents eagerness to flaunt a major win during his second major foreign trip. Biden departed Washington on 28 October, first heading to Rome for the Group of 20 Summit and an official stop at the Vatican City to meet with Pope Francis. Next on the schedule is the COP26, a UN climate summit, hosted by Glasgow on 31 October-12 November. Furthermore, if Democrats succeed, the votes on the parallel bills will coincide with a gubernatorial election in Virginia, set for 2 November, that pits Democrat Terry McAuliffe, the former governor attempting a comeback, against GOP Virginia gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin. The tight election race in the state is seen by politicians as a referendum on Bidens first year in office. Virginia went for Democrat Biden by 10 points in the 2020 November presidential election.Biden left the country on Thursday with only a framework deal for his massive social spending bill; he failed to secure explicit endorsement from all 50 Democratic senators. He pleaded with House Democrats during a caucus meeting on Thursday that the fate of the two packages was key to both the electoral success of his administration and congressional Democrats. The text of Biden's trimmed-back spending package was released on Thursday afternoon, with the president hailing it as a "historic economic framework." The price tag has been whittled down from the original $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion over a decade. While Biden's domestic spending package initially included two years of free community college for all students regardless of income, the plan was dropped. He also initially proposed 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, but the benefit was first scaled down and then cut out entirely from the compromise proposal. The new framework unveiled by the White House contained an offer of $555 billion for climate and clean energy investments, and $400 billion for child care and preschool via programmes funded for six years. As Republicans have been vehemently opposing the massive spending package, Democrats have been trying to enact the plan through a budgetary process called reconciliation. This would allow it to clear the Senate hinging solely on Democratic support.However, there has been protracted haggling in the House over the size and scope of the package between progressives and a pair of moderate Democratic Senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Weighing in on the split between the moderate and progressive Democrats over the spending proposals before flying to Europe, Biden stated: And that's what I ran on. I've long said compromise and consensus are the only way to get big things done in a democracy No one got everything they wanted, including me. But thats what compromise is.

Jackal The US is history. Face it. 1

TruePatriot Responsible representatives will vote this pig slop down come Tuesday. Just like the good citizens of Virginia will send McAuliffe back to the unemployment line. 1

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joe biden, house rules committee, news, us, sen. joe manchin (d-west virginia), gop, house democrats, kyrsten sinema, g20 summit, cop26
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/hunter-bidens-journey-home-art-exhibit-in-soho-appears-to-be-a-sparsely-attended-flop-1090365417.html

Hunter Bidens Journey Home Art Exhibit in SoHo Appears to be a 'Sparsely Attended' Flop

Hunter Bidens Journey Home Art Exhibit in SoHo Appears to be a 'Sparsely Attended' Flop

Amid criticism by Republicans that Hunter Bidens novice artwork, displayed at the Georges Berges Gallery and priced between $75,000 and $500,000 could be... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T13:07+0000

2021-10-31T13:07+0000

2021-10-31T13:07+0000

joe biden

donald trump

hunter biden

us

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The much-anticipated exhibit of Hunter Bidens paintings this week at the Georges Berges Art Gallery in SoHo has attracted a paltry trickle of visitors to date, reported the New York Post. Furthermore, those who did stop by to glimpse at the novice artwork reportedly sporting price tags of between $75,000 and $500,000, mostly declined to identify themselves, claims the outlet. A handful of artists and industry professionals showed up for the private viewing of The Journey Home  A Hunter Biden Solo Exhibition, which opened on 23 October and is set to run until 15 November.With Bidens parents, US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill also a no-show at the West Broadway venue, Georges Berges, the art dealer who owns the gallery, said that it was unfortunate the White House couple couldnt see their sons work. Its unfortunate that a father or mother cant see his work, but its the times we live in and itll become a distraction, he was quoted as saying by Artnet News.Among the visitors earlier in the week was Gene Epstein, former senior economist at the New York Stock Exchange, accompanied by his artist wife Hisako Kobayashi - one of 19 artists represented by Berges, according to the gallerys web site. Bill Fine, president of Artnet online art resource and database, was also among the meagre stream of visitors to the controversial show that features 25 works on metal, canvas and Japanese Yupo paper. After 15 November, the exhibit will move to the Berges gallery in Berlin. One of the things that I never anticipated was the political irrationality that people can have, Weighing in on the controversy that Hunter Bidens art show has been steeped in, Berges was cited by the outlet as saying: The pricey debut artwork produced by the Presidents second son, who never had any artistic background and was at a loss to secure a gallery to exhibit his works before 2020, has raised red flags for many critics. Hunter Bidens name has been steeped in controversy throughout late 2020 as the November presidential elections pitted his father, former Vice-President Joe Biden against Donald Trump, who was seeking reelection. The New York Post had published an expose on the alleged unethical and potentially illegal influence peddling involving Joe Biden after damning emails were taken from a laptop supposedly abandoned by Hunter Biden at a Delaware repair shop.The documents suggested that then-Vice President Biden met Vadym Pozharskyi, an executive from the Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, less than a year before Ukraine's then-General Prosecutor Viktor Shokin was fired at the US VP's request. Another batch of emails ostensibly threw light on an unspecified business venture with a Chinese firm and allocation of "20 [percent] for H[unter]" and "10 percent" for "the big guy," with Hunter Biden's former business associate Tony Bobulinski quoted by the media as saying the "big guy" referred to Joe Biden. To compound matters, Hunter Biden faced a probe into his taxes by the Justice Department, launched as far back as 2018 and connected to suspicious foreign transactions. However, the Biden scandal was swept under the rug with the help of the media and Silicon Valley giants. Social media companies moved to restrict access to the laptop from hell story, while former US intelligence officials dismissed it as likely Russian disinformation. At the start of his administration, newly-elected Democratic POTUS Joe Biden vowed to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest. The Democrats had lobbed a barrage of accusations against his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, whose daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, held White House adviser jobs.News of Hunter Biden's burgeoning art career, complete with reports of price tags as high as $500,000 generated concerns that people seeking to ingratiate themselves with the POTUS would be prepared to overpay for his sons art. In July, the First Son was quoted by the Nota Bene: This Week in the Art World" podcast as saying he never set the prices. The Post earlier revealed that Hunter Biden had already sold five paintings at $75,000 each  a fact that Georges Berges denied. Earlier in October, the White House insisted it had an infallible plan to prevent influence-peddling that required Berges to keep the identities of buyers of Hunter Bidens artwork secret from the WH. However, critics denounced the plan as flawed because buyers names would surely be leaked publicly.

Rokenbok I wonder if Biden buys his art from DaFen art village in Shenzhen China, then passes it off as his own. You can get anything painted there for about $500 and the artists say that many Americans are buyers and sign their own name to the art they buy. 1

vot tak I think hunter and donny trump junior would make a great couple. :-D 1

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Svetlana Ekimenko

Svetlana Ekimenko

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Svetlana Ekimenko

joe biden, donald trump, hunter biden, us
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/idf-launches-massive-weeklong-drill-simulating-war-with-hezbollah-combined-with-domestic-unrest-1090371194.html

IDF Launches Massive Weeklong Drill Simulating War With Hezbollah Combined With Domestic Unrest

IDF Launches Massive Weeklong Drill Simulating War With Hezbollah Combined With Domestic Unrest

In May, an Israeli courts ruling to evict six Palestinian families from a neighbourhood of East Jerusalem triggered public unrest which culminated in an... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T18:53+0000

2021-10-31T18:53+0000

2021-10-31T18:56+0000

hezbollah

hamas

israel

missile

rocket

drills

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The Israeli military and the Defence Ministrys National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) kicked off a massive week-long exercise on Sunday, with the drills, set to run until Thursday, expected to simulate a full-scale war with Lebanons Hezbollah movement.In addition to simulating a fight against Hezbollah, the drills are also meant to test how the military, emergency services and internal security forces would respond to domestic strife inside mixed Arab-Jewish cities in Israel proper. During the May Gaza War, cities including Lod, Acre and Ramallah were engulfed in deadly clashes, which culminated in the deaths of several Palestinian protesters and two Jewish residents, caused over a thousand injuries, and led to tens of millions of dollars in property damage.What concerns me as chief of staff of the Home Front Command: One is the issue of precision-guided munitions and the effect that they will have on our ability to function and on things in in the world of incoming fire alerts. The second is the rate of fire and Hezbollahs ability to conduct truly massive rocket barrages at specific geographic areas  Ill use the phrase demolishing the front line  directed fire at the communities near the border, the commander added.Bar stressed the exercises would put into practice what he and his staff learned through a close study of Mays Gaza conflict, with the drills expected to test how those lessons were enacted.NEMA director Yoram Laredo told reporters that his agency has a document for reference about how a multi-front war will look in terms of its scope and significance, with the drills expected to give it a degree of accuracy about possible events and how we direct and refine the exercise so that it can really be effective.He added that Sundays drilling included a special focus on police, and simulated nationalistic-based riots on many fronts.In addition to the military and NEMA, police, fire and rescue, ambulance workers and other government services are expected to be involved, carrying out simulations of the evacuation of northern populated areas, and carrying out air raid tests.Hezbollah is No HamasUnlike Hamas, which is concentrated in the besieged Gaza Strip, and whose fighters are forced to construct mostly simple homemade rockets out of scarce materials, Hezbollah is believed to possess over 100,000 rockets and missiles of various ranges, including precision-guided missiles. The group already demonstrated the capabilities of its rockets in the 34-day Lebanon War in 2006, when it fired nearly 4,000 of its 15,000 rocket and missile arsenal into Israel, and effectively bogged down an Israeli offensive until the United Nations brokered a ceasefire.The Israeli military and media observers have expressed serious apprehensions about Hezbollahs rocket and missile capabilities, given that even Hamass considerably weaker rocket arsenal demonstrated in May its potential to overwhelm Israels Iron Dome missile defence system when rockets were fired simultaneously in massed volleys.

https://sputniknews.com/20211018/israel-anticipates-up-to-2500-rockets-fired-daily-in-case-of-war-with-hezbollah---report-1089994622.html

https://sputniknews.com/20210515/iranian-media-reveals-how-some-hamas-rockets-have-been-defeating-israels-iron-dome-1082902998.html

vigilante Despite tough sanctions and blocked nuclear program, Iran appears to represent s terrifying threat to Israel. Whatever drills or tempestuous declaration, Israel remain a weak country calling big daddy the usa and invoking the Holocaust when they feel they are losing ground. 6

sharknbake21 hey israhell, how did your last encounter with Hezbollah go in the 80@s??? I bet you would nto want to meet these well armed .well disciplined anti imperial soldiers on the battlefield. let's go Brandon f..k the idf. va va voom Hezbolalh 3

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Ilya Tsukanov

hezbollah, hamas, israel, missile, rocket, drills
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/iran-zionist-regime-the-americans-behind-massive-hack-attack-on-gas-station-network-1090363581.html

Iran: Zionist Regime, the Americans Behind Massive Hack Attack on Gas Station Network

Iran: Zionist Regime, the Americans Behind Massive Hack Attack on Gas Station Network

Along with back-and-forth threats to blast one another into smithereens with ballistic and cruise missiles in the real world, Iran and Israel are believed to... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T11:45+0000

2021-10-31T11:45+0000

2021-10-31T12:54+0000

united states

israel

iran

cyberattack

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107936/76/1079367667_0:118:2241:1378_1920x0_80_0_0_1b45e688f5c393908b4935c0f4dc3ddd.png

Israel and the United States are the prime suspects in the large-scale 26 October hack attack which crippled Irans gas station network, civil defence chief Brig. Gen. Gholam Reza Jalali has alleged.The civil defence chief said the attack targeted middleware  or software acting as a bridge between an operating system and application of Irans gas station systems  making it difficult to defend against.Jalali indicated that further forensic investigation is needed, with the probe ongoing.Irans gas station network was crippled by a massive cyberattack on Tuesday, with some 4,300 stations electronic systems going offline, and payments using government-issued electronic cards allowing for fuel to be purchased at subsidised prices unable to be processed. The outages sparked anger from motorists and long fuel lines snaking around pumps, with fuel sold for cash at significant markup.Using the electronic cards, Iranian motorists ordinarily pay just 15,000 rial per litre for up to 60 litres of gas per month. Thats equivalent to about 5 US cents a litre, or 20 cents a gallon. The price tag goes up to 30,000 rial per litre for anything above the 60 litre quota.Irans oil ministry officials held an emergency meeting to deal with the hack attack, with about 80 percent of stations resuming operations as normal by Wednesday morning.Also on Wednesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suggested that the cyberattack was designed to make people angry by creating disorder and disruption, and stressed the need for serious readiness in the field of cyberwar and related bodies to prevent the enemy to follow their ominous aims to make problems in peoples lives.Iran remains wary of possible unrest stemming from fuel price-related public anger, with the country hit by large-scale protests over rising gas prices in 2019, which left several hundred people dead and thousands more injured.Supreme Council of Cyberspace Secretary Abolhassan Firouzabadi said Tuesdays attack may have been conducted from abroad, and said it may be linked to the hack attack which targeted Irans railway network in July. That incident caused widespread chaos and the delay or cancelation of hundreds of train journeys. A mysterious hacking group was suspected of involvement in the incident.On Thursday, Gen. Ali Shamkhani, chief of Irans Supreme National Security Council, issued a Hebrew-language message saying that Iran had uncovered enemy plans to wreak havoc in Iran in a coordinated action in connecting with the gas station hack attack, and stressing that the plot had been foiled.Hidden WarIran and Israel have accused one another of engaging in a back-and-forth cyberattack campaign targeting a broad range of virtual and physical infrastructure, from websites and servers to ports and utilities, for over a decade now.In April, the Natanz nuclear plant suffered major damage in a cyberattack. Iran described the sabotage as an act of nuclear terrorism and blamed Israeli foreign intelligence. Israel neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.On Saturday, Israeli media reported that a hacker group allegedly affiliated with Iran had infiltrated the servers of a major Israeli internet hosting company, causing a number of widely used websites to go offline, with hackers threatening to leak data. Before that, a hacking collective known as Moses Staff carried out a cyberattack against the Israeli Defence Ministry, leaking files, operational maps, letters, correspondence and photographs from ministry systems. Iran has not claimed responsibility for either attack.Earlier this month, Microsoft reported that a separate hacking group allegedly affiliated with Iran targeted US, European and Israeli defence technology-related companies.In 2010, Irans nuclear energy infrastructure was infected by the Stuxnet virus, alleged to have been engineered by Mossad, the CIA and Dutch intelligence, causing a broad range of problems and forcing Iran to pull most of its infrastructure offline.Ordinarily, neither country takes credit for hack attacks on the other. However, last year, Israeli military intelligence awarded members of cyber warfare Unit 8200, reportedly over their involvement in an attack on the Iranian port of Shahid Rajaee in May of that year.

https://sputniknews.com/20211028/message-in-hebrew-iranian-general-says-enemy-plot-to-wreak-havoc-in-tehran-foiled-1090282219.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211028/hackers-breach-leak-personal-data-of-israeli-defense-ministry-servicemembers-emails-of-benny-gantz-1090265544.html

Barros US is trash! 9

mandrake Anti-semitism is a corollary consequence of the jews never ending criminality. 5

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united states, israel, iran, cyberattack
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/lavrov-facts-prove-natos-reluctance-to-interact-1090369898.html

Lavrov: Facts Prove NATO's Reluctance to Interact

Lavrov: Facts Prove NATO's Reluctance to Interact

ROME (Sputnik) - Russia does not possess any data on the intentions of NATO, but facts attest to the reluctance of the alliance to interact with Moscow... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T17:38+0000

2021-10-31T17:38+0000

2021-10-31T17:39+0000

sergei lavrov

news

nato

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/103429/37/1034293766_0:0:4979:2802_1920x0_80_0_0_8d0e68243fe61e5bef0cb15adbe5310e.jpg

"We have no information about what NATO is going to do. We rely on facts, and facts are as follows that NATO does not want any cooperation with us. When we had representatives there and the NATO-Russia Council was operating, [the alliance] only wanted to teach us what to do, demanding every time to convene the NATO-Russia Council and discuss Ukraine. They were interested only in spreading propaganda and putting pressure on Russia," Lavrov said at theG20 press conference.The Russian diplomat added that "the matter is closed.""If NATO has a motive to address us, we have an ambassador in Belgium, who is responsible for the bilateral relations. We have informed the North Atlantic alliance that in any case it can send signals through this diplomat," Lavrov said.Lavrov also said that starting 1 November, Moscow is suspending its permanent mission to NATO in response to the mission staff reduction.On US Warships in the Black SeaBy sending military ships to the Black Sea waters, the United States does not add stability to the region but tries to push coastal countries toward confrontational policies, Lavrov said on Sunday.On Saturday, the Russian defence control centre said that the Black Sea Fleet was monitoring the USS Porter, a guided-missile destroyer, which entered the Black Sea."Of course, this does not add stability. The Americans are actively trying to push the coastal Black Sea countries, which are members of NATO, to pursue such a confrontational policy," the minister added.Russia is ready for any threat, he said, noting there is no problem for Moscow to reliably ensure the security of Russian territory and in the Black Sea."But we are always in favour of promoting projects of cooperation, not projects that are based on confrontation," he added.On Conversation With BidenLavrov said that he managed to talk with US President Joe Biden during a dinner on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome."We were able to talk with President Biden during dinner last night," Lavrov told reporters.The minister added that he did not meet with US State Secretary Anthony Blinken in the Italian capital.On Energy PolicyThe G20 countries have pledged to pursue an energy policy based on the balance of interests between consumers and suppliers of resources, the Russian Foreign Minister said."The G20 will support such energy policy solutions for the future that are based on a clear, sustainable balance of interests between suppliers and consumers," Lavrov told reporters following the G20 summit meeting in Rome.On Attempts to Promote Unilateral ApproachesThe main result of the G20 summit in Rome is that attempts to promote unilateral approaches are deemed ineffective, while collective approaches are needed, including to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Lavrov said on Sunday."The main conclusion to be drawn from the summit and from the work not only of the leaders but also of the experts who negotiated the full, multi-page declaration is that efforts to promote one-sided approaches have fallen by the wayside," Lavrov told a briefing following the summit in Rome.The majority of participants agreed that the G20 should lead by example and seek collective solutions to achieve a balance of interests both in dealing with the coronavirus, in fighting for habitable climate, and in dealing with energy security, the minister added.

https://sputniknews.com/20211026/nato-boss-says-door-for-finnish-membership-open-as-polls-register-spike-in-animosity-toward-russia-1090208842.html

vot tak Compare what Lavrov said here with what the israeloamerican stavridis said in the article posted here soon after this one. It's like comparing the reasoning processes between a human human being and a monkey. 4

fluttershield mlp The USA loves to talk down to others and refuses to listen to others. My country is a dangerous bully internationally with delusional sociopaths as leaders who believe they are still in charge of the world. 4

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sergei lavrov, news, nato
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/nyc-fire-stations-shut-down-due-to-staff-shortages-after-firefighters-miss-vaccination-deadline-1090355367.html

NYC Fire Stations Shut Down Due to Staff Shortages After Firefighters Miss Vaccination Deadline

NYC Fire Stations Shut Down Due to Staff Shortages After Firefighters Miss Vaccination Deadline

NYC Fire Stations Under Closure Threat as Thousands of Firefighters Are Missing Vaccination Deadline

2021-10-31T01:48+0000

2021-10-31T01:48+0000

2021-10-31T01:48+0000

us

bill de blasio

vaccination

municipality

nyc

firefighters

covid-19

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Hundreds of New York City firefighters took sick leave on Friday after the deadline for vaccinations had passed the day before, causing critical workforce shortages. Nearly a quarter of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) staff has not been vaccinated yet.According to FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, this happened because of their anger at the vaccine mandate for all city employees is unacceptable and noted that the mass sick leaves could endanger the lives of city residents, which is contrary to their oaths to serve.He also stressed that workers are allowed to receive the first dose of the vaccine over the weekend and they would not be sent on unpaid leave if they provide relevant confirmation on Monday.Despite the fact that many workers continue to protest the mandate, there has been a sharp rise in vaccinations, as many workers rushed to meet the deadline. According to the New York Post, vaccination rates among the citys firefighters have increased from 67 percent as of Friday morning to 72 by the end of the day.The Emergency Medical Service, which is part of FDNY, showed an increase from 77 to 84 percent. Vaccination among NYC police reached 84 percent, rising by four percent, and The Department of Sanitation  by 10 percent, up to 76.This means that 10 951 firefighters, 36,000 policemen, 10,000 emergency responders and 7,200 uniformed sanitation workers may be suspended from work if not vaccinated. Meanwhile, authorities offered $500 to those who receive the vaccine after 20 October.Speaking about the threat of mass personnel shortages, Mayor de Blasio said on Saturday that by getting vaccinated were making the city safer.On the day of the deadline, October 29, hundreds of NYC municipal workers came to de Blasios residence to protest the mandate, introduced on October 20.De Blasio obliged all municipal officials to provide vaccination certificates by Thursday. The mayor said that staff would no longer be able to get regular tests instead of vaccinations. Otherwise, workers would be sent on unpaid leave for a 30-day period starting from the first of November. De Blasio promised that the city would continue to provide medical and religious waivers.

https://sputniknews.com/20211030/12000-members-of-us-air-force-may-leave-service-due-to-mandatory-vaccination-reports-say-1090351676.html

NthrnNYker59 "noted that the mass sick leaves could endanger the lives of city residents, which is contrary to their oaths to serve." ---- But I guess your 'oath' to uphold the constitution means nothing, eh ? 3

Thomas Turk Smart... They don't want their blood to start clotting in ONE MINUTE.. Search.. ''Forbidden Knowledge. Medical Bombshell: Pfizer Vax Attacks Human Blood Creating Clots Under Microscope''. 0

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Alexandra Kashirina

us, bill de blasio, vaccination, municipality, nyc, firefighters, covid-19
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/over-1800-illegal-migrants-arrive-in-cyprus-in-oct-most-through-green-line-minister-says-1090361700.html

Over 1,800 Illegal Migrants Arrive in Cyprus in Oct, Most Through Green Line, Minister Says

Over 1,800 Illegal Migrants Arrive in Cyprus in Oct, Most Through Green Line, Minister Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of illegal migrants coming to the Republic of Cyprus has been increasing, with over 1,800 migrants recorded in October, Cypriot... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T10:26+0000

2021-10-31T10:26+0000

2021-10-31T10:26+0000

news

cyprus

turkey

migrants

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"There is a deterioration of arriving migrants, especially this October, when the number of illegal migrants surpassed 1,800. The vast majority [of these migrants] arrive from the green line," the minister said on Saturday, as quoted in a press release.The "green line" separates the Turkish-controlled northern part of the island from the Greek-Cypriot administered south. The official said that all migrants arriving in the republic were assisted by Turkey."We have a large green line spreading 184 km [114 miles] in length. It's not easy to control [it]," the minister added.The government is taking measures to solve the issue of illegal migration, by intensifying guard spots at the "green line," Nouris said.Cyprus has been greatly impacted by the vast number of illegal migrants coming into the country through the "green line." On 21 March, the country issued a press release asking Ankara to agree to an inspection from relevant EU agencies, such as Frontex, the border control agency.

GrinOlsson If Turkey isn't involved in "Jihad migration" which I believe they are, then they should accommodate these refugees in Northern Cypress as a safe haven which is the first safe nation that refugees arrive at. Not to mention it is an Islamic political-religionist government that accommodates Muslims. Otherwise they are playing the Cyprus government for suckers either coming to Cyprus for "welfare" or to take jobs away from during a struggling economy where jobs are scarce. 1

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news, cyprus, turkey, migrants
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/trump-weighs-in-on-biden-administrations-performance-ahead-of-virginia-gubernatorial-election-1090357250.html

Trump Weighs in on Biden Administration's Performance Ahead of Virginia Gubernatorial Election

Trump Weighs in on Biden Administration's Performance Ahead of Virginia Gubernatorial Election

Since leaving office in January of this year, Trump has been regularly commenting on the latest political developments and gathering thousands of supporters in... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T03:46+0000

2021-10-31T03:46+0000

2021-10-31T03:46+0000

joe biden

donald trump

us

virginia

democrats

terry mcauliffe

election

biden administration

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Former President Donald Trump dubbed the Biden administration an "embarrassment" on Saturday and said that Democratic former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, running again for the post, made a "tremendous mistake."In an interview with Fox News' "Justice with Judge Jeanine," Trump expressed an opinion that the incumbent administration should be given an "F, and not an F+. It would be an F," if one could give a grade to Biden.However, because he loves the country "more than anything," Trump said he hoped the Biden administration would succeed.Trump also commented on the current state of the Virginia governor's race, in which Republican Glenn Youngkin has pulled ahead of Democrat Terry McAuliffe with less than a week till the election, according to several polls.McAuliffe's remark that parents should not be involved in their children's education was a "tremendous mistake," according to Trump, who believes Youngkin will "do very well" in Tuesday's election.Trump compared McAuliffe's remark about parents to Hillary Clinton's characterization of Trump supporters as a "basket of deplorables," which attracted widespread condemnation during the 2016 presidential election campaign.Trump also criticized shaming parents who speak up at school board meetings.Trump stated that he, like many other parents, opposes certain curricula that are being taught to students, and that this is causing concern among parents."Theyre angry, theyre hurt, theyre crying because their children are being taught things that, in our opinion and in my opinion, and a vast majority of the people in this countrys opinion, they dont want their children to hear about this stuff," he stressed, discussing the recent controversy over the topics taught in schools. "They want to go back to reading, writing, and arithmetic."Earlier this month, McAuliffe stated that his Republican opponent's claims of highly contentious critical race theory (CRT) being pushed into the list of school-taught subjects is a "made-up" scheme to "divide people."

https://sputniknews.com/20211030/mcauliffes-campaign-team-mistakenly-asks-fox-to-kill-story-as-democrat-trails-in-polls---report-1090335018.html

Hess Trump is a retard and cannot walk without serving his Jew masters. 5

Nonyank Here we have a thing with No Life running around shaking his fist at the sky and soiling his pants...oh inspirational idiot Donny, time to take a time out little fellow. 4

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joe biden, donald trump, us, virginia, democrats, terry mcauliffe, election, biden administration
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/turkeys-erdogan-says-creation-of-eu-army-not-project-that-can-be-implemented-1090371919.html

Turkey's Erdogan Says Creation of EU Army Not Project That Can Be Implemented

Turkey's Erdogan Says Creation of EU Army Not Project That Can Be Implemented

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The creation of an EU army is not a project that can be implemented, as many EU member states are also NATO members and do not support the... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T19:43+0000

2021-10-31T19:43+0000

2021-10-31T19:43+0000

defense budget

nato

eu army

g20 summit

erdogan

macron

donald trump

us

turkey

european defense

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0a/1f/1090371871_0:78:3073:1806_1920x0_80_0_0_7aefbbfdfe1a7e9a034e64592dcfb215.jpg

"This is not a project that can be materialized, it is not possible because ... many EU member states are also NATO members, most do not think positive about such an establishment," Erdogan told reporters following the G20 meeting in Rome.In 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron urged creation of a joint European military in order to better counter global challenges and end the bloc's dependency on the United States for defense.The proposal was put on the table at a low ebb in EU-US relations during the Donald Trump presidency. One of the former US president's complaints was that NATO's European members were not paying the necessary 2% of their GDP on defense.Trump's criticism heightened tensions between the US and NATO member states, while relations with Turkey also deteriorated after Ankara began accepting deliveries of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system. In response, Washington expelled Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet program.In November last year, Macron told The Economist magazine that there was hardly any security cooperation between the US and other NATO members, essentially leaving the alliance in a state of brain death. In response, Trump said that the French leaders comments were disrespectful and insulting and that the US benefits the least from the alliance, citing Washingtons large financial contributions.However, Nabila Massrali, the EU foreign affairs and security policy spokesperson, said last month that the bloc was not currently considering the creation of a joint army.

https://sputniknews.com/20210929/making-ourselves-be-respected-macron-calls-for-european-army-as-us-focused-on-itself-1089499532.html

vot tak An eu army would be just a parallel zionist/nazi military to nato. With the same aggressive war strategy and intent operating in the service of israel. The countries that make up both the eu and nato are essentially colonies of the israeli oligarchy. 6

TruePatriot Is Erdo showing that he is afraid of an EU army but not one from ZATO? Curious. 5

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defense budget, nato, eu army, g20 summit, erdogan, macron, donald trump, us, turkey, european defense
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/uk-prime-minister-johnson-holds-briefing-at-g20-summit-1090367745.html

UK Prime Minister Johnson Holds Briefing at G20 Summit

UK Prime Minister Johnson Holds Briefing at G20 Summit

The G20 Heads of State and Government Summit 2021 is taking place in Rome on 30-31 October. 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T16:32+0000

2021-10-31T16:32+0000

2021-10-31T16:32+0000

boris johnson

news

g20 summit

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Watch a live broadcast from the Italian capital where UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is holding a briefing on the sidelines of the G20 summit. This comes after the PM met French President Emmanuel Macron during the summit amid a fishing spat between the UK and France that was sparked by Brexit. After the meeting, Downing Street reportedly rejected Paris' claims that Johnson and Macron had agreed to smooth things over. France has refused to rule out retaliatory measures unless a compromise is reached by 2 November, Politico said, citing an Elysee adviser.*Follow Sputnik's live feed to find out more.

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UK Prime Minister Johnson Holds Briefing at G20 Summit UK Prime Minister Johnson Holds Briefing at G20 Summit 2021-10-31T16:32+0000 true PT1S

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boris johnson, news, g20 summit, 
https://sputniknews.com/20211031/us-priests-upset-biden-received-communion-upon-meeting-pope-despite-his-stance-on-abortion-1090354348.html

US Priests Upset Biden Received Communion Upon Meeting Pope Despite His Stance on Abortion

US Priests Upset Biden Received Communion Upon Meeting Pope Despite His Stance on Abortion

Biden had an approximately 90-minute private meeting with the Pope on Friday, after which he told reporters that they discussed faith, but abortion wasn't... 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T01:11+0000

2021-10-31T01:11+0000

2021-10-31T01:11+0000

joe biden

abortion rights

catholic church

pope francis

us

rome

abortion

catholics

priests

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US President Joe Biden received Communion at St. Patrick's Church at Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after declaring Pope Francis advised him he should continue to partake in the sacrament, triggering criticism from some Catholic priests who believe the president's pro-abortion stance contradicts the church's teaching. Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, shared a scathing blog article by conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke, reiterating that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights are ineligible for the sacrament.In his turn, Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin posted on Twitter on Friday that he feared that "the Church has lost its prophetic voice."Earlier this week, Tobin publicly urged the Pope to refuse Biden's communion.Considering his outspoken support for unrestricted abortion, the president has been chastised by Catholic priests and parishioners across the country for continuing to accept communion and proclaiming his Catholic religion. A group of Catholic bishops reportedly met in June to discuss the possibility of a communion ban, which Biden publicly dismissed, saying, "I don't think that's going to happen."American bishops have also repeatedly lashed out at another pro-abortion Catholic politician, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. However, she seems unaffected by such criticism.While Biden gets communion on a regular basis in his home dioceses of Washington and Delaware, the fact that he also received communion in Rome was important in terms of the church. While the Pope delegates day-to-day management to his vicar, St. Patrick's parish is technically located within the pontiff's archdiocese. As a result, Biden was able to receive communion in Pope Francis' archdiocese. The Mass was attended by about 30 individuals, according to the Associated Press, and security officers were placed along the aisles. The Bidens took a seat in the back row, which had been cordoned off as "Reserved," and entered discreetly shortly after Mass had started.

https://sputniknews.com/20211001/archbishop-invites-catholics-to-pray-for-pelosi-to-convert-her-heart-over-abortion-controversy-1089567609.html

vot tak Now israel's neocon quislings are ordering a catholic pope to follow their orders openly. I wonder what these priests' past and present alter boys would have to say about how these priests treated them. 0

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rome

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https://sputniknews.com/20211031/von-der-leyen-us-eu-agree-to-suspend-tariffs-on-steel-aluminium-1090364795.html

Von Der Leyen: US, EU Agree to Suspend Tariffs on Steel, Aluminium

Von Der Leyen: US, EU Agree to Suspend Tariffs on Steel, Aluminium

On Saturday, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that Washington and Brussels had agreed to settle a row over steel and aluminium tariffs. 31.10.2021, Sputnik International

2021-10-31T12:28+0000

2021-10-31T12:28+0000

2021-10-31T13:00+0000

us

eu

tariffs

steel

aluminium

ursula von der leyen

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The US and the EU have agreed to suspend tariffs on steel and aluminium, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday. She added that the EU will pause a dispute on steel in the World Trade Organisation.US President Joe Biden said that his country and the EU are committed to negotiating a carbon-based arrangement on the steel and aluminium trade. "The European Union and the United States have a shared commitment to joint action and deepened cooperation in these sectors and are taking joint steps to defend workers, industries and communities from global overcapacity and climate change, including through a new arrangement to discourage trade in high-carbon steel and aluminium that contributes to global excess capacity from other countries and ensure that domestic policies support lowering the carbon intensity of these industries," the statement read, as quoted by the White House.Von der Leyen and Biden also said in a joint statement that they have taken steps to re-establish transatlantic trade flows in steel and aluminium.Earlier this week, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that the US and EU had agreed to settle a row over steel and aluminium tariffs which were imposed by former US President Donald Trump in 2018. By announcing tariffs on steel and aluminium from Europe and Asia, Trump cited "risks to national security" and said that his goal was to protect US industries from "unfair" foreign competition. In retaliation, the EU targeted US products including Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Levi Strauss jeans, and bourbon whiskey.

https://sputniknews.com/20210608/us-eu-commit-to-ending-18-billion-tariff-war-before-end-of-year---reports-1083102369.html

Barros US want to go on robbing EU. 2

bill b usa does not mine anymore, all previous claims have been turned into luxury resorts for rich and 'conservationists' that payoff politicians for land promoting green clean bs, then turn around and sell it for overpriced condos in the mountains. all mineral resources habe been located hundred years ago, nothing new will ever be found in usa as they will never provode permits to mine. usa imports tungsten from china and its mines around world. usa is paper weakling without any paper. 0

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us, eu, tariffs, steel, aluminium, ursula von der leyen
Race favourite Altar had things her own way in the Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Trot, but bad luck caught up with the sophomore when she made a break in deep stretch. As a result it was the pocket-sitting Bella Bellini taking home the Crown title for driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Richard Nifty Norman.

Altar marched to the lead and carved out sensible panels of :28, :56.4 and 1:25.4 with Bella Bellini shadowing her every move from the pocket spot. Altar wheeled into the lane and looked comfortable until Yannick Gingras asked her to go into sprint mode. At that point, she rolled into a break and ultimately left the door wide open for Bella Bellini to capitalize.

And capitalize she did. Dunn inherited the lead with the Norman trainee, and despite putting in a couple of steps of her own in the late stages of the contest she kept her composure and sailed away to easy score in a time of 1:53. Anoka Hanover hauled home the runner-up award, while Splash Blue Chip rallied late to grab third prize.

She's always been so good off a helmet, Dunn said of Bella Bellini after the race, having decided to try for a pocket trip instead of her usual second-over sweep. I've driven Altar as well  she's run some good miles, and I just didn't want to get too far away from her if she was on her game. We pushed out a little bit early, and got a perfect trip after that.

I was waiting and waiting, and [Bella Bellini] tried to go a little too fast and put a step in, Dunn also said. After that, I grabbed her up, and I just let her go to the line under a good hold. She's had a great year, but the last two weeks, she's never felt better. Credit to the team in getting her as sharp as she is at the end of the year.

The daughter of Bar Hopping-Bella Dolce improved her 2021 record to 10-6-0 from 17 starts for owner David McDuffee of Delray Beach, FL.

I'm not a big breeder, but when I do get one that can reach this far, it's a special feeling, for sure, McDuffee said after the race. It's a Pizza Dolce line [Bella Bellini's second dam], and I've had a lot of luck with it all along. She's frosting on the cake.

Its been amazing turnaround for the filly this season when you compare it to the 0-1-0 record she assembled from seven starts last season. The lions share of the purse sent her career earnings sailing to $1,043,198.

All the recaps from Saturday's Breeders Crown finals can be found in the 2021 Breeders Crown News Centre.
Discus Hanover captured the $8,500 Open 1 Trot at Vernon Downs on Saturday (Oct. 30).

Discus Hanover charged right off the gate and went to the front. He was first to the quarter in :27.4. Jenny Lake came first-up from third and battled for the lead as they headed to the half. Discus Hanover led to the half in :58. Jenny Lake and Discus Hanover battled all around the final turn. Jenny Lake took a short lead and led to three-quarters in 1:26.2.

As they made the turn for home, Jenny Lake went on a break and Discus Hanover reclaimed the lead. Purpose Blue Chip went all out and had a short lead in the stretch as Discus Hanover started to drift toward the stands side. Discus Hanover regained control and battled back to win in 1:55. Purpose Blue Chip had to settle for second as Spoiler Alert finished third.

Discus Hanover is a four-year-old gelding by Credit Winner. He is owned by Phillip Hale and trainer David Dewhurst. It was his 11th win of the year. He now has 27 career victories. Leon Bailey drove the $3.40 winner.

Leon Bailey leads all drivers with 124 wins. Justin Huckabone is second on the list with 89 victories. Jimmy Whittemore is third with 54 trips to the winners circle. Chris Long (41) and Truman Gale (24) rounds the top five.

Jeff Sorenson leads all trainers with 36 wins. Justin Huckabone has 33 victories for second best. Kerin Warner is third 29 wins. Jessica Okusko is fourth best with 26 tallies. Marissa Chadbourne is fifth with 21 wins.

Vernon Downs returns for the last weekend of live racing on Friday (Nov. 5) at 6:10 p.m. (EDT).

(Vernon Downs)
NO QUARTER

They could have stayed free and enjoyed all the privileges thereof, but these men decided to join the Union army and come back as proud soldiers in blue to fight to free people who were still in bondage, Lambert said. They knew that if they were captured, they would be given no quarter, but would be lined up and shot, which is obviously what happened here near Maddens Tavern.

At least two Black soldiers descendants will attend the Nov. 6 ceremony: Sandra Williams, who is flying in from Florida, and Brandy Station resident Eugene Triplett, an officer of The Freedom Foundation.

Williams and Triplett connected when their ancestry research revealed they are third cousins. Tripletts great-great-grandfather, French Menefee Sr., was a member of the 27th USCT, part of the Army of the Potomacs 4th Division, 9th Corps. Menefee and his fellow Black troops marched down the road past Maddensville by the thousands. They would fight in the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of the Crater, near Petersburg.

When he mustered out of the 27th, he went to Ohio, got married, and died not long after, Triplett said of his Union ancestor. His widow applied for a tombstone from the government, and thats how we discovered him.
My vote is my most prized citizenship right. I will fight any attempt to steal my vote.

Yet right now, an enterprise is underway that promises to do just that. Its no secret conspiracy. Repeated every 10 years, it is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. It is redistricting, or gerrymandering when it is politically manipulated.

Traditionally, redistricting has been carried out by the Virginia General Assembly. Whichever political party held the majority has forced through new district maps designed to ensure that it retains the maximum possible number of seats in Congress, the Virginia Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates.

Tired of seeing our votes exploited, we Virginians forced the General Assembly to step back from this practice in November 2020 by approving the drafting of a state constitutional amendment to establish a separate Redistricting Commission. This, unfortunately, required only the commissions creation, leaving its composition and authority in the hands of the very same state legislators. What we got was a half-baked measure designed to move just far enough to mute criticism.
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KEARNEY  Since he was a young child Kellen Skarka always has liked watching airplanes.

I always loved looking for planes and watching places in the sky, said Skarka, now 35.

As a child he and his mother Lori (Weed) Skarka of Kearney often would travel the Midwest to watch air shows. Once, when he was 15, he met three pilots of the World War II Black Sheep Squadron.

That love of flight turned into a desire to fly, and when he turned 16 Skarka started taking flying lessons. He got his pilots license while attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney where he received a degree in aviation systems management, and in 2009, he commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.

There he became an air support control officer overseeing aviation operations, including air strikes, medical evacuations and coordination of artillery and mortar fires.

Its kind of like air traffic control, but not like you see at an airport, Skarka said. I control aircraft. I tell them where to go and how to get there. Its out in the middle of the battlefield with no tower, no radar, were operating out of Humvees or out of tents in the middle of nowhere.
Astronauts wives took on the family burdens during months of training, the stress of the mission and the post-flight publicity tours. If approached by media, the company line was: proud, thrilled and happy, a phrase credited to Rene Carpenter. Carpenter, who died last year, was married to Scott Carpenter, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts and the second American to orbit the earth. She wrote for Life magazine that astronauts wives present gallant faces to the world, and inside we are as tough as the heat shield that arcs behind our husbands backs.

Families tracked their astronauts mission through the squawk box, a radio speaker in their home that carried the radio traffic between Mission Control and the crew.

You could sit there for hours and just listen, Jay Lovell, son of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, told PBS. It was always on. It was basically like listening to a radio show, a drama or a mystery show. Of course, unless you knew the jargon you were totally lost. Everything at NASA was abbreviated. Thats just how they talked.
We have more properties in our possession than there are people in North Carolina, so your odds of having money just waiting to be claimed are much higher than playing the lottery. Please visit NCCash.com, DSTs official website for unclaimed property. On that site, you can safely search for your name, as well as the names of your friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, church or charitable group to see if you or anyone you know are owed money by the state.

Anyone with unclaimed property can file a claim for free at NCCash.com. If you would prefer to call instead, our unclaimed property hotline is available at 866-NC-CASH1-866- 622-2741. Our knowledgeable staff will be happy to help you search for property and file a claim over the phone. Searching for property and filing a claim at NCCash.com or via our unclaimed property hotline is always free and secure.

If you find unclaimed property that belongs to your friends and family, please let them know how easy it is to file a claim and encourage them to do so. Have you ever lived in a state other than North Carolina? Every state has its own unclaimed property office, usually housed within their state treasury departments. It is a good idea to check with the unclaimed property office of every state where you have lived as they may have some money with your name on it. So, whether you want to search for funds for yourself, your business, or your family and friends, please log on to NCCash.com to see if you have any property to claim. Theres nothing to lose, and there may be a lot to gain.

Dale Folwell is the treasurer for the state of North Carolina.
NEW YORK (AP)  One in six New York City municipal workers remained unvaccinated after Fridays deadline to show proof theyve gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the city said Saturday.

A last-minute rush of jabs boosted the vaccination rate to 83% among police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and other city workers covered by the mandate as of 8 p.m. Friday, up from 76% a day earlier.

The more than 26,000 workers who havent complied with the requirement will be put on unpaid leave starting Monday, leaving the Big Apple bracing for the possibility of closed firehouses, fewer police and ambulances and mounting trash.

Vaccination rates for the citys fire and sanitation departments jumped significantly Friday as workers rushed to meet the deadline for the mandate and an extra incentive: Workers who get a shot by Friday will get $500.

The fire departments rate rose 8% and the sanitation department saw an additional 10% of its staff get vaccinated Friday, according to city data. The fire and sanitation departments each have 23% of their staffs that still havent been vaccinated.

The NYPD had a 5% jump in vaccinations Friday, leaving 16% of police personnel who had yet to get a dose.
A lucky Powerball player from Auckland will be celebrating today after winning $6.3 million with Powerball First Division on Saturday night.

The winning ticket was sold at New World Southmall in Auckland and the prize is made up of $6 million from Powerball First Division and $333,333 from Lotto First Division.

Saturdays winner is the seventeenth Powerball winner so far this year and comes just over a week after a couple from Pokeno won $42.2 million with Powerball First Division  the second largest prize ever won in New Zealand.

Two lucky Lotto players from Auckland and Wellington will also be celebrating after winning $333,333 with Lotto First Division in Saturday nights Lotto draw. The winning tickets were sold on MyLotto.

Meanwhile, two lucky Strike players will also be celebrating after winning $150,000 with Strike Four. The winning Strike tickets were sold at Countdown Pukekohe South in Pukekohe and New World Windsor in Invercargill.

Fifteen lucky Lotto players will be ending their month a high after each winning $16,604 with Lotto Second Division in Saturdays Lotto draw.

Three lucky players also won Powerball Second Division, taking their total winnings to $21,883. The winning Powerball Second Division tickets were sold at Countdown Rangiora East in Rangiora and on MyLotto to players from Wellington.

The winning Second Division tickets were sold at the following stores:

Store Location MyLotto (x2) Auckland Four Square Matarangi Whitianga Pak N Save Thames Thames Davies Corner Foodmarket Hamilton MyLotto Rotorua New World Feilding Feilding Hutt City New World Lower Hutt Pak N Save Petone Lower Hutt MyLotto (x2) (+PB x2) Wellington MyLotto Wellington New World Motueka Motueka Countdown Rangiora East (+PB) Rangiora MyLotto Ashburton

Auckland and parts of the Waikato are currently at Alert Level 3. Lotto NZ counters located in stores offering essential services are allowed to open at Alert Level 3 should they choose to.

The rest of the country is currently at Alert Level 2. Lotto NZ counters in Alert Level 2 areas are open and will continue to follow the Governments health and safety guidelines.

The live Lotto draws are unable to take place while Auckland remains in Alert Level 3. During this time, we will continue using computer generated draws for Lotto, Powerball, and Strike.

To find out about the draws, claiming prizes and Lotto NZs response to COVID-19, visit http://www.MyLotto.co.nz/covid-19

Anyone who bought their ticket from any of the above winning stores should write their name on the back of their ticket and check it at any Lotto NZ outlet, online at MyLotto.co.nz through the Lotto NZ App.

Players can phone Lotto NZ on 0800 695 6886 if they want to enquire about the best way to claim a prize.
The Kelso and Castle Rock school boards have been recognized by the Washington State School Directors Association as 2021 Boards of Distinction.

This year, the state group focused on how schools and school boards closed opportunity gaps.

In this third school year of shifting instructional models and continued health and safety challenges, this years Boards of Distinction application asked school directors to illustrate how their actions exemplified visionary leadership and helped their school districts close opportunity gaps, a WSSDA press release said.

Kelso is one of 16 medium-sized districts to get the award, while Castle Rock is one of four small districts. They are the only two Cowlitz County boards recognized.

Despite historic challenges this year, school boards displayed tremendous leadership in bringing students back to in-person learning safely and creatively, said WSSDA Director of Leadership Development Tricia Lubach in the press release.

Kelso spokeswoman Michele Nerland said some of the opportunity gaps the board helped fill in the past year were internet access, virtual schooling opportunities, expanded summer school and increased support for the homeless.

The district opened internet cafes at each school for students in need in 2020-2021, and expanded the Kelso Virtual Academy to kindergarten through 12th grade.

Because one in 10 Kelso students are, or have been, homeless, the district also made the Homeless Liaison position full time to support families through a dedicated Family Resource Center, according to a school district press release.

And in a year of remote and hybrid education, learning gaps became a larger concern, so the district used federal funds to bring summer school to the elementary level and to expand graduation credit recovery at the secondary level.

We are proud and honored by the thoughtful work and caring dedication our board continues to exhibit, especially in these unusual times, the press release said.

Castle Rock Superintendent Ryan Greene said he was excited as this is the first time Castle Rock has been named a Board of Distinction.

There are lot of things weve done in the last year and a half that have been geared around those kids that may have struggled, he said, including starting a K-12 virtual academy, a far more robust summer school and a district child care program.

The virtual option at the high school level focused on really attacking those credit deficiencies and giving kids the opportunity to make up credits they may have lost, Greene said, along with a district commitment to multi-year learning recovery.

Greene said he plans to bring a cake to the next board meeting in celebration, though the board is adamant this is a community award, not just a board effort.

One of the board members told me its big for students, for teachers, for paraeducators, for parents and kids, Greene said. That this is not just a Board of Distinction for us, its a Board of Distinction for our community. Thats what I love about Castle Rock. A small group of people can get an award for themselves and the first thing they think about is that its a community award.

Thirty-four boards were chosen this year, which ties the 2019 record for most boards given the title. Boards are divided into large, medium and small districts based on enrollment.

Given the obstacles districts have had to face, I think being able to recognize so many boards this year is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of our school directors, Lubach said. The boards that are being honored developed unique approaches that reflected the needs of their students and families.

All 34 boards will be honored Nov. 19 during the WSSDA Annual Conference, and WSSDA also will announce Boards of the Year in the coming days. One district from each size category will be selected.

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SPRINGDALE, Ark. (AP)  Jim Bob Duggar, whose large family was featured in the TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting," has announced he's running for a seat in the Arkansas Senate.

Duggar, who previously served in the Arkansas House, announced Friday on the family's Facebook page that he's running for the district in northwest Arkansas that includes Springdale.

Last week, Republican state Sen. Lance Eads resigned the seat to take a job in the private sector. A special election will be called to fill the term.

TLC pulled 19 Kids and Counting in 2015 over revelations that Duggar's son, Josh, had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. His parents said he confessed to the fondling and apologized. Josh Duggar has also apologized for his pornography addiction and for cheating on his wife.

Josh Duggar is set to go to trial in federal court in November on two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography. He faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each count if convicted.

A longtime family spokesman, Chad Gallagher, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that no family "is immune from tragedy, heartbreak or impact from the decisions of the ones they love.

He added that it's important to note that Josh is a grown adult.

Jim Bob Duggar, who was born and raised in Springdale, and his wife Michelle have 20 children and 22 grandchildren.

Now more than ever, we need a bold voice that is pro-family, pro-business, pro-gun and pro-life, Duggar said in the announcement. Its time for conservatives to demand courageous leadership that puts Arkansas families, jobs, and our constitutional liberties first.

This is Duggars second run for the district. In 2006, he was defeated in the Republican primary.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday she has contracted COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.

Psaki, 42, said she was last in contact with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, when she met him in the White House, where they were more than 6 feet apart and wearing masks. Biden, who is tested frequently, last tested negative on Saturday, according to the White House.

Psaki did not accompany Biden on his trip abroad to Rome this weekend for the Group of 20 summit and Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday for a U.N. climate summit.

Psaki had planned to travel with the president but scrapped the trip just as he was set to depart for Europe after learning that members of her household had tested positive for COVID-19.

Since then, I have quarantined and tested negative (via PCR) for COVID on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday," Psaki said in a statement. However, today, I tested positive for COVID."

Psaki, who is fully vaccinated, said she is only exhibiting mild symptoms.

While I have not had close contact in person with the President or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday  and tested negative for four days after that last contact  I am disclosing todays positive test out of an abundance of transparency," Psaki said.

White House staff and others traveling with the president have been undergoing daily tests for COVID-19 since before departing Washington and are all fully vaccinated. Many officials have also received booster shots, due to the close-quarters environment and frequent travel associated with their work.

Biden got his COVID-19 booster on Sept 27, shortly after federal regulators approved the third dose for many Americans.

Biden has been accompanied on the trip by principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Psaki said she would return to work in person at the conclusion of a 10-day quarantine and following a negative rapid test.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
US President Joe Biden in Italy on Saturday. He is likely to come up against some tough opposition back hpme against the global tax deal.

After years of negotiations, G20 leaders on Saturday endorsed an historic deal aimed at ending tax havens, although some developing countries complain it still falls short.

Some 136 countries representing more than 90 percent of global GDP have signed the OECD-brokered deal to more fairly tax multinational companies and enact a minimum tax on global corporations of 15 percent.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hailed the "historic" green-light by leaders of the world's major economies, which was also confirmed by sources close to the G20 summit in Rome ahead of a final statement expected on Sunday.

The tax reform, first proposed in 2017 and given a boost through the support of US President Joe Biden, is due to come into effect in 2023.

But this date will almost certainly slip, as each country must translate the global deal into national legislationwith Biden facing some of the toughest domestic opposition.

"It is very likely that the implementation of the deal will be delayed," Giuliano Noci, professor of strategy at Milan's Polytechnic business school, told AFP.

"The devil is in the detailall aspects of its implementation must be resolved and it must be approved by national parliaments."

The first pillar of the reform, which involves taxing companies where they made their profits, not just where they are headquartered, has run into fierce opposition in the US Congress.

It targets above all internet giants such as Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, experts in basing themselves in low-tax countrieswhich allows them to pay derisory levels of tax in relation to their huge profits.

"If the US were to withdraw from the deal, it would be doomed to failure," added Noci.

Noci expects Congress to give the green light, however, saying the "attitude towards the digital giants has changed dramatically in recent years".

$150 billion

The OECD says a 15 percent global minimum corporate tax rate could add $150 billion annually to global tax revenues.

About 100 multinationals reporting annual turnover of more than 20 billion euros will see part of their taxes redistributed to countries where they actually operate.

But this, and the 15 percent minimum tax rate, have been criticised as insufficient by many developing countries.

Not least because the average global tax rate is currently a higher 22 percent, itself well below the average of 50 percent in 1985.

Argentina is pressing for a tax rate of 21 percent, or even 25 percent, because "tax evasion by multinationals is on the of most toxic aspects of globalisation", according to its economy minister, Martin Guzman.

Argentina eventually joined the agreement, but Kenya, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are still holding out.

"The agreement was negotiated with developing countries and reflects a large part of what they wanted, but it is true that it is a compromise," Pascal Saint-Amans, the head of tax policy at the OECD and one of the architects of the reform, told AFP.

Under the final version of the reform, smaller countries will benefit from a portion of the redistributed tax of companies with an annual turnover of 250,000 euros a year. For richer countries, the threshold is one million euros.

Benefit rich countries

However, the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), which comprises renowned economists such as Joseph Stiglitz and Thomas Piketty, has been scathing.

In an open letter to G20 leaders earlier this month, they said the reforms had "been watered down in such a way that it will overwhelmingly benefit rich countries".

Negotiators "made concessions to sign up three tax havens like Ireland, Estonia and Hungary, but they didn't listen to developing countries", the head of the commission's secretariat, Tommaso Faccio, told AFP.

Ireland gave up its very low corporation tax rate of 12.5 percent in return for the assurance that the future global minimum would remain stuck at 15 percent.

Previously there was talk of the rate being "at least 15 percent".

The last-minute signatures of these three low-tax European states allowed the OECD to agree the reform just in time for the Rome G20 summit.

Their support is crucial, as France wants to take advantage of its rotating presidency of the European Union from January to adopt the minimum tax rate by a European directive, which will require unanimity.

Explore further Yellen says 'confident' US will implement global minimum tax

 2021 AFP
In May, Spain became the first EU country to pass legislation regulating the status of delivery drivers who get around on bikes and motorcycles.

Just weeks after Spain became the first EU member to give delivery workers labour rights, firms that employ them like Uber Eats or Just Eat are still struggling to adapt to a new law which may become a model for the rest of Europe.

As of August 12 when the law came into force, couriers who deliver food, mostly on bicycles and motorcycles, must be recognised as employees instead of being considered self-employed freelancers as before.

This means app-based food delivery firms have to pay employee contributions for benefits like sick leave and protections against dismissal.

The firms say the so-called "Rider Law"which only applies to food couriers and not other gig workersthreatens the 700-million-euro ($850 million) industry in Spain.

The reform has prompted some platforms to seek legal loopholes while others have entered into talks with unions.

Unions argue the law has improved the lot of couriers, whose numbers have exploded in recent years in Spain to around 30,000 according to industry associations.

"All these people now have social protection," said Carlos Gutierrez of the Workers Commission (CCOO) union.

Ruben Ranz of the UGT union agreed, saying the law "is an important improvement for delivery riders whose working conditions have been very precarious."

"But we must remain vigilant because there are still problems to be resolved," he added.

Portugal's leftist government followed Spain's lead and earlier this month approved a similar draft bill that will order app-based food delivery firms to employ couriers as staff.

Scattergun approach

British firm Deliveroo announced in late Julyjust days before the "Rider Law" was due to take effectthat it would be pulling out of Spain.

Deliveroo's departure is still being finalised, with the company initiating a "collective redundancy procedure" involving 3,871 people, Ranz told AFP, saying the conditions were not yet clear.

The move comes even though Spain is one of Europe's most dynamic home delivery markets with 4.7 million registered users by the end of 2019, a 40 percent jump over the previous year, according to research firm Afi.

Just Eat, a rival British firm that has been in Spain for 11 years and said it backs the reform, has opened talks with unions on reaching what its Spanish head Patrik Bergareche will be the sector's "first collective bargaining agreement".

Californian giant Uber Eats, by contrast, has opted for a sub-contracting approach whereby drivers using its platform are employed through intermediary logistics firms such as Closer Logistics, Deelivers or Delorean.

Although the firm insists its approach is in line with the so-called "Riders' law", unions have been critical, accusing it of "illegally dismissing workers" and insisting that "platforms should have their own staff".

But the harshest criticism has been reserved for Barcelona-based Glovo, which in April raised 450 million euros and said it would take on 2,000 delivery workers for its own online supermarkets or for companies with which it has inked deals.

But its other food couriers that deliver meals from restaurants, who number between 8,000 and 10,000, will remain self-employed.

'Play for time'

The group, which did not respond to AFP's request for comment, has put in place a new rule that is supported to reinforce their autonomy: couriers can connect as and when they like and will not be penalised for refusing an order.

The aim is to cut out any direct relationship with the drivers as "a way of getting around the law", explained CCOO's Gutierrez.

"They're looking to play for time," agreed UGT's Ranz.

The two unions have referred the matter to the labour authorities, which may take legal actiona move that will bring more uncertainty to a market already gripped by turmoil.

In recent weeks, two more new players have entered the fray: Turkey's Getir and Amsterdam-based Rocket, which will begin operating next month. Delivery drivers at both firms will be counted as staff.

"Clearly we are in a rather chaotic time when everyone is jostling for position within a market which is in full swing and where huge sums of money are being invested," Deelivers founder Adrian Pena said in a recent article.

Explore further Spain declares delivery riders to be staff, in EU first

 2021 AFP
The field of eight candidates vying to be Brunswicks next mayor was reduced to two on Nov. 2 with Cosby Johnson and Ivan Figueroa emerging from the pack to qualify for the runoff.
As they grilled their classmates who served as witnesses, Herndon said one of the most difficult parts was not laughing.

Haeven Rivas, senior and defense attorney, said Thompsons requirement that they dress professionally made it easier to take seriously. Rivas said before Thompson took over the class this year, the elective was a free class.

You learn a lot in here because she takes it really seriously, Rivas said.

Herndon, who is planning on pursuing a degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University, said everything she has learned about criminal justice has come since the start of the school year with Thompson as a guide.

I think weve learned more these two six weeks than we have in the past three years, she said.

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Herndon said she has never cared about school as much as she has since this years criminal justice class.

Thompson, who has a masters degree in criminal justice, said she wanted to bring the mock trial to Rudder High School this year to introduce students to the criminal justice system and help them understand it before they leave high school. It also lets her combine her childhood dreams of becoming an attorney and a judge with that of being a teacher, she said.
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.
Some college towns plan to challenge the results of the 2020 census, claiming they were shortchanged because the pandemic forced students to leave campuses and complaining that the undercount could cost them federal money and prestige.

College communities such as Bloomington, Indiana; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and State College, Pennsylvania, are exploring their options for contesting the population counts, which they say do not accurately reflect how many people live there.

When the pandemic struck the U.S. around spring break of 2020, it set off an exodus in college towns as classrooms went virtual almost overnight. The sudden departure of tens of thousands of students from these communities made it difficult to count them in the census, which began at almost the same time.

Because universities were able to provide the Census Bureau with records for students living in dorms and other on-campus housing, off-campus students ran the risk of being missed, said Dudley Poston, a sociology professor at Texas A&M University.

An Associated Press review of 75 metro areas with the largest share of residents between 20 and 24 showed that the census results fell well below population estimates in some cases but also exceeded them significantly in others.
Theres been increasing confusing over the legality of delta-8, a cannabis derivative that can be found in vape cartridges, tinctures and candy at smoke shops and CBD stores in Texas. While the Texas health department maintains that delta-8 is a controlled substance and is on the states list of unlawful drugs, the 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized the production of hemp, which naturally contains delta-8 and has less than 0.3% THC. In 2019, Texas also legalized hemp growing. Delta-8 retailers believed the substance was as legal to sell as hemp. Delta-8 is legal in Texas for now after a Travis County judge blocked the state from criminalizing it. Should delta-8 continue to be legal in Texas?

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Paris, TX (75460)

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Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 60F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

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Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low near 60F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
Orangeburg County will receive less state money this fiscal year due to a decline in population over the last decade.

But the state has also put in place a new program to offset some losses in slow-growing, more rural counties like Bamberg, Calhoun and Orangeburg counties.

Orangeburg Countys population dropped 8.9% over the past 10 years, according to the U.S. Census. It had 92,501 people in 2010 and 84,223 in 2020.

According to the S.C. Association of Counties, Orangeburg County will receive $738,561 less from the states Local Government Fund this year as a result. The Local Government Fund provides money to counties based on their share of the state population.

This is the most money lost by any of the state's 46 counties, according to the SCAC.

Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said the county is used to reductions in the states Local Government Fund. He said the state has not fully funded the fund according to its statutory formula in years.

When we have issues like that, we look at it and adjust, Young said. We make cuts and adapt to it.

At the end of the day, it will be a loss of revenue, Young said.

All we can do is cut budgets and find additional grants to make up the difference.

Young said the county will continue to strive to avoid tax increases, if possible. For example, the county did not receive the money it is due from the fund this year. He noted taxes were not raised.

Anticipating the reduction in Local Government Fund allocations to small, rural counties, this year the South Carolina General Assembly budgeted $17.92 million in full funding for the Local Government Fund and $10 million for a newly created Rural County Stabilization Fund.

Under Rural County Stabilization Fund provisions, any county that has a population growth, as determined by the 2020 Census, of less than 5.35% since the 2010 Census is eligible to receive money from the fund. About 28 of the state's 46 counties qualify for the money.

Orangeburg County will receive $430,107 this fiscal year, helping to offset the $738,561 loss. This means the county, however, will still receive about $308,453 less than it has received in recent years.

Treasury Management is working to distribute these funds by the beginning of next month, S.C. Treasurer's Office Communications Director Karen Ingram said in October. The funding is a one-time allotment. The legislature will have to renew the proviso for it to go beyond that.

This means unless the state's General Assembly renews the Rural County Stabilization Fund proviso in future years, Orangeburg County could stand to see $738,561 less each year for the next decade.

Young said the Rural County Stabilization Fund will save the county over a mill and a half of taxes and help limit any budgetary cuts.

He questions the census numbers.

I disagree with how the census was handled, he said. It was rushed at the end during the height of the pandemic.

Young said many people were wary of engaging with the public, including census workers.

Door to door was not proper at that moment, he said. I don't think the county, in my opinion, lost those people.

Young noted Orangeburg is dealing with a housing shortage. Several new subdivisions are currently being built in the area.

Young also said the college campuses were shuttered during the pandemic and professors who normally would live in Orangeburg were teaching from home.

Many counties were surprised by the shifts in population that occurred since the 2010 Census and how these changes would impact their funding streams, S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis said. I am grateful that our General Assembly adopted this proviso to help lessen the financial impact these rural communities are faced with because of the 2020 Census results.

Bamberg and Calhoun counties will also see less money from the Local Government Fund this fiscal year, but the counties also qualify for Rural County Stabilization Fund money this year.

Unlike Orangeburg County, the Rural County Stabilization Fund will help both Calhoun and Bamberg to more than recoup the shortfall in Local Government Funding, at least this year,

Bamberg Countys population dropped from 15,987 in 2010 to 13,311 in 2020, a 16.7% decline.

The county will see $178,014 less in Local Government Fund money this year, but the county will receive $322,580 from the rural county stabilization fund.

Should the proviso not be renewed, Bamberg County would see $178,014 less annually for the next decade.

Bamberg County Administrator Joey Preston says the county constantly deals with revenue fluctuations year-to-year, whether it is dealing with local, state or federal sources.

The actual results of the census are out of our hands and not within the confines of county control, Preston said. What we must do is to be ready to continue to provide necessary county functions.

To do that, we continue to do what we have been doing for the past nine years, and that is to prudently manage the resources that the county does have available, and to plan ahead as much as possible, he said.

Preston says the pandemic has taught us all that even good plans can be challenged in unprecedented times.

We keep our shoulders to the harness, do the best work that we possibly can, and to recognize that we have to ride the waves of uncertainty by being good managers and prudent stewards of the assets and resources that we, as public servants, are entrusted with, Preston said.

Preston expressed his appreciation for the Rural County Stabilization Fund.

I believe that our state leadership recognizes the struggles that are unique to small counties such as Bamberg, Preston said. While we should not look to the state to solve all of our problems, I do think it is fair to expect some type of additional financial support in light of the potential negative impact, to small and rural counties, as a result of the census.

Calhoun Countys population declined 7%. It had 15,175 people in 2010 and 14,119 in 2020. The county will see $108,947 less from the Local Government Fund this year.

Calhoun County will also receive $322,580 from the Rural County Stabilization Fund, meaning the county will more than offset the reduction in the Local Government Fund money by $213,633.

Should the proviso not be renewed, Calhoun County would see $108,947 less annually.

Calhoun County Administrator John McLauchlin could not be reached for comment.

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One result of the COVID lockdowns is that many Americans have had a huge awakening as to what their children were being taught. In 2020, many parents were either locked down due to non-essential work closures and many schoolchildren were involved in distance learning. This allowed the at-home parents to see what they wouldnt have otherwise.

Additionally, due to the overreaching of those pushing Critical Race Theory (CRT) concepts and other such divisive concepts during the 2020 BLM protests/riots, many Americans learned about CRT for the first time. Many parents have been shocked and disappointed, as the nation can see during the various contentious school board meetings.

Additionally, after the notorious incident of a 14-year-old daughter being raped in a bathroom by a biological boy claiming trans status in the Louden County, Va., school district (and the sexual assault incident itself being covered up), the progressivism being pushed is under intense scrutiny. Questions are raised of not only the content of K-12 public education but who ultimately controls education. Let me explain.

First, it is beyond reasonable dispute that CRT concepts are being pushed in K-12 schooling. These concepts go well beyond objective history of slavery and Jim Crow in America, which parents do not object to being taught.

Deshawn Ray and Alexandra Gibbons, who have written extensively of their belief that the systems in America are inherently racist, defined CRT in a Brookings Institute article this way: Simply put, critical race theory states that U.S. social institutions (e.g., the criminal justice system, education system, labor market, housing market, and healthcare system) are laced with racism embedded in laws, regulations, rules, and procedures.

Their abbreviated definition is actually part of an attempt to downplay the threat of CRT in K-12 teaching, yet clearly goes beyond the teaching of slavery or Jim Crow.

Famed African American Pastor and CRT expert Dr. Voddie Baucham defines CRT as having four tenets: Racism as normative (its normal, its everywhere, and its unavoidable). Interest convergence (white people are unable to take righteous action against racism unless it converges with their own individual interests). Anti-objectivity. The social construction of knowledge."

Included within CRT is the divisive theory of so-called white privilege. Despite the divisiveness of the concepts, the National Education Association has asserted it is reasonable and appropriate to continue teaching CRT concepts in K-12 curriculum. Some schools have claimed they dont teach CRT yet have been caught teaching the concepts of CRT as opposed to objective history.

At a recent Virginia governors debate, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe admitted this: I dont think parents should be telling schools what they should teach." This was in the context of parental concerns about CRT. This issue of control of education is at the heart of the burgeoning conflict between parental direction of education, and those who believe childrens education is almost exclusively under the power of progressive ideology and state control.

Its clear we have fallen far from the original American view of education. In 1787, the year of the Constitutional Convention, the Northwest Ordinance provided the first mention of childrens education in a foundational American document. It included the provision: Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.

Throughout much of American history up to late 19th century, schooling was a function primarily performed by parents and/or local communities and by privately run schools. Almost all schools included Bible reading and school prayer and Judeo-Christian moral development. During the early 20th, John Dewey, known as the Father of Modern Education, helped develop what would become the modern standardized curriculum for children.

Dewey flirted with socialist ideals of state control of childrens education, and in a 1928 book, Impressions of Soviet Russia and The Revolutionary World, Dewey openly admired the Bolshevik (communist) educational reforms of putting education firmly under state control and to state ends.

Regardless, the Supreme Court has always held that the parental right to control the direction of their childrens education is a guarantee of the 14th Amendment (incorporating the Bill of Rights). As recently as 2009, in Espinosa, the court affirmed parental right to that direction. Throughout most of American history, schools have been expected to help foster American unity and bedrock morality under parental control.

Unfortunately, the Bolshevik position of primary state control of education has become the view of many on the left and this is against the rights and views of many American parents. In campaigning with McAuliffe, former President Barack Obama followed McAuliffe and others in marginalizing the other side: We dont have time to be wasting on these phony trumped-up culture wars, this fake outrage." The progressive left is not accustomed to parents knowing what children are being taught, and so now cant understand the sincere outrage now that parents know.

The left has been caught red-handed pushing divisive progressive ideology, and the parental outrage is not going away. Its time for all Americans to demand we move back to parental control of our education system, back to solid history and not CRT, and back to respecting parents concerns about the future of their children.

Bill Connor, a retired Army Infantry colonel, author and Orangeburg attorney, has deployed multiple times to the Middle East. Connor was the senior U.S. military adviser to Afghan forces in Helmand Province, where he received the Bronze Star. A Citadel graduate with a JD from USC, he is also a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Army War College, earning his master of strategic studies. He is the author of the book "Articles from War.

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Bowman dairy farmer Kent Whetsell has been milking cows for about 20 years.

He has seen a little bit of everything over two decades and has been able survive the ups and downs of the dairy business.

This year had the added challenge of a world trying to come to grips with COVID-19 and its various impacts.

Whetsell said 2021 has proven to be a little bit better than 2020.

"Last year, it was pretty tough," he said. "This year all the supply chain issues have been worked out."

For example, last year Whetsell said farmers were told they had to cut about 10% of production because plants could not keep up with processing.

"So many farms had to dump milk because of the supply chain issues," he said.

Currently, Whetsell milks about 175 Jersey cows on his farm on Landsdowne Road, where his operation helps to provide goods and product for Low Country Creamery across the street.

The creamery produces whole milk, chocolate milk, Greek and Swiss yogurt and buttermilk. Much of the farm's production goes to Charleston restaurants and coffee shops.

One relative constant in dairy is lower-than-desired milk prices.

"They are not terrible right now but they are not where they need to be," Whetsell said. "For us, we are getting about $19 to $20 per hundredweight (cwt). "I would like to see them around $22 to $24."

Fluid milk prices are up actually slightly over the last couple of years. In March 2018, prices got as low as $13 per cwt. Milk prices were as much as $24 (cwt) back in 2014.

In addition to lower-than-desired milk prices, another issue facing dairy farmers is input costs.

"Feed prices are very high right now," Whetsell said. "They are the highest over the past 10 years."

For example, soybean is about $450 a ton. Typically, it is under $300 a ton.

"I don't know what our costs will be in the next six months," Whetsell said. "Everything is so volatile. It is not getting easier."

Overall, Whetsell said the dairy market is generally up while fluid milk demand is down.

"People are consuming more dairy products now than ever before," Whetsell said. "The pounds of dairy products per capita have been increasing with such things as yogurt and cheese."

Market dynamics

Clemson Extension Associate Professor of Agribusiness and economist at the Sandhill Research and Education Center Dr. Adam Kantrovich said that at the farm level, the mailbox milk price (MMP) is an important factor. The MMP is the price that a dairy producer will see, plus or minus costs associated with hauling and any other local differentials that may exist.

Locally, the region saw a mailbox price increase through the first six months of 2021 of about $2 per (cwt) more than this same time last year.

Kantrovich says South Carolina dairy producers were seeing a slight positive adjustment for the Class I (beverage) milk price compared to others within the region providing a slightly higher price.

"But unfortunately for some South Carolina dairy producers, this may be offset by the higher cost of hauling the milk from the farm," he said. "This is an issue of seeing fewer dairy producers and fewer cows; the cost of hauling milk increases."

Dairy farmers for the early half of the year saw increasing milk prices as the economy began to open compared to last year.

"However, we are again beginning to see a slight pullback in prices," Kantrovich said. "Cheese prices have begun a downward trend when compared to the same month of the previous year and a downward trend compared to earlier in the year."

Nationally, cheese production continues to move forward and for August is up over 4% compared to August 2020. In fact, Kantrovich says August was one of the highest cheese-producing months in nine years.

Cheese prices for the year, however, have been declining.

"Looking into 2022, indicators are that cheese price should hold relatively steady, also barring any major shifts that would change present demand," he said.

Butter production and butter stocks are also down compared to last year.

"Indicators are looking for a steady to a slight potential increase in butter price as we move into and through 2022, but we will need to see continued growth in demand," Kantrovich said.

Looking ahead, Kantrovich says 2022 could see a potential pullback of prices based on per-cow production increases.

Shipments of condensed and dry milk products this July and August as compared to last year have decreased.

"The positive is that we have also seen stocks down, which we hope will negate any negative effects of shipments," Kantrovich said. "As we come out of the pandemic and hopefully an attempt to resolve any continued trade war issues, we could see an upside, but right now that is a big if."

"As of right now, it is most likely to see steady to a slight decrease in milk price at the farm as we head through 2022 pending any major disruptors, good or bad," Kantrovich said. "The positive right now to holding milk prices steady is the decrease in cow numbers nationally as well as the state with the amount of milk per cow not increasing as fast as expected."

"Changing consumer demand will also play a role in this, as well as international trade issues that began a few years ago have not yet been resolved," Kantrovich said. "Given the many issues globally, we will continue to have to live in a bit more of a dynamic market situation."

Kantrovich says government price supports have proven beneficial to dairy farmers again this year.

"This has provided some additional taxable income to producers, but it still may not be able to assist in the longer-term outlook for dairy prices and profitability nationally and here in South Carolina," he said. "Without the USDA program payments, it is very possible we would have seen a higher loss in 2020 of cows and dairy farms than what was seen."

Milk production, declining dairies

Lower cow numbers and the stress of summer heat and humidity have reduced milk production.

According to the latest statistics and the latest Appalachian Federal Milk Marketing Order information available as of August, South Carolina had produced approximately 6,721,632 pounds of milk with about 35% of that production coming from three farms in one county. These are farms that sell milk through federal marketing orders, which account for about 63% of milk sold.

While nationally milk production has increased slightly, local dairy farms and cow numbers continue to decrease.

"Between 2019 and 2020, it is estimated that South Carolina lost about 2,000 milking cows (almost 16.7% of the states herd)," Kantrovich said. "I expect to see a further reduction in South Carolina milking cows for 2021, but hopefully not as much of a drop as we saw between 2019 and 2020."

Kantrovich says one of the biggest challenges for dairy farmers this year has been maintaining a dairy herd in a time of decreasing farms and cow numbers.

"This includes everything from replacement heifers to nutritionists and milk hauling," Kantrovich said. "Another issue is going to be the cost of feed ration input costs for those dairies that purchase much of their feed ration vs. raising it."

He said with an increase in feed costs there is a narrowing of input costs and milk prices.

COVID and the farm

Kantrovich says the oversupply of milk experienced in 2020 as schools were closed required some changes in packaging to fit consumer purchasing.

"Most of these issues have subsided with the reopening of schools," Kantrovich said. "There are still occasional issues due to labor and logistical challenges throughout the food chain system."

Kantrovich believes home consumption will decrease from last year as students are back to in-person school and consumers are dining out more often.

Another issue facing dairy farmers is hiring and labor.

"Even with some farms significantly increasing the wages paid, it is just difficult finding help and keeping them on the farm," he said.

Kantrovich says in order for dairy farmers to survive into the future, they will have to think "outside of the box."

"This will include looking for additional opportunities, methods of marketing, adding value to their milk, possibly working with other dairy producers in new ventures and expansions," Kantrovich said. "And above all, you need to be above average to make sure there is enough income for retirement and the ability to successfully bring the next generation on board for the long haul."

Uncertain dairy future

Kantrovich says the dairy industry's challenges go beyond this year.

"It is difficult to get the next generation to remain on the farm due to long hours without seeing an economic benefit," he said. "It is simply very difficult for smaller to medium-sized dairy producers to continue to build their net worth with such a narrow margin, if any, of profit or cash flow."

"It simply takes a much higher number of cows being milked to raise a family as it did just a couple of decades ago, let alone if you want to bring children and their family back to the farm," Kantrovich said.

According to the 2017 agricultural census, Orangeburg County ranked second in South Carolina in the number of milk cows at 3,100. The census shows the county has 20 dairy farms.

Despite the decline in dairies over the years, Orangeburg County ranked second in South Carolina in total milk production in 2012 at 48.5 million pounds, according to Southeast Dairy.

The dairy business in Bamberg County, like the rest of the state, has decreased significantly since the 1980s.

There are 10 dairies remaining in the county. The county ranked third in the number of milk cows at 1,800.

Calhoun County does not have any dairy farmers and has not had any for several years.

The Sandy Run Dairy is situated in the northern part of the county just off Interstate 26 at Exit 125 on S.C. Road 31, but the cows that produce the milk for the ice cream it makes and sells are raised outside of Calhoun County.

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(TBTCO) - Mot ngay khong the thay the hay bu ap cho tat ca uoc, Le tuong niem ong bao tu vong va can bo, chien si hy sinh, trong ai dich Covid-19 uoc to chuc vao luc 20 gio toi qua 19/11 tai hai iem cau TP. Ho Chi Minh va Ha Noi khong nhung phan nao am long nguoi ra i, nhe long nguoi o lai ma con la luc canh tinh cho tat ca chung ta, nhac nho chung ta ve noi au va trach nhiem.
Happy Halloween!

If youre preparing to hit the streets tonight, wear layers. If youre staying in and dishing out candy to trick-or-treaters, be generous. And if youre like me, living in a building where there are no kids and where I likely wont get any expectant knocks on my door, you might be getting ready for another regular Sunday night.

But after the kids clear out and the candy is sorted, with the requisite parental tax taken out, the adults will have their turn to line up for their own treat  casting a vote in a local election.

No matter how hard I try, Im not sure that I can make voting for a specific purpose tax sound mouthwatering or fun. Sadly, some things in life cant measure up to the rush of receiving free candy from strangers (kids, remember, this is the only night you can do that).

The tax, which would add a sixth cent of sales tax in the county for three months next year to fund a pair of construction projects (you can read more about them on trib.com), is the only thing on the ballot. A few hundred people have already submitted early votes or absentee ballots, but if you havent voted by the time youre reading this, youre going to have to head to the polls.

You can check your polling place based on your address on the countys website at vote.natronacounty-wy.gov or by calling the elections office at 307-235-9217. If you voted in the last election, youll be going to the same place (unless you voted at the Shrine Club, then you'll be voting at Radius Church on Wyoming Boulevard and Casper Mountain Road).

Tuesday will also be the first time that Natrona County will put on an election with the states new voter ID law in place, a marker thats contentious for some and impossibly boring for others. The long and short of it is that it makes voting  which most people already dread  just a tad more inaccessible for some.

Luckily, I do have my state ID on hand. And, completely serious here, Im actually excited to use it on Tuesday, to register to vote and to cast my first ballot since moving to Wyoming.

Its just one question, one tick box, a yes or no, but were still likely to have a much lower turnout than any general election would. That means that your vote, and the votes of everyone who disagrees with you, are worth that much more this round.

When I was covering Boston City Council elections in 2019, one of the seats was won by exactly one vote. They recounted, looked at a couple of rejected ballots, and counted again, and still  22,492 votes for Julia Meija and 22,491 for Alejandra St. Guillen. Whatever cynicism I had about voting, especially in local elections, vanished when I saw that final count.

So grab your ID (you can use a Wyoming drivers license or ID card, a tribal identification card, a U.S. passport, a U.S. military card, a Medicare insurance card, or a Medicaid insurance card), find your polling place and give yourself 20 minutes to vote on Tuesday. I might see you there!

Any questions about how to vote or what youre voting on? You can check our guide at trib.com, give me a ring at (307) 266-0544 or send me a message at ellen.gerst@trib.com.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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BUFFALO  The days of Johnson County students building snowmen with their friends or drinking hot chocolate on the couch during a snow day may soon be coming to an end.

Thats because Johnson County School District No. 1 administrators are working on a plan that could have those students learning virtually instead of missing a day or two of school due to winter weather.

District Superintendent Charles Auzqui said administrators are still working on the details of the plan  which he hopes to have in place in the next month  to make sure that the quality of education received on those days would be up to in-school standards and would be accessible to all students.

In my point of view, we dont want to just say, Hey, were having (school) today so we dont have to make it up, he said. If were truly doing virtual education remotely, then it has to be quality education.

Auzqui said each schools administrators have been working to figure out how to best make virtual snow days work for their schools and that he is preparing to bring the conversation about virtual snow days to the school board for its consideration.

But the potential snow day plan is not just a Johnson County plan, Auzqui said. It is actually being explored by a number of districts throughout the state  including some, like his previous district of Sheridan County School District No. 3  that had virtual snow day plans written last year.

The logistics of at-home learning on a snow day could be tough, however, especially in the event of a winter storm that doesnt give enough notice to send devices home or notify parents of the change in the days learning. Auzqui said that, so far, the districts draft plan says that parents must be notified at least 16 hours in advance of the potential virtual snow day and Chromebooks must be sent home with all students the day before.

But other outside factors that the district cant control could also play a role in whether students are learning on snow days.

Theres so many factors you have to take into (account), Auzqui said. On a winter snow day, is power going to be down, are they going to have access?

Auzqui said that he also understands concerns that taking away snow days could be seen as taking away fun for county students, but he said not having snow days also means not having to potentially have makeup days that stretch into summer.

Its the fun of snow days for students, but on the other hand, its taking away the fun in June when they could be outside, when its 70 degrees, he said.

In addition, Auzqui said, having the ability to have students learning on snow days instead of at the end of the year gives teachers more of the required 175 days of educational time with students before state WY-TOPP assessments occur.

Charles doesnt want to be recognized as the snowman hater, Auzqui said. If we can have an opportunity to continue education, we will. But, if its not feasible, then we wont either.

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The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, regrettably often overlooked by the citizenry, provides an elegant summation of our nations constitutional creation story. It speaks of the work of the sovereign people. It represents a direct act of legislation, and introduces and forms part of the supreme law of the land, distinct from any and all future laws that will be passed under its authority.

The Preamble is a historical and legal colossus. In the Pennsylvania State Ratifying Convention, James Wilson, a leading delegate to the Constitutional Convention, quoted from the essence of the Preamble: We the people of the United States  do ordain and establish this Constitution. Wilson was trumpeting to the world, the groundbreaking significance of the Preamble: We the people are ordaining, that is constituting or creating the fundamental law that will govern the United States. The assertion by the American people of a right to create a government of their choosing was unprecedented in a world dominated for centuries by monarchs, dictators and tyrants.

The framers were not required to wring concessions from British kings and nobles, as their forbears did in drafting the Magna Carta or the English Declaration of Rights. In contrast, Americans were unshackled in the drafting of their Constitution, including a Preamble that stated their ambitious goals. Free from the coercive force and influence of a kingship or tyrant, able to focus on the incorporation into the Constitution their governing values, their preferences for power structures and their choices for allocating powers to both the national and state governments.

The Preambles reference to the ordainment of the Constitution was a direct reference to the ratification of the Constitution by the people, an act that conferred authority upon the Constitution. The proposed Constitution could not will itself into existence; as James Madison explained, it had no life until it was ratified by the citizenry.

The Preamble boldly declared that the very rationale behind the creation of the Constitution was to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. These stated ends of government, what Edmund Randolph of Virginia called, a philosophy of the ends of government and human polities, reflected the founders familiarity with a version of the Social Contract Doctrine presented by the 17th Century English philosopher, John Locke.

Americans understood the doctrine to imply a voluntary association of individuals, a social compact by which the whole people covenant with each other that all the people shall be governed by the same laws for the common good. This compact was not between the states; after all, states were not parties to the approval of the Constitution. The Constitution, as the founders were fond of saying, referred to We the people, not we the states.

The drafting of the Preamble throughout the summer of 1787 produced no great surprises. Both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans featured a modest Preamble, expected perhaps because they canvassed and, in many ways, promoted provisions of various state constitutions, several of which included a preamble to promote security and the general welfare. Alexander Hamiltons Plan, which was not formally presented to the Convention, also included a preamble.

The framers work on the draft of what became the final version of the Preamble resembled the process that characterized work on the other provisions of the Constitution. What was missing in the discussions of the Preamble, however, were sharp differences of opinion, moments of intense debate. Certainly this provision generated no threats of walkouts from southern delegates, as did their objections to the evolution of the treaty-making power.

The Committee of the Whole, that is the daily meetings of the Constitutional Convention, spent much of the summer discussing various provisions of the proposed Constitution, including a preamble. Again, there was virtually no dissent among the delegates. By August 6, the delegates had dispatched the draft to the Committee of Detail to round some corners and rough edges with the hope of making more progress. The focus, to that point, was on the inclusion of language that the people would ordain this Constitution, and that the preservation of the common defense and liberty should be included.

The Committee of Detail worked over the draft for roughly three weeks and then sent it onto the Committee of Style, which included such heavyweights as Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Rufus King and Gouverneur Morris. Scholars agree that the Preamble features the elegant, flowing handwriting of Morris, as does the rest of the Constitution.

The Preamble should not be a forgotten part of our Constitution. On the contrary, it is poetry, while the rest of the Constitution is mere prose. Indeed, its elegance and lofty ambitions are inspiring and accessible to us, anytime, particularly in dark political waters when we may need to be reminded of the possibilities of a more perfect union.

David Adler, PHD, is a noted author who lectures nationally and internationally on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Presidential power. His scholarly writings have been cited by the US Supreme Court and lower courts by both Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress. Adlers column is supported in part through a grant from Wyoming Humanities funded by the Why it Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Adler can be reached at david.adler@alturasinstitute.com

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If coal export advocates are serious about preserving jobs and building a bridge to a post-coal economy, then our politicians need to cut a deal, a green deal, and do it right away.

The fastest and simplest way to both reduce carbon emissions, and bolster Wyomings coal industry, is to displace Russian and Indonesian coal with Wyomings cleaner burning coal. And thanks to a unique set of political circumstances, we have a fleeting opportunity to accomplish that right now.

While 62% of our countrys bituminous and subbituminous coal mines have closed since 2008, Chinas appetite for coal is so great that they cant get enough of it, leading to severe electricity cutbacks and periodic blackouts. Thats bad news for environmentalists and an enormous opportunity for Wyoming.

Wyomings coal burns hot and efficiently and has a lower sulfur content compared to most other forms of coal. Lignite coal, found in countries like Indonesia and Russia, has not been under as many centuries of geological squeezing, which leaves it with a higher moisture content and a crumbly texture. That leads to a lower heating value, which means it takes more coal to produce each megawatt of electricity. Every ton of Indonesian and Russian coal displaced by Wyoming coal reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Last year China built a whopping 38 gigawatts of coal-fired electrical capacity, which was nearly equal to all worldwide retirements combined. This not only means their capacity is expanding, but the young age of their coal power plant fleet means Chinas requirement for coal will continue for decades. And while they produce the most coal in the world, China also consumes the most, leaving them to import between 250 and 300 million tons of coal every year (thats about half of the total coal consumption in the entire U.S.).

This demand is principally met by lignite coal imported from Russia and Indonesia, raising the price of lignite coal and making Wyoming coal cleaner and cheaper on a relative basis. As Bloomberg news puts it, China is paying the most on record for the dirtiest type of coal.

Cindy Baxter, an environmental campaigner, says about the use of lignite coal, Not only are we burning more coal, (but) its the dirtiest coal. And it comes from Indonesia where the conditions and the mining is appalling.

Due to a rare procedural situation, President Bidens infrastructure bill only needs the support of 50 senators. That is an opportunity not to be missed.

Senators Barrasso and Lummis can cut about any deal they want if theyre prepared to put Wyoming families before their political party loyalties. For most of our history, Washington legislators have cut deals and crossed party lines for the betterment of their constituents, and Wyoming desperately needs that courage and leadership in this extraordinary moment in legislative history.

With the environmental argument in hand, our Washington delegation could require funding for port facilities, improved rail lines, and the equipment to reduce coal dust that would facilitate environmentally safe and economic rail transportation to the Columbia River. In return, to pass the bill they agree to some electric vehicle charging stations in states that want them, and wind turbines off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island  a small price to pay for saving our states economy. And as part of this grand bargain, Biden gets the state of Oregon to bless the plan. Thats exactly the type of old-school horse trading we need if were serious about saving Wyomings economy and jobs.

Wyoming coal producers may have a constitutional right to transport coal to Oregon, but even the Trump Administrations own Solicitor General didnt think the suit was worth his time. Which is why more chest-thumping sound bites outside closed coal mines wont do a laid off Wyoming worker any good.

The environmentalists keeping our coal out of Oregon are holding a royal flush against our pair of twos. Lets be smart and play the better hand  which is to press the environmental case for exporting coal, and to do it when we have a pair of valuable Senate votes to offer in return.

David Dodson is a resident of Wyoming and an entrepreneur who has helped create over 20,000 private sector jobs. In 2018, he was a candidate in the Republican Primary for Wyomings US Senate. He is on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses on small business and entrepreneurship. He is a frequent guest on Fox Business and CNBC.

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It was supposed to be an idyllic celebration of their love. Instead, it was a disaster. In fact, their precisely planned four month honeymoon was literally one disaster after another.

Stephan and Ericka Svanstrom were dreaming of a long, luxurious honeymoon when they left their home in Sweden. But right from the beginning things went woefully wrong.

While in the first city of their journey, Munich, a snow storm fell on a large part of Europe and buried them. It was called the snowstorm of the century.

The couple were confident weather would improve when they traveled south to Cairns, Australia. However, a cyclone aggressively twisted through the area and they, along with thousands of people, were forced into public shelters to find refuge. After a close call with the cyclone Stephan and Erica moved on to Brisbane where they discovered that most of the city was underwater. A storm for the record books, said the locals.

Ericka, ever an optimist kept saying, Its got to get better. So, they headed to Perth where the honeymooners had to flee wild burning brush fires. Remembering those harrowing moments the honeymooners said that they barely survived by the skin of the teeth.

Pushing on, (how much worse could it get?), they landed in New Zealand to find the country was reeling from a 6.5 magnitude earthquake that had occurred only two hours previously.

In Bali, everyone was bracing for a monsoon.

Finally, in Tokyo the couple enjoyed two days before Japan experienced one of the largest earthquakes ever registered. Then, that earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami.

These honeymooners survived six natural disasters!

The couple told their story with humor and gratefulness. They were never injured and Erika said, At least we are fortunate when it comes to love.

Fear could have paralyzed them.

Self-pity, woe is us, could have distracted them.

Anger could have divided them.

But instead they had love; love for one another and love for the adventure they were experiencing together.

Their love for one another put everything in perspective.

Each of us are living in a some sort of natural disaster right now. Oh, maybe not a record setting snowstorm (not yet anyway) or a gale force winds (thats coming) but we are living in a time of unprecedented disruption and unpredictable tomorrows.

We havent been able to travel like we have in the past. We dont know when, or if, we see our families again. We havent attended weddings we normally wouldnt have missed for anything. We havent gone to the funerals of people we loved. We havent been at the hospitals when our grandchildren were born or when our parents have taken their last breath.

The last two years have felt like the honeymoon from hell.

And sadly, those things dont account for illnesses, or lost jobs, or accidents, or broken relationships. Living in this world is just a tough gig sometimes.

But, at least we are fortunate when it comes to love.

For there is a God who loves the world; thats you and me. And I wholeheartedly concur with the Biblical writer who wrote, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Fortunate? Indeed.

Larry and Linda Kloster sponsor this column.

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Deborah De Labastide pours her genuine love for the Yuletide season into her popular ponche-de-creme blends, pastelles and black cake.

De Labastides self-branded Debs Exquisite Island Drinks line is a must-get for visitors at the annual Christmas upmarket at Lions Cultural Centre in Port of Spain.
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.
He sidestepped a question of how providing financial incentives to schools so they do not require masks meets the goal of helping to stop COVIDs spread.

What were doing is were incenting parents to get their children in a classroom where they can learn, Ducey said. And were giving them a choice.

Thats what were focused on. Were catching our kids up.

He declined Friday to say how he intends to try to persuade Adeyemo that his use of the money complies with federal law.

Youll see the letter, Ducey said.

The feds may have the upper hand.

Adeyemos letter reminded Ducey that, before receiving nearly $2.1 billion of COVID relief funds, the governor signed a certification that Arizona would use all the money it received in compliance with the federal law and any regulations issued by the Treasury Department. Those limit use of the dollars to responding to the public health emergency and its negative economic impacts, he said.

The spat with Treasury may not be the only problem for Arizona and the efforts of Ducey and Republican lawmakers to keep schools from requiring masks.

The U.S. Department of Education has launched civil rights investigations into six Republican-run states that have laws on the books forbidding schools from imposing mask mandates. Those laws may violate the rights of students with disabilities, the department said. It said it is keeping an eye on Arizona, where the state law is on hold pending Supreme Court action.
Study co-author and New Horizons co-investigator John Spencer, from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, compared the effort to trying to read a street sign through a dirty windshield when driving toward the setting sun, without a sun visor.

Lauer works for the National Optical Infrared Astronomy Research Lab, a National Science Foundation research institution headquartered in Tucson since 1959. His NOIRLab work usually focuses on extra-galactic and deep space astronomy, but he loves a good image processing puzzle.

Lauer said he took a crack at the dark-side images when New Horizons first beamed them back to Earth in 2016, but a number of technical problems stood in his way.

He revisited the data in 2019, using some specially designed algorithms over several months to refine the images, filter out the suns glare and reconstruct what was missing.

I liken it to cooking an artichoke, Lauer said. Theres a lot of work involved for not very much food.

He acknowledged that the finished picture probably looks like a fuzzy mess to non-astronomers, but it has revealed some tantalizing details on Pluto that wouldnt otherwise be visible for decades.
Tucson police officers could be subject to increased accountability under a new union contract thats coming up for City Council approval.

The proposed deal with the Tucson Police Officers Association will close a loophole that allows officers to get paid while on unpaid suspension and will adjust disciplinary procedures to make them more effective and transparent.

Police officers and city officials stand to benefit from the changes as well. The contract includes provisions that will make it easier for officers to sell back unused sick time, for example, and an adjustment to the way overtime is calculated could save Tucson about $200,000 per year.

City Council members were largely in support of the new contract when it was presented to them at their most recent meeting.

I do see some very positive elements here, said Councilwoman Karin Uhlich, who added that officers union has openly stated they view this as a way to strengthen the department and make sure, quite frankly, that people who are not embodying the values of public service and the caliber of service that we expect, that those folks are subject to appropriate oversight and discipline.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  The Biden administration has approved two portions of Connecticut's request for a major disaster declaration needed to secure federal funds for recovery from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which caused an estimated $7.2 million in damage in the state.

Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont announced Saturday that renters, homeowners and business owners in hard-hit Fairfield and New London counties  and residents of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations  will now be eligible for federal reimbursement for the costs of uninsured or underinsured storm damage to homes and personal property.

A stunned U.S. East Coast faced surging rivers, record-breaking rain, and dozens of deaths when the remnants of Ida walloped the region on Sept. 1, drowning many victims in their homes and cars. A veteran Connecticut State Police sergeant was killed after his vehicle was swept away by floodwaters.

The storm dumped as much as eight inches of rain on parts of Connecticut and caused heavy flooding. According to Lamonts request, just 8% of damaged homes in New London County and 23% in Fairfield County had flood insurance.
In Manchins home county in northern West Virginia, Amber Gabor allowed that some time off would have come in handy when one of her kids  ages 2, 7 and 9, with another one expected in a couple of weeks  had to stay home for two weeks after a coronavirus case at his school. But 12 weeks of paid leave sounded excessive to her.

I dont see why you would need all that at one time, unless it was a maternity type of leave. But most (work) places offer that anyway, said Gabor, who works from home doing customer service for a power company.

In the rural town of Spencer, dental receptionist Samantha Camp is one of those who say they will continue to get by without a paid leave option just as they always have  with difficulty.

Camp will keep paying about $50 monthly for the disability insurance she buys as a hedge against having to miss work because of a bone problem that resulted in hip replacement surgery last year. After the operation, she felt she had no choice but to return earlier than doctors recommended to her job at a small law firm where she worked at the time.

It was very worrisome being with no income, said Camp, 34. The doctors wanted to put me off for about six weeks. I just knew I couldnt do that financially. I was actually off only two and a half weeks.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The president of the University of Southern California said there was a troubling delay in warning the campus community about allegations of drugging and sexual assault by a fraternity more than three weeks after receiving them.

A university confidential reporting program received five to seven disclosures of drugs being placed into drinks, leading to possible sexual assaults at the Sigma Nu fraternity in late September, but the university didn't broadly share the information until Oct. 21, President Carol Folt wrote in a message to the campus community Friday night.

During this period, another student reported she was sexually assaulted at the fraternity on Oct. 16, the Los Angeles Times reported.

We now know that there was a troubling delay in acting on this information, and specifically in evaluating it for notification to the community, Folt wrote. This has highlighted for me the gray area in our processes when reports come into (the reporting program), and the challenge of marrying a highly confidential support service, which may have limited details, with the need to inform and warn the community."
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.
OPINION: "The Afghan refugees arriving in Tucson will have traveled almost 8,000 miles to get here. First wave, second wave, and now this wave. A man who crossed the Spin Gar Mountains with his sons on donkeys, the man pulling a cart of used clothes in Islamabad, the families caught in the crush to board a plane out of their homeland. Strip away the differences, and it is all the same trauma, the same displacement," writes Tucsonan Adele Barker.
Q: In the summer of 2019, I booked seven roundtrip tickets from Miami to Budapest on TAP Air Portugal through Expedia. I planned to fly to Europe the following spring with my husband, my two daughters, my mother and my two cousins.

In March of 2020, a week or so before our scheduled departure, TAP Air Portugal canceled our flight because of COVID-19. I waited a few months before doing anything, since I got an automated email about flight credit. And who knew when the world would open up again?

Eventually, time passed, life circumstances changed and I knew that the seven of us would not be able to take that trip to Budapest anytime in the near future. So I began the process of trying to get a refund.

Its been a year since I asked for a refund, and theres still no refund from either Expedia or TAP Air Portugal. When I try to check my refund process, it either doesnt have anything in the system or still shows a credit.

I am exhausted from having to go back and forth between the two. Anything you can do to help me would be so much appreciated.  Sandra Einhorn, Hollywood, Fla.
What used to be called the tattooing business in Oklahoma really wasnt a business at all.

Thats because it was banned.

The culture is so diverse, said Oklahoma Citys Chasity McMillan, who owns several alternative modeling agencies involving the inked-up. We have come so far. The safety is definitely there.

We no longer have to worry about someone saying, My uncle does some cool tattoos. Why dont we go to his kitchen? Hes a scratcher.

The legalization of tattooing in Oklahoma in 2006 changed all that. Monday marks the 15th anniversary of when an artist could literally get under someone elses skin without fear of repercussions.

The measure ended an Oklahoma ban on tattooing that had been in effect since 1963.

We didnt have people who wanted to work with us before, McMillan said the of attitude that used to dominate the culture. We were considered druggies. We were losers. We had tattoos. That was the stigma about what we were doing. Somebody always had an opinion.

People still have opinions. We still get the looks sometimes. But I can tell you those have been toned down about 90%.
Staff Photographer

I have worked for the Tulsa World from 1995-2000 and from 2005-present. I graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in Photographic Arts/Journalism. I live in Owasso with my wife, Brandi, and daughters, Sonnie and Sarah.
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall will begin a four-day visit to Tulsa later this week.

A smaller replica of the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., the touring wall is set to arrive Thursday and will be at Veterans Park, 1109 E. Sixth St., through noon Sunday, Nov. 7.

The memorial, which is engraved with the names of the more than 58,000 Americans killed in the conflict, will be available to visitors 24-7 during its stay, with volunteers staffing it around the clock.

Were really excited because of the dates, said Dan Fuller, Tulsa VFW Post 577 commander. Its the week before Veterans Day, and we think that will be beneficial.

It will be the first time in over 20 years the traveling memorial has been to Tulsa, although it has been to other area communities in that time, he said.

The citys Veterans Park is in its new location  the former home of the citys Centennial Park.

In September, city officials rededicated Centennial as the new Veterans Park while rededicating the former Veterans Park as Dream Keepers Park to honor the citys Native American heritage.
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.
Complacency is the one issue that can still cause trouble and further prolong the pandemic, says Dr. Dale Bratzler, OUs chief COVID officer.

For the first time since June, Oklahomas weekly COVID-19 case rate last week was below the national rate and is substantially down from the delta variants peak.

However, both the state and U.S. case rates are roughly five times higher than in June, before the delta variant upended the low point of the pandemic this year. Oklahomas easing burden of the disease is welcome but not a clear indicator of or path toward ending the pandemic next year.

I dont think we can say that were out of the pandemic yet. I was reading this morning that Russia now has a huge outbreak in COVID-19; theyre seeing large numbers of cases now, Bratzler said Tuesday during the Healthier Oklahoma Coalitions weekly virtual media briefing. Thats what worries me when we start talking about variants, because a new variant could come from any part of the world where there is uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.

Thats what we saw happen in India, and we got the delta variant that came across Europe and then into the United States.
Gov. Kevin Stitt has said he promised Oklahomans the state would fight efforts that could result in job losses for those who choose not to be vaccinated.
Oklahoma health officials are reporting 98 individuals sickened in a salmonella outbreak tied to onions shipped to 37 states.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 652 people across the U.S. were sickened, Oklahoma behind only Texas with 158 affected, and at least 129 people have been hospitalized. No one has died.

Affected red, white and yellow onions were imported from Chihuahua, Mexico, according to a news release, and may have stickers identifying the brand or country of origin.

If you have unlabeled fresh whole red, white or yellow onions at home, throw them away and dont eat them, a news release from Oklahoma State Department of Health states.

Salmonella may cause diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps and vomiting within six hours to six days after consumption of the bacteria. Those experiencing symptoms are urged to contact their health care providers for testing and possible investigation, according to the news release.

Health department representatives will ask what you ate in the week before you started to get sick, so ... its a good idea to start making a list of the foods youve eaten during that time frame so that key information is readily available, Jolianne Stone, state epidemiologist, said in the release.
State officials and local enforcement say the tribal courts are not prosecuting cases, an allegation denied by tribal leaders.

Gov. Kevin Stitt and Attorney General John OConnor are seeking to overturn the decision. The state asked the city of Tulsa to join those efforts by filing a friend of the court brief, as Tulsa World reporters found through the states Open Records Act.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum agreed. The Greater Tulsa Indian Affairs Commission members say they were not consulted, nor was the City Council informed. The leaders of the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations were advised of Bynums decision the previous day only after they asked of the citys plans.

We do not see a benefit for Tulsa to join in the states fight and wish Bynum had been more collaborative with tribal leaders and the city commission, which exists to provide input to officials on Indigenous issues.

McGirt has not caused chaos across Oklahoma, as portrayed by state officials in court filings and in the national media. Problems can be resolved if state and local entities work with tribal governments.
Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies sit down for a second day of talks on Sunday faced with the difficult task of bridging their differences on how to combat global warming ahead of a crucial United Nations summit on climate change.

The first day of the Rome summit - the leaders' first face-to-face gathering since the start of the COVID pandemic - focused mainly on health and the economy, while climate and the environment is front and centre of Sunday's agenda.

Climate scientists and activists are likely to be disappointed unless late breakthroughs are made, with drafts of the G20's final communique showing little progress in terms of new commitments to curb pollution.

The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for an estimated 80% of the global greenhouse gas emissions which scientists say must be steeply reduced to avoid climate catastrophe.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel before the opening session of the G20 leaders summit in Rome, Italy October 30, 2021. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Pool via Reuters

For that reason, this weekend's gathering is seen as an important stepping stone to the UN's "COP26" climate summit attended by almost 200 countries, in Glasgow, Scotland, where most of the G20 leaders will fly directly from Rome.

"The latest reports are disappointing, with little sense of urgency in the face of an existential emergency," said Oscar Soria of the activist network Avaaz. "There is no more time for vague wish-lists, we need concrete commitments and action."

A fifth draft of the G20's final statement seen by Reuters on Saturday did not toughen the language on climate action compared with previous versions, and in some key areas, such as the need to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, it softened it.

U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders stand for a family photo at the G20 summit at the La Nuvola in Rome, Italy October 30, 2021. Photo: Erin Schaff/Pool via Reuters

This mid-century target date is a goal that United Nations experts say is needed to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, seen as the limit to avoid a dramatic acceleration of extreme events such as droughts, storms and floods.

U.N. experts say even if current national plans to curb emissions are fully implemented, the world is headed for global warming of 2.7C.

The planet's largest carbon emitter China, is aiming for net zero in 2060, while other major polluters such as India and Russia have also not committed to the mid-century deadline.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Joe Biden pose for a family photo prior to a meeting during the G20 leaders' summit in Rome, Italy October 30, 2021. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool via Reuters

G20 energy and environment ministers who met in Naples in July failed to reach agreement on setting a date to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and end coal power, asking the leaders to find a resolution at this weekend's summit.

Based on the latest draft, they have made little progress, pledging to "do our utmost" to stop building new coal power plants before the end of the 2030s and saying they will phase out fossil fuel subsidies "over the medium term."

On the other hand, they do pledge to halt financing of overseas coal-fired power generation by the end of this year.

U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron as Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi looks on during a family photo session on the sidelines of the G20 summit at the La Nuvola in Rome, Italy October 30, 2021. Photo: Erin Schaff/Pool via Reuters

Some developing countries are reluctant to commit to steep emission cuts until rich nations make good on a pledge made 12 years ago to provide $100 billion per year from 2020 to help them tackle the effects of global warming.

That promise has still not been kept, contributing to the "mistrust" which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Friday was blighting progress in climate negotiations.

The draft stresses the importance of meeting the goal and doing so in a transparent way.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh left Hanoi on Sunday for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and visits to the UK and France, the Vietnam Government Portal reported.

At the invitation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French Prime Minister Jean Castex, PM Chinh will attend the COP26 and conduct a working visit to the UK from October 31 to November 3, before paying an official visit to France from November 3 to 5.

The premiers attendance at the COP26 reflects Vietnams determination and efforts in promoting and implementing international commitments, especially in global issues.

It will also extend a strong message that Vietnam is an active and responsible member of the international community, opening up opportunities for the country to promote bilateral cooperation in climate change response.

During his visit to the UK, which will help bolster the Vietnam - UK strategic partnership, PM Chinh is slated to convene meetings with major British businesses and corporations and attend a forum on Vietnams business and investment environment to attract investors and international partners.

Following his agenda in the UK, the head of government will conduct an official visit to France, a strategic partner of Vietnam and an important member of the EU.

France is the fourth-largest trading partner, second-largest investor, and a leading ODA donor for Vietnam in the EU.

This will be PM Chinhs first official visit to a European country since his appointment in July.

French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the trip will be packed with special events.

The president and prime minister of France, as well as leaders of the French Senate and National Assembly, will welcome, hold talks, and discuss with PM Chinh multiple issues related to bilateral cooperation, Warnery added.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has become more serious in Vietnams Mekong Delta and Central Highlands regions as multiple provinces have recorded a rise in local infections over the past days, while vaccination rates remain low there.

In the Mekong Delta, Bac Lieu Province reported 404 more coronavirus infections on Saturday, the highest daily count since the fourth outbreak began in the country on April 27, according to the provincial Center for Disease Control.

Vinh Trach Dong Ward and Ganh Hao Town, which were previously classified as medium-risk areas, became the localities at very high risk of transmission from Sunday.

In Soc Trang Province, health authorities documented a total of 370 cases on Thursday and Friday, of which 80 were detected in the community.

Meanwhile, more than 10,600 patients have been logged in An Giang Province so far in the wave.

Among them, about 1,134 are returnees from virus-hit localities.

Can Tho City has recorded three-digit daily counts since October 20, prompting local authorities to enhance pandemic prevention levels.

The situation has become quite concerning as vaccination rates in these localities are relatively low.

Bac Lieu has the lowest inoculation rate in the Mekong Delta, with 60.65 percent of its adult population having received their first shots and only 15.44 percent of them fully vaccinated.

An Giang has vaccinated 88 percent of people aged 18 and older with at least one dose, but only 13 percent of them are fully inoculated.

In Soc Trang, over 84 percent of adults have received one shot while 15.6 percent have been jabbed twice.

In Can Tho, the first-dose vaccination rate is 93 percent, while the second-dose ratio stands at 36.4 percent.

A similar situation is also recorded in some Central Highlands provinces.

According to Nay Phi La, director of the Department of Health in Dak Lak Province, the infection ratio in the locality is 193 per 100,000 residents.

The province is expected to immunize 80 percent of adults with one jab by the end of November.

In Kon Tum, the provincial steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control has also warned of rising cases in the community.

Only 13.12 percent of the provinces adult population are fully vaccinated, the committee added.

An elementary school is fenced off after two students test positive for COVID-19 in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam. Photo: Trung Tan / Tuoi Tre

Response measures

To curb the pandemic, the Peoples Committee in Soc Trang has requested public servants to avoid public places and required all arrivals to file health declarations and undergo rapid testing.

Authorities in Bac Lieu have established three makeshift COVID-19 hospitals and only allowed vaccinated residents to go outdoors in high-risk areas.

The provincial administration is expected to hold a teleconference on Monday to seek advice on pandemic response, quarantine, and treatment from Ho Chi Minh Citys Cho Ray Hospital.

In An Giang, dine-in service has been banned across Long Xuyen City since 5:00 am on Sunday.

In other locales of the province, eateries must operate at only 50 percent and must not serve beer and alcohol.

In Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak, people must be vaccinated with at least one shot or test negative for COVID-19 to enter local markets.

Provincial authorities have asked Ho Chi Minh City to assist them in building the second makeshift hospital with the capacity of 1,000 beds.

Meanwhile, officials in Kon Tum have required all students to switch to remote learning since October 25.

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Ho Chi Minh City will provide vaccine booster shots for residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, firstly for priority groups from November, while Hanoi plans to offer such boosters next year.

The southern citys Department of Health has proposed that the municipal administration give third COVID-19 vaccine shots first to high-risk people and frontline workers who have received two full doses, Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, deputy director of the department, said at a meeting on Saturday.

Such priority groups will get the extra jabs in the remaining months of this year, Dr. Chau said.

In the same period, all unvaccinated residents will be given the first shot and those being partially inoculated will be provided with the second one, the official added.

Next year, the city will administer third or fourth vaccine shots to all who have received second or third doses, and at the same time vaccinate children aged three and older, the official said.

Currently, the city is running a large-scale vaccination campaign for around 780,000 children aged 12 to 17, the meeting was told.

As of October 28, the city of around nine people had had more than 7.1 million people injected with the first vaccine dose and more than 5.6 million with the second jab, Dr. Chau said.

Vaccination is a long-term and strategic solution in the COVID-19 fight, with priority given to high-risk groups including pregnant women, people aged over 50, people with underlying diseases or obesity, and frontline forces, Dr. Chau emphasized.

Meanwhile, Hanoi is preparing to inoculate 680,000-840,000 children aged 12 to 17, Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) newspaper cited Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control, as saying on Thursday.

The immunization will kick off as soon as the capital city receives vaccines from the Ministry of Health, Tuan said.

In November-December, Hanoi will continue giving first and second vaccine doses to its adult population, with priority intended for over-50-year-old people, women at over 13 weeks of pregnancy, and those with chronic diseases, among others, Tuan said.

The city is drawing up a COVID-19 vaccination plan for 2022, in which children aged three and older will be vaccinated while third or fourth vaccine doses will be offered to people who have received second or third jabs, the center said.

By Saturday, Hanoi had administered around 6.07 million first shots and 3.73 second jabs to a population of over eight million people, whereas Ho Chi Minh City had registered the corresponding numbers of 7.45 million and 5.7 million, according to official figures.

Health workers have administered nearly 79 million vaccine doses, including 1,712,435 shots on Thursday, since vaccination was rolled out on March 8.

More than 23.3 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.

Since erupting in Vietnam in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused 4,846 cases including 38 deaths in the capital, along with 428,204 infections and 16,662 fatalities in Ho Chi Minh City, according to the health ministrys data.

The Southeast Asian country has recorded 915,603 cumulative cases, including 818,336 recoveries and 22,030 fatalities.

Its daily new infections and deaths have sharply fallen, to 5,227 and 64 on Saturday from 7,940 and 159 a month earlier.

Ho Chi Minh City, the countrys COVID-19 epicenter, saw its cases and death toll drop to 1,042 and 30 from 4,372 and 106 a month back.

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The Ministry of Health reported 5,519 new coronavirus cases in Vietnam on Sunday, along with 1,998 recoveries and 53 fatalities.

The daily count is the biggest in four weeks, as the health ministry logged 5,490 infections on October 2.

The latest cases, including 15 imported and 5,504 local transmissions, were documented in 46 provinces and cities, the health ministry said, elaborating that 2,327 patients were detected in the community.

Ho Chi Minh City registered 1,041 of the domestically-infected cases, Dong Nai Province 688, Binh Duong Province 672, Bac Lieu Province 415, An Giang Province 342, Kien Giang Province 295, Tien Giang Province 222, Soc Trang Province 180, Dak Lak Province 157, Binh Thuan Province 130, Can Tho City 130, Tay Ninh Province 110, Long An Province 109, Ha Giang Province 103, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 64, Hanoi 46, Khanh Hoa Province 21, and Da Nang four.

Vietnam had confirmed 5,224 locally-acquired infections on Saturday.

The nation has documented 916,286 community transmissions in 62 out of its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave emerged on April 27, 817,517 of them having recovered from the respiratory disease.

Ho Chi Minh City is severely impacted with 432,142 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 233,058, Dong Nai Province with 65,779, Long An Province with 34,774, Tien Giang Province with 16,644, Dong Thap Province with 9,761, Khanh Hoa Province with 8,994, Da Nang with 4,971, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 4,692, and Hanoi with 4,635.

Vietnam found only 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.

The health ministry reported 1,998 recoveries on Sunday, bringing the total to 820,334.

The toll has risen to 22,083 deaths after the ministry recorded 53 fatalities on the same day, including 21 in Ho Chi Minh City and seven in Binh Duong Province.

Vietnam has detected 921,122 infections since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit it early last year.

Health workers have given more than 81.3 million vaccine doses, including 927,656 shots on Saturday, since vaccination was rolled out on March 8.

Over 24.3 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 elementary school in Vietnam has been shut down after a rapid COVID-19 test found two students who are siblings positive, local authorities reported on Saturday.

Nguyen Viet Xuan Elementary School in Ea Kar District, Dak Lak Province has been locked down after two students, who are siblings with one in first grade and the other in fourth grade, got a positive rapid coronavirus test, said Nguyen Manh Hung, chairman of the communes administration.

Ten teachers and 96 other students have been placed in quarantine at the school, Hung said, adding that they have been given rapid tests and are waiting for results.

All students are kept at the school under the direct care of teachers who are supported by local authorities, the chairman said.

The commune has called on their mothers to come and voluntarily stay at the school to take part in looking after their children.

All epidemic prevention measures have been deployed at the school and in related areas, local authorities said.

The two students, along with their grandmother, tested positive for the coronavirus after their parents got the same test result when they returned home from Nha Trang City, located in south-central Khanh Hoa Province, Hung said.

These cases were detected as many new COVID-19 outbreaks have recently appeared in many locations in the province, such as Buon Ma Thuot City, Buon Ho Town, and the districts of Lak and Ea Kar, with up to hundreds of infections per day.

The Dak Lak administration has just decided to establish the 1,500-bed Field Hospital No. 2 in Buon Ma Thuot City for treating COVID-19 patients without symptoms or with mild symptoms.

With the new facility, the province now has six hospitals with 3,420 beds in total for coronavirus patients.

A group of doctors and health workers from Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital left the city for Dak Lak on October 26 to support the province in curbing the increasing COVID-19 spread.

Dak Lak has rather low COVID-19 vaccination coverage, with 38.3 percent of its adult population partially immunized and only 7.27 percent of them fully inoculated as of October 27, according to local health authorities.

By Saturday afternoon, Dak Lak had recorded 3,730 cases, including 23 deaths, according to the Ministry of Healths data.

Vietnam has confirmed a total of 915,603 COVID-19 cases, including 818,336 recoveries and 22,030 fatalities.

Recently, the Southeast Asian nations daily new infections and deaths have sharply decreased, to 5,227 and 64 on Saturday from 7,940 and 159 a month earlier.

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Seven West Media has entered into a conditional Share Sale Agreement to acquire Prime Media Group and all their subsidiaries.

If approved the deal would give Seven a metro + regional audience reaching more than 90% of the Australian population.

SWM Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, James Warburton, said: This proposal is an important step forward for both companies. SWM and PRT are great partners and have a long, successful relationship. Together, they will offer the best content for our national audience and unmatchable premium revenue opportunities for our clients.

The acquisition means SWM will become Australias leading commercial premium broadcast, video and news network, with the potential to reach more than 90% of Australias population each month.

The proposed transaction is an exciting and transformative development for advertisers and media buyers. It means we will be able to give advertisers easy and seamless access via a single platform to capital city and regional markets, he said.

This is the second attempt by Seven to acquire Prime after a 2019 bid was thwarted by Bruce Gordon and Antony Catalano.

The acquisition will be subject to a vote of the Prime shareholders in December.
In the early 70s, when Bill Buckert was about 16 years old, he and his friend Steve Teinert were hanging out in a deer blind on property south of Victoria, near the sewage plant.
Alok Sharma has signalled he is against introducing higher taxes on meat, saying he prefers a carrot rather than stick approach to tackling climate change.

Environment Secretary George Eustice, in an interview with the Telegraph, appeared to raise the prospect of taxes on high-carbon foods such as meat and diary.

He told the newspaper the UK will need to move into the realms of things like carbon taxes when existing European Union agricultural subsidies are finally phased out.

Alok Sharma (Christopher Furlong/PA)

But Cop26 president Mr Sharma said he believed what people ate was a personal choice.

The former business secretary told BBCs Andrew Marr Show that taxes were for the Treasury to consider, but he believed in incentivising people to change their behaviour for the good of the climate.

I have been very clear that, on a personal level, I am someone who very much believes in carrot rather than stick, trying to encourage people to move in the right direction, Mr Sharma said.

Asked whether he thought people should eat less meat to reduce the impact on the climate, Mr Sharma replied: Thats a personal choice.

(PA Graphics)

What we need to make sure as a Government is that we are incentivising people to make decisions in the same way that we have grants to support people to buy ultra-low emission vehicles, youve got the boiler money that has now been announced in terms of replacing boilers with heat pumps.

That, I think, is the way you help people and support them to make those decisions.

Labour shadow business and energy secretary Ed Miliband agreed that the population should cut down its meat intake but he was sceptical about a meat tax.

The former party leader told Marr his objections lay in how fair food taxes would be and whether it could leave some lower-income consumers out of pocket.

Ed Miliband (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

During his Sunday morning interviews, Mr Sharma also faced questions about the UKs green leadership credentials if it approved plans for a new oil field in the North Atlantic.

Story continues

It came after the Prime Ministers climate change tsar saw his speech at the closing ceremony of the COY16 youth conference on Saturday in Glasgow interrupted when a group of delegates stood up and branded him a hypocrite for the UK Governments support of the Cambo oil field, west of the Shetland Islands.

Quizzed on the prospect of the oil field being granted approval, Mr Sharma said experts had recognised that even a net-zero economy would need some oil and gas.

However, he said the country would have to wait and see whether the oil field gets the go-ahead, with the application and consultation currently being considered.

He also defended Chancellor Rishi Sunaks decision to slash air passenger duty on domestic flights in the Budget.

Rishi Sunak (Victoria Jones/PA)

Mr Sharma said domestic aviation represented less than 1% of our emissions in 2019 and the country was investing in sustainable aviation fuels.

He told Sky News: Of course, there is an issue of connectivity where, because we are an island, you cant get that easily from one part to the other, which isnt the case for every country.

Mr Miliband hinted that Labour would repeal the aviation tax cut if it won the next election.

He told Marr: Were against it and well set out our promise in the manifesto. You get a clear sense of where Im going.
Ghana's parliament began considering a bill that would criminalise homosexuality and make advocating for LGBT people a crime. Human rights activists have sounded the alarm at plans to prosecute the LGBT community in a country already experiencing a wave of homophobia.

The Ghanaian NGO Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA) has called the bill inhumane. If this law is passed, all conversations with journalists will be banned and our very existence will be threatened, an IDNOWA activist told FRANCE 24 by phone.

On Tuesday, Ghanas parliament started studying the controversial draft legislation aimed at heavily penalising homosexuality, which is already prohibited in the country. If passed, the new bill would allow for up to 10 years in prison for LGBT people, penalise those defending them as well as penalise the publication of information that could be considered as encouraging homosexuality.

The bill also promotes gay conversion therapy, a controversial practice used in several countries on the African continent and parts of the United States. Sam Nartey George, a member of parliament from the opposition National Democratic Congress, is the architect of the draft bill, which was supported by seven other MPs when it was tabled in August. George described homosexuality as a perversion. We need to protect our children who are the target of these LGBTQ+ people, who make them believe that this is a new way of life, he told AFP.

Unprecedented wave of homophobia

According to several associations defending LGBT rights on the African continent, Ghana has seen an unprecedented wave of homophobia over the past several years.

In February, police evicted those working the reception desk at LGBT+ Rights Ghana, one of the few associations providing assistance to the LGBT people, barely a month after it opened.

Since then, the community has been the target of violent attacks by politicians, journalists and religious leaders in the Ghanaian media and on social networks.

Story continues

Homosexuals are not going to suddenly disappear with the appearance of a new law. Its just that they'll be even more likely to hide, Alexandre Marcel, director of the Idaho France Committee rights group, told FRANCE 24.

The Paris-based NGO was recently contacted by a 24-year-old Ghanaian who was kicked out of the family home after his uncle caught him with another man. I haven't heard from him in three weeks, Marcel said.

His is not an isolated case. In Ghana, a law dating from the colonial era prohibits homosexual relations. However, no one has ever been prosecuted under the law. Yet many LGBT people face discrimination and violence, often within the family.

The Guardian reported that 21 people were arrested in the city of Ho in March during a training session for paralegals and other professionals who support vulnerable groups. While they were released on bail, many had to flee to safehouses, fearing for their safety. Some were even disowned by family members and lost their jobs.

More and more LGBT people have had to flee their homes and communities, or are being targeted by attacks. They are under intense pressure. The damage is also psychological, IDNOWA activists lamented. The NGO believes that many cases go unnoticed because those facing discrimination do not have access to the Internet or the media.

The rejection of LGBT people in Ghana is linked to the conservatism of its highly religious society. According to a 2014 poll, 90 percent of Ghanaians support establishing law that criminalises same-sex relationships.

But parliamentarians should not pass this law just because public opinion is in favour, the IDNOWA activists said. They consider the legislation harmful to Ghanaian society as a whole.

We hope that our elected representatives will perceive the danger contained in this law and that there will at least be amendments, the NGO said, adding it does not understand this relentlessness when homosexuality is already prohibited.

According to Marcel, the reasons behind the persecution are to be found among religious leaders, especially the Ghanaian Catholic bishops. They bear responsibility for this hate speech against homosexuals. How can the pope accept that his bishops support such a law? Marcel asks.

IDNOWA emphasised that this type of homophobia has been imported, saying animosity toward LGBT people in Ghana was fuelled by the 2019 conference of the World Congress of Families, a US-based anti-LGBTQ organisation with strong ties to the religious right.

Rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch had previously warned of the dangers of this group's hateful propaganda in several African countries.

These clerics are trying to impose views that do not reflect our diversity and rich cultural heritage. Parliamentarians should not be guided by their religious ideas. The agenda of our country should not be dictated by religion, the IDNOWA activists said.

They are particularly concerned that if Ghana passes this anti-LGBT law other West African countries may follow suit.

The Ghanaian presidency is taking a cautious approach to the issue. Amid an economic crisis, the head of state, Nana Akufo-Addo  who would like to attract investments from African-Americans and the Ghanaian diaspora  wants to maintain an image of an open and tolerant country.

But that image may be undermined by this bill, which many believe has a good chance of getting passed.

This article was translated from the original in French.
The vast majority of people in France support assisted dying for the terminally ill, but despite several recent attempts to get the law changed, it remains illegal here. Jacqueline Jencquel believes choosing when you die is a fundamental right and even planned her own death.

Jencquel is a youthful-looking 77 and while she isnt terminally-ill, her health is declining and shes lost much of what used to give her pleasure: she can eat little, alcohol is out, so is sex.

She wants to end her life before she reaches a point where she can no longer control it.

I dont want to be put in a nursing home, to end up in intensive care, to be in the emergency ward of a hospital," she says reclining on a large sofa in her comfortable Paris apartment. "I don't want to be declared crazy  because thats what happens when you talk of suicide, you get locked up.

I would like to be able to part, elegantly and dignified, before too long."

But thats not possible in France. Unlike in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg and Switzerland  where either assisted dying or assisted suicide is authorised  France allows only passive euthanasia.

This means doctors here can stop treatment and place patients in a state of deep and continuous sedation to allow them to die. It can take days, even weeks, and is reserved to patients suffering from incurable illnesses.

It shouldnt be for doctors to decide, Jencquel says. Its about democracy and liberty."

She deplores that constitutions in Europe "guarantee the right to self-determination, the right to choose your religion, the way you live, your sexuality, everything except your death. Why?"

Listen to Jacqueline Jencquel in the Spotlight on France podcast

Heading to Basle

Jencquel decided to take life  and death  into her own hands, and registered with a Swiss organisation called Life Circle which practises assisted suicide.

I had chosen 20 July 2020, I like that date, she says. But life got in the way.

Story continues

Her daughter in law fell pregnant and in March that year sent Jencquel an ultrasound scan showing her future grandson.

She even had a C-section so the baby was born on my birthday. And they called the boy Jack. Everyone calls me Jack too. You cant refuse a present like that, she says philosophically.

Jencquel was derided on social media for failing to meet her rendezvous with death. But she says humans are complex.

On the one side theres the lucid rational being that says its better to get organised before the stroke or whatever hits you. And then theres the animal that wants to live and hang on if its not suffering terribly.

The last three minutes

Jencquel hasnt set a new date, but still plans to head to Switzerland unless French law changes.

I will go to Basle, accompanied by a friend who works for Life Circle, she explains matter of factly. My friend will ask me a few questions, it's for the police who come afterwards. I have to lie down and then be able to turn off the tap of the drip by myself. Once youve done that, its three minutes and youre dead.

She compares the process to putting our favourite pets to sleep when theyre suffering and wonders "why we wouldn't do the same".

Help and support

Jencquel is a volunteer with the French association for the right to die with dignity (ADMD) and regularly talks to seriously ill people who want to put an end to their suffering. She often advises them against seeking out euthanasia.

Ive advised them to do something different, to travel, see a shrink, to come and talk to me, Ive been talking to some people for three or four years, she says.

Shes proud to have helped bring some people back from the brink by giving them a sense of purpose.

But in cases where the demand to end their lives is deep and persistant, she has accompanied some to Switzerland, or facilitated that process.

The trip costs around 10,000 euros, putting it out of many people's reach.

Too ill to protest

While an IFOP poll earlier this year showed around 90 percent of the French supported assisted suicide for the incurably ill, attempts to get it through parliament have failed.

In April this year, a handful of mainly right-wing MPs sunk the assisted suicide bill by tabling some 3,000 amendments, making a vote impossible in the allotted time.

Jencquel says medical and pharmaceutical lobbies are active in parliament. The nursing home lobby is particularly powerful with five of the richest families in France owning nursing homes.

Whats more, the elderly struggle to make themselves heard.

Old people and sick people cant take to the streets like the gilets jaunes and march for their rights. Nobody seems to care, nobody seems to speak about the rights of the old.

Meanwhile opponents of assisted dying maintain that Frances existing system of passive euthanasia is sufficient. There are also concerns that if the law is eased, ill-intentioned family members could pressure their elderly relatives into leaving before their time.

Jencquel says what matters is choice. Im more for life than for death. Im for living well and dying well and a dignified life also includes a dignified death.

A campaign issue

In September this year a cross-party group of MPs pressured the government to put the assisted suicide bill back on the parliamentary calendar.

There may not be time for that before France heads into presidential elections in the spring, but end of life care is set to feature in the campaign.

The hard-left France Unbowed, the Greens and the Socialist party candidate Anne Hidalgo are favourable to assisted suicide.

President Macron is on the record as saying in 2017: I myself wish to choose the end of my life although he has always refused to weigh in personally on the debate.

While waiting for a change in the law, Jencquel continues to work within what she considers a deeply hypocritical system, putting people in contact with French doctors who are prepared to help.

ADMD estimates that between 2,000 and 4,000 acts of euthanasia are carried out each year in France.
European gas transmission operators and their parent companies made 4 billion in profits in the first six months of 2021, even as the energy crisis was beginning to bite, according to analysis by the NGO Global Witness, EurActiv reports.

The analysis shows that 26 companies that are members of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) saw their profits increase in the first half of 2021 as the energy crisis was beginning to hit Europe. The companies cited in the report include Belgiums Fluxys, Gasunie which has subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Germany, and Italys SNAM, all of which operate gas transmission networks in their countries. The other companies are yet to publish financial records for 2021.

Gas and oil company Wintershall Dea, for its part, made 243 million in profit between July and September this year, up 245% from 2020. Earlier this month, the chairman and CEO of Wintershall Dea, Mario Mehren, described the quarter as exceptional and underpinned by a constructive commodity price environment, and in particular by European gas prices which are expected to stay high throughout the winter.

This comes in stark contrast to worries about rising levels of energy poverty as European citizens face mounting gas prices ahead of the winter heating season. The number of people living in energy poverty in Europe was already in the millions before the energy crisis took hold and there are concerns that even more will be unable to heat their homes this winter.

At a time when many Europeans are being forced to choose between heating and eating, Europes powerful gas companies are enjoying huge profits, said Jonathan Noronha-Gant, Senior Gas Campaigner at Global Witness. As these companies pass massive rises in the price of gas onto some of the most vulnerable people, it leaves a sour taste that those same companies continue to enjoy healthy profits, he added.

ENTSOG rejected the claim, saying the tariffs of EU gas transmission system operators (TSOs) are fully regulated and closely controlled by the national energy regulators. Therefore, the national regulators are controlling and approving the revenues and costs of the TSOs  and the TSOs will be allowed only to cover their reasonable and documented costs, including repayment and reasonable return on the infrastructure investments, said Jan Ingwersen, ENTSOGs general director.

The gas TSOs do not have any additional revenues due to the higher gas prices  rather the opposite since higher gas prices may result in lower transported gas volumes, Ingwersen told EURACTIV. Ingwersen also suggested that some of the financial information from the gas transmission companies may have come from activities which are not related to gas transmission. Global Witnesss methodology includes 1 billion from the gas companies and 3 billion from their parent companies.

Priority EU projects

Global Witness conducted its analysis based on the financial reporting of companies that are members of ENTSOG  the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas. Environmental NGOs are concerned about the conflict of interest between ENTSOG member companies and its role in selecting projects under the blocs regulation on trans-European networks for energy (TEN-E). Being on the list enables projects to access fast-tracked permitting and EU funding.

The previous rules for inclusion on the list saw delays, projects being abandoned and the waste of 440 million of EU taxpayers money on gas projects which have been or are likely to be cancelled  thanks to questionable advice from ENTSOG, according to the NGO Friends of the Earth.

It is shocking that companies like Wintershall have celebrated Europes gas price spike as a way to make profits. It is even more questionable that they will most likely retain the astonishing influence they have over the EUs energy policy, said Noronha-Gant. As negotiations continue over the future role of ENTSOG, the EU must take note and consider whether a group of privately interested companies, making big profits off a carbon-emitting fuel, should really be relied upon to input on their energy decisions, he added.

The rules deciding how projects are selected for special status are currently under negotiation between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, which represents the blocs 27 member countries.However, whatever is negotiated will have no sway over the fifth list that is currently being drawn up and is expected to be published sometime in November. NGOs have warned there could be a considerable number of gas projects on the list  a last hurrah for this infrastructure, which they argue is not needed because Europe needs to decarbonise as quickly as possible.

They are also concerned about EU countries push to include grandfathering projects in the negotiations. This could see projects that get onto the 2021 list continue to benefit from EU funding even if gas is ousted in later lists. Negotiations are currently moving sluggishly, with neither Parliament or the Council willing to budge on governance, according to a source familiar with the process. The European Parliaments position is to have a stakeholder committee, which could act as a counterweight to the power wielded by ENTSOG.
As diplomats from Iran and Azerbaijan work to defuse tensions between the two countries, is the region headed for greater polarisation or integration? Dr Samuel Ramani writes in the article for the Royal United Services Insitute. Since late September, relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have deteriorated markedly. Following AzerbaijanTurkeyPakistan trilateral military exercises, Iran carried out military drills on 1 October near its border with Azerbaijan, which tested a locally manufactured long-range drone.

Iran accused Azerbaijan of welcoming Israeli forces to the IranAzerbaijan border, which Baku has vehemently denied. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has slammed Irans military exercises near its border and accused Iran of colluding with Armenia on drug trafficking to Europe for over 30 years. The Azerbaijani authorities have blocked Shia websites engaged in Iranian and religious propaganda, such as Azeri Sahar TV. The Tehran Times panned this decision as a volatile move by the Azeri authorities, clearly fuelled by ill-intended advisors.

While the crisis in IranAzerbaijan relations is exceptionally caustic by contemporary standards, relations between Tehran and Baku are unlikely to be terminally severed. Throughout the post-1991 era, IranAzerbaijan relations have been inconsistent, but have solid economic foundations. Azerbaijani officials periodically perceive Iran as being more sympathetic to Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Iranian officials oppose IsraelAzerbaijan security cooperation, especially after Azerbaijan was viewed as a possible partner in a unilateral Israeli strike against Irans nuclear programme. However, trade between Iran and Azerbaijan reached $417 million prior to the coronavirus pandemic, which made Azerbaijan the fourth largest destination of Iranian exports. These economic links have allowed Iran and Azerbaijan to swiftly weather major crises in their bilateral relationship. In 2012, Azerbaijan carried out a wave of detentions against Iran-backed terrorists plotting to carry out attacks on the US and Israeli embassies in Baku. Relations swiftly thawed after Hassan Rouhani became Iranian president in 2013, and in April 2015, Iran and Azerbaijan announced their decision to establish a joint defence commission.

The current standoff between Iran and Azerbaijan appears to be mirroring past trends. On 13 October, Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian agreed to resolve their diplomatic crisis through dialogue. On 21 October, the Azerbaijani authorities released two Iranian truck drivers who were charged with illegally entering the country and accused of violating Azerbaijans territorial integrity. These drivers passed through territory that was recaptured by Azerbaijan during the October 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and were trying to avoid customs duties on their way to Armenia. This suggests that Iran and Azerbaijan will work around their differences  despite the recent war of words over Azerbaijani media censorship  and return to the state of cold peace that characterised Rouhanis second term as president from 201721.

IranTurkey rivalry

Even if IranAzerbaijan relations eventually improve, the long-term geopolitical impact of this months standoff is uncertain. One scenario is a continued intensification of tensions between Iran and Turkey in the South Caucasus, which would impede the progress of intra-regional integration projects. Within Iranian foreign policy circles, there are concerns that the TurkeyAzerbaijan axis is seeking to encircle Iran and to foment unrest among Irans Azeri ethnic minority. Turkeys perceived insensitivity to these concerns is a sore point for Iranian officials. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans recitation of a poem in December 2020, which lamented the division of Azeris along the Aras River and implicitly supported pan-Turkism, sparked a fierce backlash in Tehran. Erdogans recent jibe that Iran would not risk an escalation with Azerbaijan due to its own Azeri population was lambasted by the Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, who called Iran a paradise of tribes. As Iran and Turkey remain at loggerheads in Syria and northern Iraq, where Ankara claims Tehran is supporting the Kurdistan Workers Party, these tensions could severely undermine IranTurkey relations.

An escalation of IranTurkey tensions in the South Caucasus could have a sweeping impact on regional geopolitics. Although Iran presented itself as a potential mediator during the October 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Tehran was widely believed to be a quiet backer of Armenia during that conflict. Armenia was a lynchpin of Irans duty-free trade with Russia and West Asia, and the pre-war balance of forces in Nagorno-Karabakh suited Tehrans commercial interests. Since tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan remain high, as both countries trade accusations at the International Court of Justice and engage in periodic border skirmishes, Turkey is concerned by stronger IranArmenia relations. As Pakistan was a participant in the trilateral drills which set off the IranAzerbaijan standoff, TehranIslamabad relations could also suffer. Irans allusion to foreign interference in the Talibans September offensive on the Panjshir Valley, which hinted at Pakistani assistance, suggests that Iran and Pakistan are not wholly aligned on the situation in Afghanistan.

Integration efforts

An alternative scenario is that the dissipation of the IranAzerbaijan crisis paves the way for deeper intra-regional integration. In Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Zangezur Corridor concept, which links the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic to the rest of Azerbaijan via Armenias Syunik province, has gained traction since the October 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. While Armenia opposes the creation of this corridor, the project has inspired Turkeys recent efforts to de-escalate tensions with Yerevan. These efforts have accrued some momentum, with Armenia allowing Turkish Airlines flights to Baku to pass through its territory and both Erdogan and Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan expressing support for a normalisation of ties, but a full-fledged rapprochement remains elusive.

To complement the tentative de-escalation between Turkey and Armenia, Russia has stepped up its efforts to promote intra-regional integration. On 6 October, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced plans to create a 3+3 format in the Caucasus, which would consist of the three Caucasian states of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the three big neighbours, Russia, Iran and Turkey. This format, which was announced during Lavrovs meeting with Abdollahian in Moscow, would address security, economic and transport issues in the Caucasus, and would be complemented by Irans ratification of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, which calls for non-interference. Although Abdollahian raised Irans grievances towards Azerbaijan with Lavrov, Russian officials insisted on the need to prevent a military buildup in the South Caucasus and lamented provocative exercises, which was an implicit critique of Irans 1 October drills on its border with Azerbaijan.

Russias 3+3 format was positively received by Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan, but has been met with greater scepticism in Armenia and especially in Georgia. Russias unwillingness to insert itself into South Caucasus conflicts, which was exemplified by its reticence about fulfilling its treaty ally commitments in the Nagorno-Karabakh War, and its role as a guarantor of peace in Nagorno-Karabakh will drive its commitment to this project. Russias growing concerns about insecurity in Central Asia, which will see it cooperate with Iran and Turkey on the spillover from Afghanistan, also ensure that it would be interested in preventing a new conflict in the Caucasus.

Although relations between Iran and Azerbaijan remain tense, tensions between the two countries are likely to de-escalate in the weeks ahead. Nevertheless, it remains unclear if the dissipation of this crisis will lead to heightened regional polarisation or tentative progress towards intra-regional integration.
The politically and militarily volatile Middle East continues its run as one of the worlds biggest single arms marketsled primarily by Saudi Arabia. But the Saudi dominance is being gradually challenged by another oil-blessed country in the region: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Eurasia Review writes.

According to the latest report from the US Commercial Service, the trade promotion arm of the US Department of Commerces International Trade Administration, the UAE is second only to Saudi Arabia, which has been ranked first globally, due to several large deals, topping $1.9 billion in purchases over the past year, while the UAEs purchases amounted to $609 million during August 2020-July 2021. With growing strategic ties between the United States and the UAE, as well as potential instability in the region, defense exports to the UAE are expected to remain strong for several years, says the report.

A New York Times report in April quoted a US State Department spokesman predicting a proposed sale of a staggering $23 billion in weapons to the UAE, including F-35 fighter planes and armed Reaper drones. But several members of the US Congress have expressed reservations because the sale of the one of most advanced fighter planes to the UAE may weaken the qualitative military edge held by Israel, the only country in the region with F-35s.

Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher, Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), told IDN since the late 1990s, the UAE has been one of the large recipients of US arms exports. SIPRI ranks the UAE as the 6th largest importer of US arms for the 25-year period 1996-2020 and the 5th largest importer of US arms during 2016-2020. In the first half of the past 25 years, he pointed out, it took deliveries of F-16E combat aircraft and related missiles that accounted for a large part of the volume of US arms sales to the UAE.

Over the past 5 years, US arms transfers to the UAE were dominated by deliveries of advanced THAAD and Patriot PAC-3 air and missile defence systems. However, though the high value of US arms sales to the UAE is explained by these especially costly weapon types, the US has supplied a wide diversity of weapons to the UAE. For example, over the past five years the USA delivered 1000s of relatively low-value armoured trucks and 1000s of guided bombs to the UAE. These have been used in Yemen together with the high value combat aircraft and missile defences.

Meanwhile, the Saudi military arsenal includes F-15 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, Stinger and Hellfire surface to air (SAM) missiles, and multiple rocket launch systems (from the US), Tornado fighter bombers, Bae Hawk advanced jet trainers and Westland combat helicopters (from UK) and Aerospatiale helicopters and air defence systems (from France).

The US weapons systems with the UAE forces include F-16 fighter planes, Blackhawk helicopters and Sidewinder and Maverick missiles while UKs arms supplies include Typhoon and Tornado fighter bombers and cluster munitions. The UAE is also equipped with French-made Mirage-2000 jet fighters, perhaps upgraded to the Mirage 2000-9 version.

In the past decade, the US report says, the UAE has made great efforts to establish itself as an active participant in the commercial and civil space sectors. The UAE has sent a spacecraft to Mars and had developed Mars Science City outside Dubai to help understand what conditions would be like when living on Mars. The UAE Space Agency and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC), are working closely with US industry and NASA to strengthen cooperation between US and Emirati companies and academia.

The UAE is striving to also incorporate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) along with technology education into academic programs that will create a high-technology workforce capable of supporting future space research and development programs.

According to a New York Times report October 26, few companies appear financially capable of pulling off the construction of a space stationa tall feat executed only by governments, which have typically been motivated by international relations than profit. The UAE is very interested, and there has been a lot of discussion with us over the past few months, said Janet Kavandi, president of Sierra Space and a former astronaut.

Regarding the sales of commercial aircraft, the report points out that economic struggles brought by the COVID-19 crisis, will continue to slow the purchase of additional large civil aircraft from the UAEs two major carriersEmirates and Etihafor the next several years. However, there will still be a strong demand for aircraft parts and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services.

Emirates Airlines is the largest operator of the Boeing 777, with Etihad, Air Arabia, and flydubai also having substantial fleets to maintain. Due to its large fleet sizes and MRO industry, the UAE is the top market for US aircraft parts in the Middle East and the 7th largest globally.

The US will also be promoting arms sales at several upcoming exhibitions and airshows, including Spain, Nov 3-5, 2021, Feria Internacional de Defensa y Seguridad (FEINDEF); Turkey, Nov. 10-13, 2021 SAHA Expo; Singapore, Feb. 15-20, 2022, Singapore Airshow; France, Jun. 13-17, 2022, Eurosatory; and U.K., Jul. 18-22, 2022, Farnborough.

Wezeman told IDN the US accounted for 64% of UAE arms imports 2016-2020, followed by France with 10%, according to SIPRI figures. In some cases, the US offerings appear to have been less attractive than those of others, for example the UAE has turned to France for corvettes and tanker aircraft. In some other cases the US was reluctant to sell certain types of equipment, including armed drones to the UAE, which were then acquired from China.

Based on existing contracts and agreements, in particular after two consecutive US administrations agreed in 2020 and 2021 to let the UAE procure 50 F-35 combat aircraft with a full package of advanced missiles and bombs, the arms trade between the two countries is likely to continue at a high volume in the coming years. Asked whether the UAE is still part of the Saudi-led coalition, which has come under fire for unleashing its fire power on Yemen, and also providing arms to rebel factions in Libya, Wezeman said the role of the UAE in the Saudi led coalition seems to have been diminished significantly over the past two years. Still, the UAE remains militarily engaged in Yemen, supporting certain armed groups that are more or less aligned with the countrys internationally recognised government, though the details of this remain sketchy and uncertain.
Exactly a year ago, on September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan's Patriotic War began. On that day, Armenia's occupying forces subjected the positions of the armed forces of Azerbaijan along the front line and the adjacent populated areas in Azerbaijan to intensive fire with the use of large-calibre weapons, artillery and mortars. Baku decided to launch a counter-offensive operation to ensure the safety of the civilian population. Vestnik Kavkaza offers its readers to follow the events of the 44 days of Azerbaijan's Patriotic War as they were covered a year ago.

On the night of the 35th day of the war, October 31, the liberation Azerbaijani army drove the occupying forces of Armenia from their positions in the Agderin, Khojavend and Gubadli directions. The firing points from which the shelling of the Azerbaijani positions was performed in the Gubadlisn region were eliminated. The invaders began to prepare an attack in Khojavend with prohibited white phosphorus munitions.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking for help. Moscow listed conditions necessary for assistance to be provided to Armenia. Moscow's response sparked a wave of outrage in the Armenian social media sector.

The fake news about artillery strikes on Shusha was debunked, and Baku drew attention to the fact that the invaders could use phosphorus munitions to burn down the forests nearby Shusha. In the afternoon, artillery shelling of the Armenian Armed Forces on the settlements of Azerbaijan resumed, by this time, the number of rocket launches alone against the peaceful Azerbaijani population reached 218.

In an interview with ARD, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed confidence that neighbouring countries would not help Armenia to retain the occupied territories. He also reiterated that Baku is ready to immediately stop hostilities when agreeing on a schedule for the withdrawal of the occupation troops from Azerbaijan, indicating that Yerevan is obliged to admit defeat in the war.

An action in support of Azerbaijan was held in Venice. The Russian community of Azerbaijan held a patriotic motor rally in Baku. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry drew attention to the fact that Armenia shows disrespect for the mediators.

Video documents of the liquidation of the occupation forces tanks and howitzers, as well as the invaders manpower, were presented. The total number of civilians killed in Azerbaijan by October 31, who the occupation forces of Armenia shelled for 35 days, reached 91 people, in total, 182 settlements were shelled. Baku underscored that the liberation Azerbaijani army observes all the rules of waging war.

The United States offered to deploy Scandinavian peacekeeping forces in Karabakh. The fake news about the shelling of the village of David Bek in Armenia was debunked.

Thus, on the 35th day of the war, the invaders' positions weakened along the entire front line, the liberation Azerbaijani army put pressure on the occupiers both in the south and in the east directions in order to prevent the occupiers from concentrating their forces in Shusha, the operation to liberate which was launched by the Azerbaijani special forces. In desperation, the Armenian military command ordered the preparation of prohibited phosphorus munitions, and the Armenian prime minister wrote a letter to Vladimir Putin asking for help. The preliminary results of Yerevans terrorist activities against the civilian population of Azerbaijan were summed up.
In the Turkish city of Antalya as a result of an accident, 9 tourists from Russia were injured.

"On Sunday, within the boundaries of the Serik settlement (Antalya province), there was a traffic accident involving a bus transporting a group of 12 Russian tourists to the airport. According to preliminary data provided by the Road police, the driver lost control of the bus, crossed the dividing line and, went into the oncoming lane, rolled over. As a result of the accident, 9 Russian citizens were injured, "- the Russian Consulate General in Antalya reports.

All victims were taken to nearby hospitals for emergency treatment.

"The condition of three Russians, including two minor children, is assessed as moderate. They remain under the supervision of doctors. An employee of the consulate general went to the scene and to medical institutions to clarify the situation and the condition of the victims. The driver of the vehicle was detained by law enforcement agencies pending clarification of the circumstances of the incident," - notes the Russian diplomatic mission.
On the sidelines of the G20 summit, US and Turkish Presidents Joseph Biden and Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed diplomatic measures in the Transcaucasus, the political process in Syria, elections in Libya and humanitarian aid to Afghans.

"The leaders discussed the political process in Syria, delivery of humanitarian aid to the Afghans in need, elections in Libya, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and diplomatic efforts in the South Caucasus," the White House said in a statement.

The meeting between Biden and Erdogan took place on October 30 in Rome on the G20 margins behind closed doors. Before that, they met in person in June at the NATO summit in Brussels.

According to Erdogan, the key topic of the talks between the two leaders was supposed to be the discussion of the development of the fifth generation F-35 aircraft.
The Kingdom of Cambodia has registered the anti-coronavirus jab Sputnik V and Sputnik Light, the Russian Direct Investment Fund informs.

"Cambodia became the 71st state where the Sputnik V vaccine was approved. Registration was carried out in accelerated mode. The total number of people countries that approved Sputnik V is 4 bln, or more than 50% of the world's population, the message reads.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on his Ukrainian colleagues not to associate Bayraktar drones with Ankara. Answering the question of the correspondent of the TV channel "Russia 1" Pavel Zarubin in the TV program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" the diplomat said:

"In our fight against terrorism in different countries, we have come across different weapons produced in different countries, including Russia, but we have never blamed Russia for this. Ukraine should also stop using the name of our country."

Currently, Cavusoglu is in Rome, where he takes part in the summit of the G20 countries.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, the Turkish minister said that "when a country buys any defensive weapons from us or from any other country, it is no longer Turkish, Russian or Ukrainian."

"That is, as soon as they bought weapons from us, it stopped being Turkish. Although it was produced in Turkey, now it belongs to Ukraine," the minister said, adding that "Turkey has nothing to be blamed for in this situation."

Let us remind you that earlier on October 26, the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced that for the first time they used the Bayraktar TB2 UAVs purchased from Turkey in 2019 in Donbass. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the drones were allegedly used in an attack on artillery positions near the village of Granitnoye, from where Ukrainian positions were fired.

The Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the news about the use of the UAV, noted that such actions of Ukraine lead to the destabilization of the situation in Donbass. The next day, October 27, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that Moscow was "rechecking" information about the operation of Bayraktar TB2 drones, and there were no casualties during the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Granitnoye.
The Buinaksk District Court sentenced a resident of the village of Verkhneye Kazanishche to two years conditionally for extremism incitement, the press service of the FSB republican department reports.

The man was sharing videos calling for extremism. At the hearing, he admitted his guilt.

The criminal was found guilty under part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Public calls to carry out extremist activities") and sentenced to a suspended sentence of two years in prison. He was also banned from doing work related to the administration of sites for a year.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting with American leader Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, Anadolu Agency reports.

It is noted that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the republic, Mevlut Cavusoglu, is also participating in the negotiations. The meeting is held in a closed format.

Earlier, the Turkish presidential administration reported that the heads of state would discuss Ankara's participation in the F-35 aircraft development program.
On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with French leader Emmanuel Macron.

The talks between Erdogan and Macron, held in Rome, lasted about 50 minutes without the presence of the media.

Relations between France and Turkey in recent years have experienced a deep crisis amid disagreements over Macron's attitude to Islam, Ankara's gas exploration in the Mediterranean, different positions on the civil war in Libya and the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Earlier today, Erdogan met with US President Joe Biden. The Turkish President spoke with the latter for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
The ruling party "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia" is negotiating to form a majority in deliberative bodies (sakrebulo). This was announced by the leader of the party Irakli Kobakhidze.

"Our party has a majority in almost all municipal sakrebulo. In some of them, "Georgian Dream" does not have a majority and it will form a majority on the basis of negotiations. Work is already underway on this issue," Kobakhidze said.

According to the preliminary data of the CEC of Georgia, "Georgian Dream" was unable to get the majority of mandates in the sakrebulo in Rustavi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Chkhorotskhu and Senaki.

Kobakhidze did not specify with whom the party was negotiating, but according to the results of the voting, the ruling party has two options - to come to an agreement either with the party of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, or with Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement.
On Saturday, residents of Georgia cast their ballots for the heads of 20 municipalities. Voters chose between the two best-performing candidates who did not score 50% +1 votes to win in the first round.

According to the head of the Central Election Commission, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the second round of the elections was held in a competitive environment, despite the minor errors. "However, in general, for the voters who came to the polling stations, a covid-safe and professionally electoral environment was created, Sputnik Georgia quotes Kalandarishvili as saying.

The current head of the city, Kakha Kaladze, won the mayoral election in Tbilisi with 55.6% of the vote. His opponent, the leader of the United National Movement party, Nika Melia, received 44.4% of the vote. Kaladze became the first leader of the Georgian capital to be elected for a second term.

Archil Chikovani, a candidate from the Georgian Dream, won in Batumi. According to the CEC, 50.947% of voters cast their ballots for him. In Kutaisi, a representative of the ruling party, Iosif Khakhaleishvili, won with 53.755% of the votes.

In Zugdidi, the candidate from the United National Movement, Anzor Melia, lost to his opponent from the Georgian Dream, Mamuka Tsotseria. The oppositionist received 47.87%, Tsotseria - 52.12% of the vote.
India is becoming the main purchaser of Israeli weapons. Israel and India have agreed to set up a working group to develop a 10-year cooperation plan to identify new areas of defense cooperation.

Israel has supplied missiles, drones and other weapons systems to India in the past few years, making India one of the largest clients of the Israeli military-industrial complex.

Israel's arms export to India over the past four years has become a record and amounted to 3% of the global turnover. Israel has become the 8th arms exporter in the world.

After India (45%), the main purchaser of weapons from Israel is Azerbaijan (17%). In third place is Vietnam (8.5%). Arms sales to India are over $ 1 billion annually.
The Armenian police revealed the name of the Russian border guard who died on October 29 in a car accident. According to the ministry, 23-year-old KamAZ driver Lev Sakolnik died after a truck fell into the gorge. His 28-year-old passenger was hospitalized with injuries.

A military vehicle of the Russian FSB border troops crashed into the gorge from a height of 150 meters on the Yerevan-Meghri highway.
On Saturday, October 30, within the framework of the G20 summit in Rome, a meeting of Russian and French Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Jean-Yves Le Drian, took place. The relevant information was published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website following the ministerial meeting.

During the conversation, the parties discussed the current situation in southeastern Ukraine, Libya, Mali, as well as international efforts to restart the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear deal.
The branch of the Russian Pension Fund in the Stavropol Territory denied rumors that the payment for schoolchildren in the amount of 10,000 rubles can be received again in case of submission of an application by October 31.

The news of second payments spread through instant messengers and social networks.

The Fund stressed that the "presidential" payment was a lump sum and those who have not received it yet can still apply before November 1.
American leader Joe Biden expressed concern over Turkey's acquisition of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, the White House press service reports.

"President Biden reaffirmed our defense partnership and Turkey's importance as a NATO ally, but noted the US is concerned with Turkeys Russian S-400 systems," the statement reads.

At the same time, the US president noted that he is ready for cooperation with Turkey and finding effective solutions. "President Biden stressed his desire to maintain a constructive relationship, expand areas of cooperation and effectively resolve differences," the White House adds.
Meta Spatial is a startup with the ambition to create metaverse virtual universes to bring real people into a virtual world that exists parallel to the real world.

Meta Spatil Moon - the first virtual space of Meta Spatial.

The idea of forming metaverses is something that has been mentioned by leading technology corporations in the world such as Facebook, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Epic Games recently. The metaverse is a virtual universe where people can be present and communicate with each other just like in the real world.

In Vietnam, Meta Spatial is not the first startup that aims to develop metaverses, but it is the most popular project of its type.

CoinMarketCap statistics show that, after one month of launching, Meta Spatial virtual universe with the first product - Meta Spatil Moon - has received the attention of nearly 1 million people around the world.

Ngo Van Cuong - Founder/CTO of Meta Spatial.

Meta Spatial has received capital from more than 100 investment funds around the world, including famous names such as Okex, Polygon, Mex, CMC, X21, Master Venture, Redkite, ZBS, Au21...

Meta Spatial is considered one of the first projects to build a true metaverse world. By using AR, VR, MR, and XR technologies, Meta Spatial promises to bring unprecedented experiences to users.

Ngo Van Cuong, Founder/CTO of Meta Spatial, says that it is very difficult to create a 3D character that resembles a real person in real life. Getting that 3D character to move in 3D perspective or virtual spaces is much more difficult. Meta Spatial can do it by allowing users to turn their image into an interactive character in the virtual world.

Users can use their virtual characters to play 3D games. They can also attend virtual art exhibitions, virtual fashion shows, virtual music events or visit a virtual cinema in the Meta Spatial metaverse universe.

Meta Spatial has built a supporting technology platform for other startups to build metaverse applications for the community. Meta Platform will be the first in the world that allows personalization to bring a citizen from the real world into the virtual world.

Trong Dat
To ease traffic congestion in the city hub, the Hanoi Department of Transport has worked out a plan to install 87 toll stations on ring roads.

Motorbikes to be banned, cars to pay toll

According to the Hanoi Department of Transport, the current number of registered vehicles in the capital city is 6.4 million, including 0.6 million cars and 5.6 million motorbikes.

Under the master plan on personal vehicle management, which was approved by the Hanoi Peoples Council in 2017, Hanoi will ban motorcycles in central districts by 2030. As the annual growth rate of cars in Hanoi is currently higher than motorbikes, at 10.2%, it is also necessary to collect toll from cars that enter the city center to ease traffic jams in the downtown areas.

As part of the master plan on personal vehicle management, the Hanoi Department of Transport has assigned a consultant firm to develop the plan to collect toll from cars entering the city hub.

The consultant has proposed 87 locations for installing toll booths, which are mainly at the gateways and on ring roads that are considered the border line between the suburbs and inner city.

The time to collect tolls will be from 5 am to 9pm. The tolls will be higher during the rush hour.

When will this plan is implemented?

Collecting tolls from private vehicles entering downtown areas has been applied by many countries as a measure to reduce traffic jams and it will be used by Vietnam.

In Hanoi, this plan will be carried out in three phases.

In phase 1, from 2021 to 2025, the Hanoi Department of Transport and its consultants will research and complete the plan. In phase 2, from 2025 to 2030, some toll stations will be put into operation on a trial basis. After learning experience from the trial phases, the plan will be fully implemented.

Traffic experts said that collecting toll from cars entering the downtown areas is a solution for traffic congestion and environmental pollution in Hanoi's inner areas. For the success of this plan, they recommended applying technology solutions in traffic management and administration, such as monitoring vehicles entering and leaving downtown areas by cameras and using automatic toll booths to avoid traffic jams at toll stations.

In addition, they suggested building parking lots at ring roads and developing a convenient public transportation network to serve suburban residents as they enter the city hub.

Vu Diep
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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As they wait for the doses to arrive, Waco-area pediatricians are discussing hopes and fears with parents.

Waco Family Medicine pediatrician Dr. Suzanne Jacob said some parents want to know how quickly they can get access to the vaccine. Others are more hesitant, with questions about a vaccine that is relatively new.

Jacob said that all studies are showing the pediatric vaccine works similarly to the way it does with an adult.

The same mechanisms about how it works will create immunity in children, Jacob said. The only difference is that it is a smaller dose and actually thought to be safer because it is a smaller dose.

According to the FDA, the immunity that the vaccine provides for children ages 5 to 11 is comparable to the immune response of ages 16 through 25 and has also been found to be 90.7% effective in preventing COVID-19.

A ongoing study was conducted with approximately 3,100 volunteers who received the dose and no serious side effects have been detected.

Jacob said she would recommend that parents consider the vaccine when and if the CDC recommends it for children ages 5 to 11.

The risks are low and the benefits are higher than the risk, Jacob said.
Hes got a funny way of fighting cancel culture.

The first order of business, he wrote, is to find out how many of those titles each school district owns, how much they spent on them and whether they have any other books that talk about human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV or AIDS, sexually explicit images or illegal sexual behavior. He asked about books that contain material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex.

The committee Krause chairs has a broad mandate to inquire into anything involving state government, any agency or subdivision of government within the state, spending of public money or any other matter the committee considers necessary for the information of the legislature or the welfare and protection of state citizens.

Whats more, they can inspect the records, documents, and files and may examine the duties, responsibilities, and activities of each state department, agency, and officer and of each municipality, county, or other political subdivision of the state.
Chair of the ABLE Project Board of Advisors and Sheppard Mullin partner Jonathan Aronie added: Intervening in anothers action is harder than it looks after the fact, but its a skill we all can learn. And, frankly, its a skill we all need  police and non-police. ABLE teaches that skill.

The ABLE Project is guided by a Board of Advisors comprised of civil rights, social justice, and law enforcement leaders, including Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department; Commissioner Danielle Outlaw of the Philadelphia Police Department; Dr. Ervin Staub, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the founder of the Psychology of Peace and Justice Program; and an impressive collection of other police leaders, rank and file officers, and social justice leaders.

ABLE Project Train-The-Trainer events take place every month. Over the last month, LSO instructors were certified as ABLE trainers; and over the coming months, all of the offices deputies will receive eight hours of evidence-based active bystandership education designed not only to prevent harm, but to change the culture of policing. Please follow our progress in this critical area at www.facebook.com/LSOnebraska.
INDEPENDENCE  Independence police have released the name of a woman found dead last weekend.

On Friday, authorities identified the deceased as 29-year-old Autumn DeeAnn Parizek, also known as Autum McCann, of Independence.

A cause of death is still pending the completion of an autopsy by the Iowa Medical Examiners Office, according to police.

Officers were called to an apartment in the 1100 block of Second Street Northeast around 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 23 for a report of a woman who wasnt breathing. Police began CPR until paramedics arrived.

She was taken to Buchanan County Health Center where she was later pronounced dead.

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CEDAR FALLS  While a district court judge has ordered the city to rewrite what he called unreasonable job qualifications for supervisory positions in the public safety department, another dispute over the move to the combined police and fire service remains in limbo.

In June, an administrative law judge with the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board issued a proposed decision and order that said the city retaliated against the firefighters union because the union opposed the transition to the public safety model.

The decision alleges the city committed a prohibited practice under Iowas public employee relations statutes.

The citys eight remaining union firefighters were placed on administrative leave in 2020 pending layoffs during the switch.

The administrative judge directed the city and union officials to work together to resolve the matter and find a remedy for the violation.

But the order was appealed, which sent the case to a hearing before the full Public Employment Relations Board, which has yet to schedule a meeting.

The proposed ruling concluded the city acted unfairly because it singled out firefighters with Local 1366 when it finalized the adoption the public safety program.

The citys immediate implementation of the PSO program and reorganization of the public safety department only affected Local 1366. Other members of the public safety department including police officers and the fire command staff were not cross-trained, and yet, those employees were not included in the reorganization and layoff plans, Administrative Law Judge Amber DeSmet wrote.

The firefighters claimed the city retaliated against the union because the union filed grievances and complaints and challenged the public safety model on social media. The firefighters also claimed the city failed to negotiate over the elimination of the traditional firefighter role.

The city disputed the union allegations during a February video conference hearing, arguing the city was in the process of a multi-year transition, and the switch would have occurred regardless of the unions opposition activity.

The city argued that combining the services was a cost savings of about $1.9 million and provided additional staff for fire emergencies.

Implementation of the program had been progressing for years by replacing traditional firefighters who retired and resigned with cross-trained public safety officers, according to court records. In February 2020, the City Council was faced with a proposal to continue with the public safety programs attrition approach or step up to full implementation of the program. The second option meant keeping the supervisory fire positions and eliminating traditional rank and file firefighters.

The measure to undertake immediate reorganization  Resolution No. 21,893  passed with a 5-2 vote, and the traditional firefighters were laid off. Local 1366 asked the city to negotiate the change it was making to the firefighter job, and the city responded that it wasnt obligated to negotiate, according to court records.

The administrative law judge noted that police officers who were not cross trained  there were three at the time the resolution was passed  and non-bargaining fire and police supervisors who werent cross trained were allowed to remain, records state.

DeSmet took issue with statements made by the public safety director and some City Council members during council meetings.

The citys disparate treatment of the bargaining unit members, the citys abrupt change from its past practice in the implementation of the PSO program, as well as the hostility toward the union from certain City Council members and the director demonstrate union animus, the administrative judge wrote.

Based on my review of the record, namely the hours of video-recorded City Council meetings, Local 1366 has demonstrated with overwhelming evidence the council and the director exhibited hostility toward the union, union leadership, and the protected activities in which the Union engaged over the course of the years leading up to the adoption of Resolution #21,893, DeSmet wrote.

The administrative law judge did side with the city in ruling that the city followed the proper procedure under the collective bargaining agreement in implementing the layoffs.

She also turned down the unions claims that the city unilaterally eliminated the firefighter job classification and that the city failed to provide training to cross train firefighters.

Last week, a district court judge ordered the city to rewrite job classifications for public safety supervisors positions after the union challenged the training and experience requirements.

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WATERLOO  A Waterloo man has been sentenced to prison for re-stealing guns that had been returned to their owner after he was suspected of stealing them the first time.

Demarrion Untrell Oden, 20, was also sentenced for shooting at a vehicle and breaking into another home.

On Thursday, Judge Brad Harris formalized a plea agreement Oden made with prosecutors, sentencing him to a string of concurrent sentences that resulted in up to 10 years behind bars for charges of third- and second-degree burglary, carrying weapons, assault on a peace officer, interference and assault with a weapon.

Authorities said Oden was suspected of stealing four guns from a West Sixth Street home in 2019 but was never charged. Three of the weapons were later found and returned to the owner, and in September 2020 Oden allegedly returned to the home and took the three guns, including a shotgun, a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle.

Oden was also sentenced for kicking in the door of a West Ninth Street home on Jan. 25, 2020, and then unhooking a TV and placing a PlayStation in a bag. The resident came home and found Oden inside, and a struggle ensued.

The plea also included a July 3, 2019, shooting in the 800 block of West Eighth Street in which Oden fired at an SUV, and a bullet grazed the leg of a woman inside.

As part of the plea agreement, the state dropped a case in which Oden was accused of shooting at a van on West Seventh Street on June 28, 2019.

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WATERLOO  Board of Education elections Tuesday include districtwide races in both the Waterloo and Cedar Falls community schools, as well as in four other Cedar Valley school systems.

Candidates are competing for at-large positions in the Denver, Hudson and Janesville school districts, which each having one more person running than seats on their boards. Two people are competing for a director district seat on the Dike-New Hartford Board of Education, but all voters within the school district can cast ballots for the position.

In addition, two candidates are competing for a director district seat on the Hawkeye Community College board of trustees. That is voted on by people living in only part of the HCC area.

Other school elections in Black Hawk County and the surrounding area have a single candidate per seat on the ballot, with the exception of the Jesup and La Porte City Union school boards. Two people are officially running for three at-large seats in Jesup and no one is running for one of Unions director district positions.

Dunkerton Community School District voters will also be asked to approve a revenue purpose statement specifying uses for proceeds of its portion of the statewide 1% sales tax for schools. Districts are required to periodically get voter approval for their planned uses of the tax money  which is called the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education, or SAVE, fund.

Voters in the Cedar Falls Community School District will be choosing between the most candidates, with six competing for three at-large seats. All Waterloo Community School District voters can cast ballots in one at-large race. Denver and Janesville school district voters will be choosing two at-large candidates and Hudson district voters will be electing three.

Cedar Falls is the only district in which any candidates filed reports with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

Candidates R.J. Meyer, T.W. Ingham and Lowell Stutzman reported raising and spending campaign funds in their reports, which were due Thursday.

Meyer raised the most, with $4,000 in contributions from himself and 39 other people ranging from $25 to $300. He spent $783 on campaign signs, printing and reproduction.

Ingham, his father and his sister donated to his campaign, with the largest contributions of $2,000 and $500 coming from the candidate. He raised $3,116 and spent $2,137. The purpose of his expenditures was not listed, but spending occurred at several stores, restaurants, delivery services, and Google. Ingham was listed as the recipient of the largest expenditure, $1,950.

Stutzman had 14 contributions ranging from $50 to $130 with a 15th donation of $1,000 from his father-in-law. He raised $2,305 and spent $495 on campaign signs.

With the filing on Thursday, candidates still had time spend money ahead of the election. Any further spending will be reflected in a later filing.

Following are the candidates who will be on ballots for school boards across Black Hawk County and in some of the surrounding school districts. Full board terms are four years.

Cedar Falls (3 seats open)

Denver (2 seats open)

Scott Krebsbach (incumbent)

Aaron Leuders

Ryan Wirtjes

Dike-New Hartford

At-large : Christa Lotts (incumbent)

: Christa Lotts (incumbent) Director District 1 : Brett Badker

: Brett Badker Director District 3: Jenny Connolly, Ryan Peterson (choose 1)

Dunkerton

Director District 2 : Chad Wolfensperger (incumbent)

: Chad Wolfensperger (incumbent) Director District 3 : Lyle McIntosh (incumbent)

: Lyle McIntosh (incumbent) Director District 4: Dan Knebel (incumbent)

Hawkeye Community College

Director District 3 : Louis Beck

: Louis Beck Director District 4 : Merritt Jones

: Merritt Jones Director District 5 : Bridget Saffold

: Bridget Saffold Director District 7 : Gerald Kapanka, Christine Twait (choose 1)

: Gerald Kapanka, Christine Twait (choose 1) Director District 9: JoDee Knox

Hudson (3 seats open)

Shannon Ingamells

Brenda Klenk (incumbent)

Matt Sallee (incumbent)

Amy Thole

Janesville (2 seats open)

Kim Gienau

Scott Kipp

Tracy Meyer (incumbent)

Jesup (3 seats open)

Christopher Jung

Dana Miller

Union

At-large : Lindsay Pipho

: Lindsay Pipho Director District 1 : No candidate

: No candidate Director District 2: Maureen Hanson

Waterloo

At-large : Janelle Ewing, Martie Heath-Sinclair (choose 1)

: Janelle Ewing, Martie Heath-Sinclair (choose 1) Director District 1 : Astor Williams (incumbent)

: Astor Williams (incumbent) Director District 4: Endya Johnson (incumbent)

Waverly-Shell Rock

Director District 1 : Charlene Wyatt Sauer

: Charlene Wyatt Sauer Director District 4: Jessica J. Kettleson

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WATERLOO  The city is asking the council to approve a design and engineering contract for a fiber-optic network throughout the community as it prepares to eventually ask voters to weigh in on a municipal utility in Waterloo.

The City Council will discuss a professional services agreement with Magellan Advisors to design a ubiquitous fiber-optic network passing nearly every household and business for the Waterloo Communications Utility during its Monday evening work session.

A vote to approve the $2,449,452 design agreement is also on the agenda for the regular council meeting later that evening.

Magellan estimates 309 miles of fiber would be needed for the project, with $1.30 per foot for any work over and above stated distances, according to the companys proposal.

Waterloo voters approved the creation of a telecommunications utility in 2005, one of many cities in Iowa that didnt take additional steps after a vote to build its own system.

Doing so will likely require voter approval to raise millions of dollars to construct the network. If approved, Waterloo would be the largest city in Iowa to operate a telecommunications utility, according to Troy DeJoode, executive director of the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, in a 2019 article.

The city took its first steps by commissioning a study from Magellan in 2019 to explore the possibility. The Waterloo Industrial Development Association and others had encouraged the city to consider a municipal utility to provide internet service to homes and businesses based on concerns about current providers Mediacom and CenturyLink.

A study commissioned by WIDA in early 2019 indicated it would cost $39.2 million to $65.3 million for Waterloo to construct a fiber-to-the-home system similar to one utilized by Cedar Falls Utilities.

The city noted earlier this year it is considering using American Rescue Plan funds, which can be used on broadband, to partially fund the network.

Magellan has already designed 73 miles of underground conduit and fiber infrastructure to monitor and detect emergencies in the citys storm water and sewer utilities, which was completed this spring. Other public buildings and spaces are also being considered for fiber build-out prior to the full city.

Mayor Quentin Hart teased the plan at the end of his recent State of the City address.

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WASHINGTON  A series of high-profile strikes across the country this month is testing how far President Joe Biden will go to bolster the labor movement, pitting the Democratic leader between his long-held affinity for unions and a jittery economic recovery that economists worry can ill-afford additional shocks.

Even as the White House takes steps to support the striking workers, some labor leaders are urging Biden to go further amid what they see as a rare moment of opportunity to strengthen their movement.

The president understands in his bones that he supports labor, and he supports the rights of workers to fight for themselves, said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants. But he has to take it a step further and remind the public what this is really about.

Since the beginning of October, thousands of workers across the country have gone on strike in industries ranging from food service and farm equipment to health care and education. The flurry of activity, which activists have named Striketober, comes as many industries scramble to hire more employees to fill open positions.

Biden has praised the strikes generally, saying in a brief comment last week that workers who feel compelled to demand higher wages should have the right to do so. Its a natural position to take for the president, who regularly touts his support for labor unions and the important role he thinks they play in sustaining the middle class.

I will note that the president and the vice president often say and  that this is the most pro-union administration in history, and they will continue to govern and lead with that in mind, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier this month. And they both feel that strongly supporting unions, the ability of workers to organize if they so choose, collective bargaining and the right to strike, which is one part of collective bargaining, are fundamental rights.

The administration dispatched two Cabinet secretaries to visit picket lines: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who visited striking John Deere workers in Iowa last week, and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who appeared this week with striking Kellogg workers in Pennsylvania. The visits were the type of public show of support labor officials said they rarely, if ever, received from former Democratic presidents in recent times.

But Psaki and other administration officials have declined to take a position on the individual strikes, saying doing so would violate longstanding norms. And more privately, White House officials point out that the number of large strikes this year  those of more than 1,000 workers  has risen from last year but still trails recent years such as 2018 and 2019.

The data does not show any significant increase in strikes compared to previous years, said one senior administration official.

There have been nine work stoppages of 1,000 or more workers so far this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thats one more than the eight that occurred last year, BLS reports, but still trails the 20 such strikes in 2018 and 25 in 2019.

White House officials also say they dont think Bidens support of unions has encouraged the strikes, arguing they happen not because of who occupies the White House but are instead driven by local conditions unique to each labor action.

Business leaders have urged the White House not to weigh in on the strikes, saying that fear of labor unrest could further disrupt already strained supply chains. The Biden administration has made fixing supply chain problems a top priority of the administration, working with businesses and ports to ease the congestion issues there that economists worry have contributed to a broader economic slowdown in recent months.

Encouraging more labor shortages through widespread strikes is going to be pretty problematic at this point, since youre working very hard to deal with supply-chain issues, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office who is now president of the conservative American Action Forum. One mans labor shortage is another mans supply-chain blockage.

Union activists say the number of strikes were lower this and last year because of the pandemic, which stymied organizing activity, and that the amount of labor activity in October is proof that the tide is once again shifting in their favor.

The movement would gain even more momentum if the president touted its efforts with his bully pulpit, union-friendly Democrats say, something they add they havent seen him do as visibly as theyd like.

Biden has really met the moment on several things so far, said J.D. Scholten, a former Democratic congressional candidate who this month marched in support of striking John Deere workers. But they have potential to do something really significant if he comes out and supports these workers.

Nelson said that Biden has a chance to educate the entire country about collective-bargaining rights. The administration doesnt need to pick sides in the disputes between workers and businesses, she added, but it can call out companies that refuse to sit down and negotiate with their workforce.

Its not picking one strike or another, Nelson said. But that is coming down for collective bargaining.

Other labor leaders have expressed more sympathy for the White Houses position, pointing out that theyve been as vocally supportive as any administration in recent memory even while grappling with ongoing negotiations over Bidens agenda that have taken up much of his time and attention.

In a moment like this, you always want more to be done, said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. But frankly, I dont know another president whos done this much for labor.

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CHELSEA (AP)  A man died after being shot by a Tama County Sheriffs deputy during what police described as a armed confrontation.

The shooting happened Thursday night in Chelsea, according to a news released from the Iowa Department of Public Safety. The Tama County Sheriffs Office received calls around 7:30 p.m. of shots being fired in the town of about 230, and deputies along with law enforcement from several other agencies responded.

Arriving officers saw Dewey Dale Wilfong III, 28, walking around in the area holding a handgun, the release said, and a Tama County deputy fired one round that hit Wilfong in the upper torso.

Wilfong was taken to a Cedar Rapids hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy has been ordered.

Officials did not release the name of the deputy who shot Wilfong, but said the deputy had been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

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CEDAR FALLS  JoAnn Schnabel decided to celebrate her retirement with a little help from her friends.

For the last 31 years, Schnabel has been the only full-time faculty member in the ceramics studio at the University of Northern Iowa. She will retire at the end of December.

In the meantime, the UNI art professor has curated a group invitation exhibition, JoAnn Schnabel & UNI Ceramic Alumni 1990-2021 now through Nov. 6 at the UNI Gallery of Art.

Several of her own ceramic pieces are on display, as well as artwork created by 23 former students. In addition to sculptural and functional pieces, there are prints and other works of art, as well.

These are former students who have really become friends and who Im in touch with. I know what work theyre doing professionally. I didnt want to do my own show, but instead, a sort of celebration of my teaching career, said Schnabel.

Throughout her students college careers, the art professor encouraged, enlightened and guided them to opportunities to create and explore creativity in their own directions.

As Im looking at the show and see their work, I can see my teaching philosophy showing through. Ive always thought to allow each artist to find their own way, not my voice. Im just really proud of them.

Schnabels current ceramic work includes oversized gestural nonfunctional teapots and working sculpturally on and off the wall. Both directions juxtapose organic and geometric abstractions in the forms and pattern and decoration for surface treatments.

She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and received her bachelor of fine arts degree in ceramics from New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University in 1981 and her masters degree from Louisiana State University in 1986. She has participated in artist residencies at the International Ceramic Studio, Kecskemet, Hungary, Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Canada, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana, Robert M. MacNamara Foundation, Maine, CRETA Rome, Italy, and at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in New Castle, Maine.

She previously taught at Tulane University in New Orleans before coming to the University of Northern Iowa in 1990.

Exhibition participants include Bryan Coons, Lori Dale, Thaddeus Erdahl, Allison Fretheim, Sarah German, Travis Gingerich, Matt Kelleher, Rylie Lawrence, Caitlin Mary Margarett, Lisa McClurg, Nicholas Meyer, Daniel Orr, Jesse Parrott, Wade Scheel, Chris Singewald, Kelsey Sorensen, Denae Statzer, Brad Travis, Dallan Troyer, Madalyn Loring Vorrie, Amythest Warrington and Chad Wolf.

Shnabel devoted herself to teaching her students, while managing to work in fits and starts on her own art. Thats not the best way to make my art. I gave my focus to teaching and in a one-person department, I didnt have another person to share responsibility. My own practice in studio has always been there, but not in a daily way.

That will change in retirement. Schnabel plans to devote herself to her studio work. I have so many ideas that I dont know where to start. In my own studio, I can experience and try things and fail without working about the marketplace. And my website is so out of date, so Ill take care of things I havent had time to do, she said.

Her thirst for travel and adventure remains unquenched. In 2015, she was awarded a Fulbright Grant to be a senior lecturer at Anadolu University in Turkey. And I once did a residency in Rome and loved it. Im looking at going back there again, she added.

The UNI Gallery of Art is located in the Kamerick Art Building on the UNI campus. Hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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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.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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STATE SENATOR RESIGNS: Sen. Zach Whiting, R-Spirit Lake, announced he will resign from the Iowa Senate effective at 12 p.m. today to take a job with the Texas Public Policy Foundation  a conservative think tank based in Austin.

This all happened very suddenly, said Whiting, 33, a lawyer who has held the Senate District 1 seat for about three years. But it was an opportunity that I just, professionally, couldnt pass up.

Under Iowa law, Gov. Kim Reynolds must set the date for a special election for Iowa Senate District 1 within five days. Republicans currently hold a 32-18 majority in the Iowa Senate.

LIHEAP APPLICATIONS BEGIN MONDAY: Officials with the Iowa Utilities Board say limited financial heating assistance is available to income-eligible utility customers through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP.

The annual application period runs from Monday through April 30.

The LIHEAP program is designed to help low-income homeowners and renters pay a portion of their primary home heating costs through a one-time payment made directly to the utility or heating fuel vendor. Under LIHEAP or the weatherization assistance program, Iowa law protects qualified applicants who are the head of a household from being disconnected from natural gas or electric service from Nov. 1 through April 1.

Although qualified applicants cannot be disconnected during the annual winter moratorium, the IUB urges all LIHEAP-certified customers to continue paying toward their energy bills through the winter to avoid accumulating high debt and facing potential service disconnection in the spring.

DOT OFFICE CLOSED: All Iowa Department of Transportation business locations will be closed Nov. 11 in honor of Veterans Day.

Many people, including commercial drivers license holders, may be able to complete drivers license business online at www.iowadot.gov.

For people who need to conduct drivers license business, the quickest way is to schedule an appointment at https://iowadot.gov/mvd/driverslicense/service-selector. Walk-in customers will be served as time allows.

The Office of Vehicle & Motor Carrier Services typically experiences a heavy workload on the days leading up to and following the holiday. Customers are urged to submit applications for oversize permits, especially those weighing more than 156,000 pounds, several days before the permit is needed.

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Iowa felons  other than murderers  may now vote. The Iowa League of Women Voters and the Iowa-Nebraska Conference of the NAACP want Iowas felons to know that with the city and school board elections nearly upon us, Gov. Kim Reynolds executive order has largely eliminated confusion over the suffrage status of felons who have completed their sentences, paroles, and other supervision.

Most of us cast our votes with little thought other than the qualifications of the candidates. However, those with felony convictions may be hesitant due to Iowas complex election law history: Gov. Tom Vilsack restored voting rights by executive order in 2005. Gov. Chet Culver continued the policy in 2007. Gov. Terry Branstad rescinded felon voting rights in 2011. Reynolds has once again restored felon suffrage. With dire consequences for attempting to vote illegally, its no wonder felons are wary of the polling booth.

In most cases, they shouldnt be: According to the governors website, Executive Order 7 restores the right to vote for Iowans who have completed their felony sentences and announces that the governor will continue to do so on a daily basis for those who complete their sentences in the future. The executive order requires Iowans to complete any prison, probation, parole, or special sentence. And individuals who were convicted of felony homicide offenses are excluded from the restoration and must continue to individually apply for restoration. (https://tinyurl.com/3ej6769f)

Once again, Iowas felons, with the homicide exception, may simply register and vote.

Like anyone else registering to vote, felons must prove who they are and where they live. Examples of proof include:

Iowa operator ID.

Iowa non-operator ID.

Out-of-state drivers license or non-operator ID.

U.S. passport.

U.S. military or veteran ID.

ID card issued by employer.

Student ID issued by Iowa high school or college.

Tribal ID card/document.

If your photo ID does not contain your current address, you may use another document (paper or electronic format) to prove where you live if it shows your name and current address and is current within 45 days. These are acceptable proofs of residence:

Residential lease.

Utility bill (including a cellphone bill).

Bank statement.

Paycheck.

Government check or other government document.

Property tax statement.

You can register online at Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pates website: https://tinyurl.com/e8e8carn. Youll need a valid drivers license to do so.

Felons need not have paid fines and restitution in order to vote. Of course, their financial obligations must still be met.

The Iowa Department of Corrections has an authoritative explanation of the new regulations at https://tinyurl.com/2b84f4cj.The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa has also prepared a useful description of the the new rules at https://www.youcanvoteiowa.org.

Felons with questions about their qualifications to vote could also contact their local county auditor. Cedar Falls and Waterloo residents may call the Black Hawk County Election Office at (319) 833-3007 for advice.

In any case, Election Day will soon be upon us. We look forward to having you join us at the polls!

Cherie Dargan is president of the League of Women Voters of Black Hawk-Bremer Counties. LaTanya Graves is president of NAACP of Black Hawk County.

Cherie Dargan is president of the League of Women Voters of Black Hawk-Bremer Counties. LaTanya Graves is president of NAACP of Black Hawk County.

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Many Facebook employees felt their own company helped instigate and organize the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Havent we had enough time to figure out how to manage discourse without enabling violence? one worker wrote afterward. Weve been fueling this fire for a long time, and we shouldnt be surprised its now out of control.

An enormous trove of internal documents leaked to the press by a former Facebook employee, Frances Haugen, make the answer to that question crystal clear. It is no  Facebook has not figured out how to encourage free speech, a bedrock principle of American democracy, while discouraging the use of its platform to undermine that same system.

Many factors contributed to the poisonous polarization that erupted on Jan. 6  including treacherous leaders like Donald Trump  but Facebook was a prime co-conspirator. As Haugen told Congress: Facebooks products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy. The companys leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but wont make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people. Congressional action is needed. They cannot solve this crisis without your help.

The case against Facebook boils down to two points. One: The company has been far too slow to restrict the reach of figures like Trump and his toadies, who use the platform to spread damaging disinformation  the election was rigged, vaccines are dangerous, climate change is a hoax, etc.

Two: Facebook doesnt just tolerate disinformation. The company employs powerful and secret algorithms to amplify its impact by promoting posts that trigger anger and outrage. These emotional reactions lead users to spend more time on Facebook, which in turn makes them far more valuable to advertisers. Thats what Haugen means by putting profits before people.

At the core of this debate is the harm principle, articulated by the 19th-century British philosopher John Stuart Mill. The nonprofit Ethics Centre defines it this way: The harm principle says people should be free to act however they wish unless their actions cause harm to somebody else.

The harm done by Facebook abusers is obvious. Disinformation about vaccines, for example, can cost countless lives. Therefore, limiting how those abusers are free to act is certainly justified.

But heres the problem: Who gets to define harm? What standards are used in reaching that judgment? And how is that definition applied to real-life situations?

None of the answers are easy. But they are critical to the functioning of a healthy democracy. Overly harsh restrictions on free speech can be even more detrimental than overly timid ones. So what are the options?

Platforms like Facebook could regulate themselves, but as Haugen notes, her former employer has largely failed to do that. The profit motive is simply too powerful. And in fact, the companys Maximum Leader, Mark Zuckerberg, who controls more than half of Facebooks stock, largely agrees with her.

Facebook hosts nearly 3 billion monthly users, and Zuckerberg has often said that he and his brainchild should not be the arbiters of truth. Amen to that.

Every day, we make decisions about what speech is harmful, what constitutes political advertising, and how to prevent sophisticated cyberattacks, he has written. But if we were starting from scratch, we wouldnt ask companies to make these judgments alone. I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators.

But is that really the answer? Call me old-fashioned, but I kind of like the First Amendment, which says pretty bluntly, Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech.

There oughta be a law! is not always the right answer to a public policy crisis. In fact, it often is not. Should the partisan politicians who run the government have the power to define what counts as harmful speech  and therefore dilute it?

One promising third option is the Oversight Board created by Facebook, a panel of 20 independent experts who are empowered to make critical decisions for Zuckerberg & Co. But that concept has flaws, too. The board recently issued a report accusing Facebook of not being fully forthcoming about its policies toward prominent platform users.

Another reasonable alternative: legislation that would force Facebook to be far more transparent about the algorithms it employs, which can spread so many toxic falsehoods so quickly.

As policymakers grapple with how to apply Mills harm principle to the digital space, they should remember another version of that idea, contained in an adage often preached to young doctors: First, do no harm.

Steven Roberts teaches politics and journalism at George Washington University. He can be contacted by email at stevecokie@gmail.com.

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In reference to the guest column by Denny McCabe, By all means, lets teach the facts about white men, in the Oct. 26 Courier:

McCabe blasts the racial attitudes and actions of white men beginning with Christopher Columbus.

Well lets teach the truth. On Dec. 1, 1862, President Lincoln stated America is the last best hope on Earth. While millions have come to America from Africa, South and Central America and Asia, not even thousands have permanently left America to any of these continents. No doors block the exit.

The white fathers of our country: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton gave us a land of opportunity, liberty, justice, enumerated rights, and a beacon of light to the world. By contrast Biden, Pelosi, and Bernie Sanders have given us racial strife, economic jealousy, lawlessness, and national degradation in the name of equity.

Out of 330 school systems in Iowa, Waterloo ranks a pathetic 321, according to the website public school review.com. It is past time for the Waterloo school system to become serious in educating our youths to become productive and successful members of our society or offer them destination continents that provide more liberty, freedom, security, and opportunity while having less racism than the United States of America.

Theodore Lederman, Waterloo

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2014-2015

The 43rd annual Western Illinois University Performance Tested Bull Sale, held on March 13, 2015 at the Western Illinois University Livestock Center, posted a record sale average. Not only did this year's sale post a record high average, but the record high individual price was also broken twice before the sale was over. Buyers from Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Missouri took home 56 high-quality, high performing bulls for an average price of $3,851. The highest selling bull was a percentage simmental bull, selling for $8,000 and consigned by Washburn Simmental and Angus, Olney, IL.

This years sale was sold by Monte Lowderman of Lowderman Auction Company, Macomb, Illinois.

The top overall indexing bull was also the top indexing Angus bull consigned by Gall's Angus Farm of Odell, Illinois that sold for $4,300. The top indexing Simmental, Lot 7, sold for $7,600 and was consigned by Sunnyview Farms/Darin Smith of Alexander, Illinois. Washburn Simmental and Angus also consigned the top indexing Percentage Simmental bull that sold for $6,100.

The high selling Angus bull, Lot 2, was also the highest indexing consignment from K-Sha-K Farms, Milan, IL. The high selling Simmental consignment was the top indexing Simmental bull from Sunnyview Farms/Darin Smith. Topping the Percentage Simmental consignments was the overall high selling lot from Washburn Simmental and Angus. The lone Red Angus entry in the sale was from Claussens Simmental and Red Angus of Bettendorf, Iowa and sold for $2,800.

Breeders are encouraged to enter their top bull prospects next year as we hope to continue building upon the reputation of the WIU Performance Bull Test and Sale as a source of Top-quality, performance-tested genetics.

2015 Sale Catalog (pdf)

2015 Bull Photos
I am a PNM customer. I am writing today to speak against the merger of PNM with Avangrid/Iberdrola.

I have a Ph.D. in sociology and, as part of my research, I studied privatization in Latin America. Which is how I learned about the way Iberdrola, Avangrids parent company, penetrated Latin American markets and the disastrous consequences for consumers. Iberdrolas bad reputation stems not only from its performance in Maine. The company has an international reputation for inappropriate, unethical behavior and mistreatment of customers in pursuit of profits.

The conflict of interest exposed in the PNM/Avangrid merger between Iberdrolas lawyer Marcus Rael and Attorney General Hector Balderas is the international modus operandi of this company. In Mexico, they cultivated close relations with President Felipe Calderon (2006-12) and his secretary of energy in order to obtain advantageous contracts that would otherwise have been denied. The conflict of interest was revealed when both ex-president Calderon and the former secretary of energy were later employed by Iberdrola in a shameless example of the revolving door between government and big business.

These contracts were  and continue to be  detrimental to the state-owned electrical company, CFE, forcing it to buy electricity from Iberdrola regardless of need, a practice that amounts to dumping. Today, Mexico is stuck with these abusive contracts, causing current president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to warn Iberdrola that Mexico is no longer a land of conquest and to take steps to curb the abusive practices.

Iberdrola was expelled from Guatemala in 2008 and from Bolivia in 2012 for similar reasons: poor quality of the electrical supply, making rates more expensive, and failing to guarantee access to disadvantaged sectors of the population.

In Brazil, Iberdrola controls more than 70% of the electrical energy. Since its arrival, electricity rates have increased by almost 400%, making it the fifth-highest in the world for electricity rates. Also, Iberdrola subsidiaries have been accused of bribing the police and carrying out acts of violence against the populations that oppose their projects.

Latin America is the most profitable region for Iberdrola. Although it accounts for less than 10% of the corporations costs, it provides almost 25% of the total profit. This has not been achieved by providing good service and fair prices to consumers.

Spains electrical market is controlled by Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy. Recently, the cost of electricity there surpassed a record high for the third time in less than three months. This has caused immense suffering among Spaniards of all social strata, now forced to turn on electrical appliances and air conditioners for only a few hours a day in the hottest summer months. Iberdrolas profits have increased yearly. So has peoples misery. Why, I ask, should we expect Iberdrola to treat New Mexicans differently?

Finally, for all the high ethical standards of Avangrid/Iberdrola that the company and supporters tout, let us remember that there is currently an investigation underway in Spain for potential criminal activities connected to Iberdrola.

I urge my fellow New Mexicans to contact the Public Regulation Commission and request that it abandon this merger and instead consider the possibility of a public company owned by the people of New Mexico.
The recent crisis announcement by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes clear the extreme seriousness of the worlds situation. To avoid disaster, we require immediate change to convert old energy systems to renewable energy.

Fossil fuel plants, such as (those used by) PNM, produce large amounts of centralized energy to take advantage of economies of scale. Now, such economies are overshadowed by needs to decarbonize energy production.

Traditionally, electric utilities  natural monopolies  have been regulated to ensure quality, pricing, rate of return and appropriateness of investments. The Public Regulation Commission is currently developing such rules for the Avangrid merger, with the addition of new rules for community solar and related interconnection needs.

Regulated utilities make investment decisions to maximize profits, rather than to foster economic efficiency. With the merger, Avangrid acquires the grid for much of the state, together with extensive energy production systems. It seems obvious that this corporation plans to expand energy exportation to California and Texas through this grid. Conversely, New Mexico citizens have different interests: meeting our power needs, while addressing climate change in a cost-effective and fair way.

New methods for renewable energy production and storage are being developed by private companies, university researchers and such national laboratories as the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Decentralization, i.e. localization, of energy production using photovoltaics and wind  less polluting sources of electric power with lower costs  can also cut the energy losses that occur with long distribution systems.

Jointly, a distributed grid (DG) with decentralized power production (DP) will require much planning and investment. We are concerned about Avangrids interest in undertaking such efforts. A comprehensive approach to DG and DP was not part of the recent PRC process.

1. Will Avangrid modernize and smarten the grid to facilitate distributed generation?

From the U.S. NREL: Decentralized control  provides a new paradigm for resilience, protecting against natural disasters and cyberattacks. DG requires a more complex management system than traditional energy generation: it requires a smart grid.

2. How will Avangrid interact with new community organizations to decentralize electricity production? Will Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) requirements be satisfied by Avangrid?

Community-based energy producers should be the carriers of decentralization. These smaller producers allow for community choice in the means of production and distribution in accord with local conditions and preferences. Having a local base for electricity production also promotes economic development more than the $25 million economic development offered by Avangrid.

PURPA specifically enabled parties besides the regulated monopoly utility industry to enter the electricity generation market. Under PURPA, an investor-owned utility must allow community-based solar producers and nonprofits to participate in energy production.

3. How will the public be involved in planning and investment decisions?

PNMs recent Integrated Resource Plan plots a course to zero emissions with disposition of the Four Corners plant. Replacing Four Corners is only a small part of what is needed. The public must be involved in planning power production, siting, pricing and ameliorating social impacts for new production and distribution systems.

In summary, an alternative to current large-scale polluting and wasteful energy production exists. That alternative  community solar  is about not only new technologies, but also social organization. As suggested by newenergyeconomy.org, Can justice prevail in New Mexico? the alternative must be public power.

The authors are members of Ward 17B of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, which is initiating a state Environmental Justice Caucus.
New Mexicans have strong ties to the land. From ancestral farming to the care and maintenance of acequias, to ranching on land through many generations, to hunting and fishing, New Mexicans treasure our beautiful and unique landscapes. Thats why conservation that honors all New Mexicans ties to the land is so crucial.

The summer of 2021 put the impacts of climate change on full display. From heat domes to wildfires to flooding, the effects of climate change are unfolding before our eyes. Conservation of natural and working lands is integral to our ability to adapt to the changing climate and is the basis for the national initiative to conserve 30% of the nations lands by 2030. New Mexico is unique and our implementation of 3030 will be, as well.

New Mexico needs a seat at the table as important decisions are made about what will and wont count toward the 3030 goal. The governors executive order authorizes New Mexico representation in the national dialogue and creates a pathway for all New Mexico stakeholders to be engaged. By taking control of our own 3030 goals and setting up a process to participate in the national initiative, well be able to ensure the needs of New Mexicans are met as we promote wildlife habitat, improve watershed resilience and protect the rights of private landowners.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams executive order setting 3030 in motion is really just the starting point. By design, the 3030 advisory committee will use existing projects and voluntary programs, and will seek to leverage funding to achieve strong on-the-ground results. Projects and programs might include capturing the conservation benefits of working forest and agricultural lands, providing state funding to match federal funds for conservation activities, and using such voluntary tools as conservation easements or land acquisition from willing sellers.

The 3030 advisory committee will engage with all New Mexicans on how to best to count protected lands toward the 30% goal. This is one reason its so crucial to have a seat at the table. The Department of the Interior used the National Protected Areas Database to generate initial numbers about the percentage of lands already conserved. This national database correctly shows New Mexico already has 30% of our lands managed in the federal system, but proposes that only 6% be counted toward the national 3030 goal. We think that 6% misses important conservation activities. The 3030 Committee will immediately start establishing how lands are counted and nail down complete data.

A key reason New Mexico supports the 3030 framework is to get more funding to private-public partnerships to amplify the good work already being accomplished on the ground. Donations of over 9,000 acres of voluntarily conserved private land have been certified as eligible for tax credits through the states Land Conservation Incentives Act tax credit program this year alone. These lands are in Colfax, Mora, Socorro and Santa Fe counties, and are conserving forest and grassland habitats, scenic vistas, and cultural and historic values, while retaining their productive agricultural and forest management uses. Additional certificates of eligibility for tax credits have been submitted for donations of conservation easements in Socorro, Torrance, Lincoln, Quay, Harding, San Miguel and Catron counties. The 3030 initiative will allow us to ramp up these already successful efforts.

The committee will work with soil and water conservation districts and private landowners, including farmers and ranchers, to ensure we count as many conservation practices as we can. The climate stabilization zones are opportunities to add farms and ranches to the overall goals. Without new regulations, New Mexico can make sure these contributions are tallied to reach the goals of 3030 in our state, while protecting and enhancing our customs and culture that make New Mexico the special place we all enjoy.

Together, well leverage our existing partnerships and programs to benefit our communities, lands and watersheds.
It is in great sorrow that I am writing this, (and) with regret that I did not publicly and openly express this opinion some time ago.

Recently, there was a fatal accident on a film production set in New Mexico.

A talented woman with a young son died, many were hurt and a lot of people will have to live with this memory for the rest of their lives.

People will now point fingers, lawyers will litigate, officials will investigate, producers will deny and insurance companies will side-step culpability. The truth will come only with first acknowledging the problem. We are all responsible.

Crew members must not tolerate unsafe conditions. Producers must acknowledge the fact that a large part of their motivation is to make money. We must never represent ourselves as knowing more than we actually do.

This accident was a tragedy.

Making a film is a risky occupation. The hours are long, the equipment and activity are dangerous, and safety protocols are often overlooked. It is of fundamental importance that all participants are adequately trained and that younger personnel have been properly mentored by seasoned and experienced professionals. There must be an acknowledgement of safety on a movie set, regardless of monetary or time-limit restraints.

We must adequately train production employees. We must take our work seriously. We must create the fantasy of a scripted story with zero tolerance for ignoring safety protocols. There is no room for complacency. If this is not done, our state will no longer be known as a place to make movies.

The solution will necessitate us all working together  the Film Office, the studios, the producers, the unions, the training programs and the state of New Mexico.
The animal shelters in the greater Albuquerque area are over capacity and seeking volunteers to help. Volunteers receive training and support services to optimize positive outcomes for the animals and the volunteers. Information on three larger organizations is provided here, with more rescue groups serving the community. Volunteer applications are available on the websites.

Bernalillo County Animal Care and Resource Center is over capacity and seeking opportunities to get pets adopted. If you are not ready or able to adopt, there are other ways you can help. There are volunteer opportunities for adults and those under 18 years of age. Volunteer at the center or make Enrichment at Home items. Supplies are provided to make the items that enrich animals lives as they await their adoption.

Shelter foster families care for animals that are not ready for adoption. Most foster placements are two to six weeks, and are for nursing mothers and their litters, young kittens, puppies, injured pets, or animals needing socialization or time away from the shelter. Hospice foster homes serve animals with advanced age or medical issues.

Bernalillo County Animal Care and Resource Center says the biggest need is for adult volunteers for loving interactions with the animals or supporting duties at the center and the foster program.

Bernalillo County Animal Care and Resource Center offers a spay/neuter assistance program. You must live in the unincorporated area of Bernalillo County  excluding the Village of Los Ranchos and the Village of Tijeras. See the website for more information.

Citizens who wish to donate to the animals and the countys animal care programming can go to the website and click the Donations button, selecting BernCo Animal Care.

Albuquerque Animal Welfare has volunteer opportunities at its Eastside and Westside shelters. Volunteers must be 18 years old or above, or participate as a family. Volunteers perform a variety of functions, such as walking dogs, cuddling cats, environmental duties, and monitoring animals after medical procedures. They have a doggie day out to take a dog for a hike, out to lunch, or an event, with the dog wearing an Adopt Me vest.

Albuquerque Animal Welfare also has a foster pet program. The website describes the types of animals that need fostering as litters of puppies and kittens with or without mamas, animals recovering from surgery, and animals with behavioral issues. Animals that require fostering are determined by Animal Welfare management. The website identifies important questions for those considering fostering an animal, including daily time commitment or special needs. The foster period needed by an animal may be one to six weeks. Additionally, if you have a pet now, consider how fostering will affect your pet.

When asked what the greatest need is, the representative described the importance of volunteers and foster care in supporting pet adoptions.

Albuquerque Animal Welfare offers spay/neuter services to low- and moderate-income residents of Albuquerque through a lottery program. See the website for more information.

Kennel Kompadres accepts charitable contributions and donations in partnership with Animal Welfare. See the website for information on donating funds or items.

Animal Humane of NM has volunteer opportunities for adults, youth and children. The website describes such duties as including interactions with animals, working in the thrift shop and frontline interactions with the public.

Animal Humane describes its foster care program as assisting pets by gifting your time and compassion. By inviting foster pets into their lives, homeless cats and dogs experience the love of a human companion and return to our shelter as happy, healthy and socialized pets  ready for adoption! Supplies needed to foster are provided.

Animal Humane has a donor-subsidized veterinary clinic, including spay and neuter services, available exclusively to income-qualifying clients.

Animal Humane of NM is a local, private, nonprofit that relies on fundraising to operate. When asked what its biggest need is, the organization says it requires funds to provide compassionate service to animals in need.

There are more rescue organizations in the area; do an online search for animal rescue near me and find a list of organizations you can assist. If you cannot be a hands-on volunteer, there are other ways to support the organizations through donations of items or financial assistance.

Current pet owners can help by getting their pet spayed or neutered. According to the Humane Society, the average lifespan of spayed and neutered cats and dogs is demonstrably longer than the lifespan of those not.

Sources: www.bernco.gov/animal-care-services, phone (505) 314-0281; www.cabq.gov/pets, phone: 311; https://animalhumanenm.org, phone (505) 255-5523 for 615 Virginia SE site, (505) 323-7387 for 10141 Coors NW site, (505) 938-7915 for thrift shop, (505) 217-0300 for vet clinic.
Dont interrupt your dinner to respond to this phone call.

New Mexico Gas Co. says someone is contacting customers to tell them they must make a payment or face a cutoff in their service. And they have to do it within 30 minutes.

In many cases, the scammers are using an ID that looks like the call really does come from the company, a spokesman said.

While there are times when the gas company will call a customer about an overdue bill, our employees do not threaten disconnection on such a short timeline, the company says.

It says customers who receive such a call should hang up and call 1-888-664-2726 to determine whether the company is trying to reach you. If you are actually behind on your bill, we will inform you and work with you on payments, a Gas Co. news release says.

Another thing for the dont do list: small businesses are instructed to ignore invoices demanding that they buy posters to supposedly comply with federal and state labor laws.

The invoice comes by letter or email, with some versions also warning of a penalty for not displaying the posters, according to the Better Business Bureau.

The bureau recounted one small-business owners experience in receiving a letter demanding a $79.25 document fee for the posters to comply with labor laws. If the fee wasnt paid immediately, the letter said, there would be a $7,000 fine.

Scammers hope you will pay up without further research because their story is only partially true, the BBB says.

The true part is that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration does require all covered employees to display a poster telling workers what their rights are. The untrue part is that you dont have to buy the posters. Electronic versions are free on OSHAs website, as are all other Department of Labor notifications.

The BBB advises, as a general rule, finding out whether the company that made contact with you is legitimate before paying any invoices or sending any money for an unsolicited service.

Look for an official business address and phone number, and look over their website, the BBB says. Never pay an invoice without double checking that its for a service you authorized.

The fourth round of advance child tax credit payments is going out this month and the Internal Revenue Service is warning families to be aware that scammers might try to use these payments as bait.

The IRS says to watch for bad actors who contact you by phone, email, text or social media to verify your information so you can supposedly start getting the payments.

Eligible families started receiving up to $300 per child in July and stories of attempted fraud started rolling in soon after.

The IRS says the payments are made automatically, based on information the agency already has from 2019 or 2020 tax returns. There are no additional steps people need to take to receive the money.

Remember, the IRS does not leave pre-recorded, urgent or threatening messages. For example, if you get a voicemail saying a warrant will be issued for your arrest, this is not the IRS, the agency says.

If youre not required to file a tax return and havent given the IRS your information for the child tax credit payments, go to IRS.gov to provide the basic information needed to qualify.

Contact Ellen Marks at emarks@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-888-255-9210 or file a complaint at www.nmag.gov/file-a-complaint.aspx.
With details emerging about the tragic fatal shooting on a film production outside Santa Fe, it appears the Western, starring and co-produced by Alec Baldwin, didnt factor gun safety in its $7 million, 21-day budget.

Those details  and the questions surrounding events leading up to the death of the cinematographer  pull back the curtain on the gritty reality of the so-called glamorous film industry.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said authorities have recovered a mix of about 500 suspected live rounds, blanks and dummy rounds from the set of Rust. Police also recovered a lead projectile from the shoulder of movie director Joel Souza, which Mendoza referred to as a bullet.

Souza says Baldwin was sitting on a wooden pew of a church thats part of Bonanza Creek Filming Ranch, practicing a revolver cross-draw from a holster when the weapon discharged. Filming was not taking place at that time  reportedly because the set only had one camera and it had to be moved to avoid a shadow.

Mendoza said investigators believe the projectile hit Souza after it went through the chest of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was taken to University Hospital after the Oct. 21 shooting. She was pronounced dead there.

Based on whats been reported so far, it appears the Rust set was more disaster than Western.

 Six crew members walked off the low-budget movie hours before the fatal shooting because of payment and housing issues, according to a search warrant affidavit. Rather than pay Santa Fe hotel prices, the production had crew members drive back and forth from Albuquerque after working 12-13 hours on the set. One Facebook post from camera operator Lane Luper on TheWrap says a crew member had to sleep in his  car on Sunday night because they wont give him a room and he was too tired to drive the hour home. The crew members who left were soon replaced by nonunion camera operators.

 There are numerous allegations safety protocols standard in the movie industry, including gun inspections, were not being strictly enforced. Corners were being cut, one person knowledgeable with the movie told the L.A. Times.

 Three guns were found on a cart after the shooting, according to the sheriff. One was a plastic, nonfunctioning revolver. One was a 45-caliber revolver that had been modified so it could not shoot live rounds. The third was a Colt .45 revolver police say was being used by Baldwin when Hutchins was shot. Amid the lingo confusion of prop vs. cold, dummy vs. blanks, how on earth did a gun that shoots live rounds get not only on set, but on the prop cart?

 And how did it have a bullet in it? According to a search warrant affidavit, set armorer Hannah Gutierrez told police no live ammo is ever kept on set. So why does the search warrant say it appears live bullets were collected from the scene?

 Were guns and/or ammunition unsupervised? Search warrants show Dave Halls, the assistant director, chose one of the three guns left on a cart by armorer Gutierrez, yelled cold gun and handed it to Baldwin. Gutierrez, of Arizona, told police when they broke for lunch the guns were secured in the prop truck, ammo was left on the cart.

 Why didnt earlier issues get folks in charge to buckle down on gun safety? A camera operator had reported two accidental gun discharges during a rehearsal in a cabin. And TheWrap reports that hours before the shooting crew members were using the revolver used by Baldwin to shoot at beer cans.

 Why did Baldwin point the gun at crew members and pull the trigger? Why wasnt there a bullet-proof barrier set up? After 145 TV and movie credits (including many featuring Baldwin holding a gun on the movies covers), Baldwin should have known, and demanded, better. Even if they were behind on day 12 of filming.

This appalling and clearly preventable tragedy calls for a thorough investigation and detailed public report by the Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office, the 1st Judicial District Attorneys Office and the state Environment Departments Occupational Health and Safety Bureau.

After a thorough understanding of what occurred, concrete measures should then be taken to ensure the safety on film sets in New Mexico.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who described the shooting as a horrible, unnecessary, preventable tragedy, has said she may ask lawmakers to strengthen safety guidelines for film productions. Another route would be to nullify the generous 25% to 30% tax credits films receive if theres live ammo or blatant safety violations. Yet another would be strengthen regulations  or enforcement of the current regulations  overseen by the states safety bureau.

Because while there are many questions swirling around what went down on that dusty Rust film set, we do know this:

When someone as famous and powerful as Alec Baldwin is in charge, when there are labor disputes and unfamiliar crews on set, when deadly weapons are involved and when time is money and daylights burning, there have to be iron-clad safety protocols and a zero tolerance for playing fast and loose.

The film industry seems glamorous. Those who have watched the hours it takes to capture a few moments of magic know it can be tedious. Hutchins shooting shows it can be deadly. New Mexico needs to make it clear safety comes first, last, always when cameras roll here.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Santa Fes vigorously contested municipal election reaches its conclusion (absent delays in counting ranked-choice ballots) on Tuesday.

So get out to vote if you havent already. Thanks again to all the candidates for putting themselves out for public scrutiny and as targets for the slings and arrows of critics, including those who go the cowards route and hide behind internet-enabled anonymity.

(By the way: Weve never understood how that Guy Fawkes mask, used by everyone from anti-police protesters in Albuquerque to current opponents of Mayor Alan Webber, is seen as a proud badge of honor. The most effective, brave and legitimate protest is to show your face and put yourself on the line, in public, against power.)

As readers can see elsewhere in todays paper, this is the last edition of the Journal North, with the Albuquerque Journal changing to a new model for covering Santa Fe and northern New Mexico. In the final use of this editorial space, well try to look forward, offering an admittedly haphazard wish list for what we hope the winners from Tuesdays voting can accomplish.

It would be great to see:

 A good start on redevelopment of the city-owned Midtown Campus. This is a legacy project, and a difficult one, that todays officeholders can get started but will take many years to complete. Success in the long term would be creation of a new, vital neighborhood for Santa Fe on the 60-acre-plus site, with a mix of housing options and a priority on (really) affordable units; parks and other community facilities (an amphitheater, a redone Greer Garson Theatre); and neighborhood-scale shops and makers spaces, a library, medical facilities and public service offices. A bonus would be a serious higher education institution.

Moving City Hall to the campus is worth considering as part of a grander plan, but making municipal offices the singular focus of the site would be a bland and disappointing letdown.

 The start of serious discussion of a comprehensive plan to help, shelter and otherwise deal with Santa Fes homeless population. The idea of a multi-service campus or center for the homeless has been floating around for years but has never made it onto any agencys public agenda, while the homeless themselves continue to stake out their own claims on parts of the city.

 An end to Santa Fes endemic problem with weeds and trash. This is a community thing, a Pogo the Possum we have met the enemy and he is us issue. Santa Feans can, and do, always complain about the condition of city-maintained street medians. But private street-side right-of-ways are often even worse, albeit apparently without incurring enforcement or the gentle nudge of an official warning from City Hall.

One big public roadside un-attraction that should be fixed is the messy entrance into Santa Fe via the southern portion of St. Francis Drive. The city and the state Department of Transportation should get together on some simple but good-looking xeriscaping to replace the mess of uncontrolled Siberian elm bushes between the northbound and southbound lanes that is the first thing many visitors see on their way into town.

 More kindness, probably just pie in the sky. We see the proverbial random acts of kindness in Santa Fe every day, from works of official charity to people just helping others as a regular thing. Our city has always been welcoming to outsiders and to alternative views, even the weird and the strange. But the harsh partisan divide of national politics in our Trump-dominated era seems to have now infected Santa Fes local issue debates.

These days it can be difficult to have a reasonable conversation on difficult issues within our multi-cultural population, with probably more income inequality than most towns and cultural/historical factors that exacerbate the native-versus-newcomer factor.

Whats an editorial writer to say about this? Well, no, Why cant we all just get along? and  Cmon people now, smile on your brother dont constitute legitimate commentary. And in the face of wrong, it can be important to be angry.

Maybe a start would be to stop assuming the worst about people on the other side of an issue. Stamp out stereotypes.

With that, well just say, Adios. And be careful out there.
Last week, the Senate failed to bring the Freedom to Vote Act to the floor, the third time this year a major voting reform bill has been blocked.

As members of Congress continue their efforts to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the coming weeks, some opponents arent just rejecting the bills on their merits. Instead, theyre making a historically inaccurate and dangerous federalism argument  that elections must be left entirely to the states.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last month that elections are not something the federal government has been historically involved in and called the Freedom to Vote Act an assault on the fundamental idea that states, not the federal government, should decide how to run their own elections.

You dont need to look far to disprove this hide-the-ball argument. Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution states: Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such [election] Regulations. In Federalist 59, Alexander Hamilton warned of the dangers of vesting voting and election laws entirely in the states, writing that an exclusive power of regulating elections for the national government, in the hands of the State legislatures, would leave the existence of the Union entirely at their mercy.

Beyond the text of the Constitution and guidance of the Framers, the federalism argument is disproved by 200-plus years of federal election regulations. That history includes bipartisan bills that McConnell voted for, such as the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, the 2006 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act (which would effectively be revived by the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act) and the 2002 Help America Vote Act that McConnell took a lead role in crafting.

In particular, there is a long history of federal law on House elections and district lines, one of the areas covered in both the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Hamilton writes specifically about this in Federalist 59, stating that the national government would run a much greater risk from a power in the State legislatures over the elections of its House of Representatives.

Its no surprise, then, that Congress has always regulated the number of members in the House of Representatives. It has set criteria for the way voters elect their U.S. representatives since at least 1842. A series of laws passed in the late 19th century and early 20th century established norms for congressional redistricting relating to contiguity, compactness and relative population. A 1967 federal law is the reason every American is now represented by only a single member of the U.S. House. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (re-authorized in 1982 and 2006) also sets rules around congressional redistricting.

As our Framers anticipated, and as our leaders have acted upon since our nations founding, there are times when federal election rules are needed for all Americans, typically drawing from election laws in our state laboratories of democracy.

Now is certainly one of those times when federal action is necessary. State legislatures are incentivized to gerrymander their congressional districts in increasingly outlandish ways. Politicians choose their voters, representation is distorted and nearly all districts are lopsided for one party. Without a national solution, individual state reforms can equate to disarming unilaterally and, too often, state reforms are falling short.

Claiming that Congress should sit on its hands is wrong. If our elected leaders have good-faith reasons to vote against the Freedom to Vote Act and even the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, they should make those objections heard.

Indeed, not only do this years bills deserve an up-or-down vote, but also Congress should look to the future, with the Fair Representation Act as the most comprehensive path to make House elections fairer. This bill would replace our current tiny congressional districts with larger multimember congressional districts elected through proportional ranked-choice voting. In addition to giving voice to those in the minority and the full spectrum of voters, this approach would make it much harder to gerrymander congressional districts.

Regardless, its time for McConnell and others to give up the false states rights argument designed to avoid accountability. There is no question as to whether Congress has a role to play in regulating district lines and elections. Given the breakdown of state voting norms, its time for Congress to do the job our Framers intended.

Rob Richie is president and CEO of FairVote, a nonpartisan organization seeking better elections.
The first autumn snows draw our eyes up to the high peaks in northern New Mexico every year. Some people simply enjoy the view. For others, that first dusting signals a good ski season to come. And a lot of New Mexicans hope it means well have water in our streams, rivers and reservoirs next year. Lately, that has been less certain, thanks to climate change.

Throughout the Rocky Mountains and beyond, the high-country winter snowpack and the waters that flow from it are vital for healthy ecosystems, successful agriculture and a vibrant economy. With global climate change, scientists know that higher temperatures, and different rain and snow patterns will affect every downstream water-user. When streamflows are low, farmers struggle to irrigate across a vast region of the Southwest; cities face water shortages; hydroelectric power production is jeopardized; and recreational users, such as rafters, kayakers and paddleboarders, get short-changed in the water-sport season. A lack of fresh water from snowmelt can also decrease water quantity and quality in the reservoirs, making it dangerous for swimming.

Were seeing those effects already. But were still in the dark about such crucial details as how soil moisture influences the amount of rainfall that actually reaches a river or how airborne dust changes the timing of the spring snowmelt runoff.

By capturing, storing and distributing rain, snow and runoff, mountain watersheds provide a majority of water resources worldwide. With help from scientists, policymakers rely on Earth-system models to predict the timing and availability of these resources and plan their use, but current models feature strong uncertainties about the water flowing into and out of these watersheds as precipitation, evaporation, runoff to streams and rivers, absorption in soil, uptake by plants, and storage in aquifers.

To settle these uncertainties, Los Alamos National Laboratory and its collaborators have launched a unique, large-scale research campaign, called the Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (SAIL), near Crested Butte, high in the Colorado Rockies. SAIL is a research campaign funded by the Department of Energy, managed by the DOE Office of Science Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility and led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Los Alamos leads the overall management and operations of the ARM mobile observatory, which includes a large array of instruments to study the atmosphere. With a team of researchers from a variety of scientific disciplines, national laboratories, universities and government agencies, were studying everything about water in the mountains  what falls from the sky, what flows down the Colorado River watershed, and what gets stored in the bedrock.

Over the next nearly two years, well use radars, lidars (remote sensing with lasers), cameras, weather balloons and other state-of-the-art equipment to collect data on precipitation, wind, clouds, aerosols, solar and thermal energy, temperature, humidity, ozone and more. Ill be studying aerosols. These tiny particles, many times smaller than the width of a human hair, have an outsized effect as they float around in the atmosphere. If you want to see aerosols, just look at the sky  they play a key role in forming clouds. Without aerosols, we wouldnt even have rain and snow.

By studying the various sources of aerosols in the region, we hope to figure out which ones are important in cloud formation during large precipitation events and storms. Dust and other aerosols also can absorb solar radiation, raising the temperature in clouds or, similarly, snow when deposited on the ground, and they can block sunlight, causing a cooling effect on the Earth below. Getting a better handle on this provides an important puzzle piece in the big picture of water.

It takes a big research project to paint a big picture and SAIL is a uniquely ambitious survey of a mountain watershed. The data we collect will improve earth-system models for a more complete picture of the surface and subsurface water situation of this mountainous area, helping scientists predict the future availability of water. Results will also boost understanding of similar mountain water towers all around the world.

Since a number of communities, including Santa Fe and Albuquerque, depend on the Colorado River watershed for their drinking water, our research will have benefits close to home. Mountains around the world play a similar role for billions of people and we hope our research will help provide water security for everyone in this changing climate.

Allison C. Aiken is a principal investigator on SAIL and an analytical chemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who specializes in aerosols, field measurements and laboratory studies to better understand processes in the atmosphere and improve their representation in models.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

FOLSOM, N.M.  As a young boy growing up here, Matt Doherty said he may have broken into the vacant Folsom Hotel and thrown rocks at it, but now he lives there and is dedicated to taking care of it.

Doherty purchased the 1888-vintage building in 2015. I dont know what Im going to do with it, save the building basically is my main intention, said Doherty, who studies engineering in school. He is also on the board of the Folsom Museum just down the street.

He would like to remodel the building, but said building costs have shot up.

Doherty, 38, has an apartment in the downstairs of the two-story rock building, but the five rooms upstairs appear to look as they may have 100 or more years ago.

Mounted on a downstairs, rock fireplace overlooking the lobby are a pronghorn antelope trophy and a stuffed golden eagle. Doherty points out an old bullet hole in one of the hotels wooden columns.

The building was a general merchandise store from 1888 until 1911, when it became the hotel, according to Betty Griffin, in her 1988 booklet, The Folsom Hotel Story.

The late Griffin and her partner, the late sculptor Richard Jagoda, restored the hotel in the 1980s and were instrumental in getting it placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The hotel is the embodiment of Folsom history. The ghosts of Folsom past could well still be there. Doherty said he was spooked one night when a Spanish lady appeared out of nowhere, only to immediately vanish.

Doherty is well-versed on his propertys history and recently related some of the colorful episodes the hotel has seen. Outlaw Thomas Black Jack Ketchum unwittingly left his mark on the hotel.

Ketchum, when they robbed the train, when they shot him, they brought him right to the hotel, so his first night in incarceration was upstairs, Doherty recounted.

 Black Jack was the leader of the most reckless, daring and murderous band of desperados this country has ever known, which operated in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona  the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang,  wrote Griffin in her booklet. On Aug. 16, 1899, Ketchum attempted to rob the southbound Colorado and Southern train as it slowed for a horseshoe curve, as he had done twice previously, but, this time, he was operating solo.

A conductor hit Black Jack with a shotgun blast, but he was captured the next day and spent his first night in custody in the Folsom Hotel. His arm was amputated in Trinidad, Colorado, and he was convicted in Santa Fe and hanged in Clayton on April 26, 1901.

Doherty related another story involving the hotels Bucket of Blood bar. A kid was playing poker and he ended up stealing the cigar box full of money that was sitting on the table, so they shot him and killed him, and the sheriff got shot and died outside the bar, said Doherty.

Griffin gives more detail of the late 1800s incident in her booklet. The keeper of the saloon behind the rock Folsom Hotel left his gambling money and cards in a cigar box in a separate gambling room adjacent to the bar room, she wrote. Seeing the man leaving through the back door with his money box, the gambler took his shotgun from under the bar, ran to the back door and shot the thief just as he was topping the fence  . The gambler walked over, retrieved his money box and returned to his business without checking on the thief.

Black cowboy and former slave George McJunkin, whose discovery of the Folsom points revolutionized archaeological theory, died in the hotel on Jan. 21, 1922, when it had become a home for aging cowboys.

The executor of artist Jagodas estate called Doherty to see if he wanted to purchase the hotel and I went down and bought it right there, said Doherty.

The hotel needs work and Doherty is not sure if it could eventually become a hotel again, or perhaps be a base for trail rides.
LAS VEGAS, N.M.  Joseph Baca repeatedly told his wife, Loretta, two things  one day he would own a radio station and win $1 million.

He did both.

After 42 years of first working at, then owning KFUN-AM and KLVF-FM radio stations, the Bacas are ready to sign off. Loretta Baca turned 75 earlier this month and her husband of 53 years celebrated his 75th birthday Oct. 29, the Las Vegas Optic reported.

The station has been good to us, Joseph Baca said. It was a big risk and a big commitment, but owning the station was my dream.

I guess I forced Loretta into it, he joked.

We have always worked together and we live together (so we are with each other) 24/7, Loretta Baca added.

The Bacas had planned for their sons Mike, 51, and J.R., 46, to take over the business. Mike Baca, however, has suffered with brain tumors, resulting in five brain surgeries. J.R. Baca didnt want to go into the business alone. The couples daughter Annette, 50, also wasnt interested.

Katharine Duke, owner of Duke Realty Group in Las Vegas, listed the broadcasting building and the surrounding four acres.

KFUN went on the air 80 years ago  on Christmas Day 1941.

As for Loretta and Joseph Baca, they knew each other from West Las Vegas High School, graduating in 1965 and 1966, respectively. The couple began dating after meeting up at the Blue Light City teen dance club.

They married on Feb. 25, 1968, and lived in Tucson, Albuquerque and Seattle before returning to Las Vegas in the mid-1970s with their three children.

She got a job at First National Bank and he was hired at KNMX-AM in Las Vegas. About 18 months later, Joseph Baca began working at KFUN as a disc jockey, program director and in sales. Loretta Baca joined her husband as the office manager.

I love radio, but I never liked working for someone else, said Joseph Baca, a former Las Vegas city councilor. For 20 years, I would come in to open and say good morning KFUN, I love you and want to own you one of these days. 

After the former owner sold the station, Joseph thought hed lost his dream.

Loretta said dont give up on your dream,  he said.

The new owner named Joseph Baca the manager, which turned into 15-hour days. To ease the workload, Loretta Baca joined the station. The couple eventually had the opportunity to buy KFUN.

When given the chance to buy KLVF, the couple was in the midst of arranging the $1.2 million financing when Joseph Baca remembered to buy a lottery ticket.

It was a Friday night. I had gone home, and was watching the news and looked at the clock, he said. Id forgotten to buy a Powerball ticket. I grabbed a Hawaiian shirt, drove to the station and went home, forgetting about the ticket.

Three days later, he returned to the store and asked the clerk to check his ticket.

I found out I had the winning ticket, he said about the $1 million prize. I think the girls were more shaken up than me. That was in 2008, on my mothers birthday, Aug. 8.

They hope to find a buyer who will continue caring about the community because turning off the lights isnt an option.

There is no way we will shut it down, Loretta Baca said. The history behind the station and the people still alive are a part of KFUN. I think more than anything it would be like closing a part of history.
After a 2020 Halloween that was largely snuffed out by virus-related health mandates, locals are ready to celebrate their spooky holiday once again. And there are plenty of events from which to choose.

The Shops @ Design Center

418 Cerrillos Road

Sunday, noon-4 p.m.

thestorycloset.com

$25, includes goodie gift bag

The Story Closet, a new business focusing on puppeteering, is looking to make a big splash in the community with its Halloween Celebration, said owner Erica Frank.

Puppeteers will be taking over the Design Center for the afternoon with a series of scene stations, where, for instance, folks can join witches in concocting an interesting potion, or spin the wheel of fortune, or even ask monsters riddles, she said, all accompanied by live music.

The highlight of the afternoon starts at 1:30 p.m. with a variety puppet show and awards show.

Its really hilarious and its all puppetry, Frank said. I have a great team of puppeteers, with witches and monsters and ghosts. Therell be a poetry reading and we even have a crazy creature wrangler.

Santa Fe Place Mall trick or treat

4250 Santa Fe Place

Sunday, 2-6 p.m.

santafeplacemall.com

Free

The 80 stores at the mall will be giving out $8,000 worth of candy, said general manager Jim Scherpzine.

Just having the community come back out and embrace the mall has been amazing, he said. Our mall has turned around and became the community center once again.

The event will include face-painting, glitter tattoos and making balloon animals, he said, as well as a DJ and a pumpkin-carving contest at Center Court, which all starts at 2 p.m., with the trick or treating kicking off at 3 p.m.

Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association Fall Festival

2520 Camino Entrada

Sunday, noon-4 p.m.

fahba.com/project/builderfallfest/

Suggested donation $5 or five pounds of non-perishable foods for the Food Depot.

The event will feature Trunk or Treating for kids as local organizations, SFHBA members and partner businesses give out candy and other Halloween treats.

Among the events is a cash-prize cornhole tournament for adults, with children getting the chance to earn fun prizes, said Miles Conway, executive officer.

Ive found out that cornhole tournaments are serious business, he said with a chuckle.

At 2 p.m., there will be a costume contest, and watch for the Bobbing for Donuts booth and the Cake ZOMBIE Walks.

Were all a bunch of local contractors and home builders, and we like to get together, Conway said. We enjoy networking with each other, but we like to open it up to the community because were not only interested in building houses. Our association is invested in building the community and we want those good relations. This is an opportunity to say Hi to our neighbors and friends.

Posas will be serving its famous Frito Pies and there will be hot dogs for the kids, he said.

We used to do this fall festival and we havent done it in a long, long time, Conway said. We just decided lets get going on it again.

Canyon Road Merchants Association trick or treating

Canyon Road

Sunday, 3:30-5 p.m.

visitcanyonroad.com

Free

The galleries and businesses that line the half-mile stretch of historic Canyon Road from Paseo de Peralta to East Palace Avenue will be passing out candy to costumed children. Participating businesses will display a pumpkin at their entrances.

El Dia de Los Muertos Community Celebration

Teatro Paraguas

3205 Calle Marie

Tuesday, 7 p.m., although the altar is open at 3 p.m. for those wishing to contribute a remembrance item of a loved one

Free, but reservations are recommended: 505-424-1601

The celebration features a lineup of Aztec dancers who will bless the ceremony, a bilingual folk-tale cuento, Prietita y la Llorona, that will be performed by the young actors of Teatro Paraguas childrens program and the Teatro Paraguas Orchestra will perform a medley of songs, accompanied by dancers choreographed by Xochitl Ehrl, said vice president Argos MacCullum.

This is one of the things we do every year and its very popular, he said. We only have 60 seats, so weve had people in the aisles and standing in back, anywhere they can.
Albuquerque-based WisePies Pizza items will now be sold at Walmart, according to the company.

In a statement, WiseChoice Foods company president Season Elliott said the distribution partnership with Walmart will add about 455 new locations to purchase frozen WisePies items.

WiseChoice Foods manufactures WisePies products.

Among the items set to land on Walmarts shelves are frozen calzones and pizzas, including the companys new ChopD Pizza line which features protein-forward ingredients, Elliott said.

With frozen snacks being one of the fastest growing categories, were introducing the new WisePies Pizza Calzone line as a direct competitor with other hand-held snack options in the freezer case, Elliott said in a news release.

Elliott said that the companys products are now sold in more than 1,500 grocery stores in 16 states.
Books of the Week

Plans are being made to publish the literary journal Wednesdays Words: A VaxZine. Its nifty wordplay on vaccine, not a misspelling.

The journal is volume two from the Albuquerque-based OFFCenter Community Arts Projects Weekly Writing Group.

Several of us wrote about getting the vaccine, people who were resistant to getting it and how has life changed, said Phil Hughes-Luing, a member of the writing group who did the layout and created the illustrations for volume two. Some of his writings were selected for inclusion in volumes one and two.

The first volume, published last year, was Wednesdays Words: A QuaranZine. For that journal, some group members wrote about their observations of living through the Covid-19 quarantine.

The format in both journals has writers creatively responding to prompts on various topics, whether quarantine-related topics or not.

These are some of the prompts in the first volume:

 Assume the theory that the Covid-19 virus was passed from bats to humans is correct, and write about it from the bats point of view.

 Write a love letter to someone Covid-19 has made you appreciate more.

 Another prompt asks members to write a four-word piece of self-help advice. These are among the published responses to that prompt: Joy Schick-Southwicks response was Bloom, seed and grow. Joyce DePows reply was Read, write, meditate, sleep. And Joan Robins was To Nature, the Healer.

Writing group facilitator Mandy Gardner generally has supplied an original prompt for some of the Wednesday meetings. Gardner also has taken suggestions from members for prompts, said group member Susan Page.

Thats what I like best about the group is that we are really respectful of each other and each others work. Ive quit two other writing groups because they were so critical of your writing that I didnt feel like going anymore, Page said.

The back page of the QuaranZine journal has an appreciation of Gardner penned by group member Sarah Castlebury. It reads in part, Passionate and dedicated, with intense enthusiasm. Our writing groups backbone.

Hughes-Luing, a long-time poet and artist, added that it has been fascinating for him to see all the different lives, the diversity, the breadth, the depth of insight.  I am pleased with the results of both journals. Theyre very handsome, quite readable. I think they speak very well for OFFCenter.

OFFCenter, a nonprofit, annually serves about 3,600 predominantly low-income artist of all ages.

Its mission is to enhance the lives of all people in the community by providing a safe and supportive environment for art-making and social interaction, said Mary Schmidt, OFFCenters executive director.

The organization welcomes creativity in all its forms and offers free space and supplies for artists, she said. Schmidt believes OFFCenters greatest value is the community aspect.

Weve been welcoming people from all walks of life, all ages, to come create, connect and heal for 20 years, she said.

The writing group is a great example of how people come together and continue to create even in tumultuous times, Schmidt stated. The writing group has been meeting for at least 10 years, she said. It meets Wednesday afternoons, hence the appellation Wednesdays Words. Anyone interested in joining should email info@offcenterarts.org.

Because of Covid-19 meetings have been held remotely via Zoom.



OFFCenter Community Arts Project will host a birthday party from 3-6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13 at OFFCenter, 808 Park Ave. SW, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The party will include arts activities, free art supplies and kits, art exhibitions, a puppet dance and food vendors.

Copies of the QuaranZine and the VaxZine literary journals will be available for a $5 donation each. Writing group members will be on hand. Free admission.
The land does not belong to us. We belong to the land.

This is where the deep roots lie within the history and spirituality of the Indigenous people of the American Southwest.

Since the beginning of time, they have been stewards and protectors of their homelands.

These areas connect the people through their beliefs to the natural world.

This is the story told through the documentary, However Wide the Sky: Places of Power.

At the helm of the documentary are Santa Fe-based Silver Bullet Productions and Pamela Pierce.

We do documentary films and we try to produce them every two or three years, says Pierce. We take an important message and use the vehicle of film.

The film will air at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, on New Mexico PBS.

Pierce says the concerns about the use, misuse, development, drilling and mining of scared places in New Mexico began a conversation between Silver Bullet Productions and tribal leaders about the importance of education in 2016.

The land was treated as a commodity, something to be owned, mined, drilled or developed, she says. In order to protect land and water rights, it seemed that educating about the significance of land might help alert those leaders. The more we know, the better we do. Film can be a powerful tool to change thinking, and motivate people to vote. The danger to land, and the fight to protect land, will always be an issue worth fighting for, regardless of culture or national origin. All land is sacred, and it is (a) universal concern worth fighting for.

Pierce says about three years ago, the fundraising started for the production. She then reached out to Conroy Chino to write the treatment for the documentary.

We dont begin production until we are fully funded, she says. Even with the pandemic, we were about three months overdue.

Chino, who is a former broadcast journalist, says Pierce reached out to him in 2018 and talked about the project.

He had worked with Pierce on a previous project and immediately jumped on.

Its significant and the locations are under siege, Chino says. Chaco Canyon is facing drilling for wells. Its not just the wells and the roads that have an impact on the land. Tribal leaders see it as a real threat to their spiritual well being. So much extends from Chaco. I thought it was important to really put that out there for the public to see and make them understand why this issue is important to tribes.

The production enlisted scientists, historians, educators and 27 tribal leaders for the documentary. The film is narrated by Indigenous actress Tantoo Cardinal.

Chino worked with tribal leaders to film on the land. The areas chosen are: Chaco Canyon, Bears Ears, Zuni Salt Lake, Mount Taylor, Pueblo of Santa Ana, Taos Blue Lake, Mesa Prieta and Santa Fe.

According to Pierce, each location has a message or theme that could be applied to dozens of other locations.

We selected each place as a clear example of a message about protections and risks to land, she says. For example, the return of Taos Blue Lake is the epitome of a government injustice  the taking of land from Taos Pueblo  and the political correction of that injustice 60 years later.

Pierce says Chaco Canyon speaks to the layers of cultural migrations from several tribes, the thousands of years of civilization, at risk of destruction and abuse under the federal governments eye.

Meanwhile, Mount Taylor tells of the use of law to protect it, and the risk of uranium mining to the resources.

Zuni is the creation story of a deity whose protection of the Zuni salt was at risk due to failure to protect, she continues. Santa Fe is the story of acknowledgment of the culture and ancestors beneath at vibrant city, still living and protected by agreement of city and pueblo; Bears Ears is a modern day story of government versus layers of culture, and the risk of development if the power and policies of the U.S. shift  it is just how fragile the protection of land is.

Santa Ana is the irony of the need to buy back from other sources  Spain and ranch owners  what was always theirs. It is also the epitome of stewardship of land. Mesa Prieta is the record, across cultures, of history on rock, vulnerable if we fail to protect.

Chino says it was important to consult with advisers and tribal leaders.

Something that was missing is that we wanted to point out the lack of tribal consultation when it comes to development on public lands, Chino says. Bureau of Land Management has oversight and theyve not done a great job of consulting. Tribes havent been invited to share their concern of connection to the land. I have to commend Pam for putting together each film and making the effort to ask for guidance.

Pierce says some of the themes in the film include a distinction between stewardship and ownership, the layers of cultural life on every piece of land, no place is ever abandoned, but remains living from the ancestors who have come before, places have shared cultural history and the difference between being from a place, and of a place.

Chino says he wanted to convey a story that would be universal and pique the interest of a non-Indian viewing audience.

When you think of how long Indigenous people have been in this area, its been a very long time, Chino says. The result is a connection to the landscape. Indigenous people know that connection and want to hold onto it.
Jewelry and metalsmithing students in the New Mexico State University Department of Art will host the 39th Annual Jewelry Sale from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1, in the lobby of the NMSU Follett Bookstore at 1400 E. University Ave.

We invite everyone to support the NMSU Jewelry and Metalsmithing program, said Motoko Furuhashi, assistant professor of art in the College of Arts and Sciences. The profits from this sale will be used to support the activities of the students in the jewelry and metalsmithing area, as well as help acquire new equipment and tools for the new art building.

NMSU art student Julieanna Lermas pieces are centered around childhood nostalgia, with earrings, brooches and necklaces she created using Barbie doll parts.

The process can be challenging, Lerma said. Since this is production-based work, we really need to focus on organizing our time and figuring out a schedule to make the process quicker.

Last years jewelry sale was much more difficult for student artists to complete their projects since COVID-19 restrictions limited their access to studio space and equipment.

I had to figure out a way to create one-of-a-kind, durable jewelry with the materials and resources I had in my own home, said Lerma. Compared to last year, the process is much easier now. I have so many ideas for my pieces now that I have access to equipment, such as soldering, laser cutting, etc.

As an artist, Lerma explained the in-person setting on campus provided a number of benefits that supported her creativity during the jewelry-making experience.

Being around my peers and Motoko is also so refreshing, Lerma said. Anytime I need advice, my peers are nearby to give me their honest opinions and vice versa. I can also ask Motoko for any help if I encounter any technical and design issues. Overall, my experience thus far with the jewelry-making process has been refreshing and exciting.

The parking lot will offer free two-hour parking at the bookstore during the sale. For more information, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/NMSUjewelrysale or follow @nmsumetals on Instagram.
A local man has shed light on the lives of a mother and son who died during the pandemic, but whose bodies went unclaimed.

Wynona Dreuss, 93, died in Aug. of 2020. She had prepaid for services and a burial, naming her son, Leonard Mondel as next of kin. Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. The cemetery responsible for the burial, El Campo Santo Inc., began searching when it discovered that just months after his mother died, Mondel had also died in January 2021, and was being held in Bernalillo Countys indigent cremation program.

El Campo Santo funeral director Anita Lucero made arrangements to have Mondels ashes transferred and buried next to his mother, but she wasnt able to find out much about them. She didnt know why they lost contact and that neither had any known family in the area. Lucero planned to hold a burial ceremony to mark the pairs passing, but said it weighed on her that nobody who knew them would be at the burial to pay homage.

Thats when Lonny Hurley, 62, came into the picture. Hurley said he was shocked when he read about their deaths. He has known both since the 1970s, but lost touch with them a few years ago. He immediately contacted Lucero to provide more information.

Mondel lived with Hurleys family in the 1970s when he was a student at St. Pius High School and befriended Hurleys older brother. Hurley said Mondel was a six-foot-tall, quiet man who loved history.

Mondel came over to the Hurley home for dinner one night. During a casual conversation with Hurleys parents, Mondel mentioned being mistreated by his father, who died more than a decade ago. Hurleys mom, Zenobia Hurley, was the director of volunteers at St. Josephs Hospital at the time.

My mom said Oh. I think you should come live with us for a while,  Hurley said. He did come and stay with us. He graduated in 1974 and bounced around.

Around that same time, Mondels parents divorced. Dreuss moved to Ohio when she remarried, but Mondel refused to go with her. Mother and son lived apart for many years until Dreuss husband died and she returned to Albuquerque to be near Mondel.

His mom tried so hard to be good to him, he said. She was the sweetest, kindest lady and I think all she ever wanted was to take care of her little boy.

Hurley said he tried to keep in touch, but Mondel suffered with his mental health and resisted any attempts.

Hurley visited Mondel in the hospital after learning from a local priest that his old friend was in the hospital having his leg amputated. Hurley went to visit him, but Mondel didnt want to continue contact.

More time passed and nine years ago. Hurley received a frantic call from Dreuss who couldnt find Mondel. Hurley was able to locate him at a local hospital. He contracted another infection and his other leg was amputated. Mondel used a wheelchair until his death.

Afterwards, Hurley tried to visit Mondel at home several times before finally receiving a letter in the mail from Mondel asking him to stop trying to visit. Hurley said he respected Mondels wishes and lost contact after that.

El Campo held a burial for Mondel on Sept. 27 at San Jose de Armijo Cemetery, but the canopy near his burial site was not empty as expected. A local priest, Hurley, his wife and three other St. Pius classmates stood underneath to say their good-byes.

We were there to give him a little love and a little respect at the end of his existence here on Earth, Hurley said. We wanted to give that to him.
Police say they have arrested a man believed to have shot a woman in the head while she was driving him down the highway near Grants.

The pair, believed to be boyfriend and girlfriend, started arguing Wednesday while driving down Interstate 40 in a Ford Mustang, New Mexico State Police said.

The man, 23-year-old Deandre Mirabal, pulled out a gun during the argument as he sat in the passenger seat, and the woman, 21, tried to grab it as she drove.

During the struggle for the firearm, it went off and struck the female in the head, New Mexico State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco said in a statement Friday.

Its unclear if Mirabal meant to shoot the woman or just threaten her.

After the gun went off, Mirabal grabbed the steering wheel from the passenger seat and brought the vehicle to a safe stop and drove the vehicle to the Cibola General Hospital in Grants, Francisco said.

The woman was later flown to a larger hospital in Albuquerque and is in critical condition.

Police said Mirabal was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

After surgery for colon cancer in August 2015, the odds were good that James Hoag would beat the deadly disease with proper follow-up treatment.

But he lived in a southern New Mexico county with a scarcity of medical specialists and only one oncologist, who was alleged to have underdosed Hoag in prolonged chemotherapy that ended Hoags chance of survival.

Hoag and his wife filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Mohamed Aswad in 2018. But Hoag didnt live long enough to attend the recent trial in which a state district court jury in Deming awarded his widow $2.3 million in damages, including $1 million in punitive damages. Hoag died in 2020 at the age of 59.

It was statistically likely that James would beat his cancer with proper treatment, his lawyers argued in the wrongful death case that went to the jury Sept. 3.

After about four hours of deliberation, the jury found negligence by Aswad was a proximate cause of Hoags lost chance to avoid the loss of his life and resulting damages. The jury described Aswads actions as wanton, according to a verdict form filed in the case.

There was a backstory the jury didnt know:

n Aswad, who retains his New Mexico medical license, had run into legal trouble involving treatment of cancer patients in the past. At the time he treated Hoag, the oncologist was on federal probation after pleading guilty in 2014 to one misdemeanor count of receiving an adulterated or misbranded cancer drug. Aswad contended he wasnt aware the drugs he administered between 2010 and 2012 were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. He was ordered to pay fines, restitution and penalties of about $2 million. More than $1 million of that was owed in reimbursements to Medicare and Medicaid.

n As a result of his conviction, Aswad in late 2015 was barred by the federal government from accepting any federal reimbursement from Medicaid or Medicare for a minimum of 13 years. But the state Human Services Department asked the federal government for a waiver to allow him to continue treating such patients because he is the only oncologist in Luna County.

Since then, he has been permitted to treat Medicaid and Medicare patients in four other medically underserved New Mexico counties.

Aswad contended there was a clear need in the community for his oncology services.

Since 2016, Aswad has been the only physician in New Mexico to be granted such a waiver, according to a spokeswoman for the state HSD.

Doctor denies wrongdoing

There was no evidence during the recent district court trial that Aswad repeated his previous practice of using non-FDA-approved cancer drugs manufactured in Europe and Turkey.

But attorneys for Hoags widow, Sheila Hoag, alleged in court records that Aswad recklessly administered abnormally low doses of chemotherapy for extended periods of time in an attempt to unduly profit.

Aswad denied any wrongdoing. He maintained Hoag wasnt willing to undergo chemotherapy that could cause significant side effects, and so he prescribed a modified treatment that was of longer duration in what proved to be an unsuccessful attempt to reduce any spread of the cancer. He said Hoag never returned to see him after November 2016.

By December 2017, Hoag was hospitalized and saw a different oncologist some 62 miles away in Las Cruces. She put him on the accepted cancer treatment, but his cancer had metastasized.

Aswad, who didnt respond to Journal requests for comment, plans to appeal the verdict in the malpractice case.

The jury punished Dr. Aswad for respecting his patients wishes about the treatment he was willing to undergo, said Albuquerque attorney Alice Lorenz, who is handling Aswads appeal.

Asked whether Aswad routinely deviates from accepted chemotherapy guidelines in treating patients, Lorenz said in an email : This question cannot be answered because of HIPAA, referring to the federal law protecting patient health information.

Questions of credibility

Hoag, who had retired from law enforcement in Michigan, worked as a handyman at an RV park in Deming, where he lived with his wife of 39 years.

Trial court notes show Sheila Hoag testified at trial that after her husbands August 2015 surgery to remove a colon tumor, Jims prognosis was very good because they had caught it before it spread. The surgery was performed by another physician in Deming.

Hoag was determined to be stage IIIB, which has a five-year survival of about 69 percent, his attorneys said in a pretrial order.

Hoag went to Aswad for follow-up chemotherapy.

Aswad followed the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines in choosing the correct chemotherapy drugs, but used woefully lower doses than are recommended, exceeded the recommended six-month duration by more than double, and failed to adequately monitor the disease during treatment, Hoags attorneys Greig Coates and Victor Poulos maintained.

A jury form shows the jury decided Aswad obtained Hoags informed consent as to the treatment, but jurors answered yes to the question of whether negligence of Aswad was a cause of Hoags injury and damages. The total judgment of $2.9 million was reduced to $2.3 million because the jury found Hoag was 30 percent responsible for his injuries.

Aswad defended his course of treatment, stating in court records that he believed Hoag was closer to Stage 4 cancer, which has a single digit survival rate.

But according to trial court notes, the judge in the case, District Judge Jarod K. Hofacket, was concerned that this matter is presented as Stage 4 cancer when none of the documents presented state that.

Aswad denied any profit motive in extending Hoags treatment from the typical chemotherapy course of a maximum six months to 14 months. In a 2019 deposition, Aswad denied he was under financial pressure to increase his billings because of the $2 million debt he owed related to the use of non-FDA approved cancer drugs.

I have worked hard since Day One, since I started practice and I worked seven days a week, he testified during a deposition in the Hoag lawsuit.  I live modestly. And so I paid all of my savings.

The government required reimbursement of $1.3 million because Aswad billed Medicare and Medicaid for the cost of FDA-approved drugs, while using the cheaper non-FDA drugs during an 18-month period ending in August 2012.

Aswads attorneys pretrial denied he breached the standard of care in treating Hoag. But the day before the trial ended, a key defense witness was withdrawn, causing the defense to stipulate that negligence had occurred, court records show.

Dr. Peter Wiernik, who had given a deposition in the case, had been involved in Aswads oncology fellowship training some 15 years earlier in New York and was slated to testify that Aswad met the standard of care in treating Hoag.

But Sheila Hoags attorneys had raised questions about Wierniks credibility.

According to news reports, Wiernik had been accused of illegally supplying chemotherapy drugs to neurosurgeons for use in a non-FDA approved experiment on brain cancer patients in the late 1980s, and covering up his culpability for five years. He was ultimately disciplined by medical boards in New York and Maryland. Wiernik couldnt be reached for comment.

Asked by the Journal why Wiernik wasnt called to testify, Lorenz cited attorney-client privilege.

Underserved

Aswad, who was born in Syria and received his medical training at Allepo University in Syria, did an internal medicine residency at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in the Bronx where he also did a fellowship in oncology and hematology. He then settled in southern New Mexico and has been practicing in Deming since 2003, court records show.

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Brack put Aswad on three years probation in August 2015, but seven months later Aswad asked for and was granted early release from probation because his efforts to become a U.S. citizen were being stymied by his probation status. Lorenz said recently he has since been granted citizenship.

Because no pharmacies in the Deming area dispensed oncology medications, Aswad said he had to order expensive cancer drugs via a 1-800 phone number, according to the New Mexico Medical Board, which issued a formal reprimand to Aswad in May 2015 after holding a hearing on the use of misbranded drugs.

The boards hearing officer found Aswad wouldnt have administered the non-approved cancer drugs to patients if he had known they werent approved by the FDA.

Aswad unquestionably subjected his patients to dangers associated with the use of non-FDA approved medication, the hearing officer wrote.

But based on the testimony and letter of support of his patients and colleagues, the hearing officer wrote, there is a real risk of harm to the Deming community if (he) is unable to practice medicine.

The evidence offered at the hearing shows that Deming is an underserved community and the patients who need oncology services have expressed a concern that they will have to travel several hours from home in order to obtain the necessary treatment of their conditions, the hearing officer wrote.

The medical board noted in its decision that Luna County, in which Deming is the biggest city, has been chronically underserved by medical personnel for years. The county has ranked higher than the state average in deaths due to cancer and heart disease, according to the state Department of Health.

Aswad contested the decision by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to bar him from seeking reimbursement for Medicaid and Medicare patients, which federal court records show comprised about 95 percent of his patient load.

Before a hearing on the matter, his attorneys and state HSD counsel agreed he should be allowed to participate as a Medicaid provider on a limited basis as the sole provider of essential and specialized cancer fighting services in a rural/remote part of New Mexico, said HSD spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis Porter in an email.

It was determined that the imposition of exclusion (from seeking the federal reimbursement) would not be in the public interest according to federal regulations and would be a hardship for New Mexicans in the southwest region of the state who would have to make onerous arrangements for travel and treatment in other locations if not for Dr. Aswads availability and participation in Medicaid, she told the Journal.

Since 2016, Aswads waiver to practice oncology has been extended beyond Luna County to four others  Catron, Grant, Hidalgo and Sierra.

With the onset of COVID, federal Medicare and Medicaid Services officials last September asked that Aswad also be allowed to provide internal medicine services for Medicare patients in Catron and Hildalgo counties for the duration of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 public health emergency declared by the federal government in January 2020.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

HERNANDEZ  You cant see it from the highway anymore the way California-based photographer Ansel Adams did on this day in 1941, when he slammed on his brakes and scrambled out of his station wagon to capture one of the most famous images of the modern era.

Some sources have estimated the photo was taken on Nov. 1  Adams could not remember the exact date  but the Ansel Adams Gallery lists Oct. 31 on its official website.

A handful of people who were asked last week outside the Hernandez Dollar Store, said they were unfamiliar with the location and photo when it was shown to them by a Journal reporter. One person said, It looks like the casino (in Espanola).

But when Dolores Gallegos and her daughter Marylou Garcia got out of their car and saw the photo, Gallegos immediately said, Moonrise, Ansel Adams.

Gallegos graciously showed the reporter and a Journal photographer the location depicted in Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico  the Iglesia Catolica San Jose del Chama, better known to locals as the San Jose church in this small community on U.S. 84/285, just north of Espanola.

Down a private dirt drive, past dozens of houses and after a couple of turns, despite being shielded by the homes and trees now blocking its view from the highway over 100 yards away, the church was still instantly recognizable with its white crosses beside it.

A sign on the front is dated Nov. 11, 1965, the date the church was remodeled.

That picture didnt have the pitched roof, said Gallegos, alluding to the flat-topped structure surrounded by open sagebrush when its image was captured 80 years ago. Even the highway where Adams stopped has been re-configured since 1941.

He came around before I was born really. Tourists come to see it, said Gallegos, 72, who has lived in Hernandez all her life.

Asked if the photo made her proud, she responded, very much so. And it (the church) used to have a wall made of adobes that we used to play out here, because my parents used to live down the road here.

Gallegos said she didnt immediately learn the significance of the photo. Not until later and almost every house around here has the photo. Almost every house, yes, Gallegos said with a laugh.

Not just an image

Moonrise is not just an image, according to Aimee Pflieger, assistant vice-president and a photography specialist at Sothebys Auction House, New York.

Its not only a really important photograph for an American photographer, but its arguably the most well-known American landscape that was ever taken, said Pflieger.

Adams had been photographing north of Espanola with his son and a friend the day he took the famous image.

I dont think they had a very successful day  and they were speeding down the road, he looked to the side and saw this amazing landscape with the sun going down and the light hitting the crosses in front of this church, said Pflieger.

After stopping and saying give me this lens and give me the flash and give me this and give me that and he got the tripod set up and realized that he didnt have his light meter, said Pflieger.

Adams described the day, in his own words in Ansels Anecdotes on his gallery website: www.anseladams.com:

I had been photographing in the Chama Valley  I made a few passable negatives that day and had several exasperating trials.

He accepted defeat but said, there is no use moaning about it.

Heading south I glanced to my left and saw an extraordinary situation  an inevitable photograph!

Without the light meter the situation was desperate: the low sun was trailing the edge of the clouds in the west, and shadow would soon dim the white crosses.

He didnt know how much light was being reflected from the crosses and considered bracketing, a technique using several different protective exposures.

Suddenly I realized I knew the luminance of the moon  realizing as I released the shutter that I had an unusual photograph 

Adams show coming in January

The New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe plans a show next year that will include two prints of Moonrise, Hernandez.

Ansel Adams: Pure Photography is scheduled to run from Jan. 29 through May 22. In addition to Moonrise, Hernandez, the show will include Adams portrait of his friend Georgia OKeeffe and some of his early work from 1930s San Francisco.

Ive never done an Ansel Adams show, said Kate Ware, the museums curator of photography. Its not connected to the Moonrise anniversary, Its about showing off our holdings, said Ware. There are some surprising images that many people will not have seen.

Adams ditched plans to become a concert pianist, said Ware, and she analogized his work as the negative as the score and the print as the performance.

She called the Moonrise photo a virtuoso expression of his mature style.

But Dolores Gallegos gets reminders of how the photo resonates beyond academic interest with its significance:

The tourists that come through and they ask for it, but they dont find it  just like you did now. They cant find it sometimes so theyll stop by my house.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say they have more evidence that Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico was more than just an ancient gathering spot for Indigenous ceremonies and rituals.

The researchers analyzed pollen content and the chemical composition of soils to help document environmental impact of the early residents who called the area home, which is now a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site.

Their findings, published last week in the journal PLOS ONE, focus on changes resulting from tree harvesting that sustained daily life at Chaco.

The researchers reported a gradual degradation of the surrounding woodlands beginning around 600 B.C., much earlier than previously thought.

While some of the mysteries surrounding Chaco are still debated in academic circles, theres agreement that the massive stone buildings, ceremonial structures called kivas and other features that dot the landscape offered a religious or ritualistic experience for the ancestors of todays Native American pueblos. Many of Chacos structures are aligned with celestial events, such as the summer solstice.

David Lentz, a biology professor and lead author of the study, said many researchers have the idea that Chaco was too arid to sustain day-to-day living and that the infrastructure built over many centuries at Chaco was used only as a periodic ceremonial center and storage facility.

Lentz said that explanation is too simplistic and that his team turned up evidence to support human management of the areas environment to support daily life.

Amid the shift from people hunting and gathering to undertaking agriculture, the researchers noted measurable changes  such as juniper trees decimated for building needs, food resources and firewood for cooking

This is a very arid area, he said. In arid woodlands, the trees are essential for holding the soil in place. When the puebloan inhabitants removed those woodlands, the result was eventually severe erosion and the deterioration of croplands.

Paul Reed, a preservation archaeologist with Archaeology Southwest, was not involved in the study and said the new research confirms what he has believed for years  that Chaco and some of its surrounding sites were residential and ritual centers. He estimates that Chaco had thousands of full-time residents.

Another Chaco scholar, Gwinn Vivian, came to the same conclusion while studying Chacos agricultural capacity decades ago.

Reed said the latest study provides helpful data on the nature and extent of Chacos agricultural processes and other uses of the natural environment by the people who lived there.

It is a strong counterpoint to the mistaken idea that corn and other crops could not be grown in the quantities necessary to sustain a large, residential population in Chaco Canyon, he said.

Scientists in recent years also have uncovered previously indiscernible sections of roads that connect sites throughout northwestern New Mexico to the heart of Chaco.

Earlier excavations also turned up everything from copper bells to marine shells and the skeletons of scarlet macaws, suggesting the inhabitants were trading with communities to the south either by making long treks or passing goods from village to village.

Many researchers have documented the shift of people moving away from Chaco due to various factors, including a changing climate in the late 11th century.

The study by the University of Cincinnati team noted that the landscape modifications by Chaco residents triggered serious environmental ramifications.

At the cost of major reduction of tree density in the local woodlands, their activities ultimately contributed to a destabilizing environmental impact prior to their final exodus, Lentz said.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Violence erupted marring the Halloween weekend around the metro area with five people fatally shot and multiple persons wounded in separate incidents which spanned from Downtown to Southeast Albuquerque, the South Valley, Corrales and the West Side.

Early Sunday the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office reported two people were shot and killed and multiple individuals transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds. BCSO posted on social media they were called to the 2300 block of Pajarito Road SW in the South Valley at 2 a.m. after a fight broke out during a party.

When deputies arrived, they found two men had been shot and killed. Three people were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds  two people were shot in their leg and one person was shot in the abdomen, according to the BCSOs Twitter account. Investigators learned that a juvenile was among those taken to the hospital after being shot at the party. The juvenile was in stable condition, according to the BCSO.

The preliminary investigation indicates that a fight broke out at a large Halloween party and multiple subjects began firing weapons at each other, the agency said on Twitter.

APD assisting BCSO

Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said APD assisted the sheriffs office in the investigation.

APDs newly created Digital Intelligence Team is working with BCSO to provide information that might assist in its investigation, he said in a news release. He added that APDs Gun Violence Reduction Unit has also reached out to the sheriffs office to offer assistance.

About the same time, APD began investigating another fatal shooting at an apartment complex in Southeast Albuquerque that left one person dead and another in critical condition.

Gallegos said officers responded to a shots fired call at the Valley View Apartments at 3003 Transport St. SE and discovered casings and blood.

Officers discovered that one individual was transported to the hospital by civilians and that individual had sustained a gunshot wound, Gallegos said. He said that victim was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Later, another victim from the same shooting showed up at the hospital with a gunshot wound, and that individual was in critical condition, Gallegos said.

One additional person showed up at the hospital with a leg injury, claiming he was struck by a vehicle as he and numerous others were trying to escape the shooting area, he said.

Two more fatalities

The weekend started off with gunfire at a large house party on the West Side, a homicide in Downtown Albuquerque and a killing in Corrales.

Corrales Police Chief Victor Mangiacapra told KOAT TV that Spencer Komadina was shot and killed Saturday, after an altercation with his roommate at their home, located on the 300 block of Camino De Corrales Del Norte.

That man, Joel Ray, 60, has been charged with one count of murder and was booked into the Sandoval County Detention Center.

Spencer Komadina is the son of former state Sen. Steve Komadina. It was the first homicide in Corrales since December 2002, KOAT reported.

Also Saturday, Albuquerque police say multiple people were shot on the West Side when a large house party was suddenly interrupted by gunfire.

Hence Williams, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said officers responded to the scene in the 10600 block of Fountain NW, near McMahon and Unser, at 1:10 a.m. after receiving a 911 call reporting a shooting.

Four people who were at the party suffered gunshot wounds to their legs, although none of the injuries were life-threatening, APD said in an update provided Saturday night. Gunfire also struck several homes and vehicles in the neighborhood. There were no reports of injuries at those homes.

APD said detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit recovered several firearms during the investigation.

This is the second time in as many months that large house parties resulted in a barrage of gunfire, Police Chief Harold Medina said in the news release. Our detectives have identified several people involved, and they will work with the District Attorneys Office to pursue charges against those who are responsible.

Just after 1 a.m. Saturday, a man was shot and killed in Downtown Albuquerque near the 100 block of Sixth Street. Police were called to the area by a ShotSpotter gunshot detection system and when they arrived they found a man dead with multiple gunshot wounds.

Journal City Editor Martin Salazar contributed to this report

This article has corrected the spelling of Spencer Komadina.
Albuquerque police are investigating a Sunday Morning shooting at an apartment complex in Southeast Albuquerque that left one person dead and another in critical condition.

Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman with the Albuquerque Police Department, said officers responded to a shots fired call at the Valley View Apartments at 3003 Transport St. SE and discovered casings and blood.

Officers discovered that one individual was transported to the hospital by civilians and that individual had sustained a gunshot wound, Gallegos said. He said that victim was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Later, another victim showed up at the hospital with a gunshot wound, and that individual is in critical condition, Gallegos said.

He added that another person showed up at the hospital with a leg injury, claiming he was struck by a vehicle as he and numerous others were trying to escape the area.
DURANGO, Colo.  After more than 30 years, Durango Trails has evolved from a small group of community members with a passion for mountain biking into the caretakers of a world-class trail system with more than 300 miles of trails within 30 minutes from downtown Durango.

Durango Trails started in 1990 as Trails 2000 with Ed Zink, David Bode, Bob Allen, Mike Finney and Scott Fleming. Zink reached out to the Bureau of Land Management regional director Sally Wisely to discuss the formation of an independent trail group that would interface with local land agencies, which became Trails 2000.

Trails 2000 was chosen as the name because the group hoped to build more than 200 miles of trails by the year 2000. Another of the organizations original goals was to preserve and protect existing trail groups.

The mission was focused on planning, building and maintaining trails, as well as educating trail users and creating connections, said Durango Trails board President Christina Rinderle.

Not long after a board of directors was formed, trail work commenced on the Telegraph Trail System, near Durangos eastern boundaries.

Working with the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, the city of Durangos Open Space Preservation Program, La Plata County and private landowners, Durango Trails has created a system of trails that expands from Durangos urban areas all the way to high-country trails.

Aside from trained and certified crew leaders, Durango Trails has between 400 and 600 people volunteer each season. Over the past 25 years, Rinderle said Durango Trails has logged over 125,000 volunteer hours.

Rinderle said that on average, trails made by the nonprofit are visited by 100,000 people each season. Visitor data was collected through a trail intercept study in 2018. Rinderle said there has been an estimated 40% increase in trail use since the pandemic.

The trails are designed to sustain a lot of use, but it also takes a lot to manage and maintain them, she said. So we created this message called Durango Trail Love to help people understand trail etiquette and ethics.

A partnership with Fort Lewis College to develop an economic impact analysis is in the works to develop the value of trails in the community, Rinderle said.

One of Durango Trails partnerships is with the city of Durango. With sales tax money and funding through Great Outdoors Colorado, the city has been able to purchase and provide land to Durango Trails.

Durango Trails ability to negotiate and partner with different land agencies is what sets it apart from other trail organizations, Rinderle said.

You can ride on a trail that might cross city land, BLM, Forest Service, and private land and loop back to a trailhead. Most people dont realize what went into negotiating access, planning and building those trails. she said.

Another member of Durango Trails board, Gary Provencher, who works at 2nd Ave Sports, said Durango Trails high-country trails are some of the best in the world.

I think what sets Durango apart is the love of the trails, Provencher said. We have a pretty small community, and I feel like the majority of the people who live in this community live here because of our trails.

In the last two seasons, Durango Trails has completed SkyRaider, Down N Out, Bens Trail, Star Wars ReRoute, and Perins Gulch ReRoute; installed drainage on Neds Hill in Overend Mountain Park; rerouted Sale Barn Trail; and kicked off construction on the Cutthroat Trail above the East Fork of Hermosa Creek.

Our crew has really done some great things, Provencher said. I feel like a lot of things have been happening this year, and I really appreciate our trail crew. Theyve done a great job.

Volunteers cleared about 600 downed trees that fell from various wind events on the Colorado Trail, Pass Trail, Engineer Mountain Trail and others.

What were looking forward to in the future is continuing to create a world-class trail system, Rinderle said.

Provencher said one of Durango Trails goals for the future is creating more connectivity.

Connectivity is, I think, what sets us apart from other communities, Provencher said. We dont drive to trailheads. People hop on their bikes and ride to trailheads. If youre on a trail and you can get from one side of town to another without even coming out, it would be really nice.
RICHMOND, Va.  Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin raced to fire up their partys base voters in opposite ends of Virginia on Sunday as they worked to drive up turnout in a deadlocked and bitter contest for governor that will be scrutinized as a bellwether ahead of next years midterms elections.

McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018, and Democrats are scrambling to stave off disaster after public polling has shifted in Youngkins direction in recent weeks. Republicans are optimistic about their chances in the commonwealth, where they havent won a statewide race since 2009.

After campaigning across northern Virginia on Saturday, Youngkin departed for the far southwest tip of the state, a Republican stronghold. Stops along his bus tour included a prayer breakfast, a worship service, a barbecue at the home of a powerful state lawmaker, a meet-and-greet in the states farthest-flung corner and an evening get-out-the-vote rally.

McAuliffe, who preceded Democrat Ralph Northam as governor in the only state that doesnt allow its executive to serve consecutive terms, spent Saturday the states southeastern corner before making stops Sunday in suburban Richmond and northern Virginia.

In the backyard of a home in a well-to-do pocket of Henrico County, McAuliffe told an energetic crowd of supporters that the stakes are huge as he touted his record from his first term.

Ive done this job before. I was the most pro-business pro-progressive. I made this state open and welcoming, created a lot of jobs. We do not want to go back, he said.

Speaking at a rally in Abingdon, Youngkin predicted Republicans would sweep all three statewide races and take back control of the House of Delegates, where all 100 seats are on the ballot.

This is a moment for us to make a statement that big government control is going to lose and liberty and freedom in Virginia are going to win, he said, as the crowd erupted in cheers.

McAuliffe has brought in a series of high-profile surrogates including President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and celebrity musicians Pharrell Williams and Dave Matthews in the final stretch. Youngkin, meanwhile, has eschewed virtually all public campaign visits from well-known party allies who would typically flock to a hot race.

That includes former President Donald Trump, who is holding a telerally for Youngkin on Monday. Youngkin has said he will not be participating. Youngkin more fully embraced Trump during the Republican nominating contest, but since becoming the nominee, he has walked a fine line as he tries to court moderate voters in a state that Trump lost by 10 percentage points to Biden in 2020.

Saturday marked the final day for early voting in Virginia, which has been dramatically expanded during the past two years of unified Democratic control of state government.

Legislation passed in 2020 eliminated the need to provide one of a certain number of limited excuses in order to vote absentee. Now any qualified voter can cast a ballot starting 45 days before the election.

Over 1.1 million out of the states approximately 5.9 million registered voters cast a ballot early this year, according to state data published by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Thats down sharply from the 2.8 million early votes in last years presidential election but marks a dramatic increase compared with the mere 195,634 early votes during the last gubernatorial cycle, before the voting reforms were instituted.

McAuliffe spokeswoman Christina Freundlich said the campaign expects many Democrats to revert to their prepandemic voting habits this year, favoring in-person voting on Election Day.

Still, at the Henrico rally, McAuliffe claimed Democrats had a big lead on the early vote.

Voters dont register by party in Virginia, so the partisan split of the early vote wasnt immediately clear. But McAuliffes campaign pointed to what they considered strong numbers in blue-leaning localities in northern Virginia as a sign momentum was on their side.

Republicans, despite generally opposing the Democrats election reforms, have also encouraged their supporters to vote early this year.

In southwest Virginia, where Youngkin spent Sunday, the rate of early voting was well below the state as a whole, according to a VPAP analysis.

Strong turnout there on Election Day could help boost Youngkin as he looks to overcome the structural advantage of northern Virginias blue tilt.

The hectic pace of campaigning was set to continue Monday. Both candidates will be crisscrossing the state, each with stops in Roanoke, Virginia Beach, the Richmond area and northern Virginia.

Polls will be open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
New Mexico state law requires all motorists to carry a minimum level of liability insurance.

Then again, it also requires them to obey speed limits and stop on red, even in the first second after the light changes.

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that, nationwide, about 12.6% of motorists are uninsured. In New Mexico, the figure is 21.8%, which doesnt even make us the worst in the nation. (Thank you, Mississippi!)

When you buy car insurance in New Mexico, youll get uninsured motorist coverage unless you specifically decline it.

If the high number of uninsured drivers out there isnt reason enough for you to pay the premium, remember it can kick in after a hit-and-run collision, too. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, about one in nine car crashes fall into that category.

Uninsured motorist insurance does exactly what the name implies, allowing a policyholder to recover if injured by a person who has no insurance, or who doesnt stop to provide insurance information.

But in New Mexico, its always sold in a package with under-insured motorist coverage. What does a policyholder get in return for paying premiums for under-insured motorist coverage?

Answer: less than you might expect, and in some circumstances nothing at all.

Imagine Mary, a careful driver who owns one car. Shes purchased underinsured motorist coverage in the amount of $25,000.

As she enters an Albuquerque intersection on a green light, shes hit by Bob, who was too drunk to notice the signal had changed. Marys car is totaled and an ambulance rushes her to the hospital. Thankfully after three weeks shes recovered sufficiently to return to work.

Her total monetary damages: $60,000. Bob has liability insurance, but only in the minimum amount allowed by New Mexicos Financial Responsibility Act, which is $25,000. His insurance company promptly pays the full $25,000 to Mary, leaving her $35,000 short.

You might think that this means Bob was underinsured in the amount of $35,000. But thats not how it works in New Mexico.

In New Mexico, the critical issue isnt the amount of damages Mary suffered, but the amount of under-insured motorist coverage she purchased. As our Supreme Court declared in 1985, the most an insured can receive is the amount of underinsurance purchased for his [or her] benefit.

Therefore, the $25,000 of underinsured motorist coverage that Mary purchased for herself represents the maximum benefit shes entitled to receive. Since that sum was paid by Bobs insurer already, Marys own insurance company owes her nothing at all.

Thats what she receives in exchange for faithfully paying her premiums: nothing.

The result would be different, however, if Mary owned three cars and insured each for $25,000. In that case, she could stack (that is, combine) her policies, which would give her coverage in the total amount of $75,000, obligating her insurance company to pay her $35,000.

If this makes no sense to you, you get it. Its an irrational system. But its the system our Legislature has imposed on us, as recently confirmed by our state Supreme Court.

The recent decision, known as Crutcher vs. Liberty Mutual, answered a question posed to the court by a federal judge. Often, federal judges are required to apply state law. When state law is unclear, they can certify a question to the states highest court.

Federal District Judge Judith Herrera did so in this case, way back in January 2019. But, oddly, the Supreme Courts opinion doesnt quote the question it answers. Reading the opinion is like hearing only the answers at a press conference.

Although the court sat on the case for 32 months, its opinion shows signs of having been written in haste. The version I downloaded contains a conspicuous typo, suggesting reliance on spellchecker in place of a human proofreader.

The opinion uses two words with long-established technical meanings (illusory, a contract law term, and exclusion, widely used in insurance policies) in nontechnical ways. Those two words, which used to have definite and well-understood meanings in New Mexico law, are now ambiguous.

The job of an appellate court is to clarify the law. This opinion muddies it.

The opinion uses the words never and always, which lawyers generally avoid because, of course, its not possible to foresee every future possibility. By using those words, the opinion ranges far beyond any issue presented, for no purpose.

But for all its sloppiness, the opinion accomplishes one thing: It underscores the need for the Legislature to rewrite its old statute to ensure that New Mexicans finally start to receive value for the premiums they pay for underinsured motorist coverage.

Joel Jacobsen is an author who in 2015 retired from a 29-year legal career. If there are topics you would like to see covered in future columns, please write him at legal.column.tips@gmail.com.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

For the first time in years, Albuquerque developers have started building industrial space on a large scale without having tenants lined up, which may mean relief is on the horizon for the citys notoriously tight industrial real estate market.

Its finally been pushed over the edge  in terms of getting developers to pull the trigger on projects without necessarily having leases in place, said Riley McKee, senior advisor for NAI SunVista in Albuquerque.

SunVistas most recent quarterly report on the industrial market, published in late October, shows the industrial vacancy rate has dropped lower than ever, to 1.39%, after years of decline.

However, the report also notes that four large projects, totaling around 500,000 square feet, are in various stages of construction, design and planning.

Erick Johnson, managing broker at Johnson Commercial Real Estate, said one warehouse, a 150,000-square-foot facility located at 7200 Bluewater NW, is currently under construction, with others in the pipeline.

Other developers, including Albuquerque-based Titan Development, declined to comment on the specifics of projects in the works before construction begins. However, McKee said the new projects are largely concentrated on the citys West Side, near Interstate 40.

Additional projects, totaling 665,000 square feet, have been proposed with no timeline yet, according to the report.

McKee said the new developments in progress, which would nearly double the amount of industrial space available for lease, would be a welcome relief for bulk distributors and large manufacturers.

However, the builders venturing into the speculative market are facing challenges of their own, from labor shortages to high commodity prices, that threaten to delay or derail at least one of the long-awaited projects.

Weve got to figure it out, said Scott Goodman, vice president at Goodman Realty Group.  Otherwise, no new industrial (space) will be built for a very long time.

Current challenges

The new projects are significant in a city that has historically not seen a lot of industrial construction built on spec, or without a tenant lined up.

Our market has historically not been a very speculative market, Johnson said.

Bill Robertson, senior vice president and principal at Colliers Internationals Albuquerque office, said Albuquerque has not seen a large-scale industrial property built without a tenant lined up since before the Great Recession.

As a result, the industrial vacancy rate has been trending down in Albuquerque for years, as growing companies work through the citys existing supply of industrial space without much new development in the pipeline.

Its a supply and demand issue: lots of demand, no supply, Robertson said.

Robertson said a pair of recent changes in Albuquerque have exacerbated the shortage. First, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions caused stores to close, prompting a number of retailers to pivot to an e-commerce model. Robertson said he expects the trend to continue, even as the pandemic abates, noting that the sector still has room to grow in Albuquerque and across the country.

Secondly, Robertson said other markets that have legalized recreational cannabis have seen industrial vacancy rates drop as producers look for space to grow and extract cannabis.

Theyre out looking and theres nothing available, he said.

Consequently, Albuquerques already-low industrial vacancy rate has plummeted in the past 12 months. SunVistas report notes that 543,363 square feet of industrial space were available in the third quarter of this year, down 49% from the same quarter in 2020, itself a near-record low at the time. Robertson said the space that is still available is generally older, and not suitable for modern manufacturers and distributors.

Local and state economic development leaders have noticed that the lack of space leaves Albuquerque at a competitive disadvantage when bidding on projects. A report commissioned by the state Economic Development Department urges the state to pursue industries that need warehouse space, including the advanced manufacturing industry, but acknowledges that the lack of shovel-ready industrial sites is a weakness.

Despite abundant land in the state, site selectors have had difficulty in finding land that is suitable for light manufacturing and industrial activity, the report reads. Specifically, the lack of facilities, infrastructure and building specifications desired by manufacturers have led some out-of-state manufacturers to decide against locating in New Mexico.

Shocking costs

Even with projects in the pipeline, developers are finding it challenging to bring them to fruition. One of the largest planned developments, an approximately 400,000-square-foot complex being developed by the Goodman Realty Group, is likely to be scaled back, Goodman confirmed Wednesday.

Earlier this year, the company announced plans for a three-building industrial complex at the corner of Central Avenue and 118th Street, totaling 400,000 square feet. However, Goodman said the company is looking to value engineer aspects of the project, which could include shrinking the footprint of the building.

Were trying to figure out how to make it work, because we need for it to work, he said.

Goodman cited the high cost of materials and the shortage of labor as reasons for the delay. He noted that concrete prices, which have soared this year due to supply chain challenges, and high construction demand, came back higher than expected.

Multiple brokers noted that contractors have been busy with build-to-suit projects for Amazon, Facebook and other large companies. Goodman said labor shortages are also a contributing factor, meaning that contractors have less capacity to take on new projects.

Theyre just slammed with what they have, he said.

Goodman said developers in other states have told him theyre surprised at how much more expensive building in New Mexico can be, which Goodman believes is due to New Mexicos tax structure and the states relatively small industrial construction sector.

Everybodys shocked at how much it costs to do construction here, he said.

As a result, Goodman said his team will look at all aspects of the West Side project, considering removing some of the dock doors or having fewer buildings.

As a developer, you always hit hurdles and you just need to figure out how to go through it, he said.

The future of industrial?

Despite the challenges, brokers remain heartened that lease rates have finally risen to the point where its cost-effective for builders to build on spec going forward.

The SunVista report shows that lease rates inched above $8 per square foot earlier this year and currently sit at $8.70. McKee said this recent uptick put leases in the range where more developers would look at building without a tenant lined up.

Landlords and developers are confident they can get the deal done before the building is complete, just because of the energy thats in the market, he said.

McKee said most of the new development in the city is clustering on the western edge of the city near I-40, which offers easy transportation access to other markets. The area has been popular among new arrivals to the city, with Tempur-Pedic and Amazon each establishing locations near the east-west interstate.

Thats where a lot of the future growth is.  Its really the only place we can grow, McKee said.

McKee added that hes hopeful the planned developments will help the city meet demand for space, but he acknowledged that most of whats being built is on the larger side, intended for bulk distributors. Even with new projects in the pipeline, smaller distributors and manufacturers may not find the space a good fit. McKee said hes hopeful rates are high enough to make some smaller spaces feasible for developers in the next few years. Its just another segment of the market thats currently untapped, he said.
Numerous employers call the New Mexico Caregivers Coalition office to ask that we help them advertise caregiver employment openings within their companies.

They say they cant find enough caregivers to fill the direct care staff openings at those companies. It should be no surprise that employers cannot fill those staff openings because caregivers may already have left the field for higher-paying jobs in altogether different sectors.

Caregivers may already have permanently left the direct care field en masse, not just for higher-paying jobs but for better quality jobs. Ive talked with New Mexico caregivers and to employers across various industry sectors; both tell me that low-wage workers have used the opportunity of the pandemic to train for jobs outside of the home care field so they can leave their current job.

A caregiver with children told me last week she has permanently left her home care worker job because child care is more expensive than the $10 per hour she earned from her last job. And, she accrued no fringe benefits. In Bernalillo, New Mexico, where our organization is based, the nearest McDonalds franchise advertises starting pay at $11.00 per hour, vacation and sick leave, full paid four-year college tuition and access to discounts like moving vans and rental cars in order for one to move ones family to Bernalillo. I, too, would take that job over one paying $10/hour with no benefits.

But isnt this the same conundrum we in the workforce development field were talking about more than 10 years ago? Indeed, more than 30 years ago? The Bureau of Labor Statistics documents the average wage of a New Mexico home care worker was $10.90 in 2009; in 2019, it was $10.92!

In New Mexico, 83% of caregivers are women, 82% people of color and 64% of all caregivers live at the poverty level. These statistics describe the people who are working.

A young man who works as a direct support staff for a person with a developmental disability told me, I work 10 hours a day, five day a week and Im still poor! And the work is grueling. It is physically demanding, it involves lifting and transferring clients and even negotiating with family members who may or may not support that workers presence in the home.

Amazon, Facebook and even Walmart in New Mexico are offering $15 per hour and higher. And if those jobs arent attractive enough, why not retrain as a truck driver to earn $25 per hour starting pay? Lately, I find I have to refrain from encouraging caregivers and direct support staff to leave the field for retraining in new skills for better quality jobs.

Caregivers themselves seem to be making rational decisions to leave the field altogether.

Our organization shouldnt be advocating for caregivers to stay in this field. We should be advocating for them to move to better-paying jobs with paid time off, health insurance and insistence on respect and recognition from employers that value them. Advocates and supporters of caregivers ought to help push them toward those better jobs, not encourage to remain in low-wage, low quality jobs.

PHI, a national research organization on direct care, projects that New Mexico will have to fill 75,500 new positions in home care and direct support by the year 2026. This present crisis means that those who will suffer most will be people who are elderly and those with disabilities who need their care.

Adrienne R. Smith is president and CEO of the New MExico Caregivers Coalition and a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Community Development Advisory Council. The New Mexico Caregivers Coalition advocates for direct care workers education, training, benefits, wages and professional development so they may better serve people who are elderly and those with disabilities. The executives desk is a guest column providing advice, commentary or information about resources available to the business community in New Mexico. To submit a column for consideration, email gporter@abqjournal.com.
WENN Movie

The 'Green Book' actor is expected to join 'Get Out' star Caleb Landry Jones in the upcoming thriller 'Two Wolves' about American helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson.

Oct 31, 2021

AceShowbiz - Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen will join Caleb Landry Jones in the Vietnam thriller "Two Wolves" from documentarian Alex Gibney.

The "Green Book" star and the "Get Out" actor will feature in the wartime story based on a true tale of great heroism.

In 1968, American helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson turned against his fellow soldiers to halt the infamous massacre of unarmed civilians in the village of My Lai, during which more than 300 South Vietnamese people were killed.

But Thompson was not hailed as a hero and was branded a traitor and threatened with a court-martial hearing instead.

An investigation led by General William "Ray" Peers later corroborated his claims.

Producers have not yet revealed which roles Mortensen and Landry Jones are slated to play.

The project marks a return to feature films for Gibney, who netted an Oscar for his 2007 documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side" and also received an Academy Award nod the previous year for "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room".

"This is a film I have wanted to make for seven years. Now that I have the right team in place, we can tell this powerful tale," he told Deadline of "Two Wolves".

"It's a true story about how everyday people can become heroes, not through supernatural powers, but through a commitment to do the right thing in the worst possible circumstances. Since Enron, I've been making films about people who abuse their power. This is film about two men who fought back."
FOX TV

The Jack Bauer depicter is excited for the upcoming virtual reunion with his television co-stars to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the FOX hit action drama series.

Oct 31, 2021

AceShowbiz - Kiefer Sutherland will reunite with his "24" castmates for a virtual 20th anniversary celebration.

The actor, who played counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer in the series, will appear alongside Leslie Hope, Elisha Cuthbert, Sarah Clarke, Eric Balfour, Reiko Aylesworth, Xander Berkeley, Sarah Wynter, Gregory Itzin, Mykelti Williamson, Chris Diamantopoulos, Cherry Jones, Louis Lombardi, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Tzi Ma and Sprague Grayden for the highly-anticipated event.

The cast will be joined by "24" creators Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, executive producer Howard Gordon, and a handful of special guests, to celebrate the Emmy-winning show.

"24 fans were the greatest I've ever experienced. I can't wait to talk to you all," said Kiefer in a statement.

The "20 Years of 24" livestream special will take place on 6 November (21).

Last year, the leading man admitted that he would be open to the idea of reviving the show, telling Forbes, "I've always left the door slightly ajar for 24 if someone comes up with a great idea."

"As an actor, 24 remains one of the most dynamic experiences I've ever had. Where a character was allowed to have such highs and lows in such a fast period of time is a gift."

"There are very few setups that will allow you to do that, and I find that incredibly fun, challenging, and exciting. There's been nine seasons, and I think it rests in a credible place. The difficulty is you don't ever want to do anything that is going to damage that."
WENN Movie

The 'No Time to Die' actress is in talks to play the main character in the upcoming actioner 'Ballerina' while the 'X-Men' actor will reprise his award-winning role for New York stage production.

Oct 31, 2021

AceShowbiz - "No Time to Die" star Ana De Armas is set to front a new "John Wick" spin-off, titled "Ballerina".

The film revolves around a female assassin, who made a fleeting appearance in "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum", out for revenge against the people who killed her family, according to Deadline.

The "Underworld" series director Len Wiseman will take charge of the action film, with a screenplay from Shay Hatten, who crafted the script for Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead" and "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum".

Chad Stahelski, the "John Wick" franchise director, will serve as a producer on "Ballerina".

Meanwhile, James Mcavoy is reprising his Olivier Award-winning "Cyrano De Bergerac" role for a New York stage run.

The "X-Men" star will take on the romantic title character again at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in director Jamie Lloyd's revival.

The production, which won the Olivier for Best Play Revival in 2019, was originally scheduled to hit the BAM stage in the spring of 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID shutdown.

McAvoy will star alongside Evelyn Miller, who has been cast as Roxane.

Lloyd tells Deadline, "It's a dream come true to be bringing our electrifying ensemble to BAM. With linguistic ingenuity, the play celebrates the power of human connection, and, having waited so long, we can't wait to connect with new audiences in New York."

He and McAvoy have a long-standing friendship and previously worked together on the plays "The Ruling Class", "Macbeth", "Three Days of Rain", and "Heart of Darkness".
FX/WENN TV

The 'Nurse Jackie' actress is conflicted by her television role as former U.S. First Lady in Ryan Murphy's Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal drama series.

Nov 1, 2021

AceShowbiz - Edie Falco doesn't want to know what Hillary Clinton thinks of her portrayal of the former U.S. First Lady in new TV drama "Impeachment: American Crime Story".

The actress previously campaigned for Hillary when she unsuccessfully ran for president against Donald Trump and admits she was conflicted when Ryan Murphy invited her to play Bill Clinton's wife in the Monica Lewinsky scandal series.

"Of course I was conflicted," Edie tells "The View". "I said yes and then there were many times after that where I thought, 'What in heaven's name was I thinking?' "

Asked if she has heard from Clinton about the project, Falco adds, "I so don't wanna know and I know someone's gonna tell me some place along the line. It is my sincere hope that she has better things to do (than watch TV)."

But Edie wanted to make sure her portrayal of the politician wasn't "a hit job."

"I have tremendous respect for Hillary," she explains. "I played what was written. As far as my insight, it remains that... She loves Bill and she takes her (marriage) vows very seriously. Not everybody does. It's to be commended."

In the third season premiering in September, Clive Owen starred as then-President Bill Clinton, Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky, Sarah Paulson as whistleblower Linda Tripp, and Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones who sued President Clinton for harassment.

They were joined by Colin Hanks, Taran Killam, Cobie Smulders, and Billy Eichner among others.
New Line Cinema Movie

The 'Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga' actor rejected a major deal to reprise his role as Buddy the Elf because the script was not good enough.

Nov 1, 2021

AceShowbiz - Will Ferrell turned down a massive pay day to reprise his "Elf" character for a sequel because the script wasn't good enough.

The funnyman and actor shrugged off a $29 million (21 million) windfall to return as optimistic Buddy the Elf because the film's premise was too similar to the original 2003 holiday comedy.

"I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would've been, like, 'Oh, it's not good. I just couldn't turn down that much money,' " Ferrell told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I thought, 'Can I actually say those words? I don't think I can, so I guess I can't do the movie!' "

Will admitted there was a lot of pressure on him to land a successful film when "Elf" was released after leaving comedy sketch show "Saturday Night Live" following seven seasons.

And his agent's texts about the early test screenings didn't help.

"He was like, 'Well, the family one went great, but we could really get eviscerated in this next one. I'm looking at a bunch of what look like USC (University of Southern California) frat boys about to go in,' " Ferrell recalled.

"Then later I hear, 'No, that group actually liked it, too.' "

Will Ferrell will next be seen in new holiday movie "Spirited", sharing screen with Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer.

Last year, he starred in black comedy "Downhill" with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and romantic musical comedy "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga" with Rachel McAdams.
GILROY, Calif. (KNTV)- Police are investigating a deadly shooting that occurred early Saturday at a property owned by a Gilroy councilmember, the city's mayor told NBC Bay Area.

The incident occurred at the 400 block of Las Animas Avenue.

Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley told NBC Bay Area that a total of four people were shot and one of the shooting victims died.

A Halloween party was also reportedly happening in the area at the time of the shooting.

Blankey added that Armendariz was not hurt in the incident and is not sure if the shooting happened inside or outside the home.

At this time, police are asking the public to avoid the area of Murray and Las Animas avenues.
BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Tiny Pine Foundation will provide Bear/North Complex Fire, Camp Fire and Dixie Fire survivors with Thanksgiving dinner boxes.

The Founder and Executive Director of Tiny Pines Foundation, Alyssa Nolan lost her house in a 2008 Concow fire. She says she wants to be there for others who are going through the same struggles she faced.

Letting people know that people love them and the community cares and just offering a little hand of hope by giving some love and action. Were really hoping to be a blessing so survivors dont have to use their money to provide a dinner for their families, and maybe they can use it for something else to help them rebuild," said Nolan.

Nolan created the foundation in late 2019 and says the main objective is to help people who are going through tragedies especially fires, as several have affected Butte County as of late.

Tama Czarnecki lived in Paradise for 28 years before her house burned down in the Camp Fire. She says this initiative will help so many struggling people.

I think sometimes after a disaster like that, people forget about those who are still in need. I think if you can find them and help them out, theyd be very grateful. I think that its a really good thing to do. I think the people will be very blessed that there is still a foundation that cares," said Czarnecki.

This is the first year the Tiny Pine Foundation will distribute boxed Thanksgiving dinners to the community.
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 made the announcement Saturday as President Joe Biden was in Rome attending the Group of 20 summit.

In 2018, the Trump administration placed taxes on EU steel and aluminum 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 President Donald 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.
One of the four owners of the Club West Golf Course said he and his partners will seek talks
https://www.aish.com/tp/ss/ssw/Toldot-5782-Education-Dedication.html

GOOD MORNING! Earlier this year a CBS news poll asked about 2500 Americans: What is the greatest threat facing America today? Given the fact that this poll was conducted after the January 6th capitol riot, it comes as no surprise that 54% of the respondents answered other Americans and domestic enemies. The other answers were also fairly predictable: 20% economic forces, 17% the natural world (i.e. global warming and coronavirus), and 8% foreign enemies.

I think they are all wrong.

Mark Twain, in an article titled Concerning the Jews published by Harpers magazine in March of 1898, wrote of the Jewish people: A marvelous race, by long odds the most marvelous that the world has produced, I suppose. This well-known and oft quoted article has, for the most part, an awe-like appreciation for the accomplishments of the Jewish people. While Twain questions the secret of Jewish survival over three millennia, whilst almost all the ancient civilizations and great empires have disappeared, he also observed that Jews are peculiarly and conspicuously the worlds intellectual aristocracy.

In this weeks column I would like to discuss this observation. To what do we owe this very extraordinary attribute?

(In next weeks column, God willing, we will discuss Twains other question, the one he left unanswered; What is the secret of the survival of the Jewish people?)

Like everything in the physical world there are many elements and ingredients that form the basis of a finished product. Let us try and encapsulate some of the key elements that produce this intellectual aristocracy and see if we can find a lesson for the rest of mankind. After all, the Jewish people have a responsibility to be a light unto the nations (see Isiah 42:6 and commentaries of Malbim and Radak ad loc).

The basis, of course, begins with the incredible responsibility that the Jewish people undertook when they accepted the Torah from the Almighty and agreed to fulfill all of its mitzvot or obligations. The Jewish nation began with our patriarch Abraham and in this weeks Torah portion we find the Almightys commitment to him and his children because Abraham obeyed My voice and observed My safeguards, My commandments, My statutes, and My Torahs (Genesis 26:5).

As the Talmud points out (Kiddushin 40b), there is no proper fulfillment of Gods commandments without an intense study of the Torah and what it requires. The Rabbis could not imagine a world without studying the will of God. Our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all spent time studying in the school set up by Noahs son Shem and his grandson Eber. Together they founded an academy where people could come and learn the Noahide laws. Judaism is not so much built on faith as it is on learning and the acquisition of knowledge.

Perhaps the best example of the importance assigned to the lifelong commitment to Torah study and intellectual and emotional development is a passage found in the section of the Oral Law known as Mishnah. One of the books in this collection of ancient wisdom is known as Pirkei Avot  commonly translated as Ethics of our Fathers.

In chapter 5:25 we find a remarkable assessment as to the intellectual and emotional development of a person by age: At five years of age we introduce the study of Scripture, at ten the study of Mishnah, at thirteen the commandments, and at fifteen we begin the study of Talmud.

Here we see how Judaism carefully begins to structure a lifelong commitment to studying from a very young age and the consideration given as to the age appropriate material at each stage of intellectual and emotional development. Thus, education and Torah study is at the very core of Jewish life from early childhood and continues into adulthood. There is a reason that the Jewish people are known as the people of the book.

The Renaissance-age philosopher Desidrrius Erasmus once noted, The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth.

Perhaps the most incredible benefit of a society built on intellectual growth and achievement is that it naturally becomes a society built on meritocracy. That is, regardless of ones socioeconomic background or family linage, a person can achieve the greatest heights through hard work and intellectual prowess. The greatest leaders of the Jewish people throughout the ages have almost always been appointed to those positions based on their personal achievements in Torah study.

When the premier societal value is intellectual development and achievement it is only natural that those with high IQs are the most highly valued and are thus offered the best matchmaking options and given the greatest opportunities for further growth. This leads to a nation with an intense drive for knowledge and a desire to be at the pinnacle of innovation.

Compare this core Jewish value of education with the current decimation of the American educational system. The public school system has absolutely failed the American people. This could very well be the opening peal of the death knell of the American people.

I dont know if you have been paying any attention but China has designs on complete world domination. They are currently targeting Taiwan and are actively practicing war maneuvers to defeat whatever modest armed forces the US has in the region. From there they can easily reach and attack Japan, a country with whom they have a long history of territorial disputes and armed conflict. Then the other dominoes will begin to fall. What does this have to do with our current conversation?

Heres the sad truth. Twenty-five countries outperform U.S. K-12 students. Those leading the way are China, Hong Kong, Finland, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Canada. Chinas students not only place first overall, but they dominate each individual subject as well. U.S. students straggle in at 33rd in math, 23rd in science, and 17th in reading. This does not bode well.

Even the American charter school system, a system that was put in place to deal with some of the educational failings of the public system, has begun to contribute to the malaise of under-achievement. The largest charter school system in the United States is called KIPP. It was founded 25 years ago by Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg and today boasts 247 associated KIPP schools and over 100,000 students. Their slogan? Be nice, work hard.

Last year KIPP abandoned this slogan. This is how KIPP Foundation member Orpheus Williams described it: The slogan supports the illusion of meritocracy. The slogan passively supports ongoing efforts to pacify and control Black and Brown bodies in order to better condition them to be compliant and further reproduce current social norms that center whiteness and meritocracy as normal. In other words, they are denigrating a system based on meritocracy as being inherently racist. It is nothing short of astonishing.

Perhaps I shouldnt be too surprised. After all, the far left liberal agenda wields words like diversity, inclusion, social equity, and social justice as weapons to slash at anything they dont agree with. They foolishly conflate social equity with equal opportunity. In other words, they search for equal outcome as opposed to equal opportunity. There is no responsibility for personal achievement or personal growth. They push to remove advanced courses because some ethnicities and races arent represented proportionally.

The state of Oregon, for example, has removed the requirement for students to pass a basic math, reading, and writing test to graduate high school (ostensibly for the next two school years, but we shall see if it isnt made permanent). Somehow it has escaped the brilliant minds running the Oregon public school systems that graduating teens who cant read, write, or do basic math is anything but beneficial  to themselves or the American society as a whole.

Similar nonsense is taking place in San Francisco and New York City. Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, the number one ranked high school in America, known for its rigorous STEM curriculum, is manipulating admissions standards to racially balance the student body at the expense of admitting academically qualified students. The racial rebalancing comes despite the student body comprising of 79% non-white students. The problem? 73% were classified as Asians. Even though they represented 30 different countries, it wasnt the right kind of diversity.

America has become a society that stoops to the lowest level of common denominator; what can we all agree upon without offending anyone? Instead of lifting society with progress, growth, and achievement, the prevailing sentiment seems to be lets collapse everyone to the lowest level of morality and education so that no one feels slighted or left out. It should be terrifying to anyone who cares about the future of the American people.

Meritocracy, the very element that was a key ingredient in the success of the Jewish people, has been absolutely cast aside by the far left liberal agenda. The unfortunate irony of it is that many of those far left liberal leaders are of Jewish extraction. This is part of the downward spiral that begins with the abandonment of the Torah and all the lofty ideals for which the Jewish people have traditionally stood.

We can only regain our equilibrium as a Jewish nation when we acknowledge the primacy of the Torah in our lives and embrace all the ideals that it promotes and represents. Only in this way can we once again become a shining example for the other nations of the world and fulfill the prophet Isiahs words; And the nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Isiah 60:3).

Toldot, Genesis 25:19 - 28:9

Rebecca (Rivka) gives birth to Esau (Eisav) and Jacob (Yaakov). Esau sells the birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup. Isaac (Yitzchak) sojourns in Gerar with Avimelech, king of the Philistines. Esau marries two Hittite women bringing great pain to his parents (because they weren't of the fold).

Jacob impersonates Esau on the counsel of his mother in order to receive the blessing for the oldest son from his blind father, Isaac. Esau, angry because of his brother's deception caused him to lose the firstborn blessings, plans to kill Jacob, so Jacob flees to his uncle Lavan in Padan Aram  on the advice of his parents. They also advise him to marry Lavan's daughter.

Esau understands that his Canaanite wives are displeasing to his parents, so he marries a third wife, Machlath, the daughter of Ishmael.

http://www.aish.com/sh/c/ The roots of education are bitter, but the fruits are sweet.

 Aristotle



In Memory of Marvin Barman,

Moshe Leib ben Eliezer, First Yartzeit Dovid, Keren, Binyomin, Elka, Eliana, and Eliezer Barman
The Chinese government is a threat to free enterprise around the globe.

Helping itself to the innovations of its rivals through hacking and espionage, the communist regime has taken a "by any means necessary" approach to make its economy dominant globally in the 21st century. It's no surprise then that many western nations and businesses have begun reducing investments in this East Asian adversary, hoping to avoid making an already bad situation worse.

But it appears nobody told Elon Musk.

Speaking recently at a tech conference, the world's richest man stated that "Tesla will continue to expand our investment and R&D efforts in China."

You have to give it to Musk, ever the contrarian, he loves nothing more than to zig when the rest of the world zags. Yet, this doubling down (or tripling, depending on who you ask) in China seems odd even for him.

This is the same man who just last year sued a Chinese-sponsored automaker for stealing trade secrets.

Yet there he was, telling the conference crowd that: "My frank observation is that China spends a lot of resources and efforts applying the latest digital technologies in different industries, including the automobile industry, making China a global leader in digitalization."

I didn't detect any sarcasm in his voice.

China doesn't spend anywhere near the amount of capital on R&D as its competitors, and security analysts are in near-unanimous agreement that the gains China has made these past two decades have come from stealing the secrets of western nations. Musk should know this being the CEO of a global enterprise.

Perhaps more outrageous are his comments at the conference in support of greater oversight by the Chinese government. He said that "[Tesla is] glad to see [China add] a number of laws and regulations [around data collection and storage]."

This is the same billionaire who has seemingly waged war on the idea of any regulations pertaining to his business operation in the U.S. Basic ones, such as demanding oversight of dangerous car crashing autopilot software, have driven him to complain about outdated bureaucracy, while the body count continues to rise. The fact that he needs permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to launch an experimental rocket has caused him equal annoyance. He has initiated a public shaming campaign of the FAA and even had the audacity to launch a rocket without FAA approval only to watch it come crashing down in flames.

How can a person who loves nothing more than to bark to the American press about restrictions on his freedom be so enthralled with the regulations implemented by one of the world's most brutal authoritarian regimes?

Often, claims of hypocrisy come attached to issues of money. While such claims tend to be hyperbolic, it seems pretty clear that Tesla's "love" of China is likely its need for revenue.

It's no secret that Tesla sees China as a key market for its continued success, and the result has been the car company becoming entangled with the Chinese bureaucracy. The deal is quite simple: China granted Tesla some minor advantages in self-control over its operations and more than a billion dollars in favorable loans in return for heavy investment in the mainland, which it believed would result in a flourishing domestic supply chain.

The more significant issue here is the negative effect that Musk's operations will have on the American economy and security apparatus.

Nobody, Musk included, could have predicted the issues with supply shortages or the troubles the world has faced these past two years. But what was evident in 2019 was that investment in the American industries that Musk competes in would be critical to keeping American industry ahead of its Chinese competitors.

Musk's interconnected portfolio consists of electric vehicles, green energy, commercial space transportation, artificial intelligence, tunnel transport, and even cutting-edge medical devices. The billionaire has been happy to take billions of dollars from the U.S. government to advance his businesses and looks to take in billions more in benefits from defense contracts and major legislation working its way through Congress. While nobody's asking him to put on a Team USA cheer suit, the least that the worlds richest man can do is put national security considerations before his profit motive.

The U.S government and its private partners are already fighting a digital war against Chinese hackers trying to protect our mainland against more damaging theft and espionage. Earlier this month, a top-ranking Pentagon official resigned because he feels the issue isn't being taken seriously enough. By expanding operations in China, Musk is making access to American innovation easier while simultaneously making American businesses less competitive.

Not only is Musk promoting expanding in China, but he's also supporting Chinese protectionism. At the tech conference, he stated, "All personally identifiable information is securely stored in China without being transferred overseas." This appears to be an endorsement of China's gradual reduction in cross-nation sharing of information. It's very much possible that Musk's data-reliant businesses will face increasingly significant restrictions on how much it can share from the Chinese market. So, not only will China continue to pillage our market, but it will simultaneously restrict access to anything valuable in theirs  giving them a greater advantage in the digital economy.

Musk is the richest man in the world. He doesnt need to jeopardize Americas security interests to get by. His priorities could very well damage Americas standing in the near future, and lawmakers should take note of that when considering how to combat the rising threat of Chinese authoritarianism on the global market.

It may be time to stop focusing our gaze across the Pacific and look to shore up our own businesses first. The threat appears to be coming from inside our borders.

Mark Anthony is a former Silicon Valley Executive with Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR). Mark is now the host of the nationally syndicated radio called The Patriot and The Preacher Show. Find out more at patriotandpreachershow.com.

Image: JD Lasica, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0

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In college, we are taught that one of the founders of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine, was a deist. Indeed, he was. What the professors did not tell us was that Paine's masterpiece, "Common Sense"  the pamphlet that persuaded the American people to move from merely seeking some redress of grievance from the British government to flat out seeking independence  made almost all of its arguments from the Bible.

Paine knew that the American people were the most biblically literate people in the world at that time. Arguably, they were the most biblically literate generation of all history. They were not going to be moved to a war of independence from the reasonings of Enlightenment thinkers. The appeal had to come from Holy Writ, or it would not come at all.

In a masterful polemic, after citing passages in Scripture about the fallacy of monarchy, Paine sums it all up with this:

These portions of scripture are direct and positive. They admit of no equivocal construction. That the Almighty hath here entered his protest against monarchical government is true, or the scripture is false. And a man hath good reason to believe that there is as much of kingcraft as priestcraft in withholding the scripture from the public in popish countries. For monarchy in every instance is the popery of government.

Paine had used Scripture to show that monarchy is idolatrous.

The Revolution was on.

Within a year, the Declaration of Independence would be signed. Thomas Jefferson would later write that the Declaration "placed before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent."

It was an allusion to Paine's pamphlet.

However, it was not just a rejection of monarchy. Paine's pamphlet even used Scripture to decide the form of government that men should have.

Near three thousand years passed away, from the Mosaic account of the creation, till the Jews under a national delusion requested a king. Till then their form of government (except in extraordinary cases where the Almighty interposed) was a kind of Republic, administered by a judge and the elders of the tribes. Kings they had none, and it was held sinful to acknowledge any being under that title but the Lord of Hosts.

Our government was to be a republic. We were not to merely replace a foreign king with a local monarch, but we were to change our form of government altogether.

Now, why is this important?

It is important because freedom and liberty are quickly evaporating from the world scene. According to observers, the rising world power is China, and what strikes the historian is the almost total lack of desire for freedom in the Chinese during their history. They will revolt to overturn bad government, but never to set up a free government. They are comfortable with well-run tyrannies.

The Chinese will rebel when things like what happened during those awful years are allowed to go on for too long, and they have the Confucian classics to teach them that they are right to do so. But in ordinary times, they are conformists, and they care little for democratic government, freedom of speech, racial equality, or the right of minorities to practice eccentric religions.

Indeed, this is true. It is the complacency not only of the Chinese but of most men throughout history. Give them enough food, along with a degree of prosperity, and most men will fall in line. In modern terms, give them fast food, a PlayStation, and easy access to creature comforts, and the people will not care how the government is run, nor who runs it.

The problem is that, at most times, most men do not even desire liberty. It is a rarified concept, which is often foreign to their nature.

Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.

A desire for liberty has to be instilled in men. It is not natural to them. All too often, the default form of government among men is tyranny. Even the anarchism of tribalism defaults to the autocracy of chiefs.

So from whence do we get this love of liberty?

Well, as Tom Paine  yes, the deist Tom Paine  was forced to acknowledge, the love of liberty comes from the Bible: "proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Lev. 25:10). That particular passage made it unto the Liberty Bell.

Or how about this passage from Paul?

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Gal 5:1)

Paul was speaking in a spiritual sense, but the precept flowed over into every aspect of life. Ancient pagan religions  and to a certain extent, halachic Judaism  required a plethora of religious rituals and practices. Do this. Don't do that. Avoid that food. Eat this. Wear this. Don't wear that.

A tyranny of the mind will spill over into a tyranny of society.

An Islam that deprecates women, that honor-kills them, that destroys their libido with FGM, will, of necessity, have no brake, no governor of the excesses of male behavior. Hence, it will descend into violent anarchy. A paganism that destroys the female will produce a tyranny of male excess. A tyranny of the mind, born of superstition, will produce a dearth of science. And so on.

To counter this, Paul introduces only one real law: love one another.

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:10)

Unnecessary rules were gone. This was the source of liberty.

Such a society can operate only if the society is Christian. If a society is not Christian, the individual tyranny that is in the mind of the unbeliever will eventually work its way out into society and destroy it. Without such Christianity, the slide into tyranny is inevitable. Men are too comfortable with agreeable dictators.

Men do not need the license of transgender, homosexual confusion to be free. The answer to Islam, to tyranny, is the gospel. But the West cannot bring the good news if we have abandoned it. We forget that rights are God-given, not state permissions. And, as Christianity is abandoned, we are becoming less free.

One has to be taught to desire liberty. The teacher is Christ.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of a writer who wishes he had paid more attention in his Spanish class, lo those many decades ago.

Image via Pxfuel.

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The Virginia gubernatorial race was a contest that Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe was expected to cruise to victory in, and with considerable ease. His rival Republican Glenn Youngkin wasnt even supposed to be a factor.

But as an ancient Hindu text states When doom is inevitable, the persons intellect works against his or her best interest.

After a series of major gaffes, McAuliffe is now trailing behind Youngkin in a recent Fox News Poll among likely voters in Virginia. Youngkins lead is now eight points which is outside the polls margin of sampling error.

Among the reasons for this fall is McAuliffes preposterous statement I dont think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.

Also, a Youngkin advertisement that featured a mother who successfully waged a legal battle to remove a violent and sexually explicit novel from the school curriculum was branded as a "racist dog whistle." by McAuliffe. That didn't go over too well with voters, either.

Overall, McAuliffe is beginning to look desperate and consequently lackluster.

Things took a turn for the worse yesterday when the disgraced anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project attempted to orchestrate a hoax that involved five individuals dressed up as white supremacists expressing support for Youngkin in a bid to repel Virginia's voters. Among these white supremacists reluctantly standing before Youngkins campaign bus was a black man and what appeared to be a woman.

The motives behind this disgraceful and amateur stunt were instantly discovered and ridiculed on social media.

But that didn't stop members of McAuliffes campaign team and their allies in the media, amplifying the hoax.

McAuliffes outraged communications staffer Jen Goodman tweeted that the gathering was disgusting and disqualifying.

This is who Glenn Youngkins supporters are, said Christina Freundlich, who is part of McAuliffes campaign team.

This is the same Lincoln Project whose co-founder was accused of sexually harassing more than 20 young men while the senior management was accused of looking the other way, despite being aware of it. Also, of the $90 million that the Lincoln Project has raised, more than $50 million has gone to firms controlled by the groups leaders.

It is ironic that the Lincoln Projects stated objective is to purge President Trump and the MAGA movement from the GOP for moral reasons. Obviously, the leaders of the Lincoln Project have no self-awareness.

Its very name is a vile affront to the legacy of the great Abraham Lincoln.

The sole reason the Lincoln Project owned up to their failed false flag operation and tried to claim it was a 'reminder' is that it was so poorly executed that even casual observers were not fooled.

Another possible reason is that the McAuliffe people probably ordered the Lincoln Project to own it because it was making McAuliffe's team look bad and they desperately needed a way to wash their hands of this stunt.

It is highly unlikely that the McAuliffe people were unaware of this caper, they are probably having angry calls with the Lincoln project people about its poor execution as you read this.

But as always, the lie traveled around the world and back again while the truth was lacing up its boots. The goal of such political dirty tricks is to turn off just enough voters to affect the direction of the election, which can be important when polls are tight and the vote is days away.

The tweets of condemnation from McAuliffe's people, falsely accusing Youngkin, still haven't been deleted.

If this stunt manages to convince just a small percentage of ignorant voters that Youngkin is a white supremacist, it could be the difference between victory and defeat.

But there are other questions to ponder.

What if this hoax was "properly executed the way the perpetrators had expected to execute it? What if the truth had never come out?

What if the actors had looked at their parts with their actions and their slogans appeared authentic?

What if they had indulged in some measure of violence?

The mainstream media would have caused a frenzy calling it the new Charlottesville march or a sequel to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The incident would have doubtlessly received international prominence and not just Youngkin but President Trump would have been blamed.

No amount of denial or repudiation from any Republican would have been accepted. Finally, 'Republicans' such as Mitt Romney would have condemned it in a bid to be regarded as "one of the good ones."

The frenzy would probably have dissuaded a considerable number of voters from supporting Youngkin because people generally believe what they see before their eyes.

Another question to ponder is how many such false flag operations have been successfully executed in the past such that news organizations and history books cover them as the real thing?

The stunt may have looked amateur and pathetic, but the intentions were nothing short of sinister.

What is equally stunning is neither McAuliffe nor his endorsers that include the likes of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are talking about McAuliffe's previous record as governor.

They are also not talking about his future plans to fix the economy, support small businesses, create jobs, improve the health care system, helping law enforcement, help war veterans and senior citizens.

The reason is McAuliffe has nothing significant to boast about during his tenure as governor. He also has no intentions of serving the people of Virginia. The only goal is to gain power and use it to implement stringent and undemocratic controls on regular citizens and children.

To achieve this, they indulge in petty, bitter, negative, cynical, vicious, and spurious attacks and amateurish stunts.

None of these issues that are being raised represent anything measurable, tangible, or concrete. The Lincoln Project stunt in the name of supporting McAuliffe was symbolic -- it is supposed to appeal to the voters' darkest emotions of fear.

This is a disgraceful fall in the quality of discourse and McAuliffe is solely to blame for it.

Hopefully, Virginia Republicans will be vigilant during the voting and counting to prevent any fraud from occurring.

Hopefully, Virginians will not be fooled by hoaxes and will choose wisely.

Image: Twitter screen shot

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Joe Biden, his spokeswoman Jen Psaki. and others in their orbit want foreign producers to drill more fossil fuels because for some reason we don't have enough energy over here.

Here's a humorous but sad statement from an "energy advisor" in the White House, as reported by the Daily Signal:

Nation in Energy Crisis, White House Adviser Says A top White House official said there was an energy crisis in the U.S. and urged foreign fossil-fuel producers to ramp up production to quell it. We see this as an energy crisis because this is not just natural gas prices that have been elevated, but crude oil is at very high levels at the moment  and gasoline prices in the United States today are at seven-year highs as natural gas peaks at the same time, White House energy adviser Amos Hochstein remarked during a virtual event hosted by the International Energy Forum on Thursday. So I think this is an energy crisis.'

It's as if Biden didn't shut down drilling and pipelines over here.

That couldn't have caused the problems. It is probably Trump's fault. That is who they always blame.

It's as if Democrats aren't shooting for carbon zero by 2030 and trying to destroy anyone who produces and uses oil, natural gas, and coal.

It's as if the Democrats didn't have a theatrical hearing to destroy and bankrupt the oil producers, with no evidence, that they cause temperatures to rise and climate change. They were told they owe billions in damages to many countries.

It's as if oil producers didn't greatly increase the length and quality of life of everyone who has used their products in the last 10 years.

It's as if oil didn't greatly improve productivity.

I wonder why the oil producers won't use their profits to drill when the Democrats threaten them every day and call them evil.

I wonder why we are short of supply and prices are up. across the board. Could it be that energy costs affect the price of everything?

These concepts are so hard (for Democrats) to understand.

Of course, the solution is to have foreign producers produce more -- so that Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia can have more power and make more money. Their oil won't affect the temperatures and climate, by the logic of these Bidenites, so it is O.K.

It is a shame that most Biden officials, most supposed journalists, and other Democrats couldn't win an intelligence contest against a fifth-grader.

These Biden advisors, along with Biden, are all dimwits and dangerous to our economic survival as a great country.

Let's go Brandon!

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License

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I was pretty harsh yesterday, criticizing Scranton Joes first day of his European tour, calling it a clown show. Not that the legacy media would even hint at that. But it turns out that I wasnt critical enough.

It seems that when Biden sought to soothe French President Macrons anger over stealing away a big submarine-building contract that had Australia spending close to 20 billion dollars on French submarines, he gave no thought to the insult he was delivering to Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison. It was bad enough that Biden admitted being totally out of the loop on a major deal affecting two close allies. Now, both of them are angered.

But the Aussies noticed. Via a paywalled article in the Courier Mail (of Brisbane):

Scott Morrison maintains the White House was kept in the loop about Australias discussions with France before his decision to rip up a $90bn submarine contract sparked a diplomatic rift. (snip) US President Joe Biden appeared to criticise the Prime Minister when he told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the AUKUS defence pact was not handled with a lot of grace before it was announced last month. Mr Biden said it was clumsy and that he was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not going through, honest to God. (snip) Asked about Mr Bidens comments, Mr Morrison said: Ill leave his remarks to him. The Prime Minister said the submarine switch was always a difficult decision but that he did not recoil from it at all. Australia made the right decision in our interests to ensure we have the right submarine capability, Mr Morrison said.

Biden meeting with Macron in Rome Photo credit: YouTube screen grab.

Remember when Biden was sold to voters as a foreign policy expert? Well, I admit it does take some kind of expertise to alienate both sides in a major dispute.

Hat tip: John McMahon

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As Joe Biden threatens to destroy the lives of Americans who dont get the COVID-19 vaccine, his administration has been caught releasing thousands of COVID-positive migrants into the U.S.

The Biden administration, through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has reportedly released more than 16,000 COVID-positive migrants into the U.S. since taking office in January. Roughly 12,000 of the infected migrants released into the U.S. were between the ages of 18 and 40, and a whopping 11,800 of those were men. The report added that none of the migrants were offered or forced to get a COVID-19 vaccine. This follows an August report from former Customs and Border Patrol chief Mark Morgan that the Biden administration had released at least 40,000 COVID-positive migrants in the U.S., with Morgan calling his estimate conservative.

This is despite the fact that the Biden administration is preparing to release a rule ordering all employers with more than 100 people on staff to force their employees to either get vaccinated or else test for COVID once a week. Biden has also mandated the vaccine for all federal employees, under threat of firing if they dont comply. This includes members of the military, many of whom may soon be dishonorably discharged over their decision to not get vaccinated. The mandate also includes federal contractors.

Regardless of whether or not you support the COVID-19 vaccine, or vaccine mandates generally, it is quite jarring to see Biden force Americans to comply with heavy-handed edicts while he encourages waves of illegal immigrants to enter the country with no vaccine requirements at all.

To add insult to injury, the Biden administration is requiring foreign nationals who legally enter the country to show proof of vaccination and proof of a negative test when it reopens international travel in November.

So individuals traveling to the U.S. from other countries to visit family members they havent seen in nearly two years will have to jump through several COVID-related hoops, but illegal immigrants from low-vaccinated, disease-ridden nations (COVID is far from the only disease they are bringing in) are able to come through the border with no strings attached. How does this make any sense in the context of public health? The answer is: it doesnt, and its not supposed to.

Almost all of Bidens actions on immigration since taking office have run contrary to basic common sense when it comes to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

For starters, the Biden administration has allowed roughly 1.7 million people to cross the border amidst the pandemic, setting an all-time yearly record. The Biden White House has also repeatedly tried to end the remain-in-Mexico policy, a landmark accomplishment of the Trump administration, which dramatically reduced traffic on the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, the Biden administration could be poised to repeal Title 42, a public health order, which allows the U.S. to turn away migrants due to the ongoing pandemic.

Biden has already significantly watered down the Trump-era policy but has come under increasing pressure from activists in recent months to end the policy altogether. Earlier this month, an anti-borders activist resigned from the administration in protest over the continued use of Title 42. Shortly after, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in a nod to the activist class, repudiated Title 42, suggesting that his hands were tied by the CDC.

The Title 42 authority is a public health authority. And it is not an immigration policy. It is not an immigration policy that we in this administration would embrace, Mayorkas said.

Given the messaging shift, its not unreasonable to believe that one of the few remaining sane immigration policies the Biden administration has left on the books, could soon be on the chopping block. Ending Title 42 would remove even the veneer of responsible public health policy on the border just as the mother of all caravans prepares to invade through the U.S.-Mexico border. While Biden enforces strict COVID rules on American citizens, activists and organizers are planning to bring thousands of migrants across the border, many of whom will be released without a COVID test or vaccine.

Regardless of ones feelings on public health restrictions, it is clear that Joe Biden and his administration have not applied them equally. While other governments with strict restrictions have sealed their borders closed, Biden has flung Americas wide open. This is because Joe Biden apparently does not care about public health, certainly not if it interferes with his administrations goal to import as many potential future Democrat voters as possible.

William J. Davis is a communications associate for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.

Image: Screen shot from NBC News Now video, posted on YouTube

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On October 21, 2021, Vladimir Putin addressed the Valdai Discussion Club, a Russian think tank established in 2004. His observations, especially about woke culture deserve attention even though he holds power as an autocrat and likely has permanently disposed of individuals who do not appreciate his rule.

From his remarks, alone, it is clear that Putin does not consider himself a communist, for he identifies himself as a moderate conservative. This may explain why leftists were so happy to smear Trump as a Russian stooge and to ascribe to Putin all sorts of election interference in America.

The theme at Valdai was Global Shake-up in the 21st Century: The Individual, Values, and the State. Americas Democrats were horrified, with The Washington Post calling the address an attack on Western liberalism. The reason for this horror is clear: As The Advocate explained, Putin opposes the so-called transgender movement, which he calls a crime against humanity. A closer, less biased reading of the text, suggests that Putin spoke in the tradition of Western liberalism.

Early in his remarks, Putin acknowledged that we are facing systemic changes in all directionfrom the increasingly complicated geophysical conditions of our planet to a more paradoxical interpretation of what a human is and what the reasons for his assistance are. Hes sufficient au courant of Western thinking to have climbed aboard the climate change express, intimating that droughts, floods, hurricanes and tsunamis are the future. The COVID pandemic, too, is another reminder of how fragile our community is, how vulnerable it is, and our most important task is to ensure humanity a safe existence and resilience.

Putin took a detour to note that [e]veryone is saying that the current model of capitalism...has run its course and no longer offers a solution to a host of increasingly tangled differences. He pointed to the problem of unequal distribution of wealth as a major and deep threat to social divisions. Putin told the Valdai gathering, Disappointment spurs aggression and pushes people to join the ranks of extremists.

He also commented that, while the pandemic, theoretically, was supposed to rally the people against this massive common threat, it has, instead, become a divisive rather than a unifying factor. Where are the fundamentals of Western political thought, he asked. It appears there is nothing there, just idle talk.

Putin, like many conservatives, believes that the pandemic killed globalism. Instead, it has clearly shown that the international order is structured around nation states. Acknowledging that, in recent decades, many observers dismissed the concept of the nation-state as outdated and outgoing, Putin said, Only sovereign states can effectively respond to the challenged of the times and the demands of the citizens.

And then, tactfully, without naming names, Putin attacked the madness that is Bidens America. [E]ach state, he said, should decide for itself how best to deal with crises, based on its abilities, culture, and traditions. With this statement, he began the observations that so horrified Democrats and their fellow travelers, for he explained that current cultural developments underway in the West are unacceptable in Russia because Russia has learned from its unfortunate experience with the Bolshevik revolution, a century ago.

Before presenting passages from Putins important address to the Valdai Discussion Club, here are a few of his observations that did not mention the U.S., but are clearly directed at it:

The fight for equality and against discrimination has turned into aggressive dogmatism bordering on absurdity, when the works of the great authors of the past  such as Shakespeare  are no longer taught at schools or universities, because their ideas are believed to be backward. The classics are declared backward and ignorant of the importance of gender or race. In Hollywood memos are distributed about proper storytelling and how many characters of what colour or gender should be in a movie. This is even worse than the agitprop department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Countering acts of racism is a necessary and noble cause, but the new cancel culture has turned it into reverse discrimination that is, reverse racism. The obsessive emphasis on race is further dividing people, when the real fighters for civil rights dreamed precisely about erasing differences and refusing to divide people by skin colour. I specifically asked my colleagues to find the following quote from Martin Luther King: I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by their character. This is the true value. However, things are turning out differently there. By the way, the absolute majority of Russian people do not think that the colour of a person's skin or their gender is an important matter. Each of us is a human being. This is what matters. In a number of Western countries, the debate over mens and womens rights has turned into a perfect phantasmagoria. Look, beware of going where the Bolsheviks once planned to go  not only communalising chickens, but also communalising women. One more step and you will be there. Zealots of these new approaches even go so far as to want to abolish these concepts altogether. Anyone who dares mention that men and women actually exist, which is a biological fact, risk being ostracised. Parent number one and parent number two, 'birthing parent instead of mother, and human milk replacing breastmilk because it might upset the people who are unsure about their own gender. I repeat, this is nothing new; in the 1920s, the so-called Soviet Kulturtraegers also invented some newspeak believing they were creating a new consciousness and changing values that way. And, as I have already said, they made such a mess it still makes one shudder at times. Not to mention some truly monstrous things when children are taught from an early age that a boy can easily become a girl and vice versa. That is, the teachers actually impose on them a choice we all supposedly have. They do so while shutting the parents out of the process and forcing the child to make decisions that can upend their entire life. They do not even bother to consult with child psychologists  is a child at this age even capable of making a decision of this kind? Calling a spade a spade, this verges on a crime against humanity, and it is being done in the name and under the banner of progress.

Had Putin said any of this in America, he would have been shouted down and...well, heck, we dont need to speculate. Just look at what LGBTQ cancel culture is doing to Dave Chappelle. As Putin said, the leftists in the Westin Americahave become even worse than the agitprop department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Although he enjoys the benefits of being a dictator who seems comfortable with using the nations wealth to reward his friends and the nations police power to destroy his enemies...uh, is it me or does that sound like the Biden administration? But back to the point: Putin is not an Enlightenment-style liberal but, as someone raised and successful within the communist system, he fully understands what it takes to destroy a nation from within to vest permanent power in the hands of a small number of people.

Even if The Washington Post and The Advocate dont like Putins words, the rest of us would be very wise to attend to them.

Image: Vladimir Putin. YouTube screen grab.

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In 2020, BLM, Antifa, and opportunists rampaged through American cities, looting, burning, and assaulting and even murdering people. Leftists, including most major American corporations, contributed millions of dollars to various BLM funds, including funds to release those few who were arrested from prison. Most suffered minimal to no consequences. Meanwhile, nine months after the riot on January 6which Tucker Carlson seems poised to expose once and for all as a false-flag operationAmericans who accepted the Capitol Polices invitation to enter the Capitol are quite literally being tortured in prison.

The Conservative Treehouse has published a letter from Nathan DeGrave (originally in Brad Geyers Twitter thread relaying what DeGrave told him). DeGrave describes himself as a non violent participant at the Jan 6th rally.

The contents are stomach-churning. The psychological abuse, physical neglect, and denial of legal rights grossly violate the 8th Amendments promise that no Americans shall be subject to cruel and unusual punishmentsomething especially applicable here because none of the people being treated this way have been convicted.

The January 6 prisoners have also been denied their 6th Amendment right to a speedy trial. Given the D.C. forum, theyre likely, as well, to be denied the 6th Amendments guarantee of an impartial jury. Instead, theyve been imprisoned for nine months without trial or bail, almost all for non-violent offenses.

DeGrave describes in some detail the following abuses:

For the first four months, 23-24 hours a day solitary confinement.

Arbitrary, capricious, and constant punishment for minor, random infractions.

Even in solitary, being required to wear masks constantly, with any deviation the subject of a disciplinary report

Confiscation of privileged, legal documents as well as chronic and significant interference with the attorney-client relationship. Note that this is one of the most privileged relationships under American law.

Medical neglect, including refusing treatment for Christopher Worrell, who has both cancer and a broken hand. (Finally, two weeks ago, federal judge Royce Lamberth filed contempt charges against the prison warden for this one.)

Health hazards include overflowing raw sewage, mold, and dirty water.

Malnutrition from inedible and marginal food.

Denial of access to personal hygiene.

Minimal visits, including preventing access to attorneys unless the latter are both vaccinated and tested. (This may explain why the January 6 defendants seem to have been getting such abysmal legal representation.)

Denial of access to religious services, classes, and activities, all of which are available to non-political prisoners. When Ryan Samsel attempted to organize a Bible study group, correctional officers (mostly leftists from Africa) beat him and left him for dead. He permanently lost vision in one eye and suffered brain damage.

As the only White Republicans in the jail, the men are subject to a constant barrage of racial abuse.

Please note, too, that the above is a summary. You need to read DeGraves letter in its entirety to appreciate fully just what the D.C. prison system is doing to the January 6 prisoners in its care. If what you read sounds familiar, its because youve read similar things about prisons in the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and other totalitarian countries that, lacking a Constitution, routinely imprison and torture people for their political viewpoints.

The D.C. prison system gets away with this because it knows that no jury in D.C. will ever convict the system or the individuals in the system for these acts. They also know that, as long as Merrick Garland is focused on going after parents opposed to Critical Race Theory, transgender madness, and forced masking, and the administration is preparing to give illegal aliens $450,000 because they were treated in accordance with American law, the Department of Injustice will leave them alone.

It is truly shocking that, using COVID and a gamed election, Democrats have managed in nine months to bring America crashing down. Theyve destroyed the economy, opened the borders, weakened the military, unleashed rampant racism, put sexual perversion in Americas schools, kept ordinary Americans under house arrest, and made our prisons the functional equivalents of the finest that totalitarian countries have to offer. In nine months! The mind boggles at what can happen between now and elections in November 2022.

(By the way, I forgot to add my pronouns to posts Ive written over the past few days. My pronouns for today are Lets go, Brandon! and Jill Biden thinks shes Edith Wilson. What are yours?)

Image: Prisoner by Hasan Almasi. Unsplash license.

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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.
The UK and France have only two days left to resolve their increasingly fractious differences over fishing rights before Paris imposed deadline to introduce port restrictions and border checks.

French officials have warned that it will bar UK fishing boats from some ports and tighten customs checks on lorries entering the country with British goods from Tuesday unless more licences for small boats to fish in British waters are granted.

The row has threatened to boil over as Brexit minister Lord Frost accused France of a pattern of behaviour against Britain, with ministers in Paris having previously suggested they may restrict energy supplies to the UK and Jersey because of the disagreement.

The Prime Minister met with the European Unions top official, Ursula von der Leyen, in person while in Rome for the G20 summit to express his concern over Frances behaviour.

In an escalation of the dispute, Lord Frost has warned Brussels that the entire bloc will be in breach of the post-Brexit free trade deal terms with Britain if France carries out its threats.

The Conservative peer, in a series of tweets on Saturday, said the UK was actively considering triggering legal proceedings included in the trade agreement to solve the issue.

He said: These threats, if implemented on November 2, would put the EU in breach of its obligations under our trade agreement.

6 As I set out yesterday to @MarosSefcovic, 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.  David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) October 30, 2021

So we are actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings as set out in Article 738 of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA).

A letter from French prime minister Jean Castex to European Commission president Ms von der Leyen, in which he said the UK should be shown it causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in, has sparked fury in London.

Cabinet minister Lord Frost said the comments were very troubling and very problematic, especially with highly sensitive negotiations currently underway with Brussels in an attempt to find a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Sunday Telegraph quoted a senior Government source who said Mr Castexs letter definitely raises a question of whether the EU was acting in good faith around the talks on Northern Ireland.

In a meeting with Ms von der Leyen in the margins of the G20, Mr Johnson issued a warning over Frances rhetoric.

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

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister raised his concerns about the rhetoric from the French government in recent days over the issue of fishing licences.

The Prime Minister stressed that the French threats are completely unjustified and do not appear to be compatible with the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement or wider international law.

The wrangle over fishing access escalated this week after French authorities detained a Scottish-registered scallop dredger, accusing it of fishing without a licence.

The captain of the Cornelis Gert Jan vessel, understood to be an Irish national, has been told to face a court hearing in August next year.

Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron do a fist bump during the G20 summit in Rome (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

The Prime Minister and French president Emmanuel Macron  who were seen greeting each other with a fist bump during a photo opportunity in the Italian capital  are due to talk on the margins of the G20 summit this weekend.

It comes as the two leaders were warned by environmental experts to put their differences on fishing behind them or else put the key UN Cop26 climate conference at risk.

Professor Lord Stern, whose government report in 2006 warned of the catastrophic results of delaying action on climate change, said the UK and France needed to work together to address climate change rather than argue about an issue that was comparatively trivial.

In comments to the Observer, the crossbench peer said there was a history of French and British leaders joining forces on climate change despite major political differences, citing the tense relationship between former Elysee Palace incumbent Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair after the Iraq war.
Climate campaigners say lack of access to coronavirus vaccines has hampered those most affected by climate change from attending the Cop26 conference.

As the global climate summit formally opened in Glasgow on Sunday, campaign groups claimed it was the most exclusionary to date and this would hit the decisions made.

Speaking at a press conference in the blue zone of the summit, Dorothy Guerrero, of Global Justice Now, said the refusal to give more manufacturers, particularly in developing countries, access to produce the vaccine is part of the reason some were unable to attend.

She said: It is not a crime coming from a developing country or a poor country.

Youre already saddled by the fact that your country was affected already for many decades, and you are the least responsible for this climate change.

And yet you could not come here and raise your voice in this important meeting simply because you dont have access to the vaccine and hence you cant attend the Cop.

She said some would-be attendees could not start to process their visa because of a lack of vaccinations from the UK.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK, the UNFCCC and partners will work to provide vaccines to party, observer and media representatives registered for Cop26 who are unable to get them otherwise.

Nathan Thanki, of Demand Climate Justice  which was hosting the press conference along with the Cop26 Coalition, said many people from the global south were unable to attend due to problems with visas, quarantine and costs  much of which he believes could have been avoided.

He said this was a political issue and a far cry from the presidencys stated goal of having the most inclusive Cop ever.

He added: When the people are coming from the front lines of the climate crisis when they are not able to be in room, raise their voices and make their demands, when they have to jump through millions of hoops just to be here and then be tokenised of course you get rhetoric without action.

Earlier this week, US congresswoman donated Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez donated 10,000 US dollars (7,250) to a fund to help get young climate activists to the summit.

The Cop26 Coalition was among the organisations which launched the fundraising campaign as it said about 100 delegates from frontline and indigenous global south communities were unable to attend, despite being accredited.

They blamed this on a combination of the high cost of accommodation, Covid-19 travel curbs and quarantine rules.

A UK Government Cop26 spokesperson said: We have been working tirelessly with all our partners, including the Scottish Government and the UN, to ensure that Cop26 is an inclusive, accessible and safe summit.

We have helped participants from more than 70 countries become fully vaccinated who would not otherwise not have viable domestic access to vaccination and are currently welcoming people from across the world to Glasgow.
Boris Johnson has said he currently sees no reason to activate the Governments Covid Plan B, despite the high level of cases.

Speaking to reporters during his trip to the G20 summit in Rome, the Prime Minister said only the Labour Party wanted tighter restrictions at the present time.

His comments follow calls by the NHS Confederation and the British Medical Association, as well as a number of prominent scientists, for ministers to take steps to ease the growing pressures on the health service.

(PA Graphics)

Moving to Plan B for England would mean the return to working at home advice and the mandatory wearing of face masks, as well as the introduction of so-called vaccine passports.

The Prime Minister said that while the Government was closely monitoring the situation, there was no need to act at this stage.

Were watching the numbers every day. Yes its true that cases are high. But they do not currently constitute any reason to go to Plan B, he said.

I think its agreed among absolutely everybody, apart from possibly the Labour Party, so were sticking with the plan.

The Prime Minister repeated his call for the over 50s to get the booster jab amid concern the protection provided by the vaccines is waning, particularly among older age groups.

I think rather than thinking new restrictions, the best thing everybody can do is get that booster jab as soon as youre offered it, he said.

Its a very important message. I think people dont quite realise that the first two jabs do start to wane.

How sad, how tragic it would be if people who had other complications other compromises in their health got seriously ill because they were overconfident about their level of immunity and didnt get their booster when they needed it

So please please please can everybody get their boosters.

Asked if he could guarantee a good Christmas, the Prime Minister did not answer directly, saying: I see no evidence whatever to think that any kind of lockdown is on the cards.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stuck to rival positions Sunday in their countries' post-Brexit dispute over fishing in the English Channel, with France maintaining its threat to impose sanctions starting Tuesday that could include a blockade of British boats.

The two leaders held a 30-minute meeting on Sunday morning while attending the Group of 20 nations summit in Rome, and each addressed the escalating tensions over the granting of fishing licenses as they held separate news conferences at the end of the meeting.

I dont want any escalation, but we must take things seriously," Macron said "My wish is not to go toward retaliation measures...Its rather to find an agreement."

France has threatened to bar British boats from some of its ports and tighten checks on boats and trucks carrying UK goods if more French vessels aren't licensed to fish in UK waters by Tuesday. Paris 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.

Macron said he invited Johnson to work on a methodology for granting more fishing licenses to French ships.

The ball is now in their court. If the British dont do any significant move, (retaliation) measures starting from Nov. 2 will need to be implemented, the French president said. "I would deplore it. But what we cannot do is not respond and not defend our fishermen.

Fishing is a tiny industry economically, but one that looms large symbolically for maritime nations like Britain and France. Britains exit from the economic rules of the 27-nation European Union at the start of the year means the UK now controls who fishes in its waters.

Paris 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.

Johnson, speaking at the same time as Macron on Sunday, said the UKs position is unchanged."

I must say I was puzzled to read a letter from the French prime minister explicitly asking for Britain to be punished for leaving the EU," the prime minister said. I just have to say to everybody that I dont believe that is compatible either with the spirit or the letter of the UK's withdrawal deal and post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU.

Both sides accuse the other of breaching the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Britain says it is actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings, a formal legal process in the deal, if France does not drop its threats.

A top French top official said Johnson and Macron agreed during their meeting Sunday that there was a need to talk to each other in a situation of important tensions. He said actions need to be taken as soon as possible to get to a de-escalation.

The French official, speaking anonymously in accordance with the presidencys customary practices, said France and Britain would have talks in the coming hours and days on practical details, with the aim to ease tensions and stabilise the situation.

Britain, however, denied the leaders had agreed to take steps to deescalate the spat, saying it was entirely up to France to calm the waters.

The UK government said in a statement that during the meeting, Johnson reiterated his deep concern over Frances rhetoric and expressed his hope that the French government would de-escalate.

Johnsons spokesman, Max Blain, said it will be for the French to decide whether they want to step away from the threats they have made in recent days."

Both in our rhetoric and our actions we have not in any way sought to escalate this," Blain said. ".The de-escalation would have to come from the French side.

But France's Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune on Sunday accused Britain of targeting" France in a political choice" and said Britain had breached the terms of the Brexit deal.

For the EU as a whole, around 90% of the expected licenses have been granted, but all the missing ones are French, he tweeted.
Kal Penn has some exciting news to share: The actor, who rose to fame in the Harold & Kumar films, is engaged to his longtime partner, Josh.

Penn, 44, hasn't spoke publicly about his sexuality in the past. While he says he's always maintained an open attitude with those around him, Josh (whose last name has not been revealed) and their family members are more "quiet" about their personal lives.

"I've always been very public with everybody I've personally interacted with. Whether it's somebody that I meet at a bar, if Josh and I are out or we're talking to friends," Penn told People in an interview to promote his new memoir, You Can't Be Serious. "I'm really excited to share our relationship with readers. But Josh, my partner, my parents and my brother  four people who I'm closest to in the family  are fairly quiet. They don't love attention and shy away from the limelight."

Penn also appeared on CBS Sunday Morning this week, where he spoke about his experience sharing his relationship with both his readers and his family.

"I mean, you know, Josh and I've been together for 11 years," said Penn. "We had our 11th anniversary in October. So, for me in writing about it, I think the tricky thing was... it's very matter-of-fact in our lives, and when you're the son of Indian immigrants who says that you want to be an actor, the chaos that that creates in your family and your community will trump anything else, always."

In his book, Penn explained that he and Josh met while Penn worked for the Obama administration in Washington, D.C. The book details how they fell in love, despite a first date in which Josh arrived at Penn's apartment with an 18-pack of Coors Light and put on NASCAR.

"I thought, 'This obviously is not going to work out,'" Penn told People. "I have one day off from the White House and this dude is unironically watching cars go around and make left turns? Next thing you know, it's been a couple months and we're watching NASCAR every Sunday. I'm like, 'What is happening?' I wanted the reader to enjoy the love and the humor through all of those stories."

In regards to his being gay, Penn said he "discovered my own sexuality relatively late in life compared to many other people." However, he believes that "there's no timeline on this stuff. People figure their s*** out at different times in their lives, so I'm glad I did when I did."

Now, the couple is in the midst of wedding planning. While Penn said he wants "the big ass Indian wedding," Josh is a little bit more interested in keeping things quiet. "Josh who hates attention, has said, 'Or we could just do quick 20-minute thing with our families and that's it.' So we have to meet halfway in the middle," Penn told People.

In his interview with CBS Sunday Morning, the New Jersey-bred Penn shared how he didn't see anyone who looked like him on television growing up.

"If you've always grown up seeing people who look like you on screen, I totally understand why a lot of people are like, 'Well, what's the big deal?'" he said. "But to be invisible, it kind of makes you feel like your possibilities might be limited."

But it was a drama teacher at his high school that saw a spark in Penn, and encouraged him to pursue an acting career. Of course, Penn famously went on to ditch acting for several years when he took a job working with the Obama administration as a member of the Office of Public Engagement, with a focus on connecting with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The career move was unexpected at the time, and Penn said he remembers his manager being "very perplexed." Still, Penn maintains that it's not the politics that reeled him in.

"I don't like politics; I like public service," he told CBS. "And that goes back to my grandparents who marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. And those were the dinner table conversations that we had."

The actor went on to return to life in front of the camera, starring in the comedy series Sunnyside and on the CBS psychological drama Clarice.

On Sunday, Penn shared a video thanking fans for their supportive messages on social media.
India's active caseload stands at 1,59,272, which is the lowest in 247 days

A health worker holds the used vials of Covishield vaccine during a special vaccination drive in the outskirts of Jammu. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: India reported 12,830 new COVID-19 cases, 446 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Health Ministry on Sunday.

Of the 12,830 new infections and 446 deaths reported in India in the last 24 hours, Kerala reported 7,427 new cases and 62 deaths.

As per the ministry, India's active caseload stands at 1,59,272, which is the lowest in 247 days. The active cases account for less than 1 per cent of total cases and is currently at 0.46 per cent which is the lowest since March 2020.

So far, 3,42,73,300 positive cases have been registered across the country since the onset of the pandemic last year in March.

With 14,667 recoveries reported in the last 24 hours, the total recoveries mounted to 3,36,55,842. Consequently, the recovery rate is currently at 98.20 per cent.

The COVID-19 death toll in the country stands at 4,58,186.

The daily positivity rate is 1.13 per cent and it is less than 2 per cent for last 27 days. Meanwhile, weekly positivity rate is 1.18 per cent, which also remained below 2 per cent for last 37 days.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), over 60.83 crore (60,83,19,915) COVID-19 tests have been conducted so far. Of these, 11,35,142 samples were tested on Saturday.

In the ongoing nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive, 106.14 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far.
The number of brands adopting Android Automotive is growing steadily, and the Mountain View-based search giant is already working with several other big names in this regard.As compared to Android Auto, which requires a mobile phone to mirror the Android UI on the larger screen in the cabin, Android Automotive is pre-loaded on the cars hardware. And as a result, it offers a more genuine Android experience, with direct integration of Google Assistant and access to the Google Play Store.In other words, yes, you can install apps on Android Automotive right from the head unit, and today well highlight the most important things every driver should keep in mind.First and foremost, you should always remember that not all apps are available on Android Automotive. So despite having access to the Google Play Store, not all apps can be installed on your head unit, and the reason is as simple as it could be. Each app needs a car-optimized experience before making its way to Android Automotive, and Google even says that if you want a specific piece of software in the car, you should just reach out to the developer for it.Installing apps works pretty much the same way as on Android. Launch the Google Play Store and use the search box in the top right corner to type its name. Google has also created collections of suggested apps, and these include the most popular names on Android Auto, including navigation tools and music software, such as the likes of Spotify.Just like on Android, apps on Android Automotive can automatically install updates when the developer publishes a new version in the Google Play Store.You must always, but always, be logged in with your Google account when installing apps.As you can see, the experience overall is as straightforward as it can be, though this doesnt necessarily mean that everything is working exactly as expected.So for example, Google says the Google Play Store could sometimes fail to download new apps, and in this case, there are several things you need to do.First of all, clear the Play Store cache and data on your Android Automotive head unit from System > Storage > Other apps > Google Play Store. Do the same thing for the download manager (especially if your apps get stuck while downloaded from the Play Store), though this time the path is System > Storage > Other apps > Show system > Download Manager.Also, clear the cache and data for Google Play Services, and your apps should now download correctly.In some cases, a bad Google account configuration might be the one to blame for the whole thing, and the search giant recommends drivers to start from scratch in their cars. In other words, drivers need to remove and re-add the Google Account from the Google Play Store. Just tap the profile icon in the Play Store, sign out, and then do the same thing to sign back in.If nothing works, then simply restarting the engine could actually do the trick. In case youre wondering how come such a basic workaround could restore apps on Android Automotive, the explanation is as simple as it could be.Given Android Auto is pre-loaded at the hardware level, which means it is the operating system powering the experience, it automatically reboots when the head unit shuts down. So when you turn the engine off and on, Android Automotive also restarts, therefore dealing with potential errors blocking the installation of apps.
The B-2 is one of those strangely-shaped machines that were born with the F-117 out of Americas need to hide its airplanes from military radar while flying combat missions. Unlike the Nighthawk, which looked like a flying cubist sculpture, the Spirit has however a flowing look going for it.Shaped like a flying wing, the B-2 is supposed to be invisible to the enemy, being capable of sneaking past defenses and dropping anything from conventional bombs to nuclear ones of the heads of the opposing army - and it did so, minus the nuclear part, in the conflicts in Kosovo, Afghanistan, or Iraq.The one we see here was not out on a combat bombing run, but was up until recently deployed to the Keflavik Air Base in Iceland for the first Bomber Task Force operations over in Europe.Over the past few months, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) released a number of photos showing these planes in various instances (something it doesnt do very often when it comes to the B-2). The pic youre looking at now (click main photo to enlarge), shows the B-2 as it departs Keflavik, having completed its mission there back in September.As youll notice, just like it was the case with the other B-2 pics, this one too is significantly less revealing than what the USAF has gotten us accustomed to with the other planes it uses. Thats probably because this machine, although being public knowledge now, is still largely secret. And its also why, at least to some folk, it will always look like an alien spacecraft.
That's right, folks, the structure you see is not some multi-million dollar yacht meant to escort you around the world in unspeakable style, but rather, the simplest pleasure you can find. Best of all, with a bit of ingenuity, you too can make your own.However, before you get to that stage, let's just look at the design and how it came to be. According to Gessato , the Loyly was created by Tolle Rudebeck Harr as his graduate degree project. The sauna takes its inspiration from Finnish and Japanese architecture, and the result is so clean and straightforward that it must have helped Trolle graduate with honors.The structure is built similarly to pontoons with floats, or in this case, barrels, underneath the main deck to help the Loyly float on any body of water with a large enough surface area. On top of the floats, a wrap-around deck made of Swiss Douglas fir with a teak oil finish offers visitors the possibility of a 360 view of the world around them. With a neat little step ladder that sits slightly submerged in the surrounding water, the base of Loyly is complete.On the other hand, the spa construction is similar to a very, very tiny home. The same wood is used to complete this space too, but segments of the sauna feature semi-opaque screens that look as if they're made from nothing more than simple polycarbonate. These screens keep eyes out but also help keep the structure as light as possible Inside the sauna, don't expect to see much; how many different activities can you carry out in a place like this? Don't answer that. In the spirit of a simple lifestyle, nothing more than a wood-fueled stove and a bench is found inside. Sure, the stove will be heating up a pile of volcanic rock or whatever else you use, but that's it. Just a water bucket and ladle are all that you have to provide. Seeing as how water is all around , there's no use in bringing any with you except to drink.This brings me to the final aspect of Loyly. Judging by the images in the gallery, Loyly is the sort of construction that you'll be putting together on-site. Don't worry, you won't be receiving just a pile of wood, metal, and plastic, but you'll be given step-by-step instructions on how to complete your sauna piece by piece.Beyond the function of a sauna, however, the Loyly can be used for several other activities. You can simply use the structure as a space to have a small gathering, lounge around, sunbathe, or do like the models in the image and use it as a diving platform. The designer also created Loyly to be customizable and can be modified to your liking As is, the idea is so simple it basically should sell itself. So far, no news on when we can order our very own Loyly, but I don't want to be the bearer of bad news for the designer, but for a few thousand bucks , you can very well build your own and save on the shipping costs. I think I just found my next DIY project.
kWh

WLTP

EV

The event called Dream Delivery allowed Rawlinson to present the luxury electric sedan's impressive technical details and talk to Lucid's first clients. According to the EPA's official rating, the Dream Edition will have 520 units  the same number of miles the company managed to extract from a 118battery pack.After taking the new owners on a 65-mile (105 km) journey with the vehicles, Lucid bragged about that fantastic range in a tweet that mentioned they still had 455 miles (732 km) to go on a full charge. What makes the range most impressive is the fact that Lucid achieved it by heavily investing in energy efficiency.The Lucid Air Dream Edition can run 4.4 miles (7 km) per kWh. Its closest competitor in terms of energy efficiency by EPA numbers is the Model S Long Range. With an official EPA range of 405 miles (651 km) and a 103.9-kWh battery pack according to EPAs Certificate Summary Information , it reaches 3.89 mi/kWh (6.26 km/kWh) The Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ got a 350-mile (563 km) EPA range with a 111.3-kWh battery pack , resulting in 3.14 mi/kWh (5.06 km/kWh)Ironically,numbers invert those positions. The EQS 450+ would have up to 785 km (487.7 miles) of range. Divided by the 111.3 kWh its battery pack offers, we get 7 km/kWh (4.35 mi/kWh). Tesla informs 652 km (405 miles) of range in its European websites, under the WLTP testing cycle. With its 103.9-kWh battery pack, its energy consumption is 6.28 km/kWh (3.9 mi/kWh). Weird, right?Despite the testing cycle differences, it is evident that Lucid managed to beat its older competitors in themarket with impressive numbers. Above all, no one will be able to claim anymore that Lucid is only making promises. If that was the parameter for evaluating anything, we know of other companies pledging things they cant deliver for a long time. That was never an issue for its supporters: talk about coherence.
FSD

Full Self-Driving

Yeah, although early production cars will need camera upgrades, as well as FSD computer (all included in the price)  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2021

After some substantial back and forth with @Tesla over the FSD hardware cost issue, was finally almost directly just told to sue them by the last person in the chain, after all but admitting I am correct.



This is pretty sad really, but I'm not going to stand down on this.  Jason Hughes (@wk057) October 28, 2021

I fully understand that the majority of people who follow me here are Tesla fans.



As Tesla fans, we should be the ones most offended when they do something dishonest and hold them to a reasonable standard. We should not defend and twist when they go against what's clear in B&W.  Jason Hughes (@wk057) October 28, 2021

Fact: Tesla stated in October 2016: "All Tesla Cars Being Produced Now Have Full Self-Driving Hardware"



Receipts: https://t.co/V9ABBLdZKg  Jason Hughes (@wk057) October 28, 2021

Fact: Tesla vehicles shipped between October 2016 and (roughly) April 2019 did not ship with HW3, as it didn't exist until then.



Tesla claimed (again) that all cars now have FSD hardware.https://t.co/CMDxoR9UuU  Jason Hughes (@wk057) October 28, 2021

I mean really, guys... come on. pic.twitter.com/onndu6GNPs  Jason Hughes (@wk057) October 28, 2021

Hughes went to Twitter to share a dispute he was having with the company. Elon Musk tweeted on October 22, 2021, that early production cars will need camera upgrades, as well as FSD computer (all included in the price). The Tesla Hacker wanted his cars to have the upgrade regardless of paying foror not.According to Hughes, he got into a substantial back and forth with the company about costs. He thinks there should be none considering that Tesla wrote on its blog on October 19, 2016 , all cars would have Full Self-Driving hardware. On October 20, 2016, the company shared that blog post on Twitter, making the same promise.As Hughes reasons, it was not for all car owners that paid for the FSD package, neither those that paid for future upgrades. It was for all Teslas. When the Tesla Hacker asked the company to stand up to its word, he heard from the last person in the chain that he should sue Tesla to get what it promised him and thousands of customers in the first place. And thats probably what he will do.Elon Musk and Tesla made that same promise again on Tesla Autonomy Day on April 22, 2019. That was when the company announced HW 3.0. This supercomputer would make all Teslas autonomous when the company had the stable release of its software. Since then, customers have received new vehicles with HW 2.5, and Tesla announced a new chip that will make cars autonomous (again), based on Project Dojo.Hughes had to block many Tesla fans that argued he was wrong, probably in a disrespectful way. Including himself as a Tesla supporter, he said that they should be the ones most offended when they do something dishonest and hold them to a reasonable standard. We should not defend and twist when they go against what's clear in B&W.In other words, if Tesla said all its cars made after October 19, 2016, would have Full Self-Driving hardware, thats what the company should stand for. Musk said the upgrades that are now necessary are included in the price, possibly meaning that those who paid for FSD are the ones who should get them. What Hughes argues is that it should be included in the price paid for the cars in light of Teslas promises.For a company whose CEO considered autonomous driving to be basically a solved problem in 2016, that would be the right thing to do. If the company was wrong to promise that, it should admit it and upgrade this hardware for free to all customers who believed it knew what it was talking about. It clearly didnt, but now it wants to evade responsibility for having said so.Hughes is a Tesla researcher. He wants the hardware to understand how it works, even if he is not willing to pay $10,000 for FSD. It is not up to Tesla to decide if the hardware would be useless in a car without the software or not. If it said all its cars would have it, they have to have it: simple as that.That leads us to another reflection on Teslas attitude. The company is deploying FSD Beta to thousands of new customers every week based on the promise it made in 2019 that all cars made from that point on would have all the hardware necessary for. That was not true, as Project Dojo demonstrates.That said, what is the point of releasing beta software to be used in cars that do not have the necessary hardware to achieve full self-driving ? If these cars will only attain autonomous driving with Project Dojo chips, why expose so many people to software that cant do its job without the proper hardware, which is yet to be developed?Perhaps Tesla should just stop making promises it cannot keep. That creates future liability such as the one Hughes will ask courts to enforce. The problem is that stopping with the autonowashing would probably affect Teslas irrational market cap. If it is based on the technology Tesla claims to have, the company should just deliver it. It promised to do so in 2016, in 2019, and were waiting for the next time it will promise the same thing again.Meanwhile, customers like Hughes will try to hold the company accountable for its pledges while being bashed by those who fear what that may cause to their investments in Tesla. For someone who defended the company so many times in the past, such as against the sudden unintended acceleration accusations, it must be a bitter feeling. As Hughes states in his Twitter bio, he wants Tesla to succeed, but in the right way.
Despite having an order placed for the Supermarine Spitfire, the British government tried to get more airplanes from the U.S. They knew that to defend themselves against the German war machine, they would need more of everything, including fighter planes. Thus, in 1938, a few representatives came across the Atlantic and asked for the P40 Curtiss warbird. But things went sideways as the Curtis-Wright manufacturer was already burdened with orders from U.S. Air Force. So, in a desperate move, the British government contacted North American Aviation to develop a warbird for them. The answer was yes, but time was ticking, and by the time they signed the contract, it was already March 1940. Furthermore, Poland was already occupied, and France and the UK had already declared war on Nazi Germany since September 3rd, 1939.When work started on the P51, NAA assigned James Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger to design the airplane. He considered the 1,000 hp Allison V-1710 powerplant. That turbocharged V12 already proved its value in various tests. Just 102 days after the British government signed the deal with the American plane maker, the P51's prototype, named NA-73X, began its ground tests. On October 26th, 1940, it took off for the first time, five days before Germany ended its Battle of Britain campaign . Its airframe was excellent, and the Brits thought that they had a winner. But as the plane climbed higher into the sky, its performance dropped rapidly.The UK air industry already proved its worth during the Battle of Britain when the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire successfully defended the island against waves of bombers and fighters. Still, the war was just at the beginning. In April 1942, the first batch of P51s entered service in the RAF. Thanks to its drop-tanks, the aircraft had a 1,375 mile (2,200 km) range, but it was still vulnerable in front of the ME-109 and the FW-190, especially at higher altitudes. Moreover, the Allison V-1710 lacked in terms of performance above 15,000 feet (4,600 meters).Then, the miracle happened! A team of RAF engineers replaced the American powerplant with a supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin unit similar to those installed in the Supermarine Spitfire. That change made a huge difference in performance, especially above 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), where the ME-109 started to lose its steam. Since the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) had way fewer FW-190 fighters, which were very efficient at that flight level, the P51 started to rule the European sky as a long-range fighter.But things went even better. American engine manufacturer Packard already built the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in the U.S. Thanks to several improvements, the American version of the British V12 RR powerplant provided 1,400 hp. This version transformed the P51 into the hero of the sky for the Allied armies. Fitted with the new powerplant, the aircraft could fly up to 437 mph (703 kph) and reach an operating ceiling of almost 42,000 feet (12,800 meters). That was above the level where the ME-109 was superior. This was the 1943 P51D variant, the best of them all.The P51 served for two purposes: fighter and fighter-bomber. Its main mission was to protect the Allied B-17 bombers , which were sitting ducks for the FW-190s and the ME-109s . During 1943's bombing campaign over the oil refineries from Eastern Europe, operation Tidal Wave, the American fleet climbed above the 10,000-meter ceiling to completely avoid the Bulgarian aircraft, which tried to block them from reaching their targets.This Packard-powered version, also known as the P51D, came fitted with six 12.7 mm machine guns installed on the wings. NAA also installed four hardpoints for 500 lbs (230 kg) bombs or rocket launchers under the wings. The firepower, maneuverability, and speed were soon recognized and feared by the Axis pilots. The aircraft was 32.2 and  feet long, 37 ft wingspan, and 13'8" tall. In addition, its laminar design reduced the turbulent airflow across the wings, which helped with the speed and range. It was also credited for shooting down the fastest WWII aircraft, the jet-engined ME-262. After WWII, the aircraft remained in service even in the Korean War before being eventually replaced by the jet-fighters. Still, it was not only fast but highly maneuverable, and that was an important asset, even when it had to fight against the Russian-built MIG-15 flown by the Chinese "volunteer" pilots. NAA built more than 15,000 units of this famous aircraft and, nowadays, there are almost 200 P51s still in running order worldwide, and 150 of these are in the U.S., either privately owned or in Museums. Tom Cruise is one proud owner of a P51D warbird, and he knows how to fly it.
SOHC

If you ask me, Triumph s mighty Thruxton is one of the best-looking cafe racer-style entities around. The denomination  which is derived from the Hampshire-based Thruxton Circuit  was used for the first time back in 1965, when the English manufacturers Meriden plant produced 52 special-edition Bonnevilles under the supervision of Doug Hele. Four years later, Triumph motorcycles obliterated their competition at the Thruxton 500 race, with as many as five out of the top six places being conquered by these machines (including the first three).After the brand had been resurrected at the dawn of the 21st century, Triumph decided to commemorate this occasion by introducing the beloved Thruxton 900 . This gorgeous piece of Hinckley-bred machinery debuted for the 2005 model-year, sporting an air-cooled 865cc parallel-twin powerplant with 70 ponies and 53 pound-feet (72 Nm) of twist on tap.However, things were bound to get a lot spicier in 2016, which is the year when the 1200 variants of the Thruxton family were released. These creatures received a larger liquid-cooledtwin-cylinder mill that features a 270-degree crank angle, four valves per cylinder, and a mammoth displacement of 1,200cc. When the tachometer reads 6,750 rpm, the fuel-injected predator will channel as much as 96 hp to a six-speed gearbox, which is connected to an X-ring drive chain.On the other hand, a vicious torque output of no less than 83 pound-feet (112 Nm) will be accomplished at approximately 4,950 spins per minute. Upon reaching the rear tire, this unholy force enables Triumphs mechanical spartan to hit speeds of up to 135 mph (218 kph). All things considered, the bike in question is nothing less than a genuine marvel in stock form, but this fact alone wont stop some daredevils from dialing everything to eleven.For these ambitious folks, the French aftermarket architects over at Walid Ben Lamines Bad Winners have created a comprehensive performance kit (dubbed Zero Gravity 2.0) that takes the Thruxton 1200 R to new heights. If youve read our recent article on BWs Yamaha XJR1300 package , you already know that were going to be in for a treat!Starting with the powertrain adjustments, you will find a high-performance camshaft replacing the factory item, along with two-into-one Termignoni exhaust headers and a carbon-clad SC-Project muffler. On the opposite end of the combustion cycle, abundant airflow is made possible thanks to a premium intake kit developed by Free Spirits. Moreover, a Power Commander V control unit from Dynojet is tasked with running the show.This state of affairs bumps Thruxton s peak horsepower figure to a whopping 125 ponies, but the raddest part of Bad Winners overhaul is yet to come. In the footwear department, the stock wheels were deleted in favor of five-spoke carbon fiber substitutes from Dymags inventory, flaunting a diameter of 17 inches on both ends. Their rims are firmly embraced by Pirellis acclaimed Diablo Supercorsa rubber.The carbon wizardry continues with a complete custom outfit thats been painstakingly manufactured in-house. We spot a glamorous fuel tank with BW graphics taking pride of place center-stage, and its joined by a slim cafe racer tail section and seamless leather upholstery down south. At twelve oclock, the fiend is adorned with a fresh fender and a carbon fiber headlight housing that hosts Koso LED componentry.Finally, we arrive at the cockpit, where the Frenchmen installed a tidy top clamp with integrated digital instrumentation, as well as a pair of Renthal clip-ons and Motone switches. Bad Winners will be crafting a maximum of 25 Zero Gravity 2.0 copies upon request, and theyll cost just under 30k ($34,650 at current exchange rates) a pop with the donor bike included.
Kidnapping families, torturing kids for information on whom to ask for ransom, and dismembering those that dont pay: This is how cartels and local gangs operate as they have diversified their business from drug trafficking to extortion.

Why it matters: The stories of survivors show the dire straits migrants face in their journey to the U.S., the one place they think can be a safe haven from the violence, climate disasters, political persecution and poverty that made them leave their place of birth.

As more people attempt crossings or get stranded from express deportations and quickly rejected asylum claims, the cartels and coyotes are profiting.

How it works: The kidnappings happen both before attempted crossings to the U.S. and after expulsions from the border, according to Noticias Telemundo Investiga interviews with dozens of people who were released.

There are hawks," or cartel spies, in bus and taxi stations and sometimes even in migrant shelters run by NGOs. They ID possible targets.

Once people are kidnapped, often forced onto cars at gunpoint, they are told to hand over their cellphones. If theyre not unlocked, their owners are threatened with having a finger chopped off.

The abductors use the phones to extort funds from victims family members, first threatening beatings or rape, and then sending photographs of the victims after those threats are carried out.

The bottom line: Owing smugglers money can mean death and burial in unmarked mass graves in Mexican border states like Tamaulipas, Chihuahua and Nuevo Leon.

By the numbers: At least 6,356 migrants headed to the U.S. were victims of kidnappings and related abuses from January until August, according to the group Human Rights First.

Cartels and other organized crime groups in Mexico can make between $600 and $20,000 from each ransom, per interviews.

Those funds are on top of what the migrants have to pay beforehand to smuggler networks in exchange for a password that helps them avoid additional extortions along the way.

What theyre saying: Migrants "dont report [cartel kidnappers] because they threaten them if they do so [and] most kidnappers have ties to the authorities. It is the perfect business, researcher Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera told Noticias Telemundo Investiga.

Context: Before any kidnappings, most of the migrants are already in severe debt, taken on to start the journey north for themselves or their kids in a risk that they see as their only option.

Those with families already in the U.S. are most commonly targeted for ransoms.

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Abortion would immediately become illegal in at least 12 states if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, and more would likely follow suit quickly.

Why it matters: States have been preparing contingency plans for a post-Roe landscape while state Republicans ramped up efforts to get the landmark ruling overturned. And the future of Roe is on the court's docket.

Driving the news: The court on Monday will hear oral arguments in two cases challenging a Texas law effectively banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Abortion providers and the Justice Department are both challenging the law.

A month later, the court will hear another major abortion case, challenging Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks. The state is asking the court to overturn Roe.

Where it stands: If the court were to ultimately overturn the precedents that established the constitutional right to an abortion, a patchwork of state laws would govern the procedure.

Oklahoma on Monday will become the 12th state to have a "trigger law" in place  an abortion ban that would kick in right away if the court overturns its precedents. Four states have even amended their constitutions to prohibit any protections for abortion rights.

will become the 12th state to have a "trigger law" in place  an abortion ban that would kick in right away if the court overturns its precedents. Four states have even amended their constitutions to prohibit any protections for abortion rights. Several other states don't have trigger laws in place but would likely move quickly to ban or tightly restrict the procedure if the court clears the way: Florida, Indiana, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming would be prime candidates, according to new analysis from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research organization.

Florida, Indiana, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming would be prime candidates, according to new analysis from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research organization. Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and South Carolina have all enacted restrictive laws that were then blocked by federal courts. They could try to revive those policies in a post-Roe world.

The other side: At least 15 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted laws that would automatically keep abortion legal if Roe is overturned.

What they're saying: Overturning Roe would mean that "for the first time in two generations, states can use the democratic process to debate, achieve consensus, and enact laws to protect unborn children and their mothers," said Mallory Quigley, a spokeswoman for the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion advocacy group.

Between the lines: While the Texas cases will not be directly addressing whether the high court overturns or weakens Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the procedural questions they are focusing on could affect how states handle abortion legislation.

"If the court were to hold that federal courts are powerless to stop state laws that prohibit the exercise of a fundamental federal constitutional right, then that gives states an easy avenue to get around Roe and Casey," Marc Hearron, lead counsel for abortion providers in Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson, said in a press call last week.

And the Mississippi case a month later does directly implicate Roe.

Go deeper: Anti-abortion activists' Supreme Court dreams are coming true
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Indonesia President Urged to Take Immediate Action to Protect All Remaining Orangutans and Their Habitat Following Extensive Population Decline
Robert Price is a journalist for KGET-TV. His column appears here on Sundays; the views expressed are his own. Reach him at robertprice@kget.com or via Twitter: @stubblebuzz.
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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 
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Arthur Forrest, a television legend with a 75-year career that covered long-running hits such as Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Thats Incredible!, died on Oct. 25. He was 95.

Marcy Forrest, Arthurs wife, confirmed the death to Variety.

Born in 1926 in Brooklyn and raised in the Bronx as a first-generation American, Forrest completed his education at NYU and landed a job at DuMont Networks studio as a janitor. After learning the business, Forrest went from janitor to page, from page to studio assistant, all the way up to the cameraman on The Honeymooners and Captain Video.

After leaving DuMont and working for New Yorks Channel 5, Forrest directed the popular childrens show, Wonderama, and stayed at the station until 1973, when he left to direct the late night Dick Cavett Show.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1975, Forrest established himself in the world of live television, finding success with ABCs reality show Thats Incredible! and Whose Line Is It Anyway?, along with game shows like The Money Maze and Matchmaker. Forrest also won Emmy awards for his direction on the daytime talk show Leeza and later, The Rosie ODonnell Show.

Forrest also produced and directed Jerry Lewis nationally-syndicated Labor Day Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association for more than forty years. The long-running variety show featured events such as the live reunion of Dean Martin and Lewis, which Frank Sinatra and Forrest had secretly arranged. Forrests wife, Marcy, was the talent coordinator who was the creative force around many memorable segments.

Forrest also worked on the annual Tournament of the Roses Parade on NBC, which he directed from 1977 to 2017. Forrest was awarded his third Emmy Award for his work on the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. He retired from show business at the age of 90 in 2017, having accrued a DGA nomination, 17 Emmy nominations and three Emmy awards over his career.

Forrest is survived by his wife, Marcy; their children, Zak and Nicole; his son-in-law, Steve Byers; his grandchildren, Max and Dahlia; his son from a previous marriage, Richard Forrest and his step-son, Kyle Cascioli.

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SEATTLE (AP)  A federal grand jury in Seattle has indicted a man accused of punching a flight attendant in the face twice and trying to open the cockpit door during a flight from Hawaii to Washington state.

Ryan Cajimat, 21, of Kapolei, Hawaii, is charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants, as well as assault within a special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, the Department of Justice announced Friday. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 18.
Should Christians celebrate Halloween? This is a very common and highly debated topic in Christian circles. Many Christians struggle with whether to celebrate, particularly because of its pagan origins. They see it as a satanic holiday established to worship evil spirits and promote darkness and wickedness. While some see it as a day filled with dark influence, others see it is a harmless day for candy and fun costumes. So who is right and is it possible to celebrate Halloween without compromising your faith?

The first place we should turn to is Scripture. While the Bible doesnt speak at all about Halloween, it does give us some principles on which we should turn to. In the Old Testament, witchcraft was a crime punishable by death. The Bible tells us, You should not permit a sorceress to live (Exodus 22:18). The Bible also tells us, Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 19:31). We can also find examples throughout the New Testament. One can be found in Acts 8:9-24. The story of Simon shows that occultism and Christianity dont go together. The account of Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13:6-11 reveals that sorcery is violently opposed by Christianity. We know that Halloween, no matter how commercialized it is has almost completely Pagan origins. While the day may seem innocent for many, it is not something to be taken so lightly.

So should Christians celebrate Halloween? While there is nothing evil about a Christian dressing up as a princess or a superhero and going around the block for candy, there are things about Halloween that should be avoided. If you choose to allow your child to participate in Halloween, be sure to keep them away from the darker aspects of the day. If your child is going to take part in Halloween, their attitude, dress and most importantly, their behavior should still reflect Christ. How can the Church take advantage of the opportunities Halloween provides? Here are a few things that you can do at Halloween that still reflect Christ:

Harvest Festivals

Many churches around the country host alternative family fun events on or near Halloween. These festivals or events incorporate costumes, but in a godly environment. They are promoted as safe options for families, ideal for those concerned about their children wandering dark neighborhoods at night. Some provide a clear faith focus for their events, while others take the opportunity simply to connect with their communities in a positive way. Some churches go all out featuring Christian concerts, food vendor booths and carnival rides. Regardless of the size of your church, you can easily host a harvest event. It is a great alternative for your community.

Fall Decorating

If youre looking for a more family-centered Christian alternative to Halloween, you might consider planning a pumpkin carving project. This would be a more personal time of fellowship with the members of your family. The festivities can conclude by partaking in a slice of homemade pumpkin pie.

Some churches will also hold youth fundraisers around Halloween. These can be organized pumpkin patches that create an exciting Christian alternative to Halloween. The church youth can sell the pumpkins and the profit can go towards funding youth events.

Hand Out Candy and Tracts With Gospel Messaging

Halloween is a great opportunity to reach children who dont know Jesus. Thats why some Christians use this opportunity to share the Gospel by handing out candy with Gospel-messaging. The kids will be super excited receiving candy and cartoons with the message of Christ. You can simply drop a tract or two and some candy into their bags and youll be giving the gospel to kids and their families without leaving home. Many Christians see this as a once a year opportunity to reach kids and their parents with the gospel. When handing out tracts on Halloween, consider the ages of the trick-or-treaters when deciding which tracts to drop in their bags. While some tracts are designed for young children, others are better suited for older kids and teens.

Have a Community Party

Some church communities have redefined how they interact with Halloween. Instead of retreating to the shelter of their building or their homes, they engage with their neighborhoods. Their children get dressed up and go door to door in the neighborhood asking for candy, and people in the community sit on their front lawns talking with their neighbors. For these people, Halloween isnt just another day; rather it is the one day of year when all the neighbors are out in the streets practicing community with one another. This provides a unique opportunity for interacting with everyone.

Have a Reformation Day Party

October 31st is not only Halloween. It is also Reformation Day, the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the door of All Saints Church  an event that sparked the Protestant Reformation. For many Christians, this time of year can be a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the Reformation. This can include books, interactive activities including plays, crafts, treats and costumes for the occasion.

Its totally fine to choose to not celebrate Halloween. Its also ok to consider alternative approaches to Halloween. You can use the day as an opportunity to engage your community and reach those who may not know Christ.
Prime Minister Hun Sen holds the ceremonial gavel as Cambodia takes over the ASEAN chairmanship on Thursday.

As Cambodia takes over the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2022, it faces an uphill task to accelerate negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

The code, which is intended to mitigate the risk of conflict in those contested waters, has been in the works for about as long as Cambodia has been in ASEAN.

The kingdom joined the 10-nation grouping in 1999, and 2022 will be the third-time that Cambodia has held the rotating leadership of the regional bloc. Its also the third time that Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985, has held the ASEAN gavel that was handed to him from outgoing chair Brunei on Thursday.

Of similar vintage is the China-ASEAN Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), which was signed in 2002 and was meant to pave the way for the COC. But analysts say a final deal is still a long way off.

At the ASEAN virtual summit this week, where the bloc agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with Beijing, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang urged ASEAN countries to expedite COC (Code of Conduct) negotiations and strive for its early conclusion. Chinese officials have been reportedly pressing for a conclusion by the end of next year.

ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam contest parts of the South China Sea with China, which claims 90 percent of the area. Over the past decade, its become an issue that has divided the Southeast Asian bloc, because of the competing interests of its members  including non-claimants like Cambodia with close ties to Beijing.

As the 2022 ASEAN Chair, Cambodia will play a vital role in the negotiation process to finalize the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, said Kimkong Heng, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland and visiting senior research fellow at the Cambodia Development Center.

But Viet Hoang, a well-known Vietnamese commentator on South China Sea, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) this week that given ASEANs consensus-based decision-making, I cant see how ASEAN countries and China can achieve any agreement on key issues, even if Chinas ally Cambodia will take over the blocs presidency next year.

BenarNews is affiliated with RFA.

Risk upsetting China

In his speech at the closing ceremony of the ASEAN summit on Thursday, Hun Sen said Cambodia will steer ASEANs collective efforts to accomplish our most important tasks  especially expediting the rebuilding process of an equitable, strong and inclusive ASEAN Community.

According to Heng, this will be a crucial year for Phnom Penh to improve its international image which was damaged in 2012 when it was accused of siding with China and preventing ASEAN from reaching an agreement on the South China Sea.

It was the first time in the blocs 45-year history that ASEAN failed to issue a joint statement.

Again in 2016, after the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration awarded the Philippines a legal victory against Chinas maritime claims, ASEAN foreign ministers also failed to issue a joint communique due to Cambodias objection to the mention of the South China Sea dispute.

However, the opportunity and ability to mediate the South China Sea disputes will be constrained by Cambodia's close relations with China, said the Cambodian researcher, adding: Given Chinas growing influence and presence in Cambodia in many areas, including economy and military, its unlikely Cambodia will do something to upset China.

Hun Sen, in his summit remarks, reiterated what he called the core spirit of ASEAN  One Vision, One Identity and One Community.

ASEAN since its establishment in 1967 has been operating based on consensus, yet according to Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia and a long-time Southeast Asia watcher, many years ago ASEAN gave up its prerogative to reach a common position on the Code of Conduct prior to meeting with China.

Claimants like the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam dont share the same interests as non-claimants such as Laos and Cambodia.

Since 2013, however, ASEAN has come up with a formulation on the South China Sea that is included in every chairs statement, he said. Which means that Cambodia cannot refuse to issue the chairs statement because of wording of paragraphs on the South China Sea.

Thayer pointed to the well-worn statement that is repeated every year and seen in both ASEAN chairs statement of the 38th and 39th ASEAN summits in 2020 and 2021.

We  were encouraged by the progress of the substantive negotiations towards the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) consistent with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, within a mutually agreed timeline. UNCLOS is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Furthermore, ASEAN chair or not, Cambodia is only one of the parties to the COC negotiations between ASEAN and China, hence has no special authority to influence the timeline, Thayer added.

That puts Phnom Penh in a tricky position with very little room to maneuver, according to Kimkong Heng.

Cambodia will likely continue to assert that the claimant states should address the disputes bilaterally and stay away from getting involved in this hot issue, he said.

Wang Yi, Chinas state councillor (left), meets with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn in Phnom Penh, Sept. 12, 2021. [Reuters]

In recent years, Cambodia has become China's iron-clad friend and friendly neighbour, as Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi described.

China accounts for about 90 percent of foreign direct investment in Cambodia and Phnom Penh has become even more dependent on Beijing after the U.S. and E.U. imposed various sanctions on the Southeast Asian state.

If I don't rely on China, who will I rely on? Hun Sen famously said at an international conference in May this year.

The South China Sea COC negotiation process is likely to get even more complicated since China accused some non-regional players, especially the United States, of getting involved.

The U.S. says its activities in the South China Sea are aimed at ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific but Beijing says theyre designed to counter Chinas influence. Washington also alleged that China had established a military presence at the Ream Naval base in southwest Cambodia.
A photo of the dead body of Jorge Madlos (also known as Ka Oris), a top leader of Philippine communist guerrillas, is shown at a press conference in Malaybalay, southern Philippines, Oct. 31, 2021.

Philippine communist guerrillas confirmed on Sunday that their top commander in the southern Mindanao region and a fellow rebel were killed in a counter-insurgency operation by government forces the day before.

Earlier on Sunday, military officials showed reporters a photograph of the dead body of a man they claimed was Jorge Madlos (also known as Ka Oris), the countrys most wanted New Peoples Army (NPA) guerrilla leader, who they said was killed in a clash with an army unit in Bukidnon province on Saturday.

We support the wishes of the families to have the bodies of Ka Oris and Ka Pica be immediately released to them in order for them to conduct a proper wake and give all those who knew Ka Oris the opportunity to pay their last respects, Marco Valbuena, a spokesman for the NPA, the military wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said in a statement issued late Sunday.

We hold them responsible for murder, he said, referring to the Philippine Army, as he accused it of disinformation and demanded that independent pathologists perform an autopsy on the bodies of the victims to determine the actual circumstances of their killing.

Madlos, 72, was killed alongside Ka Pica, a female NPA medic who the Philippine military identified only as Mavic. The communist side claimed that Ka Oris was unarmed and there was no gunfight, saying the military intercepted the two as they rode on a motorcycle.

According to the militarys account, the two died during a firefight with troops who assaulted a rebel-held area in Impasug-ong town on Saturday morning.

Jorge Madlos, also known as Ka Oris, is dead, Maj. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., commander of the Armys 4th Infantry Division, told a news conference at the militarys Camp Osito in Malaybalay, the capital of Bukidnon.

Madlos was the top most-wanted NPA commander in the country and faced a slew of criminal cases, including robbery and multiple homicides, Brawner said.

Madlos was killed when elite, counter-insurgency soldiers clashed with NPA rebels early in the morning after the military had launched an airstrike on a guerrilla stronghold on Friday, he said.

Soldiers found the bodies of Madlos and Mavic before noon on Saturday, Brawner said.

At the press conference, the military did not present the body of Madlos to the press. The man seen in the photograph provided by the military was clean shaven. Madlos was known for wearing a goatee during his clandestine meetings with reporters. However, the man in the photo had a mole near his right ear, as did Madlos.

Madlos suffered from a renal condition, but Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Barandon, commander of the 403rd Infantry Brigade, could not say if soldiers had also found a colostomy bag near the body. Madlos was known to have one for many years.

In this undated file photo, Jorge Madlos (also known as Ka Oris), a leader of the Philippine communist New Peoples Army, raises a clenched fist at a rebel camp in Malaybalay, southern Philippines. [Froilan Gallardo/BenarNews]

Senior leader

Madlos was the NPAs national spokesman and considered part of the rebel leaderships executive command committee.

Since 2019, the Philippine military has been carrying out intensified intelligence operations and offensives against NPA units in the field, after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered troops to crush the insurgents in an all-out war before he leaves office next year.

Madlos death will weaken the NPA force in the south, where the fighters are expected to split into smaller groups to evade arrests, the military said.

The death of Ka Oris, who was the face of communist terrorism in Mindanao for many years, is a major loss to the communists as his influence had been a unifying force for its followers and supporters in the area, Barandon said in a statement.

With him out of the picture, the CTGs operational balance could easily cave in like a house of cards, he said, using the government's acronym for communist terrorist group.

Madlos group, he said, was conducting teach-ins and indoctrination of new rebel fighters in the area when the military launched its counter-insurgency operation. During clearing operations, government troops found the bodies of Madlos and his aide, along with rifles and ammunition, the military said.

Dating to 1969, the NPA has been waging one of Asias longest-running insurgencies. The NPAs strength is estimated at around 5,000 fighters nationwide, down from at least 20,000 at its peak in the 1980s.

The military says that many rebel fighters have died or fallen ill because of COVID-19. Some rebels who had surrendered earlier told the military that comrades had succumbed to the disease because they could not be taken to regular medical hospitals for treatment.

Most of the NPA rebels killed during clashes with government troops or who were captured since October were infected with the coronavirus or showed symptoms, Barandon said.

The bodies of the two rebels who were slain on Saturday were to be taken to Impasug-ong town before being turned over to the Philippine National Police for a forensic examination.

But if they are found to be positive, they will be buried right there in the encounter site, Barandon said.
Orlando Dinoy, a Philippine journalist who was slain at the weekend, is shown in this undated photograph released by Newsline Philippines, his employer.

A journalist has died after being shot by a gunman at his home in the southern Philippines on Saturday night, police and media watchdogs said Sunday, the latest media worker to be killed in a country notoriously unsafe for reporters.

The gunman shot reporter Orlando Dinoy six times after forcibly entering his home in Bansalan, a town in Davao del Sur province, at around 6 p.m. on Saturday, but the motive remained unclear, authorities said.

The killing of Dinoy, who worked for Newsline Philippines and as an anchor for Energy FM, a radio station, brought to 21 the number of journalists slain in the Philippines since the Duterte administration took power in 2016. The Southeast Asian country has one of the worlds poorest reputations for safeguarding journalists and punishing the killers of reporters.

An investigation was under way to pin down the motive behind Dinoys death, said Joel Sy Egco, executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), a government body.

Egco condemned in the strongest terms this heinous crime against a respected member of the media.

The PTFoMS wishes to extend its deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Dondon Dinoy. We are greatly saddened for your loss, Egco said.

Dinoy, who was a member of the LGBTQ community, died after the attack by a still unidentified suspect, he said.

The task force he heads has direct supervision over police in the investigations of killings of reporters.

He said the police were instructed to carry out a complete and thorough investigation into the incident.

Even if the motive seems to be a personal matter, the Task Force will see to it that justice will be served to those responsible for Dinoys death, Egco said without elaborating.

Police under Brig. Gen. Filmore Escobal, the regional police chief, already have strong leads, Egco said.

One of the angles we are looking for is his work as a media man, Maj. Peter Glenn Ipong, the municipal police chief in Bansalan, told Agence France-Presse.

Edith Caduaya, president of the Mindanao Independent Press Council, said Dinoy was not known to have enemies.

However, the victim had reportedly been urged to run for vice-mayor in the locality, and police have taken that into account, she said.

Citing unsolved murders of media workers, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists last week kept the Philippines on its annual list of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

CPJ, via its Global Impunity Index, ranked the Philippines as the seventh-worst country in the world for reporters, saying that 13 murders of journalists remained unsolved there.

The Philippines is to hold local and national polls next year, and killings linked to politics tend to spike during the electoral season. In May, John Heredia, a former journalist-turned-local politician, was ambushed and killed in the central province of Capiz, but six months later, his killing remains unsolved.

President Rodrigo Duterte has often vowed to protect journalists, whom he has praised as playing a crucial role in advancing democracy. At the same time, however, he has frequently attacked the press, often reserving his vitriol for those who have questioned his administrations controversial drug war. He has also warned the press that just because youre a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if youre a son of a bitch.

His allies in Congress last year voted to shut down television network ABS-CBN Corp. while the head of online news site Rappler, Maria Ressa, was also convicted of cyber libel, but remains free pending an appeal.

On Oct. 8, Ressa and a Russian colleague, newspaper editor Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov, were named co-recipients of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their respective work as crusading journalists who champion free speech and freedom of the press.
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Leaders of the worlds biggest economies have endorsed a global minimum tax on corporations as part of an agreement on new international tax rules
PITTSFIELD  Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday of growing popularity in the United States, but most Americans don't know the origins of the festival that honors the dead through a celebration that emphasizes family gatherings.

The history of Dia de los Muertos goes back some 3,000 years, to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, where, according to History.com, "the Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life."

"Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlan, the Land of the Dead. Only after getting through nine challenging levels, a journey of several years, could the persons soul finally reach Mictlan, the final resting place.

"In Nahua rituals honoring the dead  traditionally held in August  family members provided food, water and tools to aid the deceased in this difficult journey."

These ancient rituals, says History.com, were aligned with the Roman Catholic holy days  All Saints and All Souls  during colonization of Mexico and Central America by the Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century, resulting in contemporary Dia de los Muertos celebrations.

And while Dia de los Muertos ceremonies are mostly associated with Mexico and Mexican American communities, the annual festival also is celebrated throughout Central America and Latin America, where, it is important to note, the traditions and celebrations differ by region, state and country.

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated by many members of the Latino/Hispanic community members of the Berkshires. Laura Cabrera, who lives in Pittsfield but originally came to the Berkshires via Sheffield from Veracruz, Mexico, grew up celebrating Dia de los Muertos  a tradition handed down through generations of her family.

"I remember that we would go to my grandparents' house. At that time we didnt have car and we had moved to another small town. When we used to go to visit my grandparents, we would walk and it would take three hours, walking, to get there. It was a big celebration, especially for grandparents  it was a tradition with their ancestors, that my grandmother passed to my mother," Cabrera said during a recent interview.

"It's [more than] just tradition, the way it feels, it feels so real. I wasn't scared [of the dead returning] when I was little. I was excited by the smells of the foods. It was like magic. It was special to have the whole family together," she said.

Cabrera, a member of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center's Spanish-language Community Advisory Network and of 413 Latinas, said in addition to helping set up the la ofrenda (altar) at Berkshire Community College this year, she and her artist-focused group, I M Art, will be hosting a celebration on Oct. 30 at Race Brook Lodge, in Sheffield, where they will put together an altar, explain what it is about and sing songs representative of Dia de los Muertos in Mexico.

Recently, we asked Cabrera to help us better understand the celebration of Dia de los Muertos, and a few of the traditions that go along with it. Here are a few facts she shared about Dia de los Muertos 

1. Dia de los Muertos is NOT Mexican Halloween.

Thanks to erroneous commercial marketing of the festival, some people have begun to incorrectly identify it as Mexican Halloween. While the two holidays overlap in the belief that the dead can walk the earth at a specific time of year, the similarities end there. Unlike Halloween (with its origins rooted in the Celtic festival of Samhain), where costumes are donned to hide from the spirits who walk for a single night, Dia de los Muertos festivities welcome home deceased relatives who are treated as guests of honor. In fact, most of the festivities are aimed at helping to guide family members home.

2. Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on more than one day.

In Cabrera's family, Dia de los Muertos begins on the evening of Oct. 31, when the gates of heaven open just before midnight (Nov. 1).

"My mother said this night is for the souls who died in accidents or traumas. We put one candle on the altar, with water and salt. The candle is to light the way for them. The water is welcoming. The water and the salt is to quench their thirst. We put out a little plate of rice for them," Cabrera said.

Nov. 1 is reserved for the souls of children who have died.

"At 11 a.m., we take everything away from the altar. At noon, we put out a new candle, water and salt. We put out different foods: candies, apples, chocolates, sugar skulls, and the most important for me  the bread of the dead, which is shaped like small figures of children. It would smell so good. We would also put out tangerines. We had tangerines growing outside of our house, so we cut them and put them out too."

Nov. 2 is a day for adults who have died.

"It begins at noon and ends at noon on Nov. 3. At noon, we take off everything that was set out for the children and put out the mole and tamales. My grandmother, mother and aunt have been cooking the mole all day. About two hours before we set everything out, they would start making tamales. The first plate of mole, the first tamale, the first cup of hot chocolate goes on the altar, because the dead are our special guests. Everything just smells so amazing," Cabrera said.

"We put a lot of flowers  marigolds  out [with the candles, salt, water, rice and other foods]. Marigolds are the traditional flower of the Day of the Dead, they look amazing. We know when the Day of the Dead comes because [marigolds] grow in the woods."

3. The la ofrenda is one of the most important parts of the celebration.

In Spanish, ofrenda means offering. When celebrating Dia de los Muertos, la ofrenda refers to an altar built specifically to hold offerings of food and drink for returning relatives. This shrine of offerings is not used for worship, but rather to hold photographs, memories of and items needed by the dead.

"The altar is, most the time, in the living room or in the center of the house, with chairs put around it.," Cabrera said. "They are built in levels. The first level, at the bottom, is where some people put the fruit  tangerines, oranges, bananas, the rice and other foods, the mole, tamales."

Upper levels are usually adorned with items of clothing or small items that belonged to the dead and photographs of the deceased. The top level is typically reserved for images of saints and crucifixes.

"My grandmother would have a photograph of her mother and of my uncle. When they were cooking, [my grandmother, mother and aunt] would talk about our ancestors. They would talk about my uncle, who was very special, and share memories, of him, about the same things every year."

Items typically found on la ofrenda:

Candles: Help light the way home for spirits.

Water: Helps quench the thirst of spirits after they make the journey home.

Salt: Represents the continuance of life.

Marigolds: Known as cempasuchitl, these flowers symbolize death. Their strong fragrance also helps lead the dead back to their altars.

Incense: The scent of copal incense is said to guide the spirits back to their altars.

Photo: A framed photo of the dead person to whom the altar is dedicated.

Pan de muerto: Also known as bread of the dead, pan de muerto is a symbol of the departed.

Calavera de azucar: Symbols of death and the afterlife.

Fresh fruit: Typically tangerines, oranges, bananas.

Foods: Mole, tamales, and tortillas. Also, the dead persons favorite foods.

Toiletries: A hairbrush, a mirror and some soap with a small towel, so the spirit can freshen up.

The favorite drink of the deceased  tequila, whisky, soda, or anything else.

Mementos and other items the dead person enjoyed in life.

Images of saints or other role models who were important in the dead persons life.

4. Food is a big part of the festivities.

"One of my favorite memories I have," Cabrera said, "is of sitting down with my grandmother and watching her clean dried pepper for a mole. We make mole for celebrations; weddings or birthdays. I recently called my mother and asked her how long it would take to prepare all of the foods. She said, about two weeks, beginning when they buy the peppers and all the spices they put in the mole. Then, when they start to make the mole, they do not stop. I asked my mom, 'How long do you take to cook the mole?' I asked because I have memories of her cooking all day. She said that it would take one day, that they would cook it all day. The day before, the peppers would be put in water."

5. It's all about celebrating life and family.

"We meet at some point when we are alive, and we meet at some point every year when we go into the next part of life. I feel this is beautiful, because I dont feel like my family members have died," Cabrera said. "When Im cooking, I hear the words of my grandmother and I feel they have not died. For me, she lives on with me because I carry her in my heart. The words that she left me, I think if we transmit to our children, our traditions, beliefs or myths will never die.

"For me, feeling of the energy of our loved ones; the smells [associated with their cooking] remind me of sharing food and of family. Those are the most important things for me."
One of the more recognized symbols associated with Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations are the calavera de azucar (sugar skulls) that decorate ceremonial ofrenda (altars) and tombstones during the festivities.

The sugar skulls, which come in a variety of sizes, are decorated in shapes, lines and flowers made from vibrantly colored icing. Skulls placed on ofrendas or tombstones often have the names of loved ones written on the foreheads. "They represent death and the sweetness of life," according to "The Meaning of the Altar," by the Smithsonian Latino Center.

Skulls being used as symbols to honor the dead date back the Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico, in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, according to History.com.

"The Aztecs and Nahua  held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life. Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlan, the Land of the Dead," the History Channel's website states.

Laura Cabrera, a member of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center's Spanish-language Community Advisory Network, whose family is from Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, says that the skulls and skeletons used in the traditions of Dia de los Muertos are not scary to children, but part of the big celebration of loved ones who are no longer with us.

"I remember that it is a reflection of our destiny; on how it is one the we all share," she said, adding she remembers putting the names of her family members on the small skulls.

HONOR YOUR RELATIVES

The calavera de azucar is a wonderful way to honor your deceased loved ones and to create beautiful pieces of art. During the weeks preceding Dia de los Muertos festivities, molds and sugar skull kits are available for purchase through many larger retailers and craft stores. But, you can make your own at home with sugar, meringue powder and water. Most recently, I made my own calavera de azuca using a skull cake pan that I use to make skulzones and a smaller mold that came as part of a sugar skull kit I found at Target. The process was easy, once I had the correct ratio of sugar, meringue powder and water, but patience is required when it comes to drying the skulls. If picked up too early, you'll end up with a broken crumbly mess.

CALAVERA DE AZUCAR

(Recipe from tablespoon.com)

Makes 4 medium 3D skulls (more if using smaller molds).

INGREDIENTS

For skulls:

6 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup meringue powder

1/3 cup water

Royal icing:

1 pound powdered sugar

7 1/2 teaspoons meringue powder

6 teaspoons water

food coloring

DIRECTIONS

For skulls:

Mix the sugar, meringue powder and water together until all the granules of sugar are wet. Pick up a handful of the mixture and squeeze in your hand. If it holds together, its ready. If it falls apart, it will need a tiny bit more water.

Fill your skull mold with the wet sugar, pressing down on the sugar, compacting it as you go. Fill both the front and back skull cavities with the sugar. Scrape off the excess sugar.

Cut a piece of parchment paper and a piece of cardboard just a bit bigger than your mold. Set the parchment paper down on top of the mold. Set the cardboard on top of the paper. Grab onto the mold and cardboard, and carefully flip the whole thing upside down. Set it on the counter, then carefully lift the mold up off the sugar skulls. The mold should pop right off.

Note: If the sugar sticks, it's too wet. Scrape it out of the mold, clean the mold, and add some more dry sugar to the mixture and try molding it again. If your sugar skulls do not hold together, the mixtures needs more water.

Your sugar skulls now need to dry. Midway through the drying cycle you need to carefully flip them over so the back sides can dry out at well. They should be ready to decorate in 12 to 24 hours.

Royal icing:

Make royal icing. Beat together powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water until its shiny and will hold stiff peaks.

Once your skulls are dried, spread a thin layer of royal icing on the flat part of the back side of each skull. Press the front and back sides together. Use your finger to wipe off the icing that oozes out from in between the two pieces. Allow the skulls to dry for at least an hour.

Decorating:

After your skulls are dry, they are ready to decorate. Color small bowls full of royal icing using food coloring. If you wont be using the icing right away, be sure to cover each bowl with plastic wrap.

Pipe royal icing onto the skulls. Any simple or elaborate designs. Get as creative as you like and use lots of bright colors on each skull for a dramatic appearance.

Allow your sugar skulls to dry for several hours after decorating.
A memorial appeared Saturday outside Bux Vintage on Spring Street in Williamstown for Paula R. Buxbaum, 58, of North Adams, who was remembered as a creative, warmhearted community touchstone who devoted much of her life to supporting youths through various initiatives.
Cops and Courts Reporter

Amanda Burke is Cops and Courts Reporter for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise.
The Outlook is today's look ahead at the week's weather, its impact on the Berkshires and beyond. Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com.
News

Judge Buchanon announces he won't seek reelection

Mike Buchanon

Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon, after nearly three decades in office, has decided not to run for reelection in 2022.

Buchanon, 69, told the Daily News of his decision Saturday, saying: Im just at the point in my life when its time for me to focus on the things that are most important to my family.

Buchanon, a Republican, made his decision just days before the window begins Wednesday to file for office.

Rather than file for what would have been his eighth four-year term in the office, Buchanon said he decided to serve out the current term that will end in January 2023 and then retire.

I will focus on workforce development and finish up projects that weve started, he said. All I want is to do the right thing for Warren County.

Buchanon, who succeeded Basil Griffin as judge-executive in 1994, said hes confident the current group of elected officials and department heads in place can continue the county on the growth trajectory that defined his tenure.

Its a tenure that started with a weather-related emergency declaration and is ending with the lengthy health-related emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1994, shortly after I took office, we had a big snowstorm and had to declare an emergency, Buchanon recalled. I had the National Guard in my office reporting to me.

It was baptism by fire. I realized then that this job is a 24-hour-a-day commitment.

That has been reinforced by the pandemic emergency, which Buchanon said has been one of the most difficult periods of his tenure.

You get calls from people unhappy about things being shut down, and you get calls asking you to keep things shut down, he said. It has been an emotional time.

In between those emergency declarations, Buchanon has fashioned a record of growth for a county that has seen its population explode from less than 80,000 in 1990 to more than 134,000 today.

He has been instrumental in the development of the Kentucky Transpark industrial park that was born in controversy but has grown steadily both in acreage and in tenants to where it is now home to some two dozen companies employing more than 3,000 people.

Buchanon was also a driving force behind the development of the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center that is a centerpiece of Bowling Greens downtown revitalization through a Tax Increment Financing district.

The countys parks system has grown considerably during Buchanons tenure, and the county government itself has grown to the point that fiscal court has recently purchased the Sugar Maple Square property on Ky. 185 and the former Community Action of Southern Kentucky building on Center Street to accommodate that growth.

I like the culture weve developed with our parks and through our economic development efforts, Buchanon said. Im proud of all the stuff weve built over the years.

As are many of those who have worked with him.

It has been an unbelievable honor to work with Mike, said First District Magistrate Doug Gorman. He has done a great job for Warren County.

Buchanon said one of the last projects he hopes to complete is seeing broadband internet service rolled out throughout the county. That is being worked on through the help of the Federal Communications Commissions Rural Digital Opportunity Fund grants and a partnership between Warren Rural Electric Cooperative and North Central Telecommunications Cooperative.

Getting broadband done is a big deal, Buchanon said. Its something weve worked on for more than 10 years.

Such projects have occupied so much of Buchanons time over the years that he says Ive kinda shortchanged my family over the years.

Now I want to have time to go to my grandkids ball games and travel some with my family.

Buchanon, a graduate of Bowling Green High School and Western Kentucky University, said it isnt easy stepping away from the job.

I like what I do, he said. At the end of the day, you can look back over your shoulder and see the field youve plowed.
One noteworthy thing about Aaron in the Bible is that he was Moses older brother and mouthpiece in the Israelites exodus from Egypt to the promised land. God offers Moses the position of leading His covenanted people out of bondage and Moses is hesitant, unsure of himself in this role. Moses claims he is slow of speech. What follows next establishes his brother Aarons life purpose. Then the LORDs anger burned against Moses and He said, 'What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you (Exodus 4:14-17). Using Aaron to help lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt is Gods backup plan. Aaron is from the start an aid to his charismatic, younger brother. Aarons legacy increases in importance as the exodus unfolds, however.

Who Was Aaron in the Bible?

The most famous Levites born during Israels enslavement in Egypt were Aaron and his younger siblings, Moses and Miriam. Aaron was three years older than Moses (Exodus 7:7), yet Moses was chosen to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Moses accepted the leadership position with the Lords concession that Aaron be Moses' mouthpiece.

The brothers first, risky assignment was to petition for Israels release from bondage and permission to leave Egypt. Aaron served with Moses as mediators between God and the Egyptian pharaoh. As Gods prophets, Aaron and Moses foretold of 10 plagues God would unleash on Egypt, which threatened the pharaoh into releasing the Israelites. Aaron performed the miracles God had demonstrated with Moses at meetings with the pharaohturning his staff into a snake, turning water into blood, and contracting and curing leprosy. The pharaoh was convinced of Gods power over Israel and Egypt when first-born Egyptian boys are killed in the tenth plague. The pharaoh then follows Gods order to Let my people go.

After the Hebrews are set free to leave Egypt, they are led through the wilderness by Moses and Aaron. God consecrates all of the Levites, one of the 12 tribes of Israel, as aides to Aaron and his sons, who are the Levite priests for the holy nation of Israel. Instead of holding land, the Levites received Gods portion, tabernacle offerings (Numbers 18:8), while they dedicated their lives to service in the Israelites Tent of Meetings (Number 3:5-10). The Levites were assistants to the priest or became priests in Jewish religious practices.

Why Did God Allow Aaron to Accompany Moses when He Went to Pharaoh?

Moses protested when the Lord asked him to speak to the pharaoh, claiming he had faltering lips and couldnt even convince the Hebrew people he was their leader (Exodus 6:12). Aaron appears to be a better speaker and perhaps more confident and outgoing than Moses at the outset of the exodus. Aaron may be more dramatic as he demonstrates Gods miraclesturning his staff into a snake, turning water into blood, and contracting and curing leprosy on his own handsin presentations to Pharaoh and his officials.

Another possible reason God provided Aarons brotherly support to Moses is two people may serve as witnesses to each other in a difficult situation. They may fill in gaps in each other's performance. Making a huge request of the king Pharaoh of Egypt must have been a daunting assignment. Moses and Aaron (and their sister Miriam) needed to stand together firmly to convincing the Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Israelis had been enslaved for over 400 years and were a necessary part of the Egyptian economic system.

What Are Aaron's Biggest Accomplishments?

Aaron is much more than an assistant to Moses. Aaron inspires the pharaoh and the people of Israel from the beginning to the end of the exodus. Aaron enters Gods holy presence on Mt. Sinai with Moses. The rest of the 600,000 Hebrews have boundaries around the mountain, which they are strictly warned by God not to cross (Exodus 19:24). Aaron is perhaps poised as a witness to Gods reciting the 10 Commandments and a dozen or so other areas of social responsibility to Moses.

After the covenant of law is received, Aaron and Hebrew elders join Moses in offering a sacrifice to God and are blessed by looking at God without the punishment of death God warned of earlier. 40 days and nights pass while Moses hears Gods Jewish tabernacle requirements. At some point, Aaron goes back down Mount Sinai to the impatiently waiting Hebrew people and the real trouble begins.

Aarons notorious actions leading to the Hebrews creating a golden calf while Moses was up Mount Sinai, hearing and recording the 10 Commandments and the full set of laws decreed by God. Aaron met the demands of the impatient, unfaithful people by collecting gold from womens earrings and fashioning it into a golden calf. The foolish Hebrew people exclaim, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt" (Exodus 32:4). Playing to the crowd, Aaron set up an altar and proclaimed a festival to worship the calf.

In this abomination toward God, Aaron displayed his pride and need to appease his followers. The Lord was very angry with him, and Moses exploded in rage when he came down from Mount Sinai and returned to the Hebrew camp to find them dancing around the golden calf. Aaron said, You know how prone these people are to eviland Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control (Exodus 32:25). Aarons dutiful Levites come to Moses assistance, killing 3,000 golden calf worshippers.

Aarons Levite assistants continue to serve God throughout Jewish religious history. Aarons descendants assist in worship and ministry as musicians, gatekeepers, craftsmen, officials, and judges in the tabernacle, which later becomes the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 23:2-5, 13). Additional tasks of the Levites were to carry the Ark of Gods Covenant, to stand in attendance upon God, and to bless His name. In a modern Jewish service, an available Levite blesses the second reading of the law.

Three items were placed in the ark of the covenant by the ancient Hebrews: a pot of manna, the 10 Commandments, and Aarons staff. Each item testifies to an important blessing within Israels exodus journey. Aarons staff represents how he became the founder of the spiritual priesthood leading the Hebrew people. The fact that the symbol of Aarons priestly calling is placed alongside the divine laws of the 10 Commandments and some of the miraculous manna which fed the wandering Israelites is a testimony to the importance of Aaron in Israels history.

8 Important Lessons from Aaron's Life

Whether we are front and center or helping from the side, we have a purpose in the kingdom of God.

I imagine that Aaron became a humbler man as he was led by his younger brother. This is another example of a nontraditional plan of Godyounger brother Moses is the primary leader and Aaron is his accomplice. Moses had been set apart to be in charge, but Aaron had an equally valuable calling to stand by his side and support his ministry.

Sibling rivalry is alive and well.

At one point, Aaron was jealous of Moses, demanding of God, Has the Lord only spoken through Moses? (Numbers 12:2). Aaron didnt want to relay prophetic messages to the Hebrews through Moses; Aaron wanted to speak directly to God. This outburst helps me understand Aarons people-pleasing behavior when he led his people in worshipping the golden calf. Aaron wanted the glory and popularity of Moses.

Those in faith leadership positions must remain true to the Lods voice and not listen to peoples popular opinions.

The golden calf episode illustrates a weak time in Aarons leadership when people had a stronger influence upon him than God.

With humility, we can recover from a big mistake in our faith walk.

Aarons blasphemous actions in creating a golden calf remind us that God can forgive and we can forgive others and ourselves. Aaron made amends to his brother Moses and God as a powerful leader of the people who did wrong.

We all need a wingman.

We all need someone to go with us to a difficult situation or talk us through it privately.

As it says in Hebrews 5:4, And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

Moses is an iconic figure in the Christian faith and our common culture (if there is such a thing), but even Moses didnt do it alone. Aaron was with Moses from the start, supporting Moses in fulfilling Gods purposes with His holy nation of Israel.

A biological or spiritual brother or sister shares our expectations and joy.

Aaron and Moses walked through the pharaohs court and the desert together. They brought hope to the grumbling Israelis together. They needed each other in carrying out the difficult task of moving the Hebrew people to the promised land.

We are capable of doing great things as chronologically advanced and worldly-wise people.

Aaron was 83 and Moses was 80 when they first approached the pharaoh in Egypt with their request to let Gods people go.

A legacy of Aarons life and priestly ministry is the blessing attached to his name. From Gods mouth to Aarons lips is this blessing from Numbers 6:22-26.

Aarons Blessing: The Lord Bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.

Photo credit: GettyImages/MangoStarStudio

Betty Dunn hopes her articles in Crosswalk.com help you hold hands with God, a theme in her self-published memoir Medusa. A former high school English teacher and editor, she works on writing projects from her home in West Michigan, where she enjoys woods, water, pets, and family. Check out her blog at Betty by Elizabeth Dunning and her website, www.elizabethdunning-wix.com.

This article is part of our People from the Bible Series featuring the most well-known historical names and figures from Scripture. We have compiled these articles to help you study those whom God chose to set before us as examples in His Word. May their lives and walks with God strengthen your faith and encourage your soul.

The Bible Story of Elijah

The Life of Ruth - 5 Essential Faith Lessons

The Bible Story of Queen Esther

The Greatest Villain - King Nebuchadnezzar

The Bible Story of Mary Magdalene
By Simon Black, Sovereign Man

Heres our roll-up of the most ridiculous stories from around the world that are threats to your liberty, risks to your prosperity and on occasion, inspiring poetic justice.

A School Tied a Mask Onto A Disabled Girls Face

A Florida father, Jeffrey Steele, was surprised one day when his young daughter Sophia came home from school with a mask on.

Jeffrey did not send Sophia to school wearing a mask because she has Down syndrome, cannot speak, and has an enlarged tongue, which makes it dangerous to force her to wear a mask.

And besides, Governor Ron DeSantis has banned Florida schools from requiring masks.

But Jeffrey was even more furious when he realized that the mask had been tied to Sophias face with nylon string so that she couldnt take it off.

He soon discovered that school officials had been tying the mask to Sophias face every day for six weeks. But Sophia couldnt alert her father, because she is non-verbal.

Only when school employees forgot to take the mask off before sending Sophia home one day did her father discover what was going on.

The school had previously given Sophia a mask exemption.

But apparently that was just for show they thought nothing of inflicting literal child abuse on this girl.

These are the type of fanatics that educate your children.

Click here to read the full story.

NIH Finally Admits It Funded Gain-of-Function Research in Wuhan

In a letter answering Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers questions, the National Institute of Health finally admitted that it funded virus enhancement experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Making viruses more deadly is commonly called gain-of-function research but the NIH did not use that term in its letter.

In fact, it claimed that making the virus more infectious was an unexpected result of the research, as opposed to something that the researchers set out to do.

The research describes a recombinant virus and three chimeric viruses terms which mean the DNA of the viruses had been altered, or combined with other viruses.

The altered bat corona virus was found to more easily attach itself to the ACE2 receptor in genetically altered mice.

The same ACE2 receptor in humans happens to be the receptor which the COVID-19 virus family attaches to.

The letter also admits that EcoHealth Alliance (which facilitated the grant to the Wuhan Lab) violated the terms of its grant conditions when it failed to report that the research increased tenfold the viral growth of a pathogen.

Peter Daszak, the scientist who penned a letter accusing lab leak theorists of anti-Asian hate , is the President of EcoHealth Alliance. Facebook used his letter as a fact-check to debunk and ban the lab leak theory.

Later, Daszak was also presented as a neutral third party investigator sent to Wuhan with the World Health Organization to investigate the lab leak theory.

Nothing to see here folks!

If this sounds sketchy to you, youre probably a conspiracy theorist.

Click here to read the full letter.

Fauci Tortures Puppies

A letter sent to Anthony Fauci from Rep. Nancy Mace demands answers about experiments Faucis organization funded which literally tortured puppies.

As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci funded an experiment which forced beagle puppies (all less than a year old) into mesh cages to allow sand flies to attack their heads, and spread parasites.

Some of the dogs vocal cords were removed so that Faucis researchers did not have to hear them cry.

The dogs were then treated with an experimental drug, and later killed to be dissected.

Documents explaining the experiment state that it was part of the process of obtaining FDA approval for a drug. However, the FDA does not require these types of experiments to be carried out on dogs.

Click here to read the letter.

Chicago Will Test Universal Basic Income Using Federal COVID Funds

Chicago received $2 billion worth of federal pandemic stimulus funds meant to help the city recover from its self-inflicted downturn following the COVID lockdowns.

Now the city will use $31 million from those federal funds to pilot a universal basic income program in Chicago.

They will be handing out $500 per month to 5,000 low-income households.

Some Chicago politicians are upset that the money wont be instead used for violence prevention, to address the skyrocketing crime rates.

Isnt it fun to have your hard earned money redistributed so that bankrupt cities can waste it on more failed programs?

Click here to read the full story.

Man Spent $58,000 COVID Relief On A Pokemon Card

In politics, memories are short.

But lets not forget that the Justice Department is still prosecuting abuses of the Paycheck Protection Program.

The early pandemic program was meant to help businesses stay afloat, but was so lax with its due diligence that it distributed countless loans to fraudulent applicants.

One of the latest to be charged was a Georgia man named Vinath Oudomsine who spent nearly $58,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program on a Pokemon card.

Yes, a card depicting a cartoon character which children play with.

The money was distributed based on false information provided by Oudomsine, and the Pokemon card accounts for more than two thirds of the aide he received.

We dont know how many fraudsters will never be caught, or how much of that money will ever be recovered.

Click here to read the full story.

Florida Governor Plans $5,000 Hiring Bonus for Unvaccinated Cops

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is considering a new way to attract police officers who might want to relocate and work in Florida.

The plan is to offer a $5,000 bonus to unvaccinated police officers who lost their jobs in other states.

Hopefully this sort of incentive doesnt end with police officers.

Private companies, including hospitals, might also find themselves able to attract talented workers who were fired for no other reason than demanding basic medical autonomy over their own body.
Starting November 1, the process for obtaining a firearm license in the United Kingdom is set to get harder and more invasive. On October 20, the Tory government issued new statutory guidance relating to firearm licensing and announced that No one will be given a firearms license unless the police have reviewed information from a registered doctor setting out whether or not the applicant has any relevant medical history Extending beyond a medical veto on firearms licenses, the UK Home Office also announced guidance encouraging law enforcement to delve into an applicants social media and financial history when making license determinations.

Under UK law, a subject may not possess, purchase, or acquire a shotgun or rifle without a shotgun or firearm certificate/license. The already onerous application process requires an applicant to divulge sensitive personal information, including medical data and contact information for the applicants general practitioner. An applicant must detail their firearm storage arrangements, which are subject to warrantless inspection. The applicant must also provide justification for possessing a shotgun or rifle and two character references.

This attack on gun ownership and medical privacy has been in the works for quite some time. Back in 2015, NRA-ILA informed gun owners of the UK governments interest in further tracking gun owners medical records.

At that time, Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) issued a report titled, Targeting the risk: An inspection of the efficiency and effectiveness of firearms licensing in police forces in England and Wales. The report lamented that licensing authorities were not sufficiently embedded in the doctor-patient relationship. HMIC demanded the creation of a system whereby General Practitioners (GPs) would be informed of a patients status as a gun owner and would be required to report to licensing authorities any changes to the medical circumstances of the licensee.

The new Home Office rules go a great deal further, requiring a GP to sign off on a firearm license application. The document states,

When a person applies for a firearm or shotgun certificate or to be registered as a firearms dealer, the applicant will ask their GP, or a suitably qualified GMC-registered doctor, to provide information to the police which will confirm whether or not the applicant is or has been diagnosed or treated for any relevant medical condition which could affect their ability to possess a firearm safely.



It is for the applicant to arrange for the medical information to be sent to the police either with the application itself or, alternatively, direct from the doctor. An application for a certificate will not be granted without such medical information. If medical information is not provided the police should inform the applicant that the application cannot be progressed in the absence of the required information from the doctor and will be refused.

Dismissing civil liberties concerns, the Home Office adopted the collectivist view that Doctors owe a duty of confidentiality to their patients, but they also have a wider duty to protect and promote the health of the public.

The new Home Office rules also encourage law enforcement to conduct other invasive checks on applicants. In a move that will further chill speech on Airstrip One, the document calls for licensing authorities to examine information obtained from open source social media.

Exhibiting the worst characteristics of the UKs ugly classism, the Tory rules also call on police to conduct credit or other financial checks as part of the firearm licensing process. The Home Office press release accompanying the statutory guidance cited unmanaged debt as problematic.

Excited by his groups new powers, the deputy chair of the British Medical Association GP committee England stated that he was pleased and delighted by the rules change. The official also noted, As doctors, we support the governments overall message  that gun ownership is a privilege and not a right

The right to keep and bear arms is an extension of the natural right to self-defense and is not dependent upon the government for its existence. As a natural right, it is inherent to all people regardless of political interference. A government may infringe upon this right, but it cannot extinguish it.

As is so often the case, this latest UK infringement offers an important lesson for U.S. gun owners. While announcing the new rules, Home Secretary Priti Patel noted, The UK has some of the toughest firearms laws in the world, but we must never become complacent about these high standards. Once again, gun control supporters have made clear that no amount of gun restrictions will satisfy them  short of total civilian disarmament.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)  The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow has formally opened, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries on how to tackle the common challenge of global warming.

Dr. Hoesung Lee, chair of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) left, arrives for the Procedural Opening of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow formally opens Sunday, a day before leaders from around the world gather in Scotland's biggest city to lay out their vision for addressing the common challenge of global warming. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)  The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow has formally opened, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries on how to tackle the common challenge of global warming.

Following the opening gavel, officials set about addressing a raft of procedural matters before leaders from around the world gather in Scotlands biggest city Monday to lay out their countries efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and deal with the effects of climate change.

The meeting will see negotiators try to resolve issues left hanging since the 2015 Paris climate accord was forged, and find ways to ratchet up their efforts to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) this century compared with pre-industrial times.

Scientists say the chances of meeting that goal, agreed in the French capital six years ago, are slowly slipping away. The world has already warmed by more than 1.1C and current projections based on planned emissions cuts over the next decade are for it to hit 2.7C by the year 2100.

The amount of energy unleashed by such planetary warming would melt much of the planet's ice, raise global sea levels and greatly increase the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather, experts warn.

There has been progress over the last few years but I would say that actually the task we have here is in many ways tougher than Paris, said Alok Sharma, the British government minister chairing the Glasgow talks.

What weve had to do since (Paris) is agree some of the detailed rules and some of the most difficult rules are still outstanding after six years, and that makes it really challenging," he told Sky News.

People arrive for the Procedural Opening of the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow formally opens Sunday, a day before leaders from around the world gather in Scotland's biggest city to lay out their vision for addressing the common challenge of global warming. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Of course, we know that the geopolitics is more difficult than it was at the time of Paris," he said, adding that it was time for governments to leave the ghosts of the past behind."

What we need to come from Glasgow is to be able to say with credibility, We have kept 1.5 alive, said Sharma.

He noted that China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, had just raised its climate targets somewhat.

"But of course we expected more, Sharma told the BBC.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry warned last week of the dramatic impacts that exceeding the 2015 Paris accords goal will have on nature and people, but expressed optimism that the world is heading in the right direction. The United States is currently the world's second biggest polluter, though historically it is responsible for the biggest amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

India, the world's third biggest emitter, has yet to follow China, the U.S. and the European Union in setting a target for reaching net zero emissions. Negotiators are hoping India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce such a goal in Glasgow.

We need all of the G20 to come forward," said Sharma. "The G20 represents 80% of global emissions and thats why every country matters, but the G20 matters particularly.

Some of the issues being discussed during the Oct. 31-Nov. 12 talks have been on the agenda for decades, including how rich countries can help poor nations tackle emissions and adapt to a hotter world. The slow pace of action has angered many environmental campaigners, who are expected to stage loud and creative protests during the summit.

Speaking in Rome Sunday, Prince Charles urged world leaders to heed the despairing voices of young people who will bear the brunt of climate change.

The heir to the British throne described the talks in Glasgow as literally the last-chance saloon for the Earth.

Charles told Group of 20 leaders meeting in Rome that they have an overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn.

It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands, he said.

On Monday, Charles is due to welcome leaders to COP26 in Glasgow. His 95-year-old mother Queen Elizabeth II was due to attend but has been advised to rest by her doctors.

The opening day of the talks is expected to focus on procedural issues. One big worry is that not all the delegates will be able to meet in person, as the venue and room capacities have been limited due to COVID concerns.

The outgoing president of the meeting, Chiles Carolina Schmidt, started the talks by asking officials to observe a minutes silence for those who have died due to the coronavirus pandemic since the last U.N. climate conference was held in Madrid in late 2019, shortly before the outbreak began.

___

Jill Lawless in Rome and Silvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP's coverage of the U.N. climate talks at: http://apnews.com/hub/climate
Many of Sydneys retail shops and food outlets remain closed more than two weeks after lockdown restrictions ended, with business owners blaming a lack of office workers and commuters.

The effect is most visible in business districts such as the city and North Sydney. Elsewhere, staff shortages are also delaying the reopening of some businesses.

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said for lease and closed signs were sadly common throughout the CBD. With foot traffic still below 10 per cent in city streets and malls, its going to be a hard battle for businesses that are still trading to stay open, he said.

Michelle Grand-Milkovic from Love Fish in Barangaroo says she needs more wait staff. Credit:Edwina Pickles

A number of food outlets and retailers in the MetCentre, a shopping mall adjoining Wynyard station, were closed last week, while empty shopfronts lined Clarence Street and the North Sydney central business district.
In Australia, the net-zero target could serve yet another function. The fact it was adopted by a conservative government previously opposed to substantial climate action could help end the political climate wars which have raged in Australia since 2009. Net-zero will likely be a durable bipartisan cornerstone  giving the political contest a chance to move beyond whether to do it, to how to do it. Scott Morrison launching the governments net zero emissions plan last week. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen That said, mid-century net-zero targets will be mostly taken for granted at Glasgow. High-level political talks will be focused on stronger emissions targets for 2030  and almost all developed countries have 2030 targets far more ambitious than Australias. Australia will aim for a 26-28 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, based on 2005 levels. The key point of comparison is the United States, which has committed to a 50-52 per cent reduction in the same time period.

Other important reference points include the United Kingdom and European Union, which respectively aim for emissions reductions of 68 per cent and 55 per cent on 1990 levels. Japan has pledged to cut emissions by 46 per cent based on 2013 levels. Japan has pledged to cut emissions by 46 per cent based on 2013 levels. Credit:Christopher Jue. Australias 2030 ambition, put forward at the Paris climate talks in 2015, was relatively weak even back then. Six years on, its not even in the ballpark of whats acceptable internationally. And Australia will be just about alone among developed countries in not having updated its target since Paris. The majority of the 26 per cent target has already been fulfilled, through reductions in emissions from land-use change and forestry, which occurred mostly during 2005 to 2012. In fact, the latest official figures project Australias emissions will decline by 30-38 per cent by 2030, without new policy efforts beyond technology support.

The governments tactic is to argue that Australia over-achieves on its targets. But the purpose of setting targets is to define an ambition, and let that ambition drive policy action. Other nations will rightly argue the projections show Australia should take on a target far more ambitious than 38 per cent, let alone the current 26-28 per cent. The Business Council of Australia is now calling for a 46-50 per cent emissions reduction by 2030. Credit:Paul Rovere The existing target is also inadequate to guide the transition to a low carbon economy. The Business Council of Australia is now calling for a 46-50 per cent emissions reduction by 2030. The document accompanying the federal governments net-zero announcement last week was heavy on politics and light on analysis. The government called it a plan, but in reality it was little more than a statement of aspiration.

First, it assumes technological innovation will take Australia most of the way to net-zero. But much of the technology we need already exists. This includes but is not limited to sectors such as: electricity (renewable energy, energy storage and decentralised power supply)

transport (electric vehicles, clean hydrogen in heavy transport)

industry (electricity for heat and processes, hydrogen for specific uses)

agriculture (lower-carbon practices and products). Loading After many years of very little climate policy, even a moderate policy effort could harvest much low-hanging fruit. Policies can be tailored to specific applications, including market and regulatory reform, R&D support, and broad-based and specific incentives and regulations. They can also help with the economic transition in particular regions and industries.

A carbon price is a key part of a sensible policy mix. Carbon pricing is the most cost-effective mechanism to shift to low-emissions production. Australias political class must overcome its hang-ups about carbon pricing. Over 20 per cent of global emissions are now subject to emissions trading or a carbon tax, and for good reason. But theres no escaping the fact Australias fossil fuel industries will bear most of the economic cost of a global shift to net-zero, as demand for fossil fuels declines and eventually dries up. This is out of the governments hands. Governments can help, though  not by propping up old industries, but by investing in infrastructure and economic diversification, worker retraining and social programs. Theres a huge upside to the transition. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer And theres a huge upside to the transition. Australias comparative advantage in renewable energy means such industries could become very large, if were smart about it.

Quite inexplicably, the modelling underpinning the governments net-zero plan has not been released. Its but one small illustration of the paucity of process around climate policy in Australia. Governments dropping glossy brochures brimming with political messaging, produced behind closed doors, is not the way to deal with a complex, long-term national issue. Loading Australia needs a proper long-term emissions strategy that fully maps out how to position the nation for success in a low-carbon world. It should be developed openly, draw from the best available knowledge and bring major stakeholders to the table. Out of that, a shared understanding can be forged between industry, federal and state governments, the unions, civil society and communities. Universities can bring research and analysis to the table.
Three houses were engulfed in flames early on Sunday in Brisbanes north, in what police have described as a suspicious blaze.

The suburban street has been declared a crime scene as police and fire investigators work to determine the cause of the inferno.

The aftermath of the Albion blaze, which razed one house and left two others badly damaged. Credit:Toby Crockford

Emergency services were called to Gore Street in Albion just after 2.30am to find the three houses ablaze. Two were residential homes and the third was a house converted into a dance studio.

Firefighters worked to suppress the fire and prevent it from spreading to neighbouring homes.
Loading TV DRAMA RE-RUN Just as a new season of cult dysfunctional media tycoon family drama Succession drops, along comes a new birthday party to celebrate the man who inspired it, media magnate Rupert Murdoch. Following Uncle Rupes 90th birthday party in London in mid-September, comes the New York sequel. And you thought only Live Aid was big enough to prompt events on two continents. Rupert Murdoch - 90 years young. Credit:Joe Benke Landmark New York restaurant Tavern on the Green in Central Park played host to the birthday bash for the executive chairman of News Corp and Fox Corp. Variety reported that guests included former Melbourne Herald cadet Robert Thomson, who shares Murdochs March 11 birthday, and is chief executive of News Corp, as was a bunch of US media corporates and a few Fox anchors including Barry Diller and Peter Chernin.

It was back in mid-September that CBD brought you the scoop that KRM, as the Murdoch is known throughout his News Corporation business empire, and his fourth wife, Jerry Hall, 65, had thrown open the doors of Holmwood, their 11-bedroom Georgian pile in the Chilterns, west of London, for about 150 of their nearest and dearest. In New York on Thursday, eldest son Lachlan Murdoch attended the tavern as did Murdochs TV-producing daughter Elisabeth, who once again screened the short birthday tribute film featuring former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott as well as UK PM Boris Johnson and which was said to include the Succession theme tune. Cheeky! But like a TV drama showing re-runs, in New York, as in London, just one thing seemed to be missing: youngest son James Murdoch, who split from the company last year after expressing unease about the editorial direction. The 48-year-old was absent from the video tribute and Murdoch Jnr was not spotted at the restaurant. Pere et fils had an almighty falling out over Fox Newss political stance on a whole range of issues including Trump and climate change. Are James and Pops even speaking to each other? We have to wonder. CONCERNED VICTORIANS

A full page ad in The Weekend Australian newspaper criticising the Andrews government over its Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management ) Bill 2021 (Vic) wouldnt have come cheap say nearly $30,000 in CBDs estimate. The ad supports empowering the Premier to manage a pandemic but criticises many of its aspects: pandemic orders can be applied in a discriminatory way, will have no time limit, entry to homes allowed without a warrant, limited judicial review or parliamentary oversight. The ad, which asks for the passage of the bill to be delayed, was published on behalf of a group of concerned Victorian citizens and authorised by the obscure Climate Smart Investments Pty Ltd of Prahran. Who dat? Its none other than Ben Krasnostein, member of the wealthy Smorgon family which is one of the countrys richest and has a portfolio of investments spanning manufacturing, plastics, fuel and even a stake in retailer General Pants Co. Krasnosteins day job is as managing director of Kilara Capital, a fund backed by the Smorgon and Lieberman families which invests in environmental projects including in a $US55 million fundraising for Dutch lab-grown meat company Mosa Meat. His track record for community activism includes donating a significant sum to the burgeoning Climate 200 fund set up by renewables advocate Simon Holmes a Court to support independent campaigns and hopefuls including Zali Steggall, Julia Banks and Helen Haines.
More than 80 per cent of eligible Victorians have now received two COVID-19 vaccinations as the state recorded another 1036 new COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths on Sunday.

The state hit the much-anticipated target on Saturday but it was officially recorded in Sundays data. More than 92 per cent of Victorians over the age of 16 have received one jab.

Victorias coronavirus restrictions eased again at 6pm on Friday. Long lines of cars were seen snaking out of Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup long weekend as the city and the regions were reunited once more. Retail stores were allowed to reopen (with density limits) and masks are no longer required to be worn outdoors.

Sunday was also the first day of a new political era. COVID-19 press conferences will no longer be held daily, and Chief Health Officer Brett Suttons updates will be released before midday instead of late afternoon.
And other countries have different challenges. The setbacks in Rome over the weekend sparked a warning from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will host the climate summit in Glasgow when it begins on Monday, about the risk of ignoring climate change, a force he likened to other dangers in world history. You saw that with the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and Im afraid to say its true today, he said. With the Glasgow summit now at risk from a weak outcome in Rome, Mr Johnson met Mr Morrison on Saturday in confidential talks that cut short the usual opening statements from the two leaders. You saw that with the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and Im afraid to say its true today. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Mr Morrisons position on coal is at odds with calls from Mr Johnson, United States President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about reducing the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible. Science tells us that it is urgent. We are not yet on track right now, Ms von der Leyen said. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres wanted the G20 leaders to make a commitment on coal in Rome, saying wealthy countries should phase out coal-fired power by 2030 and developing nations should aim for 2040. Loading Mr Morrison rejected this call and said quite a large group of nations had similar concerns.

The Prime Minister used his remarks to the G20 on Sunday to argue that advances in technology would have more impact on emissions than taxes or carbon tariffs on trade, saying the solution lay with scientists, technologists, researchers and financiers. Theyre the same types of people who developed the COVID-19 vaccines, he told one of the final sessions of the gathering. Our Australian way is not about taxes or heavy-handed regulation, but investing heavily in the development of new technologies to achieve the goals that our own modelling shows will move the dial and make a net zero economy achievable - not just in Australia, but in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil and South Africa, he said. While a draft version of the G20 communique suggested a 2050 deadline to achieve net zero emissions, a later version changed this to mid-century as leaders such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed back. The softer target appears more suitable for China, which has a goal of reaching net zero by 2060 and does not expect to start reducing emissions until after 2030. India does not accept it should face the same targets asked of developed economies.

On methane, the communique suggested the G20 would strive to reduce methane emissions rather than declaring a target. On the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, the summit retreated from earlier calls for immediate action and changed this to meaningful and effective action, according to draft statements obtained by Reuters. There appeared to be little progress on $US100 billion in annual finance for climate projects promised by advanced economies more than a decade ago and delivered by some members, such as the European Union, but not by all. Activist group Avaaz, which organised protests around the G20 summit, estimated Australia should commit at least $3.4 billion a year as its share of the annual climate fund.

Loading Energy Minister Angus Taylor ruled out taking a more ambitious 2030 target to voters at the next election despite calls from environmental groups for Australia to make a bigger commitment at the Glasgow summit. Mr Taylor also refused to put a cost estimate on the larger task of getting to net zero by 2050, saying the spending would be up to future governments. The government says it will spend $20 billion over the next decade on its technology investment roadmap, suggesting it might have to continue spending $2 billion each year over the long-term. That run rate of the money we are spending over the next decade is what we would expect into the future, Mr Taylor said, but when asked whether this meant $20 billion each decade until 2050 he said no.

Labor energy spokesman Chris Bowen said the government was slipping and sliding around the measures that were supposed to achieve the 2050 goal Well, only if you have a proper plan to get medium term reductions can you leave the heavy lifting to future governments, Mr Bowen said. Angus Taylors plan is to do not very much by 2030 and leave it to future governments to do the rest. A new report from the Grattan Institute finds reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero could be the largest economic transformation Australia has seen outside of wartime, and one that cannot be achieved by government alone. While much of the technology - like large-scale solar and wind - is available now, Australia also needs incentives to switch to zero-emission vehicles, expand research and development into zero-emissions technologies, and invest in state energy grids so that they are better able to integrate renewables.
Moscow: Natural gas, already in short supply in Europe this autumn, began moving away from Germany on the weekend and back toward the east in an unusual reversal in a major Russian pipeline.

In themselves, the reports from Russian media were no cause for alarm and the giant Russian energy firm, Gazprom, said Saturday that it is filling all European orders. A 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 European Union into approving a new pipeline, Nord Stream 2, that would bring gas from Russia directly to Germany, bypassing Eastern Europe.

A worker inspects the filter separator area at the Gazprom PJSC Slavyanskaya compressor station, the starting point of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, in Ust-Luga, Russia. Credit:Getty

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.
Morrison swiftly denied he had lied and said he had explained to Macron over dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris in June that the submarines to be supplied by French company Naval Group were not going to meet Australian needs. I was very clear that the conventional submarines were not going to be able to meet our strategic interests and we were going to have to make a decision in our national interest, Morrison said. Some Australian officials familiar with the June dinner conversation said Macron at one point told Morrison I dont like losing  a comment the Australians interpreted as a sign the French knew then that they were at serious risk of losing the submarine deal. French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly told Morrison in June that I dont like losing. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Asked why he did not tell Macron that Australia was discussing a nuclear submarine option with the US and UK, Morrison told reporters in Rome: This was not something you go around having broad conversations about.

While Australian prime ministers have come into conflict with world leaders in the past - such as when Tony Abbott threatened to shirtfront Russian President Vladimir Putin and Paul Keating labelled Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad recalcitrant, the new clash pits allies against each other in a direct allegation of dishonesty. Loading Let me be very clear: the decision Ive taken as Prime Minister, the decision my government has taken was in Australias national interests, Mr Morrison said. These decisions are difficult. Of course it has caused disappointment and it has caused an impact on the relationship with France. But the furore creates a political storm over personal trust, with Labor leader Anthony Albanese saying the real problems raised questions over the Prime Ministers handling of the matter.

Youve seen President Macron make some very serious statements about his view of what Scott Morrison said to him prior to Scott Morrison cancelling the contract between Australia and France by text message, Albanese said. Australians need a leader who can be trusted. Nationals leader and Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said there was speculation about the cancellation of the contact long before the decision. We didnt steal an island. We didnt deface the Eiffel Tower. It was a contract, he said. And contracts have terms and conditions and one of those terms and conditions and propositions is that you might get out of the contract. We got out of that contract.

I hope that President Macron understands that, ultimately, Australia and France have got so much more in common and so much into the future than a contract which is now in the past. Loading While Macron stressed that he respected the history between Australia and France and the need for Canberra to make sovereign choices, the French President said you have to respect allies and partners and this was not ok. US President Joe Biden used a meeting with Mr Macron over the weekend to label the AUKUS announcement clumsy and apologise for Paris not being told about the deal much sooner. 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.

The French ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, was due to meet Foreign Minister Marise Payne on Monday for the first time since he was recalled from Canberra amid the submarine fallout. Thebault will also address the National Press Club on Wednesday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists he told Macron the French submarines were not going to suit Australia. Credit:AP Labor Queensland Senator Murray Watt said the accusation against Morrison raised the question of whether any country could trust the Prime Minister. Some people might think it doesnt really matter what leaders say to each other but when youve got one of our main allies saying that the Prime Minister cant be trusted, hows any country supposed to believe anything that Scott Morrison says? Senator Watt said. Hes always spinning, coming up with spin and marketing to get himself through a situation. And now hes being found out on the international stage. Thats bad for all Australians, not just for Scott Morrison.
E-commerce firm Purplle, which deals in beauty and personal care products, is planning to go for an initial public offering (IPO) in 3-4 years after scaling up business with a target growth of around 80 per cent year-on-year, a top official of the company said.

The announcement from the company follows after its competitor Nykaa got listed last week.

"Beauty is a business of momentum. As you build momentum and get to a larger scale, your cost becomes smaller and you become a profitable franchise. It's not the right time for us to continuously look at our costs.

"Right time for us is to continue to build momentum, keep growing at 80 per cent year-on-year. In 3-4 years, we will be like a mammoth potentially going for an IPO," Puplle co-founder and CEO Manish Taneja told PTI.

The company on Friday had announced the raising of around USD 75 million (about Rs 555 crore) in a funding round led by private equity fund Kedaara at an enterprise valuation of USD 630 million (Rs 4,662 crore).

The company will use the fund to grow six-eight times in the next five years through both organic and inorganic businesses.

Taneja said the company is investing in marketing which is a big expenditure on profit and loss but it's get paid from the business.

He said the company wants to increase its share in about USD 20-billion Indian beauty market.

"We are probably operating at USD 150 million of GMV (gross merchandise value). We will love to strengthen our market share before we enter any other market.

"We don't understand anything outside of India as now. Our core focus over the next 3-4 years will be to build massive leadership in India," Taneja said.

The company will continue to invest in technology and launch products that are backed by data.

Taneja said data scientist in the company tells the kind of product that the company should launch and the product manager then works on the touch and feel of the product.

Purplle's competitor Nykaa launched an comprising a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 630 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 41,972,660 equity shares by the promoter and existing shareholders.

The initial share-sale of FSN E-Commerce Ventures was fully subscribed on the first day of subscription on Thursday and was subscribed 4.82 times on Day 2 of the offer.

The upper price band of Rs 1,125 per share values Nykaa at USD 7.4 billion.

According to the documents of Nykaa, the beauty and personal care market in India was sized at around USD 17 billion in 2019 and is projected to cross USD 26 billion in 2025.

(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.)
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Bullish on demand for residential and commercial properties, Realty major Ltd has identified a robust pipeline of new projects and will launch 35 million square feet area in medium term with a sales potential of around Rs 40,000 crore.

In an analyst presentation, mentioned that nearly 8 million square feet will be launched during the second half of the current fiscal.

To scale up its business, the company said: "Around 35 million square feet of new products planned in medium term."



These projects will be launched at established locations with infrastructure in place.

"Diversified Offerings: Quality products across multiple categories catering different target segments and multiple locations," it said.

As per the presentation, the total sales revenue potential of 35 million square feet project is Rs 36,000-40,000 crore.

According to the launch calendar, has already launched 2 million square feet till September this year out of planned 35 million sq ft in medium term.

During the second half of this fiscal, it is targeting to launch 7.7 million square feet of projects.

The launch pipeline for 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years stands at 6.4 million square feet and 7.2 million square feet. The remaining 12.2 million square feet will be launched beyond FY'24.

In terms of sales potential, DLF expects to generate Rs 12,000-15,000 crore from its upcoming housing project at Moti Nagar, near Central Delhi.

The company, along with its joint venture partner, is developing 8 million square feet project in Delhi, of which 2 million square feet will be launched by March next year.

DLF has also identified 10 million square feet of premium/luxury housing for launches having a sales potential of Rs 10,000-10,500 crore.

It also plans to launch 9 million square feet of value homes in Gurugram, Chennai and Chandigarh area for sales value of Rs 4,500 crore.

On commercial side, DLF is developing an office park in Gurugram with joint venture partner US-based Hines. The total size of this project is 3 million square feet with sales potential of Rs 6,000-7,000 crore.

That apart, DLF plans to launch an IT park in Noida as well as commercial spaces in Gurugram and the national capital.

On revival in housing demand, DLF has already sold residential properties of over Rs 2,500 crore in the first two quarters of this fiscal.

At the start of this fiscal, the company had given a guidance of Rs 1,000 crore sales bookings in every quarter.

DLF said that new launches of residential projects would generate healthy cash flows going forward.

"Surplus cash generation in the medium term after meeting near term construction outflows," the company said.

DLF has reduced its net debt by 16 per cent during the July-September period to Rs 3,985 crore from Rs 4,745 crore at the end of June quarter of this fiscal year.

"Completed inventory and project receivables sufficient to discharge all current liabilities," it said.

Last week, DLF reported a 66 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 378.12 crore for the quarter ended September from Rs 227.75 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income, however, declined to Rs 1,556.53 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 1,723.09 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In a statement issued on Thursday, DLF's CEO Ashok Kumar Tyagi had said, "We are encouraged by the rising housing sales and improving consumer sentiments across segments and remain committed to bringing new offerings to the market."



"We believe our quality offerings across our completed inventory, growing new product pipeline coupled with a fortified balance sheet has placed the company in a unique position to scale up and leverage this growth cycle," he said.

DLF has so far developed 153 projects and developed an area of approximately 330 million square feet.

The company currently has 215 million square feet of development potential across residential and commercial segment. The group has an annuity portfolio of over 35 million square feet.

DLF is primarily engaged in the business of development and sale of residential properties (the 'Development Business') and the development and leasing of commercial and retail properties (the 'Annuity Business).

(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.)
Sirona Hygiene aims to log a revenue of Rs 100 crore in FY23 as it expands its product range and ramps up presence in offline retail channels in the country.

The feminine hygiene product company, which is working towards increasing dialogue around feminine health and hygiene often considered taboo topics is also looking at raising fresh funding in the coming months.

Speaking with PTI, Sirona co-founder and CEO Deep Bajaj said the company has been witnessing strong growth as its products are innovative in nature and are solving needs that have not been met earlier.

"The growth has been encouraging, we've been growing 100 per cent year-on-year and the beauty is that we've done this with a very little funding. At the same time, we've stayed profitable. So, we are among the few start-ups in the D2C space in our category who have been able to do this while staying profitable," he said.

The company had registered a Rs 14-crore revenue in FY20, which grew to about Rs 26 crore in FY21.

"This year again, we are looking to double it as well. Next year (FY23), we should be a Rs 100-crore company," Bajaj said.

Sirona's product line includes PeeBuddy, feminine pain relief patches, natural coloured pads, oxo degradable sanitary disposal bags, anti-chafing rash cream and menstrual cup kit. It recently launched a period stain remover.

Women's hygiene issues have traditionally been considered a taboo subject and while awareness has improved significantly over the past many years, there is still a long way to go.

Technology has played an important role in this journey and a number of health-related apps like menstruation trackers, ovulation and pregnancy trackers, are now available. Many start-ups are now increasingly sharpening their focus on "fem-tech" to tap into this nascent market with investors also showing keen interest.

Bajaj said there is a lot of scope in areas like sexual and intimate wellness and "there is a list of products that the company is working on" that will be introduced in the coming months.

He said Sirona is an online-first brand because some of the categories it is present in could be considered taboo topics and the best way to discuss this, is online.

He cited the example of baby diaper rashes that have a lot of creams available for treatment, but it's not the same when it comes to period rashes.

Bajaj aded that these are important discussions to have and the company wants to play a role in facilitating these dialogues.

Talking about retail expansion, Bajaj said for the next year and a half, online retail would continue to be a major focus for Sirona.

"That said, we are also available in offline retail at leading stores and this year, we are working towards expansion on that channel as well.

"You will see us in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, these metro cities, we think that we should be at about 15,000 points of sale in the next one year," he added.

Currently, the company has a presence in mostly Delhi-NCR region and its products are present in about 1,500 points of sales.

In April this year, Sirona had announced raising USD 3 million in funding from NB Ventures and IAN Fund - taking its total funding raised to USD 3.5 million.

Bajaj said the company is looking at raising 8-10 million dollars in the next 5-6 months.

"There is interest that we have received and we will be exploring those," he added.

Asked if the company was exploring international expansion, Bajaj said its products are already selling in the US via e-commerce.

"In the first phase, the focus continues to be on India and Indian customers. We should be on a minimum Rs 100-crore revenue run rate for us to start focusing on the international markets as a dedicated effort, which I think will be early next year.

"We've tested markets, we've got reasonable interest but we want to ensure that foundation in the country is first taken care of," he 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.)
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 fielding Delkar's wife Kalavati Delkar, while the 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 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 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 candidate.

The 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.

--IANS

(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 Sunday said India is becoming fully capable of dealing with all kinds of external and internal challenges, while deriving inspiration from

In a video message on the occasion of 'Rashtriya Ekta Diwas', the birth anniversary of the country's first deputy prime minister and home minister Sardar Patel, Modi said collective efforts, like those seen during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, will take the country to new heights.

Noting that the nation is paying tribute to Sardar Patel who gave his life for 'Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat', Modi said Patel lives not only in history but also in the hearts of all Indians.

"Sardar Patel always wanted India to be strong, inclusive, sensitive and alert, humble and developed. He always put the interest of the country first. Today, deriving inspiration from him, India is becoming fully capable of dealing with all kinds of challenges, external and internal," Modi said.

He said the country is today taking inspiration from the spirit of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' to achieve self-reliance and safeguard its interests.

"In the last seven years, the country has got rid of the decades-old unwanted laws, and has taken the ideals that cherish unity to new heights. Be it Jammu and Kashmir, North East or any village in the Himalayas, today all are progressing on the path of progress," he said.

The prime minister said the modern infrastructure development in the country is working to remove the geographical and cultural distances.

The country is today witnessing a "great maha yagna of social, economic and constitutional integration", and its capability and determination on every front - water, land, air, space - is unprecedented, he said.

"India has started on a new mission of self-reliance to safeguard its interests," Modi said.

He said the spirit of everyone's effort should be made the basis of the pace of development and to make a self-reliant India.

"Where the lack of unity brings new crisis, the collective effort of everyone takes the country to new heights," he said.

He cited the fight against coronavirus as an example of what the country can achieve through collective efforts.

"From new COVID-19 hospitals to ventilators, from manufacturing essential medicines to crossing the milestone of 100 crore vaccine doses-- these have been made possible only because of the efforts of every Indian, every government, every industry," he said.

Modi said the combined result of several reforms undertaken over the years has made India an attractive investment destination. "We now have to make this spirit of everyone's effort the basis of the pace of development, to make a self-reliant India," he said.

He said every action should be taken with "broader goals" in mind and to see how one is supporting it in a self-reliant India. "Indian industry can also set targets of how much it needs to depend on foreign raw materials or components," he said.

He said farmers can also strengthen their participation in self-reliant India by adopting new farming techniques and new crops (cultivation), according to the needs of the country.

"Our cooperative institutions should also strengthen small farmers of the country. The more we focus on our small farmers, the more we come forward for their betterment. We will be able to create a new trust even in remote villages and we will have to do this," he said.

Modi also said everybody will have to contribute to enrich the spirit of 'One India', and "only when we remain united will we be able to move forward, and only then will the country achieve its goals."



The form of today's India, as per Sardar Patel's idea, should be one where women have equal opportunity, where the Dalits, deprived sections, tribals and forest dwellers, every citizen of the country feels equal.

He said the country is today working in the direction of achieving the same kind of India, where there is no discrimination in facilities like house, electricity, water, and setting new goals regularly.

"If the dynamism of the society is added to the government, it is not difficult to achieve the biggest of resolutions, everything is possible," he said.

These things may seem ordinary, but their results will be unprecedented. Over the years, we have seen how people's participation has strengthened the country even in small matters like cleanliness, he said.

"As a citizen, when we moved ahead as one India, we also got success and we also contributed to the excellence of India. You always remember- even the smallest work is great if there is a good spirit behind it. The joy that is there in serving the country cannot be described in words," he said.

"For the integrity and unity of the country, while fulfilling our civic duties, our every effort is a true tribute to Sardar Patelji. Taking inspiration from our accomplishments, let us move forward, give new heights to the unity and excellence of the country," he 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.)
India and the UK are set to enhance their International Solar Alliance (ISA) partnership with the launch of a new Green Grids Initiative connecting different parts of the world at the United Nations (UN) COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The new Global Green Grids Initiative One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG) is an evolution of ISA's OSOWOG multilateral drive to foster interconnected solar energy infrastructure at a global scale.

The new Green Grids Initiative, to be launched at COP26 on Tuesday, will mark a merging of flagship interconnection initiatives from India and the UK as part of their bilateral cooperation.

This initiative will bring together an international coalition of governments, financial organisations, and power system operators to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure needed to deliver a massive scale-up of secure, reliable and affordable power, such as modern, flexible grids, charging points, and electricity interconnectors, the UK's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, in reference to the joint project.

ISA recently announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to mobilise USD 1 trillion in global investments for solar energy across ISA's member countries.

The two organisations plan to work with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to develop a Solar Investment Action Agenda and a Solar Investment Roadmap, which will also be launched at COP26.

India-led ISA, an inter-governmental treaty-based international organisation with a global mandate to catalyse global solar growth by helping to reduce the cost of financing and technology for solar, is designed to establish solar energy as a shared solution that simultaneously addresses climate, energy, and economic priorities across geographies.

ISA, headed by Director General Dr Ajay Mathur and with 98 countries supporting its framework, is aimed at facilitating energy transition at a global level, energy security at levels, while also ensuring energy access at the local level.

The alliance said it is working with development banks to bring the benefits of solar across the world. Apart from bringing down prices for solar water pumps, it is enabling technological transfer, storage solutions, financial assistance, along with skilling and enabling countries to adopt solar.

It added: The ISA is an observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on (UNFCCC) and has been an active participant at Conference of Parties (COPs).

"To continue with ISA's efforts at global outreach, the ISA Secretariat will participate in the forthcoming 26th UN Conference of the Parties (COP26), to be held under the UK presidency, at Glasgow (Scotland) between November 1 and November 12, 2021.

Watch Video

(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 UN climate summit in Glasgow opened on Sunday with appeals for action and prayers, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries on how to tackle the common challenge of intensifying global warming.

Following the opening gavel on Sunday, leaders from around the world will gather in Scotland's biggest city on Monday to lay out their countries' efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and deal with the effects of At the Vatican Sunday, Pope Francis appealed to the world's people to pray that world leaders' realize the suffering of the Earth and the poor as the climate warms.

Negotiators will push nations to ratchet up their efforts to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) this century compared with pre-industrial times.

The newly opened summit remains "our last, best hope to keep 1.5 in reach, said Alok Sharma, the British government minister chairing the Glasgow talks, known as COP26.

Scientists say the chances of meeting that goal, agreed to in the landmark deal closed at the 2015 Paris climate accord, are slowly slipping away. The world has already warmed by more than 1.1C and current projections based on planned emissions cuts over the next decade are for it to hit 2.7C by the year 2100.

The amount of energy unleashed by such planetary warming would melt much of the planet's ice, raise global sea levels and greatly increase the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather, experts warn.

"We can move the negotiations forward and we can launch a decade of ever increasing ambition and action, Sharma said at the opening ceremony. We can seize the enormous opportunities for green growth for good green jobs, the cheaper, cleaner power."



He noted that China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, had just raised its climate targets somewhat.

"But of course we expected more, Sharma told the BBC earlier Sunday.

In Italy, the pope noted that it was the first day of the crucial gathering in Glasgow. He told the crowd gathered at St. Peter's Square: Let us pray so that the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor is heard by summit participants.

"May this encounter yield efficient answers offering concrete hope to future generations, the pope said. Francis has made care for the planet's fragile environment a key plank of his papacy.

In Rome on Sunday, leaders of the G-20 nations accounting for 75% of greenhouse emissions were negotiating on what commitments they're willing to make to contain rising global temperatures.

US climate envoy John Kerry warned last week of the dramatic impacts that exceeding the 2015 Paris accord's goal will have on nature and people, but expressed optimism that the world is heading in the right direction. The United States is currently the world's second biggest climate polluter, though historically it is responsible for the biggest amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

India, the world's third biggest emitter, has yet to follow China, the US and the European Union in setting a target for reaching net zero' emissions. Negotiators are hoping Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce such a goal in Glasgow.

"We need all of the G20 to come forward," said Sharma. "The G20 represents 80% of global emissions and that's why every country matters, but the G20 matters particularly."



Some of the issues being discussed during the talks have been on the agenda for decades, including how rich countries can help poor nations tackle emissions and adapt to a hotter world. The slow pace of action has angered many environmental campaigners, who are expected to stage loud and creative protests during the summit.

Also speaking in Rome Sunday, Prince Charles urged world leaders to heed the despairing voices of young people who will bear the brunt of

The heir to the British throne described the talks in Glasgow as literally the last-chance saloon for the Earth.

Charles told Group of 20 leaders that they have an overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn."



"It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands, he said.

On Monday, Charles is due to welcome leaders in Glasgow. His 95-year-old mother Queen Elizabeth II was due to attend but has been advised to rest by her doctors.

The opening day of the talks is expected to focus on procedural issues. One big worry is that not all the delegates will be able to meet in person, as the venue and room capacities have been limited due to COVID concerns.

The outgoing president of the meeting, Chile's Carolina Schmidt, started the talks by asking officials to observe a minute's silence for those who have died due to the coronavirus pandemic since the last U.N. climate conference was held in Madrid in late 2019, shortly before the outbreak began.

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Wide-ranging Strategic Partnership and climate finance were among the issues Prime Minister 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 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.

--IANS

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A voter turnout of 65.32 per cent was recorded in the to three Assembly seats and 63.88 per cent in the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Sunday.

In the by-elections held on Saturday, Jobat (reserved for Scheduled Tribes candidates), Prithvipur and Raigaon (reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates) Assembly constituencies recorded 53.30 per cent, 78.14 per cent and 69.01 per cent polling, respectively, they said quoting late night figures of the Election Commission.

During the Assembly polls in 2018, Jobat, Prithvipur and Raigaon had registered a turnout of 52.84 per cent, 79.61 per cent and 74.53 per cent, respectively, they said.

In Jobat, the voter turnout has been low as tribal workers migrate from there to other states in search of jobs, as per locals.

Besides, the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency recorded 63.88 per cent polling on Saturday, as compared to 76.90 per cent in the 2019 general elections.

A total of 48 candidates were in the fray in these four constituencies, the officials said.

The by-elections were necessitated due to the death of sitting MLAs and an MP.

The Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency and Raigaon Assembly seat were held by the BJP, while Jobat and Prithvipur Assembly seats were with the Congress.

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

In Khandwa, the BJP 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 fielded former MLA Rajnarayan Singh Purni.

In Jobat, Sulochana Rawat was 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 the Congress. She had won from Jobat on Congress's ticket in 1998 and 2008.

In Raigaon seat, the BJP fielded Pratima Bagri, the daughter-in-law of MLA Jugal Kishore Bagri whose death necessitated the bypoll. She faced Congress' Kalpana Verma.

Verma had been defeated by Jugal Kishore Bagri in 2018.

In Prithvipur, the BJP fielded former Samajwadi Party leader Shishupal Singh against Congress's Nitendra Rathore, the son of former minister Brajendra Singh Rathore whose death caused the bypoll.

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Prime Minister on Sunday met German Chancellor on the sidelines of the and the two leaders held extensive deliberations on the strong bilateral relations and reaffirmed commitment to maintain the close strategic partnership.

Modi, who is here at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi to attend the G20 summit, was accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials during his meeting with Merkel.

"PM @narendramodi and Chancellor Merkel met on the sidelines of the Rome @g20org Summit. There were extensive deliberations on India-Germany relations. The strong friendship between the two nations augurs well for the well-being of our planet," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a tweet.

"Reaffirmed our commitment to maintain the close Strategic Partnership with Germany," it said in another tweet.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Prime Minister Modi interacted with several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong 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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Prime Minister discussed global efforts to combat 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.

--IANS

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India is ready to produce over 5 billion Covid vaccine doses next year to help the world in the fight against the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a G-20 Summit session in Rome on Saturday and asserted that it was necessary that the approves Indian vaccines "at the earliest".

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.



The prime minister, in his intervention at the session on "global economy and global health", also flagged the issue of facilitating international travel and talked about the mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means of achieving this, according to the text of his intervention shared by his office.





Modi expressed satisfaction over the G20's decision to come up with a 15 per minimum corporate tax to make the global financial architecture more "just and fair", Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, briefing reporters on Modi's engagements.

The decision is aimed at ensuring that companies pay a certain amount of tax in countries they are located in, Shringla said.

"It is pertinent to mention that it was in 2014 that the prime minister had first proposed the idea of a minimum corporate tax in order to prevent to some extent evasion of taxes," Shringla said.

"Today, from this G-20 platform, I want to tell you all that India is ready to produce more than 5 billion vaccine doses for the world next year," Modi said.

This commitment of India will go a long way in preventing the spread of coronavirus infection, he said.

"Therefore, it is necessary that Indian vaccines are approved by the at the earliest," he asserted.

Sringla said the prime minister conveyed that India has not only administered one billion doses but more importantly "we are ready to produce over 5 billion vaccine doses by the end of next year", Shringla said.

"This obviously will be available not only for our citizens but the rest of the world and that this is our own contribution to reducing...vaccine inequities, especially in the developing world," he said.

Prime Minister Modi also emphasised on vaccine research and manufacturing.

He also highlighted India's medical supply to over 150 countries and contribution in maintaining the global supply chain during the pandemic.

Stressing on the need for resilient global supply chains, Prime Minister Modi spoke about India's bold economic reforms and invited nations to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.

He also spoke about "One Earth, One Health" vision in the context of fighting the pandemic and future global health issues, Shringla said.

The prime minister spoke about "our vision of 'One Earth, One Health'" which is essentially the need for a collaborative approach in the international domain in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

"I am talking about collaboration in research and development, collaboration across the board in developing mechanisms that can cope with future pandemics and future global health issues," Shringla said.

The concept of 'One Earth, One Health' is something that was enunciated by the prime minister and was well received by leaders because this is something that is very important to the international community as "we are looking at comprehensive global solutions" that can address issues and problems such as inequities and problems that developing countries face, he said.

Prime Minister Modi also brought out the fact that despite challenges, India continued to be a trusted partner in the context of reliable supply chains during the pandemic.

Answering a question on the corporate tax decision, he said Prime Minister Modi had spoken about it in the 2014 summit.

"He first mentioned the concept in 2014 G20 summit. Today there is satisfaction over the fact the G20 has adopted this. This has become a global norm. This is a very important step in ensuring a more rationalised global tax structure and better cooperation in the international domain when it comes to issues like tax evasion, money laundering, and corruption."

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With Indian market already on the robust recovery path, the are expecting strong Diwali sales in the Dhanteras as the festive mood remains high with low Covid third wave possibility and softer gold price this season.

The industry expects the trends in 2021 will be able to reach pre-covid level sales of 2019 on the back of gold price hovering at Rs 46,000-47,000 per 22 carat 10 grams gold nearly 5 per cent lower than 2020, and jump in number of weddings, a senior official of an industry body said.

"Since Navratri market is showing demand. It will continue on Dhanteras also. This year the festive mood is strong with the pandemic remaining under control, lower gold prices and strong wedding season. This year October-November months will account for 40 per cent of yearly sales," All India Gems and Domestic Council chairman Ashish Pethe told PTI.

The national apex body of the gems and industry expects that in 2021, the industry will be able to revert back to pre-covid pandemic year of 2019. However, gold price rules nearly 20 per cent higher over 2019 levels.

"Sales are expected to get back to pre-Covid levels, with an increase of 15-20 per cent from last year. This year's jewellery buying trend has been about living life large. After two years of mental anxiety and challenges, customers want to spend and invest in jewellery for happiness and asset building," Senco Gold and Diamonds Ltd CEO Suvenkar Sen said.

World Gold Council India managing director Somasundaram PR said, "We expect this quarter to be one of the best in recent years, benchmarked to pre-covid seasons. Pent up demand, soft prices and good monsoons, combined with easing of lockdown across regions, bodes well for a strong surge in demand."



The demand for gold in India jumped 47 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 139.1 tonne as compared to 94.6 tonnes in the year ago period, higher than 2019, the World Gold Council said.

Gold jewellery demand in India during the JulySeptember 2021 period surged 58 per cent YoY to 96.2 tonne due to strong pent-up demand. The demand for gold in India has bounced back sharply from the lows seen during the Covid pandemic in 2020.

E-commerce sales craze is expected to be lower than 2020 as panic of infection has subsided and light jewellery will be transacted online.

"We expect five per cent of our sales happening online. Light jewellery will be sold online while heavy ones will be from stores," Sen said.

During Dhanteras digital gold and investment through Exchange Traded Funds have gained momentum. Indian gold ETFs continue to net inflows worth taking year-to-date flows to USD 433 million. While global gold backed ETFs saw net outflow in September.

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Prime Minister on Sunday arrived at the G-20 summit venue in Rome to attend the event's second session titled Climate Change and Environment.

The second day of the in Rome started with a walk of the Heads of Delegation in one of the symbolic places of the historic downtown: Trevi Fountain.

After the end of the first session, the Convention Center La Nuvola will then host both the multilateral sessions and the bilateral meetings of the leaders. Later, a side event is scheduled on the role of the private sector in the fight against climate change. The main speaker will be Charles, Prince of Wales.

Sunday's engagement of the G-20 also includes a working session on Sustainable Development.

The Summit will end with the traditional final press conference by Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi who, opening the meeting yesterday, highlighted that "multilateralism is the best answer to the problems we face today.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Modi had called on Pope Francis at the Vatican City. He later invited Pope to visit India. He also attended a session on Global Economy and Global Health at the G20 and later held bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

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(AIMIM) chief on Saturday announced that the party will contest all seats in the upcoming Municipal Corporation polls in

"We will contest all seats, why not... We had a detailed discussion over candidates' selection, preparations underway...," the AIMIM chief said while addressing the media here.

Owaisi is on a two-day tour of Aurangabad.

The state's civic polls are to be held later this year and early next year. During these polls, the three-corporator-per-prabhag system will be implemented in each civic body, other than Mumbai.

Earlier this month, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari issued an ordinance amending the Municipal Corporation Act in view of the Covid crisis in municipal corporation areas. Under the amendment, applicable to all civic bodies in Maharashtra barring Mumbai, each prabhag or panel will now elect three corporators.

However, in Mumbai, the "one ward, one corporator" system will continue to be implemented.

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As India celebrates the 146th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Prime Minister on Sunday said that the "country can move ahead only if we stay united".

On the occasion of Unity Day, PM Modi said, "Strong foundation of democracy that developed in the society and traditions of India, prospered the sense of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'. But we must also remember that all the passengers sitting in a boat have to take care of the boat. We can go ahead only if we stay united."

PM Modi added, "Today the nation is paying tribute to Sardar Patel who gave his life for 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'. Sardar Patel lives not only in history but also the hearts of all Indians."

"India isn't just a geographical unit. It's a nation that's full of the standards of ideals, resolutions, civilisation, culture. The land where we 135 crores Indians live, is an integral part of our soul, our dreams, our aspirations," he added.

Earlier, Union Home Minister on Sunday paid tribute to on his 146th birth anniversary at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat's Kevadia.

Shah presided over the 'Rashtriya Ekta Divas' ( Unity Day) function at Kevadia where he also paid floral tribute to Sadar Patel's 182-metre-tall statue.

On the occasion of the 75th year of India's Independence, 75 cyclists from ITBP, SSB, CISF, CRPF and BSF, who have travelled approximately 9,000 km from various parts of the country to Kevadiya, will be taking part in the event as per an official statement.

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Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Saturday welcomed the meeting of Prime Minister with in the Vatican.

He said India believes in 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'.

"It is natural for a head of State to meet another head of State. Vatican is a recognized State. We welcome this meeting because we believe in 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is a family)," Hosabale said.

Prime Minister met in the Vatican on Saturday.

"Had a very warm meeting with I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him and also invited him to visit India," the Prime Minister said in a tweet.

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Altogether 73.77 per cent of nearly eight lakh eligible electors cast their votes in bye-elections to five Assembly constituencies in that concluded peacefully on Saturday, the Election Commission of India said.

Women voters exercised their franchise more than men, while none of the four transgenders in the five constituencies voted, the ECI data shared by a state government spokesperson said on Sunday.

Though the number of male voters in the five constituencies was more than women by a little over 10,000, the voter turnout of women was 73.38 per cent against 73.17 per cent of male electors.

Thowra constituency recorded the highest voter turnout of 77.56 per cent, followed by Gossaigaon with 77.20 per cent and Bhabanipur with 76.84 per cent.

The lowest turnout was registered in Tamulpur with 67.84 per cent of electors coming out to vote.

The voting percentage in the fifth constituency, Mariani was 71.70, the ECI figures said.

The electoral fate of 31 candidates has been sealed in the EVMs, with eight each in the fray in Gossaigaon and Bhabanipur, six in Tamulpur, five in Thowra, and four in Mariani.

Counting of votes will be taken up on November 2.

A senior police official said on Saturday that no untoward incident had been reported from any of the constituencies, where tight security was in place.

The bye-elections to Gossaigaon and Tamulpur were necessitated due to the death of the sitting MLAs, while the incumbents of Bhapanipur, Mariani, and Thowra resigned from their seats to join the ruling BJP.

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In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its executive member from Rajib Banerjee and sitting MLA in Tripura Ashis Das on Sunday joined the Trinamool Congress during a mega rally here, which was addressed by party's General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Rajib Banerjee, a former minister in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's cabinet had defected to the BJP in January this year. After rejoining the Trinamool, he said that it was his mistake to join the BJP, which according to him gave false promises to the people to gain political and electoral mileage.

"I apologise to Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee and all the people for joining the BJP. I am ashamed and feel guilty to join the BJP. Whatever responsibility the party (Trinamool) gives me, I with all sincerity perform the task," an emotionally charged Banerjee told the gathering.

Ashis Das, a Scheduled Caste leader and a BJP MLA from the Surma Assembly seat in northern Tripura, took the Trinamool flag from Abhishek Banerjee along with Rajib Banerjee.

While praising Mamata Banerjee and slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ashis Das, on October 5 in Kolkata had claimed that people in Tripura have been suffering a lot after the BJP-led government came to power.

The 43-year-old BJP legislator (Das), after shaving his head and performing a 'yagna' at the Kalighat temple in Kolkata on October 6, said that political anarchy and chaos were prevailing in the BJP-ruled Tripura where people are unhappy with the performance of the state government.

--IANS

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Congress General Secretary Vadra will on Sunday address a rally in Gorakhpur, the home district of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The Pratigya Rally is another in the series of rallies being held by the Uttar Pradesh Congress across the state.

had launched her campaign with a rally from Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, on October 10.

She has changed the political narrative in Uttar Pradesh to an extent by announcing 40 per cent reservation of tickets for women.

She plans to override caste discrimination with gender

--IANS

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Continuing her series of 'pratigya' (promises), General Secretary Vadra, on Sunday, announced that if the came to power in Uttar Pradesh, 20 lakh youths would be given jobs, women would get the facility of free bus travel and fishing would be given the status of farming.

"The Nishad community will have rights over rivers and sand mining. We will also set up a university in the name of Guru Matsyendranath (Guru of Gorakhnath)," she said while speaking at a Pratigya rally in Gorakhpur.

She further announced that if the came to power, the ad hoc and contract workers would be regularised and the purchase price of wheat and paddy would be raised to Rs 2,500 while sugarcane MSP would be Rs 400.

"Women will be given three free gas cylinders in a year and treatment up to Rs 10 lakh would be free for all. Besides, we will ensure full loan waiver for farmers. ASHA workers would be given an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month," she added.

Priyanka said that India was a nation that survived on faith. "We have faith in the earth, faith in religion, faith in our labour and faith in our leaders. We have faith in what the leaders say and when huge advertisements tell us that development has arrived, we begin to wonder. Time has come to question our leaders and ask them where is the development," she said.

Mounting a scathing attack on the Yogi Adityanath government, she said that the chief minister was working against the principles of Guru Gorakhnath.

"Amit Shah said that law and order in UP is perfect. In Lakhimpur, his party leaders mowed down farmers. In Gorakhpur, the police killed businessman Manish Gupta. In Lucknow, an executive Vivek Tiwari was shot dead by policemen and in Unnao one girl was raped and set on fire while another was raped and an attempt was made to kill her in an accident. You do not need a binocular to see the reality but a good pair of spectacles," she said.

Priyanka berated the Modi government and said that they had promised to enable a person with 'hawai chappal' to travel by air. "But travelling by road has become impossible due to rising fuel prices. The Prime Minister flies to Italy in his Rs 8,000 crore aircraft but in UP farmers die waiting in queues for fertilizer. A farmer's income is Rs 27 per day but his businessmen friends earn Rs 1,000 crore per day," she said.

Priyanka said that would change drastically if more women came in.

She ended her speech with 'Jai Guru Matsyendranath' and 'Jai Guru Gorakhnath' -- both spiritual gurus of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.--IANS

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Ahead of the 2023 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party state in-charge Vinod Sonkar on Sunday said that people of neither accepted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the previous elections not are they going to accept it now as they are well-aware of party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's model of "appeasement "

"The TMC had tried earlier also to make some difference here. In 2018 and other elections the party contested but failed to win. People of know about Mamata Banerjee's appeasement People of Tripura, by and large, are not going to accept TMC this time as well," said Vinod Sonkar.

On the TMC's day-long protests led by Abhishek Banerjee, he said, "In a democracy, all have equal chances to express their views. But, while doing so they should also think of others. If due to some Dharna, a large section of people is going to get affected, then the government needs to take steps for the safety of the public".

Commenting on the reports of internal fighting within the party ahead of the 2023 assembly elections, Sonkar said, "No internal strife exists in the BJP. This is a party of Karyakartas so they have all the right to speak out if they feel anything should be done on an issue. The workers believe that the party will listen to their issues and there is nothing wrong. The party is strong and united in the state."

Tripura is also scheduled to hold civic polls of 20 urban local bodies on November 25.

"The performance of Biplab Kumar Deb government in Tripura is very good. Apart from that, Narendra Modi is also working for the development of the whole country as well as Tripura. Many long-pending issues have been resolved under this regime and we are confident that the party will perform extremely well in the next elections, " Sonkar said while commenting on the upcoming local body elections.

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All benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) are equal and its principal bench cannot be allowed to robe itself with a superior quality, the Uttarakhand has said.

The tribunal adjudicates service matters of central government employees.

The also set aside the CAT principal bench order related to transfer of a plea being heard in its Nainital bench to Delhi, saying the the principal bench cannot be permitted to be usurper of power.

Hearing the plea filed by Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service Officer, the in its order said before a case is transferred from one bench to another, or from one court to another, certain criteria for transferring the case have to be kept in mind.

Chaturvedi, who is posted in Haldwani, had in February last year filed an application with the tribunal's bench here challenging the civil servants' empanelment process.

The Centre, in October 2020, had sought transfer of the case from the Nainital circuit bench to the tribunal's principal bench in New Delhi, saying since the decision with regard to a policy decision of the central government would have nationwide repercussions, therefore, only the principal bench is a suitable bench for deciding the validity of the policy decision among other reasoning.

The CAT's principal bench through its order dated December 4, 2020 had allowed the Centre's plea for transfer of the case to Delhi.

Aggrieved over the tribunal's order, Chaturvedi had moved the high court.

The court is of the opinion that the reasoning contained in the CAT's order dated is legally unsustainable and set aside it while allowing Chaturvedi's petition, according to the order issued by Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice N S Dhanik, on October 23.

Citing a Supreme Court verdict, the high court said a challenge to a policy decision can equally be invoked before any bench of the CAT.

The high court noted that Chaturvedi's case was transferred ostensibly, on the ground that the matter of this nature would have their own impact on the very functioning of the central government.

In case Parliament in its wisdom were of the opinion that issues have nationwide repercussion, or having great impact on the functioning of the central government, should be consigned to the principal bench, then a necessary provision would have been enacted by Parliament, it said, referring to the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.

However, since Parliament has treated all the benches of the CAT as alike, even cases of nationwide repercussion, or having great impact on the functioning of the central government can, indeed, be decided by other benches of CAT. Such issues need not be relegated to the principal bench, the order said.

Since all the benches, including the principal bench, are equal, such a mis-impression cannot be made in the mind of the litigant, it said.

For, the principal bench cannot be allowed to robe itself with a superior authority which was never given to it by the Act. After all, the principal bench cannot be permitted to be usurper of the power, the order said.

The high court said, while considering the prayers of the Union of India to transfer the case from Nainital circuit bench to the principal bench, New Delhi, the tribunal should have considered the convenience of both the parties.

A bare perusal of the impugned order clearly reveals that the tribunal has failed to consider the hardship caused to the petitioner if the case were to be transferred from Nainital circuit bench to New Delhi, it said.

Travelling from Haldwani to New Delhi would also adversely affect his (Chaturvedi) physical health, and psychological makeup. For, he will continue to be under a mental tension while having to travel from Haldwani to New Delhi, the order said.

Thus, the balance of convenience is in favour of the petitioner if the case should be heard by the Nainital circuit bench, and should be decided by it, it said.

Chaturvedi, who is working as the chief conservator of forest at Haldwani, has challenged the 360 degree appraisal system for joint secretary and above level officers and recruitment of private sector specialists to central government posts through the lateral entry mode.

(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.)
President received Communion at St. Patrick's Church during Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after saying 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.

The Bidens visited the English-speaking church that is the main place of worship for the American Catholic community in and 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 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 or the Vatican.

In an interview after Mass, Ciccone said Biden's abortion position 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. We're all saints and sinners," Ciccone said.

"And when you're 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.

The president's 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.

Biden said 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 Biden's remarks about Communion, noting that the Vatican doesn't comment on the pope's 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 didn't address Biden's 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.

(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 arrived in Glasgow on Sunday for the COP26 climate summit and bilateral talks with British Prime Minister on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) meet.

Leaving for Glasgow after a fruitful G20 Summit in Rome. During the Summit, we were able to have elaborate deliberations on issues of global importance such as fighting the pandemic, improving health infrastructure, boosting economic cooperation and furthering innovation, Modi said on Twitter.

The Prime Minister, who flew into Glasgow from the G20 Summit in Italy, is scheduled to begin the UK leg of his European tour with a meeting with community leaders and Indologists based in Scotland on Monday morning.

He will then proceed for the opening ceremony of the World Leaders' Summit (WLS) at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, where he is set to address the summit plenary session.

Modi's bilateral meeting with is expected to take place soon after Monday's opening ceremony, which will include cultural performances and a speech by the UK Prime Minister. Johnson has said the summit will be the "world's moment of truth" and has urged world leaders to make the most of it.

"The question everyone is asking is whether we seize this moment or let it slip away," he said, ahead of the two-week conference.





ALSO READ: G20 agrees to strengthen WHO on EUAs for Covid jabs: Piyush Goyal

His talks with Modi are expected to focus on the UK-India climate partnership as well as a stock-take of the 2030 Roadmap for stronger UK-India Strategic Partnership  signed by the two leaders during a virtual summit in May this year.

Both governments remain committed to the implementation of the Roadmap, within prescribed timelines. Accordingly, we are looking to launch negotiations in November 2021 for an Interim Agreement to be signed in March 2022 and eventually a comprehensive agreement, if all goes according to schedule, by November 2022, India's High Commissioner to the UK, Gaitri Issar Kumar, said ahead of the prime ministerial talks  the first in-person meeting between Modi and Johnson following the UK PM's twice cancelled visit to India earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Modi-Johnson meeting will be followed by a leader-level COP26 event entitled Action and Solidarity: The Critical Decade, with Modi set to deliver India's national statement on the country's climate action to the delegates soon after.

India is among the top countries in the world in terms of installed renewable energy, wind and solar energy capacity. At the WLS, I will share India's excellent track record on climate action and our achievements, Modi said in a statement ahead of the summit.



Prime Minister on Sunday visited the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome along with other world leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit

ALSO READ: G20 agrees on 1.5 degrees Celsius target, but leaves COP26 with a lot to do

I will also highlight the need to comprehensively address climate change issues including equitable distribution of carbon space, support for mitigation and adaptation and resilience building measures, mobilisation of finance, technology transfer and importance of sustainable lifestyles for green and inclusive growth, he said.

India's focus at the COP26 Summit will be on the country's ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goals for the post-2020 period under the Paris Agreement.

These include a reduction in emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 level, as well as achieving 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030.

Predictable and consistent financing of green technology for developing countries will be another key area of focus for India.

At the end of day one of the World Leaders' Summit on Monday, Modi will join more than 120 Heads of Government and Heads of State at a special VVIP reception at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum  one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions.

The reception will also involve members of the royal family, including Prince Charles and wife Camilla and Prince William and wife Kate Middleton. Queen Elizabeth II was due to attend this special reception but pulled out last week after medical advice against travel.

On Tuesday, the final day of Modi's UK visit, the PM is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with leaders of Switzerland, Finland, Israel, Nepal, Malawi, Ukraine, Japan and Argentina, as well as a meeting with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.





ALSO READ: G20 offers little new on climate, leaving unfinished business for COP26

The launch of the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States initiative and a leader-level event entitled Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment are also scheduled for Tuesday before the Prime Minister flies back to New Delhi in the evening.

The India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA) will launch a new Green Grids Initiative in partnership with the UK, with an ambition to connect different parts of the world with a common solar grid.

(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.)
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], October 31 (ANI/PRNewswire): (https://mitfutureskills.org) MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence (MIT FuSE), (https://www.mituniversity.edu.in) MIT Art, Design and Technology University concluded its unique 5-week and 2-credit (https://mitfutureskills.org/blog/events/short-term-course-on-artificial-intelligence-for-education) 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 (http://mitfutureskills.org/pgd-in-ai-ml) AI was initiated & curated by the (https://mitfutureskills.org/?utm_source=prnewswire7 & utm_medium=wirednews & utm_campaign=pressrelease & utm_term=prn & utm_content=prj) 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. (https://mitfutureskills.org/?utm_source=prnewswire7 & utm_medium=wirednews & utm_campaign=pressrelease & utm_term=prn & utm_content=prj) 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.

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Teachers from all over India actively participated in the training on various topics covering the basics to advanced concepts in (https://mitfutureskills.org/pgd-in-ai-ml) Artificial Intelligence. Eminent Industry veterans like Dr Raja N. Moorthy, Member Advisory Board Kirusa Inc, Arpit Yadav, Senior Data Scientist INSOFE, Rupa Singh, CEO and Founder AI-Beehive, Dr Dharmendra Singh Rajput, Associate Professor, VIT Vellore, Pradnya Paithankar, Senior Trainer and Consultant and 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, '(https://spoken-tutorial.org) 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 (https://mitfutureskills.org/?utm_source=prnewswire7 & utm_medium=wirednews & utm_campaign=pressrelease & utm_term=prn & utm_content=prj) MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence for upskilling & reskilling initiatives.

Sushant Gadankush, Founder & MD, InnoWise India, also graced the occasion. He presented an overview on (https://riysalab.com) 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.

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, (https://www.mituniversity.edu.in/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">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.

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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, Utpal Chakraborty, TEDx speaker & Former Head of Artificial Intelligence, YES Bank Ltd., Dr Anoop V.S., Senior Scientist (Research & Training) from IIITMK Kerala and 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. Smruti Shelke from (https://mitfutureskills.org/?utm_source=prnewswire7 & utm_medium=wirednews & utm_campaign=pressrelease & utm_term=prn & utm_content=prj) MIT Centre for Future Skills Excellence (MIT FuSE) compered the ceremony along with Prof. Komal Gagare from MIT School of Education & Research.

(https://mitfutureskills.org/?utm_source=prnewswire7 & utm_medium=wirednews & utm_campaign=pressrelease & utm_term=prn & utm_content=prj) MIT FuSE has curated exclusive courses keeping up with the current job market requirements of experts in (https://mitfutureskills.org/pgd-in-ai-ml) Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, (https://mitfutureskills.org/pgd-in-erp) Enterprise Resource Planning, (https://mitfutureskills.org/pg-diploma-in-robotic-process-automation) Robotic Process Automation, (https://mitfutureskills.org/pgd-in-cloud-computing) Cloud Computing, (https://mitfutureskills.org/pg-programme-in-cyber-security-analyst) Cyber Security & (https://mitfutureskills.org/post-graduate-programme-in-blockchain-technology) Blockchain Technology. Budding tech-enthusiasts can check the (https://mitfutureskills.org) MIT FuSE Website for more information on career opportunities in various emerging technologies and guidance on pursuing the same.

This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Beyond jails: Exploring policy changes to reduce need for bigger jails in NC
A New Bern neighborhood is flooded during Hurricane Florence in September 2018. The Craven County city has been selected by the state for affordable housing units to be built. Photo: Photo: New Bern
A proposed state House redistricting plan introduced Thursday is set to be heard at 2 p.m. Monday by the chambers redistricting committee. Map: NCGA
Photo: Ellis Ross/Facebook In a Facebook(Meta) video uploaded by Skeena BC Liberal MLA Ellis Ross, he warns the NDP Government to not play politics with First Nation issues.

Following two new arrests at the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline site near Houston this week, Skeena BC Liberal MLA and leadership hopeful Ellis Ross came forward in support of pipeline workers and spoke about protecting them.

The workers are not at fault here. They are just doing the job they were supposed to do under a contract with the company. They should not be exposed to anything, other than just doing a job that was lawful.

Instead, he directed the blame toward the provincial government for its arrogant, ignorant and incompetent politics and warned the NDP to not play politics with First Nation issues.

Ross spoke in a Facebook Live update from Victoria where he is in attendance at the B.C. Legislature.

Im not sure whats happening up there [Houston] right now because we have a government that doesnt actually disclose whats happening, or they have no idea  And I used to think that the NDP were playing politics with Aboriginal issues. Now, I think its a combination of arrogance, ignorance and incompetence, he said.

On Oct. 27, the RCMP arrested two individuals from the blockade site in Houston where certain clans of the Wetsuweten have been protesting against the Coastal GasLink pipeline. The arrests were made for an outstanding criminal code theft and mischief files and for possession of several stolen items from CGL equipment.

The 670-kilometre-long pipeline in northern B.C. by TC Energy is to deliver natural gas from the Dawson Creek area to the LNG Canada facility in Kitimat.

Ross is a former chief councillor of the Haisla Nation on whose traditional land the LNG Canada facility is being built, and played an instrumental role in seeing the project through.

He said the NDP government is quietly dismantling all the work that they did with LNG. Theyre quietly dismantling our economy  They want to dismantle it under the guise of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

While the provincial government has no role to play with the RCMPs arrests, which were a result of the injunctions obtained by CGL from the B.C. Supreme Court, Ross did accuse the NDP government of supporting the protests and signing anti-LNG declarations, in his video message.

They [NDP government] actually opposed the idea of a democratically elected chief and council, who by the way signed on to LNG, every chief and council who are elected by their people signed on to the LNG agreements for Prince George to Kitimaat village including the Gitgaat and Gitxaala First Nations, the NDP disrespected that, they ignored it. In fact, they even went so far to say elected chief and councils were constructed by the Indian Act to annihilate the natives which was an absolutely horrible thing to say about elected leaders, said Ross.

He further accused the NDP of hiring buddies at 300 bucks an hour to go in and talk to chiefs and not producing a proper report out of these consultations. Ross is referring to current MLA for Stikine Nathan Cullen who was tasked by Premier John Horgan in January 2020 to be the intermediary between B.C. and Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs.

Pointing at the millions of dollars of taxpayers money being spent on the pipeline unrest in northwest B.C., Ross called out citizens to ask for accountability in his message.
Photo: Sydney Chisholm Proudwest Fireworks, Kamloops.

Its a Halloween tradition in B.C. but, if the BC SPCA has its way, late-October fireworks wont be around much longer.

The BC SPCA is petitioning the federal government to ban all consumer fireworks, as the celebratory explosives can be detrimental to animals.

The animal welfare organization helped write a petition to be put forward to Parliament by Victoria MP Laurel Collins.

The petition opened for signatures on Thursday and will close on Feb. 25.

Currently in Canada, consumer fireworks are regulated by a patchwork of bylaws that vary across the country  by province and municipality.

Though fireworks are permitted to be purchased and used during specific times of the year in B.C., some provinces, like Alberta, have banned consumer fireworks altogether.

This petition is asking the government of Canada to create permanent legislature that would apply to all provinces.

It also points to safety concerns around fireworks including pollution and fire risk, as well as the harm the explosives can do to animals.

BC SPCA chief scientific officer Sara Dubois said many humans and animals have lost their lives in mishaps and fires created by fireworks.

Farm animals are particularly scared of fireworks and there's lots of reports from farmers who've lost animals as a result, Dubois said.

You think it's just one fun night for you, but it's actually having a significant harm on your community."

Dubois said she knows fireworks are a local tradition, but she believes residents can live without them.

I think that traditions can change, Dubois said.

Traditions can evolve and, especially once you learn the consequences on others, I think we're learning more and more about how to be respectful of the community.

Out of the 2,048 signatures the petition had as of Saturday evening, 1881 of them were from B.C.

The official government petition can be accessed here.
Photo: The Canadian Press Manitoba's newly elected Progressive Conservative Leader and the province's new premier, Heather Stefanson, speaks at a victory party after defeating Shelly Glover in a leadership race in Winnipeg, Saturday, October 30, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Manitoba's governing Progressive Conservatives chose Heather Stefanson as their new leader and the province's next premier on Saturday, although her opponent was not ready to concede the close race.

Stefanson, the province's former health minister, defeated former member of Parliament Shelly Glover by garnering 51 per cent of the more than 16,000 votes cast. Glover secured 49 per cent.

Stefanson will become the first woman to serve as Manitoba's premier and the only female premier among the 10 provinces once she is sworn in in the coming days.

She promised a more conciliatory tone from the Tory government, which sank in opinion polls under former premier Brian Pallister before he stepped down in September.

"I heard loud and clear that (Manitobans) want to see us take a much more collaborative approach when it comes to working with other levels of government and with stakeholders in our community," Stefanson said in her victory speech.

While the party immediately recognized Stefanson's win, Glover said she would hold back until she could analyze the results.

"I really can't concede until I do the homework," said Glover, who hugged Stefanson immediately after the results. She would not say when she would make a decision.

The contest was marred by complaints that many party members did not receive mail-in ballots in time to vote. Glover called for the vote count to be delayed, but the party refused.

George Orle, head of the party's leadership election committee, told the assembled members Saturday the Tories made every effort to have everyone vote.

Ballots were mailed to members in early October and were to be returned, either in person or by mail, by Friday. Some came back as undeliverable and too late for them to be mailed out again, Orle said, so the party had workers go around the province to set up mobile locations where ballots could be picked up and returned.

"No system is perfect, but ours was very far away from inept or disorganized, and there was no one who was deliberately disenfranchised in this process," Orle said.

Stefanson said she will soon decide on forming a cabinet, set a date to recall the legislature, and call a byelection to fill Pallister's former seat.

One political analyst said Stefanson must reach out to people who Pallister had angered if the Tories want to rebound in the polls in time for the next election in 2023.

"She's got to ... reach out to the public sector, the Indigenous community and so forth," said Christopher Adams, adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

The Opposition NDP said the Tories' new leadership changes little of substance. Stefanson was health minister last spring when the COVID-19 pandemic spiked and dozens of patients in intensive care had to be flown to other provinces due to a lack of beds.

"No one believes Mr. Pallister's failed health minister can fix the crisis in our health-care system," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said in a written statement.
Photo: The Canadian Press Gjoa Haven, Nunavut

Tony Akoak's house sits atop what Gjoa Haven's residents call the uptown, a hill that overlooks the turquoise Arctic Ocean in the otherwise flat Nunavut community.

Inside, the living room walls lined with photos of his children and grandchildren, Akoak is watching the news on a Friday afternoon as a strong October wind whips up white caps on the water.

"My family is very important to me," he says as he smiles up at the photos from where he sits on a wooden chair.

Akoak, who has served as Gjoa Haven's member of the legislative assembly since 2013, says the hamlet of about 1,300 people is growing quickly and needs more mental-health services to support its population.

Before joining politics, Akoak worked for a decade at the Nunavut Legal Services Board's office in Gjoa Haven.

I saw a lot of people that needed help, he says, tears welling up behind his glasses. Theres a lot of hidden mental illness here, people that are sick that wont say they are sick."

Gjoa Haven is nestled on the south coast of King William Island about 1,900 kilometres north of Edmonton. Like all of Nunavut's communities except Iqaluit, it doesn't have a hospital. It has one dedicated mental-health worker, but most diagnoses and treatments need to be done in southern Canada.

The options are usually shipping people out, away from home, away from family."

Akoak says hes seen an increase in drug and alcohol use in Gjoa Haven in recent years, and worries that residents don't have enough support to deal with addiction.

There are mental-health resources in Nunavuts larger communities, including Iqaluit, which is two days of travel and 1,300 kilometres away. But smaller communities are falling behind, he says.

The government is very, very slow in getting things done. Were being left out all the time.

A jury at a coroner's inquest this month into the police shooting death of 21-year-old Charles Qirngnirq in Gjoa Haven recommended that every community in Nunavut have more than one mental-health worker.

Victoria Madsen, acting assistant deputy minister of mental health and addiction, told the inquest that in 2016, the year Qirngnirq was killed, the government did not have a protocol for providing assistance to communities when there were critical occurrences.

Now, there is a formal crisis response team that flies to communities, but she said more needs to be done.

In Qirngnirq's case, the inquest heard that the 21-year-old had made suicidal comments before he showed up at the community's airport with a gun. RCMP said it appeared he turned and lifted the weapon. The coroner's jury ruled his death a homicide.

Madsen testified that it's often RCMP officers who respond to crisis calls, including situations where the person might be suicidal. There is no formal agreement between the RCMP and community mental-health workers to work together on such calls, but some are already doing it informally, she said.

A mental-health worker would know how to assess for delusions and know that the erratic behaviour is actually because (someone is) thinking something or believing something thats not true."

An RCMP officer isn't able to decipher (whether) a person has schizophrenia, she said.

There's a pilot project in Iqaluit in which mental-health workers have been hired to work exclusively with the RCMP, but it will take a couple of years for that program to become full time, she said.

Madsen wants to see other government departments take active roles in suicide prevention. Housing issues, for instance, underlie most mental-health calls received in communities like Gjoa Haven, she told the inquest.

She said she agrees that Gjoa Haven needs its own mental-health facility and that, ideally, all of Nunavut's communities would have services in town.

Back in his kitchen, Akoak gently pulls a yellowed newspaper clipping from his fridge door. It's a photo of his granddaughter in the legislative assembly in Iqaluit when Akoak was first sworn in.

"I just want Gjoa Haven to be healthy," he says. "I want that for her."
Photo: The Canadian Press

Vancouver Police say one man is dead and two others are in hospital suffering from serious injuries after a vehicle incident in the city's south side neighbourhood.

Police say the man's death is Vancouver's 14th homicide this year.

A Vancouver Police statement says officers discovered the three victims after responding to a roll-over vehicle collision near Fraser Street and East 55th Avenue.

Police say the homicide victim, a Vancouver man, was pronounced dead at hospital while the two others are being treated for serious injuries.

Police, who believe the three men were driving in the same vehicle when they were involved in a confrontation with people in another car, say no arrests have been made and the victims' names have not been released.

Police say they are looking for dash-camera footage and witnesses who were in the area of Main and Fraser streets between 41st and 57th avenues on Saturday night between 10:30 and 11:15.
Photo: Extinction Rebellion 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."

 with files from Elana Shepert
Police were called to Lee Highway on a disorder where a man and his girlfriend were arguing in the parking lot. The man had the woman's cell phone and was talking to her grandmother. The woman told police the man would not give her cell phone back to her. Police gave the woman her cell phone back and separated the two. They said they just wanted to go their separate ways. The woman was not from Chattanooga and she needed a ride to the airport to purchased a ticket. The man is a student at Dalton State so he drove back to school. The woman was taken to the airport where she purchased a ticket to go back to Minnesota.

* * *

A man and a woman on Creekside Preserve Drive said the front passenger side window of her car had been shattered and two bags taken in the past 30-45 minutes. The man said he was the registered owner of the vehicle. As other thefts that were similar in nature occurred in approximately the same area, the officer relocated to where the next theft had happened in order to possibly obtain more suspect information.

* * *

While investigating another incident on Carter Street, police witnessed a parking lot collision with no damage. Police witnessed a man back his 2001 Mercedes (TN) into a white Chevy Tahoe (MS). The owner of the Tahoe confirmed that her vehicle did not sustain any damage and said that she did not wish to file a report. Police did not observe any damage to either vehicle.

* * *

A woman on Mountain Creek Road told police she was in a verbal disorder with her ex-boyfriend. She said she was asking for him to take her home, but he did not want to which led to the disorder. The woman also alleged fraud by the ex-boyfriend, saying he logged into her bank account and transferred $1,100 out of her account into his. At this time there was no proof that the man was the one that completed the transaction, however officers informed the woman on how to make a claim with her bank. Police said it was their understanding that the woman did not want to make a fraud report. Another man gave the woman a ride home.

* * *

Police responded to a shoplifting at Walgreens at 2104 McCallie Ave. The store manager said a black male entered the store and put several detergent items in two baskets and walked out of the store, and left the scene on foot. The suspect was seen getting out of a white Ford pickup truck at the store before entering.

* * *

Police were called to the bus stop at 490 Greenway View Dr. The bus driver said there was a passenger on board who kept taking his mask off and she had told him several times to put it back on. Police spoke with the man and told him, per CARTA rules, he had to keep his mask on at all times on the bus. The man apologized and said that he would keep the mask on. The bus driver said that was okay as long as he didn't take it off again.

* * *

A man on Highview Drive told police his trailer had been stolen sometime in a five day period, because he was not home on those dates. The officer saw a broken padlock in his driveway which he said he was using to secure his trailer. He did not have any suspect information. Police received the information for the stolen trailer report (namely the title) and reported the trailer as stolen through NCIC. The officer also went to Dixie Circle in an attempt to locate the trailer, however there was not a trailer matching that description in the area.

* * *

The HR Block at 4616 Rossville Blvd. had a broken out window. Upon arrival police saw a brick lying on the ground near the premises and the window was busted outwards leaving a large opening into the building. Upon further investigation, police noted that all the doors were locked. Police made an attempt to locate a responsible party for the business and dispatch responded with one who could not be located.

* * *

An officer saw a white male panhandling in a No Soliciting posted area at 2020 Gunbarrel Road. The officer approached the man and identified him. He was given a warning and informed he would be charged if caught soliciting there again.

* * *

On a side job, police approached and trespassed a woman on Highway 153. She was found sleeping and appeared homeless. She had no warrants.

* * *

Police approached a man and woman standing outside the Holiday Inn and Suites at 434 Chestnut St. They said they were just having a conversation outside of their hotel room. The woman said their son was in their room with their friends and they did not want to wake him up with their conversation. There was no verbal disorder.

* * *

A woman at The Chatt Inn at 2000 E 23rd St. said she was disturbed by the loud noise coming from outside of her door. Police searched the area and found there was an oil tanker in the nearby parking lot that was delivering, and what the woman heard was the engine of the truck, along with the business warehouse that is next door.

* * *

Police saw a suspicious white Ford Expedition parked on the side of Glenbury Drive. Police tried making contact with the owner of the vehicle, but were unable to speak with him. Police placed an orange unattended vehicle decal on the back window.

* * *

An officer responded to an open window at a residence on North Orchard Knob Avenue. Upon arrival, police saw the open window, cleared the house, and no one was found. The house did not appear as though someone was living there and only had miscellaneous items. The house is being renovated, according to the neighbor across the street. The officer took a look at the window and observed smudged finger marks that appeared to show that the thief slid the window up and pushed in. There were no fingerprints to be lifted, due to them smearing on a dusty window.

* * *

A man on Clear Brook Court is the owner of a 2011 silver Infiniti M7X. He said he left the car in the driveway with the keys in the vehicle. When he woke up this morning he discovered his car was stolen. Police spoke to a nearby resident who had security cameras on his house. The resident stated he would check security footage and will call in if he sees anything. Police contacted NCIC and placed the vehicle as stolen. The vehicle has no distinguishing marks besides a blue license plate with a picture of a guitar on it.

* * *

Police responded to an abandoned auto at 5953 Brainerd Road. Upon arrival, police noticed a black Honda Pilot (TN) sitting in the rear of the parking lot. The vehicle was occupied by a woman. She said she had been parked there since last night because she had not been able to locate the keys to her residence. Police told the woman that the owner wanted her to leave the property. She left with no incident.

* * *

Police were called to West 13th Street Court where a caller, who was not on scene, said her ex-girlfriend said she was going to take items out of her apartment. Police spoke with the ex-girlfriend who said she has been living at this address since February and she was only going to take her own personal belongings from inside the apartment. Police asked the woman to try and leave the apartment before the woman returns from work to prevent a disorder. Police then contacted the caller, who was informed the ex-girlfriend was only going to take her own personal belongings. They told her to call back should the ex-girlfriend take any of her belongings to prevent a disorder when she comes home from work.

* * *

A man on Boynton Drive called police saying his neighbor, who has a restraining order against him, parked her car near his apartment in the parking lot. Both live in close proximity to each other. Police informed the man that anyone who lives at this apartment complex can park in any of the parking spaces provided. The man was asked to stay away from the woman and to call back should the woman come around him.

* * *

A man at Extended Stay America at 6240 Airpark Dr. told police he was in Chattanooga for work and his trailer had been stolen during the night from the motel parking lot. He said the trailer was a 12 foot by 6 foot enclosed dual axle trailer with Irrigation Service printed in blue on the rear of the trailer. The man was unable to provide police with a VIN number for the trailer but said he would call back once he found it so the trailer could be entered into NCIC as stolen.
The House and Senate both voted Friday for legislation enabling the state attorney general to request courts appoint district attorney pro tems for any district attorney general who makes a blanket statement against prosecuting certain classes of illegal activity.

The Senate passed its version of the bill on a 25-6 vote.

The measure passed the House 64-17, but it drew opposition from an unlikely source, Republican Rep. Bruce Griffey of Paris, who said the state already has the means to remove district attorneys general.

We may have a situation where we have a district attorney who says we have these low-level marijuana cases, I just dont have the resources to devote to them, Griffey said.

Several Democrats agreed with Griffeys contention, arguing district attorneys general should have the discretion to concentrate on crimes that have the greatest impact on public safety.

Rep. Scotty Campbell, R-Mountain City, who carried the legislation for House Speaker Cameron Sexton, told lawmakers the law would apply only when a DA refuses to prosecute certain cases regardless of the facts.

Such a law could apply to Davidson County DA Glenn Funk, who has stated he will not prosecute possession of small amounts of marijuana and cases in which businesses decline to post signs letting people know a transgender person could be using a restroom marked for men and women. Funks office has not responded to questions.

Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, protested that the measure would put unelected lawyers in place of duly elected District Attorneys.

But Republican lawmakers pointed to existing statutes that allow judges to intervene to replace rogue DAs.

A District Attorney does not have the authority to decide what law is good and what law isnt good, said Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon.

Enforcing such a law could be impractical because Metro Nashville Police are not arresting people for possession of a half-ounce of pot or less. In some cases, theyre writing citations. Thus, such cases dont exist and arent finding their way to court.

HB9072/SB9009 . By a 20-10 margin, the Senate voted in favor of a measure allowing counties to make school board races partisan, with a handful of Republicans voting no.

The measure would give school board candidates freedom to identify with a political party, said Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville. Bell said it was important to know the underlying political philosophies of those representing them on school boards.

Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville  who opposed the measure  said she had gotten calls from moderate Republicans interested in school board positions whose workplace policies barred them from partisan races.

In one of the closest votes of the session, the House passed its version of the bill 52-39 even though it would preclude federal employees from seeking election in partisan races. The bill allows county political parties to decide if they will hold primaries.

Do you not think that were partisan enough, not just in this body but this nation? Now what we want to do is make education partisan? How asinine, how ridiculous that sounds, said Rep. Larry Miller, a Memphis Democrat.

HB9073/SB2010, a non-controversial banking measure passed 28-1 allowing banks  where counties and other govt entities are depositing COVID relief funds  leeway in putting up the necessary collateral to take in high dollar deposits. The measure passed unanimously in the House.

HB9075/SB9012 . The Senate voted 24-5 in favor of a measure reducing the timeline of a governors executive order from 60 days to 45  a reflection of frustration by some Tennessee Republicans over the sweeping emergency powers available to Gov. Bill Lee during the pandemic.

The House passed its version on a 76-14 vote. State Rep. Michael Curcio, R-Dickson, said, Shortening that from 60 down to 45 days would make us a little more nimble, so that we can respond to the facts on the ground instead of letting it live on.

Democrats questioned whether this was an attack on Gov. Lees handling of the pandemic, but Curcio said he thought the governor did an excellent job.

SJR9005 , a resolution that calls on the Legislature to give the Attorney General authority to take legal action against the federal government and its move to force companies with more than 100 employees to require COVID-19 vaccinations passed the Senate handily.

It drew a 64-17 vote in the House but not before its sponsor, Republican Rep. John Ragan of Oak Ridge, drew somewhat of a rebuke from fellow Republican Curcio, after castigating President Biden and anyone who backs vaccinations and mandates.

Ragan told the chamber his move for nullification stems from a stand-off between South Carolina and President Andrew Jackson in 1832 when the state wanted to secede in opposition to federal tariffs.

Jackson was prepared to invade, but Ragan said he backed down. Curcio corrected him and pointed out the president decided not to invade after South Carolina withdrew its nullification resolution. Ultimately, South Carolina continued to rebel, leading to the Civil War.

Curcio pointed out that James Pettigrew of South Carolina said, South Carolina is too small for a republic but too large to be an insane asylum. I want to make sure that Tennessee doesnt become an insane asylum.

The House voted 67-23 in favor of House Bill 9076, which gives the Department of Health commissioner the power to set all rules and regulations in the COVID-19 pandemics and to determine quarantines for any individual or business.

The measure would apply only to the six independently run public health departments in Tennessee.

Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, pointed to Tennessees high rates of infection compared to the rest of the country. Those rates of infection, however, remain lower in the six jurisdictions overseen by independent health departments.

I dont know why wed want our public health outcomes to be worse, Yarbro said.

The Senate wound up adopting a different version which would give the governor authority to determine health rules during a pandemic, forcing a conference committee to reach an agreement.

What were trying to do is have a consistent plan across the state, said state Rep. Kevin Vaughan, who carried the legislation for House Speaker Cameron Sexton.

Vaughan, a Collierville Republican, has been irritated for more than a year and a half with strict rules set by the Shelby County Health Department, based in urban Memphis, which didnt mesh with the views in Collierville some 20-plus miles from downtown Memphis and surrounding counties such as Hardeman and Haywood.

Democratic Rep. Mike Stewart of Nashville complained that Vaughan could present no facts showing the 89 state-controlled health departments performed better than the six urban departments, including Davidson County Health Department, which operate independently.

This is one of the areas where our health departments have excelled, Stewart said. He pointed out Davidson County has a 63% vaccination rate compared to the state total of less than 50%.

Rep. Antonio Parkinson, a Memphis Democrat, pointed out that the Legislature will be removing control from health department directors and board members who have a better understanding of their communities.

Shelby County is one of the safest counties in the state after being hit hard early in the pandemic, Parkinson noted.

Now were going to take that authority from ground zero and move it to the middle of the state where those authorities are not on the ground, Parkinson said.

He also questioned whether the bill is an indictment of the governor and his lack of decision-making early in the pandemic when Gov. Bill Lee allowed independent health departments to continue operating without state interference.

The bill also would allow the health commissioner to decide which businesses should be closed because of COVID-19 outbreaks. But it was unclear whether the commissioner could close entire classifications of businesses.
An officer responded to a shoplifting at Walmart at 501 Signal Mountain Road. The Walmart employee said there were multiple black females in the store that were attempting to conceal items, and taking tags off of items. Police responded on scene, spoke with the employee, and made contact with the suspects. The suspects were escorted to the loss prevention office and identified. They were a mother, daughter, and friend of the daughter. The daughter and the friend were the two that took tags off of two backpacks and began concealing items inside of them. The mother had not been concealing items herself, however in the camera footage she was witnessing this happen and did not attempt to stop the two girls. After the Walmart associates had recovered all of the items, they decided not to press charges against the three females. They were escorted out of the store. The total dollar amount of merchandise has yet to be determined.

* * *

Police responded to a disorder at a residence on Lee Highway. A woman said her daughter-in-law locked her out of the house and would not let her in to collect her belongings. Officers spoke with the daughter-in-law who said she did not want the woman in her home at the moment. The woman said she needed her work clothes from inside. Officers asked if the daughter-in-law would allow the woman to get her work clothes. She said she could get her belongings as long as police stayed outside of her home. The woman collected her belongings and left.

* * *

A woman on Duncan Avenue said while she was out of town, someone attempted to break into her residence through the back door. The victim showed police the damage to the back door, where the door knob was hanging. Entry was not made, only damage to the door knob. There is no suspect information at this time.

* * *

A man called police and said he had been traveling west on I-24 through Chattanooga in his Chevy Equinox (GA). He said around the 18200 block he struck a pothole causing axle damage to his car. The man said he coasted to the East 23rd Street exit. From that location he had his vehicle towed back to his residence in Georgia. He said he needs a report for insurance purposes, and USDOT.

* * *

Police responded to a theft at apartments on Hixson Pike. A man said two or three weeks ago someone stole some items from his apartment. He says he thinks it was a black female who he had invited in, but did not see her take anything.

* * *

Police were called to Sweet Basil Thai Cuisine at 5845 Brainerd Road where a man and woman said they heard a female yelling from across the creek. Police located a white female who said one of the homeless parties brought a vicious dog that's constantly scaring her dog. She also said that she called McKamey, but no one has come out yet.

* * *

Officers responded to a shoplifting at Walmart at 3550 Cummings Hwy. They spoke with the loss prevention employee who said an unknown white female was seen on video entering the store carrying a wallet with no other visible property. She said the female was seen on video pushing a shopping cart with a black purse, hair straightener and other items. She said the female was then seen on video exiting the store past all points of sale carrying the purse. She said she found the empty box of the hair straightener in the store after the female left the store. She said the purse appeared to have more items in it than just the hair straightener. She said the value of known items stolen totaled approximately $80.

* * *

A man on Chestnut Street told police over the phone that someone got into his vehicle overnight. He said there were no signs of forced entry and they were able to get his wallet, a silver necklace and a Glock 48. The firearm was entered into NCIC. The man said he will speak to a business nearby to see if there was anything caught on camera.

* * *

The loss prevention officer at Walmart at 3550 Cummings Hwy. called police about a shoplifting incident. She said two white females were observed shoplifting a pair of work boots from the store. Each female left with a pair of Treadsafe boots valued at $26. At this time no identifying information is known, but the women were observed leaving the premise in a grey Chevrolet HHR.

* * *

A man on Pine Needles Trail called police and said he got a Verizon bill at his old address on Turtle Crossing in Ooltewah. He said he has never had Verizon. He said that someone used his name and old address to open two phone numbers. He said he has not had to pay anything and has filed a dispute with Verizon. He said he has not suffered a loss nor has this been on his credit, thus a miscellaneous report. He is clear that Verizon would be the victim.

* * *

Police responded to Millennium Bank at 8045 E. Brainerd Road where a black male with thin dreads wearing a black shirt and cut-off jean shorts was repeatedly going in and out of the bank. The officer arrived and identified the man. He was then trespassed from Millennium Bank, per the bank manager's request.

* * *

A man on Rosemary Drive called police to say a female acquaintance is receiving mail at his address without his permission. He is concerned that she may be doing this in an attempt to deceive police and others into thinking that she has "established residency" at his home. The man wants it documented that the woman has not established any kind of residency. He said the woman is not on a lease nor any type of written agreement stating that she resides there. He said he will be in touch with the post office to have her excluded from having mail sent to the address.

* * *

A man and woman at Holiday Bowl at 5530 Hixson Pike said they needed to file a warrant for forgery. They proceeded to show the officer copies of a false DNA test. The officer informed them they would need to contact their lawyer as the officer could not assist them with a false DNA test. The female provided a Tennessee identification.

* * *

A man and a woman were in a disorder about a bench in the park at 928 Market St. Both agreed to leave the area and not come in contact with each other again.

* * *



A woman on Barton Avenue called police and said someone damaged her vehicle while it was parked in her driveway. She said she is not sure when it occurred due to her being in quarantine in her home. She said the damage is to the passenger side front bumper and wheel well. The woman said there are scratches and plastic falling off.

* * *

An officer spoke with three people behind Stockdale's at 5450 Highway 153 near a homeless camp. One man was identified and the officer ran him on the computer and observed multiple possible outstanding warrants. The officer then detained him in handcuffs and he gave the officer permission to search him and the officer didn't find any weapons or contraband. Info channel then told the officer that the warrants were no longer outstanding, so the officer removed the handcuffs from him and left.

* * *

An employee with Food City at 1600 E 23rd St. told police an unknown female approached her and said a man was possibly shoplifting within the store. At this time the employee approached the man and confronted him about merchandise which she observed within his jacket pockets. The employee told police that the man then removed merchandise from his jacket before leaving the store, passing all points of sale. The employee told police that prior to this man leaving the store she saw two containers of lotion valued at approximately $16 in his pockets. There is no further suspect information.

* * *

A man on Ely Road said he had witnessed his friend's car, a 2010 Mercury, get stolen from his driveway. The man said the car's owner had been admitted to the hospital the previous day, but had left her keys in her vehicle. The man said he had seen a suspicious woman walking along the road around the time of the theft, but was unsure if she was involved. The man was unable to provide any other suspect information. Police conducted a search of the area and found the stolen vehicle at Hidden Acres Apartments on Hixson Pike. It was found in the parking lot between buildings G and J. Police found the vehicle unoccupied and unlocked, but no keys were located in or around the vehicle. The vehicle was towed by Tommy's Automotive, and will be released to the owner.

* * *

A woman on East 26th Street Court asked police to come by because she was having an issue with an ex-friend who wouldn't leave her residence. Before police arrived on the scene the ex-friend had already left the home without incident. The woman couldn't give the police the name of her ex-friend because she couldn't remember it at the moment. She would only say the woman was big. She told police she just wanted her out of her home, nothing more. Police didn't locate anyone in the area fitting the description given by the woman.

* * *



A clerk at the Circle K at 3743 Cummings Hwy. told police an unidentified black male came into the store to purchase gas and cigarillos. During the transactional process the male became upset with the clerk and swiped the debit card reader off the counter with his hand. After smacking the card reader, he smashed a Tennessee Lottery ticket case to the ground causing it to crack the plastic. At this time police do not have any suspect information, but the clerk reported the suspect fled the scene in a red Honda Civic.
Here is the latest Hamilton County arrest report:

ATWOOD, KATHRYN CLARICE

7016 S DENT RD HIXSON, 373432310

Age at Arrest: 19 years old

Arresting Agency: Tenn Highway Patrol

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

---

BAIN, SILAS WILLOW

1456 MARIJON DR CHATTANOOGA, 374213632

Age at Arrest: 63 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

---

BREU, KIMERLIE T

7199 GRAY HAEK TRL SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, 37377

Age at Arrest: 52 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

RESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESS

---

BROADWELL, AMY

9828 MAUDE LANE HARRISON, 37341

Age at Arrest: 50 years old

Arresting Agency: Hamilton County

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

RESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESS

---

BROWN, JAMIE LEE

2717 ROSSVILLE BLVD ROSSVILLE,

Age at Arrest: 47 years old

Arresting Agency: East Ridge

POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE

RESISTING ARREST

---

BURTON, SYDNEY SHAE

171 DUCKTOWN ST SODDY DAISY, 373796414

Age at Arrest: 23 years old

Arresting Agency: Hamilton County

Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)

---

CHAMBERS, CHAISON R

862 BINFIELD RD MARYVILLE, 37801

Age at Arrest: 26 years old

Arresting Agency: Hamilton County

Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)

---

DAUGHTREY, CORRINA B

1802 US 127 SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, 37377

Age at Arrest: 22 years old

Arresting Agency: Red Bank

POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

---

FILLMAN, JOSEPH

229 DELORES DRIVE HIXSON, 37343

Age at Arrest: 49 years old

Arresting Agency: Hamilton County

Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)

---

GILBERT, KATHERINE DENISE

3008 14TH AV CHATTANOOGA, 37411

Age at Arrest: 67 years old

Arresting Agency: Chattanooga

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

---

GOODNER, DONTAE DEVAUGHN

4731 ROCKY RIVER RD CHATTANOOGA, 37416

Age at Arrest: 25 years old

Arresting Agency: East Ridge

UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON

POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE

---

HOWELL, MIKEL DONAVAN

6726 HARVEST RUN DRIVE HARRISON, 37341

Age at Arrest: 21 years old

Arresting Agency: Collegedale Police

Booked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)

---

HUGHES, ERIC DEWAYNE

2533 6TH AVE CHATTANOOGA, 37407

Age at Arrest: 23 years old

Arresting Agency: Tenn Highway Patrol

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

DRIVING ON REVOKED, SUSPENDED OR CANCELLED LICENSE

POSS.





OF HANDGUN WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE---IRVIN, CORNELIA DEBRA209 WEST DAYTONA DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 37415Age at Arrest: 29 years oldArresting Agency: Red BankVANDALISM---JONES, COURTNEY MARIE3715 BENNETT RD CHATTANOOGA, 374121525Age at Arrest: 25 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)---KNOX, ERIC SCOTT739 COLONEY CIRCLE FORT OGLETHORPE, 30742Age at Arrest: 52 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)---MCCONNELL, CONSWELLA D913 MOSS ST CHATTANOOGA, 374111329Age at Arrest: 46 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaDOMESTIC ASSAULT---MENIFEE, MARVIN LUCIOUS4622 PAW TRL CHATTANOOGA, 37416Age at Arrest: 18 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaFIRST DEGREE MURDERESPECIALLY AGGRAVATED ROBBERY---NAVE, STEVEN HEATH217 PRINCESS LN ROSSVILLE, 37401Age at Arrest: 34 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyFTA (POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE FOR RESALE)FTA POSSESSION OF A FIREARM DURING A DANGEROUS OFFFTA BURGLARY OF A BUSINESSFTA THEFT OF SERVICESFTA BURGLARY---ORTON, CHRISTOPHER SHAWN1732 JENKINS RD CHATTANOOGA, 374213250Age at Arrest: 54 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaVIOLATION OF ORDER OF PROTECTION OR RESTRAINING ORRESISTING ARREST OR OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL PROCESSLEAVING SCENE OF ACCIDENT W/DAMAGE TO VEHICLEFAILURE TO REPORT ACCIDENTDRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSE---REINHART, MELISSA LEE1920 GUNBARREL RD. CHATTANOOGA, 37422Age at Arrest: 34 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaEVADING ARRESTDRIVING ON ROADWAYS LANED FOR TRAFFIC, VIOLATIONDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEFAILURE TO SIGNAL TURN---REVIERE, DONTE D7817 BASSWOOD DRIVE CHATTANOOGA, 374162404Age at Arrest: 23 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyVANDALISM OVER $1,000---RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ, AUDENCIO3505 3RD AVE. CHATTANOOGA, 37407Age at Arrest: 30 years oldArresting Agency: Tenn Highway PatrolDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEEVADING ARRESTDISOBEDIENCE TO OFFICER DIRECTING TRAFFICDRIVING WITHOUT DRIVERS LICENSE / EXPIRED LICENSE---SCHUBERTHAN, KARL5194 ABIGAIL LN CHATTANOOGA, 37416Age at Arrest: 37 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaDRIVING LEFT OF CENTER LINESPEEDINGDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEIMPLIED CONSENT LAW - DRIVERSVIOLATING AUTO REGISTRATION LAW---SERRANO, OSCAR A127 GOODSON AVE. CHSTTSNOOGS, 37405Age at Arrest: 45 years oldArresting Agency: Tenn Highway PatrolFAILURE TO APPEAR (PTR)---SHAPIRO, STEVEN Y399 THOMPSON ST CHATTANOOGA, 374054138Age at Arrest: 59 years oldArresting Agency: Tenn Highway PatrolDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE---SMITH, DOMANIEC JEROMYA SIDNEY186 SADDLE HORSE CIR TUNNEL HILL, 30755Age at Arrest: 21 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyFUGITIVE (ARREST FOR CRIME IN ANOTHER STATE)---TAYLOR, AUSTIN RYAN6555 ESQUIRE LN CHATTANOOGA, 37343Age at Arrest: 27 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaEVADING ARRESTCONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN SCHEDULE IITHEFT OF PROPERTYEVADING ARRESTFRAUDULENT USE OF CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDAGGRAVATED BURGLARY---TAYLOR, JEREMY EVAN3626 CHUMLEY LN CHATTANOOGA, 374153540Age at Arrest: 26 years oldArresting Agency: Tenn Highway PatrolDRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE---THOMPSON, CHRISTOPHER JOHN1011 GADD RD HIXSON, 37343Age at Arrest: 36 years oldArresting Agency: Hamilton CountyBooked for Previous Charges or Other Reason(s)---WELCHANCE, RICHARD JASON5432 VILLAGE GARDEN DR. OOLTEWAH, 373638586Age at Arrest: 41 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaDRUGS GENERAL CATEGORY FOR RESALEPOSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA---WOMACK, WILLIAM J1107 ANITA DR CHATTANOOGA, 374112401Age at Arrest: 27 years oldArresting Agency: ChattanoogaAGGRAVATED ASSAULTAGGRAVATED ASSAULTAGGRAVATED ASSAULTAGGRAVATED ASSAULTPOSS OF FIREARM DURING A FELONYRECKLESS DRIVING
The Rev. Dr. Gordon Clifton Goodgame, Sr., who was a popular minister at First-Centenary United Methodist in the 1980s, has died at age 87.

He passed away on Wednesday at Mission Hospital in Waynesville, N.C., surrounded by his family.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Dianne (Fraser), three children Gordon C. Goodgame, Jr., Gregory C Goodgame (Kay Stakely), and Cathey Goodgame; and grandchildren Gordon III, Fraser, Oliver, Mae and Nicholas.

A member of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church, Dr.

Goodgame served as executive director of the SEJ Administrative Council and Lake Junaluska Assembly from 1994 to 2000.

As a resident of Lake Junaluska, he was a regular participant in the life of First UMC, active in the Waynesville Rotary Club with 17 years of perfect attendance, served as a director and chair of Development and Public Relations on the Givens Board, chaired the county Alzheimers Walk for three years, and worked in support of this cause continuously. He chaired the Lake Junaluska Flea Market in 2005 and 2006, worked with the allocation committee of the United Way, and was a consistent supporter of many local charities and foundations.

Funeral arrangements are by Wells Funeral Home of Waynesville. Arrangements will be announced later.
The story is being told that CHI Memorial Hospital posted a list of open positions before purging about 100 employees who balked at taking the COVID vaccine. These employees, all good ones at their jobs, will be fired first thing tomorrow for non-compliance to a very unpopular mandate by a very unpopular president. Thats one thing  but to post the open positions, as the nonvaxxers are still working, is colder than this weekends rains, brother.

Chattanoogas biggest hospital, Erlanger, got in on the bitterness Thursday by removing the immensely popular Chris Young as the hospitals Chief of Staff in a move that magnifies Erlangers overall dysfunction.

Young, elected by the medical staff, purportedly embarrassed the hospital in a PBS Frontline special, whereas many who saw it thought it instead reflected Dr. Youngs 30-year love for the hospital and its people.

Several states are actively defying the presidential mandate that many believe will cripple the nation instead of helping in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. Mandates will cripple other key industries as well. The Tennessee legislature is currently drawing up anti-mandate legislation and, as Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama believes, the courts will decide mandates are not legal.

Already it is being assailed as an attack on hospital workers and, with nursing shortages now critical and nationwide, this business of hospitals shooting their wounded makes absolutely no sense. Memorial and Erlanger have made this Halloween Weekend a human resources nightmare when, as history will soon prove, neither event needed to happen.

Both Erlanger and Memorial are understaffed, which brings up an anonymous Letter from a Nurse the boards of both medical providers should not only read, but investigate and correct.

* * *

A BRUTALLY HONEST LETTER FROM A NURSE

Imagine this. You walk onto the floor, and you have 25 patients. 25 humans you are responsible for, 25 humans you will have to know everything about. When they eat, if they eat, how much they pee, what color it is, when their last bowel movement was, what color, shape, and consistency it was, what their labs look like, their cognitive status, if they have wounds, what meds are due, what are their vitals.

You get to the floor and get report on these 25 people. All not well, some with orders that need completing. One has bladder scans every 6 hours and has to be cathed if they are over a certain limit, one is on an IV infusion every 6 hours and frequent monitoring. 5 are aggressive and need to be kept away from others. At least one had a fall requiring neuro checks every hour, one is dying with no family at their side.

Then imagine being short staffed.

Then imagine the family calling wanting a check up on their family members and complaining when you cant get on the phone right now.

Imagine that you are in the middle of cleaning up a patient, alone, when the family calls and can't stop to take the call but will call them as soon as you're done.

Imagine your manager reprimanding you for not taking the call as the family is angry and complaining.

Then imagine 6 of those 25 calling out for pain meds every 2 hours. Some of it is pain seeking, some of it is actual pain from the cancer. Then the one that is dying needs pain meds for comfort every hour and just wants someone at their bedside. Oh, and don't forget the high fall-risk patients that you have circled around your station so you can keep an eye on them.

Then imagine doing everything you can for all these humans you are responsible for and getting cursed out, talked down to, criticized for not being fast enough asked Where were you? told Ive been on the light for 20 minutes?!

Now imagine also not having an enough Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) -- the backbone of the skilled nursing system! So now, with all of that, you also trying to help respond to call lights, bathroom calls, changing patients, turning patients every 2 hours, getting water, getting snacks, emptying catheters, measuring intake and output, bathing, and more changing.

Imagine a patient getting upset because you didn't bring them coffee and snacks quick enough and giving meds for comfort to your dying patient.

And now you have a new admit coming to the floor with a wound vac, needing pain meds that you don't have. Another human, another life, to take care of.

Now imagine administration always complaining you never do enough, dressings arent changed on time, tubing isnt labeled correctly, rooms are messy. Charting isn't done, write ups are threatened.

This is nursing ... today.

This is why we are burned out.

This is why we are short staffed.

This is why nurses and CNAs are leaving the profession.

(Signed anonymously)

* * *

royexum@aol.com
Alec Baldwin laid low in the days following a deadly incident on the set of his movie Rust. An accidental shooting left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead on October 21, 2021, in New Mexico. The actor is subsequently speaking out about the tragic shooting and its fallout.

Alec Baldwin is a star and producer on western movie Rust

Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin | MEGA/GC Images

The longtime actor and Baldwin brother accidentally shot and killed Halyna Hutchins with a prop gun last Thursday, around mid-day. The director of photography was 42 years old. The shooting also injured director Joel Souza. Baldwin is the star of the film, as well as a producer.

They were on the set of Rust at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Alec Baldwin offered up comments via Twitter the day after the accident.

There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours, wrote Baldwin on October 22, 2021. Im fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.

Moreover, the production company issued a statement on the day of the incident.

The entire cast and crew has been absolutely devastated by todays tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Halynas family and loved ones, read the Rust Movie Productions LLC statement.

We have halted production on the film for an undetermined period of time and are fully cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Departments investigation. We will be providing counseling services to everyone connected to the film as we work to process this awful event.

The actor is in Vermont with his family

Production on Western movie Rust halted immediately after Halyna Hutchins death. Moreover, an investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin retreated to Manchester, Vermont, with his family, including his wife, Hilaria Baldwin.

On October 30, for the first time since the accident, the actor spoke publicly to the media about the shooting. According to Fox News, he confirmed the New Mexico investigation is still active and declined to give details about the incident.

Its an active investigation in terms of a woman died, she was my friend, he told photographers in comments he gave by the side of the road. We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened.

Baldwin emphasized the rare nature of the accident. There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this, Baldwin said. This is a one in a trillion episode. Its a one in a trillion event.

The 30 Rock star continued, stressing the importance of safety measures and saying that hes not an expert.

How many bullets have gone off in movies and on TV sets before? he asked. How many, billions in the last 75 years? And nearly all of it without incident. So what has to happen now is, we have to realize that when it does go wrong and its this horrible, catastrophic thing, some new measures have to take place. Rubber guns, plastic guns, no live  no real armaments on set. Thats not for me to decide. Its urgent that you understand Im not an expert in this field, so whatever other people decide is the best way to go in terms of protecting peoples safety on film sets, Im all in favor of and I will cooperate with that in any way that I can.

Alec Baldwin is an Oscar-nominated, long-time actor

Baldwin has spanned the range from television comedy series to Oscar-nominated roles in his long and versatile career. He scored an Academy Award nomination for The Cooler (2003). Moreover, he starred in NBCs 30 Rock for seven seasons. And his movie roles with highly regarded directors like Tim Burton (Beetlejuice) and Martin Scorsese (The Aviator and The Departed) cement his status as one of Hollywoods most accomplished leading actors.

To sum up, Baldwins new comments underscore the tragic nature of a horrible accident and the importance of on-set safety.

RELATED: Alec Baldwin Rust Accident: Who Was the Director of Photography Tragically Killed on Set?
Michelle Duggar once revealed that her family doesnt participate in Halloween. At the very least, her children didnt while growing up. That is all changing now. Not only does Jill Dillard allow her kids to participate in the event, but Amy Duggar King, Jim Bob Duggars niece, goes all out for the holiday. In years past, shes kept her public costumes pretty tame, but all bets are off now. With Josh Duggars trial looming, King just shared a throwback snap from 2018, and her costume certainly wouldnt have been approved by her ultra-conservative Christian aunt and uncle.

Who is Amy Duggar King?

Amy Duggar King, often known as Cousin Amy, is the daughter of Deanna Duggar and Terry Jordan. Now in her 30s, Amy is married with a son, but long before she settled down, she was described as the rebellious cousin of the Duggar kids. To be fair, it wasnt that Amy was particularly rebellious, it would seem. Instead, she just seemed downright wild in comparison to her 19, very sheltered cousins.

Amy Duggar King | Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Unlike her cousins, Amy attended a traditional school, dated in a mainstream way, and kissed before officially tying the knot. Amy is the owner of 3130 Clothing. Her husband, Dillon King, is the owner and operator of a cigar and whiskey lounge in their home state of Arkansas. Amy appeared on the Duggar familys show, 19 Kids and Counting, intermittently.

Cousin Amy shared a photo of her dressed as Vivian from Pretty Woman

King and her husband, Dillon King, apparently really enjoy the Halloween season. Last year, King shared a ton of photos from Halloween festivities. Many of those pictures featured her young son, Daxton King. Even if her extended family doesnt participate in the holiday, the costumes were all G-rated and likely passed the Duggar morality test. This year, King chose to share a snap from 2018 on Instagram, and her costume was a bit more risque.

Richard Gere and Julia Roberts as Edward Lewis and Vivian Ward | Buena Vista/Getty Images

King and her husband wore themed costumes to a party in Las Vegas in 2018. She went as Vivian Ward, and Dillon King went as Edward Lewis from Pretty Woman. In the 1990 flick, Vivian, played by Julia Roberts, is an escort hired by the powerful but emotionally distant businessman, Edward, to be his companion for a week. The unlikely pair fall in love. The movie ends with Edward climbing a fire escape to whisk Vivian away.

King dressed in the iconic dress and knee-high boots Vivian was seen in during the films opening scenes. Dillon wore a suit and tie, reminiscent of one of Edwards many business-appropriate outfits. The sexual nature of the film likely means none of the other Duggars, including Jim Bob and Michelle, have even seen the classic rom-com. Duggar family followers, however, absolutely love the costumes, and no one can deny that the real-life partners pulled off the fictional couple pretty well.

Duggar family followers think there is bad blood between Amy Duggar and her aunt and uncle

While Amy appeared to be somewhat close to the Duggar family years ago, the supersized clan seems to be splintering under the weight of Josh Duggars numerous scandals. Amy appeared to distance herself from the Duggars in 2015 after Joshs molestation scandal came to light. She remained tight-lipped about them, though. Following the death of family matriarch Mary Duggar. and Joshs 2021 arrest on two child pornography charges, she stepped even further away.

The Duggar family visits Extra | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

Amy is one of only a couple of Duggar family members to take a public stance on Joshs upcoming trial. Duggar family followers notice that Amy seems freer to speak her mind now that TLC no longer employs the Duggars. In fact, they argue many of her recent posts are pointed messages to her extended family. Amy, however, has never commented on that and has never publicly announced a feud. The business owner and mother of one does appear to maintain a friendly relationship with one of her cousins. Amy and Jill have been spotted together regularly over the last two years. Amy has emerged as Jills cheerleader as she makes major changes and distances herself from her ultra-conservative Christian parents.
The CBS comedy shows The Neighborhood and Bob Hearts Abishola return in November with brand new episodes. After skipping a week, the Cedric the Entertainer sitcom comes back with a Halloween episode. In Bob Hearts Abishola, Gina Yasheres Kemi looks to take the focus as she fights for the love of her life in a promo trailer for episode 6, The Devils Throuple.

Gina Yashere as Kemi, Vernee Watson as Gloria, and Folake Olowofoyeku as Abishola | Michael Yarish/CBS via Getty Images

In Bob Hearts Abishola Episode 6 The Devils Throuple, Gina Yasheres Kemi works on her love life

While Billy Gardells Bob and Abishola married early in season 3, Kemi still has a ways to go in her love life.

Abishola, Gloria, and Kemi all sat in their usual seats at lunch in the hospital. However, Kemi remained hard at work on another project on her computer.

Im sorry, but I am desperate, she said in the promo. I am fighting for the love of my life!

Tony Tambis Chukwuemeka briefly dated Abishola before she decided to continue seeing Bob. However, Gina Yasheres Kemi swooped in to date the Nigerian pharmacist afterward. However, Toni Danners Morenike joins their equation as a plus one.

The Gina Yashere character tends to make things more dramatic. Bob Hearts Abishola Season 3, Episode 6 seems to have that on full display.

Bob and Abishola plan their honeymoon while Gina Yasheres Kemi deals with her issues

While Kemi sees her love life spiral in Bob Hearts Abishola Season 3, Episode 6, the titular couple have an easier plot.

The CBS promo also showed Bob and Abishola on their usual park bench. While adjusting to living with Bobs mom, Christine Ebersoles Dottie, the two have started settling into married life.

We could all use someone like Bob in our lives to take care of us after having a *little* too much fun at brunch. If you missed last night's #BobHeartsAbishola, catch up here: https://t.co/ab6ZoUtgam pic.twitter.com/qoW8eoWfAE  BobAbishola (@BobAbisholaCBS) October 19, 2021

One more part of the equation, though, is their honeymoon.

Bob suggests they look at visiting Greece. Of course, the first thought on his mind is Greek cuisine.

Folake Olowofoyeku joked that his choice of honeymoon destination revolved around food.

Matt Jones Douglas tries to buy a car on the companys dime in the Bob Hearts Abishola episode

The Bob Hearts Abishola Season 3, Episode 6 promo trailer was not the only peek fans got at the next episode.

Instead of focusing on Gina Yasheres Kemi, the sneak peek found Matt Jones Douglas staying late after work. Douglas devotion to the job impressed Bob. At least, it did before he realized what Douglas planned.

Both Douglas and his sister, Christina (The Big Bang Theorys Maribeth Monroe), started the serious as somewhat lazy and entitled. While they both developed, some habits die hard. Bob immediately shot down Douglas request.

While the episodes drama looks to come from Kemi and Chukwuemeka, the other characters have their own issues.

Bob Hearts Abishola Season 3, Episode 6, returns on November 1, 2021.

RELATED: Cedric the Entertainers The Neighborhood and Bob Hearts Abishola Episode 6 Wont Return at Their Usual Time
Many have tried and failed to make a good Dune adaptation. But Denis Villeneuves Dune is being lauded as the first successful adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel. In Dune, Charlotte Rampling plays the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, a Bene Gesserit leader and Lady Jessica Atreides former teacher. But decades ago, she had the chance to play Lady Jessica herself in Alejandro Jodorowskys Dune movie. The scrapped film is so infamous, its dubbed the greatest movie never made. It had so much hype around it, many believed it would change cinema forever once released. But Rampling didnt agree. She said no to the role because of one gross scene Jodorowsky wanted to include.

Charlotte Rampling in Dune | YouTube

How many Dune movies are there?

Dune is the most successful sci-fi book series of all time. Herberts first Dune book came out in 1965. He wrote six books total. And after his death, his son and some collaborators published Dune spin-off books. David Lynchs Dune (1984) is the only other Dune movie that actually made it to theaters. There were two Dune TV mini series titled Frank Herberts Dune (2000) and Children of Dune (2003).

Lynchs Dune starred Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, Francesca Annis as Lady Jessica, and Sian Phillips as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam. The shows starred Alec Newman as Paul, Saskia Reeves as Lady Jessica in the first show and Alice Krige as Lady Jessica in Children of Dune, and Zuzana Geislerova as the Reverend Mother. A young James McAvoy also played Pauls son, Leto.

RELATED: Dune Gom Jabbar Scene Is One of the Films Most Important  Denis Villeneuve Explains Why

Charlotte Rampling was almost in Alejandro Jodorowskys Dune, dubbed the greatest movie never made

Jodorowskys Dune pre-dates all of these adaptations. The director started working on it in the 1970s. And his vision for the film was so daring, it created a lot of hype.

First of all, he wanted Dune to be up to 14 hours long. Pink Floyd was going to make the music for the film. And the cast was going to be even more star-studded than Villeneuves. Orson Welles was set to play the Baron. Salvador Dali was going to play the emperor. And Jodorowsky agreed to Dalis price of $100,000 per hour. But he was creative and made it so the emperor would only be needed for one hour of screen time, according to Inverse.

The directors own son, Brontis Jodorowsky, was going to play Paul Atreides. And Rampling was Jodorowskys ideal choice to play Lady Jessica. The documentary Jodorowskys Dune breaks down the story of the greatest film never made. And in a 2014 interview with IndieWire, director Frank Pavich explained Ramplings temporary involvement. He said:

Jodorowsky was going to shoot part of the film in Algeria. They spoke to the Algerian government, and the Algerian army was going to play extras. Jodorowsky was looking for who was going to play Jessica, and he wanted a strong, beautiful woman, not a weak dainty woman. Someone with a real spiritual strength. He saw a movie with Charlotte Rampling, and thought she would be perfect.

RELATED: Dune: Part 2 Is Officially Happening: Release Date, Cast

Charlotte Rampling starred in Dune decades after Alejandro Jodorowskys Dune failed

Rampling was quick to turn down the role after learning more about Jodorowskys vision. She was convinced no one would watch it. And technically, she was right. (Funnily enough, Rebecca Ferguson almost turned down playing Lady Jessica in Villeneuves Dune too.) Pavich continued:

They sent Charlotte Rampling the script, and she agreed to meet with Jodo before she had read the script. And in the script, there is a scene where a character named Rabban the Beast, part of the Harkonnen army. In order to insult Duke Leto, David Carradine, Rabban the Beast gets his army, the Algerian army, to pull down their pants in front of the palace and sh*t. So theres going to be a scene of 2,000 extras defecating at once. So heres Charlotte Rampling, she agrees to meet with Jodo, she gets the script, she reads the script, and she says, I cant be in a movie where theres 2,000 extras defecating on screen! I need to be in a movie that people are actually going to see! Who the hell is going to see this movie? Jodo said, It was a great disappointment for me. A great disappointment. Its kind of fantastic.

Not only did the director want people pooping on screen, but he also planned on straying far from the source material. In Jodorowskys Dune, the director said he was aiming to make his Dune and not a loyal interpretation of the book.

Now Jodorowskys Dune is seen as more influential because it wasnt made. Artist H.R. Giger, for example, made concept art for Dune. Had he not, his work on Alien might not have happened. And Rampling had the chance to be in Dune after all. Looks like she was holding out for a good version of it.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is one of Bravos most popular reality shows and a valued part of the infamous Real Housewives media franchise. Among the larger-than-life personalities is Jennifer Aydin. A relatively recent addition to the series, the Long Island native has already made her mark, with many fans calling for her to star in her own spinoff series.

Aydin has been the subject of a few social media scandals in recent months. This includes getting mixed up with Khloe Kardashian after an innocent Instagram post prompted outrage.

Khloe Kardashian liked one of Jennifer Aydins Instagram posts

Idk if Im an icon but I Am definitely a fan and this shit got me excited! When ya coming over???@khloekardashian Oh,And stop talking about my nose,people! Its not the point of the pic & This shit takes time to settle #keepitkind #rhonj #kuwtk https://t.co/az4LJ6efKk  Jennifer Aydin (@JenniferAydin) August 30, 2021

In late August 2021, Jennifer Aydin took to Instagram to share a sweet snapshot featuring her husband. Pick the guy whod rather look at you Smile for my picture, Honey! Happy Saturday Nightat home, she captioned the post, tagging her husbands business Instagram account.

Among the flurry of fans who raved about how good the couple looked in the photo, a few tweeted that Khloe Kardashian liked the post, as well as Aydins corresponding Twitter post. It rubbed some fans the wrong way for a subtle reason involving both reality stars cultural backgrounds.

In fact, the outcry was apparently so intense that Aydin chose to address it in her own way. She took to Instagram to tackle the controversy head-on.

Aydin defends Kardashians like and her Turkish-Armenian heritage

Jennifer Aydin of the Real Housewives of New Jersey | Cindy Ord/GC Images

Just days after Aydins original post, the reality star reposted an image from a Bravo fan account on her Instagram. It recapped the drama, noting that fans thought it was awkward that Kardashian liked one of Aydins photos, considering that Aydin has Turkish heritage while Kardashian comes from Armenian descent, and the historical conflict between the two areas of the world has been intense.

However, the photos caption noted that, in fact, Aydins second great-uncle was beatified for his martyrdom during the Armenian Genocide. So, Aydin has ties to both Turkey and Armenia. The RHONJ star herself expanded on the photo by introducing her late uncle:

People get confused when I say Im Turkish. Its where both my parents were born, its the language we speak so I identify with it the easiest. Its not about religion. Its about my heritage. Ive always been proud of every part of my heritage that has made me who I am, Turkish, Armenian, Syrian Orthodox. Aydin ended her lengthy caption by noting I am very proud of my Uncle. May He Rest In PeaceAnd Yes- I am over the moon excited that Khloe Kardashian liked one of my pictures!!

Aydin also tagged the fan account and Kardashian herself in the post.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey cast members have opened up about their backgrounds in the past

Other RHONJ cast members discuss their heritage and faith, too. Co-star Melissa Gorga might have been born and raised in New Jersey, but she is of Italian descent. Her fan-favorite husband, Joe Gorga, is too. The reality star frequently shares tidbits about her heritage on social media and loves classic Italian desserts and meals.

Cast member Jackie Goldschneider isnt averse to chatting about her Jewish faith on-camera, even when it lands her in hot water. During Season 10, she claimed that Jewish girls dont perform certain sexual acts, as Bravo reports.

Certainly, none of the RHONJ housewives in the franchise are shrinking violets. If Aydins social media defense is any indication, things wont slow down for Bravos New Jersey cast anytime soon.

RELATED: RHONJ: What Is Jennifer Aydins Net Worth?
Charles Stanley honored by alma mater Southwestern Seminary with chair in evangelism school

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Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has voted to honor one of its most visible alumni, notable author and pastor Charles Stanley, with an endowed chair in their evangelism school.

Last week, the SWBTS Board of Trustees voted to approve the creation of the Charles F. Stanley Chair for the Advancement of Global Christianity, which will be part of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions.

The establishment of the chair was supported through a donor agreement between SWBTS and the In Touch Foundation, the charitable arm of Stanleys In Touch Ministries.

SWBTS President Adam Greenway told The Christian Post in an interview Tuesday that he believed Stanley may be one of our most prominent visible alumni in the history of Southwestern Seminary.

He and his ministry were looking for a way to honor his legacy, certainty a worthy legacy of honoring, and they saw that Southwestern Seminary was a fitting institution to partner with to do something that would be significant in terms of their investment, explained Greenway.

And significant in terms of an opportunity to have Dr. Stanleys name and his commitment to global missions and evangelism honored in perpetuity.

The chair honoring Stanley is the first endowed chair at Southwestern to be fully funded at $2 million, which Greenway labeled a significant accomplishment that shows an academic commitment.

We all know that one of the significant challenges is how to pay for the costs of seminary education today, he continued. The proceeds of an endowed chair support the salary of a professor who will be named to the chair, and the more of those endowed chairs a seminary has, the more likely it is it will be able to sustain its academic mission long into the future.

In a statement included in the official seminary announcement, Stanley said that he is honored to think of all the pastors, professors, and even founders of seminaries, who will be trained through the World Christian Studies program at Southwestern Seminary.

When I was a young man just starting out, a pastor helped me so I could receive a scholarship and get an education. It is a joy to think In Touch is partnering with Southwestern to do that for young men and women all over the world, Stanley stated.

In September of last year, Stanley announced that he was stepping down as senior pastor at First Baptist Church Atlanta, Georgia, a position that he had held for nearly 50 years.

A former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Stanley became pastor emeritus of the congregation. He was officially replaced by Anthony George, who had assisted Stanley as the churchs associate pastor since 2012.
COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns led to spike in calls for exorcisms: priest

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An Italian Catholic priest who is a trained exorcist said the demand for exorcism has risen as the pandemic and ongoing lockdowns have made people more vulnerable to the idea that Satan or some evil entity has taken over their lives.

We have seen an increase in the request for exorcisms because the pandemic has made people more vulnerable to the idea that Satan or some evil entity has taken over their lives, Fr. Gian Matter Roggio said at an international conference of exorcist priests in Rome, The Telegraph reported.

People have fallen into poverty, they found themselves suffering from anxiety and depression. They feel that their lives are no longer in their own hands but in the hands of a malign force. It's a big crisis, he added.

Describing the effects of possession, the priest was quoted as saying: People speak languages they have never spoken before, even ancient tongues like Aramaic, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Theyre able to levitate off the ground or they vomit objects like nails and pieces of glass. There are people whose voices change completely  a woman might start speaking like a man. Some develop superhuman strength and it takes four or five people to restrain them.

Professor Giuseppe Ferrari, one of the organizers of the conference, cited additional reasons for the increase in the demand for exorcisms.

Young people are being attracted to exploring witchcraft, vampirism, black magic and the occult by the mass media. Its a phenomenon that is growing and it is really worrying, he was quoted as saying.

Commenting on Rogglos statement, Catholic Online said his explanation makes sense.

Satan and his demons prey upon people when they are most vulnerable, the publication said.

Those facing crisis, people who are desperate, are more likely to engage in behaviors that facilitate demonic possession. Those behaviors include sinful activities, including engaging in vices and dabbling in the occult. While many people turn to their faith in times of need, some turn away, blaming God for their difficulties. When some people realize their mistake, it can already be too late. The family and Church must intervene to investigate and when appropriate, to perform an exorcism.

Catholic Online clarified that not all suspected cases of demonic possession are genuine, saying mental illness could be confused with possession. This is why many exorcists work with doctors and mental health professionals to provide people with the help they need. However, demonic possession is real, and in such cases an exorcism is warranted.

Catholic law allows priests who've received permission from their bishops to carry out an exorcism, but only after proper training.

Two of the United States' most active exorcists said in 2016 that there was a growing demand for their services as a result of more unchurched Americans seeking help with demonic oppression, possession and other dark spiritual activity.

Were gaining all sorts of knowledge, but there's still that emptiness within us that is being filled with addictive behavior such as drugs and pornography, Fr. Vincent Lampert of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis said at the time.

The first official English-language translation of a ritual book on exorcisms was released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2017, detailing practices that get rid of demons and prayers against the "powers of darkness.

Given that there's less facility in Latin than there used to be, even among priests, it opens the door to more priests to do this. Until now, not only did the priest have to be wise and holy, but he also had to have strong facility in Latin, Fr. Andrew Menke, executive director of the USCCB's Secretariat of Divine Worship, told Catholic News Service at the time.

It makes it easier for a priest who might otherwise be a good exorcist but who would be intimidated by a requirement to use a Latin text. Having it available in the vernacular means he can concentrate on prayer and on the ritual, without needing to worry about working in another language, he added.

The ritual book, titled Exorcisms and Related Supplications, was made available online on the USCCB website.

"This small pocket-sized book will assist the Christian faithful in their struggle against the infernal enemy. It is a powerful treasury of prayers of praise and supplication to Almighty God and prayers invoking the intercession of the saints," a description on the site read.

The book includes prayers to God for protections, invocations to the Holy Trinity and to Jesus Christ, as well as to the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Michael.

"Prayers Against the Powers of Darkness contains the complete text of 'Supplications Which May Be Used by the Faithful Privately in Their Struggle Against the Powers of Darkness,' which is Appendix II of Exorcisms and Related Supplications, the ritual book used by exorcists," it adds.

The original Latin version of the book stems from the rite revised following the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
Eric Metaxas on why pastors need to address politics, Black Lives Matter, and 'woke' Christianity

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Ahead of an election he believes is crucial for the future of the American Church, Eric Metaxas has made a case for why Christians have a moral obligation to vote Republican this November  and why pastors need to boldly address political issues from the pulpit before its too late.

In an interview with The Christian Post on Aug. 25, Metaxas argued that evangelicals who suggest there are biblical reasons to vote for either party this election are wrong and misreading current events. The conservative author and radio host clarified that while agrees with the basic principle of refusing to make an idol out of politics, to say you could vote for either candidate and it's OK is another thing.

Were not in a position where we can play that game, the 57-year-old New York native warned. The Democratic Party of the past, he said, is a whole other story than the dramatically radically left party of today, pointing out that both Bill Clinton and John F. Kenney were centrists who understood that big government can be a problem.

The Democratic Party today is in bed with cultural Marxism, whether overtly or by not calling it out, he said. If I believed the Joe Biden of today would be the Joe Biden of 30 years ago, we could have a conversation about that. But the idea that a man who is a husk of his former self and who will effectively be a frontman for what has become a dramatically radically left party  I think people should understand what that means for religious liberty and every kind of liberty.

Metaxas pointed out that from day one, Biden vowed to sign the Equality Act, a move the conservative author believes will effectively cripple religious liberty across America.

People don't seem to think that that kind of bad thing can happen in America because we've been so blessed with religious liberty and prosperity, he said. Its important to understand that religious liberty is not a small thing; when the government gets involved and starts telling us what we can and cannot do, that's no different than the Nazi Party infiltrating churches and saying, We're not going to allow you to preach the Gospel anymore. You have to Nazi-fy your doctrine, we dont want you talking about the Jewishness of Jesus.

When Americans begin kowtowing to the government on big issues like sexuality, marriage, and issues of life, theyre no longer free, Metaxas stressed.

If Biden is elected, he will immediately put in place those kinds of things, he said. Its going to harm churches in a way that we've never imagined in America. If the church is harmed, the whole country suffers because the church is supposed to be God's hands in the world. I really believe that that is so crucial.

The Democratic party has also made a common cause with openly Marxist organizations like Black Lives Matter and Antifa, Metaxas said  a fact that should scare people if they really understood what that means.

While the Democratic Party of the past said abortion should be safe, legal and rare, todays party is staunchly advocating for late-term abortion, Metaxas argued.

I remember when the Democrats had something to offer and we could have a dialogue, he said. But things have gotten so divided and the Democratic Party has rather cynically decided to lurch as far left as possible. You now have an entire party that no longer has pro-life candidates. I think it's tragic.

Metaxas also criticized professing Christians for participating in Black Lives Matter protests or supporting the organization. Those who truly care about the urban poor and really believe black lives matter must reject the organization called Black Lives Matter and Antifa because they are explicitly Marxist, he contended.

Americans need to understand just how dark a vision they present. They offer us utopia, but its like offering Heaven without the cross, he said. The problem is, theyre singing a song we havent yet heard in this country, so some of us are lured by it.

Many young Christians, in particular, buy into woke ideologies because they dont understand the basics of civics, of what it means to be an American, and why the United States is great, according to the popular talk show host.

This country is not great because the blood running in American veins is better than the blood running in somebody else's veins, he stressed. It's great because of the ideas that the founders gave us of self-government. If you don't teach young people, that even though our founders were flawed people, they did some great things; if you are unwilling to recognize the greatness of what they did, you're simply being foolish. You're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

The Republican Party, he said, created a system that was able to abolish slavery, abolish Jim Crow, and could give us a black president and a hero like Martin Luther King who, based on Christian principles, called those founding documents promissory notes. He understood that these notes were great and we needed to fulfill them.

Unfortunately, according to Metaxas, many schools are taken over by people with an anti-American narrative or teachers unions that have a certain bias, which, he said, harms the whole nation.

To hold to the belief that the United States is immune from descending into chaos is "foolish," Metaxas said, pointing out that other great nations have taken turns in the wrong direction  Nazi-era Germany  with devastating effects.

People have to pray hard that we don't take that wrong turn because there's no reason that we shouldn't, he warned. It has to be the perfect storm; things going just right or just wrong. If circumstances are a certain way, nations can lurch horribly to tragedy. Its vital that those of us who understand these parallels and these object lessons from history communicate this as much as we can.

All we can do is pray and do what we can and leave it in God's hands. But I do know that we haven't taught this stuff for generations. So we shouldn't be surprised that young people in the United States are attracted to these things. Theyve not seen how wicked certain governments can be and how little freedom people can have. If they see that, they get a different perspective.

Metaxas is the author of popular books like Amazing Grace, Miracles, and Bonhoeffer, and most recently, a series of humorous childrens books that includes Donald Drains the Swamp, Donald and the Fake News and Donald Builds the Wall.

The Donald series is political humor in the form of a kids' book, Metaxas said. Most people need to laugh at some of what's happening, maybe because it is so serious. You need to know you're not crazy. I thought that by putting it in the form of these humor books, were able to celebrate a little bit of what is happening in a good way in the country because not everybody thinks the country is falling apart or falling under the sway of an authoritarian leader.

Though the books are funny, they give people permission to say, I'm not the only person seeing what is happening, Metaxas said. I think people who have been pro-Trump need something to celebrate with; often it's the left that creates the culture and the stories and that do the satire, and it's important that you get that from both sides.

Acknowledging that many Christians find Trump distasteful, Metaxas offered the reminder that a vote for Donald Trump is not necessarily a vote for Donald Trump; its a vote for policies.

Christians need to realize that while it isnt woke to vote for Trump, they need to do so, not because they like the guy but because his policies and the people he puts in place have a basic American constitutional view, which will, in the end, be fairer and present more opportunities to everybody, he said.

If I care about the poor, which policies are going to bless the poor? Forget about me and my rights; God commands me to care for the poor. The policies of the left are going to harm the poor and black lives. The rhetoric not only is meaningless but its a smokescreen. The reality is, those policies for over 50 years have been taking the black vote for granted and have been destroying those communities.

Churches must be bolder in understanding they have a role to speak about politics, he emphasized.

You have to make a moral choice and you can't divide politics and your faith. If your faith is lived out, it's going to have to deal with policy and laws and morality. I think it is the job of pastors to know how far they can go with their congregations. If you're worried about losing parishioners, you're worried about the wrong things. You should fear God and fear not speaking when He calls you to speak. Thats the role of what it is to lead spiritually.

Metaxas applauded the pastors that do address political issues and challenged those who do not to get on your knees and ask God to give you the courage to say what He would have you say in this hour before it's too late.

Sometimes we don't get a second chance, he said. And I think, unfortunately, this election is one of those times.
Eric Metaxas responds to Bible burning: Freedom is impossible without values we got from the Bible

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Too many Americans have forgotten that freedom in the U.S. is "utterly impossible" without the values that come from the Bible, said Eric Metaxas in response to the rise in attacks on churches and Christian symbols.

In an interview with Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson on Thursday, Metaxas stressed that he wasn't suggesting everyone living in the U.S. must identify as Christian. Instead, his point was that the Bible is more than a sacred book; it's "what led ... to freedom and self-government" that most Americans cherish.

Weve forgotten that freedom is utterly impossible on the American model without the values we got from the Bible, said Metaxas, a bestselling author and radio host, in response to images of rioters burning stacks of Bibles in Portland last Friday night.

All of the Founders understood that the Bible wasnt just a sacred book for some people. It was what gave us the West and what led to the idea of freedom and self-government, Metaxas said, asserting that those who are attacking the Bible and Christianity are attacking foundational ideas that built the nation.

In Carlson's segment on the topic of Christianity seemingly being under attack, he and Metaxas discussed the shutting down of churches and indifference toward the rise in vandalism and torching of churches and Catholic statues.

Carlson began the segment by noting that the U.S. has long been a beacon for those seeking religious freedom.

Since the day it was founded, the United States has been a refuge for people from around the world to worship their gods as they choose, Carlson said. Thats precisely why so many of our first European settlers came here. When they wrote our Constitution, in the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights, they explicitly protected religious freedom.

Carlson then compared the state of religious freedom in the U.S. today to religious persecution in China. America is becoming much more like what we say we hate. Many states have canceled in-person church services under the pretext of protecting the rest of us from the Wuhan coronavirus, he said, singling out Democrat-run states of California and New Jersey that designated churches as non-essential unlike abortion clinics or liquor stores that have been deemed essential.

Back in April, Carlson confronted Gov. Phil Murphy, D-N.J., over his decision to impose restrictions on church services as part of the state's response to the novel coronavirus. When Carlson asked Murphy what authority he used to nullify the Bill of Rights in issuing this order, Murphy responded that he wasnt thinking about the Bill of Rights when he did this.

Nearly four months after that exchange, Carlson shared his theory as to why some Democratic politicians have decided to continue to impose bans or restrictions on religious services while allowing secular businesses to operate without such restrictions. The restrictions are about punishing people they dont think vote for them, he asserted. Democratic leaders in Congress despise traditional Christians because they dont vote for them.

During the segment, Carlson also aired a clip of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., saying in an earlier Fox News interview that he wasn't aware that rioters in Portland had burned Bibles last weekend. Nor was he aware that riots have been ongoing in the city and outside the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse for over 70 days.

According to Metaxas, people being unaware of what's going on Portland and other cities where churches are being vandalized and burned is the reason why many Americans fail to stand up for Christianity.

Christianity, among other things, limits the excesses of the state, Carlson remarked. This is why all authoritarian governments hate it because when your population worships an actual God, that suggests that you are not God and there are some things you cant do. So without it, theres nothing they cant do. Isnt that the whole point? he asked.

That is precisely the point, Metaxas responded.

In China, which was repeatedly mentioned throughout the segment, communist authorities have demolished churches, beat Christians, and ordered believers to renounce their faith and worship communist leaders instead of God.

Last year, authorities forced churches to replace traditional Christian hymns with songs praising the Chinese Communist Party. More recently, pastors have been ordered to extol President Xi Jinping and slander the U.S. in their sermons.

Metaxas warned that Americans' failure to stand up and push back against the idea that we can be a secular nation will basically lead to the U.S. becoming China.

He also slammed those who are burning Bibles and the American flag. These are the two things that have created more human flourishing, that have lifted human dignity on a level weve never seen in the history of the world, he said.
Pastors wife who helped restore Jill Bidens faith calls her a true friend

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Robin Jackson, wife of Pastor Charles B. Jackson Sr., who leads Brookland Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, called First Lady Jill Biden, "a true friend" just over a week after Biden revealed her as the prayer partner who helped restore her faith in God after the death of her stepson, Beau Biden, from brain cancer in 2015.

Im glad that God has planned it this way, Jackson, a former music teacher, told USA TODAY in an interview. Its all God that we are able to support each other and be there for each other and be sincere and true sisters.

The 70-year-old Biden, who is also an educator, told Brookland Baptist Church during an unannounced visit on Oct. 17 that her faith in God was renewed in 2019 after an encounter with Jackson at the church.

"After Beau died, I felt betrayed by my faith, broken. You know, my own pastor wrote emails occasionally, which he was checking in with me, inviting me back to the service. But I just couldn't go. I couldn't even pray. I wondered if I would ever feel joy again," Biden said.

As her husband campaigned to become the next president of the United States in 2019, the journey took them to Brookland Baptist Church. That's when Jill Biden felt like God spoke to her.

"In the summer of 2019, many of you may remember this, Joe and I came to worship here at Brooklyn Baptist Church. And something felt different that morning," she said.

During worship that day, Biden said Jackson sat beside her and offered to be her "prayer partner."

"And I don't know if she sensed how moved I had been by the service. I don't know if she could still see the grief that I'd feel still hides behind my smile. But I do know that when she spoke, it was as if God was saying to me, 'OK, Jill, you've had enough time. It's time to come home,'" Biden recalled.

Jackson told USA TODAY that during the 2019 service, she noticed that both Biden and her husband got emotional. Joe Biden would later explain that the choir reminds me of my sons funeral.

Somehow I felt that Jill was a little emotional in the in the service, having been there myself, been touched by the music as well as the preaching, I felt compelled to just say to her, Would you mind me being your prayer partner? Jackson said.

Since that encounter, the two women remained in touch.

I would always text her and say that Im lifting you up in prayer, Jackson said. She would respond back to say to me Thank you, my friend, and that just continued.

After learning about Beau and his death, then I fully understood now what the pain was, Jackson explained. My texts would always reflect on knowing that you can get through this and knowing that it will be okay.
Va. AG facing pressure to investigate Loudoun County School Board over handling of sexual assaults

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Five former attorneys general of Virginia are calling on the states current attorney general to investigate the Loudoun County School Board over its handling of the sexual assaults of two female students in the districts high schools at the hands of a trans-identified male.

In a letter sent to Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, five of the most recent attorneys general of Virginia, all Republicans, sent a letter to Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, asking him to immediately open an investigation into the sexual assault scandal thats plaguing the Loudoun County School Board. The former state officials also expressed concerns about recently enacted legislation they contend told local school systems not to report sexual assaults.

#BREAKING ???????? Five Former Attorneys General Call on Mark Herring to Immediately Open an Investigation into the Loudoun County School Board pic.twitter.com/VhM8vGZM5e  Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) October 25, 2021

The letter, signed by former attorneys general Jim Gilmore, Mark Earley, Jerry Kilgore, Robert McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli, comes after a Daily Wire investigative report that detailed the sexual assault of two teenage girls at two separate high schools in the district at the hands of the same trans-identified male that has sparked outrage in Loudoun County and nationwide.

Loudoun Now reported that on Monday, the perpetrator of the assaults was convicted on one count of forcible sodomy and one count of forcible fellatio in relation to the first sexual assault, which took place in a girls bathroom at Stone Ridge High School on May 28.

The former attorneys general, who spent a combined total of nearly two decades as the top law enforcement official in the state, reported that the Loudoun County School Superintendent and the School Board chose not to report two sexual assaults to parents. A May 28 email obtained by local news outlet WTOP revealed that Loudoun County Superintendent of Schools Scott Ziegler informed board members that a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom earlier that day.

More than three weeks later, at a school board meeting that took place as the school district was considering implementing a policy allowing trans-identified students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity as opposed to their biological sex, Ziegler assured concerned parents that To my knowledge, we dont have any records of assaults occurring in our restrooms.

The transgender bathroom policy was implemented on Aug. 10. Eight weeks later, the perpetrator of the May 28 sexual assault, who had been transferred to Broad Run High School, sexually assaulted another teenage girl in an empty classroom.

Shortly after the sexual assault at Broad Run High School, Scott Smith, the father of the victim in the first sexual assault, went public with his story, which was published less than a week later. While the school district has defended its handling of the sexual assaults, additional reporting by The Daily Wire and other news outlets has led parents and concerned citizens to demand further action.

Given the broad powers of a State Attorney General, AG Herring shouldve stepped in once the horrific facts surfaced demonstrating that the Superintendent and the School Board knew of the assaults yet did nothing, the former attorneys general wrote. The actions of Loudoun County and the inaction of the Attorney General demonstrate a pattern of indifference toward sexual assaults.

Maintaining that parents have a right to know when sexual assaults occur in their school systems, the signatories slammed the Democrat-controlled Virginia General Assembly for passing House Bill 257, which amended Virginia law regarding reports of certain acts to school authorities.

During a debate on the legislation on the floor of the House of Delegates, Delegate Mike Mullin explained to his colleagues that sexual battery was among the misdemeanors that school officials would no longer have to report to law enforcement if a Senate amendment to the bill was passed. The former attorneys general also accused Herring of not pushing back strongly enough against the legislation: AG Herring did nothing to stop the legislation during the General Assembly session even though his office reviews and comments on all legislation.

Herring is seeking a third term in office. His Republican opponent in next weeks general election, state Rep. Jason Miyares, vowed in a tweet Tuesday that he will conduct an investigation if elected: Mark Herring refuses to help. He wont do the job. But I will.

Mark Herring refuses to help.



He wont do the job.



But I will. https://t.co/AYH9Qnz881  Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) October 26, 2021

Miyares also expressed support for Broad Run High School students engaging in a walkout to express support for sexual assault victims, stressing that We need an immediate investigation into the Loudoun County School Board and their coverup of sexual assaults. Parents, students, and victims deserve better.

Proud of these students for stepping up.



We need an immediate investigation into the Loudoun County School Board and their coverup of sexual assaults. Parents, students, and victims deserve better.



Mark Herring refuses to help, he refuses to do the job. But I will. https://t.co/4FWEn9D4x3  Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) October 26, 2021

Recent polling of Virginia voters indicates a close race. A poll conducted by Emerson College late last week found Herring leading Miyares 47% to 44%, with the gubernatorial race between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin tied. A poll from USA Today and Suffolk University yielded a similar result, with Herring leading Miyares 48% to 45% and McAuliffe leading Youngkin 46% to 45%.

Regardless of what happens in the attorney generals race, the legal proceedings surrounding the perpetrator of the two sexual assaults in Loudoun County Schools will continue. He is due back in court on Nov. 15 to face charges of sexual battery and abduction for the Broad Run High School incident.
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Americans are aware Big Tech has been censoring, shadow banning, and/or de-platforming people for years. These social media sites regularly suppress information they dont like, and outright ban those with views that are antithetical to their ideology.

The argument from the political right and the left is basically that Congress should regulate these entities. Conservatives say more content should be allowed; Liberals say there should be much less.

Regardless of any potential congressional regulations, you know Big Tech is shutting down your voice, but what you may not know is that Big Tech is also shutting down your vote.

In the face of an unprecedented and unforeseen current global pandemic, rogue Secretaries of State, Attorneys General, Governors, State Supreme Courts, Election Boards, and many others, decided to cash in on the lefts well-known, and often-used axiom: Never let a serious crisis go to waste.

The US Constitution gives the authority to decide the way states conduct elections to state legislatures. However, these elected officials used the Coronavirus to push radical rule changes that, in many cases violated their own state laws. Simultaneously, Congress passed the COVID Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) which gave $339.8 billion to state and local governments. After violating laws and passing more than a trillion dollars in aid, it still wasnt enough for liberals.

Enter Big Tech.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and his wife Priscilla Chan poured in nearly $400 million to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) under the guise of helping states conduct elections. CTCL and CEIR, in turn, gave grants to counties under the auspices of taking extraordinary measures to properly handle the election amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to the Zuckerbergs donation  now known as Zuckerbucks  2,500 election departments across 49 states were now able to subvert their election laws. On its face, this seems like an admirable act of charity, administered equally to all states and their people to conduct free and fair elections in the face of a global crisis. When you actually follow the money, another story emerges.

The Thomas Moore Society and the Amistad Project shed light on this when they released a report in January of 2021 showing Zuckerbucks were in fact, politically targeted to only benefit certain voters in certain areas  potentially violating the law in the process.

The reports found that in Wisconsin, funds provided allowed traditionally liberal strongholds of Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee and Racine to spend $47 per voter to get out the vote, while traditionally conservative areas of the state were only allocated somewhere between four to seven dollars per voter.

In predominately liberal Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the funds were used to create a high volume of voter drop boxes  one for every four-square miles  or one for every 4,000 voters. In the 59 counties carried by President Donald Trump in 2016, there was only one drop box for every 1,100 square miles  or one for every 72,000 voters.

Perhaps starker is that three Georgia counties  Cobb, Fulton, and Gwinnett, all historically Democrat voting counties  received more than $15 million in grant money from CTCL. That accounted for 76% of President Joe Bidens vote margin gain relative to Hillary Clintons 2016 performance.

There have also been allegations that election officials were literally bought off with Zuckerberg-funded grant money. Reports have circulated that Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, had ties to a 501(c)(3) called the Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration (MCELA) which received $12 million from CEIR. According to the report, the MCELA spent 99% of this money with two political consulting firms which only represented left-leaning clients.

In fact, New York has double the population of Michigan, but received just $5 million  less than half of Michigans funding. As conservatives pointed out at the time, if the funds were truly meant to provide nonpartisan, accurate, and official voting information to the public, why did more populous but uncompetitive states receive less money?

Good question.

The concern over Big Techs blatant unequal application of their terms of service is a serious problem  as conservative viewpoints and inconvenient truths continue to be crushed across their platforms. However, Big Techs newfound desire to use hundreds of millions of dollars to tip the scales in our elections is unprecedented.

And you thought only Big Tech was canceling your voice. Think again.
While last-minute Halloween revelers scurry into the nearest Spirit store or scavenge through their closet junk to transform themselves into kitty cats, Natasha Gonzales' family is ready with head-turning costumes created for each member of the squad, from the tiniest Tinker Bell to mom and dad.

"Halloween is like our Christmas," the San Antonio mom says.

Pulling off detailed looks is a tradition that's more than a decade in the making. Gonzales says she started dressing up with her husband Albert Gonzales when they were dating. Soon, the kids got in on the action. They've been inspired by the Wizard of Oz, Forrest Gump, and more. Over the last two years, the family of five has dressed up as the cast from Beetlejuice and the Addam's Family. This year, they're Peter Pan characters.

The costume-building goes far beyond the realm of Party City. The couple and their kids, Jaiden Rangel, Dean Gonzales, and Elora Gonzales start planning a year in advance. Most of their costumes are DIY creations. If not, the family buys from Goodwill, thrift stores, or local costume shops to complete their looks. She estimates the totals for all five costumes to range from $200 to $300.

The fun doesn't stop there. The family taps Jessica Belin Photography to pull their finished look together with a photoshoot. Even that is a production. Last year, they used the Denman Estate as a spooky backdrop and rented a peacock chair as a throne for Morticia. The smoky effect isn't a post-production edit. Natasha Gonazales say they brought smoke bombs to set the scene.

The mom says her family works on their costumes up until the day of the shoot, which usually takes place in late September or early October.

Courtesy, Jessica Belin Photography

"We're always adding a little pieces or making sure we have the makeup right," she says. "It gets really chaotic in our house."

The family reupped their Beetlejuice costume this year on social media for a chance to win tickets to Beetlejuice on Broadway in New York City.

The Peter Pan-themed ensembles for 2021 corresponded with a surprise family trip to Disney World. Once the kids were all dressed up, mom and dad presented them with a Disney-esque script telling them they were heading to the Magic Kingdom.

Natasha Gonzales says the family wore their costumes to the park. Actually, they wore them to the airport, too.

"Honestly, we weren't going to, but my daughter is 4 and she's like, 'I want to dress like Tinker Bell to the airport,' and I was like, 'Well, you can't go alone like that, so let's just all do it.'"

Talk about squad ghouls.
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP)  A 7-year-old Missouri boy has died after he fell off a hayride and was struck by the trailer he had been riding in.

The Jackson County Sheriff's office said the accident was reported around 7:45 p.m. Saturday in a rural area outside Lee's Summit, Missouri.
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (AP)  Bradley Airport was evacuated after several fire alarms went off Sunday morning.

The incident occurred at approximately 5:15 a.m. The Connecticut Airport Authority told WFSB TV that several fire alarms were triggered by an isolated mechanical issue and that normal airport operations resumed soon after.

Some passengers told the station they missed their flights, however, and airport authorities said the disruption caused delays to four flights.

We all went out and we were outside like half an hour," said Joan McConnell, who said she missed her flight. "When they called us back in it was chaos here. Everyone was bundled up, there were no lines.

Airport authorities said most of the canceled flights affected American Airlines customers. The airline canceled more than 600 flights Sunday due to weather issues and staffing shortages, according to published reports.
BOSTON (AP)  Are Arab Americans people of color?

The question has been bubbling beneath the surface of Boston's historic mayor's race, where one of the two candidates, Annissa Essaibi George, has found herself challenged on the campaign trail about her decision to identify as one.

On Tuesday, Essaibi George faces off against fellow Boston City Councilor and Democrat Michelle Wu, a daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. Whoever wins will be the first woman and first person of color elected to the city's top political office.

Essaibi George, who describes herself as Polish-Arab American, acknowledges she hasnt always identified as a person of color  in part because Arab Americans dont fit neatly into the boxes Americans are typically asked to check off on official forms, including on the U.S. Census.

We have found ourselves in this weird position where there isnt a place for us to identify as Arab," Essaibi George said in a recent interview on GBH News. Its unfortunate that Arabs dont have that proverbial box to check and it is important for the Arab community to be counted, to be seen, to be heard and to be recognized."

She has identified as a person of color during her years in elected office, Essaibi George said.

Essaibi George has frequently talked about the obstacles faced by her father, a Muslim immigrant from Tunisia, and the challenges he believed she would also face as his daughter. Her mother, a Catholic, immigrated from Poland.

In a city like Boston with its long history of electing white men, particularly of Irish and Italian descent, a girl with an Arab name could never be successful in politics, her father warned, with no chance of becoming mayor.

But the 47-year-old Essaibi George, a lifelong Boston resident and former public school teacher, went on to win an at-large seat on the Boston City Council in 2015 and came in second in a September preliminary election, setting up the head-to-head match with Wu, who won the preliminary.

Although she identifies as a person of color, Essaibi George acknowledges her physical presence  including a heavy Boston accent  allows her a certain amount of privilege as a woman who can maneuver in different rooms in different spaces."

She has also said that while her father's family came from North Africa, she doesn't consider herself African American, a term meant to refer to Black people.

The question of whether Arab Americans should identify as people of color extends to the Arab American community itself.

Nuha E. Muntasser, who describes herself as an Muslim Arab American or Muslim Libyan American, said she cringes whenever she has to check the box for white instead of being given the option of identifying as North African or Middle Eastern.

I do not identify as white and its frustrating when I have to identify as that, she said.

The choice is all the more discouraging because many Arab Americans dont share the same experience as white Americans, she said. That sense of otherness can be even more pronounced among Arab or Muslim American women who wear the hijab, she said.

People like me, we have to prove our Americanness, said the 26-year-old, who lives in Sudbury, 45 miles west of Boston, and serves on the towns Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

Muntasser also hesitates to call herself a person of color. Because I understand the difference of what Black women experience in this country, I am not comfortable with saying I am a person of color, she said.

The lack of a box to check for Arab Americans can also limit economic opportunities, said former Cambridge City Councilor Nadeem Mazen, an Arab American and an American Muslim.

Thats particularly relevant when dealing with possible business contracts, especially with the federal government.

When youre a minority- or veteran- or women-owned business, thats important, Mazen said. People make a lot of assumptions about which boxes you can check.

Mazen, who lives in Cambridge, said he doesnt look like a Black person but also isnt seen as white, occupying what he described as a kind of moving window.

I dont go around saying Im a person of color or not a person of color, but I know someone like me faces a lot more discrimination than your average upper class white Cambridge resident, Mazen said.

A pivotal moment in the trajectory of the lives of many Arab Americans came with the Sept. 11 attacks, with many still feeling singled out and under suspicion 20 years later.

A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted ahead of this years 9/11 anniversary found that 53% of Americans have unfavorable views toward Islam, compared with 42% who have favorable ones.

Mohammed Missouri, 38, executive director of Massachusetts-based Jetpac, a nonprofit seeking to build political power among American Muslims, said earlier generations of Arab Americans tended to focus on assimilation rather than leaning into their identity.

With younger people in the Arab American community, youre seeing people whose goal is to build actual power and not just power for themselves but for the community at large, said Missouri, an Arab American. Younger Arab Americans are very proud of their heritage and see that as integral to their identity as Americans.

Missouri also said that while hes forced to check white on Census forms  defined as all individuals who identify with one or more nationalities or ethnic groups originating in Europe, the Middle East or North Africa  he doesnt consider himself white.

Whether Arab Americans fall into the broader category as persons of color is still a matter of debate within the community he said, adding that some white-passing Arab Americans prefer to identify as white.

Its going to be a fluid conversation were going to keep having, he said.

The citys previous elected mayor  Democrat Marty Walsh  stepped down to become U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Joe Biden.

Walsh was replaced on an acting basis by Kim Janey, sworn in March 24 as Bostons first female and first Black mayor.
BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP)  The Bennington Select Board has voted to apply for a grant to pay for work to explore potential uses for the downtown Vermont National Guard Armory building.

After a planned new Guard Readiness Center is constructed, the town will own the the armory as part of a land swap, the Bennington Banner reported. The armory was completed in 1924.
BEIRUT (AP)  The diplomatic row between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia is aggravating divisions in Lebanon, already reeling from an economic meltdown and social tension.

Some are pushing for the resignation of the Cabinet minister whose comments sparked the crisis, in order to protect economic and political ties with the Gulf. Others are defending him, describing calls for his removal as extortion.

The crisis comes at a tough time for Lebanon, as it grapples with rising poverty and unemployment, the fallout from some of the worst violence in Beirut in years, and calls for major reforms from a divided but entrenched political elite. Many blame the country's leadership for years of corruption and mismanagement.

The head of Lebanon's Maronite Catholic Church said the crisis with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations threatens to undermine the interests of thousands of Lebanese living in those countries, as well as Lebanese businesses that depend on them.

In his Sunday Sermon, Cardinal Bechara Rai suggested he wants the minister to resign.

We look forward to the President and the Prime Minister and all those concerned to take a decisive action to remove the explosive fuse threatening the Lebanese-Gulf relations, the Cardinal said.

Saudi Arabia was angered by comments from Lebanon's information minister in which he had described the war in Yemen as an aggression by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He called the war absurd, adding that Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels have the right to defend themselves.

George Kordahi, who hosted a game show for years on a Saudi-owned TV station, has refused to apologize, saying his comments meant no offense to the kingdom. The comments were recorded weeks before Kordahi became minister.

But Riyadh reacted swiftly once the comments spread online, recalling its ambassador to Lebanon and asking the Lebanese envoy to leave. Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain followed suit. In a further escalation late on Sunday, the Emirates urged its citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately, according to a tweet posted by the official WAM news agency.

The Saudis also banned all Lebanese imports  a major blow to one of Lebanon's largest export markets. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese live and work in the Gulf, sending millions of dollars of remittances back home, where the financial crisis has driven over 50% of the population into poverty.

The Lebanese-Saudi Business Council, an association that represents businessmen from both countries warned on Sunday of the crisis impact on trade and the fortunes of thousands of Lebanese living in the Gulf.

We call on all officials to take the necessary measures to dismiss the information minister who caused an unprecedented crisis with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, the council said in a statement. Politicians from leading Lebanese parties also called for his removal.

But in a sign the crisis is deepening divisions in Lebanon, allies of the country's powerful Iran-allied Hezbollah group rallied behind Kordahi, rejecting what they called on Sunday a frenzied campaign to remove him. Saudi Arabia sees Hezbollah as an agent of its bitter rival, Iran.

An umbrella group of parties and public figures supporting Hezbollah said the aim of attack on Kordahi is extorting Lebanon, inciting against the resistance (in reference to Hezbollah) and stirring sedition.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Kordahi's resignation won't resolve the crisis.

We won't accept that our country becomes a hostage to the extortion of a sisterly country or a foreign country," he said in comments to the media.

Meanwhile, Kordahi told Lebanese TV station Al-Jadeed that his resignation is currently not on the table.

Lebanese relations with Saudi Arabia have been strained over growing Iranian influence in the small nation, where Riyadh has traditionally been a powerful ally. But the current crisis is the worst rift in years with Gulf nations.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV that the crisis is bigger than Kordahi's comments, and is rooted in Hezbollah's dominance of Lebanese politics.

There is not a crisis between us and Lebanon. There is a crisis in Lebanon because of the domination of Irans agents on the scene," the foreign minister said. This is what concerns us and this is what makes dealing with Lebanon futile for the kingdom and Gulf countries.

Lebanese officials have sought mediation from Washington with Saudi Arabia. The head of Lebanons government, Najib Mikati, flew to London, then Glasgow, where he is expected to meet with foreign dignitaries in search for a resolution to the row.

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014, when the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north. That forced the internationally recognized government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try to restore the government to power. Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has deteriorated largely into a stalemate and spawned the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Both sides are accused of grave human rights violations.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  At least 66 criminal cases have been dismissed a month after authorities announced that more than $1.2 million worth of drugs had been stolen from a Nebraska State Patrol evidence room, and more dismissals are likely.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Bruce Prenda said his office has closed 66 cases, and it is still reviewing 43 more. Similar reviews are happening in 13 other counties served by the State Patrol evidence locker where the thefts were discovered.

Our office has dismissed several cases related to this issue, and well continue to review cases and make decisions, as we are required to do, Prenda told the Lincoln Journal Star.

Prenda declined to say how much of the stolen evidence was linked to active cases and how much of it was scheduled to be destroyed.

A former State Patrol evidence technician, Anna Idigima, and her boyfriend, George Weaver Jr., have been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute the drugs. Both of them have pleaded not guilty. Authorities said more than 150 pounds of marijuana, 10 pounds of fentanyl and 3 pounds of meth disappeared from the State Patrol evidence facility in Lincoln over the summer.

The Nebraska State Patrol says it is reviewing its evidence handling and storage procedures.

Lincoln Police are investigating whether the overdose deaths of nine people and one unborn child over the summer are linked to the stolen drugs.

Lincoln defense attorney Candice Wooster, who had one of her cases dismissed, said she would like to know more about how prosecutors are deciding which cases to dismiss, although she trusts Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon to make appropriate decisions.

I think it is just important to figure out how or why the decision is being made, Wooster said.

But Prenda said state law limits what prosecutors can say about cases that are dismissed because they are supposed to reply to any inquiry about those cases as if there is no record of them. Courts are also required to automatically seal cases that end in acquittal or are dropped by prosecutors.

That law was intended to ensure that prospective employers couldnt hold dismissed cases against people, but the law makes it difficult to track which cases have been dismissed because of missing evidence.
WAKARUSA, Ind. (AP)  Authorities in northern Indiana were investigating a single-vehicle crash that killed the driver and two children and injured a third child.

The crash happened just before 4 p.m. Friday when 28-year-old Jessica Tubbs vehicle hit a utility pole near Wakarusa on the passenger side and then continued south off the road and hit a tree, according to the Elkhart County Sheriffs Department.
CALUMET, Mich. (AP)  Some of Michigans smallest towns are seeing ripples from short-term lodging popularized by Airbnb and other websites.

Calumet is on the Keweenaw Peninsula in the far north of the Upper Peninsula. Short-term rentals came up at a recent meeting of the village council.
SOIUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  Former South Dakota Gov. Frank Farrar, whose uncanny rise to politics as a young man quickly morphed into a career as a banker and philanthropist, died Sunday. He was 92.

Gov. Kristi Noem, who confirmed his death as while as officials from the South Dakota Hall of Fame, ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in memory of Farrar.

Frank was an incredible leader for our state and a mentor to me over these past years, as well, Noem said. His heart for people and his enthusiasm for public service have been an inspiration.

Known as the boy wonder who was the youngest person ever elected state attorney general, Farrar became the state's 24th governor in 1968. Farrar ran unopposed for the Republican nomination and easily won the general election.

But his political fame was short-lived. He had the distinction of being the last elected incumbent governor to lose reelection when, in 1970, he lost his bid for a second term to Democrat Dick Kneip, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported.

It was the only election I lost in my life, he said in a 2014. interview You usually beat yourself rather than get beat by someone else.

Born in Britton, South Dakota on April 2, 1929, Farrar served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and retired from the Army Reserve as a captain. After earning his law degree from the University of South Dakota in 1953, Farrar worked as an agent for the Internal Revenue Service. He later became a judge in Marshall County and also served as a states attorney.

In 1962, Farrar won the attorney generals race, taking office at the age of 33. Six years later he took over as governor amid the snowiest winter in South Dakota history, where some portions of the state saw more than 100 inches of snow. The federal government airlifted supplies into the state, including snow removal equipment, to help state crews open roads to beleaguered towns.

Farrar left politics and focused on banking and philanthropy. He was recognized was his work for many not-for-profit organizations including the March of Dimes, Boy Scouts and South Dakota Community Foundation. He was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2006.

Frank Farrars philanthropy has positively impacted many organizations, including the Hall of Fame, said Hall of Fame CEO Greta Chapman. "And, like many others, we will be forever grateful to Frank Farrar. We are honored to be able to preserve and share his legacy for future generations.

At 65, after being told he had terminal cancer, Farrar began competing in triathlons and Ironman competitions, which he credited for his longevity and to helping him beat cancer.

Farrar was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia, whom he married in 1953 while stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. She died in 2015. The two had five children.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  A series of explosions, apparently caused by an illegal tap on a natural gas line, rocked the central Mexico city of Puebla before dawn Sunday, killing at least one person, injuring 11 and damaging dozens of homes, authorities said.

Puebla state Gov. Miguel Barbosa said an emergency call warning of a gas smell and cloud in the area gave officials about 80 minutes to evacuate some 2,000 people living as far as a kilometer (about s half mile) from the leak before the first of three explosions, which came shortly before 3 a.m.

If there had not been an evacuation and there had not been coordination, there would have been a tragedy of great proportions," the governor said.

Officials said at least 54 homes were destroyed or damaged in the San Pablo Xochimehuacan district of Puebla, a city of 1.7 million people. At least two of the injured were in critical condition with severe burns.

When I heard the chaos, the screaming of the people, thats when we realized that the smoke from the gas was coming ... and we didnt have time to take out documents or animals or anything, one resident told The Associated Press shortly after being told his home was completely destroyed.

Fires burned in the rubble into the evening, when a heavy rain finally doused the flames. Shortly before 7 p.m., authorities announced that workers from Mexico's state oil company had succeeded in closing off the leaking gas.

Officials briefly evacuated 37 patients from a nearby hospital, but it was back in service hours later after suffering only minor damage, such as broken windows.

The governor said rescue teams with dogs were searching for more possible victims, though there were no reports of missing people.

Javier Gonzalez of the government's Petroleos Mexicanos company said the tap apparently was installed on a property where officials found a tanker truck and 25 gas cylinders. Across the street is a gas distribution company.

Officials said 1,400 soldiers, National Guard troops, police, firefighters and rescue personnel were working in the area following the explosions. An additional 870 soldiers were on their way from the Valley of Mexico with tools, machinery and excavators and four search dogs, officials said.

The governor vowed to get to the bottom of who was responsible for the explosion.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador offered condolences to victims of the blast. Early in his administration, he crusaded against thieves who tap into gas and gasoline lines  even shutting down major fuel ducts to get rid of thieves.

But official reports indicate that as recently as March, Mexico was losing an average of 4,000 barrels a day of gasoline and diesel to to such taps, which are sometimes guarded by local communities who see them as a resource.

An illegal tap of a gasoline line caused an explosion that killed at least 134 people in the town of Tlahuelilpan, north of Mexico City, in 2019. Townspeople had gathered in a field to fill containers with gasoline leaking from the line.
TBILISI, Georgia (AP)  Thousands of opposition supporters filled the street outside Georgias national parliament building Sunday to protest municipal election results that gave the country's ruling party a near-sweep.

Candidates of the Georgian Dream party won 19 of the 20 municipal elections in runoff votes on Saturday, including the mayoral offices in the countrys five largest cities: Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi and Poti.

The opposition alleges fraud.

Nika Melia, the head of the main opposition party United National Movement and a mayoral candidate in Tbilisi, claimed that the victories gained by the opposition in many municipalities were taken away...like they never happened.

An election-observer mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe said the voting and counting were overall assessed positively despite some procedural issues, particularly during counting.

The persistent practice of representatives of observer organizations acting as party supporters, at times interfering with the process, and groups of individuals potentially influencing voters outside some polling stations were of concern, the OSCE observers said in a statement.

Melia told the protest crowd, which shut down the capital's main avenue, that opposition leaders would be sent to other cities to marshal supporters to come to Tbilisi for a massive rally on Nov. 7.

The Saturday runoff elections were held after no candidate in the cities won an absolute majority during the first round of nationwide municipal elections on Oct. 2.

The elections were shadowed by the arrest of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, the founder of the United National Movement, on Oct. 1.

Saakashvili left Georgia in 2013; he was convicted in absentia of abuse of power and sentenced to six years in prison. He returned to Georgia from his home in Ukraine, hoping to boost the opposition in the first round of voting, but was arrested within a day and imprisoned. He called a hunger strike soon after his arrest.

___

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.

.
ATLANTA (AP)  A Georgia woman who left an emergency room after waiting for hours without seeing a doctor said she walked away with her injury untreated and a $700 charge simply for showing up.

Taylor Davis told WAGA-TV she went to the Emory Decatur Hospital emergency room in July for a head injury and decided to leave after no end in sight to her seven-hour wait for care.
MIAMI (AP)  Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is hoping to easily secure a second term Tuesday, with his reelection campaign showing he can raise millions as he seeks to elevate his profile at a national level.

Suarez, 44, gained name recognition for launching an effort to lure technology investors to the city at the beginning of the year, meeting with PayPal founder Peter Thiel, tech magnate Marcelo Claure and engaging on Twitter with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, among other well-known entrepreneurs.

Analysts say Suarez was astute to seize a moment when some investors were looking to move to South Florida for tax reasons and looser COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic. The mayor has been more than willing to assist. In December, when someone tweeted about moving Silicon Valley to Miami, Suarez replied, How can I help?

The effect his tech push has had on migration and job creation is still unclear as census numbers do not yet include data for 2021.

But private equity firm Blackstone announced last fall that it would create a new office in downtown Miami to expand tech capabilities. Japans Softbank Group  an early investor in Alibaba  is also looking to grow its presence in the city, and has invested $250 million in Miami startups. And venture capital firm Founders Fund has already set up shop in the trendy neighborhood of Wynwood.

Miami hosted a Bitcoin conference earlier this year, and started accepting funds generated through a cryptocurrency named MiamiCoin. Its contributions so far total about $17 million, but the money has not been spent.

Former Twitter Chief Operating Officer Adam Bain on Wednesday tweeted that he traveled to Miami for a meeting and to check out the startup scene."

What I thought was hype is actually real, he wrote. People in Miami exude an overwhelming sense of optimism right now. It's electric! Optimism is a foundation of real technological progress."

The Miami mayoral race is nonpartisan, but if Suarez's ambitions materialize, he could soon transition to partisan contests.

Although he's registered as a Republican, he was critical of former President Donald Trump and pushed back against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis COVID-19 actions, including the governors decision to prevent local communities from instituting mask mandates. Suarez has said he hopes the party picks more people that unify us, not divide us.

Suarez is also not ruling out White House aspirations. He says the pandemic and social media elevated the roles and profile of national mayors, making them stronger contenders for the presidency. Next year, Suarez will become president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, giving him a bigger platform.

In April, Suarez met with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who called him a rock star mayor in one of the episodes of his YouTube vlog series Cafecito Talks. Haley served as U.N. ambassador under Trump, and has contemplated running for president, creating speculation Suarez could be part of her ticket.

He is viewed as different with all the talk about business, tech and Bitcoin, said Dario Moreno, a political science professor at Florida International University. It makes it attractive to young people.

Suarez is a real estate attorney and son of Miamis first Cuban-born mayor. When he launched his first mayoral bid back in 2013, he said he wanted to improve the reputation of the Miami government, which has long been mocked as dysfunctional.

But just like his predecessors, the mayor has struggled to shake off that image. Earlier this year he tapped Houstons police chief to lead the Miami police department and called him the Tom Brady and Michael Jordan of chiefs. Chief Art Acevedos tenure was short after he was fired due to clashes with politicians and the police union that aired publicly in long commission meetings.

Sometimes things dont work out, Suarez said of the firing. Part of leadership is also accepting that and turning the page.

Back in 2017, when the previous mayor left office due to term limits, Suarez won with 86% of the votes. He is hoping for a similar outcome this time.

This year, he has four challengers who have not held office. They include Max Martinez, who ran a digital marketing company; Marie Exantus, who has worked in marketing and at a call center and Frank Pichel, a former police officer turned private investigator who was arrested Oct. 1 on charges he impersonated law enforcement.

A fourth candidate had only raised $150, and another challenger was disqualified for living outside the city limits.

Suarez and his political action committee have raised more than $5 million, compared to $28,000 raised by his contenders combined.

The mayor says they will probably end with $5 million unspent that he can use for the future.

We'll see where it goes," he said.
WHITE EARTH NATION, Minn. (AP)  American Indian children from White Earth Nation and other reservations were sent to boarding schools across the country, starting in the late 1800s. The federal government used the schools to separate Native children from their families, culture and language, part of an effort to assimilate American Indians into white society.

There were at least 16 Indian boarding schools in Minnesota, most operated by religious orders. Many children were deeply traumatized by physical and sexual abuse, punished for speaking their language and stripped of their culture.

There was a lot lost at that time  loss of culture, loss of identity, said Joe LaGarde, a White Earth tribal elder. And thats all a part of how you take a persons land. You take away their identity. Once they lose that, its a lot easier to deal with them.

But this story isnt just about a long ignored piece of American history.

Many in Indian Country believe the boarding school trauma that happened decades ago is still evident today in broken families, drug and alcohol abuse, and mental illness.

Earlier this year, Susan Rudolph, prioress of St. Benedicts Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota, acknowledged that connection when she sent a two-page letter to the White Earth Nation, apologizing for the religious orders role in the boarding school located there for decades.

Children, she wrote, were forcibly taken from their families and placed in mission boarding schools with an intentional plan to root out Native ways. The ripple effect of that wound lingers in the memory, the culture, and the documented history of your people for all time.

A tribal official said it was one of the first direct apologies from a religious order to a tribal nation in the United States, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.

A government boarding school opened at White Earth in 1871. The Benedictine order opened a day school in 1878, and it became a boarding school in 1892. The boarding school closed in 1945, but the Benedictines continued to run a day school for local children until 1969.

The religious order also operated a school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. The Sisters of St. Benedict and the monks of St. Johns Abbey also ran industrial schools for Native students near their monasteries in St. Joseph and Collegeville, Minnesota, for about a dozen years in the late 1800s.

Joe LaGarde grew up on the White Earth Reservation where he serves on a boarding school advisory group and is founder and executive director of the nonprofit Niibi Center, which works on historical trauma and environmental issues.

LaGarde never attended the White Earth boarding school, but when he was 12 years old, he was sent to the day school run by the Sisters of St. Benedict.

And I lasted two hours there, he recalled with a chuckle.

He says that first morning, after recess, he watched in shock as a nun slapped a fellow student.

So I waited until that nuns back was to me, and she was working him over, and I took off, he said.

He recalls a sprint down the stairs and out the door with the nun in hot pursuit.

She was fast, too. She was almost catching me, but I leaped over a little fence and I was gone, he said.

LaGarde never went back to the mission school, hiding in the woods until his parents agreed he could return to the public school.

Indigenous children had a variety of experiences at church run schools.

LaGarde said one of his sisters attended the White Earth boarding school and enjoyed the experience. Other siblings were sent to a school in South Dakota. They ran away and walked for days to return to White Earth.

Retired North Dakota State University professor Denise Lajimodiere documented the experiences of boarding school students in her book Stringing Rosaries. She heard stories of physical and sexual abuse, and harsh suppression of Native language and culture.

Benedictine Sister Pat Kennedy said the acknowledgement and apology from the monastic order are only a beginning.

You know, words in a sense are very cheap. Its easy to say Im sorry, but its more challenging for me to say, I will do this, said Kennedy, the monasterys heritage coordinator.

As a first step, the monastery opened its archive to researchers from White Earth seeking information about former students.

An oral history project is in the works to collect boarding school stories from White Earth residents. Many who carry those memories are elderly, and the project has been delayed by COVID-19 concerns.

The Benedictine sisters also want to sit with tribal members and listen to what Kennedy expects will be painful stories.

Its like a confrontation. Youre the offender, and I would like you to know how you offended me, she said. And to acknowledge that, yes, cultural genocide happened, not only cultural genocide, but spiritual genocide too.

Still, the sisters are conflicted about the boarding school history.

Sister Carol Berg, a retired history professor at the College of St. Benedict and St. Johns University, wrote her doctoral thesis 40 years ago on the White Earth boarding school, interviewing former teachers and students.

The nuns went to White Earth as cultural revolutionaries, their charge to overthrow Native culture, she wrote.

I think they went up there feeling we have something great to share with these people, so lets share it, said Berg in a recent interview. Their Catholic faith, the Catholic values and virtues, and the three Rs of education to prepare these students for their future life.

Berg said the result was a clash of cultures. But she struggles to reconcile the trauma experienced by Native students with what her research found to be a model school. She heard little about abuse in her interviews 40 years ago.

I only found one instance of a whipping. I think it was one of the younger sisters (who) said she was horrified because when one of the runaways was brought back to the school, she was whipped, Berg recalled.

Recovering the boarding school memories at White Earth will be an important part of finding the truth  a first step in the process of truth and reconciliation the Benedictine order hopes will happen with the people of White Earth.

Joe LaGarde believes that for many former students, the boarding school trauma may be too difficult to talk about, and they might not trust the church with those stories.

Youre going to find a lot of them are going to say, lets just leave it alone. And thats why were in the shape were in. We left things alone too long, said LaGarde. They swept everything under the rug all the time, and it was easier not to talk about things than it was to sit down and work things out.

Still, LaGarde doesnt want to force anyone to talk about trauma they experienced.

It has to be done as much as possible, but youve got to be careful. You cant hurt people any more than theyve been hurt, he said.

White Earth Historic Preservation Officer Jaime Arsenault favors a thoughtful and deliberate approach. The younger generation will be watching and learning, she said.

My hope is that young people, as they watch this unfold, what they will see is that the adults in their life arent going to run away from something thats hard, that theyre going to face it in as respectful a way as possible and as healthy a way as possible, so that these kids coming up have a much better future, Arsenault said.

After recent news of unmarked graves found at Indigenous boarding schools in Canada, theres been a surge of interest in U.S. boarding schools.

The process of searching for unmarked graves has also started at White Earth, and so far none have been found. But Arsenault doesnt want that to be the focus. Finding any missing children is important, she said, but shes intent on making sure the community is not re-traumatized by this difficult history.

Its never been about shock value, and were not just focused on unmarked graves. Its everything that goes along with it. Its trying to look at how these experiences have influenced other aspects of peoples lives, she said.

Arsenault thinks the truth and reconciliation process thats now just beginning might last for a generation, and how that process plays out, she said, is up to the people of White Earth.

Benedictine Sister Karen Rose agrees that the sisters must play a supporting role.

We very much dont want to fall into that trap of being white people who come to tell the people of White Earth how to fix things, Rose said. We simply want to work with them. And so I think we feel that we need to be guided by them.

The supporting role will include actions such as paying for the technology to search for graves, funded by the Native Nation Revitalization initiative, part of the McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement at the College of St. Benedict and St. Johns University.

Monks from St. Johns Abbey were also involved in the operation of the reservation schools and ran a school at the monastery, but the abbey has not issued an apology. A spokesperson said a task force is being created to review the historical role of the abbey.

The issue is also raising awareness and provoking action on the campuses of the College of St. Benedict and St. Johns University.

St. Bens senior Marissa Johnson grew up in Bloomington. She has family connections to the Red Lake Nation and is an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Wisconsin.

She didnt know about the Benedictine role in Native boarding schools until she was exploring campus as a first-year student and happened across an old photo.

Maybe 30 Indigenous boys all sitting in rows, and two white priests, she said.

She immediately recognized the photo as a Native school, and her response was visceral.

I remember turning to my boyfriend, excuse my French, but I was like what the f--- is this, she said. At first I was shocked. I couldnt say anything, and then the second wave over me was just like anger.

Shes turned that anger to action, helping to form an Indigenous Student Association and pushing for more education on American Indian history, treaties and contemporary issues to be included in the college curriculum.

Ive had to tell (people) yes, we still are alive, we did not die off. Ive had to have that conversation way too many times, and that conversation needs to stop, said Johnson.

We are still living. We are still breathing. There is going to be future generations of Indigenous peoples, Johnson said. So to include us in important conversations is vital, especially at St. Bens, St. Johns and within the student body.

Ted Gordon, a faculty member at the College of St. Benedict and St. Johns University, is trying to make sure that happens.

Gordon helped start the conversation about opening the monastery archives to White Earth.

The work of Indigenous students has created change on both campuses, he said.

From now on, all incoming students will hear about the boarding schools in their first year, Gordon said. This is quickly going from a history that few in our community knew about to one that everyone knows and has discussed in class.

Gordon hopes those conversations will change how students understand challenges facing Native communities.

The more people understand about this past, potentially the more of an open mind theyll have when it comes to some of the policy discussions that were having today, he said.

At White Earth, there are also discussions taking place, often difficult and heart-wrenching conversations.

Since stories about graves found at Canadian boarding schools have been in the news recently, a few people have started sharing stories with Joe LaGarde.

Recently, someone told him a story about being a young boy at a boarding school and feeling responsible for protecting his sister from sexual abuse.

Its really a bad feeling that hurts you for a few days before you can kind of shake that off, said LaGarde, But you can never really put it away completely, because that poor person had that carry that all their lives.

He hopes sharing that burden can help start the process of healing from trauma endured silently for a lifetime.
RABAT, Morocco (AP)  Protests erupted across cities in Morocco on Sunday against a coronavirus vaccine passport that is required to access indoor activities and travel.

Proof of vaccination has been mandatory since Oct. 21 for all Moroccans to enter their place of work and restaurants and for domestic and international air travel.

The North African kingdoms vaccination rate is the highest in the continent, with more than 58% of its 36 million people fully inoculated.

But a vocal minority is opposed to the abrupt decision to require the vaccine pass, and hundreds of demonstrators marched in the capital of Rabat for the the second time in a week to voice opposition to the rule.

It should be our choice! angry anti-pass protesters shouted just a stones throw from the parliament building.

Some demonstrators attempted to break through a police cordon, and officers responded by using shields to disperse the crowd. Images from the protest showed police arresting some protesters. Others suffered injuries.

Several hundred people also joined a similar protest in Casablanca, the countrys economic hub. Demonstrators in other cities such as Tangiers in the north and Agadir in the south held similar protests.

While Morocco's vaccine passport is required in an unusually large number of places, similar passes are used in many countries and have boosted vaccination rates. Morocco has reported at least 14,000 deaths related to COVID-19.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden heads to a United Nations climate conference Monday energized by a new legislative framework that, if enacted, would be the largest action ever taken by the United States to address climate change.

The $555 billion plan for climate spending is the centerpiece of a sweeping domestic policy package Biden and congressional Democrats presented Thursday, hours before the president traveled to Europe for another summit ahead of the climate meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

Biden called the plan the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis that ever happened, beyond any other advanced nation in the world.

While far from certain to pass in a closely divided Congress, the new framework reassured nervous Democrats and environmental leaders that a president who has made climate action a key focus of his administration will not arrive in Glasgow empty-handed.

The plan did not give Biden everything he wanted, but supporters still believe that, if enacted, it would set the United States on a path to meet Bidens goal to cut carbon pollution in half by 2030.

"It's a real signal to the world that the U.S. is back and demonstrating leadership on climate change,'' said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of the League of Conservation Voters.

Biden's plan includes more than $300 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy such as wind and solar power, as well as investments to boost nuclear power, sharply increase the number of electric vehicles and spur production of batteries and other advanced materials.

The plan also would spend at least $100 billion to address extreme weather such as wildfires, hurricanes and droughts, address legacy pollution in hard-hit areas and establish a Civilian Climate Corps, a New Deal-style program to create thousands of jobs building trails, restoring streams and helping prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday called the level of investment in clean energy amazing" and said it demonstrated the importance of having America lead in this as we go into the climate summit.

But a proposal to reward power companies that move from fossil fuels to clean energy and penalize those that do not was dropped following opposition from coal-state Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. And the fate of a proposed fee on methane leaks during oil and gas production also was uncertain, though liberal Democrats were hopeful it will be included.

A recent analysis by the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm, found that passage of a bipartisan infrastructure bill and the larger climate and domestic policy package, combined with regulations by key federal agencies and state actions, could cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 45% to 51% below 2005 levels in 2030.

We actually do think the U.S. can still put the target within reach, but its going to require a lot of sustained follow-up action by the executive branch and states after Congress is done to get the rest of the way there, said John Larsen, an energy systems expert and co-author of the study.

He called Biden's goal, set at a virtual climate meeting at the White House in April, ambitious" but said it's "better to aim high and push as hard as you can when the science is telling you thats literally whats required.''

The climate target is a key requirement of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which Biden rejoined on his first day in office. Its also an important marker as Biden moves toward his ultimate goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Biden also has announced a plan to double financial aid to poorer nations to $11.4 billion by 2024 so those countries can switch to cleaner energy and cope with global warmings worsening impact. The plan puts rich nations close to their long-promised but unrealized goal of $100 billion a year in climate help for developing nations.

Biden is leaning into climate more than any previous president, and it looks like he is prepared to continue to make this a top priority for his entire first term, which would be the first time an American president has done something like that,'' said Larsen, who worked in the Energy Department under President Barack Obama. He cited Bidens moves to rejoin the Paris agreement, kill the Keystone XL oil pipeline and pause oil and gas leasing on federal land, among other actions.

Even without signed legislation, Biden's framework shows U.S. leadership on climate, experts said. The U.S. can now tell China and other major polluters: "We set an ambitious goal. Weve taken the first meaningful steps toward meeting that goal. What are you going to do? Larsen said.

Still, there is pressure on Biden and Congress to pass the infrastructure bill and the larger domestic policy package during the two-week climate summit or soon after.

I do think that if the U.S. is not able, before the end of (the climate summit), to demonstrate that it has some policies in place, theres no way around it, the credibility will take a blow,'' said Nat Keohane, president of the independent Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

While failure to adopt legislation would not be fatal if Congress passes a bill later in November or December, the clock is ticking, Keohane said. This is the moment to get as much as can be achieved through Congress now,'' he said, "because everything else is going to need to be done by regulation" that could be undone by a future Republican president.

Even as he moves to curb carbon emissions, Biden is feeling pressure from Republicans who unanimously oppose his climate and energy proposals and blame him for a sharp increase in energy prices, including a $1-per gallon increase in gasoline prices since January.

Because of Joe Bidens radical anti-energy agenda, people in every corner of this country are paying higher prices for energy, hurting struggling families, older adults and those on a fixed income, said Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Energy prices have surged in recent months as the economy reopens following COVID-19 shutdowns. Crude oil prices have climbed more than 60% this year amid strong demand and snarled supply chains, prompting Biden to pressure Saudi Arabia and other exporters to ramp up oil production following cuts during the pandemic.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said there was no contradiction between Biden's climate goals and the request for more imported oil.

This is not a light switch. Were not flipping off all use of fossil fuels in our economy overnight,'' Sullivan told reporters as he headed to Europe with the president. We still have need for those fossil fuels during the transition period to make sure that our economy is working, jobs are being created, working families have their homes heated at night and so forth.''

Officials have to at once pay attention to energy supply today and work towards a net-zero future, he said.

Granholm, appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, said Biden is considering releasing some oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bring prices down, but has not made a final decision.

Let me just say ... that these rising fuel prices in fossil fuels tell us why weve got to double down on diversifying our fuel supply to go for clean,'' she said.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Marques Armstrong had just got out of the shower one morning this fall when he heard gunshots that seemed to come from his Minneapolis backyard. After ducking, he ran upstairs to check on his wife and daughter, then looked out to see a car speed away.

It was a depressingly routine occurrence on the city's predominantly Black north side that reaffirmed Armstrong's staunch opposition to a proposal on Tuesday's ballot to replace the city's police department  and a required minimum number of officers  with a new Department of Public Safety.

Everybody says we want the police to be held accountable and we want fair policing. No one has said we need to get rid of the police, said Armstrong, a Black activist who owns a mental health practice and a clothing store. "There needs to be a huge overhaul from the ground up, but we need some form of community safety because over here shots are ringing out day and night.

The ballot proposal that goes to voters Tuesday has roots in the abolish-the-police movement that erupted after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last year. It has drawn strong support from younger Black activists who were mobilized by Floyds death, as well as from some Black and white residents across this liberal city.

Many people of color who live in the city's highest-crime areas say they fear a steep drop in the number of police officers will leave them more vulnerable amid a dramatic spike in violent crime.

The debate over racial justice in policing that erupted after Floyd's death has brought national attention to Tuesday's vote, as well as a river of out-of-state money seeking to influence an outcome that might shape change elsewhere, too.

The campaign has been bitter. Opponents have attacked the ballot question as vague, with no concrete plan for what comes after passage. Supporters say opponents are overblowing fears about a falloff in police presence  and the prospect that the city's popular Black police chief, Medaria Arradondo, will quit if the initiative passes. Mayor Jacob Frey, who opposes the ballot question, is facing a tough reelection fight, with his two top opponents urging their supporters to leave him off their ballots in the city's ranked-choice voting system.

Arradondo, the city's first Black chief, recently urged voters to reject the proposal after previously saying that an element that would give City Council members more oversight of policing would be wholly unbearable. He has sidestepped questions about whether he would remain if it passes.

Raeisha Williams, an activist with Guns Down Love Up, said she believes the plans supporters are mainly white residents who havent experienced police misconduct or the violence that Black residents are seeing on the north side. Her brother, Tyrone, died in a shooting there in 2018.

Its like our voices are not heard  they are hijacking a movement yet again and making it their own, said Williams, who is Black.

JaNae Bates, one of the young, Black activists leading the movement to pass the ballot proposal, said her group worked hard to take all voices into account. Bates said more than 1,400 of the roughly 20,000 signatures on the petitions to get the measure on the ballot came from north side residents.

Bates said their effort to inform people about what the initiative would do involved knocking on the doors of north Minneapolis homes to hear the voices of those most affected by public safety issues.

Weve been extremely intentional because the residents of these neighborhoods are tired of accepting the status quo, both around police brutality and community violence," Bates said.

Steve Fletcher, a white City Council member who supports replacing the police department, said there's both support and opposition to the plan from all areas of the city.

I think a lot of people are just recognizing that we cannot be the city that killed George Floyd and didnt grow or change," he said.

The ballot question calls for a new Department of Public Safety to take a comprehensive public health approach to the delivery of functions that would be determined by the mayor and City Council. Fletcher and other supporters argue it's a chance to reimagine what public safety can be and how money gets spent. A frequent example from supporters is funding programs that don't send armed officers to call on people in crisis.

Nobody is proposing to reduce our investment in public safety," Fletcher said. "We are proposing to change the way that we make those investments, and ultimately I think in the end, investing more in public safety than we ever have.

The change is being proposed as violent crime in the city is spiking. There have been roughly 80 homicides in Minneapolis so far this year  35 on the north side, according to online police department crime data. Three victims were children, including one who was shot while jumping on a trampoline at a birthday party. The city could near the record 97 homicides of 1995, when it drew the nickname Murderapolis.

That trend is compounded by the fact the city is down about 300 officers from its authorized force of 888, partly due to officers claiming post-traumatic stress disorder after Floyds death and the unrest in the city that followed.

Jerome Rankine, a Black resident in the Kingfield neighborhood on the citys more affluent southwest side, strongly backs the amendment. Rankine, who also sits on his neighborhood association board, says dropping the citys requirement for a minimum number of officers would open the way to innovative ideas to change policing.

Unfortunately, the way that our city charter is set up, we lack the power to turn those ideas into reality, he said. Im voting yes because a yes vote is a vote for taking the barrier to change out of the equation and taking these imaginative ideas of how our policing system can be better.

Rankine's board last week endorsed a vote in support of the public safety question. He said his own neighborhood is divided on the question, and that's fine: "There are no monoliths that cut cleanly across lines, theres no opinion that cuts cleanly across lines of race, he said.

If we are in a movement against police brutality then I feel like all should be welcome in that movement, he said. We have seen Minneapolis police take lives over the last several years and theyve taken the lives of all races and backgrounds, so I feel like there should be no barriers to entry when it comes to being part of the movement.

Bishop Divar Kemp of New Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, back on the city's north side, said the ballot question comes up every day at his church. He said the police department needs to be changed, but the current proposal is dangerous.

We need the police -- theres no other way I can say that, he said.

___

Mohamed Ibrahim 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.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin raced to fire up their partys base voters in opposite ends of Virginia on Sunday as they worked to drive up turnout in a deadlocked and bitter contest for governor that will be scrutinized as a bellwether ahead of next years midterms elections.

McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018, and Democrats are scrambling to stave off disaster after public polling has shifted in Youngkins direction in recent weeks. Republicans are optimistic about their chances in the commonwealth, where they haven't won a statewide race since 2009.

After campaigning across northern Virginia on Saturday, Youngkin departed for the far southwest tip of the state, a Republican stronghold. Stops along his bus tour included a prayer breakfast, a worship service, a barbecue at the home of a powerful state lawmaker, a meet-and-greet in the state's farthest-flung corner and an evening get-out-the-vote rally.

McAuliffe, who preceded Democrat Ralph Northam as governor in the only state that doesn't allow its executive to serve consecutive terms, spent Saturday the state's southeastern corner before making stops Sunday in suburban Richmond and northern Virginia.

In the backyard of a home in a well-to-do pocket of Henrico County, McAuliffe told an energetic crowd of supporters that the stakes are huge" as he touted his record from his first term.

Ive done this job before. I was the most pro-business pro-progressive. I made this state open and welcoming, created a lot of jobs. We do not want to go back, he said.

Speaking at a rally in Abingdon, Youngkin predicted Republicans would sweep all three statewide races and take back control of the House of Delegates, where all 100 seats are on the ballot.

This is a moment for us to make a statement that big government control is going to lose and liberty and freedom in Virginia are going to win," he said, as the crowd erupted in cheers.

McAuliffe has brought in a series of high-profile surrogates including President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and celebrity musicians Pharrell Williams and Dave Matthews in the final stretch. Youngkin, meanwhile, has eschewed virtually all public campaign visits from well-known party allies who would typically flock to a hot race.

That includes former President Donald Trump, who is holding a telerally for Youngkin on Monday. Youngkin has said he will not be participating. Youngkin more fully embraced Trump during the Republican nominating contest, but since becoming the nominee, he has walked a fine line as he tries to court moderate voters in a state that Trump lost by 10 percentage points to Biden in 2020.

Saturday marked the final day for early voting in Virginia, which has been dramatically expanded during the past two years of unified Democratic control of state government.

Legislation passed in 2020 eliminated the need to provide one of a certain number of limited excuses in order to vote absentee. Now any qualified voter can cast a ballot starting 45 days before the election.

Over 1.1 million out of the states approximately 5.9 million registered voters cast a ballot early this year, according to state data published by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. That's down sharply from the 2.8 million early votes in last year's presidential election but marks a dramatic increase compared with the mere 195,634 early votes during the last gubernatorial cycle, before the voting reforms were instituted.

McAuliffe spokeswoman Christina Freundlich said the campaign expects many Democrats to revert to their prepandemic voting habits this year, favoring in-person voting on Election Day.

Still, at the Henrico rally, McAuliffe claimed Democrats had a big lead on the early vote.

Voters don't register by party in Virginia, so the partisan split of the early vote wasn't immediately clear. But McAuliffe's campaign pointed to what they considered strong numbers in blue-leaning localities in northern Virginia as a sign momentum was on their side.

Republicans, despite generally opposing the Democrats election reforms, have also encouraged their supporters to vote early this year.

In southwest Virginia, where Youngkin spent Sunday, the rate of early voting was well below the state as a whole, according to a VPAP analysis.

Strong turnout there on Election Day could help boost Youngkin as he looks to overcome the structural advantage of northern Virginia's blue tilt.

The hectic pace of campaigning was set to continue Monday. Both candidates will be crisscrossing the state, each with stops in Roanoke, Virginia Beach, the Richmond area and northern Virginia.

Polls will be open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The first Conference of the Parties (COP) was held in Berlin in 1995. Things have only gotten worse since then and time is running out. COP26 in Glasgow this week is the last, best chance to turn the world back from climate disaster.
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.

Vote

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Here is an overview of how you can sponsor relatives such as your brother, sister, or other family members to immigrate to Canada.

Who you can sponsor for Canadian immigration

Who you can sponsor for Canadian immigration Here is an overview of how you can sponsor relatives such as your brother, sister, or other family members to immigrate to Canada.

Who you can sponsor for Canadian immigration Here is an overview of how you can sponsor relatives such as your brother, sister, or other family members to immigrate to Canada.

Who you can sponsor for Canadian immigration Here is an overview of how you can sponsor relatives such as your brother, sister, or other family members to immigrate to Canada. Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Canada welcomes over 100,000 family class immigrants per year.

It is well known that most of these immigrants arrive through the Spouses, Partners, and Children category while a smaller share arrive under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP).

The rules surrounding sponsoring other family members are less well known. However, it is important to remember that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) does allow you to sponsor other family members in very specific situations.

Those 18 and older who are Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and persons registered under Canadas Indian Act are eligible to sponsor their family to obtain Canadian permanent residence.

Most sponsor their spouse, partner, or parents or grandparents. There are two other options for who you can sponsor.

Looking to sponsor your family? Get a free legal consultation!

Orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece or grandchild

IRCC states you can sponsor an orphaned brother, sister, nephew, niece, or grandchild if all of these conditions are met:

they are your relative either by blood or through adoption

both of their parents passed away

they are below the age of 18

they are not married or in a common-law or conjugal relationship

On the other hand, IRCC says you can not sponsor this family member if any of the following applies:

they have a parent that is still alive

the location of their parents is unknown

they were abandoned by their parents

they are being cared for by someone else while one or both of their parents are still alive

their parent is in jail or otherwise detained

Other relative

As another option, you can sponsor one relative that is related by blood or adoption of any age as long as all these conditions are met:

the sponsor (i.e., Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person registered under Canadas Indian Act) does not have a living relative that you could sponsor instead such as a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, child, parent, grandparent, or an orphaned brother/sister/nephew/niece/grandchild

the sponsor does not have any relatives that is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or is registered under the Indian Act

If the relative you are sponsoring has a spouse, partner or dependent children that also want to come to Canada, you will need to include them on the same sponsorship application.

How to apply

There are two steps to the sponsorship application process. You apply to sponsor your relatives, and they apply for permanent residence. You must submit both applications to IRCC at the same time.

IRCC provides the following guidelines on how to prepare and submit your application:

confirm you and your relatives meet the eligibility criteria

read the application guides carefully

provide all requested documents and evidence in your application. You will need to submit evidence such as proof of income and sign legal declarations such as committing to financially support your relative upon their arrival to Canada

be truthful when answering all questions

pay applicable fees

ensure your relatives and their close family (if applicable) complete required health and security checks

Looking to sponsor your family? Get a free legal consultation!

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
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At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of workers stayed home, rendering physical office spaces useless, at least temporarily. Now that employees are returning to in-person work, what does the current commercial real estate market look like? And what does the future of office space
Beachwood, OH (44122)

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 31)  Greenpeace Southeast Asia and World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines call on the Philippine delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (UN COP26) to champion climate finance and accountability from developed countries.

The Philippines is among the nearly 200 countries that will attend the UN COP26 from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland. The summit also comes nearly six years after the creation of the Paris Agreement, which mandates nations to curb the effects of climate change.

Both groups say the event is particularly significant for the Philippines, given that the country is among the most vulnerable nations to climate change. Greenpeace Southeast Asia Executive Director Yeb Sano says the delegation should take a stand on issues like global climate finance and carbon offsets.

"What is important as a vulnerable country is that there is progress in pledges, climate finance, carbon offsets, loss and damage. What we hope to achieve as a delegation is to see developed countries being able to ratchet up their pledges," he added.

WWF Philippines Climate Programme Head Angela Ibay said the decisions that will be made at UN COP26 will have an effect on the country's long-term plans. She hopes developed nations will announce more ambitious goals, concrete plans and pledges.

"It's very critical that we also have funding for adaptation purposes because we know we are impacted by climate change and it does cost a lot to be able to rebuild, to adapt to it," she said.

RELATED: What is COP26? How the pivotal UN conference could avert global climate 'catastrophe'

PH delegation at UN COP26

Finance Secretary and Climate Change Commission Chairman-Designate Sonny Dominguez will lead the country's delegation at COP26. He called on developed nations to deliver on their promises in the climate change fight.

"We need the Western countries to take responsibility for having contributed and continue to contribute the most to greenhouse gas emissions. They must be given the greater burden of paying for the grants, investments, and subsidies needed for the most climate-vulnerable countries to mitigate the effects of global warming," he said at an online meeting.

Dominguez will also present the Sustainable Finance Roadmap, which includes policies to help transition into a greener economy. He hopes this will serve as a blueprint on how to mainstream climate change to the financial sector.

Greenpeace SEA and WWF Philippines welcome the presence of Dominguez, saying this will be a strong signal on the country's position on climate finance. They also hope he pushes for accountability from developed countries.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddyboy Locsin will also join the delegation, along with representatives from the DOF, DFA, Environment department and Energy department. No other member of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) is part of the delegation.

Sano said there should have been at least one representative from the CCC and civil society in the delegation. He said CCC members can provide previous positions and deals the country had in past talks.

He also questioned why there were supposedly no consultations between environmental groups and the delegation. Being a former CCC Commissioner and chief negotiator in high-level climate talks, he said it's important to know the situation on the ground.

"When I was chief negotiator, we share that information with stakeholders so alam nila yung dala-dala natin na position. Ngayon, we don't even know what they are going to saybecause there were no consultations. I don't think the delegation will negotiate effectively," he said.

[Translation: When I was chief negotiator, we share that information with stakeholders so they know our position. Now, we don't even know what they are going to saybecause there were no consultations. I don't think the delegate will negotiate effectively]

However, Sano said the lean delegation may also be a result of the limitations and glaring inequalities among nations brought about by the pandemic.

PH plans to curb climate change

In April, the Philippines pledged to cut local carbon emissions by 75% by 2030. The country contributes only 0.3% to the total greenhouse gas emissions. This goal is part of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

Environmental groups say the conditional target (around 72%) is a tall order, but can be achieved with climate finance and the push for renewable energy. As of 2019, nearly half of the local energy supply comes from non-renewable sources like oil, coal and gas.

"It would require transformation of our energy sector, of our transport sector, of our industrial production sector as well as a clear program to protect our forests. But most of that are already in the government plans. What we do need is the climate finance and technology must be forthcoming from the industrialized countries," Sano said.

Ibay says the government can be more ambitious in its unconditional goals. She believes the country can explore the existing proposals and policies on renewable energy.

"If they're really serious about climate resiliency for the country, increasing that (unconditional goal) more provides a bigger signal of the priority of the government and the seriousness that we place on what we want to do for our NDC," she added.

Ibay says curbing climate change should be a holistic approach involving individuals, civil society, businesses and government. She hopes the leaders elected in the 2022 elections will have policies on climate change in their plans.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 31)  Three international organizations penned an open letter to leaders of G20 countries, asking them to make vaccines more accessible to bridge vaccine inequity and pay more attention to needs of people displaced by natural calamities and conflict.

"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," said the letter which was signed by Antonio Vitorino, director general of the Inernational Organization of Migration, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Tedros A. Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization.

The leaders of G20, or the Group of Twenty, are holding their annual summit meeting in Rome this weekend. Made up of 19 countries and the European Union, the G20 addresses issues concerning the global economy.

The open letter calls for the G20 to commit to three things: increase vaccine supply for the world's poorest, ensure vaccines will be given to "people on the move"  referring to refugees, those who are internally displaced, and asylum-seekers among others  and that support is given to "low- and middle-income countries" fo fight COVID-19 "with all available means."

In September, the Philippine government said vaccine inequality was the reason why the country landed at the bottom of Bloomberg's COVID Resilience Ranking.

"Unfortunately, as President Rodrigo Roa Duterte articulated in the United Nations, rich countries hoard life-saving vaccines, while poor nations wait for trickles," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement released that month. "The Philippines is a classic case in point, where inoculation is highly dependent on the availability and stability of vaccine supply."

In the same month WHO representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said that as long as there's vaccine inequity and there are vulnerable people who remain unvaccinated, there would be room for COVID-19 to multiply.

The newly issued open letter noted that for every 100 people in high-income countries, 133 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered but it is different in low-income countries.

"In low-income countries, only 4 doses per 100 people have been administered," it said.

The letter also stated that other tools such as tests, treatments and "tailored public health measures" are needed to fight the virus.

"As the leaders of the worlds largest economies, you have the power and responsibility to help stem the pandemic by expanding access to vaccines and other tools for the people and places where these are in shortest supply," it said.
As part of the general election Tuesday, the State College mayoral position, State College Area School Board seats and State College Borough Council seats will be on the local ballot.

For State College Borough Council, there are four candidates running to fill three of the seven total seats.

The candidates include Republican Jacob Werner, as well as Democrats Divine Lipscomb, Gopal Balachandran and Richard Biever  who are running as part of the Our Communities Cant Wait slate, which is when candidates run for office on a shared policy platform.

The slate is sponsored by the PA United PAC, a member-led organization that strives to build a multi-racial, multi-generational grassroots movement that can run and win people-powered, people-funded campaigns across western Pennsylvania, according to its website.

Werner won the Republican borough council primary unopposed on June 5.

Lipscomb, Balachandran and Biever won the Democratic primary against incumbent Katherine Yeaple, current State College Interim Mayor Ronald Fillipell and former councilwoman Catherine Dauler.

The four candidates spoke to The Daily Collegian to share their personal backgrounds, political motivations and visions for State College.

Jacob Werner:

For more information on Jacob: https://www.facebook.com/JRWStateCollege

Divine Lipscomb:

For more information on Divine: https://www.facebook.com/Divine-Lipscomb-for-State-College-Borough-Council-108367151293467/

Gopal Balachandran:

For more information on Gopal: https://www.facebook.com/BalachandranCouncil

Richard Biever:

For more information on Richard: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063812872896

Polls will close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, and election results will be released on centrecountyvotes.gov as ballots are counted.

The final day to submit any military and overseas absentee ballots is Nov. 9  as long as they are marked for delivery before midnight on Monday.

MORE BOROUGH COVERAGE

State College's CentreBike to host 3rd annual Cranksgiving Local State College nonprofit CentreBike announced the date of its third annual Cranksgiving
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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
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Weirdly, the horror movie thats come up the most this year in relation to the pandemic is I Am Legend, which made the news recently for the dumbest possible reason. As weve mentioned before, anti-vaxxers latched onto the 2007 Will Smith movie as a justification for not taking the vaccine -- which is a little like refusing to call 911 with a smartphone because of some shit that went down in I, Robot. Even dumber than turning down a potentially life-saving vaccine because of a movie penned by the screenwriter behind Batman & Robin, whoever started that particular conspiracy theory wildly misrepresented the premise of the movie, which involves a zombie-vampire apocalypse caused by a genetically reprogrammed virus, not by a vaccine.

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It could be argued that the movie that better encapsulates 2021 is another version of that same story. The book I Am Legend by legendary Twilight Zone/godawful buddy cop flick writer Richard Matheson was turned into two previous movies; The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price and The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. And it could be argued that the Heston movie is a much better reflection of our modern existence. For one thing, The Omega Man is actually a vaccine success story. The reason why Robert Neville is humanitys lone survivor (or so we think) is that he injected himself with an experimental vaccine.

Warner Bros.

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And he pretty much spends his days alone watching stuff; sure, hes begrudgingly screening prints of Woodstock in an old theater, not binging Tiger King in his pajamas, but still 

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

At night he battles a gang of zombie-vampire albinos in shades. But unlike other versions of the same story, in this version, the vampires are more like a cult, they love being vampires, and theyre attacking Neville because they blame science as a whole for the apocalypse. Sure, our current situation (despite what you might see on YouTube) wasnt caused by bioweapons like in The Omega Man, but the vilification of the medical scientist who is trying to actually solve this problem plays way differently now in an era when mobs are literally storming hospitals. Unfortunately, the movie also features hopelessly stereotyped Black characters and a white savior narrative -- but at least its got the star of Ben-Hur mowing down vampires with a machine gun.

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And in a way, it makes perfect sense that we would turn to horror stories to help us understand medical emergencies seeing as so many of our greatest monster myths were, in essence, created by misinterpretations of disease. People assigned supernatural explanations to then-unexplainable maladies, like how porphyria, a blood disorder that can cause blisters when patients are exposed to sunlight and receding gums that make teeth look more pronounced, contributed to both the vampire and werewolf myths, as did rabies, which can cause confusion and hallucinations. And its probably not a coincidence that both creatures are created by bites. Diseases led to monsters, monsters led to stories, and those stories, in turn, help us to grapple with the horrors of illness; its basically a feedback loop of anxieties that somehow help us to cope with mortality. Because, when it comes right down to it, were all, one day, going to have to make that metaphorical horny trip to Camp Crystal Lake.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter!

Top Image: RADiUS-TWC
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The Soviet authorities carefully altered documents and fudged numbers to hide the true scale of their whaling operation. Between 1946 and 1986, they reported killing a total of 2,710 humpback whales. In reality, they slaughtered over 13,000 in 1959 alone. In total, Soviet whalers secretly killed around 180,000 more whales than officially reported.

Vanity Fair Probably because whales are notorious capitalist fat cats.



It was a complete bloodbath. Whales were killed so quickly that the bodies rotted before they could be processed. In 1957, the humpback whales off New Zealand were so thick it was joked you could land a helicopter on their backs. By 1961, the ocean was a desert. In the North Pacific, whales were so common in the '50s that one Soviet scientist remembered thinking the spouts from their blowholes looked like a forest. When he went back with a whaling fleet years later he found the water filled with floating whale corpses. And things werent much better for the whalers, who experienced a high casualty rate (one guy died when his foot got caught in a loop of whale intestine as it slid overboard).

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But the killing continued at a steady rate, as did the cover-up. In 1972, an international treaty began requiring whaling ships to be monitored by an independent observer. So the Soviets simply exchanged observers with Japan, which was also illegally catching whales, although on a smaller scale than the Soviets. Unsurprisingly, both sets of observers somehow failed to notice anything was going on. In fact, we only have any evidence of the true scale of Soviet whaling thanks to a scientist named Dmitri Tormosov, who secretly kept copies of the yearly reports in his potato cellar. The hunts continued until 1986, when the declining numbers prompted a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling.

Whit Welles Since then, everyones been having a whale of a time!

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Why did the Soviets hunt so many whales? No reason in particular. The USSR had no use for whale meat, and precious little for blubber. Many of the whales caught were simply butchered and then dumped back in the sea to rot. As it turned out, Soviet economic planners had been setting whaling quotas based on historic whaling as a percentage of the fisheries industry, regardless of its actual usefulness. When Soviet scientists complained to the fisheries minister that their grandchildren would live in a world without whales, they were told your grandchildren arent the ones who can remove me from my job. Meanwhile, the worlds whales were massacred for basically no reason at all, except to meet a line item in an economic plan.
I reckon there are two kinds of people who would click on this article: Those looking for recommendations for Japanese horror-porn, and those wanting to ask me, with tears in their eyes, why did I have to use the dreaded m-word in the title. To the first group, I just want to say that you're sick, you need help, and that The Big Tits Dragon: Hot Spring Zombies vs Strippers 5 looks kinda fun. As for the second group: Y'all have gotten way too complacent because of the complete Flanderization of Halloween, so I thought I'd introduce a little uncomfortableness into your lives with a word I know you hate to remind you what the season should be about. So: moist, moist, moistity moisty moist.

Toho You know what? Kill me anyway; that carpet's ruined.

But let's actually do talk about why Japan uses water imagery in so many of its horror movies because, you know, it does. Think about Sadako, the creepy little girl from The Ring. Besides a realization that you could probably beat her by setting up a TV set right at the edge of a tall building, the thing that immediately strikes you about her is that she often looks drenched. That's because she died inside a well and acts almost like a vengeful spirit of water throughout the movie. The exact same thing happens in the 2002 J-horror Dark Water. Like  literally almost exactly the same thing: a small girl drowns and becomes a water-themed vengeful spirit.
Connecticuts COVID numbers continued to decline in the past week, but with colder months approaching and hundreds of breakthrough cases being recorded, health experts say there could still be some cause for concern.

In the past week, there were 804 new breakthrough cases in vaccinated people, according to the states latest data released Thursday.

There have been a total of 17,564 breakthrough cases and 157 breakthrough deaths recorded in Connecticut, the data shows. All of the deaths have involved people 35 and older and nearly 71 percent of them have been at least 75 years old, the data shows.

The seven-day rolling average of new COVID cases reported Thursday stands at less than half the number reported in mid-September, according to state figures. The number of patients hospitalized with the disease has fallen below 200 statewide, down from well over 350 in mid-September.

Connecticuts doing great right now, the numbers are definitely coming down, said Dr. Ulysses Wu, chief epidemiologist and system director of infectious diseases at Hartford HealthCare.

At the same time, he said the percentage of patients in intensive care units and on ventilators is relatively high. But overall, he said the number of intensive care and hospitalized COVID patients are declining.

Compared to last year and previous peaks, were doing way better, he added.

On Thursday, Connecticut recorded 443 new COVID cases in the previous 24 hours with a daily positivity rate of 1.77 percent. Hospitalizations dropped by a net of three patients, bringing the statewide census to 191. The state reported 30 more COVID-related deaths in the past week, increasing the statewide death toll to 8,751.

Of Connecticuts eight counties, only Windham County in the far northeast was marked in red as an area of high community transmission of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tolland and Fairfield counties are now below the threshold the agency recommends for people to wear masks indoors regardless of whether they have been vaccinated. The remaining five counties are areas of moderate spread where masking is still recommended.

Connecticuts heat map of cases by municipality, which uses a slightly different metric than the CDC, shows 34 communities are in the red alert zone, meaning they have experienced 15 or more cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks.

Overall, more than 90 percent of eligible Connecticut residents have received at least one dose, according to the CDC, while nearly 79 percent of the total population have started the vaccination process.

The weekly number of doses administered in Connecticut has remained high over the past month, a period that coincided with deadlines for state and many private employees to comply with vaccine mandates, but also when booster shots became available to millions of Americans.

CDC data shows Connecticut and some nearby states are lagging in booster uptake compared with others that have seen comparatively lower initial vaccination rates. About 8.6 percent of those who are fully vaccinated in Connecticut have received a booster, according to the CDC data, lower than the rates of South Carolina, Tennessee, Montana and others.

Some areas of Connecticut are also still lagging well below the state average vaccination rate. In the states eastern rural areas, many towns report less than 60 percent of residents have received at least one dose, according to the data. Hartford and New Britain also report less than 60 percent of their residents have started the vaccination process.

Vaccination falls along ideologic lines, Wu said. Communities tend to stick together, so if theres a community thats more likely not to be vaccinated, thats probably why youre seeing swaths of a region that are undervaccinated. Its not just Connecticut, thats the same for the whole entire United States.

Overall, the state is doing better than the rest of the country, Wu said, but its all relative because we shouldnt even be in this position in the first place.

Its rosy because its better, but compared to where we should be, its not so rosy, he added.
ROME (AP)  U.S. President Joe Biden told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday that their countries must better manage disagreements after the partnership between NATO allies was tested by Turkey's threat to no longer recognize the American envoy and its purchase of a Russian missile defense system.

Were planning to have a good conversation, Biden said as the leaders appeared in front of journalists before nearly an hour of closed-door talks. The president did not answer questions about whether Turkey had grown too close to Russia or about human rights.

In the meeting, Biden reaffirmed Turkey's importance as a NATO ally as well as its defense partnership with the U.S., but raised with Erdogan concerns about possession of the Russian S-400 missile system, the White House said in a statement afterward.

The Turkish president has said hes open to buying a second Russian missile system, despite the controversy generated by the 2017 deal to acquire the Russian-made system.

Turkeys role as a NATO ally has come under sharp scrutiny in recent weeks.

Erdogan at an Oct. 23 rally said 10 foreign ambassadors who called for the release of a jailed philanthropist should be declared persona non grata. The envoys, including the U.S., French and German representatives, had previously issued a statement seeking to resolve the case of Osman Kavala, a businessman and philanthropist held in prison since 2017 despite not having been convicted of a crime.

Erdogan did not follow through on the threat, but it reflected the rising tensions with the U.S.

I cannot honestly say that there is a healthy process in Turkish-American relations, state-run Anadolu news agency quoted Erdogan as saying in September.

Erdogans office said in a statement that the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere in which the leaders expressed a desire to further strengthen and improve Turkey-U.S. relations and agreed to establish a common mechanism accordingly.

The statement also said there was satisfaction with the mutual steps taken on climate change.

Turkey was kicked out of a U.S. program to buy F-35 combat planes and defense officials were sanctioned after it bought the Russian-made S-400 system. The U.S. strongly objects to the use of Russian systems within the NATO alliance and says it poses a threat to the F-35s.

Turkey maintains that the S-400s could be used independently without being integrated into NATO systems and therefore pose no risk.

Turkey is also interested in purchasing American-made F-16 fighter aircraft, but Biden was very clear with Erdogan that there is a process such sales must go through, a senior Biden administration official told reporters after the meeting, which took place as world leaders are in Rome for the Group of 20 nations summit. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks.

Erdogan had previously said that his government is seeking to recover a $1.4 billion payment that the country made before it was expelled from the F-35 program and that the United States has proposed selling F-16 fighter jets to Turkey to make up for the payment.

In comments to reporters after the meeting, Erdogan spoke optimistically about reaching an agreement with the U.S. on F-16 sales.

Our defense ministers are talking, Erdogan said. I saw Mr. Bidens positive approach.

The White House statement said Biden and Erdogan also discussed the political process in Syria, humanitarian assistance for Afghans, elections in Libya, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and diplomatic efforts in the South Caucasus.

And Biden raised concerns about human rights and the rule of law in Turkey, and called for the countries to cooperate more and handle disagreements effectively," the White House said.

Biden and Erdogan last met in June at a NATO summit where they discussed the possibility that Turkey could secure and operate the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. But those plans evaporated as the Taliban swiftly took control of Afghanistan amid the U.S. military departure.
WATERBURY  Police have arrested a 70-year-old man after receiving reports of a lone barricaded suspect of Wrightman Place and Baldwin Street early Sunday morning.

Waterbury police received the report at 3:02 a.m. on Sunday and had blocked off the identified area. They asked residents to avoid Wrightman Place before arresting the suspect around 8:40 a.m. on Sunday, police said.

There is no current threat or danger to the community, police said. The area of Wrightman Place will be reopen shortly.

This incident remains under investigation, police said. No further details were immediately available.
Elizabeth City, NC (27909)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 58F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 43F. Winds light and variable.
Jason Martin Moore, 40, of Ashland Ky, died Saturday November 13th, 2021 at Kings Daughters Medical Center in Ashland Ky. Jason was born September 4th, 1981 in Ashland KY. A son of the late Jarome "Marty" and Donna Roe Moore. He is preceded in death in addition to his parents by his grandmot
President Joe Biden has received Communion at St. Patricks Church in Rome during Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after saying Pope Francis told him he should continue to partake in the sacrament
'Wages are rising!' Rishi Sunak declared in his Budget speech that made multiple mentions of Boris Johnson's new 'high-wage economy'.

And no one is doing more to prove the point than fellow Tory Sir Geoffrey Cox QC.

The MP has more than doubled his annual extra-parliamentary earnings  from 464,540 in 2017-2018 to 1,038,835 in the past 12 months.

Sir Geoffrey Cox QC has more than doubled his annual extra-parliamentary earnings  from 464,540 in 2017-2018 to 1,038,835 in the past 12 months

These legal fees are, of course, on top of his 81,932 parliamentary salary.

In between this period, the silk fitted in an 18-month stint as Attorney General, which naturally was not linked at all to the decision by City law firm Withers to hire him on a 468,000 annual retainer for 48 hours a month (with the agreement of the ever-effective parliamentary appointments watchdog).

The barrister has said that MPs should have experience of the world of work. But only a tiny elite can command 800 per hour.

Clearly crime does pay, but the MP for Torridge & West Devon is not a noticeable presence in Parliament, which his constituents might understandably regard his main workplace.

'I haven't seen him in the Chamber for ages,' said one Tory MP when asked about Sir Huge Fees' heroic one-man efforts to create a high wage economy.

Earlier this month, Father of the House Tory MP Sir Peter Bottomley ruffled feathers by suggesting MP salaries should be increased because he thought many struggle on the current level.

He's absolutely right, salaries should go up, but only if the questionable  yet officially sanctioned  gravy train of second jobs is banned first.

It is patently unfair that backbenchers such as Tories Stuart Anderson and Siobhan Baillie, or Labour's Margaret Beckett and Clive Betts, exist purely on their MP salaries, according to their declarations, while Sir Geoffrey has his million-a-year side hustle, completely within the rules.

Maybe even under-fire Tory MP Owen Paterson would have avoided watchdog criticism last week and likely suspension for lobbying if he hadn't been on someone else's 112,000-a-year payroll.

The ethical firm the Sussexes have partnered with, Ethic, owns shares in 72 billion Indian technology giant Infosys

Sussexes' ethical network

Ethic, the ethical investment firm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have partnered with, owns shares in Infosys, the 72 billion Indian technology giant linked to Rishi Sunak and his wife.

Infosys was co-founded by the Chancellor's father-in-law, NR Narayana Murthy, and Rishi's wife Akshata Murthy owns a 0.91 per cent stake in the firm, worth 430 million  making her one of the wealthiest women in Britain or, as red-top tabloids would have it, 'richer than the Queen'.

It would be no surprise if the Sunaks are on Harry and Meghan's Christmas card list.

Last week Times columnist Clare Foges, who has an OBE, said tha it's time for a 'clean-up of the honours system to dispel the bad smell'

No greater friend did the City have than Gordon Brown.

Now it seems Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves is following suit after registering 50,000 in donations from Victor Blank, the former chairman of Lloyds TSB, whose acquisition of HBOS as British banks teetered on the verge of collapse during the financial crisis, was backed by then PM Brown.

Between 2012 and 2015, Blank donated 170,000 to Labour, then closed his chequebook during the Corbyn era until the return of Sir Keir's New Labour.

Speaking of changing the system it was hard not to raise an eyebrow at Times columnist Clare Foges saying last week that it's time for a 'clean-up of the honours system to dispel the bad smell'.

As David Cameron's former speechwriter, Foges was herself gonged with an OBE, along with his spin doctors and his barber.

Though 'delighted to spend the day at Buckingham Palace', she feels her honour was undeserved and uses it only to impress Yanks.

Now she urges a ban on political appointments ('no more lists from No 10') and wants to turn the OBE into the Order of British Excellence.

Clare, dear, you could always have turned it down  or give it back now, as John Lennon did with his MBE.

And no matter how many earnest articles she and other political appointees may write, the honours system will never change while it looks like their principles can be bought for baubles.
Tory MPs are suddenly going cold on Dishy Rishi.

'I don't know what he thinks he's doing,' one told me.

'This spending is ridiculous. We're just storing up massive trouble for the future.'

A second MP said: 'You can see what his plan is. He'll wait till six months before the Election then cut taxes.

'But it will be too transparent. And it won't give enough time for people to feel the benefits.'

There was also another high-profile Conservative figure who appeared less than happy with the Brownite tax-and-spend package unveiled by Rishi Sunak in Wednesday's Budget. Rishi Sunak himself.

'Yes, we have taken some corrective action to fund the NHS and get our debt under control,' he told the Commons.

'But as we look towards the future, I want to say this simple thing to the House and the British people: my goal is to reduce taxes.

'By the end of this Parliament, I want taxes to be going down, not up.

'I want this to be a society that rewards energy, ingenuity and inventiveness, a society that rewards work.'

On Budget Day, it's traditional for the Chancellor to wait until the end of his speech to pull a crowd-pleasing rabbit out of his hat.

But Sunak acted as if he'd pulled out a live alligator. The last five minutes of his address was basically a self-serving apologia for everything that had preceded it.

He was essentially saying to his Conservative colleagues: 'Nothing to do with me, guys! Boris made me do it!'

DAN HODGES: There was also another high-profile Conservative figure who appeared less than happy with the Brownite tax-and-spend package unveiled by Rishi Sunak (pictured) in Wednesday's Budget. Rishi Sunak himself.

Those colleagues are less than impressed. As one Minister told me: 'I'm expected to go back to my constituency this weekend and sell his Budget on the doorsteps.

'How am I supposed to do that when the Chancellor basically just rubbished it himself?'

Despite some increasingly frantic polishing by Sunak and his impressive  and extensive  PR and social-media team, the sheen has been coming off Brand Rishi for several months now.

There was the extraordinary attack launched by Sunak's aides on Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.

There were reports the Chancellor was tired and rundown. And he fell behind Liz Truss in the influential Con Home survey of how the various Cabinet Ministers are rated.

Allies of Sunak admit he has recently been feeling worn-out, but attribute his lethargy to the long hours he's been pulling in preparation for the Budget.

And they dismiss the spat with Kwarteng as 'a few frustrations spilling over'.

As one friend says: 'Briefing against colleagues isn't Rishi's style.'

But Rishi's obsession with style is a big part of the problem.

Having lauded him during the pandemic  where his fiscal largesse was seen as necessary for keeping the economy afloat  MPs are becoming increasingly frustrated at the way he seems to prioritise promoting himself, rather than the Government.

DAN HODGES: Despite some increasingly frantic polishing by Sunak and his impressive  and extensive  PR and social-media team, the sheen has been coming off Brand Rishi for several months now

Last year he was openly criticised by the then Armed Forces Minister Johnny Mercer after he removed Tory branding and replaced it with his own signature when he announced an extension of the furlough scheme.

In order to dodge that criticism, his PR gurus ensured the Tory logo was prominently displayed on the Budget briefings circulated to backbenchers last week. But they again removed it for the Budget messaging he circulated via his main social-media account.

There's also a growing sense that his focus on his own PR means he frequently takes his eye off the ball when it comes to assessing the wider political picture.

'Look at the fiasco over Marcus Rashford and free school meals,' one Minister said to me.

'That was completely avoidable. It only costs 100 million to fix, which was nothing compared to what we were spending in the middle of the pandemic. It was a screw-up entirely of Rishi's own making.'

To be fair to Sunak, he is self-aware enough to realise Rishimania was always destined to have a short shelf life.

He told one Minister: 'It's easy to be popular when you're spending money. Wait and see what happens when I start turning off the spending taps.'

While not reaching the depths of the Blair/Brown psychodrama, it's an open secret Boris believes his Chancellor has been insufficiently subtle over his manoeuvring to succeed him

But unfortunately for the Chancellor, the taps are still fully open. And the criticism is already mounting.

On Thursday he was roundly mocked when he praised the 'world famous Burnley market' while sitting in Bury.

Treasury officials dismissed it as a slip of the tongue. But one Tory MP thinks it was indicative of a deeper issue.

'I wouldn't say he's out of touch. But you have to remember Rishi is a Goldman Sachs investment banker who's worth a couple of hundred million quid.

And every now and then he'll do or say something that reminds people of that.'

And when he doesn't, Labour will. The attack line Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves deployed against him  'at least the bankers on short-haul flights sipping champagne will be cheering this Budget today'  was crude but effective.

There was also relief  and bemusement  on the Opposition benches that Sunak had appeared to disown his own Budget while he was still delivering it.

'I thought we were in real trouble,' one Shadow Minister told me. 'He hadn't really left much political space for us. But then he came out with all that stuff at the end where he said he didn't really want to do any of it and wanted to cut taxes instead. It was weird.'

Partly this was a product of the strained relationship between the occupants of No 10 and No 11.

While not reaching the depths of the Blair/Brown psychodrama, it's an open secret Boris believes his Chancellor has been insufficiently subtle over his manoeuvring to succeed him.

Nor does it help that Sunak is seen as close to Dominic Cummings, the enraged former aide who has embarked on a one-man kamikaze mission to blow up Boris's premiership.

But Sunak's biggest problem isn't his proximity to maverick advisers, or distance from a wary Prime Minister. It's his own ambition.

He actually delivered a decent Budget. Taxes and spending are unsustainably high, but in the wake of the pandemic can be justified over the short term.

But his attempt to distance himself from what he'd just announced, and use the speech to make a personal pitch to Tory MPs about his own low-tax credentials, was embarrassing. He may long to be Prime Minister but at the moment Rishi Sunak is Chancellor.

That was his Budget and he needed to own it. Instead, he tried to wash his hands of the whole thing.

And that doesn't bode well for the future. Last week was the first time since his meteoric rise that Rishi Sunak was asked to do some heavy political lifting. And he buckled.

When called upon to front up raising taxes to the highest level since the 1960s, he tried to hide behind Boris.

When asked to address head-on the very real problems facing the country in the wake of Covid, he tried to distract the nation with promises of jam tomorrow.

And when his priority should have been selling his financial plan to the British people, he was more concerned with selling himself to Conservative backbenchers.

Tory MPs are finally going cold on Dishy Rishi. And they're right to.
For months, years even, the accusations have piled up against Prince Andrew, always denied by him but left unchallenged with nothing more than an apparent vow of silence.

Yet this omerta has proved to be anything but self-protective.

The princes reputation is in the gutter and the good name of the wider Royal Family has been soiled by the fallout.

Now, however, the gloves are off. Andrews adversarial American lawyers have come out fighting to confront the sexual abuse claims that have swirled about the head of the Queens favourite son for so long.

The question is will it work, or might their aggressive intervention risk damaging the prince even more?

Andrew's lawyers accused Miss Roberts of only suing Andrew in the hope of securing another pay day

Anyone who calls in evidence from a New York tabloid newspaper by way of wreaking vengeance is entitled to have their motives seriously examined.

And that is precisely what happened yesterday in the wake of the 36-page motion his legal team submitted to dismiss the civil action brought in the US courts by Virginia Roberts in which she alleges the Duke of York, 61, raped her.

Accompanying this dossier was an article that accused Miss Roberts, 38, of being a money-hungry sex kitten and once head bitch for paedophile Jeffrey Epsteins sex-trafficking ring.

It included remarks from a sister of a former boyfriend of Miss Roberts who says she was asked to help recruit underage girls for Epstein.

This was certainly a dramatic change in Andrews strategy and womens groups reacted with fury accusing him of victim shaming and further evidence of the princes appalling judgment.

But in exposing his accusers alleged past, even Andrews supporters were lamenting the absence, once again, of any apparent sign of remorse in his eleventh hour response to her legal action.

It was that failure to offer any sympathy towards Miss Roberts, now known by her married name Giuffre, or the other women drawn into Epsteins sordid clutches that outraged viewers after the princes notorious BBC Newsnight interview in November 2019.

The time for contrition, however, may be over.

This was certainly a dramatic change in Andrews strategy and womens groups reacted with fury accusing him of victim shaming

The language of his US lawyers is unashamedly belligerent.

They accused Miss Roberts of only suing Andrew in the hope of securing another pay day.

Motivated by greed she had been emboldened to cobble together a claim against him after making millions of dollars from others in similar circumstances.

In a legal memorandum to have the case dismissed, the princes attack-dog attorney Andrew Brettler said: 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.

Most people could only dream of obtaining the sums of money that Giuffre has secured for herself over the years.

This presents a compelling motive for Giuffre to continue filing frivolous lawsuits against individuals such as Prince Andrew whose sullied reputation is only the latest collateral damage of the Epstein scandal.

Bringing such incendiary claims into the public domain stakes out new territory for Andrew whose personal and public life has been upended by his friendship with Epstein, who killed himself in jail two years ago.

Of one thing we can be sure, the court filing which states that the duke unequivocally denies the allegations and had never sexually abused or assaulted Miss Roberts, was signed off by Andrew.

A friend of the prince said yesterday: He has stayed silent, perhaps for too long, but it is right and proper that he should be allowed to defend himself. His reputation, his life has been trashed. Enough is enough.

Some, inevitably, will wonder if it is all too late, that in the court of public opinion the prince has already been judged and found guilty

For weeks it has at times seemed as if Andrew was running scared, he was said to have been hiding behind his mothers skirts at Balmoral and apparently going out of his way to avoid being served with the Virginia Roberts deposition.

Hemmed in by increasingly hostile public opinion, his options to respond narrowed further.

Instead he chose the deadline for filing his defence to mark the moment he begins his fightback.

Some, inevitably, will wonder if it is all too late, that in the court of public opinion the prince has already been judged and found guilty.

Others will question the morality of impugning the reputation of Miss Roberts, who although no paragon was equally a victim of Epstein.

Certainly Andrews timing has not been ideal.

It does seem unfortunate that his actions are at the centre of attention at a time when the Royal Familys focus is on the health of the Queen.

Indeed it is reminiscent of Prince Harrys self-serving decision to go ahead with his and Meghans bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March when Prince Philip was in hospital and close to the end of his life.

For Andrew, there is a risk of his approach backfiring, that public reaction will mean his professional position will never be restored.

Some will question the morality of impugning the reputation of Miss Roberts, who although no paragon was equally a victim of Epstein

But he calculated that continuing to do nothing is equally hazardous and by highlighting Miss Robertss alleged greed he may have unearthed a compelling defence.

His friends insist that submitting the article in which her ex-boyfriend Philip Guderyon contended she was not a sex slave but rather a money hungry sex kitten who flashed her cash and enjoyed the finer things in life was necessary.

It was to counter the inconsistencies in her increasingly salacious accounts of her alleged sexual abuse.

They are not the dukes lawyers comments, says the friend, but it is perfectly legitimate to include them because the narrative cannot be owned by one individual.

The article quoted Mr Guderyon saying that he would drive Miss Roberts to Epsteins Palm Beach mansion: She was like the head bitch.

Shed have like nine or ten girls she used to bring him. She never looked like she was being held captive.

Crystal Figueroa, the sister of another former boyfriend of Miss Roberts was quoted as saying: She (Roberts) would say to me, Do you know any girls who are kind of slutty?

In hiring Andrew Brettler, who has represented a string of celebrities facing sexual assault charges, including the Hollywood star Armie Hammer, Andrews legal strategy has completely changed.

The prince, who was pictured with his arm round the bare midriff of Miss Roberts, says he has no recollection of ever meeting her

Having previously refused even to acknowledge the complaint against him  apparently convinced that it would be dropped  he was persuaded to fight the allegations tooth and nail.

The lawyer had also warned him that ignoring the court proceedings  another tactic  would do him no favours.

Instead Mr Brettler said he was prepared to turn the tables on Miss Roberts and question her multiple inconsistencies.

Miss Roberts claims she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew on three separate occasions in 2001 when she was 17; in London, New York and on Epsteins private Caribbean island and is seeking unspecified damages that could run into millions of dollars.

The prince, who was pictured with his arm round the bare midriff of Miss Roberts, says he has no recollection of ever meeting her.

Mr Brettler does not pull his punches, accusing her of repeatedly changing her story without providing specific detail.

Given the laundry list of purported sexual offences Giuffre claims Prince Andrew committed against her, the utter lack of factual allegations on the topic is conspicuous, he says.

In exhibiting his accusers own dubious past, Andrew has now gambled everything on turning this increasingly unseemly saga into a battle that pitches his folly against the money-grubbing Virginia Roberts.

The outcome is uncertain and it will certainly be unsavoury.
For years even the most dedicated singletons have spent the colder months attempting to find a match to settle down with for the winter.

But this year it seems that fewer daters have bowed to the pressure of so-called 'cuffing season' and are continuing to enjoy single life.

Research from dating app Badoo revealed that less than a third of UK singletons are looking to settle down this winter, and almost half want a to take a more relaxed approach to dating.

Dubbing this year 'nuffing season', the app claimed that far fewer Gen Z singletons are keen on starting winter relationships than their Millennial predecessors, with their main goal being to 'date casually and have fun'.

It seems that a combination of growing used to spending time on their own during lockdown, and enjoying meeting new people after long periods of solitude, means that singletons aren't in a rush to limit themselves to one person over the colder months.

Research from dating app Badoo revealed that less than a third of singletons are looking to settle down this winter, and almost half want a to take a more relaxed approach to dating this year. Stock image

Natasha Briefel, Brand Marketing Director at Badoo said that after the restrictions of lockdown, 'people don't want any more restraints, they just want to have fun'. leading to a rise in 'zero-pressure dating'.

She said the key to navigating dating at this time is to bea honest about what you want, whether that is to date casually, see how things go, or to find someone to connect with a bit more seriously.

'You'll be sure to find it if you're honest and open - and if you don't immediately, that's ok,' she said.

WHAT IS CUFFING SEASON?

As winter approaches, singletons are usually keen to spend their evenings nestled up at home with a partner than going out and dating, so find a short term partner to combat loneliness in the colder months.

Forget 'ghosting' and 'catfishing', THESE are the dating terms you need to know Fleabagging: This term describes the behaviour of repeatedly dating the wrong men like Phoebe Waller Bridge's character in Fleabag. Glamboozling: Dates normally mean a new outfit, or at they very least five minutes in the work toilets applying some lippy and mascara. So when you've got all glammed up and you get bamboozled, or stood up at the last minute, then sorry but you've been glamboozled. Caspering: Ghosting can be cruel - you've dated someone for a while and you thought they liked you, but then they just disappear into nowhere. So this term, referencing the friendly ghost, Casper, is a nice way to let someone know that you're about the disappear on them. Flashpanning: We've all been there, the honeymoon period of any relationship is always the best and most of us want to stay in it forever. However, most of us stay through the tough times and don't run away when the romantic, exciting parts, have vanished. However a flashpanner won't think twice of ghosting you after they realise that the romance and fun has left the relationship. Zombie-ing: This is when a person who ghosted their date suddenly reappears and acts like nothing has happened and continue where they left off. Benching: This is when daters are not 'into' someone enough to commit but they want to keep them on the side lines as an option. Breadcrumbing: This is when somebody gives people just enough attention to keep someone around and keep the hope of a relationship alive. Cushioning: 'Cushioning' is the dating move that sees people that are in a relationship flirt and chat with other people on the side. Yellow Carding:Just like a when a footballer is cautioned, or given a yellow card in a game, this refers to calling out a date or a boyfriend about their bad behaviour. You're not dumping them - but by signalling that you're not happy you're warning them that their benching or glambozzling isn't acceptable. Exoskeleton-ing: Ever heard from your partners ex via Instagram or Twitter? You're not the only one - more than a fifth of us have been through this. The term has been named exoskeleton-ing - perhaps referring to finding one of your dates skeletons popping out of the 'social media' cupboard. Advertisement

Relationship expert Rachael Lloyd at dating website eharmony explained: 'Cuffing season is the time of year where single people begin looking for a partner to settle down and get cosy with over the winter months.

'Think long nights in on the sofa, endless box-sets and romantic candlelit dinners. It exists because singletons are keen to combat loneliness over the winter period and less motivated to leave the comfort of their own homes.

'The shorter days can impact mood too, we're wired to crave deeper connections when it's cold, wet and dark outside. Typically though, couples who are simply warding off the winter blues together end up going their own way once spring (and the warmer weather) arrives.'

WHY ARENT SINGLETONS SETTLING DOWN THIS YEAR?

This year singletons are far less likely to settle on a partner because they've become more accustomed to spending time on their own during the pandemic, and enjoy the fun of meeting new people after such long periods of solitude.

Rochelle Knowles, founder of Mindful Eyes, said: 'People have become more secure being on their own because of isolation during the global pandemic.

'Because of the mental health movement growing during the pandemic, Gen-Z values working on themselves, working on facing their fears, worries, limiting beliefs before getting into a relationship, with an understanding they would bring a happier version of themselves to their next relationship. It's much harder to 'work on yourself when you have another person in the mix.

'Being single means you can be totally selfish, watch the TV programmes you want to watch, eat the food you want to eat and partake in only the things you actually want to do, again something people have become accustomed to due to periods of isolation.'

Rachel added: 'Many 20-something single people simply have no interest in settling down with one person this winter.

'During the pandemic they learned they could actually be on their own, they could enjoy family and friendships without this desperate need to get into a big romantic commitment during the colder months. Instead they are embracing all the fun that comes with meeting and dating new people.

'Added to that, news this week of rising infection rates means that singles don't want to lose out on the opportunity of fun winter dates whilst they are still an option.

WHY ARE GEN Z LESS LIKLEY TO SETTLE DOWN DURING CUFFING SEASON?

Rachel claims that the tech savvy Gen-Z generation of daters are less likely to settle for a winter partner because they know they have a world of other singletons at their fingertips, as well as being less traditional than previous generations.

'Choice is a key factor', she said. 'Not only are Gen-Z tech savvy and have a wide range of dating choices available to them.

'Generally speaking, they're also more open and less bound by tradition than any other generations. They have seen the pressure put on older generations to conform to certain narratives like settle down by 30, and they are rebelling against dusty, authoritarian concepts.

'They are instead more committed to enjoying relationships in the here and now, rather than people pleasing others. Their focus is on pure and simple happiness, and with that comes a sense of choice and liberty.'

IS THIS THE END OF CUFFING SEASON?

The experts claimed that while this year singletons are happy dating throughout the winter, cuffing season will likely return in future years as daters embrace the 'comfort and ease' of seasonal relationships.

Rachel said: 'The fact that singles are less interested in settling down with a partner for winter is largely in reaction to the pandemic and the overhanging effects of three lockdowns in 18 months.

'Cuffing season will likely return as singles embrace the comfort and ease of these shorter-term relationships.'

Rochelle added: 'Humans will always crave affection and company, it comes from the pack mentality.

'During the pandemic individuals, ability and confidence to be alone has strengthened, therefore having less of a need/want to cuff yet there will always be a desire for company and for human to human affection during the colder and darker months.'
A new pose which makes your posterior look perkier than ever has taken the social media world by storm.

Championed by celebrities including Emily Ratajkowski and Kylie Jenner, the trend sees women 'holding' their bottom up with their hands.

Unlike the controversial Brazilian Bum Lift, which sees fat transferred from the waist to the hips and bottom, the pose gives women an instant and natural lift.

And the pose can be applied in different angles, with fitness influencer Tammy Hembrow seen accentuating her curves from below, while Demi Rose prefers a side angle and Bella Hadid proves it works straight-on.

How to get a perkier posterior: Championed by celebrities including Emily Ratajkowski , seen, the trend sees women 'holding' their bottom up with their hands

Unlike the controversial Brazilian Bum Lift, which sees fat transferred from the waist to the hips and bottom, the pose gives women an instant and natural lift. Seen: Influencer Demi Rose

While the likes of Emily Ratajkowski and influencer Demi Rose prefer to apply the pose in their bikinis, others show it also works fully clothed.

The queen of 'belfies' Kylie Jenner certainly knows her best angles, and can often be seen looking back at the camera, subtly arranging her hands below her derriere for the perfect snap.

Elsewhere Bella Hadid can be seen poking fun at the pose, playfully holding up her bottom in a pair of cut-out tights discovered during a Paris photoshoot.

And even Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei hasn't missed out on the trend, ensuring her posterior is as perky as possible for the camera.

And the pose can be applied in different angles, with fitness influencer Tammy Hembrow seen accentuating her curves from below

The queen of 'belfies' Kylie Jenner certainly knows her best angles, and can often be seen looking back at the camera, subtly arranging her hands below her derriere for the perfect snap

The trend for a perky posterior first began with Beyonce's natural and famously 'bootylicious' curves in the nineties, and was soon hijacked by the likes of Jennifer Lopez and later on, Kim Kardashian.

And in recent years curves have become suspiciously pronounced, with reality stars and influencers including Kylie Jenner and Demi Rose sporting extreme hourglass figures.

The trend has seen a huge 77.6 per cent increase in demand for the 'Brazilian Butt Lift' a procedure which sees fat taken from the waist, and injected into the hips and buttocks.

Elsewhere Bella Hadid can be seen poking fun at the pose, playfully holding up her bottom in a pair of cut-out tights discovered during a Paris photoshoot

Even Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei hasn't missed out on the trend, ensuring her posterior is as perky as possible for the camera

A Harley Street doctor previously told FEMAIL: 'The hips are what my patients are asking for now, it is not just about the bottom.

'It is all about a curvy body silhouette as a whole that they want to achieve,it is not about simply providing women with bigger bottoms.'

Speaking about the fat transfer surgery, which costs in the region of 6,500 to 10,000, he said: 'My patients are increasingly coming and asking for to remodel their body to create a perfect waist to hip measurement'.

However the controversial fat transfer procedure the highest death rate of all cosmetic procedures and is believed to cause one death in every 3,000 surgeries.

After a number of high profile deaths in 2019, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) advised its members not to carry out Brazilian butt lift surgery until more is known about safer techniques of fat injection into the bottom.
A mother has shared a harrowing picture of her little girl with a badly burned mouth as a warning to other parents who may let their children try acidic lollies.

The picture shows the girl with tear-stained cheeks and a huge blister covering most of her tongue.

The youngster had helped herself to some of her older brother's sour lollies with nasty consequences.

A mother has shared a harrowing picture of her little girl with a badly burned mouth as a warning to other parents who may let their children try acidic lollies

'She came to me screaming ''my tongue is sore'' ...she was beside herself,' her mum said.

Former Paramedic and child-safety educator Nikki Jurcutz, who is also a mother of two, share the pictures on Facebook on behalf of the family.

'Sour lollies are acidic and can cause terrible burns to little ones,' she said.

Nikki said sour lollies, such as warheads, should be introduced 'after five years of age and with caution'.

Her warning was quickly picked up by the Tiny Hearts Education Facebook Page fans.

Many were shocked sour lollies could cause so much damage.

'Oh gosh would have never even crossed my mind that could happen,' one mum said.

Others said sour lollies should be taken off the shelves.

'I don't understand how sweets can cause this much damage. I have never had one and won't be doing so now,' one woman said.

'They shouldnt be on the market for children full stop,' said another.

Over a thousand concerned parents commented on the post.

'I have already shared this with three people, shocked,' one said.

The mum-of-two said sour lollies, such as Warheads, should be introduced 'after five and with caution'

But other mums revealed they had suffered similar discomfort as children.

'Anything really sour or acidic can do it, I had it as a kid as well,' one woman said.

'I get it from pineapple and even salt and vinegar chips as well as most sour lollies,' said another.

Nikki praised the mum for sharing the photos with her.

'She is such a great mama, literally just wanting to warn others,' she said.

The family think the youngster held the sour lollies against her tongue in the same spot.

'We spoke to a doctor and got advice but I was so worried when I saw what they had done to her,' she said.

Her mouth 'healed in a few days' but her mum knew other parents should be aware of the danger.

Tiny Hearts Education have over 160,000 followers on Instagram where they upload information on child safety, little-known hazards and general medical tips.
A popular foodie has shown off her recipe for apple crumble and the single-serve dish is perfect for anyone making dessert for one

A popular foodie has shown off her recipe for apple crumble and the single-serve dish is perfect for anyone making dessert for one.

Ayeh Far, a home cook from Sydney's western suburbs, posted the recipe on TikTok recently where it quickly went viral.

The foodie said the recipe, which is also vegan friendly, takes just 25 minutes to make using an oven or five minutes if you have a microwave.

'You'll need an apple, cinnamon, maple syrup, rolled oats, flour, nuts and coconut oil,' she said in the video.

She also revealed she would be topping hers with vegan ice cream and recommended her fans do the same.

'Denada ice cream to make it even better,' she said.

'It goes nice and melty.'

Scroll down for video

The recipe is vegan friendly and can be changed to allow for allergies - for example swapping out coconut oil for other vegetable oils

In the video Ayeh starts by peeling and chopping the apple before placing it in a bowl.

She then sprinkles over the cinnamon and coconut oil before setting the dish aside.

Ayeh then places the flour, oats, nuts and maple syrup into a bowl for the crumble.

She then spoons the mixture on top of the apple pieces and places the dish in the microwave for two minutes.

Ayeh also shared her recipe in a blog, explaining it takes longer if you need to cook it in the oven.

How can I make Ayeh's single-serve apple crumble at home? INGREDIENTS Apple Cinnamon Rolled oats Flaked almonds Almond flour Maple syrup Coconut oil METHOD Prepare apple mixture Peel the apple and dice into small cubes and add to a bowl. Add maple syrup, cinnamon and water and mix together. Pour into a small ramekin and press down the top so its levelled nice and compact. Prepare the crumble Add all the crumble ingredients in a bowl and mix together so its all nicely coated. Pour the crumble topping on top of the apples so theyre all covered Time to Cook Bake at 180C/350F in a preheated oven for 22-25 minutes or microwave for 2-3 minutes. The apples should be soft if you stick a toothpick or fork inside Source: Ayeh Far Advertisement

The video recipe quickly clocked up over 112,000 views with Ayeh's fans enthusiastic about the dessert.

'Yum, this could be the new mugcake or mugcookie,' one said, tagging a friend.

While others said they had made the easy dessert 'immediately' after seeing the video.

Ayeh's fans were delighted by the recipe which can be made from scratch in five minutes

'I am eating this right now,' one man said.

'I could eat this all day everyday, love that it is microwave-friendly,' one woman said.

While others agreed ice cream is an important component.

'You can't have crumble without ice cream,' one said.
While Brits enjoy an extra hour in bed this weekend, royal staff have spent hours turning back the 1,500 timepieces inside Her Majestys official residences.

The clock change, which falls on the last Sunday of October, means that at 2am yesterday the time in the UK went back to 1am as Greenwich Mean Time replaced British Summer Time.

Reminding Brits of the clock change, the Royal Family offered an insight into the numerous timepieces inside Windsor Castle, Berkshire, where Her Majesty is currently recovering after a stay in hospital, on their official Instagram page.

A team of horological conservators worked through the weekend to tweak the 400 timepieces on the estate, 250 of which are located inside the castle.

Royal Collection Trust staff have spent hours turning back the 1,500 timepieces inside Her Majestys official residences. Her Majesty is pictured attending a reception to mark the Global Investment Summit, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire. earlier this month

Offering a glimpse into their many timepieces in Windsor Castle (an example is pictured right), the Royal Family shared a picture of their chief horologist with the caption: 'For those living in the UK, dont forget that clocks go back an hour tonight'

Offering a glimpse into their many timepieces, the Royal Family shared a picture of their chief horologist with the caption: 'For those living in the UK, dont forget that clocks go back an hour tonight.

'Did you know there are over 1,000 clocks within Her Majestys official residences?

'Each timepiece is conserved by a special horologist and each will be set back an hour this Sunday.'

Sharing footage of the timepieces of Windsor Castle, the estate's Horological Conservator explained that it's far more time consuming to wind the clocks backwards in the winter than turning them forward in the summer.

A team of horological conservators worked through the weekend to tweak the 400 timepieces on the estate, 250 of which are located inside the castle (pictured)

The royal estates features musical, astronomical and miniature clocks including 600 at the Queen's official London residence Buckingham Palace and 50 at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland. Pictured, clocks located at Windsor Castle

The Queen is currently recuperating at Windsor Castle (pictured) following tests and an overnight stay in hospital

'We have 400 clocks on the estate of which 250 are inside the castle and the rest are distributed around the estate. I go round once a week to wind them up so I get to know every clock very well', he said.

'Just like a car that needs an MOT every now and then a clock will need a service every couple of years, twice a year we have the clock change.

'In summer the clocks go forward and hour in winter they go backwards. When we set the clocks backwards in winter its a different process for every clock, in summer its much easier because every clock just goes forward one hour and each time it takes me about a weekend to set all the clocks to the right time.'

The royal estates features musical, astronomical and miniature clocks including 600 at the Queen's official London residence Buckingham Palace and 50 at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland.

The video offered an insight into Windsor Castle, the Queen's royal residence in Berkshire, with footage of the estate's Horological Conservator strolling through the hallway

Sharing footage of the timepieces of Windsor Castle, the estate's Horological Conservator (pictured L-R) explained that it's far more time consuming to wind the clocks backwards in the winter than turning them forward in the summer

The tricky job of winding back the clocks takes an entire weekend. Pictured, the estate's Horological Conservator winding back a clock

By moving the clocks forward in the summer every year, in a tradition marked with the Summer Time Act 1916, farmers and workers were given another hour of daylight to work.

Originally, this was to contribute towards the war effort, since there was more light in the evenings.

Her Majesty is currently resting at Windsor Castle on advice of royal doctors after undergoing medical tests and spent a night at London s King Edward VIIs Hospital, her first such stay in in eight years.

She has cancelled all working visits for the next two weeks but the Queen has continued to work since her hospital visit and will press on with desk-based duties.

Her Majesty, who used a walking stick for the first time during a royal visit this month (seen at Westminster Abbey), is currently recovering at Windsor Castle but is keen to make a speedy recovery in time for the holiday

During her rest period, she will miss attending the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which commences on Sunday. However, she has recorded a message that will be relayed to attendees.

She will also skip the Nov. 13 Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an event meant to honour the British and Commonwealth men and women who have fought wars, disasters and pandemics to protect and defend the nation.

However, the palace said it is the queens 'firm intention' to be present for a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in central London on Nov. 14.

Since last appearing in public 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.
The Queen is 'totally committed' to hosting Christmas at Sandringham after she has rested following a week in hospital on the advice of royal doctors.

Last week, Her Majesty underwent medical tests and spent a night at Londons King Edward VIIs Hospital, her first such stay in in eight years and she has cancelled all working visits for the next two weeks.

The 95-year-old, who used a walking stick for the first time during two royal visits this month, is currently recovering at Windsor Castle but is keen to make a speedy recovery in time for the holiday.

The monarch believes hosting a festive gathering at her Norfolk home will be 'the perfect tonic' after a year of cancelled engagements due to the pandemic.

The Queen, pictured with a walking stick at the ceremonial opening of the sixth Senedd for the second time this month in Cardiff, is 'totally committed' to hosting Christmas at Sandringham after she has rested up following a week in hospital on the advice of royal doctors

The monarch believes hosting a festive gathering at her Norfolk with the Royal Family, pictured at Christmas Day church service at Sandringham in 2019, home will be 'the perfect tonic' after a year of cancelled engagements due to the pandemic

A royal insider told the Mirror: 'This year, more than ever, it is incredibly important to Her Majesty to be surrounded by her loved ones.

'The Queen is totally committed to hosting everyone as she hopes to make it back to full health in the coming weeks.'

'After being forced to cancel a host of engagements, the family get-together will be the perfect tonic.'

This will be the Queen's first Christmas since Prince Philip died in April this year and the insider added that after being forced to cancel several engagements due to the pandemic, 'the family get-together will be the perfect tonic.'

The 95-year-old, who used a walking stick for the first time during a royal visit this month (seen at Westminster Abbey), is currently recovering at Windsor Castle but is keen to make a speedy recovery in time for the holiday

Boris Johnson said yesterday that the Queen was 'on very good form' during their weekly conversation earlier this week.

'I spoke to Her Majesty as I do every week as part of my job and she was on very good form,' Johnson told ITV News on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

As the prime minister has a weekly audience with the queen. The most recent one took place virtually on Wednesday.

The Queen used a walking stick twice this month before being advised to rest

'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 and everybody wishes her all the very best,' Johnson said.

The Queen has continued to work since her hospital visit and will press on with desk-based duties.

During her rest period, she will miss attending the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which commences on Sunday. However, she has recorded a message that will be relayed to attendees.

She will also skip the Nov. 13 Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an event meant to honor the British and Commonwealth men and women who have fought wars, disasters and pandemics to protect and defend the nation.

Since last appearing in public two weeks ago, the Queen has only carried out virtual engagements. She is pictured carrying out a virtual audience via video link with the Ambassador from the Swiss Confederation earlier this month

However, the palace said it is the queens 'firm intention' to be present for a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in central London on Nov. 14.

Since last appearing in public 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.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement earlier this 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 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.'
British journalist Rachel Johnson has admitted she didn't cry upon discovering her great-great-grandmother was a victim of white slavery during the Circassian genocide, as she believes it gave the woman 'better chances'.

Boris Johnson's sister, 56, uncovered their family history while researching Channel 5's TV programme 1000 Years a Slave, which revealed that their ancestor Hanife Feride was as young as 13 when she was sold to Ahmed Hamdi, 43, in Istanbul.

Fleeing Circassia to seek refuge in Turkey alongside other Circassian exiles being perpetrated by Russia, Feride married Ahmed before welcoming son Ali, Rachel and Boris' great-grandfather.

Arguing that the marriage gave Hanife 'better chances and that she 'gave birth to a future politician whose great-grandson became a world leader', she said the discovery made her 'pensive rather than sad'.

British journalist Rachel Johnson has admitted she didn't cry upon discovering her great-great-grandmother was a victim of white slavery during the Circassian genocide, as she believes it gave the woman 'better chances'

Writing for The Times, Rachel said: 'Im sure the crew wanted me to cry, but I didnt.

'How could I cry, when this girls life chances, as judged by her father, were far better if she married a rich merchant in Istanbul than if she stayed in a poor village by the Black Sea  and he was right? She gave birth to a future politician, whose great-grandson became a world leader.

'After all, if my forebear hadnt been sold, she would have probably entered an arranged marriage anyway. And, just as poverty and occupation forced fathers in the Caucasus to flog their daughters in the 19th century, after the Taliban takeover of 2021 and economic collapse of the country Afghan fathers are selling girls as young as three today. '

Contemplating her journey to Istanbul, Rachel concluded: 'It did not make me cry. But it made me pensive; made me question the foundations of marriage as well as slavery.'

Rachel Johnsons great-great grandmother, Hanife Feride, is seen far right, alongside her granddaughter Durer (centre) and daughter Munevver (far left), who was Ali Kemals sister. Ali is Boris and Rachel's great-grandfather

Pictured: Rachel and Boris Johnson's fascinating family tree

In 2008 Boris Johnson discovered his paternal great grandfather was a journalist and liberal politician who was killed after being kidnapped on a charge of treason as the Ottoman Empire entered its final days.

At the time, the Tory heavyweight took part in the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? Programme which shed light on exactly where Mr Johnson had come from.

It revealed Ali Kemal, Mr Johnson's great grandfather, was born in Constantinople, now Istanbul, in 1867. He was a prominent journalist, poet and politician who became known for his strong liberal democratic political views.

But such views saw him exiled under Abdul Hamid II, the 34th Sultan, who reigned from 1876 to 1909.

Boris Johnson (right), pictured as a child with his family (from left: mum Charlotte, sister Jo, father Stanley, and siblings Rachel, Leo and Boris)

Boris' great-grandfather Ali Kemal was a prominent figure in the Ottoman Empire at the start of the 20th Century. A prominent journalist, poet and politician he met a grisly end in 1922 as he was lynched by a mob

In 2019 Boris Johnson (pictured leaving his London home att the time) referred to his 'Muslim great grandfather' during a Tory leadership debate as he responded to accusations of Islamophobia

Increasing instability within the Empire in the years before the First World War prompted Kemal to flee for his life to England where his wife Winifred gave birth to a son, Osman Wilfred Kemal, in Bournemouth, with the pair having already had a daughter called Selma.

His wife died after giving birth and Kemal then stayed with his mother in law, Margaret Brun, whose maiden name was Johnson.

He subsequently returned to the Ottoman Empire where he remarried and had another son.

It was then that he rose to great political prominence as he became Minister for the Interior in 1919 in the government of Damat Ferid Pasha, who at the time was the de facto prime minister.

However, Kemal only held the job for three months before reportedly resigning.

His life was then brought to a grisly end in 1922 as he was kidnapped from a barber shop in Istanbul in November and was to face a charge of treason.

Ali Kemal (pictured with his first wife Winifred) fled to England in the years before the First World War. The pair had a son called Osman who is the father of Stanley Johnson, Boris' father

Seen: Stanley Johnson, Boris' father, whose own father changed his name from Osman Wilfred Kemal to Wilfred Johnson

He was due to be taken to Ankara for trial but on the way the group was attacked by a mob and he was lynched and stoned to death as the Turkish War of Independence raged.

His son and daughter, who remained living in London, took the name Johnson, potentially to avoid being bullied at school.

His son Osman also switched his first and middle names so that he became known as Wilfred Johnson.

Wilfred would marry Irene Williams and the pair had a son: Stanley Johnson, Boris's father, who was born in 1940.

At the time the Tory leader remarked in the BBC show that he was of a 'completely mongrel composition', according to The Telegraph.

'It is interesting to look at how British I can feel and yet, actually, what a completely mongrel composition I really am,' he said.

'What it really teaches me is that our genes pulse down our lives and we don't really know where they have come from and where they are going.'

The programme also revealed that Mr Johnson is a very distant relative of the Queen.

His paternal grandmother was a descendent of German aristocrat Prince Paul Von Wurttemberg who was linked to King George II.

Mr Johnson was shocked by the revelation and said at the time: 'If you had told me that I was related to George II, I would have thought you were absolutely crackers.'

Channel 5's TV programme 1000 Years a Slave is on Tuesdays.
Brides have been warned to order their wedding dresses a year in advance after disruption in supply chains could mean late deliveries of dresses from overseas, retailers have warned.

Delays at UK ports means gowns, veils and headpieces purchased from manufacturers overseas could take longer to come, with industry experts suggesting brides could be waiting as long as a year.

Bernadette Chapman, of the UK Alliance of Wedding Planner, said that brides-to-be should begin searching for their dresses as soon as they get engaged.

'I advise not leaving it too late to order your wedding dress  give yourself enough time for a buffer in case of delays in your dress arriving', she told the Telegraph.

Delays at UK ports means gowns, veils and headpieces purchased from manufacturers overseas could take longer to come. Stock image

It comes as a severe lack of HGV drivers, congestion at global trading ports and new post-Brexit trading and immigration rules are continuing to hamper the UK's economic recovery as it exits the Covid pandemic.

Industry leaders said today that they fear the issues - which include stock and staff shortages - could continue for the next six to nine months.

An alternative to purchasing a new wedding dress could be buying one second hand or renting a gown - a growing trend after Carrie Johnson married the prime minister wearing a rented dress by Greek designer Christos Costarellos.

While renting a dress isn't a new phenomenon, the fact more brides are choosing to do so - as opposed to it being a necessity due to a tight budget - is a shift.

It comes as a severe lack of HGV drivers, congestion at global trading ports (pictured, shipping containers at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk) and new post-Brexit trading and immigration rules are continuing to hamper the UK's economic recovery as it exits the Covid pandemic

Hiring a gown can also make a high end designer that may typically be out of a bride's price range more accessible.

There's also the sustainable element of renting or buying a second-hand a gown, and the process can be a lot quicker than buying one, which often requires numerous fittings if made to measure.

Fashion rental site HURR launched HURR Bridal last year and the site saw a surge of over 268 per cent of brides-to-be on the hunt for rentals, some booking as far ahead as Autumn 2022.

Co-founder Victoria Prew said: 'We have seen a steady and increasing interest in bridal, but the web traffic and bookings accelerated notably over the Bank Holiday weekend.

'As an ideal time for planning, the long weekend gave brides a chance to plan a more sustainable wedding dress option.'

Sacha predicts rental will end up worth 20 per cent of the UK bridal market if it goes the way it's heading across the pond in the US - nearly 60million a year based on 2018 figures.
Lorraine Kelly has given a rare insight to her 29-year marriage to husband Steve Smith, revealing their sex life is 'toddling along nicely'.

The daytime television presenter, who wed cameraman Steve in 1992, says the secret to keeping intimacy alive is 'having confidence in yourself, adding that 'a lot of older women can feel invisible'.

The 61-year-old added that despite going up a dress size after snacking with her husband throughout lockdown, she's not concerned about the extra pounds and doesn't even own a pair of scales.

Lorraine Kelly, pictured hosting her daytime television show, has given a rare insight to her 29-year marriage to husband Steve Smith, revealing their sex life is 'toddling along nicely'

The daytime television presenter says the secret to keeping intimacy alive is 'having confidence in yourself'. The pair are pictured at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2019

'It is all about being confident in yourself. A lot of older women can feel invisible, but I don't', she told the Mirror.

She said that despite going from a size ten to a 12 she won't be counting her calories and will try and shift the extra weight by taking Zumba classes and avoiding sugary snacks.

'I am not going to beat myself up about it. I don't have scales so I don't know how much actual weight I have put on. I always go by how my clothes fit.

'I don't think calories should be counted, but I am not stressing about the extra pounds.'

The television presenter wed cameraman Steve in 1992 and he has famously stayed out of the spotlight

Steve, 61, who shares daughter Rosie with Lorraine, has famously stayed out of the spotlight and she has previously praised her husband for 'picking up the slack' and enabling her to juggle her busy work and home life.

She told the publication in September: 'He picks up the slack and always has. I couldn't do what I do if it weren't for him. He makes me laugh an awful lot. He's very kind and a brilliant dad.'

Lorraine added: 'His idea of hell on earth would be at something like a premiere,' laughs Lorraine. It would be like having needles stuck in his eyes. That does help. It must be very odd being with someone who enjoys walking down a red carpet.'

The host also lauded her partner for his support when she was going through perimenopause.

Steve, 61, shares daughter Rosie with Lorraine and the presenter has previously praised her husband for 'picking up the slack' and enabling her to juggle her busy work and home life. The trio are pictured in London in 2014

The ITV star occasionally shares snaps of herself alongside Steve, who is a TV cameraman, to her Instagram but their relationship has mostly been out of the public eye

She said: 'It was absolutely horrible. I completely lost myself. My husband didn't know what was going on. He said, "what can I do, how can I help?" It was him who said, "you have to get some help."'

In September 2020, Lorraine looked on cloud nine as she shared a rare glimpse of her husband Steve as they celebrated their 28th anniversary together.

The couple were treated to afternoon tea at The Ivy restaurant by their daughter Rosie, with Lorraine sharing a snap on Instagram.

The pair were all smiles as they both held up desserts with 'Happy Anniversary' written alongside it as their nearest and dearest sent their well wishes.

The chat show host also shared a photo of the couple taken on their wedding day as they left the church after saying 'I do'.

Lorraine wrote: 'So this happened 28 years ago! Happy anniversary to my husband Steve who makes me laugh and is always in my corner.'
When I told my mother I was pregnant with my third child, rather than the general jubilation and parade with full marching band I was expecting, her face fell. Thatll be me worried for the next nine months, she blurted out.

Way to burst my maternal bubble, I thought, quite offended by her reaction. There I was feeling a fairly uncomplicated joy, and yet for her, my condition was a source of nagging anxiety.

I didnt get it back then. Instead I felt guilt that I was causing her worry and slightly resentful that shed visited it upon me.

Forward on 30-odd years and its Mothers Day. My eldest daughter is on the phone and just as were saying goodbye, she casually drops into the conversation that she might be a little bit pregnant. I whoop so loudly and for so long my partner comes downstairs to see what all the fuss is about.

Marion McGilvary (pictured) admits that she felt quite offended when her mother said she would be worrying throughout her pregnancy

Thrilled was an understatement. Id resigned myself to the fact that none of my children wanted families and beyond a fleeting wisp of regret, I wasnt too bothered.

Id raised four kids who had all made regular forays back to the hotel de mama, one with a wife in tow, and the youngest had only recently checked out and moved into her own flat.

I didnt feel I needed a grandchild to complete me. I had all the Brownie badges for mothering and adding to the collection was not high on my priorities. Heck, I didnt even want the responsibility of a dog, let alone an infant to coo over. Yet there I was beyond elated. I even started knitting.

But then something even more unexpected began to happen. The worry kicked in.

It wasnt much to begin with, just that occasional little niggle at the back of my mind, like a pot left on the stove that needed stirring every now and then.

Of course, thats not so unusual in the first months, which are always fraught with uncertainty  but then, the worry didnt let up. It still gurgled away in the background during the day and occasionally kept me awake at night, my thoughts circling around those oh-so-rare-but-they-happen times when colleagues and friends had suffered tragedies.

Unlike my own mum, however, I kept the worry to myself. My role was to be reassuring and calm and to celebrate with my daughter, and that was it.

It definitely wasnt my daughters job to allay my fears, as Id felt duty bound to do when I was pregnant with her.

But I did need to talk to someone about it. It surprised me how much those fingers of apprehension gripped me, so much more than when I was having the babies myself. Was it just me, I wondered?

Marion (pictured) said you have to think good thoughts and realise that all the fretting in the world does no good and does not affect the outcome

I took the question to my modern-day confessor  social media  where I exclude my kids and have the grand total of about ten friends and ten other people I hardly know yet am on daily intimate terms with (yes, Im that popular).

Am I being irrational? I asked.

Nope, came the answer. Ping, ping, ping, came the instant messages one after the other. Some fretted with good cause, as it turned out. Others tied themselves in knots needlessly, but all worried themselves senseless.

One friend said it was far worse watching her daughter in labour than going through it herself. Another agonised over the thought she could not protect the daughter, to whom shed devoted her life.

We keep them safe from harm, pain and heartbreak but when we see them becoming mothers themselves we realise theres nothing more we can do.

I told myself to get a grip. Every time I went out, Id see women pushing prams and reassure myself everything would be fine. If I believed in God I would have prayed. I prayed anyway. I briefly toyed with the idea of carrying around a Hand of Fatima charm in my handbag, and a blue bead against the evil eye for good measure, which had been among the baby gifts this daughter of mine had received from her Arab relatives when she was born.

But I pulled myself together at that point and reminded myself that I was not superstitious. And anyway, I couldnt find them.

At some point you have to trust. You have to think good thoughts and realise that all the fretting in the world does no good and does not affect the outcome no matter how many times you wake up in the middle of the night.

Marion (pictured) said she dropped everything when her own daughter gave birth, then found out she wasn't able to see her because she had tested positive for covid.

Nor is there any use in recalling the real-life things that have gone wrong for others. They are not cautionary tales, and it seems disrespectful to view them as such. Whatever the outcome, I realised that wringing my hands like Lady Macbeth was neither helpful nor seemly.

But as my daughters due date grew close, I began to get twitchier than ever. Would she be all right? Would it be a long labour? Would it be manageable? She was my baby, I didnt want her to suffer.

The due date passed. Every night for a week either side of it I went to bed clutching my phone. Id wake in the night and stalk her on Twitter and WhatsApp to see when she was last online, trying to figure out if her absence or presence meant she was in labour.

The last thing you want when your baby is overdue is someone constantly checking in, so I did it by stealth instead, ringing her father, her siblings and allowing myself one phone call every three days. The worry was rampant, out running free and gnawing at me with sharp little teeth .

In the end, two weeks ago, I discovered I had a grandson as I walked off the bus in London where Id gone for work. By text. There was a picture of a squished-up little scrap only minutes old in his beatific mothers arms.

I immediately dropped everything and rushed home to gather provisions for the hospital  but to my horror I couldnt see her. I was barred.

She was in a private room and allowed no visitors, not even her partner, because mystifyingly  and terrifyingly  she had tested positive for Covid.

For all my fretting, this was an eventuality I hadnt factored in. Id assumed that once my daughter was in hospital, the labour over, all would be well and my worries would subside. Yet now they skyrocketed.

Marion (pictured), who met her grandchild last week, said she is so proud of her daughter and how she coped while battling covid

She and her partner had been self-isolating for weeks before the birth and had only seen the midwife. Yet still, somehow, she had Covid  and a newborn with her. All that energy I had wasted fearing bad outcomes, and the bogeyman sneaked in the back door.

Worry? Ha, now I laughed at worry. It was as nothing to the grim fear of the ten days of her quarantine. I read that pregnant and recently pregnant women were more likely to get severely ill from Covid than non-pregnant women, and wished I hadnt Googled.

The hospital sent her home and I could only see her and the baby through the window. That was almost more agonising, as I longed to hug everyone. FaceTime is no substitute for touch. Every day I held my breath lest there was a cough or a sneeze, or even the slightest flicker of an eyelid.

I kept looking at the pictures on my phone transfixed, wishing I could wave a magic wand and take all the stress from my daughter.

I sat on my hands to stop myself from phoning every five minutes, chain-smoking imaginary cigarettes.

But we were lucky. She, her partner and baby were all symptom-free. The adults had been double-vaccinated and apparently very few babies catch Covid. I twitched to rush in and help, but in fact, I think my daughter enjoyed that time alone in the cocoon of her new little family  they got to bond in a way they might not have had people been tramping in and out of their house.

She coped amazingly well, and I am so proud of her  she only saw a midwife once in that time and had none of the usual health visitor visits.

Thankfully, apart from exhaustion, theyre now all thriving (touch wood, salt over the shoulder.)

On day 11, just last week, she was finally out of isolation and I got to cuddle my daughter and the babe. I held him for an hour and a half, wishing my own mum was there to share the moment.

She has been gone now for 20 years, but I remember the stricken look on her sweet wee face all those years ago when I told her I was expecting and think, yes Mum, now I get it.

She would have been so happy to see her great-grandson. She always wanted a red- headed baby.
Like me, you probably thought talking mirrors were only found in fairy tales. Yet here I am, in my living room, wearing gym gear and doing lunges in front of an extra large, full-length and, yes, talking mirror.

No, Im not as vain (quite) as Snow Whites wicked stepmother, but I am listening rapt to the tiny and enthusiastic woman inside the mirror who is telling me what to do to make myself look, ahem, fairer than them all.

Let me explain. It might as well be magic to me, but its not  its a high-tech, interactive fitness mirror called Vaha, and its the first of its kind in the UK. At 5ft 6in by 2ft (1.7m by 0.6m), it looks like a giant has left his iPhone in my house by mistake.

Created in Germany and costing nearly 2,000, the futuristic device aims to be the hot new thing in the booming world of home exercise equipment.

Giulia Crouch (pictured) gives her verdict on the new Vaha mirror - which gives users access to exercise classes at home

Like Peloton  the interactive exercise bike that lets users race each other virtually from their homes  Vaha works by subscription. After youve bought it, access to classes  which are live, pre-recorded or direct with a personal trainer  start from 70 a month.

Its not cheap, thats for sure, but it is, as founder Valerie Bures-Bonstrom, 42, explains, very convenient. Her target audience is the time poor  busy parents like her, people for whom a daily class at a gym presents too much of a logistical challenge.

Basically this is about efficiency, says the mother of three, who looks like she practises exactly what she preaches. There are no time barriers. Its for people who know they need to move their body each day for their health, happiness and energy levels. She believes daily exercise should be considered as vital as eating, sleeping and brushing our teeth.

I privately ponder on my fitness regime the previous day, comprising solely of a short walk to the pub.

But here I am, ready for my first class with my spooky talking mirror. I select a 20-minute high-intensity interval training workout and up pops my instructor  a strong-looking woman, floating in the middle of the mirror and on top of the reflected image.

Its odd because, unlike looking at a TV or a phone, I can see the slightly translucent instructor, like a little energetic genie, but I can also see myself. We do backwards lunges, push-ups, curtsy lunges and shoulder taps, and being able to see my reflection at the same time is both odder and more useful than expected.

On one hand, I can work out whether Im doing the moves correctly by looking at my body, and on the other it feels a bit narcissistic, gazing intently at myself while I exercise.

At the end of the session my teacher says well done to those taking part and disappears, leaving the home screen.

Founder Valerie Bures-Bonstrom, 42, said Vaha (pictured) is 'for people who know they need to move their body each day for their health, happiness and energy levels'

Time to up the ante on my narcissism and take a call through the mirror with a private trainer whos there just for me. Ive always wanted one, but felt self-conscious. What do you talk about while youre focusing on your abs?

A trainer in a mirror feels like an excellent  albeit weird  compromise. There are many to choose from, all focused on different goals and with different areas of expertise.

I go for one who says shes got a good sense of humour, a quality I feel will be necessary to train me  except I never get to find out what her jokes are like. The signal is so bad, it sounds as if shes underwater.

After trying to reconnect several times we give up. Not even talking mirrors are immune to technical issues.

I try again the next morning and get connected with a trainer called Ben, this time in the UK. Hes good-looking and Im suddenly aware of how tired my face looks. Its a half-hour call and he begins by asking about my exercise regime and fitness goals.

I tell him Id like to get fitter and stronger, especially in my upper body. I point to my puny arms, explaining that its a source of much hilarity to my friends that I cant do a push-up. He says hes going to design a five-week training programme for me, led by an avatar, consisting of daily half-hour sessions Monday to Friday. Itll be full body with an upper-body twist.

He is funny and engaging, and I start to think that maybe this mirror is worth the cost. Now, hed like to check out my form, he says. I feel concerned  I dont think I have any form at all.

Giulia (pictured) said she finished a training session using Vaha with a trainer called Ben, feeling unexpectedly motivated and smug

He asks me to do some squats. Shocking, he says, confirming my theory. It turns out Im doing more of a sumo squat than a regular one but, getting me to demonstrate from different angles, he helps to correct it. Thats more like it, he whoops once Ive nailed it and I feel pleased.

OK, lets see your push-up, he says. Blimey, I think. This isnt going to be fun. I do one on my knees, knowing thats my only hope of success. I manage three, but am sure Ive done them wrong and glance sheepishly back at the mirror for the verdict.

Low in quantity and low in depth, he says, but technically very nice. Im both amazed and delighted, and immediately commit the quote to memory.

I finish feeling unexpectedly motivated and rather smug. Would I have been so enthusiastic had he not been so good-looking? Its hard to say, but Im not going to claim the moral high ground. It worked, which is all that counts.

Back to the mirror. I click around the interface  a touchscreen, naturally  and find there are classes to suit all tastes: yoga, barre, stretching, strength, even a whole section dedicated to meditation. Thats more like it, I think. A long-time devotee of yoga, my idea of exercise is more about de-stressing than looking good. To my surprise, Valerie agrees.

Theres so much focus in this industry on weight loss, making your body beautiful and being healthy, but people dont stick to it. I am addicted to fitness and I thought Why have others not felt this addiction yet?. Do I do it to lose weight? No, I love mousse au chocolat too much.

Giulia (pictured) said the mirror can also track indicators such as heart rate via a monitor and has other apps including Spotify, Instagram and Zoom

At the end of the day most people dont really care how they look. I drink alcohol, I enjoy good food, I eat sugar  we all want to live. So what is the real reason people stick to sports? I realised the addiction comes from a feeling of flow.

She explains that vaha means flow in Punjabi. For Valerie, flow means a kind of mindfulness mixed with the buzz you get from progressing. Its about being fully absorbed in the moment and at one with your body. Finding the perfect challenge  something not too difficult but not too easy.

Hoping to tune in to this transcendent state, I select a stretching class. As I manoeuvre to get into the correct positions on the mat, I do feel zen.

The mirror can also track indicators such as heart rate via a monitor. If fitness isnt your thing, you can use other apps on it, including Spotify, Instagram, a web browser and, best of all, Zoom. I think we can all agree that making calls on a full-length mirror does make it that bit cooler. And pressured, perhaps, in terms of outfit choice.

If youve got the space and the money, a Vaha is undoubtedly a great gadget to own and, for the time poor, a truly efficient way to access a huge range of classes without leaving your home.

For me, a real yoga class will trump a virtual one every time. What I love about yoga is the sense of camaraderie you get in the post-class chat, the feeling of communal achievement and the building of relationships. A mirror would have to be truly magic to do all that.

uk.vaha.com
There was a time when Sheryl Sandberg could do no wrong. The chief operating officer of Facebook  or rather Meta, as its now been renamed  was once the poster-girl of the modern successful woman. Capable, glamorous and happy, she had made it in the male-dominated Silicon Valley.

Her best-selling book Lean In was a clarion call to women everywhere to be more confident, to stand up and speak up. She was a leader people wanted to follow. I remember for months after it was released seeing everyone reading it on the commute to work. She was considered a messiah of our times, inspiring women everywhere to try harder, aim higher.

Well, it seems the halo is slipping somewhat.

Facebook has come under sustained fire in recent months for the way it has tackled online abuse, threats, censorship, safety and security. Its been dragged in to various ignoble scandals. Being second in command there is starting to look less and less like something to brag about.

Mark Zuckerberg is starting to look like a bogeyman of the internet, rather than the quirky college kid who happened to strike gold with an idea that connected friends.

Dr Max Pemberton said Facebook isn't the only platform that is barely monitored and dangerous both in terms of bullying and adult grooming (file image)

It was inevitable that Sandberg would eventually get dragged in to all this one way or another. Last week, an anonymous whistleblower claimed Sandberg gave constant reminders to staff to think about profits as they tried to tackle toxic content. According to the source, she helped create a culture which led managers to apply this approach even to issues relating to child sexual abuse.

This really doesnt look good. Shes coming across as just another unpleasant, uncaring corporate fat cat.

Lean in? You can feel people actively leaning away. Last week another whistleblower, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee who released tens of thousands of damaging documents about the media giants inner workings, told MPs that Zuckerberg has unilateral control over three billion people due to his unassailable position at the top of the company.

She went on to call for urgent external regulation to rein in the tech firms management and reduce the harm being done to society.

This seems to be a long time coming. The fact that a company  and one that makes billions each year  can operate with such pathetically scant regulation just beggars belief, especially when you think of the tremendous harm it can do, especially to young people.

It makes no sense, especially when you think of the tightly controlled health and safety regulations that govern most areas of life, particularly for children.

Schools, councils, shops, clubs and organisations are bowed down by regulation and red tape to ensure childrens safety. Try taking a kid on a school trip these days. Some schools have even banned children from playing conkers in the playground, for goodness sake. Yet they are allowed to roam free on websites that mean they can chat to all sorts of people from bullying peers to predatory paedophiles  how on earth has this situation been allowed to develop?

Dr Max Pemberton (pictured) said the law needs to be far more robust to ensure companies take responsibility for the safety of their users

We know this is a problem  its the reason theres such a hoo-ha surrounding the Facebook whistleblowers  but we must remember its not just Facebook.

In fact, while adults are fretting over the site, the kids have long since gone elsewhere.

Indeed, the latest generation have never really been on Facebook at all.

Most young people I speak to only have an account to stay in touch with family. They certainly dont interact with one another on there. Its considered a platform for oldies.

Scientists have developed a five-minute test that will, they claim, predict your risk of getting Alzheimers in up to 15 years time. The company is beginning an NHS trial soon, but you can count me out. I cant think of anything worse than knowing you are at risk of developing something for which there is no cure.

Thats not to say Facebook doesnt have its problems  it certainly does. And of course, its also responsible for other sites such as Instagram and WhatsApp, which certainly have more traction with the younger generation. But there are a multitude of other platforms, chat services and forums that are far more popular these days.

Keeping up with what is going on is a minefield. Most of these sites fly well under the radar of parents and politicians. Talk to a teenager and they will mention Snapchat, TikTok, Discord, GroupMe, Whisper, Yik Yak... the list goes on and on. Many of these sites are barely monitored and, it seems to me, dangerous both in terms of bullying and adult grooming.

So whats the answer? Yes, lets put regulations and controls in place. And sure, lets hold Facebook to account. But dont forget theres plenty more that adults dont know about. The law needs to be far more robust to ensure companies take responsibility for the safety of their users, in the same way wed expect any other firm or organisation that operates in a physical space to.

But also it comes down to parents  just as you would expect to know where your child is and who they are with when they leave the house, so should you expect the same transparency when it comes to the digital world. Because, it turns out, its far more dangerous than many of us want to admit.

Group therapy with Adele

Dr Max said the entire audience was in tears when he attended an Adele (pictured) concert a few years ago

Adele has managed to do it again. Her new single Easy On Me has soared straight to number one and this weekend tickets for next summers Hyde Park concerts sold out in five minutes. This woman really knows how to tug at the heart strings, doesnt she? I think her genius  and wild popularity  lies in the fact she manages to gently articulate feelings many of us struggle to even acknowledge, let alone understand.

I remember going to an Adele concert a few years ago. I wasnt a fan at that point, but she totally won me over. What struck me was how the entire audience  and I mean everyone  was in tears. It was extraordinary, like some giant group therapy exercise. Id never seen anything like it and it helped me understand her mass appeal. She provides a safe, contained space for us to explore acutely painful feelings. A class act.

A general who led the Royal Marines invasion of Iraq has been appointed to lead the biggest shake-up of NHS management in 40 years. Sir Gordon Messenger has been asked to stamp out waste and wokery and ensure that every pound is well spent. Thank goodness. If anyone can do it, he can.

The NHS could learn so much from the military. Isnt it telling that when we need something done and done properly, we dont look to NHS management for the answer, but the military?

When the PPE fiasco was unfolding, it was the Army we had to rely on to get things up and running. In episodes like these you realise how much time is wasted and resources squandered in the health service by people always feeling they need to give their two pennies worth.

A lot of those in the NHS could do with a bit of military discipline.

32, pantherella.com

Dr Max prescribes...

cashmere socks

Im a great believer in the mental boost we get from treating ourselves to small luxuries every now and then. And what could be more luxurious as the cold weather draws in than fine-knit cashmere socks? Since the pandemic, Ive been trying to support British manufacturing so I particularly like these from Pantherella, which are made in Leicester.
Last week The Mail on Sunday's GP columnist Dr Ellie Cannon gave an honest account of her 15-year struggle with disabling anxiety.

She told of being plagued by 'entirely irrational' feelings of dread, triggering overwhelming nausea, heart palpitations and extreme tiredness.

Antidepressants, which she is taking, have proved 'incredibly effective' at keeping symptoms under control.

The article has unleashed a hidden tide of anxiety disorders among older adults.

The Mail on Sunday has received a torrent of readers' letters, thanking Ellie for highlighting anxiety as a problem that not only affects young people  as is often portrayed.

Some in their late 70s said they've felt this way for 40 years and have kept their suffering from loved-ones for fear of embarrassment.

Others resisted taking medication for years, before finding them helpful.

'Why I suffer with anxiety, I do not know. I had a lovely childhood, so there is nothing I can look back on and blame,' wrote Val Bradshaw, 72.

'I started taking antidepressants 30 years ago and have been on and off them since. I used to feel ashamed that I was on medication but it allows me to live a normal life.'

Carol Townsend, 77, said she'd spent much of her life on 'red alert', for no good reason.

Dr Ellie Cannon gave an honest account of her 15-year struggle with disabling anxiety last week. She told of being plagued by 'entirely irrational' feelings of dread, triggering overwhelming nausea, heart palpitations and extreme tiredness. (Pictured: Dr Ellie Cannon appeared on This Morning earlier this month to tell Holly and Phil about her experiences taking anti-depressants and why there is no shame in seeking help)

It wasn't until a decade ago that she decided to visit her GP for help.

'I spoke to a psychiatrist friend who told me there was no shame in taking tablets  and to go to the doctors.

'For ten years I have been on a low dose of Citalopram [common anti-anxiety medication] and have been on an even keel. I can cope well with things and am so much happier. Life is good.'

Top experts were 'not surprised' by the number of older Britons battling anxiety  thought to affect one in six people.

'Anxiety is a very common problem we see in older patients. Medication to treat anxiety and depression is among the most common I prescribe,' says Dr Clare Gerarda, a GP specialising in psychiatry.

'As you get older, you're more likely to suffer serious health conditions and the stress of physical illness often triggers mental health problems.

'Older people are also more likely to be carers, or have anxiety-inducing responsibilities, compared with younger folk.'

Many who wrote to Dr Ellie associated the onset of their anxious feelings with caring responsibilities.

One 59-year-old who began taking medication earlier this year  after a decade of suffering  said supporting her mother through throat cancer 'fuelled' her anxiety.

Others became anxious while nursing a partner following a life-changing stroke, or diagnosis of dementia.

Top experts were 'not surprised' by the number of older Britons battling anxiety  thought to affect one in six people (file photo)

In studies, women aged 16-24 appear to be the most affected, with roughly 15 per cent of the age-group reporting symptoms, according to NHS England data.

But experts say anxiety in older people is 'vastly underestimated'.

'It is a huge problem, as much as depression and dementia,' says Dr Robert Howard, Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at University College London.

'It sounds trivial but it isn't  often patients are inconsolable. Older people are also embarrassed to talk about it, so it is under-recognised.'

Experts say since the pandemic struck, more people over 65 than ever are struggling.

Data from the Office for National Statistics in November last year found a third of over 60s were suffering high levels of anxiety.

A subsequent poll of 1,300 older adults by the charity Age UK found that 40 per cent of older women said they felt more anxious post-pandemic, as did 27 per cent of men.

The most common form of anxiety is Generalised Anxiety Disorder, which causes patients to feel anxious most of the time, unrelated to one specific event.

It is thought to affect roughly six per cent of the population  although only one in ten are diagnosed, according to studies.

The NHS-recommended treatment is a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy, which helps patients cope with the thoughts that make them anxious, and antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

While many readers told of being prescribed pills, few spoke of being offered therapy.

'Historically, it has been difficult to get older people into therapy, because of stigma and embarrassment,' says Prof Howard.

'But that is changing. Older people are now just as open to talking about their feelings as younger people, especially if they are heading towards the end of their life.'

Prof Howard says access to therapy is the more likely barrier.

According to the latest NHS figures, 1.6million Britons are on waiting lists for specialist therapy.

A further eight million will be suffering but deemed 'not sick enough' to be prioritised for treatment, according to NHS Providers.

Studies show mixed results for the effectiveness of antidepressants for anxiety  the figure can be as low as a third.

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'Ideally, I wouldn't prescribe medication for anxiety. It only tends to work if there's also a depression element, too,' says Prof Howard.

But judging by readers' letters, when they do work  they work well.

Mike Scott, 58, wrote: 'I have been on amitriptyline [an older type of antidepressant known as a tricyclic] for 20 years.

'It has been a life changer. Not only has it helped my anxiety, but it's also reduced my migraines.When I've tried to reduce my dose, my migraines come back.'

It's important that patients, especially those in older age, are frequently monitored. Studies show that older people are more at risk of serious side effects, such as raised blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms.

But regular blood tests can flag up signs of this before it becomes serious, and doctors can adjust doses accordingly,' says Prof Howard. Generally speaking, only SSRIs should be prescribed for anxiety, he says.

Yet, readers speak of different medications, such as Diazepam and Oxazepam, with less favourable outcomes.

One man, who has suffered anxiety for 30 years, said Oxazepam left him shaking and 'unable to do basic tasks'.

Others spoke of exhaustion and becoming addicted. Prof Howard said these 'outdated' treatments are prescribed too often.

'Twenty or 30 years ago, if someone was anxious, doctors would prescribe these drugs, called benzodiazepines, which are used for insomnia and seizures, due to their sedative effect.

'But we now know they stop working after a while and patients can become hooked. They also have a paradoxical effect, worsening anxiety in the long run.

But Prof Howard says a new type of psychological therapy is showing promise and may soon be more widely available.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which helps patients identify and change behaviours that unknowingly exacerbate anxiety  has shown to be highly effective in a number of studies.

A 2019 Australian review of 20 studies found a digital course of ACT significantly improved anxious symptoms in 18 of the trials, while other studies show the effects last at least six months.

Prof Howard says: 'It's not that it's better than CBT but it means in cases where it doesn't work, there's another option.

'As doctors, that's all we can hope for  offering something when all else fails.'
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.
The greeting as I step inside the kitchen is open and friendly, but not particularly warm. This has nothing to do with the hospitality extended by homeowners Lee and Jane Roche and all to do with the room's rather chilly temperature.

Welcome to the world of heat pumps, the technology that the Government is banking on to help it meet new and bold carbon emission targets. Fine in theory, underwhelming in practice.

The Roches now question their decision to have the heating system installed in their detached four-bedroom home, situated in the village of North Luffenham in Rutland.

Cold comfort: Jane and Lee Roche with Nicholas, 12, and Imogen, ten, in their grade II listed home

Just a couple of inches below my feet lies a labyrinth of tubing filled with tepid water  pushed around by a giant 30,000 ground source heat pump that hums away in its own room next door.

The Government has just announced it will offer grants of up to 6,000 to install such eco-friendly technology from next April. Yet what it is less keen to promote is that this 'bribe' is far less generous than a previous deal that is quietly being dropped in March  and one which the Roches took advantage of.

They were able to claim 70,000 in grants to install their heat pump under the 'renewable heat incentive scheme'. Yet, even with such a huge bribe, Jane is not convinced the heat pump saves them any money  or was even worth installing for free.

The kitchen's temperature is such that ten-year-old daughter Imogen keeps her coat on to stay warm. Jane admits she would prefer it to be perhaps a couple of degrees Celsius warmer.

To raise the room temperature you do not simply turn up a thermostat as you might with a traditional gas boiler. Instead, you adjust heating control in the pump house. As these units are designed to push out relatively modest heat levels, the extra energy required to reach a higher temperature means it is often not cost effective  ramping energy bills even higher.

The kitchen's warmth depends in part on 10,000 of triple-glazed patio windows that must be closed immediately once you step inside. I fail to observe this rule  and apologise profusely.

Mother Jane, 46, whose other child is Nicholas, 12, says: 'This kitchen is a barn conversion, so we were able to dig up the flooring to install the pipes when it was built. But this wasn't practical for the rest of the house as we live in a 400-year-old Grade II listed building.

'Instead, it meant installing massive radiators, powered by the same ground source heat pump. They look unsightly and are rarely used because to get them to work effectively they burn a lot of electricity.'

Stepping into the main house, there is indeed a chill in the air. The radiators are 6ft long, 4ft high and stick out from the walls by six inches.

The ugly metal behemoths look out of place in this tastefully decorated period property. Instead, the Roches use wood burners to occasionally heat the rooms, with the logs sourced from local trees that had to be cut down. Although despised by eco-warriors, it is hard to argue with the appeal of a roaring fire.

Despite radiator prudence, the family calculate the energy bill for their large stone-built farmhouse is still a costly 350 a month.

This is despite spending 40,000 on secondary and triple glazing throughout the home. Part of the problem is that although the heat pump system is efficient, the temperatures pumped out can be 20 degrees Celsius lower than a traditional boiler.

More electricity is used, too, as it takes longer to heat rooms and an energy boost is also required to get sufficient piping hot water for a bath or shower. In installing the ground source heat pump, the Roches faced practical challenges that most other households would not be able to overcome.

The pump room looks like a Wallace and Gromit invention. The size of a double bedroom, it houses two giant heating tanks, each the size of telephone kiosks, plus the burly 4ft cubed pump. This emits a low hum  like that from an electricity pylon  which could keep light sleepers awake for longer than they wish.

Then there is the acre of lawn outside the Roches' back door where a maze-like mile of piping was laid 5ft underground.

Jane says: 'When they were being laid, neighbours joked the land was being cleared to build a housing estate or Olympic-sized swimming pool. Most homes don't have the land available to have such pipes installed.'

Cool: Imogen, in the pump room at her home in Rutland

The Roches' heat pump relies on the underground pipes being warmed by the soil, where temperatures are typically between six and 12 degrees Celsius.

The pump then uses compression technology to further boost the heat. The other heat pump alternative  that will benefit from a 5,000 grant  is air sourced. It costs less money  typically 15,000 compared to around 20,000 for a ground source pump. But you might still need to spend a further 10,000 on double glazing and cavity insulation if you do not have a modern airtight home.

The air pump extracts warm air from a box outside  the size of a small washing machine. This air is then blown into the home  or used to heat up water or big radiators. But it may struggle to heat a house when the outside temperature is close to or below zero degrees Celsius.

Roger Bisby is a plumber for website Skill Builder and not a fan of heat pumps. He says: 'Make no bones about it, for most people the energy bills from an air or ground source heat pump will be pretty much the same as with a gas boiler.

'Although you may be tempted by the grants available from April, you may end up out of pocket with an unwanted heating system unless you have a well-insulated modern house.'

A heat pump might typically provide 40 degrees Celsius of warmth compared to a traditional gas boiler offering at least 60 degrees.

A poorly insulated home using a pump might also use 40 per cent more energy to keep it properly heated. The good news is a new pump might produce 30 per cent less greenhouse gases.

Bisby adds: 'Heat pumps are not the answer. They rarely save you money and they're noisy. Unlike a traditional combination boiler, these pumps are usually on 24 hours a day.

Pipe dream: An acre of land at the back of the Roches' house had to be dug up to accommodate a network of pipes

'Air source heat pumps are the noisiest as they have boxes fitted on the outside of the house that whirl around like an air conditioning unit. The noise is constant and if windows are open they can keep you and even the neighbours awake.'

Heating and insulation grant specialist Warma UK is also concerned many people will be lured in by the new grant without realising there are pitfalls. Emma Garner, a director, says: 'There will be a lot of sharks out there, talking about all the upsides but none of the drawbacks.

'The tasty grant on offer could end up being consumed by extras sold to you at a massive profit  such as double-glazing  or the installer simply bumping up their charges.'

The grants are being made available from a 450million pot and will cover up to 90,000 pump installations over three years. Those who opt for an air source pump are being offered a 5,000 incentive, while for ground source pumps it is 6,000 as these are more costly to install.

Warma UK believes 19million heat pumps must be installed countrywide by 2050 to achieve a net zero target.

So far, only about 300,000 have been put in and as the Roches have discovered, they're not quite what they are cracked up to be.
On the boil: ProCook is looking to become a household name

This year is shaping up to be a bumper one for stock market flotations.

More than 80 companies have already listed their shares so far, raising around 14billion between them. By December, the total number of firms will be even higher, with proceeds topping 15billion.

Many of these shares are only offered to individual investors once they have floated  a travesty of stock market justice, as Wealth has highlighted in recent months.

But it seems as if some businesses are beginning to do things differently, offering their shares to investors large and small.

Life Science Reit

Life Science Reit is one such business. The company is seeking to raise 300million via a 1 a share offer and it will be the first London-listed company to focus exclusively on life science properties, from laboratories to manufacturing sites and specially configured offices.

Once science was primarily associated with men in white coats and Bunsen burners. Today, drug development is as much about artificial intelligence and digital data gathering as it is about test tubes and experiments.

That means those working in the industry, from academic professors to multinational businesses, need high-tech sites with huge digital capacity so they can conduct research and create tomorrow's new medicines.

Many of the best and brightest firms are in and around Oxford, Cambridge and London. These cities are home to four of the top ten research universities in the world so attract clever scientists, fast-growing businesses and investors looking for good opportunities.

Yet UK life science firms have far less space than their US counterparts. Oxford and Cambridge have five million square feet of purpose-built laboratories between them. Boston, home of Harvard University, has 30million square feet.

Shortage of supply has created growing demand, with firms striving to find top-quality space so they can conduct research, develop new drugs and produce them here in the UK, rather than overseas.

Life Science REIT aims to redress the balance between supply and demand, while benefiting from the generous rents that sector specialists are prepared to pay.

The group has a pipeline of deals valued at 445million, with six transactions, worth 305million, already at an advanced stage.

Manager Simon Farnsworth therefore expects to spend the proceeds of the flotation within six months, allowing the firm to start paying dividends next summer, targeting an annual yield of 4 per cent in 2022, rising to 5 per cent the follow ing year.

Sites to be acquired include a company whose research contributed to the development of Covid-19 vaccines and a gene therapy business analysing DNA to help cure Alzheimer's disease.

These sites are all within the life science 'Golden Triangle' of St Pancras in London, Oxford and Cambridge, where demand is most acute. Farnsworth, a career property man, is highly selective about the deals that he pursues.

But he is also ambitious, hoping to build Life Science REIT into a 1billion business within the next year, coming back to shareholders for more funds as he spots new opportunities.

Shares are on sale now via intermediaries such as Equiniti, AJ Bell and Redmayne Bentley. The application deadline is November 15 with trading set to start four days later.

Midas verdict: Britain has long been at the forefront of scientific and medical research but the pandemic has shown how vital this sector is and how much support it needs. Life Science REIT will provide operators with the space to do their best work and the shares should deliver attractive returns as well. At 1, the shares are a buy.

To be traded on: AIM Ticker: LABS Contact: lifesciencereit.co.uk

Cookware line has hot prospects

ProCook

Daniel and Michael O'Neill were in their teens when they left home to seek their fortune, but would meet their mother Peggy every Sunday for lunch. A family of keen cooks, they each tried to outdo the other with the quality of their cuisine.

In 1996, their hobby turned into a business when the family launched a mail order firm, Professional Cookware. Shops followed and, in 2005, the firm began to sell online.

The financial crisis sent it into administration but Daniel O'Neill bought it back, cut the number of shops to 13, invested in the website and relaunched it as ProCook. Growth has been steady ever since.

Revenues rose from about 8million in 2008 to more than 53million in the year to April 2021, with sales expected to be even higher this year. Profits have soared as well, reaching 8.5million last year.

Having started with saucepans, the firm sells a wide range of essentials, from knives to dinner sets to chopping boards, all under the ProCook brand. There are more than 50 shops, openings due before Christmas and a thriving website.

Now O'Neill is keen to take ProCook a stage further, via a flotation which should value the business at up to 250million.

Shares will be priced early next week and available to retail investors via AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and other intermediaries. ProCook differs from firms such as Tefal and Le Creuset as products are sold directly to consumers, either online or in its stores. This allows O'Neill to offer similar goods to his competitors at cheaper prices, while still making a healthy profit.

The 56-year-old vowed after the 2008 crisis never to rely on bank debt so ProCook has a robust balance sheet and intends to pay attractive dividends, while delivering long-term share price growth.

O'Neill and his family are likely to sell between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of their business through the flotation, so they will be sitting on a fortune if all goes according to plan. But he has no intention of retiring. Still an enthusiast in the kitchen, he will remain at the helm of ProCook, driving growth here and in Europe.

Midas verdict: Interest in cooking surged in lockdown and studies suggest that the trend is here to stay. O'Neill is intent on profiting from the UK's newfound domesticity and turn ProCook into a household name. When the shares are priced this week, they will be worth a close look.

To be traded on: Main market Ticker: Proc Contact: procookgroup.co.uk or 0330 100 1010

Rooftop solar panels offer high return

Atrato Onsite Energy

Supermarket Income REIT listed on the stock market at 1 in July 2017 and was recommended by Midas in March 2020 at 1.06. Today, the shares are 1.19.

The company buys supermarket properties and leases them back to store owners such as Tesco.

It has made sustained progress since floating, with investment decisions led by experienced investment management firm Atrato Capital.

Now Atrato is back with a new venture. Atrato Onsite Energy will instal solar panels on the roofs of commercial buildings  including supermarkets  and sign long-term, clean energy contracts with the owners of these properties.

The initiative will allow businesses to secure around 30 per cent of their electricity needs from solar power. Costs are cheaper and more predictable than buying from the grid and businesses can display their green credentials too.

Atrato Onsite Energy will publish its prospectus this week, with shares on offer via Primary Bid, as well as intermediaries such as Hargreaves Lansdown.

The board, led by Good Energy founder Juliet Davenport, hopes to raise 150million to use within a year. Davenport is also targeting a 5 per cent dividend yield from 2022, expected to increase in subsequent years.

Midas verdict: Atrato Onsite Energy should help customers to become greener and generate sustainable income for shareholders too. The group also boasts an all-female board, a first in the world of London stock market flotations. Atrato has shown it can make money for investors. At 1, the stock is worth a punt.

To be traded on: Main market Ticker: ROOF Contact: atratoroof.com or 020 3790 8087
Many of us lack confidence, experience and interest when managing our finances. We could do with an expert to give us a steer or tell us what to do.

But, until recently, getting financial advice remained the domain of the wealthy. Most advisers won't see clients with less than 75,000 in long-term savings, so those with less are forced to go it alone.

Even those who can access advice do not always want to pay charges that can tot up to two per cent or more a year  or do not want to spend their time having meetings with an adviser when their finances are relatively straightforward.

The human touch: Digital advice can be used to serve up investment and pension products matched to your specific needs

But now, technological advances and innovation mean new digital advice services are stepping into the breach.

There are a number of good options for the less wealthy, the time-pressured or those who need straightforward one-off advice around a specific life event such as retirement. Advice that you can then use to make key investment decisions.

What is digital advice  and how does it work?

Much like traditional financial advice, digital advice is personalised and regulated. It can be used to serve up investment and pension products matched to your specific needs.

However, unlike traditional advice, you do not spend time meeting an adviser. Instead, you answer online questionnaires designed to get to the heart of your financial goals and needs. Most of these take between ten and 25 minutes to complete, and can be done at a time that suits you.

Digital advice will become more common over the next five years, with a number of big brands working on new options. There are already a number available that it might be worth considering.

Since some people are happy with digital advice, but want the option to speak with an adviser along the way if they need to, we have included our own 'humanometer'. This shows what level of human interaction is available from each service. The more interaction possible, the higher the score (maximum score of five).

Anyone with more complicated finances or who prefers the human touch may still be better off with a traditional face-to-face financial adviser.

A small nest egg or simple finances?

Not everyone has complex financial affairs or a large sum to manage. If that's you, here are two options to consider.

OpenMoney is relatively new, aimed at a younger audience who have yet to build large savings stashes. It can help with general money management, using an online questionnaire before starting you on your investing journey. You can invest from just 1 or take a free financial health check. You can access the service through a smartphone app. It gets a humanometer score of two. You can talk to a qualified adviser if you want to, although it's mostly online.

MyEva from Wealth Wizards is offered through employers who want to help workers with their financial wellbeing. Employees are given a financial health score, followed by a 'to do' list with prompts and help to improve their score.

You can also pay an additional fixed fee for specific advice as and when you need it. Why not ask your boss to investigate?

Like OpenMoney, it gets a humanometer score of two.

Technological advances and innovation mean new digital advice services are helping people with money

Are you ready to start investing?

Millions of people have their savings stuck in cash accounts that pay just pennies in interest. But they are too scared to put these savings into investments where their money could grow quicker over the long term.

Sound familiar? The following two advised digital options will guide you towards your first investment, and take the stress of decision-making away.

Barclays' Plan & Invest allows its banking customers to complete a detailed online questionnaire, which takes roughly half an hour.

At the end, you get a personalised investment plan, which makes good use of the tax relief options available to savers (via pensions and Isas).

You must invest a minimum of 5,000 to get started. It's not the cheapest service out there, but it is thorough.

Santander customers can access a similar, slightly less sophisticated but quicker customer service advice designed to put together an investment portfolio.

With regards to humanometer scores, they both get zero. These are online digital services: you won't be able to speak to an adviser.

Saving up for a distant retirement?

If you are ten years or more away from retirement, then US giant Vanguard provides a decently priced digital advice service.

You will need a minimum of 50,000 and will have to invest it in Vanguard's own range of funds.

Those with greater amounts can access an adviser on the phone. It's a solid, low-priced option for anyone in their 30s, 40s or 50s with a decent chunk of savings who wants some help to sort out their retirement savings with a hugely credible global brand.

Its humanometer score is four  there is a pool of well-qualified advisers available who can take calls and queries.

...or is it just around the corner?

Pensions are bafflingly complex and confuse most people. The closer we get to retirement, the more important our decisions become. Here are two good options to help.

Investment house abrdn has a solid service if you are planning to retire in the next few years and you would like to speak to a person, diving into more holistic financial advice.

It's a mix of human and digital interaction and feels helpful. It is aimed at people with more than 50,000.

It gets a humanometer score of four  a good mix of a modern investment journey with adviser Zoom calls and phone calls to support.

Destination Retirement by Hub Financial Solutions is a digital platform helping you understand how to plan your retirement and minimise your tax bill.

Aimed at people aged 55 and over, it provides a decent personalised plan illustrating what life after work may look like. Minimum investment required is 30,000.

Its humanometer score is three. It provides solid support if you call the company, but its service is mainly algorithm based.

Sick of paying out a fortune to the big boys?

For anyone with a traditional adviser, but who doesn't feel they need the full fandango of advice every year, I like Netwealth.

It's a hybrid offering, with an adviser assigned to each client offering either face to face or online meetings. The extent to which you use a real-life adviser is up to you. If digital is more your bag you can take that route. Minimum investment is 50,000. You can take a simpler investment-only path when it suits you, only paying for advice as and when you need it.

It gets a top humanometer score of five  you can dial up the human element as much, or as little, as you want.

Holly Mackay is the founder and chief executive of independent consumer website Boringmoney. co.uk. She holds test accounts with more than 30 investment, pension and advice firms.
One of Apple's biggest shareholders is set to grill the tech giant over allegations that it uses forced labour camps in China.

British pensions giant Legal & General, which owns 11.3billion of Apple stock, will quiz bosses on the charges against its Chinese suppliers at a meeting in the coming weeks, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

L&G's intervention will pile pressure on Apple to reveal more details about the way workers are treated in its supply chain.

Grilling: L&G's intervention will pile pressure on Apple to reveal more details about the way workers are treated in its supply chain

Apple has come under pressure from human rights group SumOfUs to publish a report identifying companies in its supply chain that staff their Chinese factories with enslaved Uighur Muslims.

The group has highlighted accusations that Lens Technology, a supplier of Apple's iPhone screen, used thousands of Uighurs from China's forced labour program.

The campaigners have also warned about Apple's contract with Esquel Group, which supplied uniforms for staff in Apple's shops. Esquel has been hit with US sanctions over allegations that it used forced labour in China's Xinjiang province. Esquel denies the accusations.

SumOfUs has asked regulators to let investors vote on its proposal for more transparency from Apple over the treatment of workers in its supply chain.

If the motion is cleared by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, investors could vote on the proposal at Apple's annual shareholder meeting next year. Apple has asked regulators to block the vote.

Responding to campaigners in a SEC filing, Apple said: 'Apple seeks to uphold the highest standards in the industry across its global supply chain and has teams of experts on the ground working closely with suppliers around the world.'

The company said it had conducted more than 1,100 audits of its supply chains and spoken to 57,000 workers over the past year and a half. It said it found no evidence of forced labour and continues to ensure workers are 'treated with dignity and respect'.

L&G would be in pole position to vote through the proposal as Apple's 16th largest investor. L&G demands that all the companies in which it invests are committed to fighting slavery. Rival British fund manager abrdn  another Apple investor  said human rights abuses were 'one of the most important' issues to consider in investment decisions.

However, another UK fund manager, Royal London, was silent on the allegations engulfing the iPhone maker. A spokesman said the company was declining to comment because it is a 'predominantly passive' investor in the tech firm.

Last night, one of the most prominent voices in asset management spoke out to urge City investors to put more pressure on Apple. Dame Helena Morrissey said big fund managers should force the tech giant to tackle any forced labour in its supply chain.

The high-flying financier  who was rumoured to be in the running to become Bank of England Governor last year  was formerly head of personal investing at L&G. She is now chairman of investment platform AJ Bell.

Morrissey told the MoS that some City institutions were 'lagging' on human rights abuses and said it was vital that investors pushed for full transparency.

She said: 'Investors need to use their voting rights. The alleged abuses against the Muslims in the Xinjiang province are shocking. People don't want their pensions invested in companies that are refusing to disclose supply chains that might be reliant on forced labour.'

She said wealthy pension funds should throw their weight behind efforts to force disclosure from Apple and other companies linked to poor working practices in China. 'If we want to know what we are investing in, and feeling confident and comfortable with suppliers, then we need disclosures and transparency.

'What's shocking is that these sorts of allegations are not new and we still don't really have enough information. It is just bizarre when we have a lot of focus on responsible investing, and environmental investing has become very fashionable, but we don't have a lot of information about whether the companies we are investing in comply with basic human rights.'

A spokeswoman for abrdn said: 'There are clear issues that investors need to be aware of when investing anywhere, and human rights is one of the most important.

'In relation to Apple and any resolutions that may be tabled at the company's AGM regarding forced labour, we will fully disclose our vote and rationale once cast.'

L&G declined to comment.
Speculation is mounting that GlaxoSmithKline boss Dame Emma Walmsley is planning to swoop on 3.6billion Canadian autoimmune disease drug developer Aurinia Pharmaceuticals.

A deal would mark a significant moment in Walmsley's battle to win over investor confidence in her strategy and help build the company's future pipeline of lucrative drugs through major acquisitions.

Aurinia is rumoured to be working with advisers on strategic options, which could lead to a sale of the biopharmaceutical company.

A shot in the arm: A deal would mark a significant moment in Emma Walmsley's battle to win over investor confidence

City sources claimed GlaxoSmithKline has been looking at Aurinia because it has developed a treatment for Lupus Nephritis, an autoimmune disease that affects the Kidneys, called Voclosporin, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration earlier this year and is now sold under the brand name Lupkynis.

This drug could end up competing with GSK's Benlysta, whose patents are due to expire in the next few years. However, GSK is facing competition from rival pharma giants.

Bloomberg reported that US-based Bristol-Myers Squibb had approached Aurinia about a deal. Switzerland's Roche, whose market capitalisation stands at 250billion, and Japan's Otsuka Pharmaceutical, which already has a licensing agreement with Aurinia, have also been tipped as potential buyers.

And a GSK move for Aurinia may prompt questions from Elliott Advisers  the American activist investor which has built up a stake in the FTSE100-listed giant and made a series of demands to improve GSK's share price.

Elliott has pointed to rival AstraZeneca whose shares over the past five years have risen 106 per cent while GSK has fallen by 1.6 per cent. Its demands include appointing new directors and setting up a process to determine whether Walmsley should keep her job when it spins off its consumer division.

Elliott has also called for GSK to run a sale process of its consumer health division  which includes Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol paracetamol  ahead of a demerger of the unit into a separately listed company next year.

So far, chairman Sir Jonathan Symonds has backed Walmsley and rejected Elliott's demands, saying she is the 'right leader' of the 'new GSK'.

However, Sir Jonathan himself has come under pressure after a little-known activist investor called Bluebell Capital Partners took a 10million stake in GSK and called for his resignation as chairman.

It told the Financial Times the company needs a 'more radical change agenda' that includes appointing a new chief executive and chairman.

GSK, Roche and Aurinia all declined to comment. Otsuka could not be reached for comment.
Motorway services giant Roadchef could be about to change hands for up to 1billion.

City sources said its owner  a French infrastructure and private equity firm called Antin  has appointed advisers from Australian investment bank Macquarie to find a buyer for the business.

Roadchef is the third largest motorway service area operator in the UK after Welcome Break and Moto. It runs around 30 service stations across Britain.

Changing hands?: Roadchef is the third largest motorway service area operator in the UK after Welcome Break and Moto

The company was originally set up in the early 1970s by Lindley Catering Investments and Galleon World Travel.

Roadchef then grew through a series of takeover deals, including the acquisition of Take A Break and Blue Boar, the fourth largest operator of service stations in Britain.

Antin bought Roadchef  where motorists can refuel, use the toilets and buy food from brands ranging from McDonald's to Leon and Krispy Kreme  for 153million in 2014.

The business has grown substantially since then, with the company forecast to generate operating profits of around 50million in 2022.

The sale of Roadchef comes shortly after Antin floated on the Euronext Paris stock exchange, with the company raising around 550 million from the listing.

The company runs four funds that invest in infrastructure in Europe and North America, with a focus on energy, the environment, telecommunications and transportation.
Taxi drivers and scrap metal merchants are facing a 270million tax crackdown on cash-in-hand work.

They will be vetted by HM Revenue & Customs in a bid to stamp out tax dodging, officials said. Both types of work, along with minicab driving, are licensed activities.

But HMRC will from next year begin conducting 'tax checks' before workers can obtain permits. The taxman hopes the new checks will bring in 270million by 2026/2027 by discouraging tax avoidance.

Warning sign: Taxi drivers and scrap metal merchants will be vetted by HM Revenue & Customs in a bid to stamp out tax dodging

HMRC said other workers could face the same rules in the future. The system will come into effect in England and Wales in April next year and in Scotland and Northern Ireland from 2023. It will cover individuals, partnerships and companies.

However, HMRC added that most people in these sectors were 'tax compliant'. First-time applicants for licences will be pointed to HMRC guidance concerning their tax obligations and will be required to confirm that they are aware of it.

Those applying for a licence renewal will be obliged to provide information allowing HMRC to carry out a tax check. HMRC said: 'The check will include a question about whether income from the licensed activity has been declared to HMRC.'

Refusal to take part in a tax check will mean the licence will expire.
A renewable energy firm backed by controversial steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta is to pile pressure on the Government to boost funding for tidal energy.

Simec Atlantis Energy is bidding for taxpayer money to help it build ocean turbines at the MeyGen tidal project in Pentland Firth, Scotland.

The company is hoping the Government will increase its support for tidal energy after it ploughed hundreds of millions of pounds into wind and solar in September.

Pressure: Simec's majority shareholder is tied to Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance

Simec's majority shareholder is tied to Gupta's GFG Alliance, which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office after the collapse of its financier Greensill.

Simec chief Graham Reid will be making the case for tidal energy at COP26. It is more costly than wind and solar.

But Simec argues that tidal is far more reliable.

Simec's share price has been hit by the Welsh Government's decision to 'call in' its plan to convert its coal power plant in Newport to an energy-from-waste plant.
Ministers are to be held to tough new Treasury targets as part of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's 150billion spending boost  and sacked if they continually fail to deliver.

Those who escape the axe will still be required to own up publicly to any shortcomings in their department's annual report and accounts.

Last Wednesday's Budget increased spending by Government departments by an average of 150billion a year between now and 2024-2025.

Under scrutiny: The Chancellor's Spending Review, published alongside the Budget, makes it clear that spending and performance are being tied 'even more closely together'

The Chancellor's Spending Review, published alongside the Budget, makes it clear that spending and performance are being tied 'even more closely together'.

The Treasury said: 'The Prime Minister will hold departments to account on delivery of his core missions and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury [Simon Clarke] will hold departments to account on outcomes.'
The Mail on Sunday's campaign to ensure retail investors are not discriminated against when successful companies float on the London Stock Exchange is gathering pace.

Launched this month, our Fair Play For Small Investors campaign is rapidly drawing widespread support  from bosses of listed companies through to the heads of the country's leading share trading and wealth platforms.

Our goal is simple: to ensure when companies list their shares in the UK through an initial public offering (IPO), they are offered to both retail and institutional investors.

Manna from heaven: Our campaign seeks to ensure retail investors are not discriminated against when successful companies float on the London Stock Exchange

Currently, retail investors are frequently excluded from participating, meaning they have to wait for the shares to start trading before they can buy into the new listed company.

Often  but not always  it results in private investors having to pay over the odds for a shareholding because IPO shares usually surge in price in early trading. It also means retail investors unfairly lose out on the quick profits that big City institutions can make by trading shares bought cheaply in an IPO.

Research by technology company PrimaryBid shows that of the 15 biggest stock market listings this year  where retail investors were excluded  11 had share prices opening ahead of their listing price.

In other words, retail investors keen to get a slice of the action were forced to pay over the odds  sometimes by as much as 40 per cent in the case of both Big Technologies, known for its Buddi personal alarms, and cyber security company Darktrace.

Although the Government is looking to make IPOs more inclusive, The Mail on Sunday believes it is not being ambitious enough. We support the far more radical  and investor-friendly  idea put forward by Richard Wilson, chief executive of wealth manager Interactive Investor.

He is adamant that the Government should put in place legislation that requires ALL listing companies to set aside a slice of shares for ordinary investors.

On Friday, Wilson said: 'Retail investors are the beating heart of UK plc and have been almost completely ignored when it comes to the vast majority of IPOs. The Mail on Sunday's Fair Play For Small Investors campaign is one we stand behind.'

Wilson's support is not a lone one. In recent days, the chairmen of stockbroker Redmayne Bentley and a stock market-listed investment trust have both come in behind our campaign  as has the founder of share dealing platform Freetrade.

Keith Loudon, Redmayne chairman, says: 'I have no hesitation in backing The Mail on Sunday's call for private investors to be able to buy shares in companies ahead of their listing.

The solution is simple: 15 per cent of shares should be made available to private investors on the same terms as the institutions.'

Adam Dodds, founder of Freetrade, agrees. He says too many IPOs have come to market with a 'complete disregard towards retail investors'.

He adds: 'Companies which do not include retail investors in their IPOs are showing they do not care about the breadth of their investor base. In today's equity raising landscape, embracing retail investors is straightforward to accomplish and should be a matter of best practice.'

Dodds' final thought is aimed at the wealthy City institutions that advise companies on how to structure IPOs.

'It is inexcusable that ordinary investors should not be given the chance to participate in the evolution of growing British businesses, benefiting from their success in the same way that City institutions and the wealthy have done for years.'

David Harris, a non-executive director at a number of investment trusts, says it is 'simply wrong' that retail investors are disadvantaged. He says: 'Over the past four years, retail investors have been excluded from more than 90 per cent of IPOs. That's not good enough.'

He believes the big investment banks currently put too much pressure on company boards to exclude retail investors from IPOs. This pressure is applied in part, he says, because any retail offering requires detailed prospectuses to be put together.

The Government is now assessing whether such documents can be made simpler, paving the way for more retail investor-inclusive IPOs. Although Harris is an advocate of greater fair play for ordinary investors, he says IPOs should not be seen as a 'one- way street to make money'. He adds: 'Investors should always take appropriate advice before investing in any IPO.'

For example, online food delivery company Deliveroo embraced retail investors when it completed its IPO in March. But its share price has since fallen from 3.90 at listing to around 2.70.

According to PrimaryBid, only 27 of the 75 IPOs completed this year with market capitalisations of at least 10million have embraced the retail investor. It says this is 'shameful'.

SO WHAT ABOUT FUTURE LISTINGS?

Midas looks at three forthcoming IPOs that are retail investor friendly: cook shop group ProCook; eco-friendly energy firm Atrato Onsite Energy; and real estate investment trust Life Science. But The Mail on Sunday has been stonewalled by a number of companies about their IPO plans.

Last week, we asked companies considering IPOs whether they would allow retail investors to participate.

Social media publisher LADbible said that if it were to go ahead with an IPO, 'we would counsel the sponsor's advice on including a retail element'. This confirms the point previously made by David Harris, namely that it is the advisers which pull all the strings over how IPOs are put together.

No-frills health club PureGym said it had yet to confirm that it would be proceeding with an IPO. Only once it had done so would it start to look at its structure  and whether retail investors and customers would be included.

Private equity company Bridgepoint is owner of Burger King's UK division which it is looking to float on the London Stock Exchange next year. Like PureGym, a Bridgepoint spokesman said the structure of any IPO would be considered once it had decided a listing was the best way forward.

'We will of course keep you in the loop if we get to that stage,' he added. 'And thanks for putting a marker down  always helpful.'

In August, Olam International announced its intention to float its subsidiary business Olam Food Ingredients (a supplier of natural and sustainable foods) on both the London Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange. But last week, it said it 'could not comment at this stage' on the IPO offering.

Other companies to confirm IPOs  holiday rental firm Travel Chapter and industrial supplies company Rubix  did not respond to our request for information. Similarly, businesses rumoured to be considering IPOs  Virgin Atlantic; home delivery food box specialist Gousto; and video game specialist Devolver Digital  stayed silent.

On Friday, Anand Sambasivan, chief executive of PrimaryBid, said: 'Individuals have only been able to participate in a third of UK IPOs this year above 10million  and in only one of the 15 largest [Deliveroo]. An initial public offering should do what it says on the tin: include the public.' Absolutely.

If you would like to back The Mail on Sunday's Fair Play For Small Investors, register your support at publicinclusion.co.uk.
Construction equipment firm JCB has signed a deal worth billions of pounds to buy hydrogen generated by non-fossil fuel based sources.

The deal for green hydrogen was signed with Australian firm Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) in a partnership the company called the first of its kind.

It will mean JCB will purchase 10% of FFI's green hydrogen production, with FFI dealing with production and logistics and JCB and a third firm, Ryze, managing distribution and development of customer demand.

So-called green hydrogen is created using electricity from renewable sources, with FFI's chief executive officer Julie Shuttleworth saying it was the 'fuel of the future'.

She added: 'Green hydrogen is critical for the planet and good for business, a powerful fuel and ingredient in the manufacturing of a large range of industrial, difficult-to-decarbonise products.

'It will be fundamental in enabling the decarbonisation of heavy industry globally.'

Earlier this month, Uttoxeter-based JCB announced it was investing 100 million in zero-emission hydrogen engines to power machinery.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveils a hydrogen powered JCB Loadall telescopic handler in central London, as the construction equipment firm announced it is investing 100 million

Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) and JCB chairman Lord Bamford (left) at the unveiling of a hydrogen powered JCB Loadall telescopic handler in central London

The company made the announcement as it unveiled a prototype hydrogen-powered backhoe loader and another machine  a telescopic handler  with Prime Minister Boris Johnson at an event in London.

The firm said it already has a team of 100 engineers working on the hydrogen engines, and is recruiting up to 50 more to deliver on its bid to make the first machines available to customers by the end of 2022.

JCB chairman Lord Bamford said the company is investing in hydrogen, because electric is not an all-round solution, particularly for its industry, as it can only be used to power smaller machines.

'Our sort of machinery will need to be powered by something other than fossil fuels,' he said.

The firm said it already has a team of 100 engineers working on the hydrogen engines, and is recruiting up to 50 more to deliver on its bid to make the first machines available to customers by the end of 2022

'We make machines which are powered by diesel so we have to find a solution and we are doing something about it now.

'It does mean we will carry on making engines, but they will be super-efficient, affordable, high-tech hydrogen motors with zero CO2 emissions, which can be brought to market quickly using our existing supply base.'

Mr Johnson said: 'Great British manufacturers like JCB are developing innovative solutions to slash greenhouse emissions and advance the UK's green industrial revolution.

'It was fantastic to see JCB's super-efficient hydrogen engines, which could overhaul UK manufacturing, help us to rapidly reach our climate targets and ramp up the UK's hydrogen economy  an exciting area that will be essential to tackling climate change, creating new jobs and attracting investment.'
Gai Waterhouse flashes her trademark smile as she poses with the Melbourne Cup at a publicity event.

The 'first lady of racing' is again a focus of attention in the lead up to Tuesday's big race in which her imported colt Sir Lucan will be one of the lightweight chances.

The bonhomie and PR value that Gai brings to any racing event is much-needed for a sport that has been stripped of crowds through the Covid lockdowns, and whose showpiece event has been rocked in recent years by the fatal injuries suffered by visiting horses.

The 'black eye' those distressing images created are a major challenge to be overcome, argues journalist and author Andrew Rule, if the sport is to resist a slide out of the long-held affection of the Australian public.

Rule's new book Chance documents some famous moments in the history of punting on horse racing, from the bizarre and exhilarating to the downright sinister.

One that fitted into the latter category involves Gai's father-in-law Bill Waterhouse, who was the fearless but also intimidating king of bookies in Sydney.

It was an incident that created intense ill-will between Sydney's two most powerful racing dynasties - the Waterhouse and Cummings clans - that lingered for decades.

Gai Waterhouse (left) poses with Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne and the famous three-handled trophy at Flemington racecourse this week. Gai has followed in the footsteps of her father Tommy Smith to become one of racing's top trainers, and by marrying into the Waterhouse bookmaking family, brought together two of the sport's most prominent families.

The drugging of Cup favourite Big Philou in the hours before the running of Australia's biggest race was a major scandal at the time and one that still reverberates more than half a century later.

Leading journalist and writer Andrew Rule has given his take on the incident in the new book Chance, which relates gambling stories that range from the amusing to the inspiring and disturbing tales like that of Big Philou.

In 1969, huge sums were wagered on Big Philou doing the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup doubles, and the Bart Cummings trained stallion delivered on the first part of the wager by taking out the Caulfield Cup (but only just; being declared the winner on protest after crossing the line second).

Big Philou was immediately installed as a short-priced favourite for the Melbourne Cup, as Cummings had already established his reputation as a Melbourne Cup genius, having won three of the previous four with Light Fingers, Galilee and Red Handed.

Many bookmakers faced colossal losses if Big Philou were to win.

On the night before the Cup, a strapper called Les Lewis who had recently been sacked by Cummings for ill-treating horses, used his knowledge of the stables to get access to Big Philou and fed the horse a huge dose of the laxative Danthron.

With an hour to go before the race, the drug had taken full effect and the horse had developed severe diarrhea - scouring as its called in equine terms - and it was obvious he could not compete in his weakened and distressed condition.

Just 40 minutes before the Cup was to be run, Big Philou was scratched.

The news sent a shockwave through the crowd at Flemington - and a devastated Cummings and jockey Roy Higgins were left to work out who was behind it.

'The horse could have collapsed,' a bitter Higgins later related. 'If it was another 20 minutes down the line, that horse could have collapsed and brought half the field down. Killed me, killed others, killed horses.

'You've got these evil human beings out there, that would do that to a dumb animal, just for the thought of an illegal dollar.'

Higgins knew who was behind it, famously vowing if ever they crossed paths 'I'd spit on him'.

Police and racing stewards soon picked up Lewis' trail and he was extradited from New Zealand back to Sydney but refused to admit his guilt or name who put him up to it.

Among the interesting evidence were phone records showing Lewis had made several calls to the office of Bill Waterhouse.

Waterhouse denied any role in the nobbling, saying he did not lay any bets on the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double and therefore had no financial exposure to the outcome of the race and therefore no motive.

Bill Waterhouse (centre) was the most powerful bookmaker in Australia in his prime, and was followed into the trade by son Robbie (right) and grandson Tom (left).

He was never found guilty of any wrongdoing in connection with the event.

In 1997, as he was on his deathbed stricken with cancer, Lewis finally admitted he took a $10,000 payment - a house-buying sum in 1969 - to nobble Big Philou and said he was paid by an unnamed bookmaker.

If there were any doubts about who that bookmaker was, none were held by Bart Cummings.

Bart Cummings, who trained a record 12 Melbourne Cup winners, remained furious throughout his life about the Big Philou incident,

Rule's book Chance relates that Bart had the satisfaction of some measure of revenge which he served up nice and cold in 1974.

Five years on from the Big Philou scandal, the standout of the Cummings yard was the mare Leilani.

Ahead of a key race being contested by the mare, Waterhouse judged that Cummings would have got over the Big Philou affair and so he asked the master trainer about Leilani's chances.

Cummings, appearing to take Waterhouse into his confidence, said the mare was below her best and unlikely to win.

Waterhouse, acting on what he considered golden inside information, then offered the most generous odds on Leilani of any bookie and consequently took a mountain of bets, safe in the belief she could not win.

Of course, Leilani won the race comfortably.

A furious and financially devastated Waterhouse sought out Cummings for an explanation as to why he gave him the proverbial 'bum steer'.

'That's for Big Philou,' was Bart's simple and priceless reply.

The Waterhouse family, Gai (right) beside husband and bookmaker Robbie, the son of Bill, and their children Tom, who is also a bookie, and Kate, who is a racing ambassador and promoter.

Cummings went to his grave in 2013 having never forgiven Waterhouse for the events of 1969, but the bad blood it created has not continued on among their 'progeny'.

Gai and bookmaker husband Robbie - son of Bill - and their children Tom, who is also a prominent bookie and Kate, who is an ambassador for racing now enjoy good relations with the Cummings family.

James Cummings, the trainer for the Australian yard of international racing syndicate Godolphin, was 'set-up' with his now wife Melissa by a matchmaking Gai, who was a client of Melissa in her role as manager of Gooree Park stud.

James Cummings and wife Melissa were brought together by a matchmaking Gai Waterhouse, indicating that the bad blood that existed between their family forebears had been overcome.

Irish stallion Anthony Van Dyck (circled) breaks down with a bone fracture during the 2020 Melbourne Cup. It was the last of a succession of such fatal injuries to European visitors in Australia's biggest race that had caused far more bad publicity for the sport than their participation had ever created. Such bad publicity had imperiled racing's position as a strong part of the nation's sporting identity.

'Bill was a terrible man in every respect,' Rule told the Daily Mail. 'He was a psychopath who did some terrible things.

'But he stood alone in his narcissism and selfishness, and people dont hold that against his descendants. Theyre from a different world.'

While time has healed the Waterhouse-Cummings feud, incidents such as Big Philou, like the banning of Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Darren Weir for the use of outlawed training techniques that frightened horses, and the succession of fatal injuries suffered by imported horses in recent Melbourne Cups have tarnished racing.

Rule fears that the tarnish may proved ineradicable and threaten the very future of racing unless the sport's governors set aside their pre-occupation with the big events and foster the sport at its roots and re-engage the public with the spirit and romance of the turf, not just gambling and the lucrative city carnivals.

'Im barracking for racing because despite its faults, there are so many good things about it,' Rule said.

'Australia is in many respects America minus ten years, and a lot of people in racing here dont understand that racing is really dead on its feet in America.

'Racing is moribund there, and we are heading down the same path and anyone who cant see that is kidding themselves.'

The book Chance by journalist Andrew Rule detailed the rich and at times controversial past of horse race gambling in Australia. Among the stories covered was the scandalous 'nobbling' of Melbourne Cup favourite Big Philou in 1969 and who was behind it.

Rule believes there is a real need to promote the virtues of the sport among a young audience that currently repudiates it, to acknowledge that the vegan, animal rights attitude is no longer restricted to a handful of crank protesters outside the course but is now widespread among the under-30s.

'I speak to trainers, and ask about their teenage daughters and how keen are they on it. I ask how often they come to the races and they say its hardly ever,' Rule said.

'By and large theyre not keen on it, they dont approve of it, and its really not cool among their peer group. And not only are they not keen on it, some are downright disapproving.

'People in the racing industry cant see it, they cant quite grasp it. Theyll spend a lot of money to impress people with champagne and limousines and try to convince them to bring important horses to this country. But theyre spending that money on brining Irish-bred horses that break down in our biggest race ... and that has brought the worst headlines in racing history, and given racing a real black eye.

'If you kill that grassroots vibe, then you end up killing it all because then it becomes nothing more than a big casino. Its nothing but a big roulette wheel and the horses are just live moving pieces.'

.
President Joe Biden has warned Vladimir Putin not to weaponise natural resources for political purposes after Russian gas pipeline starting flowing backwards out of Germany.

Fuel supplies in the Yamal - Europe pipeline with goes from Russia to Germany via Poland had come to halt on Saturday, with the direction of gas actually reversing.

But energy firm Gazprom played down concerns saying that all European orders were being fulfilled.

One Russian news media report even suggested the flow reversal was a short-term problem caused by balmy weather in Germany over the weekend.

Russian troops movements near Ukraine have also caused concern among some US and European intelligence officials, according to the New York Times.

Videos posted on social media show large numbers of tanks and soldiers being moved from Siberia towards Ukraine. The elite 1st Guards Tank Army has also appeared to move to the region.

Similar movements for a large scale Russian exercise caused similar alarm last year, but this time no exercise is scheduled.

Videos posted on social media show large numbers of tanks and soldiers being moved from Siberia towards Ukraine.

President Joe Biden has warned Vladimir Putin not to weaponise natural resources for political purposes after Russian gas pipeline starting flowing backwards out of Germany

Fuel supplies in the Yamal - Europe pipeline with goes from Russia to Germany via Poland had come to halt on Saturday, with the direction of gas actually reversing

The supply drop comes amid an explosion in gas prices across Europe, and accusations that the Kremlin is restricting gas supplies for political purposes.

There are also suggestions Russia is pushing the EU to approve a controversial new pipeline, Nordstream 2, that would bring gas from Russia directly to Germany, bypassing Eastern Europe.

US President Biden last night met outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the fringe of the G20 summit in Rome to discuss the manipulation of natural gas flows.

A White House source said the leaders were meeting to underscore the importance of 'ensuring that Russia cannot manipulate natural gas flows for harmful political purposes'.

A White House source said the leaders were meeting to underscore the importance of 'ensuring that Russia cannot manipulate natural gas flows for harmful political purposes'. Pictured: Russian President Putin attended the G20 summit virtually

Russia sends gas to western Europe by several different routes, including through Belarus and Poland using the Yamal - Europe pipeline, which has an annual capacity of up to 33 billion cubic metres.

Flows at the Mallnow metering point in Germany, which lies at the Polish border, stopped early on Saturday, according to data from Germany's Gascade operator.

Russia's state-controlled Gazprom said the requests of customers in Europe were being met. It added that fluctuations in demand for Russian gas were dependent on the actual needs of buyers.

A spokesman for Poland's state-controlled PGNiG said flows from the east were much lower than usual, but Poland was still receiving amounts consistent with its contract.

Russia has linked easing Europe's gas crisis with approving the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (top), but experts say the Kremlin already has plenty of capacity to boost supplies without bringing the new route online (pictured)

Poland's gas grid operator Gaz-System said on Saturday the Yamal pipeline was delivering gas to Poland via the Kondratki compressor station on the east and Mallnow on the west through 'reverse mode' - meaning it was shipping gas from west to east.

'There is no demand for gas transit towards Germany currently,' a Gaz-System spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement.

Russian gas export flows have been closely watched as gas prices in Europe have soared amid economic recovery and low inventories.

Gazprom has been accused by the International Energy Agency and some European lawmakers of not doing enough to increase its natural gas supplies to Europe, but the Russian company has said it has been meeting its contractual obligations.

A gas transit deal between Russia and Poland expired last year, but Gazprom can book the transit capacity via the pipeline at auctions.

At the last auction on October 18, Gazprom booked some 32 million cubic metres per day, or 35 per cent of total additional capacity offered by the Polish operator Gas System for transit via the Kondratki transit point for November.
The amount of electricity produced from coal will increase in the U.S this year for the first time since 2014, according to new data, dealing a blow to President Biden's climate promises when he arrives in Scotland for a United Nations climate summit on Monday.

Cutting energy production from coal in favor of cleaner natural gas is at the forefront of efforts to tackle global warming, as developed nations tell India and China in particular to clean up.

But a surge in the cost of natural gas has seen the U.S. switching back to coal, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration

It said it expected 22 percent more coal-fired power this year than last year - the first annual increase since 2014.

The details brought fresh criticism from left and right that Biden was in danger of lecturing the developing world to 'do as I say, not what I do.'

Steve Milloy, senior policy fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Instituteaid the surge in coal use was the result of policies that demonized natural gas.

'Utilities burn whatever is cheapest. That's coal right now,' he said.

'Biden is carrying out this war on natural gas. If he got his way fracking would go away and fracking is the only reason US emissions have gone down in the first place.

'If you do believe in reducing emissions, then you know, Biden's plan and his actions are entirely backfiring.'

President Biden will arrive at the COP26 climate summit on Monday where leaders want to move the world closer to keeping temperature rises to less than 1.5C

But new data forecast that surging prices of natural gas mean the U.S. will generate more electricity from coal than it did last year - the first increases since 2014

The Miller coal Power Plant in Adamsville, Alabama, sends about as much planet warming carbon dioxide into the sky as 3.7 million cars in a year

Having set a target of halving U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, Democrats were forced to drop a key provision from their huge Build Back Better bill last week.

The Clean Energy Performance Program would have rewarded power companies that increased their share of renewables by four percent a year - and taken a stick to those that did not.

It was jettisoned as part of a deal to keep warring Democrats together.

And Scottish environmentalists said it showed how difficult it was for Biden to push through change and take on the role of global leader.

'Its clear Biden has a job on his hands to get any kind of ambitious plans on climate passed, and weve already seen the efforts of Senator Joe Manchin and coal industry voices water down sections of the Build Back Better Bill when it comes to fossil fuels,' said Mark Ruskell, Member of the Scottish Parliament and environment spokesperson for Scottish Greens.

'The reality is it is smaller countries like Denmark and New Zealand who are leading global efforts by moving beyond the era of oil and gas.

'Scotland has already moved beyond coal. Biden must spend time in Glasgow speaking to them.'

Some 20,000 people will attend talks at the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, including government representatives, scientists and policy experts

Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, has also been accused of hypocrisy for failing to say he will not refuse permission for a new coal mine to open.

Biden was also criticized for the carbon footprint for his trip, flying an entourage of officials, security officers and vehicles first to Rome and then to Scotland.

The trip is estimated to generate 2.2 million pounds of carbon - mostly from the four planes needed to ferry everyone around, as well as helicopter hops and motorcades between venues.

The British prime minister Boris Johnson also faces accusations of hypocrisy ahead of the summit.

His government has the final say on plans for a new coalmine in the north of England. And although he has made clear he is not in favor of mines opening, he has been accused of offering tacit support by not yet ordering a halt to the proposal.

Last week, his government also cut taxes on domestic flights, despite warnings that it would undermine efforts to cut emissions from airliners.

Even so Britain hopes leaders gathering in Glasgow will adopt proposals to get closer to limiting the rise in the average global temperature to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to reduce carbon emissions to a net of zero by 2050.

But the run-up brought setbacks.

China and India have disappointed climate activists by digging in their heels.

On Thursday, Beijing announced it was leaving its climate goals unchanged as it told the U.N. it would reach peak emissions before 2030 and hit carbon neutrality by 2060.

Domestic coal production would continue to increase until 2025.

India, the world's third biggest emitter, said it would not unveiling any new targets.

President Biden has also been criticized for the carbon footprint of his trip to Europe

Its environment secretary even described the drive to net zero emissions as an exercise in 'goalpost shifting.'

Rameshwar P Guptasaid said the country's coal production would increase in absolute terms, but would decrease as a share of total energy.

'We depend on coal and we would like to continue,' he said.

American conservatives see a president making bold promises that he cannot turn into legislation at home and which he cannot persuade key nations to follow, undermining America's place in the world.

'And what this really, really boils down to as we go into Glasgow is that this has a great deal of effect on American legitimacy, and American relevance,' said Steven Groves, Margaret Thatcher fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

'When you have these stupid promises and commitments to make, and so they shouldn't be made.'
An Alabama probate judge who allegedly said George Floyd 'got what he deserved,' talked about his sex life in the workplace, showed his employees pornographic videos, and scanned women's bodies while ogling their breasts is set to be removed from office.

A state judicial ethics court on Friday ruled unanimously to remove Probate Judge Randy Jinks of Talladega County from his position on the bench.

Employees of Jinks allege that he once remarked about Floyd: 'I don't see anything wrong with the police killing him' and that he 'pretty much got what he deserved.'

Floyd is the 46-year-old black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police in May of last year - igniting nationwide protests, demonstrations, and rioting.

Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, was convicted in Floyd's death. He is serving a 22-and-a-half year prison sentence.

Darrius Pearson, a black employee, testified in May 2019 that after Jinks saw his new car, he remarked that he could not afford one on his judge's salary.

'What you doing, selling drugs?' Jinks is alleged to have asked Pearson.

The panel ruled that Jinks violated the state's Canons of Judicial Ethics, which requires judges to uphold the honor of the judiciary, maintain decorum, and avoid impropriety.

An Alabama state judicial ethics court on Friday ruled unanimously to remove Probate Judge Randy Jinks of Talladega County from his position on the bench

The image above shows the Talladega County Courthouse located in Talladega County, Alabama

News of the ruling was first reported by NBC News.

A lawyer for Jinks said that the complaint was 'concocted by a few disgruntled' employees and that allegations of racist comments by Jinks were 'fabricated to generate antagonism with the public, the Court of Judiciary, and the media.'

In March, Jinks appeared on WOIL-TV and denied any wrongdoing after he was suspended.

'I am a decent person,' Jinks said. 'I am very respectful around women.'

Darrius Pearson, a former employee of Jinks, came forward and alleged that Jinks made racist comments and used racial slurs out in the open

Employees of Jinks allege that he once remarked about Floyd: 'I don't see anything wrong with the police killing him' and that he 'pretty much got what he deserved.' Floyd is the 46-year-old black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police in May of last year - igniting nationwide protests, demonstrations, and rioting. Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, was convicted in Floyd's death. He is serving a 22-and-a-half year prison sentence

He continued: 'I do not use racial slurs. I do not go off on tirades in the office.'

Jinks said that when the initial complaint was filed, 'it shook me when it first happened' but that it later 'moved me closer to the lord.'

'I am not saying I haven't made some errors, but the majority of these vicious, vile and vulgar accusations are nothing to fear.

'They can say what they want, they can't hurt me.'

As probate judge, Jinks is responsible for ruling in cases that include adoptions and guardianships, mental health commitments, and the issuing of marriage licenses.

Jinks, a Republican who was elected to a six-year judgeship in November 2018, does not have a legal background. Probate judges do not need a legal background to serve in Alabama.

According to the original 78-page complaint first filed in March, Jinks used profane language in the presence of his employees, initiated discussion of a sexual nature, including his preferences for women and pornography, and made overtly racist comments.

Employees alleged that after a black couple visited his office to fill out a marriage certificate, Jinks said: 'What did their black asses want?'

The 78-page complaint lists about 100 alleged instances in which Jinks made disparaging and suggestive comments as well as uttered racial slurs.

Jinks, a Republican who was elected to a six-year judgeship in November 2018, does not have a legal background. Probate judges do not need a legal background to serve in Alabama

On several occasions, he is alleged to have used the word 'N****r' aloud, in earshot of African-American employees.

When NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace reported finding a noose in the team garage at Talladega Superspeedway in June 2020, Jinks is alleged to have remarked that the driver was 'just playing the black card.'

Jinks is also alleged to have made crude, unsolicited comments about his sexual preferences and tastes.

In March 2020, he is alleged to have told Pearson to his face: 'While all this COVID-19 is going on, the only way to have sex is to 'hit it from behind'.'

In July 2020, Jinks is alleged to have shown Pearson a video on his cell phone depicting 'women flashing their breasts,' according to the complaint.

The complaint also alleges that 'when encountering women, including female customers and attorneys, Judge Jinks noticeably scans their bodies and then stares primarily at their breasts, even during conversation.'

One woman who worked in the office is said to have stopped wearing a certain blouse 'because of the way Judge Jinks stared at her chest when she wore it one day.'

Jinks is also alleged to have told female staffers that he was 'miserable' in his marriage and that he wanted to be with 'a younger woman.'

One woman also alleged that when she was at Pearson's desk, Jinks 'needlessly squeezed between her and the wall although there are two alternate, unconfined ways around the desk.

Jinks allegedly made frequent comments about women's appearances, referred to other women as 'b***es' and 'whores,' and said: 'I would not dare touch, look, or be with a fat woman.'
Farmers fear a 40 per cent rise in meat imports from New Zealand  priced more than a fifth cheaper than home-produced lamb  could put them out of business.

Under a new trade deal between the two countries, an extra 35,000 tons of New Zealand lamb can be sold here over the next four years and then all import quotas will be removed after 15 years.

UK farmers say they will suffer, with shoppers already shunning British lamb because it costs significantly more than Kiwi meat  even though it has to be transported almost 12,000 miles to get here.

Welsh pub owner Sian Shepphard is just one of many who says she has been forced to switch to New Zealand lamb  saying Welsh lamb is '34 per cent more expensive'.

Although International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan claims British farmers should not be worried, National Farmers' Union president Minette Batters says the deal 'could damage the viability of many British farms in the years ahead, to the detriment of the public, who want more British food on their shelves, and to the detriment of our rural communities and cherished farmed landscapes'.

Farmers fear a 40 per cent rise in meat imports from New Zealand  priced more than a fifth cheaper than home-produced lamb  could put them out of business (stock)

Welsh farmer Wyn Evans argues that the deal is skewed to help New Zealand, with scant opportunity for the UK to export since for every ton of lamb meat eaten by the six million population, New Zealand exports almost 50 tons.

The plight of British lamb producers can be seen vividly on the shelves at Sainsbury's.

If you want a leg of lamb, there are two choices. Both British and New Zealand fresh meat is priced at 11 per kg. However, a frozen leg  only from New Zealand  comes in at 8.57 per kg.

The 5.58 difference for a typical 2.3kg leg is surprising given shipping costs have increased fivefold over the past 12 months. New Zealand's lamb is also cheaper despite its farmers not getting subsidies  whereas UK farmers (with 22.5 million sheep, three per cent of the global total)  receive 3 billion.

UK farmers fear, too, that the Kiwis will engage in an export battle with Australia, thus reducing prices even more and further hurting our sheep meat industry.

National Farmers' Union president Minette Batters says the deal 'could damage the viability of many British farms in the years ahead, to the detriment of the public, who want more British food on their shelves, and to the detriment of our rural communities and cherished farmed landscapes'

With 39 million sheep in New Zealand  around seven for every human  and a population density of 18 people per square kilometre, compared with 276 in England, sheep farmers in lush grassland areas such as Wairarapa, North Island, have an in-built advantage. Here, many of Brussels' regulatory burdens, which add to the cost of producing meat, remain in place despite Brexit.

'The cost of producing lamb in New Zealand is around 63 per cent lower than here,' says NFU livestock board chairman Richard Findlay.

'This is largely because New Zealand has fewer regulatory burdens and because its farmers benefit from greater levels of government and industry investment in innovation and technology.

'Crucially, they also have a properly resourced export strategy with agricultural trade counsellors based in target markets.'

A frequent complaint of UK farmers has been the mountain of paperwork for moving sheep  based on rules set by Brussels that require every detail put on a database.

By comparison, New Zealand's National Flock Recording Scheme improves yield, measuring the performance of ewes so the best can be selected for breeding.

Thanks to all the extra space, New Zealand farms are larger than here. One in Wairere on North Island has a flock of 7,000 sheep  compared with the average 460 for a British farm. Yet only four shepherds look after those 7,000 animals.

Sheep are rotated between 90 30-acre neighbouring paddocks to make efficient use of the grass. In Britain, by contrast, sheep are usually moved on expensive lorries.

Donald Trump may have enjoyed his saddle of Windsor lamb at a state banquet in London in 2019 but British sheep farmers fear that fewer foreigners  and more worryingly, fewer British families  will buy their produce in future.
A woman has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly ramming a cyclist with her car as she terrorised a street in a late-night rampage.

Police said the cyclist was travelling on Wirraway Parade, Inala, in Brisbane about 4.30am on Saturday when the 4WD allegedly deliberately hit the bike's rear wheel.

'The cyclist stopped and the woman allegedly drove at the man who jumped the front fence of a house in Lapwing Street for safety,' Queensland Police said.

'The driver of the 4WD then crashed into four fences before allegedly running over the man's bike laying on a footpath.'

A woman (pictured) has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly ramming a cyclist with her 4WD in Inala, in Brisbane's south, around 4.30am on Saturday

Police said they arrested the woman who was stopped in the 4WD further along Lapwing Street.

The 45-year-old Durack woman was charged with one count each of attempted murder and dangerous driving.

She was also charged with five counts of wilful damage over four fences and the bicycle she allegedly rammed with her car.

She is due to appear in Richland Magistrates Court on Monday.

The 42-year-old Durack cyclist was taken to hospital for leg injuries but released after receiving medical attention.

The pair are not known to each other.

The woman allegedly deliberately drove at the man then through several fences (one pictured)

Witnesses said the woman was allegedly yelling racial slurs at the cyclist after she allegedly ran him down on his bike then chased him into a vacant block.

Footage of the alleged rampage taken by residents and provided to 9News shows the cyclist cornered in a front yard as the woman allegedly hurls abuse at him.

'D**khead, get off the road you dog,' the woman can be heard screaming.

The woman gets back into her car, reversing down the street, before allegedly ploughing her car through a resident's fence.

Police are searching for the man's bike which is believed to have been stolen by a passerby around the time of the incident.
A New Jersey hospital has become the first to mandate booster shots for workers who have had the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

About 270 employees at University Hospital in Newark - the only public acute care facility in the state - have until December 24 to get the booster or face being fired, the hospital's CEO, Dr Shereef Elnahal said.

The hospital's mandate comes on the heels of the CDC and FDA approvals of COVID-19 booster shots.

Workers affected by the mandate could get the booster shot from J&J, or mix-and-match with Pfizer's, or half a dose of Moderna's.

'In my view, the goal of this is not to discipline people. It's not to force people to do anything,' Elnahal told McClatchy News. 'It's to protect the safety and health of our employees and patients.'

About 270 employees at University Hospital in Newark have until December 24 to get the booster. If they refuse to, they could be fired, the hospital's CEO said

The hospital's mandate comes on the heels of the CDC and FDA approvals of COVID-19 booster shots

'In my view, the goal of this is not to discipline people. It's not to force people to do anything,' Elnahal said. 'It's to protect the safety and health of our employees and patients.'

Ninety-seven percent of the hospital's 3,700 employees are vaccinated against COVID-19.

The remaining three percent have mostly received medical or religious exemptions.

Elnahal, former New Jersey commisioner of health, warned that those who refused to get the booster shot before the deadline will get their situation 'escalated' and will eventually be fired if they remain adamant to get the shot.

He added that in the following two months he will answer any questions from employees during several dinners and lunches starting Monday.

Elnahal made the announcement in a statement on October 27.

The statement read: 'Data and analysis indicate that a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may no longer confer a level of effectiveness that prevents COVID-19 infection in enough of our employees if they are exposed, which has implications on our ability to keep vulnerable patients and families safe.'

Elnahal made the announcement in a statement on October 27

Workers affected by the mandate could get the booster shot from J&J, or mix-and-match with Pfizer's, or half a dose of Moderna's

More than 66percent of the population in the US has been inoculated against COVID-19. In New Jersey, over 12million doses of the vaccine have been given, and 5.89 million individuals are fully vaccinated

Booster shots are advised for individuals 18 and older who got their first Johnson & Johnson dose at least two months ago.

Those vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna, are only recommended to get a booster if they are 65 or older - or 18 and older with underlying health conditions, working in high-risk environments, or living in long-term care facilities.

As expected, not all employees at University Hospital are on board with the mandate, Elnahal said.

'I just wanna be honest about that,' he said.

'There are employees who have concerns and I've already heard about that and that's the exact reason I want to do these personal lunches with people and explain the context, explain the rationale,' Elnahal added.

As of today, every adult in NJ is now eligible to get scheduled for a #COVID19 vaccine.



PASS IT ON! @NJGov pic.twitter.com/HwsWiyFGuB  Shereef Elnahal, MD (@ShereefElnahal) April 19, 2021

Elnahal, the former health commissioner of New Jersey, said that in the following two months he will answer any questions from employees during several dinners and lunches starting Monday

Booster shots are advised for individuals 18 and older who got their first Johnson & Johnson dose at least two months ago

There are currently over 45million active cases of COVID-19 infections in the country

Last month, Biden announced a new executive order requiring all companies with at least 100 employees to garner proof of vaccination from all of their workers. Those who receive exceptions from their employees can opt for minimum weekly testing instead.

The order will affect at least 80 million workers in the US.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which falls under the Labor Department, delivered its final draft of the rule to OMB on October 12. The mandate is expected to take effect shortly after the review process is completed.

University Hospital said the hospital will keep reviewing data to determine in due time if the mandates will be extended for employees who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

More than 66percent of the population in the US has been inculated against COVID-19. In New Jersey, over 12million doses of the vaccine have been given, and 5.89 million individuals are fully vaccinated.

There are currently over 45million active cases of COVID-19 infections in the country.

Almost 28,000 New Jersey residents have lost their lives to COVID since the pandemic started, compared to 735,941 COVID-19 reported deaths in the US.
For the first time in 15 years, US Marines will be allowed full-sleeve tattoos that cover most of their arms and legs - but inked soldiers could be banned taking part in ceremonial other high visibility assignments.

The Marine Corps prohibited sleeve tattoos in 2007 and Corps officials kept the ban in place when the tattoo policy was updated in 2016 by banning Marines from having tattoos around their elbows and knees.

In a tweet posted on Friday, the Marines failed to mention tattoos specifically on arms and legs in the most recent revision to the tattoo policy, which says, 'Marines may have tattoos on any area of the body, excluding, the head, neck, and hands, in according with this bulletin.'

The Marine corps also bans tattoos that depict or symbolize extremist organizations, and those that depict racial or gender violence.

However, the newly-update policy does warn Marines that they could face career-damaging consequences for their tattoos, such as being banned from future duty assignments.

'Officers and enlisted Marines may continue to be assigned or allowed to serve on Special Duty Assignment, although assignment to ceremonial and other high visibility units may be restricted,' the policy reads.

The US Marines have updated their tattoo policy allowing full-sleeve arm and leg pieces for the first time in 15 years. Tattoos on the neck, head and hands remain prohibited

The Marines Corp decision to ban sleeve tattoos on legs and arms came after an increase in 2007, at the height of the Iraq War. Pictured: A U.S. Marine in Iraq showing gun tattoos on both of his arms in 2004

The new policy also specifically defines what it considers as 'extremist tattoos' and why those are prohibited, while the Defense Department continues to look for a definition of what exactly extremist activity is.

Since President Joe Biden took office in January, the Pentagon has looked for ways to fight extremism within the military, such as ordering all units to hold stand-downs to talk about the problem.

A retired Special Forces soldier along with other veterans as well as some service members, including an active-duty Marine lieutenant colonel were part of the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6th last year.

The Defense Department's efforts to remove extremists personnel serving in the military have not gone down well with Republican lawmakers.

The Marine tattoo policy now describes extremist tattoos as those 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 in the United States; or advocates, engages in, or encourages military personnel or DoD or U.S. Coast Guard civilian employees to violate laws or disobey lawful orders or regulations for the purpose of disrupting military activities.'

Of all the changes mentioned in the latest version of the tattoo policy, the decision to allow sleeve tattoos may be the most significant because of the Corps' decision to ban such excessive tattoos in March 2007 has been an issue that has never been fully resolved.

The decision, which came at the apogee of the Iraq War, followed a months-long review that started in August 2006.

'Concerns over excessive tattooing, specifically sleeve tattoos, was raised by the August 2006 Sergeants Major Symposium,' Marine Corps spokesman 1st Lt. Brian P. Donnelly told Stars and Stripes at the time. 'Marines' appearances are a direct reflection of the Marine Corps and it is felt excessive tattoos are not in line with the traditional values of the Marine Corps.'

An increase in Marines getting more tattoos on their legs and arms happened during the Iraq War, said John L. Estrada, who served as the 15th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps when the sleeve tattoo ban took effect.

Some of those tattoos were sexually vulgar in nature, racist, or offensive in other ways, pushing a lengthy debate throughout the Marine Corps' leadership about whether the Corps needed to impose limitations on the variety of tattoos Marines could get, Estrada said.

'Marines always had tattoos  let's not get that wrong,' Estrada said. 'But it was not as extreme until we noticed it popping up during the last war, the invasion of Iraq, which I participated in. The consensus with the leadership back then was that we needed to put this in check because it took away from the appearance of professionalism of Marines.'

A U.S. Marine from 2nd Marine Division MP Company shows off his tattoo that reads 'Protect Us' at his forward operating base in Farah Province, southern Afghanistan, on September 27, 2009

Estrada told Task & Force on Thursday that he opposed the reacceptance of Marines to have sleeve tattoos again  a move which he said would be seen as 'retreating - before the latest changes to the tattoo policy had been announced, said he opposed allowing Marines to have sleeve tattoos again  a move which he said would be considered as 'retreating.'

'We are evolving on race; we are evolving on diversity and everything else  this is not evolving on professionalism if that's what's going to happen here,' Estrada said. 'We're going to be taking a step backwards.'

But, many Marines who served during the Post 9/11 wars would argue that sleeve tattoos was considered as a way to memorialize the fallen as they would ink the names of friends they had lost on their arms and legs.

Some Marines who had served in combat even saw offense to the ban on sleeve tattoos. Brian Davenport, who was not re-enrolled because of his tattoos, told Marine Corps Times in 2017 that he felt the Marine Corps had suddenly determined that his combat experience in Afghanistan no longer mattered.

'You had leaders saying, 'We don't care that you're a combat veteran,'' Davenport said at the time. 'I had a second lieutenant, he was brand new and he's like: 'No one cares about Afghanistan. That's over. We're moving on. There's a new Marine Corps.''

The new policy seeks to simplify the Marine Corps rules around tattoos by bringing all Marines, regardless of rank or billet, to the same standard

In January 2020, Marine Cpl. Jasper Piala created and started an online petition calling on the Marine Corps to acknowledge sleeve tattoos. As of today, it has received more than 75,000 signatures.

'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,' Piala wrote in the Change.org petition.

'This creates an increasingly damaging stigma, within which a Marine who has or desires tattoos outside of the standing regulations is seen as lacking discipline. There exists no correlation, positive or negative, between tattoos and effectiveness, efficiency, discipline, or lethality.'
The mother of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber pocketed benefits worth more than 17,000 after leaving Britain, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Despite returning to her native Libya in October 2016, terrorist sympathiser Samia Tabbal continued to receive about 2,500 a month in housing and child benefit and work and tax credits into her HSBC bank account.

The taxpayer-funded payments only stopped days after her son, Salman Abedi, killed 22 people by detonating a suicide bomb at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017, and may have gone on had the subsequent police investigation not established that Tabbal and her husband Ramadan Abedi were back living in Libya.

The mother of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber pocketed benefits worth more than 17,000 after leaving Britain, The Mail on Sunday can reveal

Despite returning to her native Libya in October 2016, terrorist sympathiser Samia Tabbal continued to receive about 2,500 a month in housing and child benefit and work and tax credits into her HSBC bank account

The 55-year-old's benefits bonanza is revealed in official documents submitted to the Manchester Arena Inquiry that suggest she failed to inform HM Revenue & Customs that she was leaving the UK.

A financial report says she received 692.32 a month in housing benefit for her rented property in the Fallowfield area of Manchester, along with weekly child benefit of 61.80 and weekly work and tax credits of 302.76.

The payments ceased on May 31, 2017  nine days after the Arena attack.

A jury at the Old Bailey trial of Salman Abedi's younger brother, Hashem, 24, heard earlier this year that Tabbal's debit card was used by her sons to buy ingredients for the deadly bomb.

Hashem was jailed for at least 55 years after being convicted of 22 counts of murder.

There is no evidence that Tabbal knew of, or was involved in, the Arena attack but the inquiry has heard that she expressed sympathy for the February 17th Martyrs Brigade of Libya and the Libya Shield Force, two groups linked to Al Qaeda, on Facebook.

Tabbal and Ramadan Abedi are believed to be living on the outskirts of Libyan capital Tripoli and are reportedly under surveillance.

A senior MI5 officer last week told the inquiry that Ramadan was 'likely' to have influenced his son's extremist beliefs, although he has denied links with Islamist militant groups or knowledge of the attack.

The couple and their oldest son Ismail, who flew out of the UK on August 29 apparently to avoid giving evidence to the inquiry, have refused to assist the authorities.

The dossier of financial documents also show that Salman Abedi received 10,331 into two bank accounts between October 2016 and May 2017, including 4,263.08 from the Student Loans Company that he did not qualify for because he had quit his business studies course at Salford University.

Two separate deposits totalling 3,200 were made by unknown sources into his RBS account in January 2017, shortly before the bank closed it over suspicions about fraud.

The taxpayer-funded payments only stopped days after her son, Salman Abedi (pictured), killed 22 people by detonating a suicide bomb at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017

It may have gone on had the subsequent police investigation not established that Tabbal and her husband Ramadan Abedi were back living in Libya

The inquiry began in September 2020 and its chairman, Sir John Saunders, has already ruled that 'serious shortcomings in security' contributed to the devastation caused by the attack.

HMRC, which pays the benefits, said it could not comment on individual cases.

Separately, a friend of Salman Abedi who was arrested last week on terrorism charges related to the attack, told the inquiry that messaging-app exchanges between the men shortly before the bombing were about importing sheep.

Challenged about the messages on Thursday  a week after he was arrested at Manchester Airport  Ahmed Taghdi said: 'During one call, Salman asked me if I could search how much sheep were for sale and could I get him some sheep to send to Libya.'

Mr Taghdi, 24, who has been bailed pending further inquiries, helped Salman Abedi buy a Nissan Micra car in which chemicals used to make the bomb were stored.

Mr Taghdi denies any involvement in the attack.
THE Government has lost more than 900 foreign criminals including murderers, over 50 robbers and almost 40 rapists and sex offenders, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Many of the foreign crooks are subject to deportation orders with the number of those missing rising by more than 160 in two years.

They have avoided authorities' clutches by escaping from jails, prison vans or disappearing after release into the community.

The Home Office data, released under Freedom of Information laws, show there are 916 foreign criminals who are listed as absconders.

They include 16 rapists, including child attackers, 20 sex offenders, 53 robbers, 16 burglars, 53 violent criminals, murderers and 65 thieves.

One of those absconders includes a prison escapee who fled 29 years ago, while 547 of the number fled in the last five years. It is thought they include 38-year-old Rezgar Zengana, who posed as a private hire taxi driver to pick up his 25-year-old victim before raping her at a house in Glasgow in 2006.

It is thought absconders include 38-year-old Rezgar Zengana, (pictured) who posed as a private hire taxi driver to pick up his 25-year-old victim before raping her at a house in Glasgow in 2006

The Iraqi national, who features on the National Crime Agency's most wanted list, was convicted for the rape but fled before sentencing.

He was last thought to be hiding in Holland though authorities have not been able to locate the criminal. It was also revealed that as of June this year there are another 33,357 foreign nationals who are of interest to immigration enforcement who have disappeared.

Yet spending to tackle immigration enforcement has dropped by 40million in two years despite Home Secretary Priti Patel's tough rhetoric on kicking out foreign crooks.

In 2019 it was recorded that 747 foreign criminals were missing. And in a damning report in June 2017, Chief Inspector of Borders David Bolt revealed officials had lost track of 753 foreign criminals who faced deportation and that the team trying to find them had only 11 staff.

It was also revealed that as of June this year there are another 33,357 foreign nationals who are of interest to immigration enforcement who have disappeared. Yet spending to tackle immigration enforcement has dropped by 40million in two years despite Home Secretary Priti Patel's (pictured) tough rhetoric on kicking out foreign crooks

Campaigners have told of their shock that the number has risen markedly in the last two years.

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK. said: 'The number of absconders is shocking.

'It is symptomatic of the shamefully short-sighted starving of immigration enforcement resources since 2018.

'These dangerous thugs should be detained and removed, not given the freedom of the UK. The public have had enough.'

Alp Mehmet, (pictured) chairman of Migration Watch UK. said: 'The number of absconders is shocking. 'It is symptomatic of the shamefully short-sighted starving of immigration enforcement resources since 2018'

The shocking figures come after it was revealed another 10,882 foreign criminals who are subject to deportation are living in the community as of June this year.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Foreign criminals should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them, and since January 2019 we have removed 8,441 foreign national offenders.

'We have a dedicated national absconder tracing team working with the police, other government agencies and commercial companies to track down and bring absconders back into contact with the Home Office. '

'We never giving up trying to trace absconders and we have significantly improved the way we collect data on people leaving the UK in recent years.

'Absconders who have left the UK can be traced overseas and their status would be flagged should they try to re-enter, thereby preventing them from ever returning to the UK.'
It was hailed as a budget for booze, but it appears one thing is not sacred in Rishi Sunak's plans: communion wine.

The fortified drink used in church services will become more expensive as the new rules will see alcohol taxed on the basis of its strength.

Last week the Chancellor admitted that 'some drinks, like stronger red wines, fortified wines or high-strength white ciders will see a small increase in their rates because they are currently undertaxed given their strength'.

This will affect many communion wines, which are around 12-15 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV).

The move bemused Rev Linda Williams of St Peter & St Paul's church in Hertfordshire. 'Having stepped up to fill the gaps in local social need during the pandemic, churches are being walloped with more tax on the fortified wine necessary for Holy Communion. That's gratitude for you,' she said in a letter to The Times.

Wine used in church services will become more expensive as the new rules will see alcohol taxed on the basis of its strength and will affect communion wines, which are around 12-15 per cent ABV (stock imahe)

Canon law in both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church stipulates that communion wine must be the fermented juice of the grape, according to the Church Times.

Churches often serve alcoholic wine that has been fortified, which means that distilled spirit has been added to boost the alcohol volume. The high alcohol content can help preserve the wine and prevent it spoiling.

Fergus Butler-Gallie, a clergyman in the diocese of London and a writer, said it was also to do with hygiene.

'It's not some mad Old Testament rule that you must have the blood of 15 goats sacrificed into 18.7 per cent ABV. It's about hygiene,' he said. 'The higher the alcohol content, the more likely you are to reduce germs.'

But Mark Lansley, CEO of Broadland Drinks, one of the UK's largest wholesalers of communion wine, suggested his firm could lower the wine's strength.

'Unless there is a religious reason forbidding it, we should be able to make our alcoholic communion wine at 8 per cent ABV, which will reduce the duty rate,' he said. 'I don't think God would mind if it was 8 per cent ABV rather than 15 per cent.'

Teetotal Mr Sunak (pictured) said he wanted to make the system 'simpler, fairer and healthier', with lower-strength drinks such as beers, sparkling and rose wines and fruit cider taxed less

Last week, teetotal Mr Sunak said he wanted to make the system 'simpler, fairer and healthier', with lower-strength drinks such as beers, sparkling and rose wines and fruit cider taxed less.

But stronger reds, fortified wines and higher-strength ciders will see an increase in tax when the new system starts in 2023.

Miles Beale of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, criticised the plans, saying: 'It will distort the market: a 15 per cent ABV wine will pay 25 per cent more duty than a wine at 12 per cent ABV (more than 60p a bottle) and will be complicated to administer.'

He added: 'If the Government wants to make things fairer and push consumers to make healthier choices, then per unit costs should be the same irrespective of drink category. It looks like a mistake to cut tax on high-strength, high-calorie beers and ciders and even less sense to penalise still wine, three-quarters of which will be taxed more and which is lower in calories.'

Last night a Treasury spokesperson said: 'We are overhauling the UK's outdated alcohol duty rules.'
A third of staff at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) are still working from home, despite warnings of supply-chain issues over Christmas because of driver shortages.

Government workers are not returning to the office, even though there are delays in processing almost 30,000 HGV licence applications.

Last night, Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager for the TaxPayers Alliance, said: Taxpayers dont appreciate being made to pay for empty desks.

As flexible working becomes more popular, Government agencies have a duty to ensure objectives are met and ramp up efficiencies where possible.

Figures reveal that 2,000 staff, who issue and renew drivers licences, at Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) headquarters in Swansea are still working from home (stock image)

Figures released last week revealed the number of empty desks at DVLA headquarters in Swansea  where the Welsh government guidance is still to work from home if possible.

About 2,000 staff are still working from home all week.

The department declined to specify how many of its 6,000 staff have returned to the office full-time, rather than doing some work from home.

However, 1,389 staff  or 28.5 per cent of the workforce  are permanently working from home at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), based in Bristol. This is responsible for carrying out driving tests, including for lorry drivers

This comes despite delays in processing almost 30,000 HGV licence applications as well as warnings of supply-chain issues over Christmas because of driver shortages (stock image)

The agency was last night also unable to say how many staff have returned to the office full time. In England, the work-from-home guidance was lifted in July.

Unions have staged 58 days of strikes at the DVLA within the past six months, sparked by concerns about safety and social distancing in the headquarters.

Last night, a DVLA spokesman said: Staff in roles that enable them to work from home are doing so and have throughout the pandemic in accordance with Welsh government guidance.

'Operational staff, including those who process applications for vocational driving licences, are required to be in the office.

A DVSA spokesman said the agency was satisfied that all colleagues currently working from home are able to provide a full service to its customers.
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Health teams will visit more than 800 schools across England this week to offer children aged 12-15 a coronavirus vaccine.

Many more pupils returning to classrooms after the October half-term break can get a jab at school, NHS England said.

Alternatively, children can make an appointment to visit a vaccination centre using the national booking system which has also been opened to this age group.

NHS teams are set to visit hundreds of schools in the next week to offer children a jab.

More than 600,000 young people have been vaccinated since the jabs rollout was extended to include 12 to 15-year-olds at the end of September, NHS England said.

Health teams will visit more than 800 schools across England this week to offer children aged 12-15 a coronavirus vaccine

Some 163,000 young people received a jab in the week after the national booking system opened up to them from October 22.

A further 140,000 children have their vaccine booked over the next few weeks, NHS England added.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: 'The vaccines are safe and will help keep children in the classroom  I encourage everyone to come forward for their jab to protect themselves and the people around them.'

Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and deputy lead for the NHS Covid-19 vaccine programme, said: 'As our children return to the classroom, our efforts to vaccinate children will not stop  hundreds more schools will be vaccinating this week.

'It's really important that we continue with the same enthusiasm if we want to ensure children get to stay in the classroom with their fellow pupils this winter, and so I encourage all parents and guardians to head online and read the information on vaccinating your child, so you can make an informed decision.'

Pictured: Health Secretary Sajid Javid insists vaccines are safe and has urged everyone who is eligible to come forward

England's Covid vaccine drive for children is going even more slowly than first thought. An update to official figures on the dashboard revised down the proportion of 12 to 15-year-olds (purple line) that had been inoculated from 22 to 19 per cent

Polling conducted by YouGov suggested only half of 12 to 15-year-olds had been invited for a vaccine, according to their parents. NHS England said it had already invited everyone in the age group and was now sending out follow up letters

Pupils are also being urged to get tested for coronavirus before returning to school to minimise disruption to lessons and to ensure families can 'enjoy the best' of the festive season.

Ministers and the UK Health Security Agency are calling on young people to take a rapid lateral flow test before the end of the October half-term to help prevent Covid-19 entering the classroom.

It comes after it was reported England's Covid vaccine drive for children is going even slower than thought, according to official data which prompted 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.

Just 19.3 per cent of 12 to 15 year olds have come forward for their first jab, figures on the Government dashboard show, despite the whole group being eligible since September 20.

The children's roll out has been beset by delays and cancellations, while critics complained the decision to only let youngsters get jabbed in schools hampered the drive. Uptake rates were always expected to be lower in children  who face a tiny risk from Covid and a higher risk of complications from the jab.

NHS England insisted today all children had already been invited for their first jab and repeated that they can now book online, after leaked Whitehall documents claimed half the age group is still yet to get a jab offer.

Vaccines for children must be 'turbocharged' , former health secretary Jeremy Hunt (Pictured left) said last week as he warned if cases rebound England may have to enact Plan B restrictions (right) to prevent spiking cases overbearing the NHS

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt last week urged ministers to 'turbo-charge' the roll out to avoid another rebound in Covid cases which could force ministers to impose Plan B  bringing back face masks and work from home guidance.

Meanwhile, a report claimed that only half of 12 to 15-year-olds in England have been invited for their Covid vaccine.

Internal polling conducted by YouGov for ministers found just half of parents said their son or daughter had been told to get their first dose.

But two-thirds said they were keen to get their child vaccinated once they were invited. Only 16 per cent said their offspring would not get the jab.

An NHS England spokeswoman today insisted all eligible children had been invited for their vaccine, saying: 'Actually, the NHS has issued 2.6million invites to 12 to 15-year-olds for their vaccine this week since the national booking system opened to this age group last week.

'Families can head to the national booking system to book their children's vaccine online or get their jab through the school programme.'

The internal figures  seen by PoliticsHome  were circulated among ministers to show how the roll out is progressing.

It is not clear how many parents were questioned in the polling, nor when it was carried out.

Coronavirus cases fall for SEVENTH day in a row: Infections drop 8.2% in a week to 41,278 but deaths rise by 31 to 166 and hospitalisations remain flat

Department of Health bosses posted 41,278 infections today, down 8.2 per cent on last Saturday's 44,985

Covid hospitalisations also fell 3.9 per cent to 1,038 on Tuesday, the latest date data is available for

Number of people dying the virus increased by 23 per cent from 135 last Saturday to 166 today

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.'

Your country needs you... to get your booster! Boris and Sajid urge Britons to get their third Covid jabs amid fears of waning immunity

PM says the double-jabbed should not be 'over-confident' about their immunity

Mr Johnson said failing to take up offer of third jab risks them falling 'seriously ill'

Sajid Javid echoed PM's sentiment, calling on people to 'muster collective spirit'

Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid are telling Britons today that their country needs them to get their Covid-19 booster jabs.

Reminding the public of the risks still posed by coronavirus, the Prime Minister says those who have been double-vaccinated should not be 'over-confident' about their immunity  and risk becoming 'seriously ill' if they fail to take up the offer to get their third.

Saying 'people don't quite realise the first two jabs start to wane' and urging the over-50s, who qualify for a booster shot six months and one week after their second jab, to book an appointment even if the NHS has not contacted them, he adds: 'Please, please, please can everybody get their boosters.'

As The Mail on Sunday revealed last week, Ministers want people to be able to book their booster a month before it is due, but there has been frustration about delays.

Mr Javid said last night: 'I have asked officials to change the booking system so those eligible will be able to book their booster at five months so they can receive their jab as soon as they reach the six-month mark.

'This change will be made in the coming days.

'Not only will you be protecting yourself, you'll be giving this country the best chance of getting through the winter without restrictions, and making sure that the painful restrictions of last winter are an exception and not a rule.'

Echoing Mr Johnson's warning, the Health Secretary said: 'Although our vaccines give powerful protection, we know the protection from a Covid-19 vaccine wanes over time, just as it does with other vaccines.

Reminding the public of the risks still posed by coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured) says those who have been double-vaccinated should not be 'over-confident' about their immunity  and risk becoming 'seriously ill' if they fail to take up the offer to get their third

Echoing Mr Johnson's warning, Health Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured) said: 'Although our vaccines give powerful protection, we know the protection from a Covid-19 vaccine wanes over time, just as it does with other vaccines.'

'This is likely to be most evident in older people or clinically at-risk groups. A small drop in immunity can mean a big impact on our NHS and many unnecessary lives lost.

'I am calling on all eligible people to muster the collective spirit that has got us this far and do your bit for your country by getting boosted.'

Some 270,785 booster jabs were administered on Friday, taking the total to 7,564,423. The average number given daily over the past week was 273,000.

By comparison, the peak seven-day rolling average for second jabs came on April 26, with 416,000. It comes as:

Mr Johnson said that while Covid case numbers were 'high', they 'do not constitute any reason to go to Plan B' and tightened restrictions.

He added: 'Rather than thinking new restrictions, the best thing everybody can do is get that booster jab as soon as you're offered it.'

Expressing concern about those who have been double-jabbed not bothering to get a booster, he said: 'How tragic it would be if people who had other complications in their health got seriously ill because they were over-confident about their level of immunity.'
COP26 president Alok Sharma criticised plans for a new 'meat tax' yesterday  despite revealing he has now given up eating it to help save the environment.

Cabinet Minister Mr Sharma said he was not in favour of slapping a new levy on meat and dairy products. His remarks came after Environment Secretary George Eustice had signalled his support yesterday for the new tax.

According to reports, the Government is already working on a new tax system for parts of the food sector that contribute most to global warming.

COP26 president Alok Sharma criticised plans for a new 'meat tax' yesterday  despite revealing he has now given up eating it to help save the environment

His remarks came after Environment Secretary George Eustice had signalled his support yesterday for the new tax

But Mr Sharma told The Mail on Sunday: 'Ultimately, issues on tax and spend are for the Chancellor.

But I would say, my approach on these things has always been about carrot rather than stick. At the end of the day, we ought to be encouraging people rather than forcing them to go in a particular direction.'

But father-of-two Mr Sharma revealed that he himself had given up on eating meat.

He explained: 'The reason I gave up meat is because my younger daughter, who went vegetarian some years ago and is very focused on environmental issues, basically said to me when I got this role, 'What am I going to do for the environment?''
Boris Johnson yesterday made an impassioned plea to 'keep alive' the dream of combating global warming  declaring this week's climate change summit to be 'the world's moment of truth'.

As world leaders gathered in Glasgow, the Prime Minister raised fears of civilisation 'going backwards' unless they came together to agree decisive action.

But Mr Johnson also played down hopes of success at the COP26 UN climate change summit, which gets under way today.

Speaking at the G20 meeting in Rome, the PM  who last month rated the chances of an agreement in Glasgow at just 'six out of ten'  confessed that the odds were 'about the same'.

Boris Johnson yesterday made an impassioned plea to 'keep alive' the dream of combating global warming  declaring this week's climate change summit to be 'the world's moment of truth'

Mr Johnson hailed the importance of the Glasgow event, saying: '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.' The PM, who is due to fly from Rome to Scotland this evening, added: 'Together, we can mark the beginning of the end of climate change  and end the uncertainty once and for all.'

The COP26 gathering, which immediately follows the G20 meeting, has been billed as one of the biggest such events the UK has ever hosted with 25,000 delegates from 196 countries expected to attend.

A vast security operation will protect a host of world leaders amid fears that thousands of eco-activists will descend on the Scottish city, though Insulate Britain protesters said yesterday they were not going.

Mr Johnson's hopes of a major agreement over the next fortnight have been dented by the decision of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin  key players in any deal to combat global warming  not to attend in person.

COP26 President and Cabinet Minister Alok Sharma appeared to rule out letting the Chinese leader address the summit via video link, telling The Mail on Sunday: 'Anyone who is not coming is able to provide messages that we will put on the appropriate websites so that people can see those. But the world leaders' summit is very clearly an event with physical representation and it is for world leaders.'

As world leaders gathered in Glasgow, the Prime Minister raised fears of civilisation 'going backwards' unless they came together to agree decisive action

In Rome yesterday, a draft communique said G20 countries will step up their efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the level scientists have said is necessary to avoid disaster.

However, critics said there was little in the way of radical new commitments on how to curb harmful emissions. The PM openly admitted yesterday that there was 'no chance' of getting a firm agreement on the 1.5 degrees target this week, telling ITV News: 'What we could conceivably do  if everyone gets their act together  is we could get an agreement that means that COP26 in Glasgow is a way station that allows us to end climate change and allows us to keep alive that dream of restricting the growth to 1.5 degrees.

'That would make a huge difference to the prospects of humanity.'

The Prince of Wales will make a rare political intervention today to tell world leaders they have an 'overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn'.

Prince Charles will address the G20 meeting in Rome and issue his starkest warning yet on climate change ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

The heir to the throne is expected to hint at his sympathy for environmental activist Greta Thunberg when he says: 'It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands.'

The Archbishop of Canterbury said the outcome of the climate summit would be 'life or death for millions of people'.

Sir David Attenborough marked the start of the summit by highlighting how re-wilding landscapes could save humanity.

In a short film made by The Wildlife Trusts for COP26, the veteran broadcaster said nature could lock in carbon dioxide and help protect us from extreme weather and flooding.
Senior Tories are planning an unprecedented bid to save a former Cabinet Minister's political career by overturning the verdict of Westminster's anti-sleaze watchdog.

The MPs are threatening to spare Owen Paterson a 30-day suspension from Parliament by voting down a damning report that found him guilty of breaking lobbying rules.

The Commons Standards Committee said last week that Mr Paterson had committed an 'egregious case of paid advocacy' on behalf of two companies  clinical diagnostics firm Randox and meat processor Lynn's Country Foods.

He was earning more than 100,000 a year from the firms and repeatedly lobbied Ministers and officials on their behalf.

The former Environment Secretary defiantly protested his innocence, labelling the inquiry 'biased' and 'not fair', and said he had been raising serious issues about food contamination.

MPs are threatening to spare Owen Paterson a 30-day suspension from Parliament by voting down a damning report that found him guilty of breaking lobbying rules

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis urges MPs not to endorse the 'wrong-headed report' and demands an overhaul of how MPs are policed, claiming the current system has seen 'innocent people have their reputations trashed, and comparative villains get away scot-free'

He argued that none of his 17 witnesses was interviewed by the watchdog and said the two-year investigation was also 'a major contributory factor' in his wife Rose's suicide last year.

The vote by MPs on the report is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, and a 30-day suspension would allow his constituents to petition for a by-election. The Mail on Sunday understands that Tory whips are working this weekend to decide if they have enough support to reject the committee's ruling entirely or reduce the punishment Mr Paterson faces.

In The Mail on Sunday today, former Brexit Secretary David Davis urges MPs not to endorse the 'wrong-headed report' and demands an overhaul of how MPs are policed, claiming the current system has seen 'innocent people have their reputations trashed, and comparative villains get away scot-free'.

But the threat to overturn the verdict was last night branded an outrage worthy of the MPs' expenses scandal. Labour committee chairman Chris Bryant said it would be the first time 'in our history' that such an action had been taken.

It is also understood that the report was published only after Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle rejected a private appeal from senior Tories to intervene.

DAVID DAVIS: Owen Paterson, a good man, has lost his wife and faces political ruin because of an absurdly flawed Commons investigation

By David Davis, Former Brexit Secretary

The case of Conservative MP Owen Paterson, who has been accused of abusing his position for personal gain, is shot through with high drama and personal tragedy.

An MP for more than 20 years and a former Cabinet Minister, Mr Paterson faces political ruin, thanks to a one-sided House of Commons investigation by the Standards Commissioner that was so amateurish it failed to interview witnesses.

Mr Paterson has already lost his wife Rose, who committed suicide last year  a death that he firmly believes was linked to the stress of the investigation. And this week, MPs will vote on this wrong-headed report and its conclusions. If they endorse it, Mr Paterson's career could well be over.

It is a troubling saga that has thrown into stark relief the failings of the system that Parliament has put in place to police its standards of conduct. These are flaws that should not be allowed in any system of justice, let alone one that is central to the operation of our democracy.

It is also a system that, to many of my Conservative colleagues, appears stacked against Tories and Brexiteers.

I first started to worry some years ago thanks to a case affecting, not a Tory colleague, but Ken Livingstone. The then darling of Left-wing politics was forced to stand up in the House of Commons and make a public apology for having made an inadequate declaration of his outside earnings.

Tragedy: Owen Paterson with his wife Rose, whose suicide he linked to the lobbying investigation

It seemed to me he was being publicly humiliated for something that was not his fault. Mr Livingstone had actually taken advice from Commons officials about the correct process to follow, but this rather crucial point was casually ignored by the House authorities.

However much the standards system has changed over the years, it has always been erratic. I have seen innocent people have their reputations trashed and comparative villains get away scot-free.

But no one should be surprised. Because this is a standards system where one person is chief investigator and prosecutor combined and that allows MPs no effective right of appeal.

The allegations against Mr Paterson, MP for Shropshire North, appear to be serious. He has been accused of paid lobbying  contacting the Government on behalf of companies that were his clients  which is forbidden under House of Commons rules unless there is an overriding public interest.

David Davis: It is a troubling saga that has thrown into stark relief the failings of the system that Parliament has put in place to police its standards of conduct

It might seem strange, then, that the Commissioner's only engagement initially with Mr Paterson was by email, a process that finally concluded with a memorandum sent to him in December last year.

Stranger still, the Commissioner, Kathryn Stone, admitted to the clerk of the Standards Committee that she had made up her mind about the substance of the case before sending him that memorandum. She even admitted 'the dispute is one of interpretation'  not one of fact.

A flimsy process, you might think, when Mr Paterson's reputation and the rest of his career are at stake.

Surely an impartial investigator would check every aspect of the case, particularly where questions of interpretation are involved. Yet Ms Stone failed to interview any of the witnesses that Mr Paterson put forward, including the Chief Veterinary Officer and various heads of Government departments. They even included the then International Development Minister, Rory Stewart, who Mr Paterson is supposed to have lobbied. Mr Stewart, a staunch Remainer, is no ally of Brexiteer Mr Paterson.

When it was apparent Ms Stone had refused to see the witnesses, her committee should either have instructed her to see them or interviewed the witnesses themselves. They did not. For this failure alone, the case would have been struck down had it gone to the courts for review. Unfortunately, parliamentary rules mean no such recourse to justice is available.

Owen Paterson is pictured outside the Cabinet Office in London, February 4, 2019

Then there is the unusually harsh dismissal of Mr Paterson's defence, which relied in part on compelling evidence that he was trying to raise the alarm over serious threats to public health. In writing to Ministers on behalf of the companies he represented, he did so to alert them to carcinogenic products in milk and ham. The Standards Committee accepted that his account was correct  that Mr Paterson had been calling for action that, among other things, would have led to the removal of risks from antibiotics in milk and from nitrites used as preservatives in ham. Lives would have been saved.

The Committee confirmed that no one had made an immediate profit from Mr Paterson's intervention. It is mystifying, then, that the committee should refuse to accept this public interest argument, taking such a narrow interpretation of rules as to render this very important defence virtually worthless.

The ruling against Mr Paterson is not the only example of judgments that have gone against Tories and Brexiteers. Take, for example, the 2018 Standards investigation into Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay for failing to declare a company shareholding.

The company in question had been set up to create a low-cost airline but the project had been abandoned after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. There were no employees and no assets. The company had no bank account and capital of 2p. In a word, it was moribund. So in failing to declare the shareholding, Mr Mackinlay had committed no more than a technical breach. It had zero real meaning.

The proper response of the Standards Commissioner should, at most, have been a correction in the Register of Interests with  possibly  a letter of apology from the MP. Instead, Ms Stone insisted on a public apology from Mr Mackinlay in the Commons.

This same Commissioner took a different approach when she investigated the case of a Labour MP who tried to get a vulnerable constituent to supply him with the drug diazepam. It is illegal to obtain this tranquilliser without a prescription. And criminal offences are automatically in breach of the parliamentary Code of Conduct.

Yet, somehow, the Commissioner ruled that the Labour MP had not in fact broken the rules.

Normally in British law, we have a thorough and adversarial process. The case is investigated by the police, presented to the court by a prosecution lawyer and challenged by a defence lawyer  all following strict rules of evidence. In serious cases, the verdict is decided by a jury and, if the defendant is guilty, the punishment is decided by a judge. The whole process is then subject to appeal.

This is what we as MPs would insist on for our constituents. Yet none of these protections applies to the way MPs themselves are treated. Instead, we have an inquisition, in which the Commissioner acts as investigating officer, prosecutor and judge.

True, her decision might be reviewed by the House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee. As a method of delivering justice, however, this is not fit for purpose. It is long past time that we replaced this amateurism with a quasi-judicial process and a proper appeal system. I see no reason why we could not appoint a trio of retired judges from the Lords. Such a panel could have serious powers of punishment, including disqualification from the Commons.

It is entirely appropriate that MPs should face severe penalties if they abuse their positions, including the loss of their position as an MP. But to do that, you need a proper system of justice. Palpably, this is not what MPs have today  as Owen Paterson has found to his very great cost.
The director who survived being accidentally shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of his new movie has been photographed for the first time, with his arm in a sling.

Joel Souza, 48, was standing directly behind cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and was hit by the same bullet that killed her.

Last night, a sombre Mr Souza was seen outside his home in Palo Alto, California, as friends described his devastation.

Devastated: Joel Souza, 48, the director who survived being accidentally shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of his new movie has been photographed for the first time, with his arm in a sling

One said: Joel is in pieces. He was standing right behind Halyna. They were both looking into the camera monitor as Alec fired the gun straight at them. He is utterly devastated.

The bullet pierced mother-of-one Ms Hutchins chest on the set of the low-budget Western Rust. She died after being airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a half-hour flight from remote Bonanza Creek Ranch where the 4.5 million movie was being filmed.

The bullet was removed from Mr Souzas shoulder during surgery. He spent a night in hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

Mr Souza was standing directly behind cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (pictured) and was hit by the same bullet that killed her on October 21 as they filmed upcoming movie Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Victim: The bullet pierced mother-of-one Ms Hutchins chest on the set of the low-budget Western Rust. She died after being airlifted to a hospital and leaves behind a son, nine

The investigation into Ms Hutchinss death on October 21 continues, with police saying they have not ruled out bringing criminal charges.

Mr Baldwin was handed the .45 vintage Colt revolver by assistant director Dave Halls who shouted cold gun, the Hollywood term for an unloaded, safe weapon. But it contained a live bullet.

A distraught Mr Baldwin was photographed weeping and doubled over in shock moments after the accident and told sheriffs: I had no idea the gun was hot (loaded).

Yesterday, the 61-year-old spoke in public about the incident for the first time, saying he was cooperating with police and speaking to them every day.

Alec Baldwin is pictured sobbing after shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins A distraught Mr Baldwin was photographed weeping and doubled over in shock moments after the accident and told sheriffs: I had no idea the gun was hot (loaded)

Its an active investigation, he told photographers. A woman died, she was my friend. We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened.

Speaking of the cinematographers husband Matthew, Mr Baldwin said: He is in shock, he has a nine-year-old son. We are in constant contact with him because we are very worried about his family and his kid.

When asked if hed work on a set with firearms again, the actor said he couldnt answer that question... I do know that an ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets is something Im extremely interested in.
French courts have demanded a 125,000 'ransom' for the release of the British fishing trawler impounded in the Le Havre port, it emerged last night.

Scottish-registered the Cornelis Gert Jan is accused of not having a valid licence to fish in French waters.

Its unnamed skipper has been charged with 'acts of unauthorised sea fishing in French maritime salt waters' and ordered to appear in court next August.

The Cornelis Gert Jan's skipper (pictured) has been charged with 'acts of unauthorised sea fishing in French maritime salt waters'

French courts have demanded a 125,000 'ransom' for the release of the British fishing trawler impounded in the Le Havre port, it emerged last night

Scottish-registered the Cornelis Gert Jan is accused of not having a valid licence to fish in French waters

He faces 63,000 in fines but sources said an eye-watering bail of 125,000 has been set to ensure he returns to face trial.

Owners the Macduff Shellfish Company have been ordered to pay the amount before a judge will release the impounded boat.

The firm insists the vessel had the correct licence and is being used as 'another pawn' in the row between France and the UK.

Its unnamed skipper has been charged with 'acts of unauthorised sea fishing in French maritime salt waters' and ordered to appear in court next August

Tomorrow is a bank holiday in France, meaning the eight-member crew cannot leave France until Tuesday at the earliest.

One of them told The Mail on Sunday: 'We've been told we are not leaving this weekend. We just want to get out of here.' The beleaguered skipper, who refused to give his name, added: 'Hopefully, sooner rather than later.'

This weekend, it emerged that another unidentified British fishing vessel was given a warning days before the Cornelius was impounded.
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Halloween party-goers dressed up in their spookiest outfits on Saturday night as they hit pubs, bars and clubs up and down Britain, with some braving the potential of torrid weather.

Revellers in Newcastle upon Tyne in particular were in the mood for fancy dress, with pictures overnight showing a variety of extravagant costumes - from angels and devils, playboy bunnies, superheroes, minions from the 'Despicable Me' movies and a number of other fantastical characters.

Not to be out-done, the streets of London, Leeds, Wigan and Birmingham were among many across the UK to be filled with people in spooky costumes to rival the scenes in the northeast.

NEWCASTLE: A group of friends pose for a photograph on the streets of Newcastle upon Tyne on Saturday night as people up and down the country celebrate Halloween, despite the threat of rain and dropping temperatures

Pictured: A group of women - two dressed as corpse brides, one as a playboy bunny and another as a police officer - walk through the streets of Newcastle on Saturday night

One organised group of men in Newcastle (pictured) went dressed as minions from the 'Despicable Me' movies, while one of them went as the criminal mastermind Gru

Left: Two women, one in a latex catsuit pose for a picture as thousands of revellers took to Broad Street in Birmingham on Saturday night during the Halloween weekend. Right: Two woman - one dressed as a cowgirl - pose for a photograph in Wigan

The party-goers were able to enjoy an extra hour of Halloween fun overnight as daylight savings time came to an end and the clocks went back an hour at 2am. This weekend was also the first time in two years clubs have had Halloween nights as a result of the Covid pandemic.

Pictures showed emergency services were out in force in Newcastle town centre in anticipation of people having one drink too many on one of the biggest party nights of the year, with one man pictured being handcuffed.

Many celebrating across the UK were likely to have wet and windy journeys home with the Met Office warning that strong gusts coming in from the west will bring a 'wild start' to Sunday.

Pictured: A group of women dressed as playboy bunnies and one man dressed as a sailor - or possibly American Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner - on the streets of Newcastle on Saturday night

LEEDS: Women dressed as an angel and a devil strike a pose on Saturday night in Leeds city centre

Pictured: A group of Halloween party-goers pose in Newcastle on Saturday night

Temperatures in Newcastle dropped to as low as 43 Fahrenheit (6C) overnight, but that and the threat of rain did not stop those celebrating Halloween from wearing tiny outfits that left little to the imagination.

Two women in Newcastle were pictured donning police outfits that were probably not the Northumbria Police's standard issue.

Another group opted for a classic costume of a Playboy model, all set with a bunny's tail and tights that took the meaning of thigh-high to a whole new level.

Pictures showed emergency services were out in force in Newcastle town centre in anticipation of people having one drink too many on one of the biggest party nights of the year. Pictured: Police gather around as people sit on the street

Pictured: Police tape is seen through the Halloween crowds in Newcastle on Saturday night

Pictured: Two men pose in superhero costumes outside of a bier keller in Newcastle on Saturday night

Pictured: A man dressed as Willy Wonka being carried by an Oompa Loompa shows off his innovative costume next to a woman dressed as a witch in Newcastle on Saturday night

Two other woman decided to mix a saintly theme into the night of horrors, with one dressing in red with devil horns, while her friend dressed in white with a fluffy halo above her head.

Another two women were seen dressed as corpse brides, with zombie-like makeup and blood spattered across their clothes, faces and chests.

One organised group of men went dressed as minions from the 'Despicable Me' movies, while one of them went as the criminal mastermind Gru.

Police were on high alert around the country - and especially in the capital - with the officers from the Metropolitan Police already shutting down three illegal raves this weekend as part of efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour in the capital.

Pictured: A group of friends - two dressed as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell wave for the camera in Newcastle on Saturday night

Pictured: Two men bravely bring a new twist to the Playboy Bunny costume in Newcastle on Saturday night

Hundreds of people had attended the events and some became hostile towards officers as they began to disperse crowds, the Met said.

Police were called to Glasshouse Walk in Lambeth just before midnight on Friday following complaints that fireworks had been set off.

Officers attended and found 300 youths at a community centre.

The Met said a number of fights broke out as people began to leave and fireworks and other projectiles were thrown, and back-up officers had to be called.

Crowds were dispersed at 1.20am on Saturday and one officer was treated for injuries.

The Met was later made aware of another unlicensed music event in railway arches on Corbetts Lane in Southwark.

LEEDS: A doctor - wearing a blood-spattered lab coat - carrying a nurse pose for a photograph in Leeds

Pictured: A group of friends wearing brightly coloured wigs and matching clothes post on the streets of Leeds on Saturday

About 150 people were dispersed from the area and the sound system was seized, with the organiser fined for licensing offences.

Across the capital officers also attended an address on Birkbeck Street in Bethnal Green, having established that another unlicensed event was planned. When police arrived 30 people were present and quickly left.

Chief Inspector Jack May-Robinson said: 'Whilst we appreciate that a lot of people will be celebrating Halloween this weekend with house parties, there are a number of people who will choose to host large music events.

'These gatherings blight the lives of local residents,' he added.

Yellow weather warnings for rain remain in place in several parts of the country overnight, including in Glasgow, where the global Cop26 climate summit is due to begin on Sunday.

A group dressed as playboy bunnies walk down a street in Newcastle on Saturday night

Pictured: A man is handcuffed in Newcastle on Saturday night while a man wearing a 'death row' t-shirt watches on

Wind speeds could reach more than 50 miles an hour, with potential for disruption and further wet weather going into the first week of November.

Steven Keats, meteorologist at the Met Office, said conditions would start 'going downhill' in the west throughout Sunday.

'Further West heavy rain will be picking up and there'll be some heavy rain coming in from the Atlantic,' he said. 'That will dominate the weather into tomorrow.

'Heavy rain will push across into...western parts of England and Wales and be accompanied by some pretty strong and gusty winds.

Mr Keats said parts of Wales and southern England could see winds of around to 40 or 50 miles an hour which could 'potentially cause problems.'

'It'll be a pretty wild start to Sunday,' he said. 'Given the fact that trees are in full leaf and the ground is pretty saturated in many areas, you could get one or trees coming down. It's going to be very unsettled.'
A lawyer for former Governor Andrew Cuomo wants the sheriff who charged him with groping a woman to preserve records of any communications his office had with the alleged victim, journalists or other investigators.

A city court in Albany this week issued a summons charging Cuomo with forcible touching after a criminal complaint was filed by Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple.

Cuomo has claimed that the charge was based on flimsy evidence and was politically motivated.

In a letter to Apple on Saturday, Cuomo lawyer Rita Glavin demanded that the sheriff's office preserve all records related to the case, including any notes of conversations it had with the woman who accused the ex-governor of groping her, Brittany Commisso.

It also asked for records of any communications with two legal teams that investigated Cuomo's conduct, one that worked for the state Assembly and another for Attorney General Letitia James.

Cuomo is pictured with Brittany Commisso, the former aide who claims he groped her breast in the Executive Mansion in November 2020. The picture was taken in 2019 and she says he'd touched her behind shortly before it was taken

Andrew Cuomo, 63, has been with charged with sexual assault by the Albany County Sheriff's Office. He denies the claims and his lawyer Rita Glavin said 'timing of the charge' is 'highly suspect' as it was announced on the same day New York Attorney General Letitia James announced she was running for Governor

A lawyer for Andrew Cuomo wants Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, pictured, to preserve records of any communications his office has had with the alleged victim, journalists or other investigators

A preservation letter is a standard legal tactic. Criminal defendants are entitled to a broad scope of evidence and other material related to an investigation, which is typically turned over before trial.

Cuomo resigned from office in August after investigators working for James authored a report concluding he had sexually harassed 11 women, including Commisso.

At a news conference Friday, Apple said he was confident in the strength of the case and insisted politics played no role. He also called the governor's operatives 'bullies.'

Sheriff Apple insisted on Friday that the sexual assault charge is not a political ploy by James, despite it being released on the same day as she announced her own run for governor.

In a letter to Apple on Saturday, Cuomo lawyer Rita Glavin demanded that the sheriff's office preserve all records related to the case, including any notes of conversations it had with the woman who accused the ex-governor of groping her, Brittany Commisso.

Commisso claimed that she felt violated and that Cuomo wouldn't 'touch his mother' the way he did her. He has always denied her claims

The complaint, which was signed by an investigator from the Albany County Sheriff's Office, alleges that the former governor 'intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly place his hand under the blouse shirt of the victim and onto her intimate body part'

Cuomo's team has accused her of purposely ignoring evidence in his favor because she wanted him out of office.

Sheriff Apple called it 'ridiculous' to insinuate that the police department was doing a 'political hit job' and ensured the public they had 'overwhelming evidence,' as he announced Cuomo will have to get a mug shot.

'How is the Albany County Sheriff doing a political hit job? That is ridiculous,' he said.

'We have an overwhelming amount of evidence, we have a victim who has been cooperating fully every day, every step of the way. As far as conviction, that's going to be down to the jury, the judge I feel very confident that the DA is going to prosecute this. We met our burden as far as probable cause and we have filed.'

Announcing her run for governor in 2022 on Friday James said: 'New Yorkers need a governor who isn't afraid to stand up to powerful interests on behalf of the vulnerable.

'Throughout my career, I've taken on big forces and New Yorkers know I will never back down when it comes to fighting for them. Today, I am proud to announce my candidacy for governor of New York so we can bring transformational change that uplifts all New Yorkers.'

James, 62, announced she will be running for governor in 2022. She said 'New Yorkers need a governor who isn't afraid to stand up to powerful interests on behalf of the vulnerable'

Apple defended his decision to file a criminal complaint against Cuomo, 63, without consulting prosecutors or informing the accuser, a woman who says she was groped by the Democrat last year.

'We didn't want everybody to know exactly what we were doing because we didn't want all this, the circus,' Craig said in an interview with radio host Paul Vandenburgh on Albany's Talk 1300.

Apple also said he did not intend for the criminal charges to become public so soon, but he said the case should go forward.

A spokesman for the former governor said Thursday's surprise developments were evidence that the case is politically motivated.

'In an unprecedented move, Craig Apple 'erroneously' filed misdemeanor charges against former Governor Cuomo without notification or authorization of the district attorney or the complainant,' Rich Azzopardi said.

'It seemed the only person who was notified, and had a statement ready to go, was Tish James,' he said, referring to the state's attorney general, who oversaw a civil investigation into Cuomo's conduct with women, but was not involved in the sheriff's criminal probe.

The Albany County District Attorney's office said after the charge was filed that it had not been informed ahead of time. It has been conducting its own investigation and was expected to take the lead on a decision about whether to prosecute.

On Thursday, Rita Glavin, Cuomo's attorney, said in a statement: 'The timing of this charge, on the eve of Tish James announcing her run for Governor, is highly suspect and should give all of us pause that the heavy hand of politics is behind this decision.

'We expect clar-headed people will make better decisions going forward, but should this case move forward we are prepared to vigorously defend the Governor and challenge every aspect of the specious, inconsistent and uncorroborated allegations made against him.'

Cuomo continues to deny the claims that he assaulted Brittany Commisso, 33.

James (left) and Cuomo (right in black) with NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio (behind) in 2014

'The Governor did not assault Ms. Commisso,' Glavin's statement opened.

Apple said that Cuomo will be expected to appear in court on November 17. He will be arrested sometime before then.

'This is a solid casewe are moving forward,' Apple said. 'He will be arraigned, he will be fingerprinted. He will be photographed.'

'I don't have a goal,' he said at the press conference. 'My goal isn't to throw Andrew Cuomo in jail.

'Again, we investigated the complaint, we have a victim, and, and the goal is for her to seek justice. That's exactly what she's doing. She's been with us every step of the way.

'At the end of the day, we have a victim, and our job is to take the complaint investigated and move forward. And that's what we've done.'

He made clear, though, that if Cuomo fails to appear in court, he will have a 'criminal arrest warrant issued.'

The sheriff also admitted that his office did consult AG James' report into Cuomo as part of their investigation, but said he had not spoken to her directly about the charge.

'We have the facts of the investigation and the criminal summons was issued. So on November 17th, that individual will have to answer to that charge,' said Craig, referring to Cuomo and the date he has been ordered to appear in court.

The one-page complaint, filed in Albany City Court, accuses Cuomo of committing the crime of forcible touching by putting his hand under a woman's shirt on December 7, 2020.

The complaint did not name the woman, but she has identified herself as Brittany Commisso, who worked as one of Cuomo's executive assistants before his resignation amid sexual harassment allegations in August.

Commisso's lawyer, Brian Premo, said he had also expected the district attorney's office to handle the case.

'I have no doubt that the sheriff's investigators did a thorough job,' Premo told Talk 1300. 'I have no doubt that they believe in their case. I have no issue with any of that. It's just that this is a politically charged matter, right? So I think it's only prudent to allow the prosecutorial authority to have a say in how the investigation is conducted and whether there's a prosecution, right?'

Craig said it was 'disheartening' that the court system made the criminal complaint public immediately, something he described as a 'leak,' although such court filings are public in New York and are routinely made available to reporters.

As for the district attorney's office, Craig said they did 'separate investigations.'

'I'm not sure what the district attorney's investigation has as of this point,' he said.

Commisso accused Cuomo of groping her when they were alone in an office at the governor's mansion in Albany. Cuomo has denied the allegations.

Forcible touching is a misdemeanor in New York, punishable by up to a year in jail, though many cases for first-time offenders are resolved with probation or a shorter jail sentence.

Cuomo could be facing up to a year in prison if convicted.
Nobody could accuse the new Minister for Disabled People of lacking resolve. It is Chloe Smith's steely determination, combined with a likeable self-assuredness, that has got her noticed at Westminster.

Now, though, the 39-year-old is in her office at the Department for Work and Pensions, recalling being alone in hospital, unable to have her family visiting because of Covid restrictions, while undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Reacting to the memory  in addition to the painful loss of two friends  she struggles to keep her composure and asks for a brief break.

The hospital isolation was a necessary cruelty of the pandemic that will be familiar to millions  and for many continues today.

In her case, however, after getting the all-clear in the summer, she was hit by the death of former Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire from cancer, aged 53, and then, a week later, by the killing of Sir David Amess, which left her 'just devastated'.

Both were friends as well as colleagues and she spoke to Mr Brokenshire shortly before he died.

Chloe Smith MP in her office. She refuses to change her own habits and will not quit social media, where so many politicians face a cesspit of abuse. 'I don't plan to change how I do my job,' she says

An image she posted on Twitter this month to celebrate recovering from breast cancer

Her emotion is clear, yet she is determined to get on with her job, expressing hope that Sir David's death will be a 'wake-up call' to address violence and threats that have been putting 'really good people' off public service.

'The level of aggression that we see in politics is getting worse,' she says. 'Frankly, everybody can see that. It doesn't take a cold-blooded act of murder to make that clear, although unfortunately it does throw it into pretty stark relief.'

She refuses to change her own habits and will not quit social media, where so many politicians face a cesspit of abuse. 'I don't plan to change how I do my job,' she says.

After her cancer diagnosis just over a year ago, the mother of two endured seven months of chemotherapy, a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery  and worked throughout.

Since her recovery she has focused on encouraging other people to check for early signs of the illness. Indeed, her interview with The Mail on Sunday coincides with Cancer Awareness Month.

She has returned from recess to a packed Ministerial diary and a highly febrile atmosphere in Westminster after Sir David's killing. Like many, she's been battling a heavy cold  but has pressed ahead with engagements.

Her children were one and three when her cancer was diagnosed. She is remarkably matter of fact about juggling her illness, work and having two toddlers.

Describing how she found a lump while having a shower, she says with typical understatement that it was a 'pretty rum turn of events'. She says she feels 'very lucky' to have received rapid treatment, adding it was probably because it was the start of the pandemic and the current backlog had not built up.

But the mammoth NHS waiting lists are on her mind and she is concerned people might look at the backlog and not come forward. She insists an 'enormous' amount of funding is going into the health service to carry out diagnostic work and for GPs to be able to see people face to face.

She was hit by the death of former Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire (left) from cancer, aged 53, and then, a week later, by the killing of Sir David Amess (right), which left her 'just devastated'

She has also shared her experiences with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, adding that one of her 'first instincts' after her diagnosis was to use her experience to make things better for others.

She is channelling her experiences into her Ministerial brief, with a new ability to relate to people who have to tell employers they have received a serious diagnosis.

Workplaces should do more, she says, to adapt offices to disabled workers, to meet the target of a million more people with disabilities being in work. She will soon release 'tool kits' for employers to help them do more, and will select a Minister in every Government department as a 'disability champion'.

Being in the company of 'strong campaigners' in Parliament helped throughout her own diagnosis, as did Mr Brokenshire, for whom she first worked when he was Northern Ireland Secretary.

'James was always upbeat, I hope that was some comfort to his family. I always took the same attitude myself,' she says, adding that she last spoke to him shortly before his death on October 7.

It is, however, the positive side of democracy and the work of MPs such as Sir David and Mr Brokenshire she hopes will triumph. 'It's a dreadful paradox, but if democracy can come out stronger from this, then I'd be glad to see that.'

She is clear that more needs to be done by tech giants to curb online abuse. Asked if she would support calls for a so-called 'David's Law' to crack down on anonymity online, she replies it is 'something I'd be interested at looking into further'.

The solution, she says, involves new legislation and technology firms doing more. 'There clearly needs to be a bit of a partnership here. We're all in this together, aren't we? This is what our democracy consists of.'

She acknowledges that issues including Brexit and Covid mean 'passions have run high in the last few years', an indication of a 'greater intensity of politics', but adds: 'None of that is an excuse for behaving poorly.' Ms Smith was herself chased by angry constituents after an MP surgery.

Recalling the incident, she says: 'I've been an MP since 2009. In that time I have seen things that make me very sad about how people think it's sensible to interact. And I've seen things that make me very shocked.'

What can be done? In her previous job as Constitution Minister, she was involved in the upcoming Elections Bill which will have some provisions on abuse at polling stations, and gathered stories of the types of abuse MPs face.

Many of them were harrowing, but she does not want them to deter good people from entering politics. 'The message I would hope is loud and clear is that there should not be a need to be afraid of doing public service. We have a fine tradition in this country and we need to work to protect it.'
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The Dia de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead) festival returned to Los Angeles' Hollywood Forever Cemetery for its 22nd year on October 30th  where 40,000 people were expected to attend.

This year's festival was composed of two separate ticketed events, 'Dia de los Muertos' and 'Noche de los Muertos,' where guests can enjoy and live up to cultural performances, art exhibits, culinary vendors, and much more.

This year's theme is the return of Quetzalcoatl, an ancient god of the Mayans and Aztecs who revives mankind from the underworld with his own blood.

'The theme of the return of Quetzalcoatl is to ponder the idea of resurgence and coming back from you know, such a tumultuous time,' said Gabriel Avila, Director of Dance for LA Day of the Dead.

For Tyler Cassity, the co-owner and president of Hollywood Forever, its about welcoming back the festivities.

'The 18 months that have preceded us have been really tough, and in many ways, it's almost been like day of death every day, on the media in what we read and staying in our homes. So we're emerging from that with hope, and the symbol of our hope this year is Quetzalcatl,' said Cassity.

The fragrant smell of marigolds, or cempasuchil, was noticeable across the cemetery on Saturday, according to altar coordinator Angie Jimenez, who said she couldn't wait for the annual festival's biggest comeback since the coronavirus.

'I love that smell and I love that it just hangs in the air,' she told NPR.

Jimenez is responsible for overseeing the installations of ofrendas, typically known as an altar or special table where a collection of significant objects are placed and put together by families commemorating their deceased loved ones.

PARTY TIME: Dressed in traditional make-up and costume a woman participates in the celebration for the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration

Dressed to the nines: Revelers in intricate traditional costumes take to the streets of Los Angeles, United States

Bones and sun: A giant skeleton figure is seen under the palm trees during a parade at the Dia de los Muertos in Los Angeles

Shall we dance: Dancers in death mask makeup perform traditional dances at the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles

Funky scare: Aztec dancers participate in a ritual dance procession through the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in celebration of Dia de los Muertos

We got company: A reenactment of a funeral procession by skeletons is displayed at a gravesite during the festivities for the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos in Los Angeles' Hollywood Forever cemetery

This year's number of altars will be limited from over 100 to just 80 due COVID-related reasons. However, that doesn't matter to Jimenez, who still expects thousands of vibrant orange flowers, whose pungent scent comes from their leaves and stem, to be on display.

'An altar just isn't complete without them. And if you believe what the Aztecs believed, then your ancestors need the scent to find their way back to you,' she told NPR. She also said that she'll be be adding a couple dozen flowers to a personal family altar for her father and sister, who are buried at the cemetery.

'Our cempasuchil display will be small by comparison,' she said, adding that some of the bigger altars can carry thick, carefully put together garlands of the flowers that can potentially measure more than 50 feet, covered over elaborate altar structures.

'I'm sure some will have thousands of flowers and when you walk up to them, Boom! The smell will just hit you in the face,' Jimenez said, laughing.

'You either love it or hate it because it's like nothing else. Lucky for me, I love it.'

Colorful view: marigolds, or cempasuchil, were thick throughout Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which gives view to the famous Hollywood sign

A particiapant in a death mask make-up wearing elaborate headgear and dressed in a white wedding dress walks among the graves of LA's Hollywood Forever Cemetery

A boy in a desk mas stands beside skeleton figurines circled by marigold petals

The roots of Dia de los Muertos, which takes place on November 1 and ends on November 2, goes back centuries in Mexico and some other Latin American countries, but to a lesser extent.

It's deeply tied down to pre-Hispanic Aztec rituals worshiping the goddess Mictecacihuatl, or the Lady of the Dead, who allowed spirits to travel back to earth to be with their living family members. That tradition was blended with the Roman Catholic observance of All Saints Day by the Spaniards when they conquered Mexico.

The celebration engages the creation of an altar with offerings that show photos of the dead, candles, bottles of mezcal and tequila, and food, sugar skulls, and the cempasuchil  the Aztec name of the marigold flower native to Mexico.

The fragrance of the bright orange and yellow flowers is said to be a path to guide the souls of ancestors and lead them from their burial place to their family homes. The cheerful colors also add to the celebratory tone of the holiday, which, although speaks death, is not somber but festive.

'It's a mixture of somber and solemn depending on when their loved one died. But also it's festive. If you go to the cemetery there is also mariachi playing,' Andrew Chesnut, professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, told 8news.

About 40,000 people are expected to attend today's day and nightlong celebrations.

Celebrations, including dancing, enjoy food and drinks are part of the Dia de los Muertos festivities. Pictured: A young mother and her infant daughter join a group of Aztec dancers in a ritual processor at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles

Spooky: A participant has his face painted in preparation for the celebration of the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles

Beware: A participant displays her makeup and head dress at the Dia de los Muertos festival on Saturday afternoon

About 40,000 people are expected to attend the Day of the Dead celebration at Hollywood Forever
Chinese CCTV camera firms engaging in human rights abuses will be given a free pass to operate in the UK under controversial Government proposals, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The proposed new camera surveillance code has caused consternation with the Governments own independent CCTV watchdog and MPs who have called for tougher regulations.

Professor Fraser Sampson, the Biometric and Surveillance Camera Commissioner, has been lobbying for the new code to include a legal obligation to effectively block authorities buying cameras from firms linked to human rights abuses.

He told the MoS the revised camera surveillance code, to be laid before parliament next month, could only be a credible and meaningful change if it included the human rights clause.

Chinese CCTV camera firm, Hikvision, which has been implicated in surveillance of the persecuted Muslim Uighur population will be given a free pass to operate in UK (file image)

But on Friday Mr Sampson confirmed he understood the new Government proposals would not include the clause, providing an effective free pass for firms involved in human rights abuses to sell their cameras to UK authorities.

It also raises the prospect of a row with MPs after a Foreign Affairs Committee report in July called for a ban on the use of Chinas Hikvision cameras in the UK because of the firms links to human rights abuses.

State-owned Hikvision, the worlds largest provider of CCTV cameras, has been implicated in the surveillance of the persecuted Muslim Uighur population in Chinas western Xinjiang province.

A contract for the firms cameras shows they are used in at least one Uighur re-education camp.

The company has been hit with a ban in the US but continues to provide cameras to police and authorities across the UK.

A contract for the firms cameras shows they are used in at least one Uighur re-education camp. Pictured: A facility believed to be a 're-education' camp in China's northwestern Xinjiang region

Mr Sampson said it seems that my efforts to get even the broadest mention [of] ethical considerations around surveillance camera systems... have failed and the revised Code will not contain any reference to them.

He also accused the Government of failing to even follow its own camera surveillance code, in contrast to private companies such as Marks & Spencer who have voluntarily adopted the principles.

He added: There are organisations that are voluntarily adopting that code in any event, and are quite prepared to open their ethical books

Some public bodies, such as hospitals, and Marks & Spencer are the clearest example.

They have re-certified against the code of practice - they [Marks & Spencer] have more cameras than some English towns.

Yet at the same time the government doesnt follow its own code, which is very difficult for me to explain when Im encouraging compliance.

The company has been hit with a ban in the US but continues to provide cameras to police and authorities across the UK. Pictured: Chinese policemen push Uighur women protesting in 2009

Tom Tugendhat, Foreign Affairs Committee chair, expressed concern at the proposals, saying: Companies involved in state brutality should not be operating on our streets.

We need to think about those bidding for contracts and what theyre bringing with them.

The revelations comes as the MoS can reveal Hikvision bosses have privately conceded one of their contracts allows for its cameras to be used in at least one re-education camp in China.

Chiefs are understood to have since blocked any similar contracts but are concerned revealing this would upset Chinas Communist Party-controlled government.

There have also been concerns over the security of the cameras produced by an arm of the Chinese state.

Hikvision supplies CCTV cameras to British schools, police forces, government departments, local councils, hospitals, care homes and private companies.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: To ensure public protection while maintaining public trust, the Government supports appropriate police use of technologies like CCTV.

The Government, like all other organisations, must comply with strict laws under the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights and Equality Act when using surveillance cameras.
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A total of 26 New York firehouses have been forced to close after firefighters refused to get vaccinated ahead of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Monday deadline - and a seven-year-old boy died the following day as departments saw major staff shortages.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association revealed a list of FDNY stations that 'have close due to no manpower' and it includes six in Manhattan, nine in Brooklyn, three in Queens, four in the Bronx and four in Staten Island.

On Friday FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro warned that the effects of the closures could be catastrophic and 'endanger the lives' of city residents.

A day later Robert Resto, 7, was killed and his 54-year-old grandmother were seriously hurt after a deadly blaze engulfed their Washington Heights home around 1.30am Saturday.

Although an FDNY spokesman told the FDNY that the firefighters' response time was not impacted by the 10,951 firefighters who have yet to get vaccinated, just yesterday firefighters were reportedly calling out sick to avoid unpaid leave.

A total of 26 New York firehouses have been forced to close after firefighters refused to get vaccinated ahead of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Monday deadline

A day after the vaccine mandate deadline caused staff shortages across the FDNY Robert Resto (pictured), 7, was killed and his 54-year-old grandmother were seriously hurt after a deadly blaze engulfed their Washington Heights home around 1.30am Saturday

'Is there a sickout?' Not to my knowledge no,' Andrew Ansbro of the Uniformed Firefighters Association said.

The grandmother was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in serious condition.

Neighbors remembered the young boy as 'sweet (and) joyful,' adding that he was 'always reading, holding the door, smiling,' according to the New York Post.

FDNY officials said the apartment started in the back of the house's basement - located at 660 West 178th Street - and spread to the first floor.

Three other people inside the house - including one firefighter and the boy's father, according to a GoFundMe page - also suffered minor injuries and were taken to New York Presbyterian-Columbia Hospital.

All municipal workers have been ordered to show proof of at least one dose of the vaccine by 5pm Friday or risk being placed on unpaid leave come Monday.

And despite 26 stations being shuddered today, the FDNY has said it is not closing any firehouses for good.

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

Hundreds of New York City's firefighters protested De Blasio's vaccine mandate on Friday by taking sick leave

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

In protest of the mandate hundreds of New York City firefighters took sick leave on Friday instead of complying with De Blasio's deadline for all city workers to be vaccinated or be placed on unpaid leave.

'The excessive sick leave ... because of their anger at the vaccine mandate for all city employees is unacceptable,' said Nigro, who oversees a department where more than a quarter of its workers have not had one Covid vaccine shot.

Nigro added that the loophole many took to the mandate deadline is 'contrary to their oaths to serve'.

The same day six 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.

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.

De Blasio announced in a tweet on Saturday that in the 24 hours since the deadline, 2,300 more workers got the shot.

On Friday six firefighters of Ladder 113 in Brooklyn were on duty when they drove a fire truck to State Senator Zellnor Myrie's (pictured) office to tell his staffers they would 'have blood on their hands' if they continued to push the mandate

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.

But De Blasio announced in a tweet on Saturday that in the 24 hours since the deadline, 2,300 more workers got the shot.

Ansbro also noted that 'the department is allowing people to have a couple days off after they get the vaccination,' according to WABC.

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.

A total of 66.7% of Americans have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

'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.

More than 45.8 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 and 743,757 have died since the start of the pandemic

'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.
UK has denied the accusation and said it is ready to take legal action if France breaks post-Brexit trade deal

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Britain's bitter fishing dispute with France deepened last night after it was claimed the French were 'only interested in trying to show that Brexit was a mistake'.

Boris Johnson went on the offensive in the row over rights as he warned the EU not to side with France and Brexit minister Lord Frost threatened to take legal action.

It comes as the Prime Minister had an awkward encounter on the world stage with President Emmanuel Macron, sharing a fist-bump ahead of what are expected to be very scratchy talks later today.

France has threatened border and port sanctions, including increased checks on British vessels, a go-slow at customs and increased tariffs on energy bills in Jersey, unless more fishing licences are issued by the UK for small French boats by Tuesday  but the Government showed little appetite for backing down.

One senior UK official said: The French have made their position abundantly clear. They are not interested in a positive and constructive relationship, but only in trying to show that Brexit was a mistake.

Another added: From explicit warnings about stopping energy supply to Jersey to public threats about imposing customs controls unless we comply with their demands, this has been a concerted effort to undermine and now breach the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

The Government insists that Frances claim that Britain has not responded to requests to grant more licences is wrong and it has been transparent throughout.

A source said: Weve been through painstaking discussions on every single French vessel in question, and have acted at all times in accordance with the deal struck with the EU. Its incredibly disappointing to see France resorting to these threats.

But Mr Macrons Europe Minister Clement Beaune said that unless the UK made significant concession on licences for French fishermen, France would respond with proportionate measures, potentially including a blockade at French ports.

Lord Frost yesterday blasted a 'pattern' of threats made by France to Britain and said the UK Government is 'actively considering' starting legal proceedings against the country.

In a series of tweets, the Conservative peer rallied against comments made by French prime minister Jean Castex in a letter to Ms Von Der Leyen, that the UK should be shown 'it causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in'.

Lord Frost said: 'To see it expressed in this way is clearly very troubling and very problematic in the current context when we are trying to solve many highly sensitive issues, including on the Northern Ireland Protocol.'

Mr Johnson slammed the 'rhetoric' coming out of Paris and warned that threats - including a go-slow on goods at Calais and blocking British trawlers from French ports - were 'completely unjustifiable' and likely broke international law.

Britain's bitter fishing dispute with France deepened last night after it was claimed the French were 'only interested in trying to show that Brexit was a mistake'. Pictured: Boris Johnson takes up his position just behind France's Emmanuel Macron and next to EU commission chief Ursula Von Der Leyen

Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron put on a show as G20 leaders posed for their family photo at a Rome summit today

France has threatened border and port sanctions, including increased checks on British vessels, a go-slow at customs and increased tariffs on energy bills in Jersey, unless more fishing licences are issued by the UK for small French boats by Tuesday. Pictured: French fisherman in the fishing town of Port En Bessin

Emmanuel Macron and Mr Johnson fist bumped despite gearing up for a potential showdown over fisheries

Mr Johnson seemed to be having a more taxing time at the summit centre today as he talked to other leaders

Mr Johnson and Mr Macron shared a toe-curling fist-pump as they lined up next to each other for the 'family photo' at the summit yesterday afternoon.

No10 has insisted they are 'friends' despite the mounting sabre-rattling - which comes months before a tough French presidential election.

But the pair are expected to have a scratchy exchange over the issues during a one-on-one meeting today.

A Downing Street readout of the discussion with Ms Von Der Leyen said: 'The Prime Minister also raised his concerns about the rhetoric from the French Government in recent days over the issue of fishing licences.

'The Prime Minster stressed that the French threats are completely unjustified and do not appear to be compatible with the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement or wider international law.

'The Prime Minister reiterated that the UK has granted 98 per cent of licence applications from EU vessels to fish in the UK's waters and is happy to consider any further evidence for the remaining two per cent.'

Paris has so far threatened to increase checks on British boats, initiate a 'go-slow' strategy with Calais customs arrangements, and increase tariffs on energy bills in Jersey.

They are demanding that Britain grants more licences to French fishermen to access British waters - and have tried to rope in the EU to the battle with PM Mr Castex. Ms Von Der Leyen is also at the summit this weekend.

Lord Frost today slammed the 'pattern' of threats coming from France. He added: 'The threats made by France this week to our fishing industry, to energy supplies, and to future co-operation, for example 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 (European Commission vice-president) Maros Sefcovic), these threats, if implemented on November 2, 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.'

In a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Mr Johnson warned that the UK could trigger the dispute mechanism in the post-Brexit trade agreement as soon as next week.

But the chief of Calais port cautioned that Britain faces 'disaster' if Mr Macron follows through on a threat to block British trawlers from French ports.

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 today.

The captain leaves the scallop trawler Cornelis-Gert Jan with his lawyer. The boat has been impounded by the French Gendarmerie Maritime for illegally fishing in the Bay of the Seine

French fisherman in the French fishing town of Port En Bessin, Northern France. After France called on Brussels to punish the UK for Brexit by retaliating in the dispute over granting fishing licences for British waters, Mr Johnson slammed the 'rhetoric' coming out of Paris

Mr Johnson also joked around with US president Joe Biden at the summit in Rome this afternoon

Mr Biden and Mr Johnson appeared to have dropped something at one point during their chat

G20 state leaders pose during a photograph session at the start of the G20 summit in Rome

Mrs Johnson is pictured arriving for the first day of the G20 summit, as spouses of the world leaders headed inside

Mr Johnson poses with Ms Ursula von der Leyen prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome

Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen laughed ahead of a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 on Saturday

Mr Johnson, Mr Macron, German outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Joe Biden pose within a meeting about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the sidelines of the G20

France's ambassador to London Catherine Colonna was hauled in by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss yesterday to face questioning and 'explain the disappointing and disproportionate threats made against the UK and Channel Islands'.

Two Royal Navy patrol vessels were said to be on a state of 'high readiness' in case of further fallout, but there was no immediate sign they would be required.

Mr Johnson is using the G20 summit in an attempt to gain momentum ahead of the COP26 gathering next week. But he has admitted that the chances of the climate event being a success are only 'six out of 10', and has been begging China to do more.

The premier has had some light relief in the Italian capital, including walking the famous Spanish Steps with his pregnant wife Carrie last night.

Mrs Johnson was today given a tour of the Colosseum along with other leaders' spouses while the summit talks continued.

Climate change protests have been taking place outside the 'ring of steel' established to protect world leaders in Rome

Police in riot gear clear the road by moving the Climate Camp activists blocking the road leading to the G20 summit

Chances of COP success just six out of 10, says PM 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.' Advertisement

Tories are livid at the extreme attacks from French allies of Mr Macron - who is facing a tough presidential election battle next spring.

Briefing reporters in Rome this afternoon, the PM's spokesman said Mr Johnson regarded Mr Macron as a 'friend'.

But the spokesman said of France's threats: 'We don't think those are appropriate, we are acting well within the legal boundaries set by the TCA and we will continue to do so.'

He added: 'Should France proceed with the threats they have set out we will act in a proportionate and calibrated manner.'

The spokesman said Mr Johnson did not want the spat with France to 'distract' from the climate change issue and the 'whole world' should be focused on solutions at COP.

'As the PM said, we very much feel we have bigger fish to fry,' he said.

On the idea that the UK should be punished for Brexit, the spokesman said: 'Brexit was a decision taken by the British people and enacted by the government.'

The spokesman stressed that licences were being granted to French ships. 'It is simply a case that if boats are able to provide historical data.. they will be granted a licence.'

Asked about the awkward fist-bump with Mr Macron, he said: 'He considers President Macron a friend and obviously France as an enduring ally.'

In his bombshell leaked letter to the EU commission, 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.'

The letter emerged as Mr Macron suggested the UK has not kept its Brexit pledges.

Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, he 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.

'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 said.

Mr Johnson warned world leaders 'the future of civilisation is at stake' and compared climate change to the fall of the Roman Empire as he arrived in Rome.

In an apocalyptic vision of the future, Mr Johnson claimed society could return to the dark ages with 'terrifying' speed.

He said generations to come could slump into illiteracy - and even suggested cows could get smaller.

Mr Johnson and Australian counterpart Scott Morrison clowned around for the cameras before their talks this afternoon

Mr Johnson touches elbows with Mr Morrison prior to a bilateral meeting

Mr Johnson held bilateral talks with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau today, congratulating him on being re-elected

Vladimir Putin addressed the G20 summit by video-link today. He has not be travelled since the pandemic took hold

Carrie Johnson was given a tour of the Colosseum with other spouses while world leaders had their discussions at the summit centre in Rome today

Mrs Johnson visits the Colosseum alongside partners of world leaders during the G20 spousal programme

The spouses of the world leaders pose during a photoshoot at the Colosseum during the G20 summit

Mr Johnson had a warm greeting with Mr Biden as they attended the plenary session of talks in Rome today

Mr Macron had an effusive greeting for Mr Biden after the pair settled their differences over the AUKUS defence pact

He argued that after the collapse of Rome, civilisation even lost the ability to draw properly - saying 'our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren' could face food and water shortages.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged G20 leaders to show 'more ambition and more action' and overcome mistrust in order to advance climate goals.

'We are still on time to put things on track, and I think the G20 meeting is the opportunity to do that,' Guterres said.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi met leaders as they arrived in the futuristic convention centre known as the 'Nuvola' (cloud) in EUR, a southern Rome district built by Benito Mussolini to glorify his fascist regime.

US President Joe Biden flew in yesterday hoping to turn a page from the tumultuous Trump years and show that American leadership on the world stage is restored.

However, the Democrat faces a credibility test as his own signature climate policy - part of a sweeping economic package - is held up amid infighting within his party in Congress.

Mr Biden met Pope Francis and then Mr Macron, admitted during their talks that Washington had been 'clumsy' in handling a submarine deal with Australia and Britain that left Paris out in the cold.

Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping are absent from Rome, attending only by video link, but other leaders are taking advantage of the first in-person G20 for more than two years to hold a flurry of bilaterals.

Security is tight in Rome following violent protests earlier this month over the extension of Italy's coronavirus pass to workplaces.

Draghi has called for a 'G20 commitment on the need to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees' above pre-industrial levels, the most ambitious target outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi greets Mr Johnson as he arrives for the G20 leaders summit

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is also at the G20 summit in Rome today after delivering his Budget package this week

As the sun rose over Italy this morning the Prime Minister was offered a tour of the Colosseum, where gladiators fought in ancient Rome

The Prime Minister visited the Colosseum this morning, after yesterday offering an apocalyptic vision of the future

A large crowd of students holding homemade banners descended on the venue for the G20 summit in Rome on Saturday

One banner called for the 'future' during a demonstration in Rome against the precariousness of education in Italy

Mr Johnson - the host of the UN climate summit next week - said neither the G20 nor the COP26 meetings could stop global warming, and 'the most we can hope to do is slow the increase'.

Complicating the task for the G20 will be disparities between top world powers.

China, the world's biggest polluter and responsible for more than a quarter of all carbon emissions, has been accused of sidestepping calls to stop building new coal-fired power plants.

A new plan submitted by Beijing to the UN ahead of COP26 fell short of environmentalists' expectations, with a target date of 2060 to reach carbon neutrality.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, meanwhile, has steadfastly demanded that his country be paid for protecting its share of the Amazon.

The world's biggest rainforest is seen as a vital resource to combat climate change for its ability to absorb fossil fuel emissions.

Mr Johnson's Roman Empire comments came amid fears that the Glasgow gathering could end up as a damp squib. China's premier Xi has confirmed that he will not attend the event in person, although he will make a speech by video link.

Meanwhile, Putin is also shunning the summit along with Mr Bolsanaro.

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

He went on: 'We could consign our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren to a life in which there are not only huge movements of populations and huge migrations, but also shortages of food, shortages of water, of conflict caused by climate change and there is absolutely no question that this is a reality that we must face.'

Mr Johnson said after Roman civilisation humanity became 'far less literate'.

'Look at evidence of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire if you doubt what I say, when Rome fell humanity became far less literate overall, people lost the ability to read and write, they lost the ability to draw properly, they lost the ability to build in the way the Romans did.'

He said: 'Things can go backwards and they can go backwards at a really terrifying speed.'

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.

Britain was this week preparing to retaliate after a UK trawler - the Cornelis Gert Jan (pictured right in in Le Havre, France, October 28, 2021) - was detained by France amid fears the fishing row could spark a full-blown trade war

Pictured: French gendarmes aboard the Cornelis-Gert Jan scallop boat which has been impounded by the French Gendarmerie Maritime for illegally fishing in the Bay of the Seine in french waters

In a dramatic intensification of the row over post-Brexit fishing rights this week, 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 dispute and blasted the 'politically motivated' French. Its officials also fined a second vessel.

French ministers warned they will block British boats from some French ports and tighten checks on vessels travelling between France and the UK if the issue of post-Brexit fishing licenses is not resolved by Tuesday (November 2) - as well as threatening the electricity supply to the Channel Islands.

Ministers on Thursday were reportedly presented with retaliatory options should Paris press ahead with its threat next week, with one such option including further restricting French fishing access to UK waters.

Another potential move on the table in the 'options paper', presented to a Cabinet sub-committee chaired by Lord Frost, is the stepping up of checks on French vessels landing in UK ports, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Confronting Macron at the G20 meeting and dispatching the UK's ambassador in Paris are also reportedly being considered - although Government sources told the newspaper there was no scheduled meeting with Macron in Italy and retaliatory measures would depend on France's actions.

Environment minister George Eustice warned of retaliatory measures on Thursay, saying that if France went ahead with its threats, 'Two can play at that game and we reserve the ability to respond in a proportionate way.'

The Cornelis and its eight crewmen languished in port, with the crew being told to stay on board. As of Thursday night, there was no indication when it would be allowed to leave.

With its blue hull, white bridge and red winches it has a somewhat ironic French tricolour appearance.

Andrew Brown, director of the boat's owners, MacDuff Shellfish, told the Daily Mail the French were 'exploiting' supposed confusion over post-Brexit paperwork.
As Gladys Berejiklian prepares for her final day of evidence at ICAC tomorrow, she may be asked about a rude, abrupt email her ex-lover Daryl Maguire sent her.

The former NSW premier, who is being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, had a tempestuous secret relationship with disgraced former Liberal MP Maguire.

A text message tendered into evidence at ICAC has Mr Maguire whining to Ms Berejiklian that 'I just went to see Treasurer staff! No money for stage 3. Wagga Hospital needs 170 million? No money.

'Tumut Hospital! No money North Wagga School, just piddling sum for graffiti removal? Gee.'

Gladys Berejiklian was seen exercising in designer Lululemons on Sunday morning, as she prepares for he final day of ICAC testimony on Monday

Daryl Maguire sent an angry SMS to then premier Gladys Berejiklian, who was his secret lover

Counsel for ICAC Scott Robertson asked Mr Berejiklian: 'Did you take those messages as a request to intervene or fix some issue or concern that Mr Maguire was raising in relation to the stage 3 of the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital?'

'I took that as his frustration about those matters, and I would have assumed he'd be pursuing those with the Minister for Health (Brad Hazzard), as well as the Treasurer (Dominic Perrottet),' she replied.

In a subsequent phone call, which was tapped by ICAC investigators and played at the inquiry Ms Berejiklian tells Mr Maguire that she has sorted it all out.

'I've got, you know, got you the 170 million in five minutes,' she said.

The then premier also told Mr Maguire that she was able to do this because the Mr Perrottet 'just does what I ask him to'.

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian picks up a bunch of flowers left on her driveway overnight

Mr Perrottet replaced Ms Berejiklian as premier after she resigned on October 1 when the ICAC investigation into her was made public.

But Mr Perrottet said the money was already in the budget and Ms Berejiklian just told him what he wanted to hear and didn't 'get' him anything.

'Twelve months before that conversation took place, we'd already allocated $170 million in the budget (for the hospital),' he said.

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian leaves her home with flowers and shopping bags, picked up by her sisters on Sunday afternoon.

'We had gone to an election in relation to the Wagga Wagga hospital. That hospital had been talked about and promised; as a government we came in and delivered it.'

The the 2017-18 NSW Budget paper shows stage 3 of the project was already included, with the building estimated to be completed by 2022. It was mentioned again in the next budget.

'It shows that Daryl didn't know how to read the budget papers, and that Gladys was just telling him what he wanted to hear,' a senior Liberal told the Telegraph.

Gladys Berejiklian returns to her Northbridge home on Sydney's north shore on Sunday morning

Mr Perrottet said he did not recall the conversation Ms Berejiklian referred to as having had with him, but that it has already become an inside joke between him and his wife Helen.

'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.

Ms Berejiklian was spotted on Sunday morning powerwalking in $88 special edition Lululemon tights with rainbow printing.

'This special edition of our no-fuss, adjustable-rise crops feature feminine scalloped detailing. As always, they fit like a second skin, making them perfect for yoga or the gym,' the brand's website reads.

The outgoing MP combined the trendy tights with a blue zip-up jumper, designer sunglasses and a cap and wore a backpack on her walk.

Mr Maguire seeking help from Ms Berejiklian with favoured projects in his Wagga Wagga electorate was far from the only time there were harsh words between the pair.

A phone tap tendered as evidence at ICAC revealed Ms Berejiklian saying to Mr Maguire, 'All you do is shout at me sometimes'.

But she then immediately called him 'hokis', which is an Armenian term of endearment. Ms Berejiklian is the daughter of Armenian immigrants.

She told the ICAC 'I regarded (Mr Maguire) 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.'

The most astonishing testimony of all from Friday might have been a tapped phone call where Mr Maguire said to Ms Berejiklian: 'They could be taping your conversation with me right now.'

He wasn't being paranoid - investigators for the NSW corruption watchdog, the ICAC, were taping his every word, and had been for some time.

After six months of private hearings, more than two weeks of public hearings and 500 pieces of evidence, the former premier of NSW will have her second and final day in front of ICAC on Monday.

On Sunday afternoon, Ms Berejiklian was pictured leaving her home on Sydney's north shore. She was picked up by her sisters Rita and Mary.

Gladys Berejiklian leaves her home on Sydney's north shore on Sunday afternoon. She was picked up by her sisters Rita and Mary

Gladys Berejiklian leaves her home on Sunday afternoon

As the corruption inquiry in NSW has captivated the state and the country, there are growing calls for a federal version of ICAC.

A new Sydney Morning Herald poll found 70 per cent of Australians support the creation of a powerful federal anti-corruption watchdog, with Liberal and National Party voters marginally more in favour than those who support other parties.

Just five per cent disagreed with the need for a federal ICAC, and 25 per cent of voters were neutral or undecided.

Overall, 71 per cent of Liberal or National voters are in favour of a federal watchdog, while 68 per cent of Labor voters favour it.

Attorney general Michaelia Cash is expected to bring a revised anti-corruption bill to cabinet within weeks.
Police in Northern California have launched an investigation into a fatal shooting at a city councilmember's home where one person died and three others were injured Saturday - but the politician isn't saying what happened or who was involved in the gunplay.

The Gilroy Police Department said the shooting occurred at about 12:55 a.m. during a large outdoor party at the home of Gilroy City Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz, about 80 miles south of San Francisco.

Benjamin David Calderon, 19, was arrested and booked on homicide charges Saturday afternoon, police said in a statement.

Police said a shooting that killed one person and injured three others happened Saturday during a large outdoor party at the home of Gilroy City Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz

Police said a gunman fatally shot a man at the home and three other people were injured and taken to hospitals, with two victims sustaining life-threatening injuries.

Armendariz told The San Francisco Chronicle in a statement on Saturday that she was unable to share details about 'a shooting on Las Animas' because of the active police investigation. She said in the statement that she and her family are cooperating with police.

It wasn't clear whether Armendariz was home at the time of the shooting.

ABC footage shows the house taped off as police investigate the fatal shooting

Police said they arrested and booked A 19-year-old man on homicide charges Saturday

'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,' she said.

Footage from ABC7 News showed yellow tape surrounding the house as police probed the shooting.

Neighbor Joanne Camp said she heard gunshots, but wasn't concerned because it's not unusual to hear guns firing in the neighborhood.

Neighbor Joanne Camp said she heard the gunfire, but wasn't surprised because shots often ring out in the neighborhood

'It's sad, it really is,' Camp told the outlet. It's sad that people can't have more respect for one another and more peace and more fun with all this other stuff going on.'

It's not the first time gun violence in the Northern California city has made headlines.

In 2019, a 19-year-old unloaded his semiautomatic rifle at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, killing three and wounding 12 before turning the gun on himself.
A woman convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to death more than three centuries ago is about to be formally pardoned thanks to a class of eighth-graders, politicians and historians.

State Senator Diana DiZoglio, a Democrat from Methuen, Massachusetts introduced legislation to clear the name of Elizabeth Johnson Jr.

Johnson Jr. was convicted of 'covenating with the devil' in 1693 at the height of the Salem Witch Trials, but she was never executed.

DiZoglio, filed a bill earlier in the year having been inspired by a group of eighth-graders at North Andover Middle School in the state.

Elizabeth Johnson Jr., who was condemned in 1693 at the height of the Salem Witch Trials but never executed (File photo: artist depiction of Salem Witch Trials)

Historical document from the Salem Witch Trials on the examination of Elizabeth Jonson Jr.

Democrat Senator Diana DiZoglio wrote a bill that would see Johnson formally exonerated

The work of the 13 and 14-year-olds was so meticulous that it warranted the introduction of legislation to pardon the woman.

'It is important that we work to correct history,' said DiZoglio. 'It's the time of year to get this done.

'We will never be able to change what happened to these victims, but at the very least, we can set the record straight.'

The work of the 13 and 14-year-olds from North Andover Middle School was so meticulous that a state senator was inspired to introduction of legislation to pardon the woman

This drawing is called: 'The Arrest.' The original caption says: 'Illustration shows an officer of the law leading away an elderly woman, who has her hands out in a gesture of innocence'

Civics teacher Carrie LaPierre's students painstakingly researched Johnson and the steps that would need to be taken to make sure she was formally pardoned.

'They spent most of the year working on getting this set for the Legislature  actually writing a bill, writing letters to legislators, creating presentations, doing all the research,' said LaPierre.

DiZoglio is sponsoring Senate Bill 1016, which will see Johnson added to the list of peopled formally exonerated 328 years after she was condemned.

If lawmakers approve the measure as is expected, Johnson will be the last accused witch to be cleared, according to Witches of Massachusetts Bay, a group devoted to the history and lore of the 17th-century witch hunts.

At the age of 22, Johnson was one of dozens sentenced to death in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, during which 19 were hanged and hundreds of others accused.

Karla Hailer, a fifth-grade teacher from Massachusetts, shoots a video where a memorial stands at the site in Salem where five women were hanged as witches in 1693

THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS OF 1692 CAUSED 'MASS HYSTERIA' In 1692, mass hysteria swept through Salem, Massachusetts. Superstitious townspeople, fearful of the devil, began accusing men and women of witchcraft and hounded scores of 'witches' to put on trial. The hysteria began after a group of young girls in claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As hysteria spread throughout Massachusetts, a court convened in Salem to hear the cases. The first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June. Eighteen others followed and some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months. Trials continued with until May 1693. But by that May, the governor of Massachusetts had pardoned and released all those in prison. Advertisement

'On 10 August 1692, 22-year-old Elizabeth Johnson Jr. of Andover, Massachusetts, was arrested for witchcraft  she told Justice Dudley Bradstreet that she too  participated in the big witch meeting in Salem Village,' the report states.

Johnson was condemned to death on January 11, 1693 but ultimately received a stay of execution from Governor William Phips. She later died in 1747, at the age of 77.

But while dozens of suspects had their convictions thrown out and were officially cleared, including Johnson's own mother, Johnson's name wasn't included in various legislative attempts to set the record straight.

'Why Elizabeth was not exonerated is unclear but no action was ever taken on her behalf by the General Assembly or the courts,' DiZoglio said.

'Possibly because she was neither a wife nor a mother, she was not considered worthy of having her name cleared. And because she never had children, there is no group of descendants acting on her behalf.'

In 2017, officials unveiled a semi-circular stone wall memorial inscribed with the names of people hanged at a site in Salem known as Proctor's Ledge. It was funded in part by donations from descendants of those accused of being witches.

LaPierre said some of her students initially were ambivalent about the effort to exonerate Johnson because they launched it before the 2020 presidential election and at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging.

'Some of the conversation was, "Why are we doing this? She's dead. Isn't there more important stuff going on in the world?''' she said.

'But they came around to the idea that it's important that in some small way we could do this one thing.'
A Virginia mother told a local school board last week that her six year-old daughter had been told she was 'born evil' for being white during a history lesson in scandal-hit Loudoun County.

The unidentified woman claims she moved her daughter out of the district because of the school curriculum.

She blamed former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Eric Williams; his successor, Dr. Scott Ziegler, and the school board for the alleged slur.

We had specifically moved them out of LCPS due to the swift and uncompromising political agenda of Superintendents Williams, Ziegler, and the school board had forced upon us, the mother said.

First, it was in the early spring of 2020 when my six-year-old somberly came to me and asked me if she was born evil because she was a white person.

Something she learned in a history lesson at school.

The woman continued: Then, you kept the schools closed for a year-and-a-half, despite the science indicating it was safe for kids to return.

Now, youve covered up a rape, and arrested, humiliated, and falsely accused parents of being domestic terrorists.

The raging controversy over school curricula is taking place against the backdrop of the highly competitive Virginia gubernatorial race as fears grow among Democrats that the GOP could seize the governorship in a state that has tilted solidly blue in recent years.

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.

Youngkin - who has campaigned on 'fighting back against the Radical Left and putting families first' - said on Saturday that he will not take part in Donald Trump's virtual 'tele-rally' for his campaign on Monday.

'I'm not going to be engaged in the tele-town hall,' said Youngkin. 'The teams are talking, I'm sure.'

A Virginia mother told a local school board last week that her six-year-old child asked her if she was born evil because shes white

Parent backlash over the teaching of critical race theory continues to dominate the conversation ahead of Tuesdays gubernatorial election in Virginia. The image above shows opponents of critical race theory protesting outside Loudoun County School Board headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia on June 22

Scott Smith, the father of a 15-year-old girl who was said to have been sexually assaulted in a school bathroom, was pictured with a bloody mouth, being dragged out of a school board meeting on June 22 - a month after the attack - after listening to school officials say no one had been sexually assaulted in the bathrooms when that's what his daughter had reported the previous month

At a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board meeting on Tuesday enraged parents cited an email that surfaced last week where Superintendent Scott Ziegler (pictured) reported an alleged sexual assault in the girls' bathroom. They were infuriated because just a month earlier he publicly said that he had no record of bathroom assaults

Parents stood outside the meeting holding placards that read: 'Protect girls not gender' and' 'women and girls are not collateral damage'

Parents referenced LCPS's pro-transgender policy 8040, which allows students 'to use the facility that corresponds to their consistently asserted gender identity'

Students walked out of Loudoun County's schools on Tuesday in protest against the county's handling of a rape allegation after a judge found the boy accused guilty

The Virginia district has been the epicenter of anger this summer at school curricula and policies - in particular, the teaching of critical race theory and rules regarding transgender students.

'I think its important to keep our perspective on this, weve heard it several times tonight from our public speakers but the predator transgender student or person simply does not exist,' Superintendent Ziegler said.

Four weeks earlier, Scott Smith's 15-year-old daughter told teachers she was raped in the girls' bathrooms at Stone Bridge High School in Leesburg, Virginia, by a male student who had been allowed into the bathroom because he told staff he identified as female.

The boy was arrested in July - a month after the meeting - but he went on to allegedly sexually assault another girl, at a different school in the same district, in October.

He is now in juvenile detention awaiting a court appearance on all charges, which include sexual battery and forcible sodomy.

A June 22 meeting in the district descended into violence and chaos, with brawls and police called to make several arrests.

Furious parents demanded the resignation of Ziegler, shown on June 22, telling a school board meeting that there had been no reports of sexual assaults involving transgender kids in bathrooms when one was reported on May 28

Smith was dragged out of the meeting. Ziegler claimed the board received no reports of sexual assaults.

Enraged parents cited an email that surfaced recently where Ziegler reported an alleged sexual assault in the girls' bathroom.

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 incident reportedly took place on May 28 and Scott was arrested on June 22.

Two months after the incident, the boy - who has not been named because he is a juvenile - was arrested for forced sodomy.

And in October, he was arrested again on different charges for allegedly assaulting a different girl, at a different school. He is now in a juvenile detention center.

At the meeting on June 22, Ziegler said the school had never had any form of incident inside a bathroom or locker room involving a transgender child.

'To my knowledge, we don't have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms,' he said first.

But a newly unearthed email reveals that on May 28, the day the alleged rape happened, he sent this email to colleagues confirming that it had been reported. 'This afternoon, a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom,' it read.

On Saturday, former President Donald Trump publicly backed Youngkin, and predicted the the controversy surrounding the school boards in the state would boost his chances of winning Tuesday's election.

Recent polls indicate that Youngkin is surging over McAuliffe, while Democrats have tried to do damage control and have relied on anti-Trump rhetoric to maintain a sense of control in the state.

A poll by The Washington Post showed the candidates are deadlocked, with McAuliffe leading Youngkin 49 to 48percent among likely voters.

The poll surveyed 1,107 registered voters from October 20 to October 26, 918 of whom are likely voters.

In the 2020 Presidential election, Virginia had a 76.6pecrent turnout. More than 54percent of the state voted for Biden, while 44percent voted for Trump.

'Democrats are facing DISASTER,' read an e-mail by the Democratic Governors Association for a last-minute fundraiser.

'We can't let the GOP break the Democratic firewall in Virginia - because what happens there will lay the groundwork for 2022,' the e-mail continued.

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

Youngkin said on Saturday that he will not take part in Donald Trump's virtual 'tele-rally' rally for his campaign on Monday

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.
Police in Northern Virginia have been spotted on high alert throughout the beginning of Halloween weekend - and ahead of Election Day on Tuesday - after a threat of a possible ISIS attack on US soil came to light on Thursday.

Police cruisers were parked outside of Mosaic Shopping Mall in Fairfax, Virginia, on Saturday as the county's police department '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.

Heightened law enforcement was also prevalent at a deserted-looking Tysons Corner Center Mall although 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'.

Police in Northern Virginia have been spotted on high alert throughout the beginning of Halloween weekend - and ahead of Election Day on Tuesday - after a threat of a possible ISIS attack on US soil came to light on Thursday (cruiser pictured outside of Mosaic Shopping Mall on Saturday)

Heightened law enforcement was prevalent at Tysons Corner Center Mall (pictured) after Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said they 'received information concerning potential public safety impacts to malls and shopping centers across the region'

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 Davis (pictured)

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

Meanwhile in Arlington, cops responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City Mall Saturday morning, according to WUSA9.

The car was reportedly parked in a restricted area and did not have any license plates displayed but after investigators searched the vehicle they determined that it was not a threat.

Public Information Officer for the Arlington County Police Ashely Savage said officers have since cleared the scene but will continue to patrol the county throughout the weekend, as reported by WUSA9.

Other police departments who have announced that they will be increasing their presence throughout the weekend include Prince William County Police Department, Alexandria Police Department, Metropolitan Police Department and Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

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

Police cruisers were parked outside of Mosaic Shopping Mall (pictured) in Fairfax, Virginia, on Saturday

There was also heightened law enforcement at Tysons Corner Center Shopping Mall as the county's police department 'received information concerning potential public safety impacts to malls and shopping centers across the region,'

Few people were in a deserted-looking Tysons Corner Center Mall as cops patrolled (pictured)

Meanwhile in Arlington, cops responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City Mall (pictured) Saturday morning

Although 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'

Yesterday the cruisers were seen patrolling the area around Fair Oaks Mall, which is located just 20miles outside of Washington, DC.

Davis added: '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'.

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.

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

Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl (pictured) said the US must remain vigilant against the threat from Al Qaeda and from the Islamic State's Afghanistan offshoot known as ISIS-K

'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 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 Christian university in Alabama has disinvited a Pulitzer-winning speaker from the president's inauguration ceremony after outraged students said his pro-choice beliefs contradict the institution's values.

Historian Jon Meacham had been invited to speak about social injustice at the Samford University president inauguration on Wednesday, November 3.

But his appearance at a Planned Parenthood event in Texas - where abortions are banned after six weeks - sparked outrage among anti-abortion students, who called into question his fitness to speak at the Baptist university.

A petition that collected more than 1,000 signatures forced president Beck Taylor to withdraw the invitation. The petition argued that the invitation was 'not only disappointing but alarming for the future of Samford - the top-ranked Christian University in Alabama.'

President Beck Taylor announced on Wednesday that withdrawing Meacham's invitation was the best course of action because the matter was now 'too divisive.'

A Christian university in Alabama has disinvited a Pulitzer-winning speaker from the president's inauguration ceremony after students contended his pro-abortion beliefs contradict the institution's values

The petition argued that the invitation was 'not only disappointing but alarming for the future of Samford - the top-ranked Christian University in Alabama'

A petition that collected more than 1,000 signatures forced president Beck Taylor to withdraw the invitation for Jon Meacham to speak at the inauguration on November 3

The change.org petition read: 'Mr. Meacham is involved with raising money in support of an organization that does not value life in the same way the Christian faith does.

'As Samford is the top-ranked Christian University in Alabama, the invitation for Mr. Meacham to speak is not only disappointing but alarming for the future of Samford.'

The petition went on to highlight Meacham's ties with Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of reproductive health services in the US.

The historian has attended and spoken at many events organized by the non-profit.

'Jon Meacham is significantly involved with the Planned Parenthood organization. He has spoken at their fundraising events, his book is used for the Planned Parenthood fundraiser, and overall his beliefs and core values do not align with those of Samford University, as it is a Southern Baptist institution,' it concluded.

Taylor, who became president of the university in July, tried to distance the institution from Meacham's pro-abortion beliefs

Taylor said he valued discourse and was disappointed by having to cancel Meacham's speech as it was going to be merely focused on social injustices

While Taylor, who became president of the university in July, tried to distance the institution from Meacham's pro-choice beliefs, he said he valued discourse and was disappointed by having to cancel Meacham's speech as it was going to be merely focused on social injustices.

'Some in our community have assumed erroneously that Samford's invitation by extension endorses any perspectives or viewpoints Mr. Meacham may have about the sanctity of life and abortion rights,' Taylor said.

He added: 'Although I am disappointed by the narrative that has combined important conversations about pro-life issues and Mr. Meacham's planned appearance at Samford, it is vitally important to me that next week's events unify and draw our community together to celebrate the history and future of Samford University, a place we love and for which we all care deeply.'

Meacham has written about several presidents - including Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, George H.W. Bush - but it was his Andrew Jackson's biography American Lion that earned him the Pulitzer Prize in 2009.

Those who signed the petition shared their agreement with Meacham's invitation to speak at the university.

'Samford leadership proudly states that their decisions on ALL matters are guided first and foremost by the Bible and God's teachings,' Kirk Becker commented on the petition's website.

'The decision to invite this man to speak considering he supports Planned Parenthood and their 350,000+ annual abortions runs completely contrary to this commitment,' she added.

Before withdrawing the invitation, the university described Meacham as a skilled orator with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion, and current affairs.

In a statement on Friday, the university announced that Meacham will be scheduled for a conference at another date at the university,

'Mr. Meacham, who is a noted historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer, has been invited to our campus to highlight his work in analyzing the current state of civility and discourse in our country. We look forward to hosting him at a later date,' the statement read.

Meacham has written about several presidents - including Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, George H.W. Bush - but it was his Andrew Jackson's biography American Lion that earned him the Pulitzer Prize in 2009.
A teenage jockey is in a coma after falling from a horse named Neurologic at the end of a race.

Hannah Fitzgerald, 18, went crashing to the ground after placing fourth in race six in Kalgoorlie, regional Western Australia, on Saturday night.

She was unconscious for some time before being rushed to Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital where she was stabilised, and was eventually flown to a hospital in Perth.

The final event was abandoned because other jockeys were too distraught after witnessing the horror fall.

Hannah Fitzgerald (pictured), 18, is in a coma after falling from a horse after a race on Saturday night

Ms Fitzgerald rode 31 winning races since making her debut in June last year.

In October 2020, she was presented with the Trainee of the Year Award at the Apprentice Awards.

Just 10 days after her riding debut on Duck Feet, she won on Jupiters Sun for trainer Glen Cortes at a carnival in Carnarvon, north of Perth.

Hannah Fitzgerald (pictured) previously said being a jockey is 'more than I expected it to be'

The young woman previously told The Races WA that becoming a jockey had exceeded her expectations.

'I'm enjoying it a lot and it's more than I expected it to be,' she said.

'I'm improving as I go along, and it gets better every day.'
Scott Morrison had a very awkward handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron at the G20 summit after a months-long war of words.

The Australian prime minister met Mr Macron for the first time since Australia pulled out of a $90 billion deal to have France manufacture its next generation of submarines.

The leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, just two days after a first phone call since Australia opted for nuclear-powered submarines in partnership with the US and Britain in the AUKUS pact.

Mr Morrison told reporters he only briefly bumped into the French leader and 'said g'day' and that he hoped they could speak more later.

An awkward handshake in Rome between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (centre right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (centre left)

Their icy phone conversation followed revelations that Mr Macron for weeks refused to take a call from Mr Morrison.

In what was reportedly a tense phone call before Mr Morrison left for Europe, Mr Macron told the prime minister he 'broken the relationship of trust between our two countries'.

'It is now up to the Australian government to propose tangible actions that embody the political will of Australia's highest authorities to redefine the basis of our bilateral relationship and continue joint action in the Indo-Pacific,' a statement from President Macron's office said.

Before he flew to Rome, Mr Morrison played down the prospect of a meeting with Mr Macron.

'I don't think that's probably going to happen this time,' he said.

'I think it will happen eventually, but we just got to give him a bit of space, give him a bit of space.

'I mean, we had to take the decision we took in the national interest, and maybe we'll catch up at some time down the track. But for now, you know, sometimes it's just best to give our friends a bit of space.'

An Australian Collins class submarine (front) and the UK nuclear-powered attack submarine, HMS Astute (rear) are seen at HMAS Stirling Royal Australian Navy base in Perth on October 29, 2021. Australia is committed to getting its first nuclear-powered submarines built and operating as quickly as possible, says Defence Minister Peter Dutton, after pulling out of a $90billion deal to have France make its next generation of submarines

The plan to avoid Mr Macron in Rome came undone when the leaders unexpectedly found themselves just metres apart.

'I said g'day, I said g'day,' Mr Morrison told reporters in Rome.

'He was having a chat to someone, I went up and just put my arm on his shoulder and just said "g'day, Emmanuel," and "look forward to catching up over the next couple of days".

'That's the way these events tend to work and he was happy to exchange those greetings.'

Before bumping into Mr Morrison, Mr Macron had met Joe Biden. The US President expressed great concern about the handling of the secret plan to dump France from the submarine project, saying it was 'clumsy' and '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,' Mr Biden told President Macron.

'I honest to God did not know you had not been.'

Mr Morrison would no be drawn on whether Mr Biden had dropped him in deeper trouble with the French.

'He's had a candid conversation with the French President and I'll leave his remarks for him,' he said.

Mr Morrison and the Australian Government have been the subject of French fury at being kept in the dark over the decision to end the $90 billion submarine contract.

The French government was told Australia was scrapping the deal just hours before Mr Morrison, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Mr Biden hosted a tri-lateral press conference to talk about the new AUKUS security and defence pact.

France's ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, was recalled in September after the submarine deal was cancelled, though he has since returned to Canberra.

The French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told his country's parliament he asked the ambassador to go back to Australia with two missions: 'To define our relationship with Australia in the future and firmly defend our interests in the implementation of Australia's decision to terminate the submarine program.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives at the G20 summit of world leaders to discuss climate change, Covid-19 and the post-pandemic global recovery at the La Nuvola center G20 Summit, Rome, Italy

There are fears that Australia's ditching of the French submarine deal could derail a potential free trade agreement with the European Union, of which France is a key member.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said of the deal cancellation: 'There are a lot of open questions that have to be answered... One of our member states has been treated in a way that is not acceptable.'

France's Europe minister Clement Beaune said France could halt progress on an EU-Australia trade deal which has been under negotiation since mid-2018.

'Keeping one's word is the condition of trust between democracies and between allies,' he told Politico.

'So it is unthinkable to move forward on trade negotiations as if nothing had happened with a country in which we no longer trust.'

During the 2019-20 financial year, Australia's two-way trade with the EU was worth $78.7 billion, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade data showed.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos publicly backed Dave Chappelle as the comedian took to the stage to introduce Jay-Z at the 36th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame introduction ceremony.

'I would like to apologize...nah, I'm just f***ing with y'all,' Chappelle said as he began his speech in reference to the controversial transgender jokes he made in his most recent Netflix special The Closer, according to Rolling Stone.

He went on to praise Jay-Z and ended by saying: 'And I am honored to be the n***a that gets to say, "My n***a, welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,' before hugging the producer and going backstage to give a beaming Sarandos a handshake.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos publicly backed Dave Chappelle (pictured) as the embattled comedian took to the stage to introduce Jay-Z at the 36th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame introduction ceremony

Chappelle was at the awards ceremony to introduce the man of the hour Jay-Z. 'And I am honored to be the n***a that gets to say, "My n***a, welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,' he said as he hugged the Hall of Fame inductee

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos (right), who has publicly backed Chapelle since his comedy special debuted on the platform earlier this month, was pictured shaking hands with him in yet another public show of support

In a public show of support Sarandos (right) took a photo with the Chappelle backstage at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, with rockstar Dave Grohl (left) of or Nirvana

In a public show of support Sarandos also took a photo with the Chappelle backstage at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, and was seen candidly laughing at the comedian during a conversation.

He even hugged Sarandos's wife and former US Ambassador to the Bahamas Nicole Avant.

Sarandos attended the event with his wife Nicole Avant and his father in law Clarence Avant, a veteran music executive known as 'The Black Godfather' who was himself being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The co-CEO has supported Chappelle since The Closer was released on the platform and has 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'.

Sarandos also addressed his staff's 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.

The Netflix co-CEO was pictured candidly laughing at the comedian during a conversation

Chappelle hugged Sarandos's wife and former US Ambassador to the Bahamas Nicole Avant as the three had a seemingly very friendly interaction

'I would like to apologize...nah, I'm just f***ing with y'all,' Chappelle said as he began his speech in reference to the controversial trans jokes he made in his most recent Netflix special The Closer

'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.

Sarandos continued to back Chappelle at Saturday's event - just a day after two transgender Netflix employees filed labor charges against the company claiming they were retaliated against for raising complaints about 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 claimed 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 black transgender person and 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.

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

Netflix has continued to stand by Chappelle and his comedy special, which was released on the streaming platform October 5

Netflix employees staged a walk out on October 20 to protest Chappelle's comedy special

Pgels-Minor 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'.

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

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.

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 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 7pm 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 percent 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.
Former President Donald Trump says he supports parents protesting at local school boards against administrators who seek to teach Critical Race Theory while denouncing claims that those doing the demonstrating are 'terrorists.'

'I've been watching the school board hearings more closely than I ever have, to be honest, and it's so interesting,' the former president told Fox News on Saturday.

'The parents are incensed. They're not terrorists. They're people that are just so upset.'

Trump was commenting on the controversy surrounding the Loudoun County school board in Virginia, where a parent whose child was the victim of a sexual assault was dragged out of a meeting and arrested after administrators refused to believe his claims.

A judge later ruled that his daughter was indeed assaulted in a school - prompting the head of the school board to apologize.

The former president said parents are also mobilized to prevent schools from teaching racial content.

'They're angry. They're hurt. They're crying because their children are being taught things that - in our opinion, in my opinion, in the vast majority of the people in this country's opinion - they don't want their children to hear about this stuff,' Trump said.

Former President Donald Trump says he supports parents protesting at local school boards against administrators who seek to teach Critical Race Theory while denouncing claims that those doing the demonstrating are 'terrorists'

Trump was commenting on the controversy surrounding the Loudoun County school board in Virginia, where a parent whose child was the victim of a sexual assault was dragged out of a meeting after administrators refused to believe his claims. A raucous school board meeting was held in Loudoun County on June 22

'They want to go back to reading, writing, and arithmetic, and they want to hear that black people are good, and they want to hear that white people are good.

'This is the division that is being caused by these programs.'

Trump predicted that the controversy surrounding the schools would boost Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's chances of winning Tuesday's election.

Youngkin is running against the Democratic former governor, Terry McAuliffe.

'I think he's going to do very well,' Trump said of Youngkin.

The former president hit out at McAuliffe for saying that parents should have no say in what their children are taught in school.

'McAuliffe made a tremendous mistake. It's not a tremendous mistake from his standpoint,' Trump said.

'He believes it.'

Trump said McAuliffe's statement would be just as 'bad' as Hillary Clinton's infamous comment calling supporters of the former president 'deplorables.'

'I think this is going to cause him tremendous problems come Tuesday,'

Trump predicted that the Democratic strategy of linking Youngkin with him would backfire.

He said that if 'my base' turns out on Tuesday, the GOP candidate will win. Polls currently show Youngkin with a slight lead over McAuliffe.

The school board meetings have turned into political battlegrounds nationwide as a group of GOP-aligned parents stage protests claiming their children are being indoctrinated with progressive ideology.

A Minnesota school board chairwoman stirred outrage last week after she demanded that parents announce their home address if they want to speak at public meetings - the latest flashpoint in the ongoing battle over the right to question administrators about COVID restrictions, CRT curriculums or any other controversial topics.

Jodi Sapp, the chairwoman of the Mankato school board, opened the meeting on October 18 by telling parents they cannot ask any questions unless they revealed their home address, according to the now viral video.

'Each speaker is asked to state his or her name and home address for the record. Failure to do so will result in an individual not being allowed to speak,' Sapp read aloud.

Trump predicted that the controversy surrounding the schools would boost Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's (left) chances of winning Tuesday's election. Youngkin is running against the Democratic former governor, Terry McAuliffe (right)

'Each speaker is allowed three minutes to speak, and the board will alert the speaker when their time is up. Failure to stop speaking (in time) will result in the ability to participate in future open forums.'

John Wicklund, a dad who at first refused to give his personal information before finally having to cave in, asked Sapp: 'Do you consider us terrorists? Like a couple members have said online.'

'Seems like we are, especially with the opening statements.'

The father's question was in reference to a memo sent last week by the National School Boards Association that likened some parents of school children who have protested their child's curriculum to domestic terrorists

The group has since apologized for the letter but not before Attorney General applauded the missive and called for the FBI to investigate such parents.

Scroll down for video

Pictured: chairwoman of the Mankato school board Jodi Sapp, who can be seen in the viral video telling a man that he cannot speak unless he announced his home address during an October 18 meeting

Mankato resident John Wicklund, pictured center with cap, was forced to publicly state his home address in order to speak during the school district's open forum on October 18

Wicklund, voiced his objections, but eventually provided his home address after attempting to negate doing so by citing concerns that his home could be targeted for vandalism.

'My name is John Wicklund and I live in Mankato,' he began.

'Could I get your address please, John,' Sapp responded.

'I'd rather not, since I get so much property damage and eggs and everything else from... fun people and their friends.'

'John you need to give your address,' she repeated.

'I live on 5th Street,' he reluctantly said, before being allowed to ask questions.

'How many acts of violence (have occurred on school grounds)? How many sexual assaults have happened in this school district?'

'You can say the (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) are making you do this, but the government knows better.'

Sapp did not answer the dad in the video, giving him a curt 'thank you, that's the end of the open forum'.

The open forum's policy change came after the school board's October 4 meeting, where a number of parents criticized the school district mask's mandate and vaccination policies, causing audience members to loudly applaud the community speakers.

School board meetings nationwide have become the battleground for parents and district officials in recent months, with many parents using the board meetings to protest the teaching of critical race theory and other controversial educational topics.

The Mankato meeting remained civil despite the testy moment between Sapp and Wicklund, however outrage did spill over onto social media after the video of their exchange went viral.

'John you need to give your address,' Sapp told the man. 'I live on 5th Street,' Wicklund reluctantly replied

The open forum's policy change came after the school board's October 4 meeting, where a number of parents criticized the school district mask's mandate and vaccination policies

'Time for the people of Mankato to remove all of the fascist school board members' one person tweeted.

'Payback is a b**** , right fascist Mankato MN school board dictator Jodi Sapp? You forced a parent to reveal their address so they could be doxxed & harassed. Hopefully people feel free to contact you now too,' another wrote.

'Looks like Mankato School Board needs a house cleaning. They forget that they work for the people of Mankato. I would suggest they start their house cleaning with that Jodi person,' a third person tweeted.

'In what universe is it okay to treat parents this way?! The school board works for the parents, not the other way around. Mankato parents need to start a recall petition for any school board member who support this kind of treatment of parents,' another critic of the school board wrote.

'None of the Board members list their home addresses on the Meet the Board site,' one person tweeted, while providing a link to the website.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Garland defended his memo which responded to threats aimed at school officials, while pushing back on criticism from Senate Republicans at a Judiciary Committee hearing.

The memo, Garland said, 'responds to concerns about violence, threats of violence, other criminal conduct.'

'Looks like Mankato School Board needs a house cleaning. They forget that they work for the people of Mankato. I would suggest they start their house cleaning with that Jodi person'

'Payback is a b**** , right fascist Mankato MN school board dictator Jodi Sapp? You forced a parent to reveal their address so they could be doxxed & harassed' one person tweeted

'Time for the people of Mankata to remove all of the fascist school board members' another tweeted

'None of the Board members list their home addresses on the Meet the Board site,' a third wrote

'In what universe is it okay to treat parents this way?! The school board works for the parents, not the other way around,' another person tweeted

'That's all it's about, and all it asks, is for federal law enforcement to consult with, meet with local law enforcement to assess the circumstances, strategize about what may or may not be necessary to provide federal assistance, if it is necessary,' Garland said in response to a question from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.

Grassley's fellow Republican Senator Tom Cotton tore into Garland during testimony, telling him to 'resign in disgrace.'

'Thank God you are not on the Supreme Court,' the Arkansas Republican said, bringing up the touchy subject of Garland's failed confirmation to the high court in 2016. President Obama appointed him and then-Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked his confirmation because it was an election year.

'You should resign in disgrace,' Cotton told Garland.

The senator was questioning Garland over a directive the Justice Department issued earlier this month promising more law enforcement resources for schools amid a rise in tensions and threats at school board meetings over matters like critical race theory, coronavirus precautions and transgender bathroom policies.

Cotton asked about a Loudoun County father who was dragged out of a school board meeting and arrested as he tried to tell the room his 15-year-old daughter had been raped by a boy dressed in a skirt at Stone Bridge High School in the girls' bathroom.

Scott Smith says Loudoun County schools went out of their way to protect the child - 'a sexual predator'. The school, which Smith accused of covering up the incident to protect its new policy allowing students to use the bathroom they identify with, still has not commented.

The incident reportedly took place on May 28 and Scott was arrested on June 22.

Two months after the incident, the boy - who has not been named because he is a juvenile - was arrested for forced sodomy.
Jacinda Ardern plans to cut carbon emissions in New Zealand by 50 per cent within nine years by using a controversial accounting trick.

The prime minister and climate change minister James Shaw announced the new goal on Sunday, a day before 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

'To stand a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C, the science shows we now have about eight years left to almost halve global greenhouse gas emissions,' Mr Shaw said.

'That's eight years for countries to make the necessary plans, put in place policies, implement them, and ultimately deliver the cut.'

Pictured: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with Climate Change Minister James Shaw

But some groups are saying the target is too low because two-thirds of the reduction will come from buying offshore climate offsets or other global reductions, rather than cutting emissions within New Zealand alone.

The net target will also take elements like forestry offsets into account, which take carbon dioxide out of the air, meaning that gross emissions will likely not drop by 50 per cent.

Oxfam, Greenpeace, and Lawyers for Climate Action criticised the Kiwi government for changing the way emissions are calculated.

The pair have pledged to reduce New Zealand's carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030

'Let's be real here, this is not our fair share,' Oxfam New Zealand executive director Rachael Le Mesurie told Stuff.

'The government has changed the way they count our emissions reductions to make them look like they are doing more than they are.'

Under the Paris agreement, which is a legally binding international treaty, all participating countries are required to reduce greenhouse gases to try and limit global temperature increases to no more than 1.5C.

Ms Ardern's government's target is higher than the one set by the National Government in 2015.

New Zealand initially pledged to cut emissions by 39 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Pictured: People protesting in New Zealand on October 27, before the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow

In January, the Climate Change Commission found the figure needed to be higher.

'New Zealand's enhanced contribution to the global effort to fight climate change now represents our fair share, and is in line with what's needed if we are to avoid the worst impacts of global warming on New Zealand,' Ms Ardern said.

'Climate change is a priority for the Government because it's a threat to our economy, our environment and our everyday lives. Lifting our commitment is an investment in a stable climate that will benefit us all in the future.

'While we are a small contributor to global emissions, as a county surrounded by oceans and an economy reliant on our land we are not immune to the impact of climate change, so it's critical we pull our weight.'

Mr Shaw said the targets would bring New Zealand 'up to speed with other countries' commitments'.
A migrant woman drowned swimming the strong currents around border fencing jutting 300 feet into the Pacific ocean between Tijuana and San Diego on Friday, while another 13 of 70 migrants were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The woman, whose identity has not yet been released, was pronounced dead at U.S. Border Field State Park in California at 12.30 pm on Friday after patrol agents and EMS workers exhausted their attempts at CPR, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Thirty-six Mexican nationals were taken to a Border Patrol station for processing, the agency said, consisting of 25 men and 11 women. Of those, 13 were rescued from the harsh currents by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.

No additional injuries were reported by authorities, and it is unclear what happened to the other 33 people who attempted the swim into the United States, according to FOX 5 San Diego.

Officials characterized the drowning death is 'another example of the ruthless tactics smuggling organizations use to bolster their power and profits.'

The border fence between San Diego and Tijuana juts about 300 feet into the Pacific Ocean. On Friday, a migrant woman drowned attempting to swim around the barrier

The woman, whose identity has not yet been released, was pronounced dead at U.S. Border Field State Park in California at 12.30 pm on Friday after patrol agents and EMS workers exhausted their attempts at CPR, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection

No additional injuries were reported by authorities, and it is unclear what happened to the other 33 people who attempted the swim into the United States, according to FOX 5 San Diego

A migrant woman drowned on Friday as she attempted to swim around a border fence that separates Mexico and the United States - 13 more migrants were rescued from the Pacific Ocean by members of the Coast Guard, and 36 Mexican nationals of an estimated 70 attempting to cross were detained

'We will work tirelessly to pursue and bring to justice those responsible for this tragedy,' said San Diego Sectors Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke in a Saturday pres release.

Multiple agencies continued to search the area, including the San Diego Fire Department and California State Parks, and using helicopters in their search, Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist Adam Stanton told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

'We grabbed 13 people out of the water and took them to shore, handing them to the Border Patrol because it is their jurisdiction to process them and get them back to where they need to be,' Stanton told the publication.

The border fencing, some 12 feet high, is situated within U.S. Border Field State Park - swimming and wading are discouraged at the park due to 'hazardous conditions, such as inshore currents, rip currents and the lack of lifeguard service,' according to California's Parks Department.

Stadium-style floodlights, border patrol agents on ATVs, observation towers and cameras equipped with night vision capabilities are outfitted throughout the park to deter and monitor migrants from crossing onto American soil.

The border fencing, some 12 feet high, is situated within U.S. Border Field State Park - swimming and wading are discouraged at the park due to 'hazardous conditions, such as inshore currents, rip currents and the lack of lifeguard service,' according to California's Parks Department

In March of this year, 28-year-old Yuri Rios of Honduras (pictured) drowned in the same stretch of water while attempting to make the border crossing

Visitors to the park on the U.S. side are not allowed to approach the fencing, save for at a small section called 'Friendship Point.' There, stranded deportees speak through a mesh steel fence to their separated loved ones on the U.S. side, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The fencing itself has become a canvas for the politically-charged art of graffiti artists: one manifesto sprayed onto the structure reads 'Family reunification, a future to believe in.'

Raw sewage from Tijuana frequently seeps into the coastal wetlands on the U.S. side of the border - currently, the park is closed to visitors due to flooding from recent storm activity that has brought sewage into wet and muddy areas of the park.

In March of this year, 28-year-old Yuri Rios of Honduras drowned in the same stretch of water while attempting to make the border crossing.

The mother-of-two was separated from her brother-in-law, Jose Duenas, when the pair were separated by a strong current in the Pacific Ocean beach waters in Tijuana. Duenas swam to shore and sought assistance from a man on the beach - they managed to pull Rios from the water, but it was too late.

Twice as many immigrants attempted to cross into the U.S. from areas in border control's San Diego sector, up from 53,282 in 2020 to 142,459 in 2021, the agency reported.

Data released by US Customs and Border Protection reported a peak during the summer, with more than 213,000 incidents in July alone. A slight decrease was recorded in September with 192,00 incidents

'We grabbed 13 people out of the water and took them to shore, handing them to the Border Patrol because it is their jurisdiction to process them and get them back to where they need to be,' Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist Adam Stanton told the San Diego Union-Tribune

The U.S. detained more than 1.7 million migrants along the US-Mexico border between October 2020 and September 2021 - the highest number since 1986, according to the Washington Post.

Data released by US Customs and Border Protection reported a peak during the summer, with more than 213,000 incidents in July alone. A slight decrease was recorded in September with 192,000 incidents.

Roughly 55,000 of 77,000 asylum-seekers in Mexico are awaiting processing at facilities in the city, and many have complained about unsanitary conditions.

The Biden administration said in August that it aimed to hire an additional 1,000 asylum officers and another 1,000 support staff. The hiring spree would more than double the current crop of about 800 asylum officers and would be funded either by Congress or immigration application fee hikes.

In August, a divided Supreme Court ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the Trump-era policy, called Migrant Protection Protocols and better known as 'Remain in Mexico.'
Three people are dead after the SUV they were traveling in collided with an Amtrack train carrying 500 passengers at a rail crossing in South Carolina.

None of the train's passengers or crew were hurt, Amtrak said.

The North Charleston Fire Department said the SUV, which had four people inside, was heavily damaged when police arrived at the marked crossing early Saturday after the collision was first reported to emergency dispatchers shortly before 2.30am.

Three of the people in the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene, and a fourth person was taken to a hospital. None of the four were identified and there was no immediate update on the condition of the survivor.

Amtrak spokesperson Olivia Irvin said in an email that Auto Train 53 was traveling from Lorton, Virginia, just outside the nation's capital, to Sanford, Florida. Twelve of its cars had passengers.

There were 474 passengers but no reported injuries on board, Irvin wrote. The Amtrak train was able to make a controlled emergency stop after the collision.

The train was delayed for several hours and resumed its journey just before 8:30 a.m.

Police work the scene of an early morning collision between a vehicle and a train on Remount Road in North Charleston, S.C. on Saturday, Oct.30, 2021. Authorities say a collision between an Amtrak train and a vehicle at a railroad crossing in South Carolina has resulted in three deaths

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.

Damage to the train is being assessed by Amtrak representatives. The North Charleston Police Department and CSX Transportation are investigating the cause of the crash.

Asked for further details of the collision, a North Charleston police spokesman, Harvey Jacobs, emailed Saturday evening that his agency would have no additional comment until the investigation is complete.

The crash comes after a preliminary report on an Amtrak train derailment in Montana last month that killed three people and injured dozens more offered no clues about what triggered the accident, but said the train's emergency brakes were activated and that Amtrak estimated the damage at more than $22 million.

However, one attorney whose client is suing Amtrak and BNSF Railway said he wanted to learn more about the crash-worthiness of the train's observation car and an attorney for a crew member said she reported seeing a 30-foot dip along the railroad, where it appeared the track bed had given way.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued its preliminary report Tuesday on the Sept. 25 derailment of the westbound Empire Builder just west of Joplin, in north-central Montana.

It was mostly factual, saying there were 154 people on board and that 44 passengers and crew were taken to area hospitals with injuries. Passengers without serious injuries were bused to the nearby town of Chester, where residents provided food and other aid.

Workers stand near train tracks next to overturned cars from an Amtrak train that derailed near Joplin, Montana. A preliminary report released on the derailment of an Amtrak train in north-central Montana last month that killed three people and injured dozens more gave no information on the cause of the accident.

It is believed that the train was traveling just below the 79mph speed limit at the time of the incident. There were 154 people on board and that 44 passengers and crew were taken to area hospitals with injuries

The train was traveling at between 75 and 78mph (121 and 125kph), just below the speed limit of 79mph (127 kph) on that section of track when its emergency brakes were activated. The two locomotives and two railcars remained on the rails and eight cars derailed.

NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said Tuesday it was 'still very early' in the investigation and the agency typically takes one to two years to determine accident causes.

'We are looking at everything,' he said.

Rail experts have said the crash could have been caused by problems with the railroad or track, such as a rail that buckled under high heat, or the track itself giving way when the train passed over.

But they said investigators would consider all possibilities, including potential problems with the Empire Builder's wheels or suspension system. Investigators also were examining if passengers were ejected from the train during the crash.
Democrats in Virginia are scrambling to stave off disaster in the state's governor's race - the most competitive major election since Donald 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.

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.

Youngkin - who has campaigned on 'fighting back against the Radical Left and putting families first' - said on Saturday that he will not take part in Donald Trump's virtual 'tele-rally' for his campaign on Monday.

'I'm not going to be engaged in the tele-town hall,' said Youngkin. 'The teams are talking, I'm sure.'

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

Youngkin said on Saturday that he will not take part in Donald Trump's virtual 'tele-rally' rally for his campaign on Monday

'I'm not going to be engaged in the tele-town hall,' said Youngkin. 'The teams are talking, I'm sure

In the early stages of his campaign, Youngkin said that 'Trump represents so much of why [he is]running.' He has also entertained claims that the 2020 Presidential election was rigged

On Saturday, Trump publicly backed Youngkin, and predicted the the controversy surrounding the school boards in the state would boost Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's chances of winning Tuesday's election.

Parents in the state have been fighting back against woke school boards where meetings have become a public battlefield. Hot button topics include banned books from school libraries parents had deemed inappropriate, the rights of transgender students, and the teaching of critical race theory.

In June, a father was arrested at a Loudoun County School Board meeting after he confronted board members about his 15-year-old daughter being raped in a gender-neutral bathroom by a boy, 15, wearing a skirt. The boy, who has not been named because he is a minor, has been charged and will be sentenced in November. He has also been charged with sexually assaulting another girl at a different school in the same Virginia school district in October.

'I've been watching the school board hearings more closely than I ever have, to be honest, and it's so interesting,' the former president told Fox News on Saturday.

'The parents are incensed. They're not terrorists. They're people that are just so upset.'

'I think he's going to do very well,' Trump said of Youngkin.

The former president hit out at McAuliffe for saying that parents should have no say in what their children are taught in school.

'McAuliffe made a tremendous mistake. It's not a tremendous mistake from his standpoint,' Trump said. 'He believes it.'

Trump said McAuliffe's statement would be just as 'bad' as Hillary Clinton's infamous comment calling supporters of the former president 'deplorables.'

'I think this is going to cause him tremendous problems come Tuesday,' he said.

Trump predicted that the Democratic strategy of linking Youngkin with him would backfire.

Although Trump hinted at a possible visit to Virginia in support of Youngkin, plans never materialized.

While Trump was absent, Biden attended a campaign event for McAuliffe in Arlington, Virginia.

Biden accused Youngkin of keeping Trump at an arm's length while privately approving of his endorsement and cashing in political points with Trump followers.

'Terry's opponent has made all of his private pledges of loyalty to Donald Trump,' Biden said.

'But what's really interesting to me, he won't stand next to Donald Trump. Think about it. He won't allow Donald Trump to campaign for him in this state. He's willing to pledge his loyalty to Trump in private,' Biden added, 'Why not in public? What's he trying to hide? Is there a problem with Trump being here? Is he embarrassed?'

In the early stages of his campaign, Youngkin said that 'Trump represents so much of why [he is]running.'

He has also entertained claims that the 2020 Presidential election was rigged.

While Trump was absent, Biden attended a campaign event for McAuliffe in Arlington, Virginia. President of the United States Joe Biden (L) speaks during a rally campaigned for Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Virginia, Terry McAuliffe

Biden accused Youngkin of keeping Trump at an arm's length while privately approving of his endorsement and cashing in political points with Trump followers

Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia, campaigns in Northern Virginia in the waning days of the election

President of the United States Joe Biden (L), Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Virginia, Terry McAuliffe (C) and his wife Dorothy McAuliffe (R) attend a rally in Arlington

'It is just killing Trump that he [Youngkin] is not here, obviously,' McAuliffe said on Saturday. 'He is in the race, obviously he has endorsed Youngkin seven different times.'

Without Trump 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.

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.

Recent polls indicate that Youngkin is surging over McAuliffe, while Democrats have tried to do damage control and have relied on anti-Trump rhetoric to maintain a sense of control in the state.

'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 (File picture)

The surprisingly tight contest has exposed the depth of the party's dependence on Trump as a message and motivator

Although Trump hinted at a possible visit to Virginia to support Youngkin, plans never materialized. Above, Former first lady and president of the United States Melania and Donald Trump look on during Game Four of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves Truist Park on October 30

A poll by The Washington Post showed the candidates are deadlocked, with McAuliffe leading Youngkin 49 to 48percent among likely voters.

The poll surveyed 1,107 registered voters from October 20 to October 26, 918 of whom are likely voters.

In the 2020 Presidential election, Virginia had a 76.6pecrent turnout. More than 54percent of the state voted for Biden, while 44percent voted for Trump.

'Democrats are facing DISASTER,' read an e-mail by the Democratic Governors Association for a last-minute fundraiser.

'We can't let the GOP break the Democratic firewall in Virginia - because what happens there will lay the groundwork for 2022,' the e-mail continued.

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.

'They're incensed. They're not terrorists': Trump backs parents fighting with Virginia school boards over critical race theory

Former President Donald Trump says he supports parents protesting at local school boards against administrators who seek to teach Critical Race Theory while denouncing claims that those doing the demonstrating are 'terrorists.'

'I've been watching the school board hearings more closely than I ever have, to be honest, and it's so interesting,' the former president told Fox News on Saturday.

'The parents are incensed. They're not terrorists. They're people that are just so upset.'

Trump was commenting on the controversy surrounding the Loudoun County school board in Virginia, where a parent whose child was the victim of a sexual assault was dragged out of a meeting and arrested after administrators refused to believe his claims.

A judge later ruled that his daughter was indeed assaulted in a school - prompting the head of the school board to apologize.

The former president said parents are also mobilized to prevent schools from teaching racial content.

'They're angry. They're hurt. They're crying because their children are being taught things that - in our opinion, in my opinion, in the vast majority of the people in this country's opinion - they don't want their children to hear about this stuff,' Trump said.

Former President Donald Trump says he supports parents protesting at local school boards against administrators who seek to teach Critical Race Theory while denouncing claims that those doing the demonstrating are 'terrorists'

Trump was commenting on the controversy surrounding the Loudoun County school board in Virginia, where a parent whose child was the victim of a sexual assault was dragged out of a meeting after administrators refused to believe his claims. A raucous school board meeting was held in Loudoun County on June 22

'They want to go back to reading, writing, and arithmetic, and they want to hear that black people are good, and they want to hear that white people are good.

'This is the division that is being caused by these programs.'

Trump predicted that the controversy surrounding the schools would boost Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's chances of winning Tuesday's election.

Youngkin is running against the Democratic former governor, Terry McAuliffe.

'I think he's going to do very well,' Trump said of Youngkin.

The former president hit out at McAuliffe for saying that parents should have no say in what their children are taught in school.

'McAuliffe made a tremendous mistake. It's not a tremendous mistake from his standpoint,' Trump said.

'He believes it.'

Trump said McAuliffe's statement would be just as 'bad' as Hillary Clinton's infamous comment calling supporters of the former president 'deplorables.'

'I think this is going to cause him tremendous problems come Tuesday,'

Trump predicted that the Democratic strategy of linking Youngkin with him would backfire.

He said that if 'my base' turns out on Tuesday, the GOP candidate will win. Polls currently show Youngkin with a slight lead over McAuliffe.

The school board meetings have turned into political battlegrounds nationwide as a group of GOP-aligned parents stage protests claiming their children are being indoctrinated with progressive ideology.

A Minnesota school board chairwoman stirred outrage last week after she demanded that parents announce their home address if they want to speak at public meetings - the latest flashpoint in the ongoing battle over the right to question administrators about COVID restrictions, CRT curriculums or any other controversial topics.

Jodi Sapp, the chairwoman of the Mankato school board, opened the meeting on October 18 by telling parents they cannot ask any questions unless they revealed their home address, according to the now viral video.

'Each speaker is asked to state his or her name and home address for the record. Failure to do so will result in an individual not being allowed to speak,' Sapp read aloud.

Trump predicted that the controversy surrounding the schools would boost Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's (left) chances of winning Tuesday's election. Youngkin is running against the Democratic former governor, Terry McAuliffe (right)

'Each speaker is allowed three minutes to speak, and the board will alert the speaker when their time is up. Failure to stop speaking (in time) will result in the ability to participate in future open forums.'

John Wicklund, a dad who at first refused to give his personal information before finally having to cave in, asked Sapp: 'Do you consider us terrorists? Like a couple members have said online.'

'Seems like we are, especially with the opening statements.'

The father's question was in reference to a memo sent last week by the National School Boards Association that likened some parents of school children who have protested their child's curriculum to domestic terrorists

The group has since apologized for the letter but not before Attorney General applauded the missive and called for the FBI to investigate such parents.

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Pictured: chairwoman of the Mankato school board Jodi Sapp, who can be seen in the viral video telling a man that he cannot speak unless he announced his home address during an October 18 meeting

Mankato resident John Wicklund, pictured center with cap, was forced to publicly state his home address in order to speak during the school district's open forum on October 18

Wicklund, voiced his objections, but eventually provided his home address after attempting to negate doing so by citing concerns that his home could be targeted for vandalism.

'My name is John Wicklund and I live in Mankato,' he began.

'Could I get your address please, John,' Sapp responded.

'I'd rather not, since I get so much property damage and eggs and everything else from... fun people and their friends.'

'John you need to give your address,' she repeated.

'I live on 5th Street,' he reluctantly said, before being allowed to ask questions.

'How many acts of violence (have occurred on school grounds)? How many sexual assaults have happened in this school district?'

'You can say the (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) are making you do this, but the government knows better.'

Sapp did not answer the dad in the video, giving him a curt 'thank you, that's the end of the open forum'.

The open forum's policy change came after the school board's October 4 meeting, where a number of parents criticized the school district mask's mandate and vaccination policies, causing audience members to loudly applaud the community speakers.

School board meetings nationwide have become the battleground for parents and district officials in recent months, with many parents using the board meetings to protest the teaching of critical race theory and other controversial educational topics.

The Mankato meeting remained civil despite the testy moment between Sapp and Wicklund, however outrage did spill over onto social media after the video of their exchange went viral.

'John you need to give your address,' Sapp told the man. 'I live on 5th Street,' Wicklund reluctantly replied

The open forum's policy change came after the school board's October 4 meeting, where a number of parents criticized the school district mask's mandate and vaccination policies

'Time for the people of Mankato to remove all of the fascist school board members' one person tweeted.

'Payback is a b**** , right fascist Mankato MN school board dictator Jodi Sapp? You forced a parent to reveal their address so they could be doxxed & harassed. Hopefully people feel free to contact you now too,' another wrote.

'Looks like Mankato School Board needs a house cleaning. They forget that they work for the people of Mankato. I would suggest they start their house cleaning with that Jodi person,' a third person tweeted.

'In what universe is it okay to treat parents this way?! The school board works for the parents, not the other way around. Mankato parents need to start a recall petition for any school board member who support this kind of treatment of parents,' another critic of the school board wrote.

'None of the Board members list their home addresses on the Meet the Board site,' one person tweeted, while providing a link to the website.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Garland defended his memo which responded to threats aimed at school officials, while pushing back on criticism from Senate Republicans at a Judiciary Committee hearing.

The memo, Garland said, 'responds to concerns about violence, threats of violence, other criminal conduct.'

'Looks like Mankato School Board needs a house cleaning. They forget that they work for the people of Mankato. I would suggest they start their house cleaning with that Jodi person'

'Payback is a b**** , right fascist Mankato MN school board dictator Jodi Sapp? You forced a parent to reveal their address so they could be doxxed & harassed' one person tweeted

'Time for the people of Mankata to remove all of the fascist school board members' another tweeted

'None of the Board members list their home addresses on the Meet the Board site,' a third wrote

'In what universe is it okay to treat parents this way?! The school board works for the parents, not the other way around,' another person tweeted

'That's all it's about, and all it asks, is for federal law enforcement to consult with, meet with local law enforcement to assess the circumstances, strategize about what may or may not be necessary to provide federal assistance, if it is necessary,' Garland said in response to a question from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.

Grassley's fellow Republican Senator Tom Cotton tore into Garland during testimony, telling him to 'resign in disgrace.'

'Thank God you are not on the Supreme Court,' the Arkansas Republican said, bringing up the touchy subject of Garland's failed confirmation to the high court in 2016. President Obama appointed him and then-Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked his confirmation because it was an election year.

'You should resign in disgrace,' Cotton told Garland.

The senator was questioning Garland over a directive the Justice Department issued earlier this month promising more law enforcement resources for schools amid a rise in tensions and threats at school board meetings over matters like critical race theory, coronavirus precautions and transgender bathroom policies.

Cotton asked about a Loudoun County father who was dragged out of a school board meeting and arrested as he tried to tell the room his 15-year-old daughter had been raped by a boy dressed in a skirt at Stone Bridge High School in the girls' bathroom.

Scott Smith says Loudoun County schools went out of their way to protect the child - 'a sexual predator'. The school, which Smith accused of covering up the incident to protect its new policy allowing students to use the bathroom they identify with, still has not commented.

The incident reportedly took place on May 28 and Scott was arrested on June 22.

Two months after the incident, the boy - who has not been named because he is a juvenile - was arrested for forced sodomy.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce believes international travel will peak at three-times its pre-pandemic levels next year

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce believes international travel will peak at three-times its pre-pandemic levels next year with Australians desperate to travel and tourists keen to flock back to the nation's golden shores.

Australia's hard borders will swing open from Monday to the rest of the world for the first time since March last year after New South Wales surpassed 80 per cent vaccination rates and ended hotel quarantine for vaccinated travellers.

People will be required to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result from November 1, with citizens and residents able to leave the country for long awaited holidays or be reunited with family and friends abroad.

Mr Joyce says the 'pent up demand' from the past 18 months will see the industry experience unprecedent numbers in 2022 as the world returns to normalcy.

'I'm sure there'll be a lot of visitors around the world that want to come into Australia given how well we've handled the pandemic,' he told Sky News.

Australia's hard borders will swing open from Monday to the rest of the world for the first time since March last year. Pictured: People queuing to check in for international travel

Australians will be allowed to travel the world or be reunited with friends and family overseas from November 1 . Pictured: A traveller in London

The Qantas boss said the re-opening of Australia's borders was the 'best news' the airline has received since the start of the pandemic and his staff are raring to go.

'All 22,000 of our employees get back to work in the first week of December,' he said.

'We've had to make tough decisions of standing down 11,000 of those employees at the moment, 6,000 related to international, 5,000 to domestic with the closedown of NSW and Victoria.'

He said the vast majority of the employees that were stood have have been unemployed since March last year and says they are ecstatic to get back to work before the Christmas period.

'We now have confidence with the light at the end of the tunnel that we won't need to stand people down in the future given the really high vaccination levels that we now have in Australia,' he said.

The Qantas boss said the re-opening of Australia's borders was the 'best news' the airline has received since the start of the pandemic and his staff are raring to go

Singapore will open a travel bubble with Australia on November 8 with people able to move freely between the countries with no quarantine periods

The Australian flagship airline are hoping to be fully operational internationally by the end of the year as the remaining states catch up with NSW and end their respective hotel quarantine systems for vaccinated travellers.

They are also looking at running the domestic operations at 120% as they look to meet the demand of Australian families hoping to reunite for Christmas.

Queensland and Western Australia are currently blocking out the rest of the country while they languish behind in vaccination rates, with Queensland expected to open up before Christmas.
Queensland's top doctor Jeannette Young has asked for one final thing from residents as she prepares to move onto her new role as the state's Governor - that they go and get vaccinated.

Sunday marked her final day as the Chief Health Officer, a role she held for 16 years, making her the longest serving health officer in Australia.

She had provided daily updates to Queenslanders for the entirety of the Covid-19 pandemic, and was praised by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in a final send-off.

'Queenslanders, you've been fantastic and as I sign off I've got one final request,' Dr Young said.

'Please get vaccinated.'

'Today Dr Young completes one of the most exceptional chapters of public service our state has ever seen,' Ms Palaszczuk tweeted.

Queensland's top doctor Jeannette Young has asked for residents to get vaccinated as her 'final request' as she prepares to move onto her new role as the state's Governor

But Dr Young's time as CHO has not been without controversy, with some of her more unusual comments sparking concern from many Queenslanders.

Just two weeks ago she claimed every single person living in the Sunshine State would become infected with the virus.

'We are all of us going to end up being infected with Covid, every single person in Queensland,' she said.

'But if youve been vaccinated its highly unlikely you will be sick, and definitely very unlikely that you will end up in hospital or the ICU.'

Queensland has seen incredibly low Covid-19 case numbers in recent months but infections could climb around Christmas time as the state's borders open up.

One of Dr Young's most controversial messages was when she said people under 40 shouldn't be getting the Astrazeneca jab because of a highly rare blood clotting disease.

Sunday marked her final day as the Chief Health Officer, a role she held for 16 years, making her the longest serving health officer in Australia (Dr Jeannette Young is seen centre with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk left and Health Minister Steven Miles right)

Dr Young is seen with her husband Professor Graeme Nimmo

'I don't want an 18-year-old in Queensland dying from a clotting illness who, if they got Covid, probably wouldn't die,' she said at a press conference in June.

Australian health authorities at the time restricted the vaccine's use for those aged under 50 after it was linked to extremely rare blood clots.

Her comments were in line with the advice from ATAGI and there was no serious outbreak of Covid in Queensland at the time.

This advice however has since changed with both Astrazeneca and Pfizer deemed safe to Australians.

Dr Young went on to say: 'We've had very few deaths due to Covid-19 in Australia in people under the age of 50.

'Wouldn't it be terrible that our first 18-year-old in Queensland who dies related to this pandemic died because of the vaccine?'

Her time as CHO has not been without controversy including in June when she said young people shouldn't receive the Astrazeneca jab (pictured is Dr Young at a pop up vaccination site at Bunnings Warehouse enjoying a sausage sandwich)

But with fatal blood clots occurring at a rate of about one in 1 million in Australia and largely affecting those with underlying health conditions, her comments provoked outrage in the medical community.

Many said her 'fear-mongering' position on AstraZeneca risked derailing the nation's once lagging vaccine progress.

Federal Finance Minister Simon Birmingham in the aftermath slammed Dr Young and Premier Palaszczuk labelling their stance 'shameful' and 'deeply unhelpful' as the government tries to combat hesitancy.

'The politicisation of the vaccine rollout that has been attempted by some, particularly by some state politicians in Queensland, is shameful,' he told Sunrise.

'It is the case that Australians who are young who contract Covid can go to intensive care units and do have a risk of dying from Covid.

'That risk is higher than the risk of the clotting complications from the AstraZeneca vaccine.'

In the wake of the message, a series of anti-vax posters started popping up around Melbourne with Dr Young's quote.

Queensland's Department of Health fired back at the posters and said her comments had been 'taken completely out of context'.

'We urge the community to disregard this anti-vaccination nonsense  the Queensland chief health officer strongly advocates for vaccination every day,' a spokesperson said.

Earlier this month Dr Young gave the grim warning everyone in the Sunshine State would catch the virus

'To try to use a strong vaccination advocate in an anti-vaccination rally is absurd and contradictory in itself.'

In August, Dr Young bizarrely urged Queenslanders to avoid online shopping to help prevent the movement of people needed to deliver packages, and in turn reduce the spread of Covid.

The CHO told those who had been locked down in 11 south-east Queensland LGAs at the time to ask themselves if they 'really needed' to open their front door to go out shopping.

'Instead when you open your front door, could you, please, think "do I really need to go outside my front door today?"

'Maybe just stay home because you can only move this virus around if the person moves around.'

At the time the virus had been rife in Queensland, with Dr Young urging people to reconsider online shopping and try to get through the rest of the week with what they had in their house.

'I'm a great online shopper,' she said. 'Could you think about whether you need to do online shopping this week?

Dr Young had stood by the premier's side to delivery daily Covid-19 press briefings

'Do you need those people out in the community delivering packages and things? Maybe just leave them for a week.

'And click and collect - do you really need that furniture that I know you can go and click and collect which is safer, absolutely, than going into the store, but it still means you're putting someone else at risk.

With Dr Young now set to start her new job as Governor on Monday, Premier Palaszczuk honoured her time leading the state through the pandemic with Queensland only suffering seven deaths since the virus touched its shores.

'This has meant enormous pressure, sleepless nights, and a torrent of information which she has processed calmly and clinically, with compassion and care,' she said during parliament on Thursday.

'I am proud to say that, in my opinion, Dr Young has led Australia and the world in Covid health measures.'

Dr Krispin Hajkowicz, who was set to step in as the new CHO mysteriously pulled out of the role due to 'personal reasons' this week.

Dr Peter Aitken, who is the deputy health officer will step into the role until a replacement is found.
Cruel online trolls have been accusing Cleo Smith's parents of being involved in the girl's disappearance, as detectives confirm they have been ruled out as suspects and the WA premier is forced to step in to defend the couple.

'We want to make it clear  they are not suspects in this investigation. They have been helping us.' Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde, who is leading the investigation, said.

Four-year-old Cleo disappeared from her family's tent at the Quobba Blowholes campsite, near Carnarvon in Western Australia in the early hours of October 16.

Speaking on Sunday, Premier Mark McGowan said Cleo's mother Ellie and stepdad Jake were going through an enormous amount of worry and suffering and should not have to endure added cruelty.

Cleo Smith (pictured) went missing from her tent at a WA campsite on October 16 sparking a massive police search

WA Premier Mark McGowan (pictured) said he was appalled by those who had been hurling abuse and accusations at the four-year-old's distraught parents

'They say the most horrible and shocking things that they'd never say otherwise. I just urge them to stop,' Mr McGowan said.

He added those who hurled anonymous insults online were nothing but cowards and there needed to be a return to treating people with decency and respect - particularly in a case like this where people were distraught.

While much of the commentary online has been well intentioned, there has been a section of people who have hurled abuse and accusations at Cleo parents.

Det Supt Wilde told The Sunday Telegraph that Ellie and Jake had been 'copping some very disgusting behaviour online and comments' online.

He added they were managing to keep it together despite the enormous stress and had been relying on family and friends for support.

'We are in touch with them on a daily basis, keeping them updated and doing whatever we can to help them. But it is a terrible situation no one wants to be in.'

Cleo's parents Ellie and Jake (pictured) have been ruled out as being involved in Cleo's disappearance, the lead detective on the case confirmed

Det Supt Wilde has also ruled out Cleo's biological father Daniel Staines who was in Mandurah, where he lives, about 1,000km away from the Quobba Blowholes.

He said Mr Staines has not had anything to do with Cleo since she was born and he was confirmed to be nowhere near the area.

In the two weeks since Cleo vanished, no trace of her has been found despite a $1million reward on offer for anyone who has information into her whereabouts and a mammoth police operation.

The owner of a nearby shack, Dave Sadecky, handed over the crucial CCTV of little Cleo to police which placed her at the campsite on the night before she vanished.

Little Cleo Smith has been missing for two weeks, having last been seen at the Blowholes campground near Carnarvon in WA

Dave Sadecky, who owns a nearby shack at the campsite, captured the voice of Cleo on his shack's CCTV system, and handed it over to police

The motion sensitive camera is installed inside their beach shack which was just 20 metres away from the family tent and takes a wide-angled photo of everyone who enters or leaves it.

The camera captures audio and images from inside a painted wooden box with a glass front and would not appear obvious to those passing by.

When Mr Sadecky and his wife learnt of the news surrounding the four-year-old, they immediately jumped on their quad bikes to join the search.

'I didn't know the ins and outs of what was going on but everyone was panicked,' Mr Sadecky told The West Australian.

'People dropped everything and came to help  they were everywhere on Saturday like ants  it's not a normal sight.'

The couple ended up scouring the area for 10 hours on the day Cleo was last seen.

She had woken up at 1.30am on the Saturday to ask her mother Ellie for a sip of water but when her parents woke again at about 6am, Cleo was gone.

The four-year-old had woken up at 1.30am on the Saturday to ask her mother Ellie for a sip of water but when her parents woke again at about 6am, Cleo was gone

Detectives found the zip on the tent Cleo was sleeping in had been opened and was too high for the little girl to reach

'Everyone was emotional, people were clearly stressed and anxious but wanted to help. We've never had anything like this happen before. We're there every other weekend, we're kicking ourselves we weren't there that night,' Mr Sadecky said.

He said the campsite would now be 'tainted' from what happened, a local at Blowholes himself.

He added there was a tight-knit community in the area and that often people would leave their doors unlocked.

Meanwhile, a close family friend of Cleo's mother Ellie Smith and stepdad Jake Gliddon said detectives are not wanting to give them any 'false hope'.

'There's nothing worse than saying, ''We're going to find her'', or, ''We think we've got the person'', and then they don't have the person or they don't find her,' the friend told the West.

Cleo is seen with her mother Ellie Smith. A $1million reward is on offer to anybody with information into her disappearance

'Police aren't going to give you false hope and that's what we said from day one.'

The family friend had been at the campsite at the time Cleo went missing and helped scour the area in search of the four-year-old.

He said her distraught parents have also had to deal with online trolls who pointed the finger at them in the days following their daughter's disappearance.

Police have ruled out both Ms Smith and Mr Gliddon as suspects and Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting they had anything to do with her disappearance.

'I know it's affecting them. Fingers crossed they aren't looking at it too much,' the friend said.

It comes after it was revealed detectives in the 100-strong taskforce had responded to 200 potential sightings of Cleo in the two weeks since she disappeared.

It comes after it was revealed detectives in the 100-strong taskforce had responded to 200 potential sightings of Cleo in the two weeks since she disappeared.

'Unfortunately all of those have proved unfruitful,' Detective Superintendent Rob Wilde said.

'That's been national as well, other policing jurisdictions have helped us and followed those leads through for us, so we're very grateful for that.'

While none of the leads have been accurate yet, he is still calling on the public to continue searching for Cleo and reporting any potentially useful information.
Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin's partner revealed the selfless final moments of his life as he rushed out to catch fish hoping to serve their mates a tasty dinner that night, a trip which ultimately led to his devastating death.

The Olympic snowboarder, 32, drowned near a reef off the Gold Coast in July last year after suffering a shallow water blackout while spearfishing in a tragedy that shocked the local community and his tight knit group of friends and family.

Seven's Spotlight spoke to his family and friends, including partner Ellidy Vlug, Mick Fanning and Laura Enever, about Chumpy's life, death and his legacy in the form of baby Minnie Alex.

Ellidy gave birth to their daughter on Monday afternoon, a year and three months following his death after having sperm extracted from his body hours after his death.

The family have described her as 'the miracle baby', with the couple having been trying to start a family together before his death.

His partner, from North Narrabeen on Sydney's Northern Beaches, revealed the pair had squabbled over who would shut the garage the last time she saw him alive, before he raced off to catch fish to serve their guests for dinner.

'We woke up, we had friends coming from Sydney. Chump had in his head he'd go spearfishing and grab dinner for everyone,' she told the program.

'Just before he drove away I was talking to him through the window. We were talking about shutting the garage. He got out of the car and was laughing and grabbing me and said "you're so ditzy".

'All I remember is he got out and gave me one more hug.'

Chumpy grew up on his parents yacht, sailing up and down Australia's east coast. He was swimming and snorkelling as soon as he could walk.

'He was such a water baby, before snow was even a thing,' Ellidy said.

Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin's partner Ellidy Vlug gave birth to their daughter on Monday, naming her Minnie Alex Pullin - in homage to her late father

Ellidy, 29, decided to use his sperm for IVF treatment to ensure her husband would be a father and could continue his legacy

Ellidy and Chumpy met at professional big wave surfer Laura Enever's party in Narrabeen nearly a decade ago.

Laura said she 'knew' they were going to end up together when the pair stayed behind after the party to help her clean up.

'When I met him I thought "who's this snowboarder guy, he's probably a bong head",' Ellidy said.

'But I was obsessed, I just loved him.'

Ellidy says they kissed that night and it was love from then on.

'That was a relationship like no other,' Chumpy's father Chris said. 'They were meant for each other.'

'They had such a connection, such a shared love. Not many people experience it, they had a deeper level to it,' his mother added.

Chumpy died on July 8, 2020 from what is now believed to be a shallow water blackout, which occurs when someone hyperventilates and expels large amounts of CO2 before a breath-hold dive.

'When I met him I thought "who's this snowboarder guy, he's probably a bong head",' Ellidy said. 'But I was obsessed, I just loved him'

Ellidy gave birth to Minne Alex on Monday, their 'miracle baby' who acts as both a beautiful continuation of his legacy and a bittersweet reminder of his absence

Chumpy's father Chris (pictured left with wife Sally) said he received a 'hysterical' phone call from Ellidy moments after arriving at the beach. 'The news was devastating on so many levels. It'll never be the same'

Ellidy said she found out about his death when their neighbours saw a Facebook post in a spearfishing group about a man being pulled from the water that fit Chumpy's description.

'Our neighbour came to our door, she's a member of the local spearfishing Facebook page. They looked a bit panicked. They said someone's been pulled in from the reef this morning, a 30-something-year-old man,' she said.

'There was already cameras and police and ambulances there. My mum came running back up the beach. The look on her face kind of said everything without words.'

'I said "Ellidy that's Chumpy". I said "I'm sorry, sweetheart". She was numb,' Ellidy's mother revealed through tears.

'I'll never ever get that image out of my head.'

Ellidy's brother Dave, a professional surfer who bonded closely with Chumpy given their shared love of extreme sports, said he arrived at the beach after a frantic call from his mum.

'Ellidy was on the ground in a ball, bawling her eyes out. I just hugged her so tight,' brother Dave said.

'They pulled the sheet from over his head. I'll never forget it.'

Chumpy's father Chris said he received a 'hysterical' phone call from Ellidy moments after arriving at the beach.

'The news was devastating on so many levels,' he said.

'It'll never be the same.'

Ellidy and Chumpy Pullin and dog Rumi smile before his tragic death spearfishing off the Gold Coast in July last year

She revealed the pair had been trying for a baby in the months leading up to his drowning, saying IVF was always on the cards for her because of a low egg count.

'Every month I was hoping I was pregnant and it was really sad when we got the negative.'

They adopted a kelpie named Rumi despite Chumpy not being a huge dog person, thinking a it was the next stage for their family.

Ellidy said the pair instantly had a connection that quickly saw her pushed to the outer, and can see the pain in Rumi with Chumpy gone.

'I see this deep sadness. She's pining for him. I can see it in her face,' Ellidy said.

'Sometimes she just looks so sad.'

The 29-year-old partner of Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin (left) said her friends had provided her with 'unwavering support and love' in the year after his death

'It's really hard to swallow the fact that he's missing this, he deserves this time, he wanted this, he would have been the best dad'

With the heartbreak of his death still raw, Laura said she was suddenly reminded of a previous situation involving her friends.

She revealed she knew another woman who lost her husband at 30 and always spoke of how she 'wished she could have retrieved his sperm.'

'My brother came up to me and said the girls and mum are talking about getting Chumpy's sperm,' Ellidy's said.

'I didn't ask any questions, I just said 'yes go, go now'.

'Everyone went into this adrenaline, autopilot mode and got s**t done.'

Dr Andrew Davidson took on the challenge, coming in at 9pm, after hours, some 37 hours after his death. There is a 40-hour window to retrieving sperm following death.

'We took the sample, took it back to the lab to see if there was any life in the sperm,' he said.

Minnie Alex was born earlier this week, with Ellidy Vlug using IVF to conceive her daughter following the tragic death of her partner Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin

Rumi is clearly relishing her role as the 'big sister' and has taken on the role with gusto

The last-minute extraction was successful, they had enough live sperm to inseminate Ellidy using IVF treatment.

'When we got the news the sperm was still viable it was such the weirdest thing to celebrate,' friend Laura told Spotlight.

'Ellidy is so beautiful, they deserve this child, Chumpy deserves this child.'

Ellidy gave birth to Minne Alex on Monday, their 'miracle baby' that acts as both a beautiful continuation of his legacy and a bittersweet reminder of his absence.

'I'll be talking to my baby saying "you've got the best dad in the whole world. I will show you everything he is and was, but he's not here",' she said.

'And he wont be here, but you're so lucky he's your dad.

'I can't put in to words. You can't describe him in words. You meet him and you feel this energy. He can't be summed up with words.'
First Lady Jill Biden stunned in a sparkly lilac fitted dress by Ralph Lauren at Saturday night's G20 dinner, which took place at the 16th century Quirinale Palace in Rome.

The leaders and spouses were split up at the dinner, which was hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

So Dr. Biden sat next to French President Emmanuel Macron, while President Joe Biden was seated next to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Dr. Biden and Macron previously bonded when they represented their respective countries at the opening ceremony at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

The first lady and the French president watched several sporting events together after the ceremony.

At dinner Saturday, the G20 leaders and their spouses were served a menu of marinated salmon, risotto with pumpkin and white truffle, roasted artichoke, seabass and vegetables.

First Lady Jill Biden (center left) wore a sparkly lilac fitted dress by Ralph Lauren at Saturday night's G20 dinner. Here she poses with (from left) Maria Serenella Cappello, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, President Joe Biden, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and daughter Laura Mattarella

First Lady Jill Biden (left) and President Joe Biden (right) arrive at the G20 dinner Saturday night in Rome

The Bidens hold hands as they arrive at the Quirinale Palace in Rome for a Saturday night dinner with G20 leaders and their spouses hosted by the Italian president

Jill Biden (upper left) was seated at the G20 dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron, who she spent time with in July when they both represented their countries at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games

President Joe Biden (third from right) was seated next to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right) during an official dinner at the G20 Saturday night in Rome

Earlier Saturday, 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 from St. John, 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.
Kwasi Kwarteng has warned the UK must end its reliance on importing energy as he said the nation needs to move to a 'homegrown' system built on renewables.

The Business Secretary said Britain must continue its push towards a 'sovereign' energy system to 'protect people and businesses in the future'.

He said it is important the UK becomes a 'producer and exporter' of energy rather than a 'customer and importer'.

He made the comments as the UK prepares to welcome world leaders to Glasgow for the COP26 climate change summit.

Kwasi Kwarteng has warned the UK must end its reliance on importing energy as he said the nation must move to a 'homegrown' system built on renewables

The Business Secretary said the UK can secure its own 'energy independence' by increasing the roll out of domestic nuclear, wind, hydrogen and solar energy production

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Kwarteng said the summit will be a 'pivotal two weeks' as nations try to hammer out a plan to reduce harmful emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

The Cabinet minister said the summit 'will require each nation to step up and take responsibility'.

He said the recent volatility in gas prices has 'brought home' the 'urgent need to end our dependency on fossil fuels, particularly foreign oil and gas'.

Mr Kwarteng said 'relying on other countries' for energy is 'simply not sustainable', arguing that it 'leaves the British people at the mercy of excessive global price fluctuations that are completely out of our control'.

The Business Secretary said the UK can secure its own 'energy independence' by increasing the roll out of domestic nuclear, wind, hydrogen and solar energy production.

He said: 'If we're to protect people and businesses in the future, the solution is obvious: we need to move to a homegrown, sovereign energy system where we can power our country through renewables generated in this country, rather than elsewhere.'

Mr Kwarteng said the UK must become 'a producer and exporter, rather than a customer and importer' of energy.

His comments came as Boris Johnson said the COP26 summit will be the 'world's moment of truth' on climate change.

The Prime Minister has 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.

Boris Johnson said the COP26 summit will be the 'world's moment of truth' on climate change

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 which gets underway this evening.

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.'
Daryl Maguire claimed the ICAC probe was worse than the 'Spanish f***ing inquisition' during a phone call where he told his shocked secret lover Gladys Berejiklian that he was under investigation.

Transcripts of the tapped conversations between the disgraced former Wagga Wagga MP and the former NSW premier have been revealed ahead of Ms Berejiklian's final day of grilling on Monday.

She is being probed by the Independent Commission Against Corruption over whether she breached public trust when she awarded lucrative grants to several community organisations in Mr Maguire's electorate.

A phone call dated from July, 2018 captured the exact moment the former premier found out her secret lover had been called to the commission.

'Hokis, what happened was I've been subpoenaed to go to ICAC, summonsed to ICAC, so that's exciting,' Mr Maguire said. 'Hokis' is an Armenian term of endearment, and was the couple's secret nickname for one another.

The transcript of the phone call between Daryl Maguire and Gladys Berejiklian (pictured together) when he told her he'd been called up to ICAC has been revealed

A phone call dated from July, 2018 captured the exact moment the former premier found out her secret lover had been called to the commission

'What!' replied Ms Berejiklian who had moments earlier said he sounded 'very excited' about something.

The former Liberal MP assured his then partner there was nothing to worry about, and said he had asked barrister Arthur Moses - who is Ms Berejiklian's current boyfriend - to represent him.

Mr Moses passed Mr Maguire onto another lawyer before ultimately going on to defend Ms Berejiklian last year when she appeared before ICAC and revealed she'd been in a secret relationship with Mr Maguire, the calls revealed.

Ms Berejiklian's romantic relationship with Mr Moses was confirmed in an Instagram post by her sister Mary in June this year and the high-profile barrister is no longer representing her.

Ms Berejiklian was spotted holding a bouquet of flowers on Sunday as she was picked up from her Sydney north shore home by her sisters Mary and Rita

The pair affectionately referred to each other as 'hokis' during the phone call, which is an Armenian term of endearment

'Yeah, so anyway, so I, I went and I met the  I asked whatshisname, Moses - to represent me,' Mr Maguire said in the call.

'I went to that guy and he said ''look I'm busy'' - Arthur Moses - and he got this girl who's dealt with all this s**t before.'

As seen in the transcript of the 2018 phone call, Mr Maguire repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

'Me, you know I've never, I've never accepted a dollar - never done a deal, um, you know,' Mr Maguire said.

Ms Berejiklian urged her former lover to 'be honest and listen to your lawyer', and told him not to act 'macho'.

'I never accepted a dollar... You know me, I wouldn't do that,' Mr Maguire said.

'Yeah I know,' Ms Berejiklian replied before asking if he was stressed about the ICAC probe.

'No, calm, calm as a cucumber. Do I sleep, yes I do,' he said.

As the phone call continued, Mr Maguire became more worked up by the situation, labelling it 'worse than the Spanish f***king inquisition'.

'You know that people can't even talk anymore. You know they could be taping your conversation with me right now,' he said.

As the conversation went on, Mr Maguire stopped to ask how Ms Berejiklian's day was.

The former premier (pictured) will face her final day of grilling at ICAC on Monday - and has received flowers from supporters

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian picks up a bunch of flowers left on her driveway overnight on Sunday

'I'm just stressed for you now,' she said.

'I knew you would be, that's why I didn't want to say nothing because you know, you're going on holidays and I thought oh f**k that's the last f***ing thing I need, you know,' Mr Maguire replied.

'I must've killed a bloody black cat and ten China men and, and um, walked under a couple of ladders.'

Ms Berejiklian was spotted holding a bouquet of flowers on Sunday as she was picked up from her Sydney north shore home by her sisters Mary and Rita.

Earlier she was seen powerwalking in $109 special edition Lululemon tights with a smile on her face.

She'd already spent one day in front of the ICAC lawyers and will face the commission for a final time on Monday.

She had told the commission: 'I regarded (Mr Maguire) 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.'
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of 'turning into a commentator, rather than a leader' on tackling climate change.

The Labour leader claimed the Prime Minister is guilty of 'lowering expectations' on the issue as world leaders prepare to meet in Glasgow for the COP26 summit.

Sir Keir said the alleged failure to lead the fight against climate change poses a 'risk to our international reputation'.

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of 'turning into a commentator, rather than a leader' on tackling climate change

Sir Keir said he was 'very frustrated' by Mr Johnson's apparent lack of leadership on tackling climate change.

He said the UK, as chair of the G7 this year and host of the major United Nations climate summit, was in a prime position to lead efforts to cut global carbon output but said Mr Johnson 'isn't doing it'.

The aim of the UN summit in Glasgow to secure action to prevent global temperatures rising above 1.5C degrees against pre-industrial levels.

But the Labour leader said Mr Johnson was looking to lower expectations on such ambitions with his pronouncements  repeated in Rome on Saturday before his G20 meetings  that the gathering of world leaders has only a six out of 10 chance of success.

In comments made to the Sunday Telegraph, Sir Keir said: 'The Prime Minister has not been out there, on the front line, showing the international leadership that we need.

'Therefore, we've got the position now, and you're seeing it today, the Prime Minister is turning into a commentator, rather than a leader in relation to COP26, lowering expectations by a commentary instead of leadership on the global stage, which is what he should be doing, or, frustratingly, he could be doing.

'There is a risk to our international reputation because the lesson of Paris is that you need strong leadership into a big conference like this and that most of the hard work on international leadership is done before the conference.

'It is a big risk and it's a risk because our Prime Minister hasn't shown that leadership when he has been in a position to do so.'

Asked what Labour would do differently to the Conservatives, Sir Keir said his party would be encouraging the 'big emitters' to pledge to cut their emissions by 2030, adding: 'When they put forward plans which say what we're going to do in 2050, 2060, we should not be saying that's heroic.'

Sir Keir said he was 'very frustrated' by Mr Johnson's apparent lack of leadership on tackling climate change

Mr Johnson, who is due to fly from the G20 in Rome to Glasgow on Sunday evening, has said the summit will be 'the world's moment of truth'.

'The question everyone is asking is whether we seize this moment or let it slip away,' he said.

'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.'
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Halloween party-goers dressed up in their spookiest outfits on Saturday night as they braved the cold weather to hit their favourite hit pubs, bars and clubs up and down Britain.

Revellers in Leeds in particular were in the mood for fancy dress last night, with pictures overnight showing a variety of extravagant costumes - from angels and devils, playboy bunnies, superheroes, brides and a number of other fantastical characters.

Not to be out-done, the streets of London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Wigan and Birmingham were among many across the UK to be filled with people in spooky costumes to rival the scenes in the northeast.

LEEDS: Two friends walk down the streets of Leeds on Saturday night as people up and down the country celebrate Halloween, despite the threat of rain and dropping temperatures

Two girls walk down the high street dressed as a latex playboy bunny and a bloody bride, wearing a white veil and corset (Pictured)

A group of friends are pictured wearing bright coloured corsets paired with shorts and tights, paired with bloody cleavers. One of the girls hilariously brought out a plastic hoover to go with her costume (Pictured)

At the end of the evening, two girls are pictured waiting to get home at the side of the road, resting their feet from their high heels (Pictured)

A girl comforts her boyfriend (pictured) at the end of the night as he struggles to keep up right, whilst sitting on a bench

One girl is pictured vomiting on the side of the road as she walks down the high street in Leeds

The party-goers were able to enjoy an extra hour of Halloween fun overnight as daylight savings time came to an end and the clocks went back an hour at 2am.

Revellers braved the 44F last night in Leeds and dressed to impress whilst attending their favourite pubs and clubs.

Its been more than a year since the Covid-19 pandemic where social interactions with other people were restricted, and many took to the streets to celebrate Halloween eve with a night on the town.

Many revellers across the UK were likely to have wet and windy journeys home with the Met Office warning that strong gusts coming in from the west will bring a 'wild start' to Sunday, with 70mph winds during the first week of November.

In London, youngsters got creative with their outfits and donned costumes from the popular Netflix series, Squid Games, which has become the streaming platform's most-watched show after hitting 11million views less than a month after its premiere.

Another group posed for pictures dressed as the twin sisters from The Shining, whilst another pulled a face at the camera dressed as the clown from the film IT.

Taking the meaning of fancy dress to a new level, one group of revellers made their own Venus fly trap costumes, hilariously painting their faces red and wearing handmade green stems.

LONDON: Roller Skaters in fancy costumes made the most of Halloween night in Soho, central London by donning a light-up LED pumpkin mask (pictured)

Revellers pulled out all the stops on Halloween Eve and marked the occasion by dressing up as characters from their favourite horror films

In London, youngsters got creative with their outfits and donned costumes from the popular Netflix series, Squid Games, (Pictured) which has become the streaming platform's most-watched show after hitting 11million views less than a month after its premiere

One reveller dressed up as the clown from the film IT, wearing a spooky mask and red balloon to pay homage to one of the movies scariest scenes (Pictured)

Two girls are seen posing for a picture dressed as the twin sisters from The Shining (pictured), wearing matching blue dresses that featured a peter pan style collar and pink ribbon

One couple hilariously dressed up as Where's Wally, donning matching red and white striped jumpers and thick-framed black glasses (Pictured)

Taking the meaning of fancy dress to a new level, one group of revellers made their own Venus fly trap costumes (Pictured), hilariously painting their faces red and wearing handmade green stems

One group got particularly creative with their costume and dressed up as lifeguards, donning yellow t-shirts and a pair of bright red shorts.

Others chose not to dress up and skipped the spooky costume mayhem, attending their favourite bars and clubs wearing their go-to outfits.

At the end of the evening, many revellers sat on the pavement waiting to get home, particularly in Nottingham town centre.

Groups of youngsters were pictured with their head in their hands, waiting to go home - with some getting emotional at the end of the evening.

NOTTINGHAM: One group got particularly creative with their costume and dressed up as lifeguards (Pictured), donning yellow t-shirts and a pair of bright red shorts in Nottingham

Groups of youngsters were pictured with their head in their hands, waiting to go home - with some getting emotional at the end of the night

At the end of the evening, many revellers sat on the pavement waiting to get home, particularly in Nottingham town centre

Two men were propped up by a shop window at the end of the night (Pictured) waiting to go home before the hangover sets in
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of an 18-year-old man after the victim was found stabbed to death on the street in east London.

The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, is due before magistrates in Barkingside on Monday, Scotland Yard said.

Kamran Khalid, 18, was found with multiple stab wounds on Harrow Road in Ilford just before 4am on Thursday by police responding to reports of a fight.

He was pronounced dead at the scene half an hour later.

Kamran Khalid, 18, was found with multiple stab wounds on Harrow Road in Ilford just before 4am on Thursday by police responding to reports of a fight. He died at the scene

Detectives said they believe several people were present when Khalid was stabbed to death.

Detective Chief Inspector Joanna Yorke, who is leading the murder investigation, said on Thursday: 'We are currently in the very early stages of our investigation and are working quickly and diligently to establish the circumstances that led to the death of this young man.

'An arrest has been made, but we believe that a number of people were present when the victim was murdered and we need to identify those people.

'The altercation took place in the middle of the night and while I know that few people will have been on the street at that time, I am keen to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the events leading up to and including the murder.

Detectives said they believe several people were present when Khalid was stabbed to death. Pictured: The scene of the stabbing on Harrow Road in Ilford on Thursday

'Any information, no matter how small, could be significant to the investigation, please do get in touch.'

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Trevers, of the Met's East Area Command, said at the time: 'We are deeply saddened that another young life has been lost to knife crime and we understand the shock that local residents will feel at this dreadful news.

'A crime scene is in place in Harrow Road and local officers are supporting our Homicide colleagues as they conduct their investigation.

'The community will notice a heightened police presence in the area with both foot and mobile patrols increased to provide local reassurance.

'Anyone who has concerns is encouraged to approach patrol officers, or, if you have information, please don't hesitate to contact us.'
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Rail engineers are battling through the night to repair overhead lines brought down by storms that led to chaos on the network, dozens of trains being cancelled and hundreds of delegates unable to reach the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Network Rail last night admitted the 'extreme weather' had 'got the better of us' as they told stranded passengers at London Euston, the worst-hit station, to give up, go home and hope the situation improves overnight.

The railway company said they were 'truly sorry' for the disruption, caused by damage in the Rugby area, which came at the worst possible time for people trying to reach the COP26 summit venue ahead of its opening today.

Journalists and academics were among the thwarted passengers who took to Twitter to complain. Some pointed out signage at Euston that trumpeted the rail network's green credentials - saying 'Thank you for travelling to COP by train.'

A spokesman for Network Rail, Chris Halpin, said last night: 'I'm afraid there are still major delays on the West Coast main line and the advice once again is to not travel this evening.

'That's because the diversionary route by Northampton that we had been able to run trains is now not viable.

'We had problems on the West Coast main line at Long Buckby this afternoon because overhead lined were damaged by trees that had come down in the very wet and windy weather that we had overnight.

'We had been running a diversionary route that got a limited number of services back up and running again but that now is closed and blocked because of problems with the overhead electric lines there.

'Our engineers are working as fast as they possibly can to try and get routes back up and running again so we can get people on the move but our advice to people this evening is not to travel.'

A statement from the rail company added: 'We're advising passengers seeking to get from London to Glasgow to travel [on Monday]. This is due to the impact of heavy rain has had on the railway today.

'All line north have been affected at times including the West Coast main line, which remains impassable due to damaged overhead electric wires.

'We are truly sorry for this. We exist to get people and good swiftly from A to B. But today's extreme weather got the better of us.'

National Rail's live departure and arrivals board showed delays to more than 20 trains, including those travelling to Glasgow Central, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Crewe and Northampton.

Avanti West Coast confirmed it was 'unable to run any services into and out of London Euston' and 'strongly advised' customers not to travel.

Climate change scientist Simon Lewis, from University College London, who was on the 11am service from London to Edinburgh for COP26, said he had been stuck since 11:45am as a result of the weather disruption.

He wrote on Twitter: 'My train to Glasgow #COP26, via Edinburgh to avoid the crowds, now stationary due to gale force winds and severe rainfall causing a tree to fall on the line'

The scientist later added: 'This train ride is certainly Halloween themed, it's a true horror show. Four hours late and no buffet since about 2pm.'

Elsewhere David Johnson, who is attending Cop26 as chief executive of the Margaret Pyke Trust, said he was left sitting on his train from London Euston to Glasgow for more than half an hour at the station before being told to get off along with fellow passengers.

Hundreds of passengers hoping to travel to Glasgow for the Cop26 climate summit by train have been left waiting inside London's Euston station (pictured above)

A passenger reacts whilst waiting in Euston Station after trains were cancelled ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference

Pictures on social media have shown a packed London Euston station after a tree falling caused damage to overhead lines, suspending all trains

Many of the passengers were hoping to travel to Glasgow for the Cop26 climate summit, but have been left stuck in London Euston

Hundreds of passengers await news on when trains will be up and running again. All passengers have been advised not to travel today

Delegates, campaigners and journalists travelling by train to the Glasgow climate conference fell victim to a weather chaos today after a fallen tree on a railway line. Pictured: London Euston is exit only due to overcrowding and suspended services

A Reuters reporter on a cancelled train service said several passengers at London Euston (pictured) had changed their travel plans and were booking flights to Glasgow where the United Nations COP26 climate conference kicks off on Sunday

Climate change scientist Simon Lewis, from University College London, said he has been stuck since 11:45am while David Johnson, who is attending Cop26 as chief executive of the Margaret Pyke Trust, said he was left sitting on his train from London Euston to Glasgow for more than half an hour before being told to get off

He said: 'After an hour on the train to Glasgow, which never actually left London Euston, we were asked to get off. Back on the station concourse we read the COP signage ''Thank you for travelling by train''. The chance would be a fine thing.'

Needing to reach the conference, Mr Johnson decided to book a flight from Gatwick to Glasgow which, he said, 'does, of course, seem ridiculous'.

'The irony of the climate impacting the trains, meaning a flight to the climate change conference is the only way to get there today, is not lost on me,' he added.

Elsewhere another commuter described how their train had been heading to Glasgow only to return to Euston after issues on the line.

Just before 2pm this afternoon, an announcement in the station revealed all train services had been suspended and the concourse was 'exit only' due to overcrowding.

Pictures on social media showed the concourse packed with stricken travellers, many of whom were hoping to travel north for the climate conference which began on Sunday.

Others reported being stuck on slow moving or stationary trains - some for more than three hours - while others were forced to book domestic flights to reach the summit.

It came as parts of the UK may saw tornadoes today, the Met Office said, after strong winds and rain battered the country.

Gusts of over 80mph have been recorded with reports of wind damage which caused major delays to travel out of London.

The disruption at Euston came as a result of damage to overhead electrical wires between Rugby and Milton Keynes on the West Coast Main Line. Network Rail said its teams are on site near Long Buckby in Northamptonshire, where the damage occurred.

The company said it is working to remove the fallen tree before assessing the damage and beginning repairs. Travellers are advised not to go to Euston and instead check for regular updates.

In a statement National Rail said: 'Severe weather is causing disruption on various South Western Railway routes. Disruption is expected to continue until the end of the day.

'There have been multiple incidents affecting the South Western Railway network today.

'These include the following: Overrunning engineering works at Berrylands, overrunning engineering works at Guildford, multiple trees fallen across the network, an electricity supply issue at Fratton depot, a train fault at Guildford, a trespasser between Epsom and Leatherhead, flooding at Gillingham, a train fault at Richmond, a signalling problem at Motspur Park, a trespass incident at Isleworth, an ill passenger at Motspur Park, a precarious tree at Petersfield and an electricity supply problem at Totton.'

'This has caused severe disruption to trains and train crew.'

Wind damage has been reported in multiple areas of the UK on Sunday with the Met Office unable to rule out whether any tornadoes have taken place.

Yellow warnings for wind and rain are in place over large parts of the west and elsewhere, and more are likely.

Meteorologist Tom Morgan said: 'We've got a deep Atlantic area of low pressure that's bringing a very heavy band of rain and squalling winds across the whole of the country, but particularly in the south of England,' he said.

'We've seen some very strong gusts of wind on the south coast... and a few reports of damage from the winds.

'It's not out of the question that there will have been some localised, brief funnel clouds or tornadoes.

'In the last couple of days we have seen some reports and seen some photos of funnel clouds and water spouts, which are similar to tornadoes.'

He added that wind speeds of 87mph were recorded at an exposed location on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, and there were gusts of 60mph across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Sussex.

Train passengers trying to reach Glasgow for the Cop26 summit have said it is 'ironic' their journeys were disrupted by stormy weather felling a tree onto the railway.

Passengers sit and wait for news after their trains are cancelled and they are left stranded at London's Euston Station

Hundreds of passengers are left stranded at London's Euston Station tonight as torrential rain and gale force winds batter the country

Stranded passengers looked at the arrivals and departures boards after they were told their trains had been delayed or cancelled

Tonight National Rail's live departure and arrivals board showed delays to more than 20 trains, including those travelling to Glasgow Central, Liverpool Lyme Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Crewe and Northampton

Hundreds of passengers continue to wait in Euston Station after trains were cancelled ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference

A police officer gives information to passengers waiting in Euston Station after trains were cancelled ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference

Hundreds of passengers are left waiting outside London's Euston station after extreme weather caused train cancellations

Pictured: Vehicles travel through standing water during heavy rain in Bromsgrove, in the West Midlands, this morning

Waves crashing by the Porthcawl lighthouse in south Wales on Sunday as strong winds and heavy rain batters the UK

A car submerged under water at Furnace Grange Road, Wolverhampton, after heavy rains hit the area on Sunday

Vehicles travel through standing water during heavy rain in Bromsgrove, West Midlands, amid weather warnings for rainfall

A dog walker struggles through winds and rain in Wimbledon Common. The Met Office warned winds could reach 70mph

Heavy downpours: A yellow weather warning is in place across several areas of the UK, including most of the south, where walkers at Wimbledon Common, in London, were pictured struggling with an umbrella amid heavy rain and high winds

Climate change scientist Simon Lewis said he was on the 11am service from London to Edinburgh but has been stuck since 11:45am as a result of trees felled by the wind.

Boris reads the riot act to world leaders ahead of COP26 summit Boris Johnson today warned world leaders their promises on tackling climate change are starting to 'sound hollow' as he read them the riot act ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow. The Prime Minister said there are 'no compelling excuses for our procrastination' on reducing harmful emissions and that the action already taken amounts to 'drops in a rapidly warming ocean'. Speaking at the G20 summit in Rome, he said that only 12 of the club's members have committed to reaching a target of net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. Dramatically raising the stakes, he said that if the forthcoming gathering in Glasgow fails to secure a major breakthrough 'then the whole thing fails'. Mr Johnson said world leaders must now flesh out the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, warning that failing to do so will leave 'the world's only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change... holed beneath the water line'. The premier escalated his rhetoric amid fears the summit in Glasgow could become a flop as he agreed the G20 pledge to achieve carbon neutrality 'by or around mid-century' is too vague. When asked about the goal during a press conference Mr Johnson said: 'I agree, and that is a function really of the gap between some colleagues and others. 'Some countries, as you know, have made commitments to 2060 rather than to 2050. What they've said is 2060 or earlier, and what we want to do is bring those commitments earlier.' Advertisement

'We are moving a tiny bit every now and again, but have not made it to Peterborough yet, the first stop,' he said.

'This is inconvenient and a reminder that climate change drives extreme weather events and every country needs to adapt.

'But a stopped train is nothing compared to the two million people displaced by flooding in Shanxi province in China, last month, and those facing famine today in Madagascar.'

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for large parts of the country the south and north west of England and eastern Scotland.

The warnings mean that some flooding is likely and drivers have been warned to expect standing water on roads, meaning journey times could be impacted.

One resident in Amesbury, Wiltshire, thought they had witnessed a 'hurricane' hit the area after spotting bins flying and trees breaking due to the powerful winds.

Infectious disease ecologist Dr Emma Gillingham tweeted: 'Did a hurricane just hit Amesbury, Wiltshire? Incredible wind suddenly from nowhere, trees breaking, wheelie bins flying and all calm again now.'

However, the Met Office said it believed the 'hurricane' was in fact a 'squall', the name for a 'sudden, sharp increase in wind speed lasting minutes'.

Northamptonshire Police said they had received a high number of calls relating to the weather conditions and that trees had fallen on scores of roads in the county.

Reverend Richard Coles, vicar of Finedon, took to social media after a blustery close call.

He tweeted: 'We were just praying for the COP26 conference in church when we were hit by what I can only describe as a tornado, which took out a number of trees including this pre Conquest yew.'

South Western Railway has also apologised to customers after trees blocked part of the network, saying there may be cancellations, delays and alterations to services.

It comes as three people are feared to have drowned and another is fighting for their life after they were swept off their paddleboards when a sudden storm turned a flooded river into a torrent on Saturday night.

The three, part of an organised outing, had been in the water only minutes when they were hit by a deluge of rushing water as they paddled near a weir on the swollen river in Pembrokeshire.

They were swept from their boards and seen 'in distress' in the River Cleddau, near the town centre of Haverfordwest.

Steven Keats, meteorologist, said conditions would begin 'going downhill' on Sunday.

Strong gusts coming from the west will brought a 'wild start' to the day, with potential for further disruption and wet weather going into the first week of November, according to the Met Office.

The yellow weather warning is also in place for Glasgow, where the global Cop26 climate conference begins today.

Inspecting the damage: High winds in the south left several trees uprooted in parts of Bournemouth this morning

A huge tree narrowly missed a home in Bournemouth today as gale-force winds and heavy rain swept across the UK

Pictured: tree crashed through a garden wall in Bournemouth after the UK was battered by high winds and heavy downpours

Dramatic scenes in Bournemouth as strong winds and heavy rain brought down trees in usually quiet residential streets

Broken trees and a bin blown across a residential street in Amesbury, Wiltshire, as strong winds and heavy rain batter the UK

The infectious disease ecologist thought she had witnessed a hurricane, such was the strength of the wind and rain

He added: 'Further West heavy rain will be picking up and there'll be some heavy rain coming in from the Atlantic.

'That will dominate the weather into tomorrow.

'Heavy rain will push across into...western parts of England and Wales and be accompanied by some pretty strong and gusty winds.'

He continued: 'Given the fact that trees are in full leaf and the ground is pretty saturated in many areas, you could get one or trees coming down.

'It's going to be very unsettled.'

Mr Keats said declining temperatures throughout next week would bring a 'seasonal' feel and that weather would remain 'unsettled', though risks of 'hefty downpours' remained.

'The most disruptive potential from the weather will be in the next 24 to 36 hours', he said.

Norwich fans in the rain outside the stadium before the match ahead of their Premier League match against Leeds United on Sunday afternoon

The extreme weather comes as Boris Johnson today warned world leaders their promises on tackling climate change are starting to 'sound hollow' as he read them the riot act ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

The Prime Minister said there are 'no compelling excuses for our procrastination' on reducing harmful emissions and that the action already taken amounts to 'drops in a rapidly warming ocean'.

Speaking at the G20 summit in Rome, he said that only 12 of the club's members have committed to reaching a target of net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.

Dramatically raising the stakes, he said that if the forthcoming gathering in Glasgow fails to secure a major breakthrough 'then the whole thing fails'.

Mr Johnson said world leaders must now flesh out the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, warning that failing to do so will leave 'the world's only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change... holed beneath the water line'.

The premier escalated his rhetoric amid fears the summit in Glasgow could become a flop as he agreed the G20 pledge to achieve carbon neutrality 'by or around mid-century' is too vague.

When asked about the goal during a press conference Mr Johnson said: 'I agree, and that is a function really of the gap between some colleagues and others.

'Some countries, as you know, have made commitments to 2060 rather than to 2050. What they've said is 2060 or earlier, and what we want to do is bring those commitments earlier.'

The PM has been trying to use the Rome summit of powerful nations including China and Russia to build momentum ahead of COP26, which formally got underway this afternoon and will see world leaders meet for talks tomorrow.

But although the communique from the G20 backed urgent action, it gave more wriggle-room for emissions to continue, with an original goal of '2050' replaced by looser language.
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Emmanuel Macron tonight warned that France will retaliate on Tuesday unless Britain backs down in the fishing row - after Boris Johnson denied they had done a deal to resolve the bitter dispute.

The French president insisted that unless the UK shifted reprisals will happen within days, saying 'the ball is in Britain's court'.

The combative stance came after at a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Rome - after Mr Johnson told his own briefing for journalists that the UK 'position is unchanged'.

Boris Johnson said he was 'puzzled' by a letter from French prime minister Jean Castex to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, in which Mr Castex said the UK should be shown 'it causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in'.

At a G20 press conference, Mr Johnson said: 'On fish, I've got to tell you the position is unchanged. And I'll just say this, for the record. I must say I was puzzled to read a letter from the French Prime Minister explicitly asking for Britain to be punished for leaving the EU.

'I just have to say to everybody I don't believe that that is compatible either with the spirit or the letter of the Withdrawal Agreement or the Trade and Cooperation agreement, and that's probably all I'll say about that one.'

But Mr Macron said: 'The ball is in Britain's court... 'If the British make no movement, the measures of November 2 will have to be put in place.'

In a day of extraordinary briefing, French sources initially claimed that Mr Johnson and Mr Macron had reached a deal on de-escalation during 30 minutes of talks.

There were no officials or cameras present as the pair tried to reach an understanding one-on-one.

That version was rejected by Mr Johnson, who stressed that he viewed Mr Macron as a 'friend' but they had a 'wide-ranging and frank' discussion. 'On fish I have got to tell you the position is unchanged,' he said.

Earlier the PM's spokesman said it is a matter for France to decide whether to back off the threats.

'We certainly stand ready to respond should they proceed with breaking the Brexit agreement,' the spokesman said.

French officials have warned they will bar UK fishing boats from some ports and tighten customs checks on lorries entering the country with British goods from Tuesday unless more licences are granted for their small boats to fish in British.

Other threats have included a 'go-slow' at customs and even increased tariffs on energy bills in Jersey.

A French aide told Reuters after thee talks: 'The goal for both the president and the prime minister was to work towards de-escalation.'

French sources told AFP the two sides agreed 'operational measures' to take the heat out of the row in the coming days.

Earlier, they locked eyes as they visited the famous Trevi Fountain with other leaders attending the G20 summit in Rome.

And Mr Macron appeared to shunt Mr Johnson out of the way to get next to Italian host Mario Draghi for photos.

At a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Rome, Boris Johnson insisted his 'position is unchanged' after speaking with Mr Macron for more than 30 minutes on the margins

The PM and the French President came face to face as they visited the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome with other leaders at the G20 summit this morning

G20 leaders visited the landmark in Rome on the final day of the G20 gathering

The leaders seemed to be in a jovial mood as the two-day summit wraps up in Rome - with the action moving to Glasgow for COP26

Mr Macron's attack dog, Europe minister Clement Beaune, stoked the row again this morning saying Britain was not acting like a 'friend, ally and responsible partner'

Mr Macron and Mr Johnson kept each other close as they braced for difficult talks on fishing

France 'demands 125,000 for release of British-registered fishing trawler' French courts have demanded a 125,000 'ransom' for the release of the British fishing trawler impounded in the Le Havre port, it emerged last night. Scottish-registered the Cornelis Gert Jan is accused of not having a valid licence to fish in French waters. Its unnamed skipper - believed to be an Irish national - has been charged with 'acts of unauthorised sea fishing in French maritime salt waters' and ordered to appear in court next August. Advertisement

Downing Street said Mr Johnson had raised the 'unhelpful' rhetoric from France during the showdown.

Asked if there were any specific measure agreed to deescalate the fishing row, the PM's spokesman said: 'No. The deescalation as I say would need to come from the French side.'

Pushed on why the French side were claiming that specific measures had been agreed, the spokesman said: 'You would have to ask the French government our position has not changed.'

He added: 'We stand ready to grant further licences as we have done throughout if the requisite evidence is provided.'

On whether the November 2 deadline was now gone, the spokesman said it was 'entirely a matter for the French government'.

The spokesman insisted that Mr Johnson had never sought to 'escalate tensions'. 'We are simply continuing to enforce the law as set out in the Brexit deal.'

The spokesman said: 'It will be for the French to decide whether they want to step away from the threats they have made over recent days of course we would welcome that.'

Mr Macron's attack dog, Europe minister Clement Beaune, stoked the row again this morning saying Britain was not acting like a 'friend, ally and responsible partner'.

However, the UK government has insisted licences are being granted where boats can provide evidence they fished in waters before Brexit, with ministers adamant they will not back down.

Mr Johnson last night warned the EU not to side with France, while Brexit minister Lord Frost threatened to take legal action.

Mr Beaune tweeted in response to Lord Frost this morning: 'After 10 months, when such a significant amount of licences, targeting one country, is missing, it's not a technical issue, it's a political choice and a breach of the TCA.

'A friend, ally and responsible partner should stand by its world and comply with legal commitments.'

He said the retaliation measures threatened from November 2 were 'proportionate'.

'It's positive to read that the UK cares about the TCA; France and the EU expect its full respect and implementation, regarding fishing rights, the Northern Ireland protocol and all other - agreed and ratified - matters,' he said.

Mr Johnson and Mr Macron shared an awkward fist-bump during an encounter on the first day of the summit yesterday.

Downing Street has stressed that the pair are 'friends' - but behind the scenes anger is mounting about the grandstanding behaviour from France, with Mr Macron facing a presidential election in the spring.

One senior UK official said: 'The French have made their position abundantly clear. They are not interested in a positive and constructive relationship, but only in trying to show that Brexit was a mistake.'

Another added: 'From explicit warnings about stopping energy supply to Jersey to public threats about imposing customs controls unless we comply with their demands, this has been a concerted effort to undermine and now breach the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.'

The has dismissed France's claim that Britain has not responded to requests to grant more licences is wrong and it has been transparent throughout.

A source said: 'We've been through painstaking discussions on every single French vessel in question, and have acted at all times in accordance with the deal struck with the EU. It's incredibly disappointing to see France resorting to these threats.'

Emmanuel Macron and Mr Johnson fist bumped despite gearing up for a potential showdown over fisheries

France has threatened border and port sanctions, including increased checks on British vessels, a 'go-slow' at customs and increased tariffs on energy bills in Jersey, unless more fishing licences are issued by the UK for small French boats by Tuesday. Pictured: French fisherman in the fishing town of Port En Bessin

Lord Frost yesterday blasted a 'pattern' of threats made by France to Britain and said the UK Government is 'actively considering' starting legal proceedings against the country.

In a series of tweets, the Conservative peer rallied against comments made by French prime minister Jean Castex in a letter to Ms Von Der Leyen, that the UK should be shown 'it causes more damage to leave the EU than to stay in'.

Lord Frost said: 'To see it expressed in this way is clearly very troubling and very problematic in the current context when we are trying to solve many highly sensitive issues, including on the Northern Ireland Protocol.'

Mr Johnson slammed the 'rhetoric' coming out of Paris and warned that threats - including a go-slow on goods at Calais and blocking British trawlers from French ports - were 'completely unjustifiable' and likely broke international law.

French courts have demanded a 125,000 'ransom' for the release of the British fishing trawler impounded in the Le Havre port, it emerged last night
Boris Johnson today warned world leaders their promises on tackling climate change are starting to 'sound hollow' as he read them the riot act ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

The Prime Minister said there are 'no compelling excuses for our procrastination' on reducing harmful emissions and that the action already taken amounts to 'drops in a rapidly warming ocean'.

Speaking at the G20 summit in Rome, he said that only 12 of the club's members have committed to reaching a target of net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.

Dramatically raising the stakes, he said that if the forthcoming gathering in Glasgow fails to secure a major breakthrough 'then the whole thing fails'.

Mr Johnson said world leaders must now flesh out the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, warning that failing to do so will leave 'the worlds only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change... holed beneath the water line.

The premier escalated his rhetoric amid fears the summit in Glasgow could become a flop as he agreed the G20 pledge to achieve carbon neutrality 'by or around mid-century' is too vague.

When asked about the goal during a press conference Mr Johnson said: 'I agree, and that is a function really of the gap between some colleagues and others.

'Some countries, as you know, have made commitments to 2060 rather than to 2050. What they've said is 2060 or earlier, and what we want to do is bring those commitments earlier.'

The PM has been trying to use the Rome summit of powerful nations including China and Russia to build momentum ahead of COP26, which formally got underway this afternoon and will see world leaders meet for talks tomorrow.

But although the communique from the G20 backed urgent action, it gave more wriggle-room for emissions to continue, with an original goal of '2050' replaced by looser language.

Mr Johnson has already admitted that he was stonewalled by China's Xi Jinping in a call when he suggested the giant economy should aim for carbon output to peak by 2025 instead of 2030.

Meanwhile, the start of COP26 has been disrupted by storms in the UK that have blocked train services north from London - leaving thousands of delegates unable to make it to Glasgow.

In interviews this morning, COP26 President Alok Sharma dampened hopes of a significant breakthrough at the summit by saying it is going to be 'really, really tough' for world leaders to strike a deal.

Mr Sharma said there are now two weeks to get an agreement 'over the line' as thousands of delegates from across the globe arrive in Glasgow for the gathering.

Boris Johnson today warned world leaders their promises on tackling climate change are starting to 'sound hollow' as he read them the riot act ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow

The Prime Minister said there are 'no compelling excuses for our procrastination' on reducing harmful emissions and action already taken amounts to 'drops in a rapidly warming ocean'

Mr Johnson said world leaders must now flesh out the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, warning that failing to do so will leave 'the worlds only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change... holed beneath the water line

The UN summit is aiming to persuade countries around the world to agree action to restrict global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees.

Mr Sharma has urged world leaders to 'leave the ghosts of the past' behind them as he said 'they have to deliver' on the promises they have made to cut harmful emissions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Xi are both snubbing the COP26 summit by not attending in person - although they will contribute virtually.

Addressing reporters in Rome this afternoon, Mr Johnson said that after 'hundreds of summits, speeches, press conferences' the promises made by world leaders are 'starting to sound, frankly, hollow'.

He said: 'The science is clear that we need to act now to halve emissions by 2030 and keep 1.5 degrees within reach.

There are no compelling excuses for our procrastination. Not only have we acknowledged the problem we are already seeing first hand the devastation climate change causes, from heat waves and droughts to wild fires and hurricanes.

Unlike many other global challenges, the solution to climate change is clear, it lies in consigning dirty fossil fuels like coal to history, ditching gas guzzling modes of transport and recognising the role that nature plays in preserving life on this planet.

And harnessing the power of nature through renewable energy rather than orchestrating its destruction.

If we dont act now, the Paris Agreement will be looked at in the future not as the moment that humanity opened its eyes to the problem but the moment we flinched and turned away.

Mr Johnson listed a number of promises made by nations to address climate change but said none of them went far enough.

These commitments, welcome as they are, are drops in a rapidly warming ocean when we consider the challenge we have all admitted is ahead of us,' he said.

Delegates, campaigners and journalists travelling by train to the Glasgow climate conference fell victim to a weather chaos today after a fallen tree on a railway line. Pictured: London Euston is exit only due to overcrowding and suspended services

Just 12 G20 members have committed to reach net zero by 2050 or earlier. Barely half of us have submitted improved plans for how we will cut carbon emissions since the Paris summit in 2015.

We have also failed to meet our commitments to provide $100billion a year to support development countries to grow in a clean and sustainable way.

The UN says emissions will rise by 15 per cent by 2030 and they need to halve by then. The countries most responsible for historic and present day emissions are not yet doing their fair share of the work.

If we are going to prevent COP26 from being a failure then that must change. And I must be clear that if Glasgow fails then the whole thing fails.

The Paris Agreement will have crumpled at the first reckoning. The worlds only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change will be holed beneath the water line.

Mr Johnson's comments came after Jose Manuel Barroso, the former European Commission president, expressed concerns over the level of international cooperation on tackling climate change.

Mr Barroso said it 'makes sense' for all of the world's major players to work together for 'global public goods'.

But comparing the current situation to that of the 2008 financial crash, he said: 'I can tell you from experience that today's atmosphere, the political understanding and level of cooperation, is clearly below what was before when we saw the financial crisis.'

Pictured: Vehicles travel through standing water during heavy rain in Bromsgrove, in the West Midlands, this morning

Storms cause COP travel chaos Delegates, campaigners and journalists travelling by train to the Glasgow climate conference fell victim to a weather-related chaos today after a fallen tree on a railway line. All tracks on the main rail route between London and Glasgow were blocked near the town of Milton Keynes due to the tree which fell into overhead electric power lines as the UK was hit by brutal 80mph winds and torrential rain. A Reuters reporter on a cancelled train service said several passengers had changed their travel plans and were booking flights to Glasgow where the United Nations COP26 climate conference kicks off on Sunday. Sharing a video from the scene, Network Rail has said that Euston train station is exit only due to the fact that no trains were running from the station. They added that all passengers are being advised to avoid travelling due to lines being closed. Wind damage has been reported in multiple areas of the UK on Sunday with the Met Office unable to rule out whether any tornadoes have taken place. Yellow warnings for wind and rain are in place over large parts of the west and elsewhere, and more are likely. Advertisement

Leaders at the G20 agreed on carbon neutrality 'by or around mid-century' as the conference came to a close just ahead of COP.

Politicians attending the event in Rome also pledged to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad.

But they set no target for phasing out domestic coal.

According to the final communique from the summit, the G20 reaffirmed past commitments by rich countries to provide 100 billion US dollars annually to help poorer countries cope with climate change.

Leaders agreed to 'put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021'.

G20 leaders said they will 'accelerate our actions across mitigation, adaptation and finance, acknowledging the key relevance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century'.

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 said last week it will be 'touch and go' if the gathering will be a success having previously been bullish on the chances of a breakthrough.

Last night the Prime Minister said the summit will be the 'world's moment of truth'.

Told that countries have failed to deliver on the climate change commitments they made in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, Mr Sharma said: 'Well, you are right, this is on world leaders at the end of the day and they made the commitments in Paris that we would limit temperature rises to well below two degrees, pursuing efforts to 1.5 and now in Glasgow they have to deliver.

'We have got the G20 ongoing right now and those world leaders will arrive here tomorrow for the world leaders' summit and my message to them is very clear: Leave the ghosts of the past behind you, it is Halloween today after all, but leave the ghosts of the past behind you and let's focus on the future and unite around this one issue that we know matters for all of us which is protecting our precious planet.'

Told that Mr Johnson appeared to have changed his tone on the likelihood of success at the summit, Mr Sharma said: 'The Prime Minister is absolutely right, it is going to be really, really tough at this summit.

'We have got two weeks to get this over the line. But he was also making the point that when we took on the presidency of COP26 less than 30 per cent of the global economy was covered by a net zero target.

'We are now at over 80 per cent, almost all the G20 nations that we are talking about have got a net zero target for the middle of the century.'

Asked directly if a deal will be done at the summit, Mr Sharma was non-committal in his response.

He told Sky News: 'That is what I am driving towards and I think what I have always said is that what we need to come from out of Glasgow is to be able to say with credibility that we have kept 1.5 alive.'

Mr Sharma was then asked three times during an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show if a deal will be done in Glasgow.

He replied: 'As you said in your introduction, my job is effectively to act as shepherd in chief. This is on leaders.

'It was leaders who made the commitment in Paris. It is leaders of the biggest economies meeting now at the G20 and they need to come forward and collectively we need to agree how we are going to address this gap.'

Mr Sharma said he expected COP26 to be 'in many ways tougher than Paris' because the 2015 pact was a 'framework agreement' and 'some of the most difficult rules are still outstanding after six years'.

'That makes it really challenging and, of course, we know that the geopolitics is more difficult than it was at the time of Paris,' he said.

COP26 suffered a blow last week after President Putin and President Xi confirmed they are not attending in person.

China has faced criticism over its climate plans in recent days after Beijing restated its old aims on emissions without setting out any new ambitions.

Asked if China and Russia need to do more, Mr Sharma said: 'I want more out of every country but I think the point here is that we have made progress and then we are going to have to take stock about where there is a gap in what the commitments are and where we need to be.'

Mr Johnson will arrive in Glasgow this evening following his trip to Rome to attend the G20.

He expressed concerns last week that the climate change summit could 'go wrong' and end in failure.

He said: 'We need as many people as possible to agree go to net zero so that they are not producing too much carbon dioxide by the middle of the century.

'Now, I think it can be done. It's going to be very, very tough, this summit.

'And I'm very worried, because it might go wrong and we might not get the agreements that we need. It's touch and go.'

Mr Johnson said in comments released last night that he hopes world leaders will arrive in Glasgow ready to agree 'decisive action'.

World leaders are due to meet in the city to try to hammer out a deal to reduce harmful emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees

Boris Johnson said last week it will be 'touch and go' if the gathering will be a success having previously been bullish on the chances of a breakthrough

He 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.'

It was claimed earlier this month that Mr Sharma was angry at Mr Johnson for building up expectations ahead of the summit amid Cabinet fears it will be a 'damp squib'.

Mr Sharma was said to be 'raging' at the PM for 'ramping up' hopes of a breakthrough in Glasgow.

Some ministers believe the Government's messaging ahead of the summit has been too bullish and is 'completely out of control'. Allies of Mr Sharma denied that he was angry with the PM.
President Joe Biden arrived at La Nuvola Sunday morning for his second day at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Rome, which started with a face-to-face meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In the meeting, Biden brought up concerns over Turkey's purchase of a Russian missile defense system - which prompted U.S. lawmakers to press Biden not to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey - and talked about the importance of human rights.

'We're planning to have a good conversation,' Biden said as he and the Turkish leader posed for a photo at the top of the gathering.

President Joe Biden (right) and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan (left) pose for a photo ahead of their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 in Rome Sunday morning

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) and President Joe Biden (right) in their bilateral meeting Sunday morning, which kicked off Biden's second day of the G20 in Rome

Biden was asked if the administration would sell F-16s to Turkey, which American lawmakers have warned him against. The president was also asked if he would bring up human rights in the meeting and if Turkey had gotten too cozy with the Russians.

He ignored those queries and said 'thank you' to reporters.

The meeting between the leaders lasted for just under an hour.

A senior administration official told reporters that the sale of the F-16s did come up.

'They did talk about the F-16s with the president making very clear that there was a process underway that we had to go through,' the official said.

In a readout of the meeting provided by tthe White House the president expressed that there were 'U.S. concerns over Turkey's possession of the Russian S-400 missile system,' which had alarmed lawmakers enough to push Biden to stop any sales of the Lockheed Martin-made fighter jets.

The administration official indicated that Biden hasn't made a final decision.

'I mean, I think the Turkish Government and Erdogan, including in his public comments in the last couple of weeks, have been very clear that there is a desire by Turkey to purchase the F-16s. And the president took on board his desire to have them, but made very clear that there is a process that we have to go through in the U.S. and committed to continuing to work through that process,' the official said.

Turkey wanted to buy 40 F-16s and 80 modernization kits for their existing warplanes, Reuters reported.

'President Biden underscored his desire to maintain constructive relations, expand areas of cooperation, and manage our disagreements effectively,' the readout also said.

President Joe Biden (upper right) was joined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken (lower right), while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (upper left) had Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend

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.

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.

In the meeting with Erdogan, Biden 'emphasized the importance of strong democratic institutions, respect for human rights, and the rule of law for peace and prosperity.'

The senior administation official wouldn't go into detail about whether Biden cited specific examples of how Erdogan could improve Turkey's human rights record.

'I'm not going to get into all of the details of what they talked about. But it was an issue that the president raised, expressed his continued commitment and focus on all of these issues, and also his continued intention to continue raising them,' the official said.

The official also stayed mum on what Biden told Erdogan about the decision to call diplomats, including from NATO allies, 'persona non grata,' meaning they would no longer be welcome in Turkey.

'Not going to get into specifics on that. But again, it was part of the broader conversation on the importance of human rights and rule of law issues,' the official said.

Biden and Erdogan also spoke about Afghanistan, which the Biden administration has taken heat for, after a messy pull-out of 20-year war.

Biden 'expressed appreciation for Turkeys nearly two decades of contributions to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.'

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

'The leaders discussed the political process in Syria, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Afghans in need, elections in Libya, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, and diplomatic efforts in the South Caucasus,' the readout also said.

Biden was originally expected to meet with Erdogan at COP26, the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, where he will travel next.

However, because of the dispute over expelling diplomats, the meeting almost didn't happen.

'I'm not actually even sure we would have had the meeting if he had gone ahead and expelled,' the senior White House 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.'

'Precipitous action is not going to benefit the U.S.-Turkey partnership and alliance,' the official added.

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.'
Stargazers across the UK were able to spot the Northern Lights last night in a rare chance to observe the famous natural phenomenon.

Homeowners in the north of England and Scotland were treated to the spectacle, which could reappear again tonight.

Avid traveller Kathel, from Wales, trekked to Dustanburgh Castle, Northumberland, to see the Lights.

The Northern lights on view over Belhaven bridge in Dunbar Scotland overnight on Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday

The Met Office said the weather in space was the reason Brits were able to see the Lights, after the Sun let out a large solar flare as well as plasma from its outer layer on Thursday

'What a night at watching meteors, the Aurora and just standing in awe under the blanket of stars above us,' she wrote on Twitter.

'Best of all I got to share it with my eldest who insisted on coming along.'

The Met Office said: 'The Northern Lights have been spotted in a number of locations in the UK as well as in Iceland.'

It also released footage of what the spectacle looked like from space.

Alan MacKinnon, the lighthouse keeper at Cantick Head on the south of Orkney, Scotland, also spotted the Lights and released footage of a time-lapse of it.

Avid traveller Kathel, from Wales, trekked to Dustanburgh castle to see the Lights (Image @Kathelcymru)

She saw the lights alongside her eldest son. She said she stood 'in awe under the blanket of stars' above them (Image: @Kathelcymru)

Dustanburgh Castle in Northumberland on the east coast of England was visited by the Northern Lights (Image: @Kathelcymru)

Scotland also saw the Lights stop by. Keen photographer Dali Mach saw this stunning view in the Outer Hebrides (Image: @DaliMach)

The Met Office said the weather in space was the reason Brits were able to see the Lights, after the Sun let out a large solar flare as well as plasma from its outer layer on Thursday.

NASA said the solar flare  a powerful burst of radiation  was 'significant'.

The Met Office added the plasma, called a coronal mass ejection (CMEs), could mean Britons will be able to see the Lights well into Sunday.

We are awaiting the arrival of a coronal mass ejection launched by an X1 solar flare that took place two days ago. The solar plasma cloud should arrive within the next 6 to 18 hours. A strong G3 geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for today, 30 October and tomorrow, 31 October. pic.twitter.com/23b1wBezRv  SpaceWeatherLive (@_SpaceWeather_) October 30, 2021

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A solar flare is a tremendous explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in 'twisted' magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released.

In a matter of just a few minutes they heat material to many millions of degrees and produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, including from radio waves to x-rays and gamma rays.

Solar flares are different to 'coronal mass ejections' (CMEs), which are huge bubbles of gas threaded with magnetic field lines and ejected from the Sun over the course of several hours.

The Sun emitted a significant solar flare peaking at 11:35am EDT on October 28. NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured this image of the event

Both CMEs and solar flares are types of solar storms.

The Northern Lights are created by disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere caused by these events, usually concentrated around the Earth's magnetic poles.

The Northern Lights  also known as the aurora borealis  is predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic), so any glimpse in the UK is a rare treat for stargazers.
The Prince of Wales has demanded action on climate change as he warned world leaders they have an 'overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn at the G20 summit in Rome on the eve of the Cop26 conference.

Prince Charles said the UN climate change conference which opens in Glasgow on Sunday is 'quite literally' the 'last chance saloon' to save the planet.

Charles, who was invited to speak by Italy's prime minister, Mario Draghi, will also deliver the opening address at Cop26.

Whilst recognising that urgent action on climate change is crucial, the prince told G20 leaders in Rome: 'I am, at last, sensing a change in attitudes and the build-up of positive momentum.'

The heir to the throne emphasised that the world leaders have an 'overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn'.

He told the G20 politicians: 'It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands'.

Prince Charles told G20 leaders in Rome that the UN climate change conference which opens in Glasgow on Sunday is 'quite literally' the 'last chance saloon' to save the planet

Charles added: 'Cop 26 begins in Glasgow on Sunday and quite literally it is the last chance saloon.

'We must now translate fine words into still finer actions and as the enormity of the climate challenge dominates people's conversations from newsrooms to living rooms.

'And as the future of humanity and nature herself are at stake it is surely time to set aside our differences and grasp this unique opportunity to launch a substantial green recovery by putting the global economy on a confident sustainable trajectory and thus save our planet.'

Charles told the politicians that the private sector is 'eager' to work with them and 'ready to play a hugely significant and game-changing role', saying solutions to major issues 'seem possible only if there is a much closer partnership between Government, the main multilateral banks, the private sector and its investors'.

Charles' invitation is in recognition of decades spent highlighting the growing environmental crisis that the planet faces as a result of climate change.

On Monday, Charles is due to welcome leaders to COP26 in Glasgow. The Queen was due to attend but has been advised to rest by her doctors.

Prince Charles arrives to attend the G20 Summit at the La Nuvola conference centre in Rome on Sunday

Charles, who was invited to speak by Italy's prime minister, Mario Draghi (pictured together on Sunday), will also deliver the opening address at Cop26

After his speech, Charles will attend the launch, by leaders from the fashion industry, of a new digital marker for sustainability.

Members of Charles' Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Fashion Taskforce will begin rolling out the virtual certificate that records each fashion item's history; how it was designed, manufactured and transported to the shops.

The prince will be joined by members of his SMI, an organisation of more than 300 CEOs, which aims to unlock the commitment and potential of business to deliver solutions for the climate crisis.

The digital marker, which will be unveiled at the British Embassy in Rome, aims to allow key players in the fashion value chain, including manufacturers, brands, retailers, resellers and recyclers, to provide transparency and traceability of the products they sell.

Federico Marchetti, chair of the Fashion Taskforce, said: 'This digital ID provides a genuine opportunity for consumers to make truly sustainable choices when they are making their purchases.

'In an industry that needs to do so much more to improve its impact on the environment, this is a huge step forward and only the beginning of the taskforce's journey.'

The speech comes after 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.

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

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.
MPs have been warned that the teaching of 'white privilege' is 'rife' in schools following a dossier that revealed pupils are being given 'politically based' lessons on police, racism and colonialism.

Teachers are facing accusations of introducing pupils to 'politically based' learning materials in lessons about racism, colonialism and the police.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi earlier this month warned against schools teaching about 'white privilege' as if it were fact and said it was a 'contested view' that could push 'partisan' politics on to pupils.

His intervention came in response to a report by the Commons education committee, which said that teaching white privilege could be against the Equality Act.

The report added that telling children they are different because of their race is unlawful.

Britain's Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi warned against schools teaching about 'white privilege' as if it were fact earlier this month

A stock picture of GCSE students putting up their hands in class. The Free Speech Union has submitted a dossier to the Department for Education highlighting cases within individual schools

However, a dossier submitted to Mr Zahawi this week included details of cases in which schools around the country have allegedly partaken in 'politicised teaching', reports The Telegraph.

The Free Speech Union's file contained references to examples within 15 different schools across England.

One such example was highlighted at the Piggott School in Berkshire, where parents are said to have raised concerns about a classroom resource named 'A kid-friendly guide to social justice terms'.

A teacher at a secondary school in Kent is also understood to have compared former US president Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler during a history lesson, according to the dossier.

At another secondary school in Lewisham, south London, pupils were told that they were 'privileged by virtue of being white'.

Tory MP Jonathon Gullis said earlier this month that the phrase 'white privilege' was 'racist and extremist.'

Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathon Gullis (pictured left with Jacob Rees-Mogg in Stoke-on-Trent) defended his view that the phrase 'white privilege' is racist and extremist - and that teachers who use it should be disciplined and reported to the government's counter-terror programme as extremists

Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathon Gullis said in a statement he had been told 'lefty Twitter is in meltdown' because he said the use of the term in schools, colleges and university's is extremist

The Stoke-on-Trent North MP also said teachers that use it should be disciplined and reported to the government's counter-terror programme as extremists.

In a statement, he added he had been told 'lefty Twitter is in meltdown' because he said the use of the term in schools, colleges and university's is extremist.

It follows a landmark parliamentary report in June that which found that white working-class pupils have been 'let down' for decades by England's education system - and that promoting ideas of 'white privilege' makes the situation worse.

The Tory-dominated Commons Education Select Committee, chaired by Robert Halfon MP, said white working-class pupils are one of the worst-achieving groups in the country and 'feel anything but privileged'.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'Schools are required to remain politically impartial, and should be mindful of the need to offer a balanced presentation of opposing views when political issues are brought to the attention of pupils.

'We expect that in most instances, where there are concerns regarding political impartiality in schools, these can be addressed through dialogue and agreement on simple mitigations.'

Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, added: 'Judging from how many parents have contacted the Free Speech Union to raise the alarm about political bias in schools, its a huge problem.

'Weve documented this in 15 different schools in our dossier, but thats the tip of the iceberg. They are so far down the woke rabbit hole, they think these claims are incontestable facts rather than contentious political positions and regard anyone who challenges them as completely beyond the pale.

'The solution is to issue new guidance making it clear that schools and teachers have a legal duty to teach about politically contentious issues in a fair and balanced way  and to set out a long list of the issues that fall into this category so teachers cant claim ignorance.'

Piggott School and Chesnut Grove Academy have also been contacted for comment.
A glacier in Antarctica was named after the city of Glasgow to mark its hosting of the COP26 climate change conference.

The Glasgow Glacier is one of nine areas of fast-flowing ice in the Getz basin in the west of the continent to be named after locations of major climate treaties, conferences and reports.

The Scottish city is welcoming more than 100 world leaders and thousands of delegates to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (Cop), from this weekend until Friday November 12.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: 'By naming this glittering giant of nature after the city where next week humankind will gather to fight for the future of the planet, we have a stark reminder of what we are working to preserve.'

This glacier in Antarctica was named after the city of Glasgow to celebrate its hosting of the Cop26 climate change conference, which started on Sunday (Image: Pierre Dutrieux)

Glasgow Glacier is one of nine areas of fast-flowing ice in the Getz basin in the west of the continent to be named after locations of major climate treaties, conferences and reports

On climate, the world will succeed, or fail, as one.



Now is the time for real action.#COP26 begins today. We must make it count.#TogetherForOurPlanet  COP26 (@COP26) October 31, 2021

The request to name the glacier after Glasgow came from University of Leeds scientists including PhD researcher Heather Selley, who identified 14 glaciers in the basin that are thinning and flowing more quickly into the ocean.

She revealed in a study earlier this year that 315 billion tons of ice were lost from the Getz region over the last 25 years, adding 0.9mm to the global mean sea level  the equivalent of 126 million Olympic swimming pools of water.

Ms Selley said the glaciers are named in chronological order, with the Geneva Glacier in the west of the Getz study region marking the first climate summit in 1979 and the Glasgow Glacier in the east marking Cop26.

Ms Selley said the glaciers are named in chronological order, with the Geneva Glacier in the west of the Getz study region marking the first climate summit in 1979 and the Glasgow Glacier in the east marking Cop26

She said: 'Naming the glaciers after these locations is a great way to celebrate this international collaboration on climate change science and policy over the last 42 years.

'We wanted to permanently mark the outstanding effort the scientific community has put into measuring the present-day impact of climate change, and its predicted future evolution.'

Dr Anna Hogg, associate professor at the School of Earth and Environment in Leeds, said: 'The climate crisis affects all of us, whether through flooding of our homes, increased storm frequency, reduced crop harvests, or the loss of habitats and biodiversity in the natural environment, with some communities impacted much more than others.

'While these new glacier names celebrate the knowledge gained through scientific collaboration and the action taken through policy, it is clear now that much more must be done.

University of Leeds researcher Helen Sulley revealed 315 billion tons of ice were lost from the Getz region over the last 25 years, adding 0.9mm to the global mean sea level  the equivalent of 126 million Olympic swimming pools of water

'I am inspired by the school climate strikes, which remind all of us that we are only temporary gatekeepers, and have a responsibility to protect planet Earth for the next generation.

'There is no doubt that there's a need for urgent action.

'We have great hope in the power of international collaboration which can enable significant progress to be made at Cop26 this year.

'The recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) AR6 report finds that unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, it will not be possible to limit warming close to 1.5C or even 2C.'

Ms Selley will present her work at Cop26 at 10am on Wednesday November 10.

It comes as climate activist Greta Thunberg, 18, had to be escorted by police as she arrived by train into Glasgow for the conference.

Greta Thunberg arrived in Glasgow ahead of the Cop26 summit, as world leaders prepare to discuss the climate crisis

The Swede arrived at Glasgow Central station on Saturday evening at around 6.40pm, on a train from London Euston, ahead of the international conference that began on Sunday.

Activists from around the world are expected to cause chaos at the climate summit.

Organisers expect up to 100,000 people at a major demonstration on Friday that will require a heavy police presence.

Demonstrators will call on world leaders to take steps to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5C degrees.

Ms Thunberg took to Twitter to announce her arrival, writing: 'Finally in Glasgow for the #COP26! Thank you for the very warm welcome,' above a picture of her descending an escalator through the crowds.
One man died and nine other people were wounded in a shooting at a Halloween party in eastern Texas.

Gunfire erupted late Saturday at an event center in Texarkana, police said in a news release, with officers who responded to the scene finding that multiple brawls had broken out in the aftermath of the mass-shooting.

Police estimate that 'at least a couple hundred people' were there.

The 10 people who were shot went to two hospitals for treatment; either by ambulance, police unit or private vehicle, police said.

One man died and nine other people were wounded in a shooting at a Halloween party in eastern Texas, police said

Gunfire erupted late Saturday at an event center in Texarkana, police said in a news release

Police estimate that 'at least a couple hundred people' were there

A 20-year-old man was later pronounced dead at one of the hospitals. His name was not released.

Police said the injuries of the other nine people didn't appear to be life-threatening.

The suspected shooter hasn't been taken into custody. Police said the suspect left the scene in an unknown vehicle.

Texarkana is located on the Texas border with Arkansas, about 180 miles east of Dallas.
Prince Andrew's legal team have challenged his accuser over her claims she was abused by exposing her 'sex kitten' past and accusing her of procuring 'slutty girls' for Jeffrey Epstein, legal papers show.

The Duke of York's lawyers filed a blistering 36-page motion to dismiss the US civil suit brought by Virginia Giuffre in which she accuses the Royal of rape.

The 38-year-old, previously known by her maiden named Roberts, claims she was sex trafficked to Andrew on three occasions by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the first time when she was 17.

The 61-year-old Duke has consistently and vehemently denied her claims.

In court documents filed on Friday night, Andrew's US legal team called Ms Giuffre's lawsuit 'frivolous', saying: 'She has initiated this baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expense.'

They said she had profited from her association with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender, for years and was willing to 'milk the publicity' for all she could but had not kept her stories straight.

Lawyers also cited a story published in the New York Daily News in 2015 that claimed Giuffre recruited young women into Epstein's sex trafficking ring and referenced former friends who had described her as a 'money-hungry sex kitten' who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.

US Lawyers for Prince Andrew (pictured on Thursday at Windsor castle) have submitted a response to a lawsuit filed against him in New York by his sex abuse accuser Virginia Roberts

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 (right with Andrew), one of Epstein's most vocal accusers, claimed that she was forced into sex with the Duke of York. She has long claimed that she was a victim of Epstein's sex trafficking ring throughout the early 2000s when she was a teenager (Ghislaine pictured right)

In a section of the legal papers headed 'Giuffre's role in Epstein's criminal enterprise', lawyers cite Crystal Figueroa, the sister of one of Giuffre's ex-boyfriends, who claims she was asked by Ms Giuffre for help in recruiting underage girls.

The quote reads: 'She [Giuffre] would say to me, 'Do you know any girls who are kind of slutty?'

The court filing adds: 'It is a striking feature of this case that while lurid allegations are made against Prince Andrew by Giuffre, the only party to this claim whose conduct has involved the wilful recruitment and trafficking of young girls for sexual abuse is Giuffre herself, including while she was an adult.'

In the New York Daily News article, which is cited in Prince Andrew's response, 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****.

'She'd 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. She'd have like four grand.

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

The motion cited a damning story published in 2015 that revealed 'Giuffre (right) also was trained to and did, in fact, recruit other young women into (left) Epstein's sex trafficking ring'

'And then I'd take them all to the mall and they'd get their nails done.'

When Giuffre was in the middle of settling a lawsuit with Epstein in March 2015, former friends even claimed, she was actually more of a 'money-hungry sex kitten' who enjoyed the lavish lifestyle than someone who was enslaved by the convicted paedophile.

Andrew's lawyers have 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 Epstein's monstrous behavior against Giuffre, if so.

'However, and without diminishing the harm suffered as a results of Epstein's alleged misconduct, Prince Andrew never sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre.

'He unequivocally denies Giuffre's false allegations against him.'

The royal's attorney, Andrew Brettler believes a legal agreement reached between Epstein and Giuffre in 2009 absolves Andrew of all responsibility in the lawsuit he described as 'baseless'

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'.

It adds: 'Epstein's abuse of Giuffre does not justify her public campaign against Prince Andrew.'

The motion said 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,' the legal papers read, 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 Giuffre has created 'a media frenzy' in the press, which has led 'sensationalism and innuendo (to) prevail over truth'.

Giuffre 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.

Giuffre's lawyer, Sigrid McCawley told the Sunday Times yesterday: 'If Virginia Giuffre had stood silent in the face of outrageous statements like those Prince Andrew routinely churns out  his motion to dismiss the litigation being no exception  the decades-long sex-trafficking ring his friend Jeffrey Epstein operated and he participated in would have never been exposed.

'On the subject of money, let's be clear: the only party to this litigation using money to his benefit is Prince Andrew.'

Andrew has repeatedly denied that he has sex with Roberts or ever met her despite a photo of the two together: 'I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever'

The contents of the court papers outraged women's groups and campaigners, with Andrew's lawyers claiming Ms Giuffre had secured sums 'most people could only dream of' by filing lawsuits against Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, that were settled out of court.

Joan Smith, former co-chairwoman of the Mayor of London's Violence Against Women group said: 'The Duke of York seems to be living in the 1950s when abused women were often described as gold diggers. Accusing a known victim of sexual exploitation of being motivated by money is about as low as you can get.

'It is victim shaming and further evidence of his appalling judgment. Andrew is just dragging his reputation further into the gutter.'

Karen Ingala Smith, chief executive of NIA, a London-based charity aimed at ending sexual and domestic violence against women, said: 'His lack of empathy and contempt for the victim-survivors of sexual violence is deplorable.

'It is grossly dishonest to claim on one hand that sexual violence is abhorrent and then on the other to brand those seeking legal redress as frivolous money grabbers.'

Meanwhile Ms Giuffre's lawyer last night said she may subpoena Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and force them to testify under oath.

The Duke of York faced an immediate backlash from women's groups after his lawyers filed a blistering 36-page motion to dismiss the US civil suit brought by Ms Giuffre in which she accuses the Royal of rape

Sigrid McCawley and her team are examining Andrew's infamous 2019 BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis for 'inconsistencies.'

She wants to quiz Andrew's ex-wife and daughters about his alibi, including that he was in Pizza Express in Woking on the day in 2001 when Ms Giuffre claims she was first forced to sleep with him.

Ms Giuffre's legal team may also seek the Duke's medical records after he claimed he could not have been 'sweating profusely' on a dance floor, as Ms Giuffre alleged, because he suffers from a medical condition which stops him perspiring.

A legal source familiar with the case told the Mail on Sunday: 'It is not a good look for Andrew and his team to victim shame his accuser. This could backfire badly in the court of public opinion.'

The first pre-trial hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday in New York.

Last night, a source close to Prince Andrew, 61, said: 'He has utter sympathy for all and any women who are victims of attacks. But he has himself been accused of the most heinous crime and he is adamant he is innocent. For too long he has kept quiet and his accuser has poured vitriol and foul unproven accusations towards him.

'So guess what, he is fighting back with all his might to achieve justice in the courts and in the court of public opinion. He is saddened that the legal fight is so personal, but this was not something he started. He is fighting for his life.

'His lawyer is merely pointing to documents which are part of the evidence which will be crucial to whether his accuser is seen as truthful and convincing or lacking. Andrew hates the personal nature of what has emerged and what has been said about him, but his lawyers want to use everything possible to show that he is not guilty as accused.'

The prince's friend added: 'It's an affront to natural justice that somebody can be accused of the most vile of crimes and yet when forced to defend himself runs into trial by mob and lobby. Let's not forget that Mrs Giuffre launched this legal suit and the duke is perfectly entitled to mount a legitimate defence as part of the process.

'Allegations are easy to make and it is near impossible to fight once they've been made, but it is not victim blaming to point out inconsistencies and defects in the plaintiff's claims. We all seek the same end result: the truth.'
An Oxford university history professor has been banned from teaching following allegations of sexual harassment.

Peter Thompson, 61, who is a fellow of St Cross College and the Sydney L Mayer associate professor of American history, has been accused by former student, Kaelyn Apple, 26, of sexual harassment after allegedly telling her he wanted to 'tie her to a chair'.

Following an internal investigation by the university, Thompson has agreed to not to attend any events or have any contact with students after it upheld allegations of sexual harassment against him.

Apple, an American postgraduate who is now studying at Yale, claimed that at times, she felt 'uncomfortable' and at times, 'unsafe' around Thompson and admitted the ordeal has had a 'lasting impact on her mental health'.

Dr Peter Thompson, 61, (Pictured) who is a fellow of St Cross College and the Sydney L Mayer associate professor of American history, has agreed not to have any contact with students this year following allegations of sexual harassment

Former student, Kaelyn Apple, 26, (Pictured) said that she learnt to keep her distance from Thompson and it 'broke her heart' because it tainted her university experience

Thompson, who has been at the university for almost 30 years, allegedly made a sexual remark to Apple whilst he was at the pub with students during a meeting in 2019, according to The Sunday Times.

Apple claimed that he remarked: 'Kaelyn, is there nothing we can do to keep you here for a D Phil [Doctor of Philosophy]. Perhaps I should tie you to a chair in the Weston library?'

She added: 'I did not want to be in his presence after that. I have felt uncomfortable and, at times, unsafe around Dr Thompson and wish for no other student to have to experience this.'

Speaking on the Al-Jazeera podcast, the former student said that she learnt to keep her distance from Thompson and the ordeal 'broke her heart' because it tainted her university experience.

She said: 'That broke my heart because I am somebody who really values my education and values my experiences and networking opportunities.'

Mia Liyanage, who also spoke on the podcast, detailed an 'intense' experience Apple had with Thompson that led to him asking her for a drink.

She said: 'In one of the classes, he leant over her to read what was on her laptop screen and she quickly shoved her laptop away so he would not be so close to her. that was a really intense moment.

'He followed up with an email and asked her to meet him at his office in his college and then he suggested they go to the pub over the road for a drink.

'She put bag in between the seat, and when he returned with his pint, he moved the bag off of the seat and moved closer to her and sat down.'

Students are now calling for the professor to be sacked following more students coming forward with complaints about his behaviour.

Last week, an email was reportedly sent to all students and staff by the history faculty admitting that an investigation was being carried out into Thompson, and 'follow-on disciplinary action was instigated'.

It upheld an allegation of sexual harassment and found that Thompson did drink during his work hours.

According to the faculty chairman, Professor Rob Iliffe, Thompson has subsequently agreed to 'not to have any contact with students this year or to attend events at the history faculty'.

Apple (Pictured) claimed that Thompson remarked: 'Kaelyn, is there nothing we can do to keep you here for a D Phil [Doctor of Philosophy]. Perhaps I should tie you to a chair in the Weston library?'

In response to the allegations, Thompson said yesterday that the comment made to Apple about 'tying you to a chair' was a joking comment' that 'badly misfired.

He added: 'The account of the conversation in the King's Arms about supervision doesn't tally with my recollection but does pretty accurately reflect what was submitted to the inquiry. What you are reporting is what the university's disciplinary hearings saw and ruled on.'

Thompson's wife Andrea, 62, who also works at Oxford, said 'he is not a sexual predator' in response to the allegations.

A spokesman for Oxford University said: 'While we cannot comment on individual cases for reasons of confidentiality, the University of Oxford takes all allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct by staff extremely seriously.

'The University does not tolerate any form of harassment and is committed to promoting a positive environment where students and staff are treated fairly and with respect.

'We are listening and responding to the concerns and questions that our students have raised about sexual harassment complaints in recent days.

'Over the next few weeks, we will be meeting students from the faculties where concerns have been raised to discuss these issues in greater detail and explore areas where improvements can be made, to ensure Oxford is a place where all our students feel they can be secure and respected.

'The safety and welfare of all our staff and students remains Oxford's top priority at all times.'

Peter Thompson has been contacted for comment.
Researchers have discovered evidence to support the idea that Vikings settled on the Azores several hundred years before the Portuguese arrived in 1427.

Evidence from animal remains has led ecologist Pedro Raposeiro and his team, of the University of the Azores, to believe the Vikings were there first.

In a paper published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this month, Mr Raposeiro said of the findings: 'Our reconstructions offer unambiguous evidence for the pre-Portuguese settlement of the Azores.'

Viking sailors are now suggested to have made their way to the Azores in Portugal, a claim which is astonishing since the Norse seafarers have always been linked to the frozen north

The claim is astonishing considering Vikings are usually linked to the frozen north.

Lakebed sediments from the Azores were recently analysed by the researchers, who found them to be rich in organic compounds that are found in cow and sheep faeces.

The samples were also found to contain low levels of pollen from native trees, but had high levels of charcoal.

Pictured: Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores. The dating of the samples taken by the University of the Azores found they had been deposited between AD700 and 850

This mixture suggests that early settlers were burning trees to clear land for the sake of their livestock to graze.

What provided the real surprise, though, was the dating of one of these samples.

The research team from the University of the Azores found that the samples had been deposited some time between AD700 and 850.

Viking sailors making the long voyage across the Atlantic between Europe and America in order to bring back timber, 1350. Lakebed sediments from the Azores were recently analysed by researchers who now claim the Vikings were in the Azores before the Portuguese

This is several centuries earlier than the date given for the arrival of the Portuguese on the islands.

The wind and weather conditions in the northern hemisphere between AD700 to 800 would have helped settlers from higher latitudes.

The research paper adds that the conditions would have inhibited those from southern Europe, making it easier from the people from the north to reach the Azores.

'These results suggest that the Norse were most likely the earliest settlers on the islands,' the researchers add.

The new research counters the long-held belief that 15th century Portuguese sailors were the first humans to arrive in the Azores, 900 miles from the coast of Portugal.

Climate conditions during that time frame suggest Norse seamen could have taken advantage of abnormally robust northerly winds and weaker westerly winds to sail from northern Europe to the Azores in the 8th century.

'Even with abundant available historical information allowing us to have a very accurate picture of the past, it is necessary to foster interdisciplinary research among the humanities and natural sciences to fully understand our history,' co-author Santiago Giralt, a paleoclimatologist at Geosciences Barcelona, said in a statement.

The first archaeological evidence of humans on the islands, though, dates to 1427 when Portuguese sailor Diogo de Silves landed on Santa Maria Island while searching for new routes to Asia under orders from Prince Henry the Navigator.

The Flores Corvo islands were reached 25 years later and eventually, more Portuguese came and colonized the archipelago.

The natural record tells a different story, however: sediment samples are valuable tools in peeling back layers of history because material that sinks to the bottom of a lake is often preserved as new strata of sediment is layered on top.

A timeline indicating various evidence for human presence in the Azores in the Early Middle Ages

Evolutionary biologist Dr Jeremy Searle of Cornell University has supported the conclusions by Mr Raposeiro.

He has also argued that Vikings made it to the Azores - but his work is based on the mouse as his biological source.

Dr Searle told the Observer that mice sneaked on board ships and are carried round the world by humans, and you can work out where the mice came from if you understand where the humans had their original homes.

His studies have showed that populations of the house mouse have different genetic signatures.

The Azores are a string of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic some 900 miles off the coast of Portugal and 930 miles northwest of Morocco

This depends on their locality, and Dr Searle said: 'By analysing the mitochondrial DNA  which is inherited through the female line  we can tell the difference between mice from different parts of Europe.'

One distinctive house mouse lineage is found in Orkney, the Isle of Man, the Hebrides, Caithness and parts of Ireland, all areas of Viking influence.

When they looked at Norway, they found the mice carried the same genetic signature.

The biologist and his team of researchers believe they have identified the Viking mouse and found its presence in ancient mice remains from Iceland and Greenland, where the Vikings settled over 1,000 years ago.

The team of researchers at the University of the Azores, led by, ecologist Pedro Raposeiro, said: 'Our reconstructions offer unambiguous evidence for the pre-Portuguese settlement of the Azores.'

He also looked at the Azores and Madeira, and in both they found the mice had the same genetic signature as the Viking mouse.

They found very few mice that had the same genetics as those found in mouse populations in Portugal.

He added: 'These mice were obviously accidental travellers that were dispersed by Vikings across the Atlantic, to Iceland and Greenland and also the Azores and Madeira, we believe.

'It shows just how far the Vikings had spread.'
Members of Britain's Special Boat Service (SBS) have been given a pistol that can kill enemies underwater from more than 30m away.

The Heckler and Koch P11 pistol can also be used to maim hostile forces above water and is almost completely silent, according to the Daily Star.

The elite special force operatives have been supplied with the weapon for use in covert operations for what is believed to be the first time.

Deep sea divers called frogmen who are part of the Special Boat Service (SBS) have been given a pistol that can kill enemies underwater from more than 30m. It can also be used to maim hostile forces above water and the Heckler and Koch 911 pistol (pictured) is almost silent

In Syria, four men were on a counter-terrorist mission with the SBS and fired the weapon after leaving the water. A source said that the men were coming out of a river and climbed up a bank when they saw two Islamic State fighters guarding an oil refinery. The new weapon killed both men, one was shot in the chest and the other in the head (file image)

The Heckler & Koch P11 In service: 1977 to present Origin: Germany Length: 7.9 inches (20cm) Weight: 1.2kg loaded Caliber round: 7.62 mm Feed system: 5 rounds in barrel Effective firing range: 98 ft (30m) in air, 33 to 49 ft (10-15m) underwater Advertisement

In Syria, four men were reportedly on a counter-terrorist mission with the SBS and fired the weapon after leaving the water.

A source told The Star that the men were coming out of a river and climbed up a bank when they saw two Islamic State fighters guarding an oil refinery.

The new weapon killed both men, one was shot in the chest and the other in the head.

It was the first time the SBS frogman used the weapon in a real operation.

The source said of the operative: 'He was very impressed and said that the only sound came from the dart hitting the sentry in the face.'

Special Boat Service's new weapon was created for German special forces originally but is now used in clandestine maritime operations as it has been reworked.

The weapon holds five rounds that are fired with an electric power pack inside the pistol.

It means the weapon is noiseless and has no flash, a handy piece of equipment for the covert special forces.

The pistol barrel contains five round which fire a 7.62mm dart made of tungsten.

It is because bullets would be slowed down by water and would not be effective over any more than a couple of metres in distance.

British Royal Marines from the S39 Assault Squadron on a petrol boat as part of Operation Troy

A military source said: 'Frogmen need a close-protection weapon, something more than a knife  and the P11 is ideal.

'The HK P11 is perfect for the job. Its main limitation is that it takes ages to reload so once the five rounds have been fired, it is effectively useless.'

Sources said the new pistol has been used for several special service operations.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: 'We do not comment on Special Forces.'
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg said you need to 'p*** people off' and anger them as she defended the recent tactics used by eco-protestors that have paralysed roads in Britain.

During an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, the 18-year-old, who arrived in Glasgow today for the start of the Cop26 summit, described how it was at times necessary to anger people 'as long as no one gets hurt'.

Her comments come just days after Insulate Britain activists boasted that they had caused 'major disruption on the M25 in several locations, by walking on the motorway' towards on-coming traffic.

When asked about the recent climate demonstrations in the UK, Ms Thunberg said: 'To make clear, as long as no-one gets hurt then I think sometimes you need to anger some people.

Greta Thunberg, 18, told Andrew Marr: 'As long as no-one gets hurt then I think sometimes you need to anger some people

Finally in Glasgow for the #COP26! And thank you for the very warm welcome pic.twitter.com/mK4vl7iTM1  Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) October 30, 2021

'Like, for instance, the school strike movement would never have become so big if there wasn't friction, if some people didn't get p***** off.'

Speaking before the crunch talks on Monday, Ms Thunberg said she believed it was 'possible in theory' to keep global warming below 1.5C, but added: 'It's up to us if we want that to happen.'

She added people in countries like the UK, where protest is allowed, have more responsibility to do so.

Explaining that she tries to speak to activists in countries like China where people do not have the same rights, she told Marr: 'It makes you just feel so grateful that we are actually able to protest and that just puts more responsibility on us who actually have the right to protest, to use that right.

'Not just for our sake but for everyone's sake, especially for their sake to help them as well.'

The Swedish climate activist added: 'The school strike movement would never have become so big if there wasn't friction, if some people didn't get p***** off'

Ms Thunberg said she has not officially been invited to speak at the summit. The climate icon managed to find time for a smile as she spoke about the fate of the planet

Ms Thunberg said she believes it is 'possible in theory' to keep global warming below 1.5C, but added: 'It's up to us if we want that to happen'

Britons, her fellow Swedes and people in other countries with clear rights to protest have 'more responsibility' to demonstrate on climate change, she said

The youngster came to Glasgow for Cop26. She put her thumb up to crowds in Glasgow station after getting off a train from London Euston. She had to be escorted out by police as she was mobbed on arrival

Insulate Britain have caused chaos for motorists for two months, infuriating drivers by blocking motorways and gluing themselves to roads

Even though activists face harsher sentences for causing travel disruption the eco zealots continue to plague British roads in an attempt to get the Government to pay for insulation in all council housing by 2025

Extinction Rebellion climate protesters took to the streets of Edinburgh on Sunday as the Cop26 climate conference started in Glasgow. Event Organisers expect up to 100,000 people at a major demonstration on Friday that will require a heavy police presence

Asked about the Queen's comments earlier this month when the monarch appeared to suggest she is irritated by a lack of action in tackling the climate crisis, Ms Thunberg said she thinks most people would agree.

In a clip during a trip to Cardiff in which she appeared to be talking about the Cop26 conference, the Queen could be heard to say it is 'irritating' when 'they talk, but they don't do'.

Ms Thunberg told Marr: 'Yeah, I think most people agree with that.'

Asked if hearing the views of leaders such as the Pope makes a difference, she said: 'I think when people like that speak up, I think it does make a real difference, when they are bold enough.

'Of course, many people just do it because it makes them popular, it makes them sound good. But, of course, then I'm sure that there are many people who actually do it because they care as well.'

During the interview, broadcast on Sunday, Ms Thunberg said when countries show a 'pattern' of policies in which they avoid taking 'real action' it shows that the climate is not their main priority.

The formal opening ceremony at Cop26 climate conference took place on Sunday in Glasgow

She was asked about the UK's position on leading on climate change in the wake of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's recent announcement that there would be a 50% cut in air passenger duty (APD) for domestic flights.

She told Marr: 'Of course we can't talk about this in, like, one single policy and so on. But when you see a pattern of these policies, that all the time are avoiding taking real action, then I think you can draw conclusions from that pattern.

'That climate action is not really our main priority right now.'

More than 100 world leaders are attending the 26th installment of the conference to discuss climate change

While she criticised China for being 'out of touch' in still building coal power plants, she warned that there will always be other countries to blame for not doing enough and urged the world to work together.

She said: 'It's more important that we need to work together internationally and globally to make sure that everyone does this transition, not the least pushing China who are still building coal power plants which today is quite out of touch with reality if you ask me.'

Striking a hopeful note, she added: 'We can always prevent things from getting worse. It's never too late to do as much as we can.'

Asked if she would consider running for elected office in Sweden, the 18-year-old said she had 'thought of the possibility' but added: 'No, at least not right now.'
A teacup piglet Instagram star who lives in a Brooklyn fire house sparked controversy after warning a COVID vaccine mandate would see NYC lose half its firefighters.

Penny the teacup piglet - who lives at FDNY's Engine 239 in Prospect Park - shared a snap of the flyer to an Instagram story, which warned the Big Apple could lose 50 per cent of its firefighters due to the November 1 edict.

Written in attention-grabbing red letters, it said: 'Attention NYC Residents: Did you know almost half of the FDNY is about to get laid off because of the mandates?

'How will this affect YOU?' It went on to detail statistics - including that the FDNY responds to 600,000 fires each year, with 606 New Yorkers injured in blazes each month, and that most fires occur in 'COMMUNITIES OF COLOR'.

Penny's flyer goes on to claim that there'll be 3,500 fewer firefighters protecting the city from November 1, and adds: 'If you have to call 911 for your family member during a heart attack, or your home starting to burn down, the Fire Department WON'T BE ABLE TO COME.'

It then urges anyone angry at the mandate to contact local elected officials, although its data appears to be inaccurate, with 70 per cent of the FDNY's 17,300 staff receiving at least one shot of a COVID vaccine by October 29.

Penny the Fire Pig, the unofficial mascot for the FDNY's Engine 239, came out as anti-mandate advocate on her Instagram page on Wednesday

The pig's account posted a flyer in opposition of Mayor De Blasio's mandate for city workers on November 1

The account, which has over 12,000 followers, is believed to be run by Penny's owner Harris, who subsequently deleted the story - and insisted that he is not an anti-vaxxer.

'Im vaccinated and understand importance of the shot,' Harris told Rolling Stone in an Instagram message. 'I just dont want any firehouses shut down.'

The post has since been taken down as a children's book is being created for Penny, according to Harris.

'Id rather talk about [Pennys] book,' Harris said in response to a question about the mandate. 'I'm so sorry.'

The 'pig' celebrity's Instagram account normally posts lighthearted content as she is seen eating ice cream, finger or 'snout' painting and enjoying some laughs with members of the community.

The pig became the unofficial mascot for the Brooklyn fire house after she was adopted by firefighter Darren Harris from a Virginia farm

A total of 26 New York firehouses have been forced to close after firefighters refused to get vaccinated ahead of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Monday deadline.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association revealed a list of FDNY stations that 'have close due to no manpower' and it includes six in Manhattan, nine in Brooklyn, three in Queens, four in the Bronx and four in Staten Island.

In protest of the mandate hundreds of New York City firefighters took sick leave on Friday instead of complying with De Blasio's deadline for all city workers to be vaccinated or be placed on unpaid leave.

A total of 26 New York firehouses have been forced to close after firefighters refused to get vaccinated ahead of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Monday deadline

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

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.

Firefighters rallied outside Mayor Bill de Blasio's residence Gracie Mansion on Thursday to protest his Covid-19 vaccine mandate for all city workers

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. That deadline passed on Friday October 29 - the official vaccine mandate deadline. But people who arrive at work Monday who have proof they've received a shot over the weekend won't be put on unpaid leave.

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.
Australians are finally able to jet overseas after an agonising 590 days shut off from the rest of the world, with those already abroad and desperate to fly home also allowed to enter without hotel quarantine in some states.

In the biggest change to Australia's border rules since the Covid pandemic began, fully-vaccinated residents can now take a dream holiday anywhere in the world and will no longer need to apply for an exemption to leave the country from Monday.

For overseas travellers returning to Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT, the gruelling 14-day hotel quarantine stint will also no longer apply, after being put in place way back in March 2020.

The border opening is estimated to bring a $1billion a week surge in consumer spending, with jubilant scenes predicted for major airports as families are finally reunited on Monday morning.

While international travel is the biggest change to come from the swathe of eased restrictions, domestic travel will also open up between Sydney and regional NSW.

Fully-vaccinated Australian residents can travel overseas from Monday in the biggest chance to international travel since the pandemic began - but foreign tourists still aren't allowed to fly to Australia (pictured, a tourist in London)

International travel

Australians who have spent the past year-and-a-half itching to go overseas will now be able to do so as long as they've received both jabs and are permanent residents or citizens.

Travellers will no longer need to apply for an exemption to leave the country but will need to show proof of their vaccination status.

Those under the age of 12 or who can't be vaccinated due to medical reasons will also be allowed to travel.

Australians will also need to show proof of a negative PCR Covid test taken 72 hours before they leave the country.

Travellers under the age of five will not need to receive a Covid test.

Those living in Australia who aren't citizens or don't have permanent residency are still banned from returning Down Under if they were to leave.

Travellers will no longer need to apply for an exemption to leave the country but will need to show proof of their vaccination status (pictured, Sydney Airport in April when New Zealanders were allowed back into Australia)

Aussies will also need to show proof of a negative PCR Covid test taken 72 hours before they leave the country (pictured, travellers at Sydney Airport during the pandemic)

Quarantine restrictions

For those who are double-vaxxed and returning to Australia, there is no longer a requirement to quarantine at home or in a hotel upon arrival in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

This means the gruelling fortnight confined to a hotel room will be a thing of the past, with travellers having had to fork out thousands of dollars to pay for their accommodation.

But the new freedoms do not apply to other states and territories.

In Tasmania, fully-vaccinated travellers can arrive in the state without having to quarantine from December 15.

They will need to provide a negative Covid test 72 hours before arrival.

Tassie residents who have been out of the state for less than a week will not need to be tested.

Regional travel between Sydney and NSW will also reopen on Monday with families able to make their dream beach holiday trips (pictured, a surfer on the NSW coast)

Meanwhile Queensland's borders are set to open on December 17, in line with the state hitting the 80 per cent double vaccination target.

South Australia will welcome back fully-vaccinated domestic travellers from November 23 without quarantine, and international travellers once 90 per cent are double vaxxed.

The Northern Territory will allow travellers from hot spots to home quarantine as of November 23.

Western Australia, which has remained mostly shut off to the rest of the country during the pandemic, is yet to reveal its reopening plan - much to the disappointment of families shut off from their loved ones.

Domestic travel

Those unable to head off overseas just yet will still be able to travel in their own backyard with unrestricted travel opening up between NSW, Victoria and the ACT for the fully-vaccinated.

Regional travel will also be allowed in NSW from Monday after Sydneysiders were shut off from the area during the recent four-month-long lockdown.

Holiday hotspots like Byron Bay, the south coast and the mid-north coast are expected to be flooded with travellers over the next week.

Qantas has already taken bookings for nearly 500,000 domestic flights within the past fortnight, The Australian reported, while Virgin has seen a 125 per cent increase in bookings within the past month.

'Australia's economy is ready for lift off as millions of Australians get their freedom back. Today is a day for Australians to celebrate,' Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

Qantas has already taken bookings for nearly 500,000 domestic flights within the past fortnight (pictured, Qantas crew on October 28)

Those unable to head off overseas just yet will still be able to travel in their own backyard with unrestricted travel opening up between NSW, Victoria and the ACT for the fully-vaccinated (pictured, a traveller returns to Sydney in the early stages of the pandemic)
President Joe Biden is wrapping up the first leg of his European trip, heading to Glasgow after an action-packed few days in Italy - where the 78-year-old seemed to largely shun face masks.

Photos of Biden meeting with Pope Francis, French President Emmanuel Macron and others one-on-one show the Democrat and fellow G-20 leaders mask-free even when in close contact.

When gathered in large groups it appears world leaders for the most part covered their faces.

But Biden's maskless appearance during more intimate moments of his trip to Rome draw a stark contrast to when he's seen at the White House wearing one even among his fully-vaccinated White House staff.

The president's trip began last week in Vatican City, where he was given an unprecedented 90 minute audience with the pope.

Biden removed his mast upon arrival at the Vatican gates, and did not appear to replace it

He seemingly didn't wear a mask for the duration of his meeting with the 84-year-old head of the Catholic Church

Biden was seen pulling down his mask in a crowded room to speak with Indian Prime Minister Modi

He didn't wear one when meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in a bilateral summit

In most other group settings Biden and other world leaders adhered to mask recommendations

He arrived with First Lady Jill Biden and shook hands with Vatican greeters before entering for his meeting with Pope Francis. Nobody immediately involved save for Biden's Secret Service detail was wearing a mask after the president removed his upon stepping out of one of his 85-car motorcade.

Later when images emerged of Biden and the 84-year-old head of the Catholic Church, there were no face coverings in sight.

As of October 1 Vatican City rules state that people must show proof of vaccination, negative test or recovery from COVID to enter the territory.

Tourists looking to visit the Vatican itself are required to wear a face covering the entire time.

Later at the G20 summit, Biden held a bilateral meeting with France's Macron where neither were seen wearing masks.

And while leaders and other officials attending the global summit largely chose to wear masks during group events, Biden was seen speaking with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his mask around his chin.

Biden is often seen wearing a mask when departing for Marine One on the White House South Lawn

He also wears masks to events outside of the White House unless delivering remarks

The president is seen with his face covered even when visiting places like classrooms and factories

Modi wasn't wearing a mask at all. Others spotted at the indoor event had their faces covered.

At one point during the same event Macron is seen embracing Modi - the former was wearing his mask and the latter still was not.

In comparison, Biden's trip to Cornwall in June for the G7 summit saw world leaders making more of a point to observe indoor mask recommendations.

Save for when speaking to media, Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson were seen indoors at their meeting ahead of the summit masked-up.

Back home at the White House the president appears to be more mindful to observe COVID precautions in front of the cameras.

He's regularly seen wearing a mask when departing the White House for Marine 1. When touring factories, classrooms and other domestic engagements the president often chooses to cover his face unless he's speaking.
President Joe Biden touted a green new steel deal Sunday afternoon at the G20 summit in Rome, after the U.S. and European Union reached an agreement to settle their rift over Trump-era tariffs.

Biden, standing with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his side, explained that the U.S. and E.U. 'reached a major breakthrough, that will address the existential threat of climate change, while also protecting American jobs and American industry.'

He touted the climate benefits of the deal, which was pushed by President Donald Trump in his administration and resulted in counter tariffs by the Europeans on classic American products.

'These arrangements will one lift up U.S. aluminum and steel, which is among the greatest steel in the world - that is somewhat prejudice on my behalf - incentivize emission reductions in one of the most carbon intensive sectors of the global economy; restrict access to our markets for dirty steel from countries like China, and counter countries that dumped steel in our markets, hammering our workers,' Biden said.

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.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the new agreement 'marks a milestone in the renewed EU us partnership.'

And she said Europeans would be lifting their counter tariffs.

'I am pleased to announce that the Commission will also proposed to suspend the tariffs that we had introduce,' she said.

President Joe Biden (right) delivers remarks as European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen (left) looks on during a joint statement about steel and aluminium tariffs at the G20 in Rome on Sunday

President Joe Biden and European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands after U.S. lifts Trump-era steel and aluminium tariffs

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the agreement Saturday evening. They said that the Article 232 tariffs won't 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.
Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has spoken out against the abuse a university professor has faced for her views on gender identity.

Kathleen Stock, a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, had faced calls to be sacked amid accusations of transphobia.

But earlier this month, the University of Sussex vice-chancellor said the institution would not tolerate threats to 'academic freedoms' after the campaign to remove Prof Stock from her position.

Last week, Prof Stock said she will be leaving her job after 'an absolutely horrible time' and 'a very difficult few years'.

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'.

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch (pictured) backed Kathleen Stock and told the Sky News' Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme she is 'appalled' at the way Ms Stock has been treated

Kathleen Stock (left), a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, had faced calls to be sacked amid accusations of transphobia but has since decided to resign her position

She also said that people cannot change their biological sex, sparking anger from protesters who accused her of 'transphobia'.

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch backed the professor and told the Sky News' Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme she is 'appalled' at the way Ms Stock has been treated.

She added: 'I went to Sussex University and I tweeted when I saw the university statement backing her, nobody should face bullying or harassment in the workplace.

'That is actually another thing that the Equality Act looks at, bullying and harassment.

'I don't think she should lose her job. I think that she has every right to hold the beliefs... I think she is probably in step with the majority of the population.

'What we in Government are trying to do is show that we do believe that trans people should be free to live their lives as they wish, but where people see a conflict, and that conflict has tended to be around single-sex spaces and the definition of gender reassignment and how gender critical feminists, as they are known, believe that those rights are in conflict, what we can do in order to provide clarity.'

Banners saying 'Stock Out' had also been held alongside burning flares and scores of people were criticising her online under the Twitter hashtag #ShameOnSussexUni

Announcing her departure on Twitter on Thursday, Prof Stock said: 'This has been a very difficult few years, but the leadership's approach more recently has been admirable and decent. I hope that other institutions in similar situations can learn from this.

'Am particularly glad to see University emphasising that bullying and harassment anyone for their legally held beliefs is unacceptable in their workplace.'

Ms Badenoch also insisted that while the Government does not believe in gender self-identification for trans people, stating that there should be a 'process' to get gender recognition certificates which involves medical professionals.

She said: 'The Government's position is that we will do everything we can to support trans people in particular, all LGBT people, but trans people in particular when it comes to healthcare, because they have different healthcare needs from other LGBT people.

'However, we do not think that goes as far as self ID, we do believe that there should be a process to get a gender recognition certificate, and the process does mean involving medical professionals as well.'

When told some trans activists would say the fact she does not accept the statement trans women are women is in itself a form of violence, Ms Badenoch said it is 'sad that the debate has turned into one of name-calling'.

Posters put up in the tunnel from Falmer station to the university's campus earlier this month said she 'makes trans students unsafe' and 'we're not paying 9,250 a year for transphobia'

In her own words: What does Kathleen Stock believe about gender and trans issues? Kathleen Stock explained her views on trans issues in written evidence to Parliament in November 2020 here: Womanhood and manhood reflect biological sex, not gender or gender identity;

The claim 'transwomen are women' is a fiction, not literally true;

Sexual orientation (being gay, being lesbian) is determined by same-sex attraction, not attraction to gender identity;

Spaces where women undress and sleep should remain genuinely single-sex, in order to protect them;

Children with gender identity disorders should not be given puberty blockers as minors. Advertisement

She added: 'What I would ask people to do is actually look at what the policies are, what it is we're doing in order to protect people of all types, whether they are LGBT, of different race, racial backgrounds, the different sexes.

'We are a Government that believes in equality and fairness for all, and everything we're doing is to make sure that we have an equal society, and we should not get to a point where having a different opinion becomes a reason to insult other people. That's absolutely wrong.'

In the wake of her resignation, those behind anti-Stock protests, which have included spraying graffiti with the phrase 'Stock Out', took to social media to celebrate the professor's departure.

In one post on Instagram the group shared an image of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz with the phrase 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead' - a song from the same film.

Instagram page Antitfersussex, who describe themselves as an unaffiliated network of queer and trans students at the university, also posted a statement in response to Ms Stock's departure, in which they said 'good f*****g riddance'.

In the statement, the group said: 'This is a monumental victory for trans and non-binary students, who have protested the ways that this university has enabled transphobia, abuse and discrimination.

'The full weight of a colonial institution, the national media circuit and government ministers, were no match for the unity and solidarity of the queer and trans communities at Sussex University.'

In a letter to staff issued on Friday, University of Sussex's Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell said they had 'vigorously' defended Professor Kathleen Stock's right to 'exercise her academic freedom and lawful freedom of speech, free from bullying and harassment of any kind'

Professor Stock, 48, an expert in gender and sexual orientation, had been branded a 'transphobe' by some outraged students who called for her to be fired in wake of her comments on gender.

Posters put up in the tunnel from Falmer station to the university's campus earlier this month said she 'makes trans students unsafe' and 'we're not paying 9,250 a year for transphobia'.

Banners saying 'Stock Out' had also been held alongside burning flares and scores of people were criticising her online under the Twitter hashtag #ShameOnSussexUni.

The University's Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell had strongly defended her 'untrammelled' right to 'say what she thinks', whilst more than 200 academics from other universities signed a letter calling out alleged abuse from 'trans activist bullies'.

But on Friday, Professor Stock announced on Twitter that she was 'sad to announce' she is leaving her position, and added that she hoped 'other institutions can learn from this'.

In a letter to staff, Sussex's Vice Chancellor Adam Tickell said that the university had 'vigorously' defended her right to 'exercise her academic freedom and lawful freedom of speech, free from bullying and harassment of any kind'.

But he added: 'We had hoped that Professor Stock would feel able to return to work, and we would have supported her to do so.

'She has decided that recent events have meant that this will not be possible, and we respect and understand that decision.

'We will miss her many contributions, from which the University has benefited during her time here.'
Antony Blinken on Sunday wouldn't rule out U.S. military action if Iranian leaders do not return to the negotiating table next month to resume discussions to prevent them from developing a nuclear weapon.

'The Iranians have now said that they're coming back to talks toward the end of November  we'll see if they actually do, that's going to be important,' the Secretary of State chuckled when speaking to CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan.

While Blinken said diplomacy is the preferred path forward, the administration is also exploring 'other options'.

'We were also looking at, as necessary, other options if Iran is not prepared to engage quickly in good faith,' Blinken said. 'To pick up where we left off in June when these talks were interrupted by the change in government in Iran, and to see if we can get back to mutual compliance  both countries coming back into the agreement as quickly as possible.'

When Brennan pushed on if those options included potential military action, Blinken said: 'As we always say, every option is on the table.'

Blinken is visiting Rome with Joe Biden this weekend for the G20 summit and holding meetings with his counterparts as the president does the same.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that Iranians are expected to return to negotiations over the nuclear deal in November

IRAN DEAL LATEST: Secretary of State @SecBlinken doesn't rule out military action if Iran "is not prepared to engage quickly in good faith" when it comes to the JCPOA nuclear deal.



"As we always say, every option is on the table," Blinken tells @margbrennan pic.twitter.com/WDiaROCCYm  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 31, 2021 Twitter Privacy Policy

An American B-1 heavy bomber is pictured being escorted through Israeli airspace by an Israeli Defense Forces fighter jet on October 30

The escort was designed as a show of force by the IDF, and as further evidence of the relationship between the US and Israel

'Here in Rome, the president got together with Chancellor Merkel of Germany, with the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with the French President Emmanuel Macron, and we are in very close coordination with our closest partners on dealing with this challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program,' Blinken updated on Sunday. 'And all of us are also working with Russia and China.'

He added: 'We still believe diplomacy is the best path forward for putting the nuclear program back in the box it had been in under the agreement  the so-called JCPOA.'

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or the JCPOA, is an agreement between Iran and the P5+ countries  China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States and Germany  as well as the European Union.

The deal was reached on July 14, 2015 in Vienna under President Barack Obama.

On May 8, 2018, Donald Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from JCPOA and in November 2018 sanctions came back into effect on Iran leading the country to resume development of ballistic missiles.

'Iran, unfortunately, is moving forward aggressively with its program,' Blinken said on Sunday. 'The time it would take for it to produce enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon is getting shorter and shorter.'

'The other thing that's getting shorter is the runway we have where if we do get back into compliance with the agreement and Iran gets back in compliance, we actually recapture all of the benefits of the agreement.'

Biden spoke with world leaders at the G20 in Rome, Italy on Saturday about continued commitments to diplomacy in Iran. L-R: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joe Biden ahead of their meeting on Iran

'Iran is learning enough, doing enough so that that's starting to be a problem.'

Over the weekend, an Air Force bomber escorted by fighter jets from U.S. allies flew over key waterways in the Middle East where American and Iranian naval vessels have faced off.

In a statement Saturday, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) announced a B-1B Lancer passed over the Gulf, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Suez Canal and Gulf of Oman. It also flew over the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for a fifth of world oil output at the head of the Gulf that Iran considers a strategic area of influence.

'The bomber task force mission,' Centcom said, 'was intended to deliver a clear message of reassurance.'

Fighter jets from Israel, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, all U.S. allies opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran, escorted the US bomber over their respective airspaces.

'Military readiness for any contingency or mission  from crisis response to multilateral exercises to one-day presence patrols like this  depend on reliable partnerships,' said Centcom commander General Frank McKenzie, the head of US forces in the Middle East.

Biden met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss Iran on the first day of the G20 in Italy on Saturday.

The president was asked when nuclear talks with Tehran were scheduled to resume.

'They're scheduled to resume,' he said, without specifying a timeline.

White House staff previewed that the Saturday afternoon meeting was a way for the leaders to get on the same page about the Iran nuclear deal.

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 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.

Biden has repeatedly tried to return to the nuclear accord during his first nine months as president. There is growing frustration in the administration over delays in nuclear talks after a hardline government took power in Iran in early August.
Generation Z workers are terrifying their millennial bosses with a series of woke and entitled demands, including that their companies support BLM, provide paid time off for 'anxiety' and telling the CEOs to do the assignments themselves.

These newest additions to the workforce have left many of their not-much-older supervisors shaking their heads or infuriated before caving in to avoid social media shaming by the web-savvy 'dot-com kids.'

'When I was entering the workforce I would not have delegated to my boss. Gen Z doesnt hesitate to do that,' said Polly Rodriguez, 34, the CEO of sexual wellness company Unbound, one of many CEOs who aired their grievances to the New York Times.

'Some young former employees are much more willing to burn bridges.

'To me its shortsighted. Is it worth the social clout of getting gratification on social media but then trashing someone who could continue to help you professionally?'

By 2025, members of Generation Z - those born between 1997 and 2021 - will make up 27 percent of the global workforce, predicts the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Polly Rodriguez, 34, CEO of vibrator startup Unbound (pictured) was called by a Gen Zer on a Saturday demanding to know how firm would support Black Lives Matter

Rodriguez revealed one incident when her co-founder contacted her to say a younger social media manager had called on a Saturday to demand to know how the vibrator start-up would be supporting Black Lives Matter.

The Gen Zer reached out to her bosses in June 2020, days after George Floyd was murdered. Both bosses were surprised by the call on a non-work day, assuming a staff member would only get in touch on the weekend in an emergency.

Still, the fear of bad publicity from web-savvy workers led Unbound to hire a diversity, equity and inclusion officer to train staff, as well as launching a fundraiser for a group that supports sex workers of color.

Lola Priego, 31, CEO of testing start up Base (pictured), was sent a Slack message by a Gen Z worker giving HER a task to complete

Meanwhile, CEO of lab-testing start-up base Lola Priego, 31, was shocked to receive a note on workplace messaging service Slack from a Gen Z employer who insisted on assigning the boss a task.

Priego appreciated that her underling saw her as approachable, but admitted that another senior colleague was appalled by the disrespect for the traditional workplace hierarchy.

Ali Kriegsman, 30, co-founder of the retail tech company Bulletin, still doesn't know how to respond when her employees began asking for paid time off for ailments that her generation would grin and bear, like period cramps and anxiety attacks.

She said a typical call-in, usually sent via text, reads something like this: 'Hey, I woke up and I'm not in a good place mentally - I'm not going to come in today.'

While Kriegsman admires their efforts to prioritize their well-being, she knows that doling out additional PTO could undercut profits. She appreciates the effort to separate work and personal life, a divide that is difficult to maintain in the digital era.

Like other managers, though, she is taken off guard by the generation's candid manner of making themselves heard, and the way they flout the social norms of the traditional workplace hierarchy. The schism is large despite many bosses being young millennials themselves - those born between 1981 and 1996.

'As an entrepreneur, I want to call out of managing my team sometimes because my period is making me super hormonal,' she told the Times. 'But I'm in a position where I have to push through.'

Tero Isokauppila, 37, told the Times that a junior staff member at his food business urged him to post a black square showing their support for the movement on their social media.

The co-founder of maternity start-up Oula recalled Slack messages from one of her youngest employees asking what the company could do in solidarity with Asian Americans after a series of shootings in Atlanta-area spas.

'You talk to older people and theyre like, "Dude we sell tomato sauce, we dont sell politics,"' said Gabe Kennedy, 30, the founder of herbal supplement company Plant People. 'Then you have younger people being like, "These are political tomatoes. This is political tomato sauce."'

Kennedy said that while his mostly-millennial 10-person team fall into a rigid office schedule, often working late nights and sharing Chinese takeout while poring over customer feedback, his youngest employees prefer to set their own schedules.

One Gen Zer who interviewed with Kennedy for a full-time position, he said, asked why she needed to clock in got an eight-hour day when she might complete her day's tasks earlier - Kennedy told her that the role was expected to be a nine-to-five job.

'Older generations were much more used to punching the clock,' Kennedy told the Times.

'You talk to older people and theyre like, "Dude we sell tomato sauce, we dont sell politics,"' said Gabe Kennedy, 30, the founder of herbal supplement company Plant People (pictured). 'Then you have younger people being like, "These are political tomatoes. This is political tomato sauce."'

'It was, "I climb the ladder and get my pension and gold watch." Then for millennials it was, "Theres still an office but I can play Ping-Pong and drink nitro coffee."'

'For the next generation its, "Holy cow I can make a living by posting on social media when I want and how I want."'

Many such young workers have been emboldened by the work from home revolution triggered by COVID, which has seen multiple corporations roiled by fights among staff who resent orders to return to the office.

'These younger generations are cracking the code and theyre like, "Hey guys turns out we dont have to do it like these old people tell us we have to do it,"' Colin Guinn, the 41-year-old co-founder of the robotics company Hangar Technology, told the Times.

'"We can actually do whatever we want and be just as successful." And us old people are like, "What is going on?"'

'These younger generations are cracking the code and theyre like, "Hey guys turns out we dont have to do it like these old people tell us we have to do it,"' Colin Guinn (pictured), the 41-year-old co-founder of the robotics company Hangar Technology, told the Times.

Ali Kriegsman, 30, co-founder of Bulleting gets texts from her younger staff who say they are too anxious to work. 'As an entrepreneur, I want to call out of managing my team sometimes because my period is making me super hormonal,' she told the Times. 'But I'm in a position where I have to push through'

Andy Dunn, founder of the millennial-favored clothing brand Bonobos (pictured), was jolted after a Gen Zer tasked with flagging his in-process book for insensitive language - the woke proofreader left 1,100 comments on the documents in just a day.

Andy Dunn, founder of the millennial-favored clothing brand Bonobos, was jolted after a Gen Zer tasked with flagging his in-process book for insensitive language - the woke proofreader left 1,100 comments on the documents in just a day.

'I feel very sure that I'm uncool,' 42-year-old Dunn told the Times. 'I've come to accept that.'

Dunn told the times he's made an effort to step up his sensitivity to gendered language, saying 'people' or 'y'all' instead of 'guys.'

'I'm like "let's go y'all," even though I'm from Illinois,' the entrepreneur told the Times.

On Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the 1865 emancipation of African American slaves in the U.S., Dunn was asked by his young employees whether they had the day off - although he hadn't considered it initially, he told them 'of course we're off.'
American Airlines has continued its streak cancellation over Halloween weekend as a quarter of its scheduled flights - more than 800 of them - were cancelled on Sunday.

The airline has blamed weather control issues, such as strong winds that battered its Dallas hub earlier this weekend, and ongoing staff shortages due to lay-offs made when travel cratered at the start of the COVID outbreak.

In total, more than 1,500 flights have been axed by the airline since Friday with 738 delays and 342 cancellations, according to FlightAware.

On Saturday, 543 flights were cancelled with more than 400 also delayed.

'With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences,' American Airlines said in a statement to CNN.

Despite continuing issues throughout the weekend, an spokesman for the airline said they are expected to be resolved on Monday.

Angry passengers shared a snap of an AA line at Dallas Fort Worth Sunday after fresh cancellations

Lines snaked around the Texas airport's terminal as more than 800 flights - almost half of the airline's planned schedule, were nixed, bringing the total axed over the weekend to more than 1,600

One of the main causes of the cancellations and delays over the course of the weekend has largely been attributed to the weather conditions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The area has seen two days of strong winds leaving passengers stranded at the one of American Airlines' biggest hubs, Dallas Fort Wort International Airport.

Wind conditions, which are currently at 9mph, were said to have strong gusts earlier in the weekend with a recorded high of 60mph on Friday.

That has caused a knock-on effect where staff stuck on earlier delayed or canceled flights have gone over the number of hours they can work, lowering the number of people now available to cover later flights.

Others are also no longer at the airports they're supposed to be working on due to earlier cancellations and delays.

'The fact that there is inadequate staffing to cover the operation as it is currently structured is not the fault of Flight Attendants,' a union for US flight attendants said in a statement to its members on Saturday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A host of angry passengers took to social media over Halloween weekend to vent over the cancellations and delays.

Angry passengers took to Twitter over the delays and cancellations during the course of the weekend

'NEVER FLYING @AmericanAir AGAIN after a cancellation now the flight the next day is DELAYED I just wanna get home,' @EdenVerity posted on Twitter along with a screenshot of her Snapchat post showing that she was flying out of DFW Airport.

'Thanks for canceling our 1pm flight at 7:45am. Really looking forward to spending 13 hours in the car with my family!', @carsmely commented.

'I will make sure that my family & friends never fly with you again. What you did to us and the hundreds other customers waiting for cancelled flights at DFW is unacceptable. The lowest standards of customer service in the flying industry! #aa', @madelamo commented with pictures of the long lines at DFW.

Other commenters attributed the airlines' delays and cancellations to the COVID vaccine mandate that forced company workers to quit or be terminated for not complying.

'If @AmericanAir can't staff their flights, they shouldn't sell seats on those flights! AA received $7.5 billion of taxpayer money for COVID, they posted big profits, and then cancelled 1,600 flights over 3 days??? #congressionalinvesitgatilon,' @richardbarney tweeted.

On October 21, the CEOs of American and Southwest Airlines said that they did not plan to terminate unvaccinated workers if they applied for an exemption.

The order for airline workers to be vaccinated came after the Biden administration's announcement of the mandate for federal contractors including AA.

American Airlines, who set the mandate for November 24, said that workers must apply for the medical or religious exemption from the vaccine if they wanted to continue working for the company.

American Airlines saw over 800 flights cancelled on its Sunday schedule due to two days of strong winds in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and staff shortages

American Airlines has said that they will continue hiring for new positions towards the end of the year due to the high anticipation of holiday travel.

'The good news moving forward is that we continue to staff up across our entire operation and we will see more of our team returning in the coming months,' Chief Operating Officer David Seymour said in a memo to his employees.

In addition, 1,800 flight attendants are reported to be coming back to the company on Monday and more are also said to be returning on December 1.

The airline previously saw a string of cancellations over the course of last weekend due to a system outage from their regional partner SkyWest.

Over a thousand flights were cancelled between American Airlines as well as United, Delta and Alaska.

The outage had left passengers stranded at various airports, either from cancellations or delays, and grounded planes as well as flight crews.
One person has died after a Czech cable car cabin became detached from its cable this morning in the north of the country.

The victim is believed to be a staff member who was travelling in the cable car alone while others were rescued from another cabin, a rescue service spokesperson said.

The cable car to the 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) Jested mountain uses two cabins, each operated by a member of staff.

'One cabin fell while on its way down. There was one person inside, who unfortunately succumbed to their injuries,' spokesman Michael Georgiev told Czech Television.

Pictured: One person has died and several others had to be rescued after a cable car cabin became detached from its cable this morning and crashed in the north of the Czech Republic

Rescuers work on a scene of a fallen cab under the Jested Mountain in Liberec, Czech Republic

In total 15 people were evacuated from a second cab and did not suffer physical injuries

Rescuers work on a scene of a fallen funicular cab under the mountain in Liberec

'Fortunately, the other cabin stayed in its normal place, some 15 people were evacuated, they should be without injuries, just suffered mental shock,' he said.

Czech Television said the cable car was scheduled to close on Nov. 1 for scheduled maintenance, according to Reuters.

The cable car in Jested is a popular tourist attraction that carried 211,000 people last year and owned by Czech Railways.

The cable car in Jested is a popular tourist attraction that carried 211,000 people last year and owned by Czech Railways

It was the first such accident involving the Czech Republic's oldest cable car, which dates to 1933.

Operated by the Czech Railways, it leads almost to the top of Jested Mountain, near the city of Liberec.

The crash took place the day before the cable car was scheduled to undergo a planned two-week maintenance.

The tragedy comes just months after 14 people were killed and one child left with serious injuries after a mountain-top cable car plunged 65ft to the ground in northern Italy.

In May this year, the cable car was carrying passengers to the top of the Stresa-Mottarone line in the Piedmont region of the western Alps when it dropped just 1,000ft away from the station.
Texas cops and a 911 dispatcher ignored desperate pleas for help from Democratic Party officials aboard a Joe Biden campaign bus that was surrounded by a convoy known as the Trump Train while driving down a freeway last year, a lawsuit claims.

Officials with the San Marcos police privately laughed and joked about the victims and their distress as those aboard the Biden-Harris campaign bus feared for their safety, it is alleged.

The federal lawsuit, filed by the Democrat Party, accuses the police of violating the so-called 'Ku Klux Klan act' that bans politically motivated violence.

The updated lawsuit, filed Friday, included transcribed 911 audio recordings, The Texas Tribune reported, although the audio of the offending calls has not been released.

According to the transcriptions, when the Biden bus entered San Marcos' jurisdiction, a New Braunfels 911 dispatcher tried to get neighboring San Marcos police to take over the escort that New Braunfels had provided along Interstate 35.

I am so annoyed at New Braunfels for doing this to us, a dispatcher told San Marcos police Corporal Matthew Daenzer, who laughed, according to the transcribed recording in the filing.

They have their officers escorting this Biden bus, essentially, and the Trump Train is cutting in between vehicles and driving - being aggressive and slowing them down to like 20 or 30 miles per hour.

And they want you guys to respond to help.

Daenzer told the San Marcos dispatcher 'were not going to escort a bus,' according to the documents.

We will close patrol that, but were not going to escort a bus, Daenzer is alleged to have continued.

The San Marcos dispatcher then tells Daenzer that those on board the Biden bus are panicked, saying: [T]heyre like really worked up over it and hes like breathing hard and stuff, like, theyre being really aggressive.

Okay. Calm down.

Daenzer then allegedly tells the dispatcher that the Biden bus should drive defensively and itll be great.

Or leave the train, the 911 dispatcher responded, according to the lawsuit. Theres an idea.

Texas police officials and a 911 dispatcher ignored desperate pleas for help from Democratic Party officials aboard a Joe Biden campaign bus that was surrounded by a convoy known as the Trump Train while driving down a freeway last year, its been alleged

The dispatcher told one bus passenger to call back if the caller felt threatened.

'Are you kidding me, maam?' the caller replied.

'They've cut in on me multiple times. They've threatened my life on multiple occasions with vehicular collision.'

The dispatcher then tells the caller on board the bus that authorities would monitor traffic violations if they arise but that there would be no police escort.

The lawsuit alleges that the high-ranking police official who made the decision not to send an escort is San Marcos assistant police chief Brandon Winkenwerder, who has been named in the lawsuit.

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.'

Several vehicles driven by Trump supporters who affixed Trump banners and flags to their SUVs surrounded the Biden-Harris campaign bus as it drove from San Antonio to Austin on October 30, 2020 (above). At one point, one of the 'Trump Train' vehicles collided with an SUV

The police officials named in the amended lawsuit on Friday include San Marcos Police Corporal Matt Daenzer (far left); Chase Stapp, the public safety director (second to left next to Daenzer); and San Marcos Police Assistant Chief Brandon Winkenwerder (right)

Videos shared on social media from October 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, it is alleged, with a white Democrat SUV pictured with what appear to be dark tire marks on its side afterwards.

The Biden bus was traveling to San Marcos for a political event that Democrats ended up canceling.

Neither Biden nor his running mate, then-Senator Kamala Harris, were aboard.

Then-President Donald Trump criticized the FBI at the time after the agency said it was investigating, and hailed the 'Trump train' itself in a glowing tweet that read 'I LOVE TEXAS!'

Then-President Donald Trump doubled down on his support for a convoy of MAGA fans accused of trying to run a Biden campaign bus off the road in Texas in a tweet after the FBI confirmed it was investigating the incident

Video showed dozens of cars flying MAGA flags flanking the Biden bus on Interstate 35 in Texas on the afternoon of October 30, 2020

Biden campaign staffers eventually called police, who helped the bus reach its destination

Trump had previously indicated his support for the 50-strong Trump convoy by tweeting a video of MAGA flag-flying cars surrounding the Biden bus as it made its way down the highway, writing: 'I LOVE TEXAS'

The image above shows another angle of the Biden bus driving next to a 'Trump Train' vehicle

A Biden staffer shared a photo (above) of the damaged car after it collided with a Trump truck

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.

The City of San Marcos has declined to comment, citing the pending legislation.

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.
Adam Kinzinger said Sunday that there is a 'cancer' in the Republican party of conspiracy and dishonesty, claiming he is one of the only GOP lawmakers telling the truth.

The Illinois Republican congressman said it's a losing fight to try and tell the truth in his party when there are forces within contradicting that effort.

'You can fight against the cancer in the Republican Party of lies, of conspiracy, of dishonesty,' Kinzinger told ABC's This Week. 'And you ultimately come to the realization that, basically, it's me, Liz Cheney and a few others that are telling the truth. And there are about 190 people in the Republican Party that aren't going to say a word.'

'And there's a leader of the Republican caucus that is embracing Donald Trump with all that he can,' he said of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Sunday there is a 'conspiracy cancer' within the Republican Party

He said the problem is also that 'there's a leader of the Republican caucus that is embracing Donald Trump with all that he can' when speaking of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, pictured above with Trump in January 2018

"You can fight against the cancer in the Republican Party of lies of conspiracy of dishonest. And you ultimately come to the realization that, basically, its me, Liz Cheney and a few others that are telling the truth," @RepKinzinger says. https://t.co/oJd7pY8Ezz pic.twitter.com/6RAryJNXIB  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 31, 2021

Kinzinger, 43, attacked his own after announcing days earlier that he will not run for reelection in the 2022 midterms and instead try to help people feeling displaced politically.

'There's a lot of people who feel politically homeless,' Kinzinger said.

'What's happening, we're failing the American people right now. The political system is failing, and the Republicans in particular.'

The representative is one of the two Republicans on the House select committee probing the January 6 Capitol riot  along with Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, who was ousted as GOP Conference chairwoman earlier this year for repeatedly breaking with the party's stance on former President Trump.

Kizinger and Cheney are also two of the 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Donald Trump for the second time after the January 6 attack.

On Friday, Kinzinger announced in a video posted to Twitter that he will step down from Congress at the end of his term.

Trump celebrated the news in a brief emailed statement, writing: '2 down, 8 to go!'

During Kinzinger's video, he championed his vote to impeach Trump and says the country has been 'poisoned' by 'mistruths'.

'It's also become increasingly obvious to me that in order to break the narrative, I cannot focus on both a re-election to Congress and a broader fight nationwide,' he said in the message.

Kinzinger released a video on Twitter Friday announcing he is not running for reelection in the 2022 midterms

The Iraq war has represented Illinois' 16th District since 2013. Before that he was in Congress for the state's 11th district.

Throughout the five-minute video on Friday he criticized the ex-president for the division he's caused without ever mentioning Trump by name.

Kinzinger has faced increased criticism from his party after joining the Democrat select committee investigating the events on and surrounding January 6. One of the main goals of the panel is to show Trump and his aides and allies involvement in inciting the attack.

The Illinois congressman has also been facing potential redistricting issues as the state is poised to lose a House seat following the 2020 census.

On Friday, Kinzinger decried the state of politics in America today, claiming that 'you must belong to a tribe' to have a political future.

'Our political parties only survive by appealing to the most motivated and the most extreme elements within it,' he said in an apparent reference to the violent Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol.

'The price tag to power has skyrocketed, and fear and distrust has served as an effective strategy to meet that cost.'

He warned, 'Dehumanizing each other has become the norm.'
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NYC has issued a state-wide call for firefighters from both Long Island and Upstate New York as one-third of city firefighters remain unvaccinated ahead of the November 1 deadline, leaving 26 firehouses shuttered.

About 72 percent of FDNY workers have been vaccinated ahead of the November 1 deadline, meaning that up to 4,000 workers may be terminated from the department.

The message was sent through email as nearly 350 potential volunteer firefighters were tagged.

'Good morning all,' the email read. 'We need to start identifying members of the service who are active volunteer firemen in both Long Island and Upstate counties in anticipation of the impending shortage for the FDNY due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

'On a voluntary only basis operations is looking to have qualified members on standby to backfill firehouses if necessary.

'Please get back to me as soon as possible with rank, years of fire service and training qualifications.'

A state-wide announcement was issued for volunteer firefighters in Long Island and Upstate New York due to FDNY staffing shortages because of the vaccine mandate being enforced for city workers

About 72 percent of FYPD workers have been vaccinated, with up to 4,000 of them being terminated for not complying with De Blasio's November 1 order

A total of 26 New York firehouses have been forced to close after firefighters refused to get vaccinated ahead of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Monday deadline - and a seven-year-old boy died the following day as departments saw major staff shortages.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association revealed a list of FDNY stations that 'have close due to no manpower' and it includes six in Manhattan, nine in Brooklyn, three in Queens, four in the Bronx and four in Staten Island.

On Friday FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro warned that the effects of the closures could be catastrophic and 'endanger the lives' of city residents.

A day later Robert Resto, 7, was killed and his 54-year-old grandmother were seriously hurt after a deadly blaze engulfed their Washington Heights home around 1.30am Saturday.

Although an FDNY spokesman told the FDNY that the firefighters' response time was not impacted by the firefighters who have yet to get vaccinated, just yesterday firefighters were reportedly calling out sick to avoid unpaid leave.

A total of 26 New York firehouses have been forced to close after firefighters refused to get vaccinated ahead of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Monday deadline

A day after the vaccine mandate deadline caused staff shortages across the FDNY Robert Resto (pictured), 7, was killed and his 54-year-old grandmother were seriously hurt after a deadly blaze engulfed their Washington Heights home around 1.30am Saturday

'Is there a sickout?' Not to my knowledge no,' Andrew Ansbro of the Uniformed Firefighters Association said.

The grandmother was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in serious condition.

Neighbors remembered the young boy as 'sweet (and) joyful,' adding that he was 'always reading, holding the door, smiling,' according to the New York Post.

FDNY officials said the apartment started in the back of the house's basement - located at 660 West 178th Street - and spread to the first floor.

Three other people inside the house - including one firefighter and the boy's father, according to a GoFundMe page - also suffered minor injuries and were taken to New York Presbyterian-Columbia Hospital.

All municipal workers have been ordered to show proof of at least one dose of the vaccine by 5pm Friday or risk being placed on unpaid leave come Monday.

And despite 26 stations being shuddered today, the FDNY has said it is not closing any firehouses for good.

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

Hundreds of New York City's firefighters protested De Blasio's vaccine mandate on Friday by taking sick leave

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

In protest of the mandate hundreds of New York City firefighters took sick leave on Friday instead of complying with De Blasio's deadline for all city workers to be vaccinated or be placed on unpaid leave.

'The excessive sick leave ... because of their anger at the vaccine mandate for all city employees is unacceptable,' said Nigro, who oversees a department where more than a quarter of its workers have not had one Covid vaccine shot.

Nigro added that the loophole many took to the mandate deadline is 'contrary to their oaths to serve'.

The same day six 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.

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.

De Blasio announced in a tweet on Saturday that in the 24 hours since the deadline, 2,300 more workers got the shot.

On Friday six firefighters of Ladder 113 in Brooklyn were on duty when they drove a fire truck to State Senator Zellnor Myrie's (pictured) office to tell his staffers they would 'have blood on their hands' if they continued to push the mandate

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.

But De Blasio announced in a tweet on Saturday that in the 24 hours since the deadline, 2,300 more workers got the shot.

Ansbro also noted that 'the department is allowing people to have a couple days off after they get the vaccination,' according to WABC.

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.

A total of 66.7% of Americans have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

'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.

More than 45.8 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 and 743,757 have died since the start of the pandemic

'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.
Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi locked horns over Taiwan on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in an 'exceptionally candid' meeting on Sunday.

The senior officials traded warnings against moves that could further escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

In an hour-long meeting in Rome, the U.S. Secretary of State made 'crystal clear' that Washington opposes any unilateral changes by Beijing to the status quo around Taiwan, a senior State Department official said.

The face-to-face was described at 'constructive, productive and exceptionally candid' by an official to the Wall Street Journal.

Just a week ago the White House was forced to clarify U.S. President Joe Biden's comments at a CNN town hall where he said that 'yes,' the United States would come to Taiwan's aid if China attacked.

Blinken's meeting with Wang was their first in person since a fiery exchange in Alaska in March.

An official said it will help lay the groundwork for a virtual summit between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.

Blinken's meeting with Wang was their first in person since a fiery exchange in Alaska in March

Wang expressed China's 'solemn concern over various issues on which the U.S. side has damaged China's legitimate rights and interests, and asked the U.S. side to change its course and promote China-U.S. relations back to the track of healthy development', China's foreign ministry said

A recent increase in Chinese military exercises in Taiwan's air defense identification zone, including what Taipei said were eight such flights on Sunday, is part of what it views as stepped-up military harassment by Beijing.

The United States wants to manage the intense competition between the world's two largest economies responsibly, the State Department official said, adding that both sides acknowledged that open lines of communication are paramount.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during national day celebrations in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei on October 9. Tsai said shortly before the G20 that she has 'faith' the U.S. would defend her island against China

Wang expressed China's 'solemn concern over various issues on which the U.S. side has damaged China's legitimate rights and interests, and asked the U.S. side to change its course and promote China-U.S. relations back to the track of healthy development', China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Wang said it was misleading of the United States to blame China for a change in the status quo on Taiwan, saying it is U.S. 'connivance' and 'support' for pro-independence forces in Taiwan that are at fault, China's statement said.

China claims the island as part of its own territory and views any foreign intervention over Taiwan as interference in its domestic affairs.

While the United States, like most countries, has no formal relations with Taiwan, Washington is the island's most important international supporter and main arms supplier, and is required by law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

Washington has long followed a policy of 'strategic ambiguity' on whether it would intervene militarily to protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, though Biden said last week that it would come to Taiwan's defense if necessary.

Blinken made clear that Washington had not changed its 'one China' policy regarding Taiwan, the official said, and Blinken said there was 'no change in our policy' when pressed on CNN on Biden's comment.

A recent increase in Chinese military exercises in Taiwan's air defense identification zone, including what Taipei said were eight such flights on Sunday, is part of what it views as stepped-up military harassment by Beijing (pictured: Russian and Chinese warships patrolled in the Pacific Ocean from October 17th to 23rd October 2021)

China has increased its military presence on the ocean as well as in the air

'We've had a long-standing commitment,' he said, under the Taiwan Relations Act that Biden supported when he was a senator 'to make sure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself. And we stand by that. The president does sit by that strongly'.

'We want to make sure that no one takes any unilateral action that would disrupt the status quo with regard to Taiwan. That hasn't changed,' Blinken said.

Wang told Blinken that Taiwan is the most sensitive issue between China and the United States. 'We require the United States to pursue a real one China policy, not a fake one China policy,' Wang was quoted by the ministry as saying.

Blinken and Wang did not discuss a recent Chinese hypersonic weapons test that military experts say appears to show Beijing's pursuit of an Earth-orbiting system designed to evade American missile defenses, the State Department official said.

Last week Biden's State Secretary called for Taiwan to have more 'meaningful' participation in the United Nations after a meeting between U.S. and Taiwanese officials.

Speaking on the 50th anniversary of UN General Assembly recognizing the Chinese Communist Party's mainland government as the 'only legitimate representative of China' and booting out the former government that was operating out of Taipei, Blinken called the little island a 'democratic success story.'

'Taiwans exclusion undermines the important work of the UN and its related bodies, all of which stand to benefit greatly from its contributions,' he said in a statement.

China responded by saying Taiwan has no place in the international body.

'The United Nations is an international governmental organization composed of sovereign states,' the spokesman of China's Taiwan Affairs Office said. 'Taiwan is a part of China.'
Bourbon makers on Sunday demanded the UK end its 25 percent tariff on imported American whiskeys after the US and Europe agreed a day earlier to ditch a raft of tit-for-tat duties.

They called for President Biden to raise the issue with Boris Johnson during his visit to Scotland for the COP26 climate summit.

'We urge the prime minister and President Biden to discuss this issue, in-person in Scotland next week,' said the Bourbon Alliance, which represents some of the best known brands including such as Makers Mark, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels, as well as British bars and importers.

'The announcement in the EU sets a precedent for a UK resolution and we desperately need to see the swift removal of the tariff in the UK, and urgent support for the hospitality sector which is now being left behind.'

Biden is due to fly into Edinburgh on Monday morning.

The 'rebalancing duty' on bourbon and American whiskeys was introduced in 2018 in a row between Washington and European over steel and aluminum.

American bourbon makers and the hospitality industry on both sides of the Atlantic want President Biden to push Prime Minister Johnson on tariffs

Europe imposed a 25 percent tariff on imports of American whiskey as part of retaliatory measures against the Trump administration. The EU announced it was dropping them on Saturday. But it leaves UK tariffs in place as it is no longer part of the bloc

The Distilled Spirits Council of United States says the tariffs caused a drop of Bourbon imports into the UK of 53 percent.

But American whiskeys were only collateral damage.

The Trump administration placed taxes on EU steel and aluminum in 2018 because it said they were a threat to U.S. national security.

Europe responded with countertariffs on everything from U.S.-made motorbikes to peanut butter, jeans and whiskey.

On Saturday, U.S. officials announced that the dispute had been resolved.

They said that controls on aluminum and steel would not be entirely lifted, but a certain amount would be allowed into the U.S. without tariffs.

In return, Europe said it would lift its retaliatory tariffs.

That leaves the U.K. It was part of the E.U. when the tariffs were imposed, but is no longer part of the trade bloc after Brexit.

On Sunday, Britain's trade secretary indicated that talks had begin on lifting tariffs.

'We welcome the Biden Administrations willingness to work with us to address trade issues relating to steel and aluminium. It is encouraging the [US] is taking steps to de-escalate this issue,' wrote Anne-Marie Trevelyan, secretary of state for international trade, on Twitter.

Martha Dalton, co-Founder of the Bourbon Alliance, welcomed the Europe deal.

'The UK must now focus on reaching a similar resolution, working with colleagues in the US to finally remove the tariff which continues to cause such disruption to the UK economy,' she said.

'When the UK left the Customs Union, we were promised the freedom to establish an independent trade policy  the time has come to realise the opportunities of Brexit and to cut the tariff for good.'

Insides say Johnson and Biden have developed a warm working relationship during their meetings since Biden was sworn in earlier this year

The alliance said the hospitality sector on both sides of the Atlantic was still struggling to recover from the impact of the pandemic which has left venues, suppliers and staff facing huge financial difficulty.

The removal of the tariff on American whiskey imports would allow venues to fully re-stock their bars for the first time since the dispute began in 2018,it said.



CEO of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association Miles Beale said: 'It is welcome news that the US and EU have made such significant progress on the steel and aluminum dispute and taken US whiskey producers out of the tariffs firing line.

'The UK must now capitalise on this momentum without delay, suspend the tariffs, and quickly work with the US to resolve the dispute.

'At a time when the economy is in recovery from continued lockdown, it is vital that we move to support our UK spirits importers and the hard-hit hospitality industry at pace.'
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Halloween came roaring back this year with thousands of people romping through New York City in a variety of costumes and attending a slew of parties Saturday night - something they couldn't do last year under the city's COVID restrictions.

All throughout the city people were dressed as zombies, monsters, fairies, superheroes and even grapes on Sunday, despite a rainy start to the holiday.

Some people were seen simply strolling through the streets in their elaborate costumes, while others tried to enter parties and bars.

Others who couldn't quite face dressing up went for a stroll too, to admire the hard work and creativity of those making a night of it.

It was a welcome change from last year, when the number of people who could attend a party was capped at just 10 people as the city topped a half-million confirmed COVID cases.

Michelle Rose dressed up as a Halloween bride and posed for photos in Times Square on the eve of Halloween

Two girls in inflatable alien costumes browsed through their phones on the eve of Halloween in Times Square on Saturday

A group of girls posed while waiting to cross the street in the West Village on Halloween eve

All throughout the city, people were dressed up in costumes as they went to parties and clubs for the holiday, with these revelers spotted at Times Square subway station

A group of friends went as a bunch of grapes. They were seen standing in line for a night club on the eve of Halloween

A woman in a Tinkerbell fairy costume quietly exited a cab in Times Square Saturday night

Jack-o-lanterns were on display outside The Slaughtered Lamb Pub in the West Village

Parties were happening throughout the city, and in clubs like the Palladium in Times Square, where guests had to display their COVID vaccine cards to get in - in accordance with the city's vaccine mandate, which requires people to be vaccinated against the virus for indoor activities.

Once they got inside, they were also checked by security.

Elsewhere, people in costumes lined up for their chance to get scared out of their minds at the Jekyll and Hyde haunted house.

And others were seen simply strolling through Times Square - which appeared to be a major party spot Saturday night, the night before Halloween, as people took photos and descended on the area.

Some even took a quick break from all the partying to enjoy some food from the many food vendors that line the New York City streets.

A werewolf sat quietly on the subway the night before Halloween

A Palladium security worker checked people's COVID vaccine cards to grant them entry into a party

A couple went as Venom and Carnage from the movie Venom: Let there be Carnage

A father and son wore Jason masks and stood in front of a car covered in fake blood, with Pennywise the clown crawling out of it

A group of skeletons stood near a reflection of the American flag in Times Square

A man wearing face paint posed in Chelsea on his way to a party

The festivities are set to continue later on Sunday when the annual Village Halloween Parade returns to the streets of New York.

It was canceled last year due to the pandemic, and late last month, organizers warned that it may have to be canceled again due to a significant budget shortfall.

But fortunately UBS Financial Services Senior Vice President in Wealth Management Jason Feldman, and his wife, Missy, saved the day by donating enough money to keep the annual celebration afloat, according to ABC 7 News.

The theme this year is 'Let's Play,' and is dedicated to all of the children of New York who did not get a proper Halloween last year.

People in costume tried to flag down a taxi in the West Village on Saturday night

A line formed outside the Jekyll and Hyde haunted house in the West Village, with a woman in camo print at a man dressed as a box of weed gummies among those excited about letting loose

People in costumes stopped for a quick break from all the partying to enjoy some food from a halal cart

A woman dressed as a vampire had to be searched at a security checkpoint before entering the Palladium club in Times Square on Saturday night

Michelle Rose, dressed as a Halloween bride, blew her friends a kiss before entering the subway station in Times Square

'Squid Game' masks were sold on the streets in Chelsea on Saturday night for anyone left without a costume

The citywide jubilance comes amid a decrease in coronavirus cases across the five boroughs.

According to data from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the city had a 2.09 percent positivity rate with an average of 552 confirmed cases over the past week.

There were seven deaths reported and at least 23 people hospitalized with the virus.

But the Department of Health is reporting that all of these numbers continue to trend downwards, as 73 percent of eligible New Yorkers have had at least one dose of the COVID vaccine and 67 percent are fully vaccinated.

The situation is also looking up throughout the country.

As of Friday, there were 86,786 new cases and 1,773 new deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.

In addition, 66 percent of all eligible Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and 57.9 percent are fully vaccinated.
A mother has given birth to a baby boy weighing more than a stone in Oxfordshire - making him the third biggest newborn in the UK.

Cherral Mitchell, 31, required two midwives to deliver baby Alpha before he left staff at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford stunned when he weighed in at 14lb 15oz.

Alpha, born at 38 weeks on Thursday, has since been nicknamed 'Baby Hippo' and 'Butter Bean'.

He is believed to be the UK's third-biggest baby and the biggest for eight years.

Cherral Mitchel from Thame, Oxon, with baby Alpha, believed to be Britian's third-biggest baby at 14lb 15oz

Baby Alpha has already been given affectionate nicknames such as 'Baby Hippo' and Butterbean'

Alpha is currently in NICU where he's being monitored by neonatal nurses but is said to be 'on the mend'

The current record holder is 15lb 8oz Guy Carr, born in 1992, followed by 15lb 7oz George King, who was born in Gloucester in 2013.

Alpha also came as a surprise as Mrs Mitchell became pregnant despite getting the contraceptive coil before he was conceived with electrical engineer husband Tyson, 35.

Mrs Mitchell, who has three other children, described Alpha as a 'pumpkin baby'.

She said: ' We didn't think he was going to be that big. Everyone kept laughing when his head came out. My husband Tyson was like "oh my God he's chunky".

'There were two nurses pulling - one was trying to push him down to get him out.

'The nurses said it had to be the biggest baby and were on their phones Googling.

"He's a bit of a pumpkin baby with it being so close to Halloween.'

Doctors have attributed Alpha's sizeable weight down to a sweet tooth, as they believe he was snacking on his mother's sugary fluid while in the womb.

Baby Alpha is believed to be the biggest in the UK for eight years, weighing in at more than a stone after birth

Nurses at the hospital in Oxford were on their phones Googling statistics on the UK's largest babies following Alpha's birth

Doctors say that Alpha's weight is attributed to snacking on his mother's sugary fluid while in the womb

He was estimated to be around 11lb and 1oz at a 37-week scan, but ballooned in weight by more than three pounds before he was born a week later through a C-section.

Mrs Mitchell, a stay-at-home mum from Oxon, Thame, continued: 'So he was drinking a lot and peeing a lot and getting a high intake of sugar.

'My stomach was big but not that massive so I don't know where he was hiding.

'I keep saying I gave birth to a baby butter bean. My uncle Jason calls him a baby hippo.'

Alpha is Mrs Mitchell's second son after Lyon, three, while she also has two daughters Rogue-Angel, four, and Twyla, who is 10 months.

However, she says Alpha is the biggest by quite some distance, describing her other children as 'normal' births in comparison.

Alpha is currently in NICU where he's being monitored by neonatal nurses but is 'on the mend'.
A British bomb disposal expert died in an explosion on a Pacific Island while handling Second World War explosives, an inquest heard.

Stephen Atkinson, 57, was killed along with Australian colleague Trent Lee while working with unexploded bombs at their accommodation on the Solomon Islands, the hearing was told.

The pair were working for a humanitarian aid NGO to map unexploded munitions across the islands - the scene of heavy fighting involving Japanese and Allied forces towards the end of World War Two.

The device went off in their home in the capital Honiara on September 20 last year, the inquest heard.

Former soldier Stephen 'Luke' Atkinson, 57, was killed when a wartime device he found exploded in his flat in the Solomon Islands on September 20 last year

Island detectives later found unexploded Second World War bombs at the blast site

Mr Atkinson, who was also known as Luke, worked in the Solomon Islands and neighbouring Palau as a programme manager at non-governmental organisation Norwegian People's Aid.

The Solomon Islands, which lie to the east of Papua New Guinea, was a key World War Two battleground in the South Pacific due to its proximity to Australia.

As a result the islands are littered with thousands of ageing explosives that still pose a danger to civilians more than 70 years later.

The inquest into Mr Atkinson's death at Eastbourne Town Hall on Thursday, October 21, heard that he suffered damage to his ribs, throat and upper body in the explosion that went off at around 7.30pm. He later died in the National Referral Hospital in Honiara.

Police inspector Clifford Tunuki said in the aftermath of the accident that several other unexploded bombs were also found in the apartment.

Giving evidence at the hearing, his friend Ian Hird, told the court that Mr Atkinson was injured after an explosive he was handling detonated.

The dad-of-one worked for the United Nations as well as the Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) where he would find unexploded ordnances and map them out for the police.

Mr Hird said: 'He put the safety of others first and took his responsibility very seriously.'

Mr Atkinson, who was born in Singapore to a concert pianist from New Zealand and a doctor from Ireland, was well-travelled and lived in countries including Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Cambodia.

He was brought up in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and educated in Frewen College, Northiam, East Sussex.

East Sussex Coroner Alan Crazegave recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

Mr Craze said: 'There is a son that is going to have to live with this.

'I think that in many ways we can call this an accident. I shall record a conclusion of misadventure.'

Mr Hird, who met Mr Atkinson while studying, added: 'Luke loved Africa and always had a great affinity for the continent.'

He moved to what is now Zambia and Zimbabwe - formerly called Rhodesia - when he was 17-years-old to work as a park ranger.

Dad-of-one Mr Atkinson worked for the United Nations as well as the Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) where he would find unexploded ordnances and map them out for the police

Mr Hird told the inquest: 'Luke was very well-read, bright and had intelligence. He gained a reputation for being innovative.

'He adored his son, who is now 18, and did everything possible to support him. He was a great friend and storyteller.

'He worked hard on his friendships and worked hard to stay in touch with people he had met throughout his life.'

In the wake of the accident the NPA's activities on the Solomon Islands were temporarily put on hold while the circumstances were investigated.

Henriette Killi Westhrin, NPA's secretary general, said at the time: 'This is a tragic accident.

'We are devastated by what has happened, and for the loss of two good colleagues. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to their families, relatives and staff.'
This brings the seven-day total for Covid related deaths up by almost 16% from the previous week

But a further 74 people were reported as having died within 28 days of a positive test for Covid

The numbers show a 13.5% decline in new Covid cases compared with the previous seven days

he government reported 38,009 new cases in the past week - the eighth day in a row that cases have fallen

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The spread of Covid in Britain appears to be slowing down after the government reported 38,009 new cases of in the past week, representing the eighth day in a row that cases have fallen, and a 13.5% decline in new cases compared with the previous seven days.

Department of Health bosses also posted 41,278 new coronavirus infections yesterday, down 8.2 per cent on last Saturday's figure of 44,985.

Meanwhile, a total of 49,955,853 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been delivered in the UK by Saturday - a rise of 33,763 on the previous day - while some 45,697,856 second doses have been delivered, an increase of 24,908, according to government figures.

A combined total of 7,925,851 booster and third doses have also been delivered, a day-on-day rise of 361,428.

But a further 74 people were reported as having died within 28 days of a positive test for COVID-19, meaning the seven-day total for Covid related deaths was up by almost 16% from the previous week.

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 on Friday 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.

In other coronavirus developments:

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of London yesterday 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 Friday claimed Covid vaccines appear to work just as well against the more transmissible Delta variant offshoot as they do on its ancestor.

Thousands of protesters marched through Piccadilly Circus on Saturday afternoon, taking to the streets to demand medical freedom, no vaccine passports and no future lockdowns

The demonstrators descended on central London from around 1pm yesterday to protest against the possible introduction of vaccine passports as part of the Government's winter Covid 'Plan B'

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, on Friday 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.'
A Florida TikTok star deliberately sparked a 100mph police chase - then told cops who arrested him his wealth and youth made him immune from the law, it is claimed.

Damaury Mikula, 18, of Pasco, Florida, has more than four million followers on TikTok and has frequently posted content featuring his Dodge Challenger, a vehicle that can go up to 141mph with a top price of around $60,000.

The TikTok star, who is said to make $400,000 to $450,000 per year, was recorded on Friday being chased in that car by Pasco County Police at the intersection of State Route 54 at Sunlake Boulevard in Florida.

That chase, which happened at around 10.30am, is said to have started after Mikula deliberately 'burned out' the car while at a stop sign next to a cop to provoke a pursuit.

He was later arrested in front of his home, and did not post the clip of himself being pursued on TikTok - but troopers have since shared their own dashcam footage.

Florida Tik Tok star Damaury Mikula, 18, was arrested on Friday after he led Pasco County Police on a 100-mile-per-hour high speed chase

Mikula's Dodge Challenger was towed after he ran a red light in front of a police as well as doing a burnout and smoking his tires next to his patrol car

Mikula had initially started the chase after he ran a red light, as well as doing a burnout move which saw his tires erupt in smoke while parked just in front of a patrol car.

After he was captured running the light, Mikula did not attempt to pull over as police attempted to signal him.

He continued to accelerate as police continued their pursuit and pulled over into a nearby residential neighborhood.

The police identified the runaway driver as Mikula after one of the troopers tagged him.

Mikula was captured starting the high speed chase between the intersection of State Route 54 at Sunlake Boulevard

Mikula had boasted about his high salary and claimed the chase was 'fun' as police read him his Miranda rights

They then showed up to Mikula's home to arrest him, as he continued to brag about the large sum of money he made while police read him his Miranda rights.

'Mr. Mikula advised his state of mind was that he is young, makes a lot of money, and has a fast car and he can do whatever he wants,' Trooper W. Kelly of the Florida Highway Patrol told WFLA.

'Mr. Mikula admitted that was a foolish way of thinking and not a good way to live.

'Mr. Mikula advised he wanted to do something fun for three seconds, and it cost him.'

Mikula was booked into Pasco County Jail without incident and was charged with eluding police with disregard of safety to persons or property, reckless driving and racing on highway

Mikula also added that he was planning on getting onto the expressway to further evade police, but then realized that it could get him into more trouble.

The Florida Highway Patrol also said that Mikula told police that his car was parked in the garage and gave them permission to tow it.

He was booked into Pasco County Jail without incident and was charged with eluding police with disregard of safety to persons or property, reckless driving and racing on a highway. Mikula was released on bond on Saturday.
Four large supermarket chains have been forced to recall a slew of items over incorrect date labelling, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said.

Items such as Lindt chocolate, pre-cooked chicken and sausage rolls have been added to the FSA's recall list along with reasons.

The recall at Tesco, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Ocado, Waitrose and Morrisons will entitle shoppers to a full refund on their items with or without a receipt.

Some of the items are being recalled for a failure to list allergens like soya and wheat.

Consumers are being asked to check the list of items on the FSA website to see if they are at risk.

The list includes which produces are affected, their picture, pack size, used-by date and some batch codes.

Here are some of the affected items:

Lindt Lindor Salted Saramel Chocolate Bar

A packaging error meant that some bars contain the Lindt HELLO Strawberry Cheesecake Bar.

This bar contains wheat which is not mentioned on the packaging.

This means the item is potentially hazardous to those with gluten allergies and intolerances.

Lindt's milk chocolate bar packaging was mistakenly filled with the brands strawberry cheesecake bar

M&S 20 Cocktail Sausage Rolls

Marks & Spencer is also recalling M&S 20 Cocktail Sausage Rolls due to incorrect date labelling.

A small number of packs have been incorrectly labelled with a use by date of 10 January 2022.

M&S cocktail sausage rolls were issued an incorrect use-by date on their packaging

M&S Sticky BBQ Wings and Chinese Style Wings

Marks & Spencer is recalling these two flavoured of chicken wings because they contain soya which is not mentioned on the label.

This means these products are a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to soya.

Two flavours of M&S chicken wings have also been affected by incorrect labelling

Asda Maple Flavour Pork Belly Slices

Asda is recalling Asda Maple Flavour Pork Belly Slices because it contains wheat (gluten) and soya which are not mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to wheat or gluten and/or an allergy to soya.

Iceland Ready to Eat Tikka Chicken Breast Slices

Iceland is recalling Iceland Ready to Eat Tikka Chicken Breast Slices because it contains milk which is not mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents.

Morrisons Amour Classic Vanilla Ice Cream

Morrisons is recalling Morrisons Amour Classic Vanilla Ice Cream because the product may contain small pieces of plastic. The possible presence of plastic makes this product unsafe to eat.
Alex Murdaugh has been dismissed as a 'talentless' lawyer who only made a successful career because of his family's generations-old legal connections.

'Alex inherited the last name and the red hair, and very little of the talent,' Hampton Country Guardian editor Michael DeWitt told CBS on Saturday

Hampton County Guardian editor Michael J. DeWitt Jr. pulled no punches when discussing the legal abilities of his local area's most infamous resident.

The local journalist, who has extensive knowledge of the disgraced family, told CBS's 48 Hours: 'The Murdaughs built an empire of sorts here in the Lowcountry.

'It began over a century ago when the family established a law firm. Three generations of Murdaugh men also held the public office of solicitor, the chief prosecutor. Alex Murdaugh didn't continue that tradition.'

'Alex inherited the last name and the red hair, and very little of the talent.'

Murdaugh did work as an attorney for PMPED, a firm his family set up last month.

But he was ousted in a double-disgrace that saw him accused of stealing millions in cash from the firm, and also using its reputation to withhold a $4 million settlement from the sons of a housekeeper killed in a mysterious 2018 accident at his home.

Murdaugh has confessed to battling an opioid addiction for years, which his attorney says has ruined him financially.

DeWitt called the period before 2019, when a boat driven by Murdaugh's now-deceased son Paul took the life of Mallory Beach and set off a domino effect of death and scandal for the Murdaughs, the 'good old days.'

Before the convoluted happenings surrounding the Murdaugh family became a scandal factory, Hampton County Guardian editor Michael J. DeWitt Jr. (pictured) - like many journalists in quiet communities - often had to dig deep to find headlines. He shared his first-hand experience with the Murdaugh family saga with CBS's 48 Hours on Saturday

Buster, Maggie, Paul and Alex Murdaugh. Murdaugh's wife Maggie and son Paul were found shot dead at the family's hunting lodge in a horrific double murder in June

On September 2, Alex Murdaugh allegedly instructed his friend and alleged Oxycontin dealer Curtis Smith to shoot him dead along the road pictured here - the attempt failed and Murdaugh survived

On September 2, Alex Murdaugh allegedly instructed his friend and alleged Oxycontin dealer Curtis Smith to shoot him dead - the attempt failed and Murdaugh survived.

On September 16, Murdaugh turned himself in on charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy and filing a false police report.

The attempt was a fiasco and his story quickly imploded as it transpired that he was suspected of embezzling millions from Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth & Detrick, the family law firm of which he was a partner. He issued an apology of sorts in which he confessed to years of opioid addiction and said that he had checked himself into rehab.

'The fact that a Murdaugh sat in a chair in a jumpsuit with handcuffs is somethin' I've never seen in my lifetime,' DeWitt told CBS, expressing shock at the sudden and total disgrace inflicted on the famed family.

'The fact that a Murdaugh sat in a chair in a jumpsuit with handcuffs is somethin' I've never seen in my lifetime,' DeWitt told CBS

Buster (pictured), 25, is the only surviving heir to family fortune - on June 7 of this year, Alex Murdaugh called police, telling dispatchers that he came home to find his wife, Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22, 'shot bad'

In court, Murdaugh said he set up the elaborate ruse so that his surviving son, Buster, would receive his $10M insurance policy.

Buster, 25, is the only surviving heir to family fortune - on June 7 of this year, Alex Murdaugh called police, telling dispatchers that he came home to find his wife, Margaret, 52, and son Paul, 22, 'shot bad' at the family's hunting lodge.

The circumstances surrounding their deaths are still a mystery.

'Sources tell media that Maggie was killed with some type of automatic rifle like an AR-15 of some sort,' DeWitt said. 'And Paul was killed with a shotgun and they were both shot multiple times.'

This information has yet to be released by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the state's top law agency - attempts by DailyMail.com to contact SLED were not successful.

Despite the alleged generational gap of courtroom talent, Murdaugh's family spent their time on a 1,700-acre estate and, DeWitt said, two private islands off the Carolina Coast, one of which was nicknamed 'Murdaugh Island.'

Alex Murdaugh's empire was mentioned in two murder investigations, but no convictions were made.

The 2015 death of Stephen Smith, was characterized as a hit-and-run despite 'no vehicle debris, no broken headlight or paint scrapes or or anything,' said DeWitt. The Murdaugh family was brought up 'multiple times' in an investigation into the death, it was revealed after Margaret and Paul were found dead.

Smith, 19, was a popular local teenager. He was gay, with some worrying that his sexuality may have ultimately led to his death.

And, three years after Mallory Beach died in a boat that was driven from one of the family's private islands by inebriated Paul Murdaugh before crashing into a Beaufort County Bridge at more than 30 miles per hour, her family has yet to receive a payout.

The 2015 death of Stephen Smith (pictured) in 2019, was characterized as a hit-and-run despite 'no vehicle debris, no broken headlight or paint scrapes or or anything,' said DeWitt

And, three years after Mallory Beach (pictured) died in a boat that was driven from one of the family's private islands by inebriated Paul Murdaugh before crashing into a Beaufort County Bridge at more than 30 miles per hour, her family has yet to receive a payout

Pictured is the boat that crashed into a Beaumont County bridge, leading to the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach. 'If the lawsuit would be settled... we can get on with our lives,' Beach's mother, Lynn Reavis, told 48 Hours. 'Because Mallory died almost three years ago. And every time these stories come out, it's like it happens all over again'

'If the lawsuit would be settled... we can get on with our lives,' Beach's mother, Lynn Reavis, told 48 Hours. 'Because Mallory died almost three years ago. And every time these stories come out, it's like it happens all over again.'

DeWitt had two theories regarding the unsolved slaying of Margaret and Paul Murdaugh:

'One, Alex Murdaugh had somethin' to do with it.' he posited.

'The other theory was it's  this was somehow related to the boat crash. Somebody wanted justice that they didn't think they would get in the courts, in relation to the boat crash.'

The four survivors of the boat crash, who were all under the age of 21 at the time of the incident, all submitted to DNA testing shortly after Paul and Margaret's deaths of their own volition.

The family of Mallory Beach is currently suing the Murdaugh estate, as is the family of Gloria Satterfield, the family's maid of 22 years who 'tripped over the family dogs,' sustaining a head injury that killed her 21 days later, in the same home where Paul and Margaret would be found dead three years later.

The family of Mallory Beach is currently suing the Murdaugh estate, as is the family of Gloria Satterfield (pictured), the family's maid of 22 years who 'tripped over the family dogs,' sustaining a head injury that killed her 21 days later, in the same home where Paul and Margaret would be found dead three years later

Satterfield's sons were personally promised an insurance payout by Murdaugh at their mother's funeral that never came.

He has been formally charged with swindling that $4m in cash by setting Satterfield's two sons up with a lawyer and banker investigators say danced to Murdaugh's tune, and who helped him pocket insurance payouts for Satterfields' sons.

Mallory's mother, surviving boat passenger Connor Cook and Satterfield's family fear that money and justice may continue to evade them, even with Alex Murdaugh behind bars.

In three identical motions, they argue that Murdaugh and Buster must be prevented from 'hiding, concealing, misappropriating, selling, encumbering, transferring, impairing the value of or otherwise disposing of any of the Alex Murdaugh Assets and any of the Buster Murdaugh Assets, in whole or in part.'

DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Murdaugh's brother Randolph 'Randy' Murdaugh IV filed his suit against his disgraced brother in Hampton County court Thursday, claiming that he owed him $477,000 in unpaid loans.

Randy alleged in court filings that his brother asked to borrow $75,000 just days before he orchestrated the failed hit on his own life.

According to the filing Murdaugh, 53, told Randy, 'In the days leading up to September 2 Defendant represented to Randolph Murdaugh IV that he needed a loan to cover an overdrawn bank account and that [he] had already written other checks including checks to workers which will make the bank account more overdrawn.'

Murdaugh asked for money to be deposited into his checking account. He did not reveal his 'poor financial condition' but promised that he would repay the money within 30 days.

'A powerful legal family in small-town South Carolina has a lot of levers they can pull.' said University of South Carolina Professor Seth Stoughton to CBS.

'They  have now generations of political power and political support and contacts and access, and with access comes power.'
Donald Trump said Saturday evening that his loyal base will need to turn out for Republican Glenn Youngkin to win the Virginia gubernatorial race on Tuesday.

'I think he should win,' Trump told Fox news' Jeanine Pirro in an interview that aired Saturday evening. 'I'll be honest, my base has to turn out.'

Trump endorsed Youngkin against Democratic contender Terry McAuliffe, who served a Virginia's governor from 2014 to 2018. The former president is holding a tele-rally for Youngkin on Monday, which the candidate will not make an appearance at  making it seem that he is trying to distance himself from the former president.

The endorsement, Trump insinuated, is key for Republican candidates to get voters from the ex-president's base to turn out in elections that may have otherwise not gained as much national attention.

Democrats have labeled Youngkin as a 'Trump acolyte' to try and deter independents and moderates from voting him in as the next Virginia governor, but Trump said that tactic 'backfires because I think it gets the base to come out and vote.'

'The last person that ran as a Republican did not embrace Trump in Virginia,' Trump said in reference to Ed Gillespie, who was defeated by Democrat Ralph Northam in 2017.

'He got killed, he was absolutely destroyed,' Trump continued, 'I think if my base doesn't come out, he can't win. I think my base has to come out very strongly.'

Former President Donald Trump said that Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin can win in Virginia if the former president's base turns our for him on Tuesday

Youngkin appears to be distancing rom the ex-president, saying last week that he would not participate in the Monday evening tele-rally for him hosted by Trump

'If I endorse somebody, they win,' Trump said when Pirro asked if he saw himself as a 'kingpin' for future elections.

'I think I am 148 and two,' he said in an exaggerated ratio of candidates he backed who have successfully been elected.

'I did endorse Youngkin,' Trump said. 'And we're going to see, I hope it's not going to be three.'

Democrats in Virginia are scrambling to stave off disaster in the state's governor's race - the most competitive major election since Donald 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.

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.

Youngkin - who has campaigned on 'fighting back against the Radical Left and putting families first' - on Saturday that he will not take part in Donald Trump's virtual 'tele-rally' for his campaign on Monday.

'I'm not going to be engaged in the tele-town hall,' said Youngkin. 'The teams are talking, I'm sure.'

Former Democratic Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is running to once again hold that seat

Public polling has been shifting in Republican newcomer Youngkin's direction in recent weeks, while McAuliffe, a former governor and close ally of President Joe Biden, has struggled to energize his base as Biden's approval ratings sink

Youngkin said on Saturday that he will not take part in Donald Trump's virtual 'tele-rally' rally for his campaign on Monday: 'I'm not going to be engaged in the tele-town hall. The teams are talking, I'm sure'

On Saturday, Trump publicly backed Youngkin, and predicted the the controversy surrounding the school boards in the state would boost Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin's chances of winning Tuesday's election.

Parents in the state have been fighting back against woke school boards where meetings have become a public battlefield. Hot button topics include banned books from school libraries parents had deemed inappropriate, the rights of transgender students, and the teaching of critical race theory.

In June, a father was arrested at a Loudoun County School Board meeting after he confronted board members about his 15-year-old daughter being raped in a gender-neutral bathroom by a boy, 15, wearing a skirt. The boy, who has not been named because he is a minor, has been charged and will be sentenced in November. He has also been charged with sexually assaulting another girl at a different school in the same Virginia school district in October.

'I've been watching the school board hearings more closely than I ever have, to be honest, and it's so interesting,' the former president told Fox News on Saturday.

'The parents are incensed. They're not terrorists. They're people that are just so upset.'

'I think he's going to do very well,' Trump said of Youngkin.

The former president hit out at McAuliffe for saying that parents should have no say in what their children are taught in school.

'McAuliffe made a tremendous mistake. It's not a tremendous mistake from his standpoint,' Trump said. 'He believes it.'

Trump said McAuliffe's statement would be just as 'bad' as Hillary Clinton's infamous comment calling supporters of the former president 'deplorables.'

'I think this is going to cause him tremendous problems come Tuesday,' he said.

Trump predicted that the Democratic strategy of linking Youngkin with him would backfire.

Although Trump hinted at a possible visit to Virginia in support of Youngkin, plans never materialized.

While Trump was absent, Biden attended a campaign event for McAuliffe in Arlington, Virginia.

Biden accused Youngkin of keeping Trump at an arm's length while privately approving of his endorsement and cashing in political points with Trump followers.

'Terry's opponent has made all of his private pledges of loyalty to Donald Trump,' Biden said.

'But what's really interesting to me, he won't stand next to Donald Trump. Think about it. He won't allow Donald Trump to campaign for him in this state. He's willing to pledge his loyalty to Trump in private,' Biden added, 'Why not in public? What's he trying to hide? Is there a problem with Trump being here? Is he embarrassed?'

In the early stages of his campaign, Youngkin said that 'Trump represents so much of why [he is]running.'

He has also entertained claims that the 2020 Presidential election was rigged.

While Trump was absent, Biden attended a campaign event for McAuliffe in Arlington, Virginia. President of the United States Joe Biden (L) speaks during a rally campaigned for Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Virginia, Terry McAuliffe

Biden accused Youngkin of keeping Trump at an arm's length while privately approving of his endorsement and cashing in political points with Trump followers

President of the United States Joe Biden (L), Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Virginia, Terry McAuliffe (C) and his wife Dorothy McAuliffe (R) attend a rally in Arlington

'It is just killing Trump that he [Youngkin] is not here, obviously,' McAuliffe said on Saturday. 'He is in the race, obviously he has endorsed Youngkin seven different times.'

Without Trump 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.

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.

Recent polls indicate that Youngkin is surging over McAuliffe, while Democrats have tried to do damage control and have relied on anti-Trump rhetoric to maintain a sense of control in the state.

'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 (File picture)

The surprisingly tight contest has exposed the depth of the party's dependence on Trump as a message and motivator

Although Trump hinted at a possible visit to Virginia to support Youngkin, plans never materialized. Above, Former first lady and president of the United States Melania and Donald Trump look on during Game Four of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves Truist Park on October 30

A poll by The Washington Post showed the candidates are deadlocked, with McAuliffe leading Youngkin 49 to 48 per cent among likely voters.

The poll surveyed 1,107 registered voters from October 20 to October 26, 918 of whom are likely voters.

In the 2020 Presidential election, Virginia had a 76.6 per cent turnout. More than 54 per cent of the state voted for Biden, while 44percent voted for Trump.

'Democrats are facing DISASTER,' read an e-mail by the Democratic Governors Association for a last-minute fundraiser.

'We can't let the GOP break the Democratic firewall in Virginia - because what happens there will lay the groundwork for 2022,' the e-mail continued.

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.
A Las Vegas man and his girlfriend were both murdered over his $800 debt on a stolen truck, with the woman's body set alight in the pilfered truck using WD-40.

Eric Mosley, 31, was shot dead in his trailer in North Las Vegas in the early morning hours of May 9. About half-an-hour later, officials found the body of his ex-girlfriend, Sandra Cruz-Lopez, 39, burned in the back seat of a stolen truck.

The Clark County coroner later ruled that she died of multiple gunshot wounds before her body was burned, FOX 5 Vegas reports, and ruled her death a homicide.

The shootings reportedly stemmed from an $800 debt Mosley owed Antonio Barry-Edwards, 24, for a stolen truck.

He is now facing charges in both homicides, including murder, kidnapping and arson.

His girlfriend, Jordan Monahan, 30, is also facing homicide, kidnapping and arson charges in the death of Cruz-Lopez, as investigators claim it was her idea to set fire to the stolen truck with Cruz-Lopez's body in the back seat.

She was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on an open murder charge on Tuesday. Barry-Edwards, who was already in custody for allegedly holding a 4-year-old and his babysitter hostage, was also booked on the new charges.

They are due in court on Monday.

Mosley was gunned down in his trailer in North Las Vegas early on May 9

The two fatal shootings began at around 4.45am on May 9, when Mosley was in a trailer he shared with his ex-girlfriend, Sandra Cruz-Lopez in North Las Vegas.

Witnesses at the scene told Las Vegas police at the time they heard multiple gunshots coming from the trailer, after Mosley and Barry-Edwards were seen arguing.

Barry-Edwards allegedly entered the trailer past a woman who answered the door and shot Mosley several times.

He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, FOX 5 reports.

About a half an hour later, Las Vegas police were notified by Clark County fire personnel of a body located inside a burned vehicle on Bureau of Land Management property east of the city.

The victim was later identified as Cruz-Lopez, and her death was ruled a homicide.

Antonio Barry-Edwards, 24, left, is facing charges in the deaths of 31-year-old Eric Mosley and 39-year-old Sandra Cruz-Lopez, as his girlfriend, Jordan Monahan, 30, right, is facing homicide, kidnapping and arson charges in the death of Cruz-Lopez

According to police reports, witnesses claim Cruz-Lopez was at the trailer just before Mosley was shot, and disappeared shortly afterwards.

But about half-an-hour later, a witness said Barry-Edwards made Cruz-Lopez drive the stolen truck up towards Lake Mead with his girlfriend, Monahan.

Cruz-Lopez reportedly asked him why they were doing this to her and brought up the fact that it was Mother's Day, which investigators say, upset Barry-Edwards because his mother was dead.

At that point, Barry-Edwards reportedly told Monahan to 'do it,' as in shoot Cruz-Lopez. Monahan then hesitated, according to the police reports obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and asked 'me?,' to which Barry-Edwards 'said '"never mind," and shot Cruz-Lopez approximately seven times , including once in the face.'

He said it was Monahan's idea to use WD40 to set the truck on fire.

About a half an hour later, his ex-girlfriend, Sandra Cruz-Lopez (pictured) was allegedly forced to drive a stolen truck east of the city, where she was shot seven times

At first, police said they were investigating the cases as two separate incidents - but announced last week that they are believed to be connected and related to an $800 debt Mosley owed Barry-Edwards for a stolen truck.

They said that a witness testified that Barry-Edwards 'was upset because he heard Mosley paid for a girl to get her nails done, but failed to pay him... the remainder of the debt.'

And, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, investigators discovered during the course of their investigation that the truck Cruz-Lopez was found in had been reported missing a few days earlier.

After ruling out the owner of the truck as a suspect, they found surveillance footage showing a Chevrolet Silverado driving up to the truck, with one person getting out of the car and driving away in the truck.

Police were later able to find the stolen Silverado, which contained fingerprints belonging to Barry-Edwards and Monahan.

Mosley's mother, Celest Wedermeyer, said she was not aware of the allegations about a stolen truck but says that does not excuse her son's death

Mosley leaves behind seven children, including a 2-year-old girl

In an interview with 8 News Now, Mosley's family said they were not aware of the alleged stolen truck, but say that does not excuse his murder.

'I know my son didn't deserve to be killed for whatever reason they say happened or what happened,' Mosley's mother, Celest Wedermyer said. 'He didn't deserve death.'

She described her son as 'a happy person all the time,' noting: 'You never saw him sad.' He left behind seven children, including a 2-year-old daughter.

'I need justice,' Wedermeyer added. 'I want justice.'

Meanwhile, Barry-Edwards is also facing charges in connection with a day-long barricade at the Highland Inn Motel on May 29.

Police said an officer investigating stolen vehicles came across Barry Edwards standing next to a stolen SUV and a stolen motorcycle at the motel, the Review-Journal reports.

He allegedly tried to flee on a motorcycle when the cop asked him about the SUV, resulting in a struggle between the two men, according to Law and Crime.

Police said Barry-Edwards tried to reach for a gun inside his vest, so the officer wrote in his report that he 'kicked Antonio two times in the head, which caused Antonio to become startled and lose his balance.'

Barry-Edwards then allegedly ran into Room 113, barricaded himself and eventually used a saw to cut through a wall into an adjacent room where a 4-year-old boy and a woman were taking a nap while his parents were out running errands.

The woman and child fled into the bathroom and were reportedly kept as hostages as Barry-Edwards talked to police negotiators.

Eventually, police report. Barry-Edwards allowed the 4-year-old boy to leave through the hole in the wall, while the babysitter stayed in the hotel room overnight.

She was allowed to leave after 29 hours.

But it wasn't over - as Barry-Edwards allegedly decided to fire five gunshots at SWAT officers after they were released.

He was ultimately arrested at the scene, and was charged with 14 felonies including kidnapping and attempted murder.
Southwest Airlines launched an investigation into the pilot who announced the anti-Joe Biden slogan 'let's go Brandon' after landing the jet.

The viral incident has some calling for him to be fired and others saying he should remain employed.

The pilot, whose name has not been released, was seen on TikTok video apparently telling passengers 'Let's Go Brandon' as he signed off on a flight from Houston, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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 airline is conducting an internal investigation, Southwest said in a statement Sunday.

'Southwest does not condone Employees sharing their personal political opinions while on the job serving our Customers, and one Employee's individual perspective should not be interpreted as the viewpoint of Southwest and its collective 54,000 Employees,' the statement read.

A Southwest pilot, whose name has not been released, was heard telling passengers 'Let's Go Brandon' as he signed off on a flight from Houston, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico

As news of the controversial comment spread, some people called on the airline to ax the pilot.

'I'll be booking my future flights accordingly,' tweeted @Blue_Texas2022. '[Retweet] if you won't book with Southwest Airlines unless this pilot is fired.'

Jon Cooper, former national finance chair of the political action committee Draft Biden 2016, was among others calling for the employee's termination.

'This one's easy. I'm not flying on @SouthwestAir until the #LetsGoBrandon pilot is fired,' he tweeted. 'Who's with me?'

Added @vern1105: 'The Southwest Airlines pilot that said let's go brandon over the loudspeaker needs to be fired.

'I will pass this on to everyone I know. His politics had no place on that aircraft. It makes you uncomfortable as a flyer. He needs to go.'

Twitter exploded Sunday with comments related to the pilot's comments, with some calling for his termination and others complimenting his behavior

CNN analyst Asha Rangappa also weighed in on the controversy, taking to Twitter to ask her 687,000 followers to consider how the pilot's comments would have been received if praising terror organization ISIS instead.

'As an experiment, I'd love for an @SouthwestAir pilot to say 'Long live ISIS' before taking off,' Rangappa wrote on social media Saturday night.

'My guess is that 1) the plane would be immediately grounded; 2) the pilot fired; and 3) a statement issued by the airline within a matter of hours,' said the Yale senior lecturer, who is also a former FBI agent.

CNN analyst Asha Rangappa weighed in on the controversy, taking to Twitter to ask her 687,000 followers to consider how the pilot's comments allegedly disparaging the president would have been received if it praised terror organization ISIS instead

Rangappa's comparison garnered the ire of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who slammed the comment as 'deranged.'

'CNN is deranged,' the conservative politico wrote on social media Sunday afternoon.

'And no, as a factual matter, supporting genocidal religious zealots is not the same as disagreeing with the current President,' Cruz said.

Rangappa's comparison quickly garnered the ire of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who slammed the CNN commentator for her comments on the controversy, calling them 'deranged'

Moreover, others saw the opportunity as a reason to endorse the airline.

'I am buying more SWA stock at the open,' tweeted @Oilfielder. 'Let's go Brandon. If they fire the guy, I'll walk before I get on a SWA plane. And I travel for a living.'

Added @RandallOwen40: 'This makes me want to fly southwest even more. Let's go Brandon!'

While some wanted the pilot fired, one Twitter used complimented his actions, saying: 'Well done, sir!'

Meanwhile, political advisor Derek Utley said on Twitter that he was barred by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from flying a 'Let's Go Brandon' banner from a plane.

'They said [it was] due to the political nature,' Utley tweeted. 'What happened to the 1st Amendment?'

The FAA denied grounding the banner Sunday, saying in a statement: 'The Federal Aviation Administration does not regulate the information displayed on aircraft banners.'

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 pilot made the comment 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 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, 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.

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'

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.
A family-of-seven who were camping less than 100 metres from where missing youngster Cleo Smith vanished without a trace have broken their silence about their 'scarred' and heartbreaking stay at the site.

It has been 16 days since the four-year-old disappeared from her family's tent at the Blowholes campsite, near Carnarvon in Western Australia in the early hours of October 16.

Detectives attached to the mammoth police operation dedicated to Cleo's disappearance spent Sunday door-knocking homes five kilometres from the youngster's hometown of Carnarvon as the search enters its third week.

Queensland couple Rob and Kira Prince were camping at the Blowholes at the time and have described their stay which they'll never forget 'for all the wrong reasons.'

The desperate search for missing youngster Cleo Smith (pictured) has entered its third week

The couple are travelling around the country in a campervan with their five children, which they're documenting on the Our Aussie Adventure Facebook page.

The family uploaded photos of their time at Quobba Blow Holes and shared a police flyer regarding Cleo's disappearance.

'This camp was beautiful with both rugged cliff faces with powerful waves and lagoon like beaches and the blowholes were absolutely incredible,' the family posted on Sunday.

'Unfortunately our stay here was scarred by the disappearance of Cleo Smith from a tent less than 100m from our site.'

'With four-year-olds of our own this was truly terrifying and heartbreaking. It is a day we will never forget - for all the wrong reasons.

'While we physically moved on from here once the campground closed, emotionally we are very much still there longing for a positive outcome for Cleo and her family.'

The Prince family were camping less than 100m metres away from where little Cleo disappeared at the Blowholes campsite on October 16. Pictured are the family during their stay at the site

Detectives spent Sunday door-knocking homes in the North Plantations, five kilometres from Cleo's hometown of Carnarvon

Halloween plea: 'She loved dressing up as a princess or a doctor' Cleo Smith's mum has made another gut-wrenching plea for her four-year-old daughter to be returned home safely as she told of the heartbreak of spending Halloween without her daughter. Ellie Smith on Sunday night called for help finding her 'shining bright light' - 16 days after the little girl vanished from her family's tent near Carnarvon during a camping trip on October 16. As children across Australia dressed up to go trick or treating, Ms Smith told how her daughter 'loves dressing up - whether it be a princess or doctor'. Cleo's disappearance has sparked a national police operation - with detectives on Sunday door-knocking houses near her hometown as they search for clues. 'Every day is getting harder without my shining bright light,' Ms Smith wrote on Instagram. 'Today she has missed Halloween with her family - her cousins, aunties, uncles, nannas and pop but most of all her parents and baby sister. 'She needs us and we need her.' Ellie Smith on Sunday called for help finding her 'shining bright light' and urged anyone who had any information to call police Advertisement

The family told The West Australian they've spoken to police 'a number of times.'

Detectives door-knocked a number of homes along the North West Coastal Highway in the North Plantations, 5km from Cleo's hometown on Sunday.

The reason for the visits hasn't been made public, Nine News reported.

It comes as Cleo's frantic mum issued yet another public appeal on social media for her daughter to come home.

'My kind hearted baby girl mummy wants you home,' Ellie Smith wrote in an Instagram story on Sunday.

Ms Smith also posted a missing persons image of Cleo urging anyone with information to contact police.

She and Cleo's stepfather Jake Gliddon have been ruled out by police of having have had any involvement in the girl's disappearance.

The Prince family said their time camping at The Blowholes was 'scarred' by the disappearance of Cleo Smith from a tent less than 100 metres away

Little Cleo Smith has been missing for two weeks, having last been seen at the Blowholes campground near Carnarvon in WA

Earlier on Sunday, the owner of a shack which captured the voice of Cleo on its CCTV system has opened up about the 'panicked' moments after the little girl vanished.

Dave Sadecky, handed over the crucial CCTV of little Cleo to police which placed her at the campsite on the night before she vanished.

The motion sensitive camera is installed inside their beach shack which was just 20 metres away from the family tent and takes a wide-angled photo of everyone who enters or leaves it.

The camera captures audio and images from inside a painted wooden box with a glass front and would not appear obvious to those passing by.

Dave Sadecky, who owns a nearby shack at the campsite, captured the voice of Cleo on his shack's CCTV system, and handed it over to police

When Mr Sadecky and his wife learnt of the news surrounding the four-year-old, they immediately jumped on their quad bikes to join the search.

'I didn't know the ins and outs of what was going on but everyone was panicked,' Mr Sadecky told The West Australian.

'People dropped everything and came to help  they were everywhere on Saturday like ants  it's not a normal sight.'

The couple ended up scouring the area for 10 hours on the day Cleo was last seen.

She had woken up at 1.30am on the Saturday to ask her mother Ellie for a sip of water but when her parents woke again at about 6am, Cleo was gone.

The four-year-old had woken up at 1.30am on the Saturday to ask her mother Ellie for a sip of water but when her parents woke again at about 6am, Cleo was gone

Detectives found the zip on the tent Cleo was sleeping in had been opened and was too high for the little girl to reach

'Everyone was emotional, people were clearly stressed and anxious but wanted to help. We've never had anything like this happen before. We're there every other weekend, we're kicking ourselves we weren't there that night,' Mr Sadecky said.

He said the campsite would now be 'tainted' from what happened, a local at Blowholes himself.

He added there was a tight-knit community in the area and that often people would leave their doors unlocked.

Meanwhile, a close family friend of Cleo's mother Ellie Smith and stepdad Jake Gliddon said detectives are not wanting to give them any 'false hope'.

'There's nothing worse than saying, ''We're going to find her'', or, ''We think we've got the person'', and then they don't have the person or they don't find her,' the friend told the West.

Cleo is seen with her mother Ellie Smith. A $1million reward is on offer to anybody with information into her disappearance

'Police aren't going to give you false hope and that's what we said from day one.'

The family friend had been at the campsite at the time Cleo went missing and helped scour the area in search of the four-year-old.

He said her distraught parents have also had to deal with online trolls who pointed the finger at them in the days following their daughter's disappearance.

Police have ruled out both Ms Smith and Mr Gliddon as suspects and Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting they had anything to do with her disappearance.

'I know it's affecting them. Fingers crossed they aren't looking at it too much,' the friend said.

It comes after it was revealed detectives in the 100-strong taskforce had responded to 200 potential sightings of Cleo in the two weeks since she disappeared.

It comes after it was revealed detectives in the 100-strong taskforce had responded to 200 potential sightings of Cleo in the two weeks since she disappeared.

'Unfortunately all of those have proved unfruitful,' Detective Superintendent Rob Wilde said.

'That's been national as well, other policing jurisdictions have helped us and followed those leads through for us, so we're very grateful for that.'

While none of the leads have been accurate yet, he is still calling on the public to continue searching for Cleo and reporting any potentially useful information.
Bin collection and street cleaner strikes will go ahead in Glasgow tomorrow as the city hosts world leaders for the COP26 summit.

The GMB union told the Glasgow City Council chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, that members of the city's cleansing service will strike for a week from a minute past midnight on Monday.

It comes as more than 100 world leaders descend upon the Scottish city as the first day of the two-day world leaders' summit takes place at the Cop26 UN climate conference.

A bin strike in Glasgow (pictured) threatens to turn the city into a 'giant rubbish dump' during the Cop26 climate change summit as staff are planning a week-long strike from November 1

The planned strike action was previously called off on Friday after a new pay offer from council umbrella body Cosla.

Then, the GMB said it would suspend the strike for two weeks to consult with members.

On Sunday, GMB Scotland secretary, Louise Gilmour, accused Glasgow City Council of having 'failed to give our members the proper time and space to consider the 11th hour offer from Cosla'.

She said there is 'too much bad faith among members' towards the council.

She added: 'Therefore, our members in cleansing have informed us that they will still proceed with the planned strike action from 00.01 hours Monday November 1.

'We are calling for an urgent meeting with the council as soon as possible and we will work until one-minute to midnight tonight to try and fix this.

It comes as more than 100 world leaders descend upon the Scottish city for COP26

'We have also made the Scottish Government aware of the situation and are liaising with the First Minister's Office but, without any further dialogue, the cleansing service in Glasgow City Council will take strike action from Monday and throughout the first full week of the COP26 summit.'

The GMB was calling for a 2,000 pay rise and previously turned down an offer of an 850 a year increase for staff earning up to 25,000.

The Cosla proposal tabled on Friday is for a one-year, 5.89 per cent increase for the lowest paid council staff, as part of a 1,062 rise for all staff earning below 25,000.

The Scottish Government gave 30 million to support the offer.
A furious French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly accused Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison of lying to him over the scrapped submarine deal.

Diplomatic tensions between the two countries have escalated since Australia pulled out of a $90 billion deal with France to manufacture its next generation of submarines.

Hours after the pair shared an awkward exchange at the G20 Summit in Rome, the French President made his feelings known about Mr Morrison during a fiery exchange with Australian journalists.

'We will see what he will deliver,' Mr Macron told reporters on Sunday.

An awkward handshake in Rome between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (centre right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (centre left)

'I have a lot of respect for your country, a lot of respect and friendship for your people. I just say when we have respect, you have to be true and you have to behave in line and consistent with this value.

The French president was asked if the Australian prime minister had lied.

'I don't think, I know,' Mr Macron replied before cutting off further questions.

Mr Morrison has since shut down the claims at a press conference.

'No,' he replied when asked if he had lied to President Macron.

He added decisions he makes are in Australia's best interests.

'I will always stand up for Australia's interests,' Mr Morrison reiterated.

'I don't resile from it for one second. These decisions are difficult. Of course it has caused disappointment and it has caused an impact on the relationship with France.'

He added he had previously explained Mr Macron 'very clearly' a few months ago the submarines ordered from France were 'not going to meet Australia's interests'.

French President Emmanuel Macron (pictured with wife Brigitte earlier this month) has accused Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison of lying

Back home in Australia, federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg defended the Prime Minister but admitted growing tensions between Australia and France are 'challenging diplomatically.

'It has been since the announcement,' Mr Frydenberg told the Today show on Monday.

But we're going to work through that. It was good that they had - the two leaders had that they had - the two leaders had that call the other day.

'There are areas where we can work together and increase that level of cooperation. But, of course, with respect to the AUKUS deal, that sets Australia up for many years ahead and that is why it is so important to Australia's national interests.'

Earlier in the program, agriculture Minister David Littleproud accused President Macron of being unreasonable.

Mr Macron lashed out at Mr Morrison hours after the pair shared a very awkward handshake at the G20 summit.

The leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, just two days after a first phone call since Australia opted for nuclear-powered submarines in partnership with the US and Britain in the AUKUS pact.

Mr Morrison told reporters he only briefly bumped into the French leader and 'said g'day' and that he hoped they could speak more later.

Their icy phone conversation followed revelations that Mr Macron for weeks refused to take a call from Mr Morrison.

In what was reportedly a tense phone call before Mr Morrison left for Europe, Mr Macron told the prime minister he 'broken the relationship of trust between our two countries'.

'It is now up to the Australian government to propose tangible actions that embody the political will of Australia's highest authorities to redefine the basis of our bilateral relationship and continue joint action in the Indo-Pacific,' a statement from President Macron's office said.

An Australian Collins class submarine (front) and the UK nuclear-powered attack submarine, HMS Astute (rear) are seen at HMAS Stirling Royal Australian Navy base in Perth on October 29, 2021. Australia is committed to getting its first nuclear-powered submarines built and operating as quickly as possible, says Defence Minister Peter Dutton, after pulling out of a $90billion deal to have France make its next generation of submarines

Before he flew to Rome, Mr Morrison played down the prospect of a meeting with Mr Macron.

'I don't think that's probably going to happen this time,' he said.

'I think it will happen eventually, but we just got to give him a bit of space, give him a bit of space.

'I mean, we had to take the decision we took in the national interest, and maybe we'll catch up at some time down the track. But for now, you know, sometimes it's just best to give our friends a bit of space.'

The plan to avoid Mr Macron in Rome came undone when the leaders unexpectedly found themselves just metres apart.

'I said g'day, I said g'day,' Mr Morrison told reporters in Rome.

'He was having a chat to someone, I went up and just put my arm on his shoulder and just said 'g'day, Emmanuel,' and 'look forward to catching up over the next couple of days'.

'That's the way these events tend to work and he was happy to exchange those greetings.'

Before bumping into Mr Morrison, Mr Macron had met Joe Biden. The US President expressed great concern about the handling of the secret plan to dump France from the submarine project, saying it was 'clumsy' and '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,' Mr Biden told President Macron.

'I honest to God did not know you had not been.'

Mr Morrison would no be drawn on whether Mr Biden had dropped him in deeper trouble with the French.

'He's had a candid conversation with the French President and I'll leave his remarks for him,' he said.

Mr Morrison and the Australian Government have been the subject of French fury at being kept in the dark over the decision to end the $90 billion submarine contract.

The French government was told Australia was scrapping the deal just hours before Mr Morrison, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Mr Biden hosted a tri-lateral press conference to talk about the new AUKUS security and defence pact.

France's ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, was recalled in September after the submarine deal was cancelled, though he has since returned to Canberra.

The French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told his country's parliament he asked the ambassador to go back to Australia with two missions: 'To define our relationship with Australia in the future and firmly defend our interests in the implementation of Australia's decision to terminate the submarine program.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives at the G20 summit of world leaders to discuss climate change, Covid-19 and the post-pandemic global recovery at the La Nuvola center G20 Summit, Rome, Italy

There are fears that Australia's ditching of the French submarine deal could derail a potential free trade agreement with the European Union, of which France is a key member.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said of the deal cancellation: 'There are a lot of open questions that have to be answered... One of our member states has been treated in a way that is not acceptable.'

France's Europe minister Clement Beaune said France could halt progress on an EU-Australia trade deal which has been under negotiation since mid-2018.

'Keeping one's word is the condition of trust between democracies and between allies,' he told Politico.

'So it is unthinkable to move forward on trade negotiations as if nothing had happened with a country in which we no longer trust.'

During the 2019-20 financial year, Australia's two-way trade with the EU was worth $78.7 billion, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade data showed.
A Boston mayoral candidate of Arabic-Polish descent has revealed that she only began identifying as a person of color in adulthood.

Annissa Essaibi George, 47, said that she did not formerly consider herself a person of color as there has been a long history of debate over what category of race Arab Americans fit in.

Her comments have sparked fresh debate over racism for Arab-Americans, who often aren't given a specific ethnicity box to check while completing paperwork.

Essaibi George will face off against fellow Boston City Councilor and Democrat Michelle Wu on Tuesday for the title of not only being the first person of color but also the first woman to be mayor.

Arabic-Polish Boston mayoral candidate Annissa Essaibi George, 47, described her struggle for racial identity and whether she was considered a person of color

Essaibi George is facing off against Democratic candidate Michelle Wu, who is Taiwanese American

In reference to racial identity, Essaibi George described the struggle of being within the Arab community of the US despite being able to pass as white.

'We have found ourselves in this weird position where there isnt a place for us to identify as Arab,' Essaibi George said in a recent interview on GBH News.

'Its unfortunate that Arabs dont have that proverbial box to check and it is important for the Arab community to be counted, to be seen, to be heard and to be recognized.'

Essaibi George has frequently talked about the obstacles faced by her father, a Muslim immigrant from Tunisia, and the challenges he believed she would also face as his daughter. Her mother, a Catholic, immigrated from Poland.

Her father had warned her that her a girl with an Arab last name may never have the chance to be mayor due to the city's history of electing white men of European ancestry.

Essaibi George will become the first female Boston mayor of color if she wins the title on Tuesday

Essaibi George, a lifelong Boston resident and former public school teacher, went on to win an at-large seat on the Boston City Council in 2015 and came in second in a September preliminary election, setting up the head-to-head match with Wu, who won the preliminary.

She has also said that she still thinks she benefits from white privilege - a term used to describe the lack of obstacles white people face in their everyday lives, compared to people of color.

The mayoral-hopeful has also said that while her father's family came from North Africa, she doesn't consider herself African American, which is used to describe black people.

The question of whether Arab Americans should identify as people of color extends to the Arab American community itself.

Nuha E. Muntasser, 26, who describes herself as an Muslim Arab American or Muslim Libyan American, said she cringes whenever she has to check the box for 'white' instead of being given the option of identifying as North African or Middle Eastern.

'I do not identify as white and its frustrating when I have to identify as that,' she said.

Muntasser also said that the choice is all the more discouraging because many Arab Americans dont share the same experience as white Americans as factors such as hijabs play a role in the lives of Arab or Muslim American women.

They've also faced persecution, with that prejudice spiraling after the 9/11 attacks.

'People like me, we have to prove our Americanness,' she said.

Muntasser also hesitates to call herself a person of color 'because I understand the difference of what black women experience in this country, I am not comfortable with saying I am a person of color,' she said.

Nuha Muntasser said that she does not willingly identify herself as white due to the lack of options for North African and Middle Eastern people

The lack of a box to check for Arab Americans can also limit economic opportunities, said former Cambridge City Councilor Nadeem Mazen, an Arab American and an American Muslim.

Thats particularly relevant when dealing with possible business contracts, especially with the federal government.

'When youre a minority- or veteran- or women-owned business, thats important,' Mazen said.

'People make a lot of assumptions about which boxes you can check.'

Mazen, who lives in Cambridge, said he doesnt look like a black person but also isnt seen as white, occupying what he described as a kind of moving window.

'I dont go around saying Im a person of color or not a person of color, but I know someone like me faces a lot more discrimination than your average upper class white Cambridge resident,' Mazen said.

Nadeem Mazan said he does not formally identify himself as either a person of color or not of color

A pivotal moment in the trajectory of the lives of many Arab Americans came with the September 11 attacks, with many still feeling singled out and under suspicion 20 years later.

A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conducted ahead of this years 9/11 anniversary, found that 53 percent of Americans have unfavorable views toward Islam, compared with 42 percent who have favorable ones.

Mohammed Missouri, 38, executive director of Massachusetts-based Jetpac, a nonprofit seeking to build political power among American Muslims, said earlier generations of Arab Americans tended to focus on adapting rather than leaning into their identity.

'With younger people in the Arab American community, youre seeing people whose goal is to build actual power and not just power for themselves but for the community at large,' said Missouri, an Arab American.

'Younger Arab Americans are very proud of their heritage and see that as integral to their identity as Americans.'

Missouri also said that while hes forced to check 'white' on Census forms  defined as 'all individuals who identify with one or more nationalities or ethnic groups originating in Europe, the Middle East or North Africa'  he doesnt consider himself white.

Whether Arab Americans fall into the broader category as persons of color is still a matter of debate within the community he said, adding that some 'white-passing Arab Americans' prefer to identify as white.

'Its going to be a fluid conversation were going to keep having,' he said.

The citys previous elected mayor  Democrat Marty Walsh  stepped down to become U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Joe Biden.

Walsh was replaced on an acting basis by Kim Janey, sworn in March 24 as Bostons first female and first black mayor.
A body was reportedly found by people 'magnet fishing' in a Manchester canal today.

Police and firefighters descended on Old Church Street in Newton Heath to access Rochdale Canal.

Police confirmed a man was pronounced dead at the scene, just yards from a busy high street.

A body was reportedly found by people 'magnet fishing' in a Manchester canal today

Police and firefighters descended on Old Church Street in Newton Heath to access Rochdale Canal

A tent was put up on the canal towpath and residents watched on as forensic officers combed the scene for clues.

Stephen Roscoe said he saw three fire engines and 'about ten police cars' descend on the scene at about 10.10am.

'There were loads of them and divers too,' he said.

'I knew straight away it would be someone in the water. There have been previous incidents round here. It's terrible.'

Police confirmed a man was pronounced dead at the scene, just yards from a busy high street

Leanne Tighe, who lives on a housing estate near to the scene, said she was shocked when she found out that someone had died.

'When I saw the police, I thought someone might have been attacked but then I saw the tent,' she said.

'You don't expect to see that sort of thing. I have lived here for 13 years. We do get some issues but nothing that doesn't go on in other areas.'

A tent was put up on the canal towpath and residents watched on as forensic officers combed the scene for clues

Detectives have launched an investigation into the circumstances leading to the man's death.

Officers remained at the scene, close to Newton Heath Library, throughout Sunday.

Several entrances to the towpath were taped off as police officers stood guard.

Greater Manchester Police said: 'At around 10.10am this morning (October 31) police were called to a report of a concern for the welfare of a man in the water close to Old Church Street in Manchester.

'Police and GMFRS responded and a man was sadly confirmed dead at the scene.

'Enquiries are ongoing to identify the man and the circumstances behind the incident.

'Officers remain at the scene. Anyone with information should contact police online, if able, or via 101 quoting incident 1334 of 31/10/2021.'
Joe Biden said Sunday that Iran will pay 'economically' if they do not resume negotiations on the nuclear deal.

The president's comments came after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Sunday morning that the US. isn't ruling out taking military action against Iran should they balk at nuclear talks.

'With regard to the issue of how we're going to respond to actions taken by them against the interest of the United States, whether they're drone strikes or anything else, is that we're going to respond, we're going to continue to respond,' Biden said, without going into any specifics.

During a 26-minute press briefing in Rome, Italy following the G20 summit, Biden said the U.S. is continuing to 'suffer from the very bad judgments that President Trump made in pulling out of the JCPOA.'

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or JCPOA, was reached in 2015 and the Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in 2018.

President Joe Biden said Sunday that the U.S. will make Iran pay 'economically' if they do not restart negotiations on resuming the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

Biden also said retaliatory action would be taken if Iran acts against U.S. interests, but did not get specific. The president speaks at a press conference at the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday

'That issue,' Biden said in reference to rejoining the agreement, 'is going to depend on whether and how that gets resolved, is going to depend on their action and the willingness of our friends who are part of the original agreement to stick with us  and make sure there is a price to pay economically from a fail to come back.'

Biden made his remarks at the La Nuvola convention center in Rome on Sunday. Behind the president was an American and Italian flag on either side of him.

Joining the president for the press conference with American media were Blinken, Senior Advisor Mike Donilon, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

Blinken said Sunday that he wouldn't rule out U.S. military action if Iranian leaders do not return to the negotiating table next month to resume discussions to prevent them from developing a nuclear weapon.

'The Iranians have now said that they're coming back to talks toward the end of November  we'll see if they actually do, that's going to be important,' he chuckled when speaking to CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan.

While Blinken said diplomacy is the preferred path forward, the administration is also exploring 'other options'.

'We were also looking at, as necessary, other options if Iran is not prepared to engage quickly in good faith,' Blinken said. 'To pick up where we left off in June when these talks were interrupted by the change in government in Iran, and to see if we can get back to mutual compliance  both countries coming back into the agreement as quickly as possible.'

When Brennan pushed on if those options included potential military action, Blinken said: 'As we always say, every option is on the table.'

Blinken is visiting Rome with Joe Biden this weekend for the G20 summit and holding meetings with his counterparts as the president does the same.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier on Sunday that Iranians are expected to return to negotiations over the nuclear deal in November

IRAN DEAL LATEST: Secretary of State @SecBlinken doesn't rule out military action if Iran "is not prepared to engage quickly in good faith" when it comes to the JCPOA nuclear deal.



"As we always say, every option is on the table," Blinken tells @margbrennan pic.twitter.com/WDiaROCCYm  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 31, 2021 Twitter Privacy Policy

An American B-1 heavy bomber is pictured being escorted through Israeli airspace by an Israeli Defense Forces fighter jet on October 30

The escort was designed as a show of force by the IDF, and as further evidence of the relationship between the US and Israel

'Here in Rome, the president got together with Chancellor Merkel of Germany, with the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with the French President Emmanuel Macron, and we are in very close coordination with our closest partners on dealing with this challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program,' Blinken updated on Sunday. 'And all of us are also working with Russia and China.'

He added: 'We still believe diplomacy is the best path forward for putting the nuclear program back in the box it had been in under the agreement  the so-called JCPOA.'

The JCPOA, is an agreement between Iran and the P5+ countries  China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States and Germany  as well as the European Union.

Biden said his purpose for meeting with the leaders of those countries and the EU was to 'get together to say that we should negotiate a change' on how to get both the U.S. and Iran back into the agreement.

The original nuclear deal with Iran was reached on July 14, 2015 in Vienna under President Barack Obama.

On May 8, 2018, Donald Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from JCPOA and in November 2018 sanctions came back into effect on Iran leading the country to resume development of ballistic missiles.

'Iran, unfortunately, is moving forward aggressively with its program,' Blinken said on Sunday. 'The time it would take for it to produce enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon is getting shorter and shorter.'

'The other thing that's getting shorter is the runway we have where if we do get back into compliance with the agreement and Iran gets back in compliance, we actually recapture all of the benefits of the agreement.'

Biden spoke with world leaders at the G20 in Rome, Italy on Saturday about continued commitments to diplomacy in Iran. L-R: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joe Biden ahead of their meeting on Iran

'Iran is learning enough, doing enough so that that's starting to be a problem.'

Over the weekend, an Air Force bomber escorted by fighter jets from U.S. allies flew over key waterways in the Middle East where American and Iranian naval vessels have faced off.

In a statement Saturday, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) announced a B-1B Lancer passed over the Gulf, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Suez Canal and Gulf of Oman. It also flew over the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for a fifth of world oil output at the head of the Gulf that Iran considers a strategic area of influence.

'The bomber task force mission,' Centcom said, 'was intended to deliver a clear message of reassurance.'

Fighter jets from Israel, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, all U.S. allies opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran, escorted the US bomber over their respective airspaces.

'Military readiness for any contingency or mission  from crisis response to multilateral exercises to one-day presence patrols like this  depend on reliable partnerships,' said Centcom commander General Frank McKenzie, the head of US forces in the Middle East.

Biden met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss Iran on the first day of the G20 in Italy on Saturday.

The president was asked when nuclear talks with Tehran were scheduled to resume.

'They're scheduled to resume,' he said, without specifying a timeline.

White House staff previewed that the Saturday afternoon meeting was a way for the leaders to get on the same page about the Iran nuclear deal.

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 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.

Biden has repeatedly tried to return to the nuclear accord during his first nine months as president. There is growing frustration in the administration over delays in nuclear talks after a hardline government took power in Iran in early August.
President Joe Biden offered an emotional account of his relationship with Pope Francis on Sunday during a press conference, choking up as he described how the pontiff had become a friend and offered comfort when his son died.

'Pope Francis has become,' he said, pausing to collect his thoughts, 'I don't want to exaggerate - has become a someone who's provided a great solace for my family when my son died.'

After a day of grand international diplomacy to tackle climate change and snarled supply chains, Biden came close to tears as he talked about meeting Francis in the days after his son's death.

'There were an awful lot of people who - many of you who are even in the press - who went out of your way to express your empathy and sympathy when I lost a real part of my soul,' he said, his voice halting.

'When I lost my Beau, my son.

'I ... my family will never forget ... my extended family, because it was only a matter of days since my son had passed away and Pope Francis came to the United States.'

Before he left the country, continued Biden, the pope asked if he could meet his family and spent more than 10 minutes talking to them about Beau in a hangar at Philadelphia airport.

President Joe Biden appeared to come close to tears as he talked about his relationship with Pope Francis and the way the pope had comforted his family after the death of his son Beau

Biden addressed a press conference at the end of the G20 summit in Rome. He talked about climate change and his domestic legislative agenda but things took a deeply personal turn when he was asked about his meeting with the pope on Friday

Biden spent 75 minutes with the pope on Friday for a private audience at the Vatican

'He knew who he was,' said Biden, who is only the second Catholic president in U.S. history.

'He knew where he went to school. He knew what a man he was, and it had such a cathartic impact on his children and my wife and our family that it meant a great deal.'

The G20 represents one of Biden's first appearances as president at a major global summit after being sworn in during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For a leader who has staked his position to his ability to build consensus, it offered a chance to shake hands and look fellow leaders in the eye.

'What we've seen again here in Rome is what I think is the power of America showing up and working with our allies and partners to make progress in issues that matter to all of us,' he said, adding that allies wanted 'American leadership' to get things done.

He claimed other leaders sought him out as he fended off a question about whether he could provide leadership amid falling poll numbers at home.

'The United States of America is the most critical part of this entire agenda, and we did it,' Biden said.

Biden is due to Scotland on Monday morning for a United Nations climate conference. Heads of state will push to keep carbon emissions down to a level needed to limit global temperature increases to 1.5C.

But amid all the summitry, Biden's relationship with the pope has been one of the talking points of his trip to Rome.

And his tribute to Francis was triggered by a question about abortion.

Biden had a papal audience on Friday at a time when the president is under intense pressure from conservative Catholics on the issue. They want him to take a tougher stance on abortion or be banned from taking Communion.

After their meeting the president said the pope told him he was a 'good Catholic' and that the two men did not discuss the issue during their 75-minute sit down 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.

On Sunday, he said the pope was a man of understanding and who avoided judgment.

'This is a man who has great empathy,' he said.

'He is a man who understands that part of his Christianity is to reach out and to forgive.

'And so I just find my relationship with him one that I personally take great solace in he is a really, truly genuine decent man.'

The U.S. Conference of Bishops is weighing whether to admonish Catholic politicians like Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who support a woman's right to an abortion - which Catholics consider a sin - yet also take Holy Communion at mass.

After their meeting the president said the pope told him he was a 'good Catholic' and that the two men did not discuss the issue of abortion during their private meeting

Earlier Biden met with EU reps and leaders from 14 countries on supply chain problems

Jill Biden made a surprise visit to thee Borghese Gallery and Museum on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday afternoon

Conservatives also take a dim view of Francis himself, for his positions on climate change and social justice.

Biden said he did not take communion during the meeting on Friday.

And he declined to say whether he and Pope Francis discussed the U.S. Conference of Bishops, saying that's a 'private conversation.'

And he revealed Pope Francis blessed his son Beau's rosary beads that he wears around his wrist.

At the press conference, Biden admitted that he didn't know his remarks presenting the pope with a command coin had been captured.

'I didn't realize you all were able to film what I was doing with the Pope when I gave him a command coin,' Biden said Sunday.

On Friday, standing next to the pope, Biden was seen saying: 'I'm not sure this is appropriate, but there's a tradition in America. That the president has what is called a command coin.'

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.

Biden arrived nearly an hour late to the press conference - the last item on his agenda in Rome.

'We were playing with elevators,' he said to excuse his tardiness. 'Long story anyway, good evening.'

During the 26-minute press conference he expressed regret that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping didn't attend the Rome gathering in person - after some climate activists called the G20 commitments on climate change underwhelming.

'The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia and ... China, basically didn't show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change,' Biden said. 'And there's a reason why people should be disappointed in that.

'I found it disappointing myself.'

He also expressed optimism that the two pieces of his agenda - stuck in Congress thanks to his own party - would make it into law.

'I believe we will pass my Build Back Better plan and I believe we will pass the infrastructure bill,' Biden said.

'But we'll see. We'll see,' he continued

'You know, you've all believed it wouldn't happen from the very beginning of the moment I announced it, and you always seem amazed when it's alive again,' he told the reporters in the room. '

'Well, you may turn out to be right. Maybe it won't work.

'But I believe we'll see by the end of next week at home that its passed.'

As he exited the hall, NBC's Peter Alexander asked him to give those in the room a thumbs up if he had commitments from Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema - the two moderates who are holding up the Build Back Better bill.

Biden waved as he departed - but it was unclear if his thumb was raised.

Shortly after, deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre played clean-up.

'As the President said during the press conference, he is confident we are going to get this done and the thumbs up was simply a visual restatement of that,' she said.

Earlier Biden announced that new U.S. and European Union trade deal would tackle 'dirty steel' that produces carbon emissions, outlined action to tackle supply chain problems, and met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an effort to ease strained relations between the NATO allies.

Mario Draghi, Italian prime minister and summit host, declared the weekend to be 'a success,' adding that this year felt different to previous meetings when leaders found it hard to agree.

'Something changed,' he said.

But for all the warm words the G20 leaders failed to make concrete commitments to key climate targets such as reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

'We recognize that the impacts of climate change at 1.5 degrees Celsius are much lower than at 2 degrees Celsius. Keeping 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries,' was the best they could manage in their joint statement.

During the day he hosted a side event with the European Union and other countries to strengthen supply chains.

He announced he would issue an executive order authorizing the Pentagon to more rapidly release items from the National Defense Stockpile

'Supply chain is something that most of our citizens never think twice about unless something goes wrong,' he said.

'And during this pandemic, weve seen delays and backlogs of goods.'
Huma Abedin contemplated suicide at the height of the sexting scandal that engulfed her now-estranged husband Anthony Weiner, Hillary Clintons former top aide has revealed in her new memoir.

Abedin revealed that it was her Muslim faith that got her through the difficult ordeal after Weiner finished in fifth place in the New York City Democratic Partys mayoral primary in September 2013.

Weiners once-promising hopes of conquering City Hall were dashed after it was revealed during the campaign that he had been exchanging explicit messages online with women.

'You write that, for a brief second, you contemplated walking off the subway platform?' Norah O'Donnell of CBS Evening News asks Abedin.

Abedin's memoir, Both/And, is due out in stores on Tuesday.

Huma Abedin contemplated suicide at the height of the sexting scandal that engulfed her now-estranged husband Anthony Weiner, Hillary Clintons former top aide has revealed in her new memoir

Abedin revealed that it was her Muslim faith that got her through the difficult ordeal after Weiner finished in fifth place in the New York City Democratic Partys mayoral primary in September 2013

'Well, one of the best things I've had in my life is my faith, and the belief that there is always a way through,' the 45-year-old Abedin said.

She also revealed that Weiner was having in-person affairs in the apartment that they shared.

'I know its hard for you to say it, but you found that he was having physical relationships in your apartment?' ODonnell asked.

Abedin responded: 'Yes.'

She added: 'It was that moment that I realized the way I had been handling my response to him was not working.'

When asked to comment by the New York Post, Weiner praised his estranged wife.

'Huma is a remarkable woman who has written a truly amazing book,' he told the Post.

'This is a time for her to tell her story. It is both riveting and ultimately uplifting.'

Abedin and Weiner are not officially divorced, though they are separated.

Abedin's memoir, Both/And, is due out in stores on Tuesday

When asked about their relationship as it currently stands, Abedin says: 'We are good.'

'He is my co-parent, and I learned the full truth, I processed it and moved on,' she continued.

'I wish him well. He, I hope, wishes me well. I think he does.'

When asked if she is still 'angry' at Weiner, the former member of Congress whose budding political career was destroyed by the scandals, she says: 'I cant live in that space anymore.

'I tried that. It almost killed me.'

Weiner and Abedin married back in 2010, in a star-studded ceremony at a Long Island mansion, officiated by President Bill Clinton, and during which Hillary Clinton called the bride the closest thing she had to a second daughter.

But the couple's high-powered political union hit troubled waters the following year.

Weiner was forced to step down from his seat in New York's 9th congressional district, after he accidentally tweeted a crotch-shot of himself in his underwear to the public, on his official page.

Abedin writes in the book that she was 'filled with rage' and 'stunned to the core' when Weiner confessed to her in 2011 that he accidentally posted a crotch picture in his grey boxers on Twitter, after convincing her for a week that it was 'the work of a hacker.'

She was newly pregnant with their son at the time and was traveling frequently with Clinton, then Secretary of State.

Weiner accidentally posted the photograph on his feed instead of sending it as a direct message to a woman he'd been flirting with on Twitter.

He first told Abedin that it was 'the work of a hacker,' which she believed, then after a week told her what had really happened.

''What's wrong?' I asked,' she wrote.

'And then, just like that, life as I knew it was officially over. 'It's true,' he said. 'I sent the picture...

'I was simultaneously filled with rage and stunned to my core. It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me and run straight through my body,' she wrote.

Huma Abedin is seen with Hillary Clinton in May 2005 - around the time that she was sexually assaulted by a senator

Abedin is pictured with Clinton in 2008, while she was still a senator for New York

Abedin, pictured in April 2016 with Clinton on the presidential campaign trail, has written a new book. In it, she reveals she was sexually assaulted by a senator

Abedin, born in Michigan to Indian and Pakistani parents, grew up in Saudi Arabia. Her book is titled Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds

Huma Abedin attends the 2021 Met Gala on September 13

In her memoir, Abedin told how she'd been traveling with Clinton and was staying at Buckingham Palace in the weeks before the crotch picture scandal erupted.

She had just discovered she was pregnant and wrote a letter to Weiner from the room where she was staying at the palace, saying: 'Dear Anthony  Is it possible for any two people to be happier or more blessed? Some days, I cannot believe it.

'We must remember to be grateful to God that He has given us so much. I love you. Huma Weiner, May 24, 2011.'

When the scandal exploded, Abedin said she was most upset when she learned The New York Times planned to report on her pregnancy.

She said she went into Clinton's office and sobbed.

'I wanted to tell you myself,' was all I could get out before I burst into tears.

'She walked me over to the window seat, sat with me, rubbing my back, trying to reassure me, telling me over and over again that it was going to be okay. I was crying so loudly that her assistant Claire Coleman closed the door to the outer office...

'After I don't know how long, when I caught my breath, HRC asked, 'Do you still want to go on this trip?'

''I think it's important for me to do my work,' I said, blowing my nose.

''I think it would be good for you to go, too,' she said,' Abedin wrote.

He resigned within a few weeks of the Twitter photograph scandal, then ran unsuccessfully for New York City mayor in 2013.

As he was leading in the polls, a young woman from Indiana named Sydney Leathers shared explicit photos and messages he sent her using the alias 'Carlos Danger.'

Still, Abedin stood by his side, making a public appearance in a rare press conference on July 23, 2013, telling reporters: 'I have forgiven him. I believe in him... I made that decision.

'That was a decision I made for me, for our son and for my family.'

But that decision was contrary to the advise she was getting from her friends and family - including Hillary Clinton - who told her not to appear with Weiner during the scandal.

'Everyone was calling me and saying - people who loved me - were calling and saying "Don't do this,"' she told O'Donnell, adding: 'I think if I had talked to Hillary or my mother or anybody in my family, they would've advised me against doing it.'

But, she said, 'I didn't take their calls.'

By 2016, DailyMail.com revealed that he had been sending lewd text messages to a 15-year-old girl that included more explicit photographs.

Abedin and Weiner are pictured in November 2015, at a fashion gala in New York City

Abedin and Weiner are seen in September 2017, in Manhattan Civil Court, for a hearing in their divorce case

This is the photo Weiner accidentally posted on Twitter. He intended to send it to a woman as a private message. The unedited version showed the outline of his penis

He served 18 months in prison before being released from jail in 2019.

Abedin announced in 2016 that she planned to separate from him but the pair has yet to finalize their divorce.

On Wednesday the pair was seen shopping together in New York's East Village.

The high-profile exes have occasionally been seen out together since they filed for divorce in 2017, following Weiner's sexting scandal with a 15-year-old girl.

Photographs show the pair - who have reportedly separated but are not yet divorced - walking through Manhattan together as Abedin, who is on the phone, carries a reusable grocery tote.

She is also seen pushing a fully loaded shopping cart at Target. Weiner did not appear to be near her at that time.

Abedin and Weiner appear to have remained civil despite their pending divorce.

They are said to be committed to co-parenting their only child, Jordan, but have no interest in a romantic reunion.

Last week, Abedin revealed that she was kissed by a senator against her will.

She recounted an incident from the 2000s, described in her new memoir, in which a senator invited her back to his apartment in Washington DC and surprised her by kissing her.

'I did go back to a senator's apartment - a senator who I knew and was very comfortable with - and he kissed me, in a very shocking way,' she told O'Donnell.

'Because it was somebody I had known, and, frankly, trusted.'

Abedin wrote in her memoir that she attended the dinner without Clinton, then-senator from New York, but with 'a few senators and their aides,' according to a copy of the book obtained by The Guardian.

'I ended up walking out with one of the senators, and soon we stopped in front of his building and he invited me in for coffee. Once inside, he told me to make myself comfortable on the couch.'

She said the senator took off his blazer, rolled up his sleeves and made coffee before sitting beside her on the couch.

'Then, in an instant, it all changed. He plopped down to my right, put his left arm around my shoulder, and kissed me, pushing his tongue into my mouth, pressing me back on the sofa.

'I was so utterly shocked, I pushed him away. All I wanted was for the last 10 seconds to be erased.'

The investigation into Weiner's devices began when DailyMail.com revealed that the disgraced congressman had an online sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl for months and sent her lewd messages and pictures

She said that the senator seemed shocked but apologized and said he had 'misread' their relationship.

Abedin said she then plotted how to leave 'without this ending badly,' as the senator asked her if she wanted to stay.

'Then I said something only the twentysomething version of me would have come up with  'I am so sorry'  and walked out, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.'

Abedin, now 45, said that she kept her distance from the senator 'for a few days,' but eventually ran into him on Capitol Hill.

He asked her at the time if they were still friends, and she nodded. She wrote that Clinton then came up to join them.

The Clinton aide said that the memory of the couch incident was suppressed until she read about Christine Blasey Ford 'being accused of "conveniently" remembering' her alleged assault at the hands of Brett Kavanaugh.

Ford came forward to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh, who had been nominated by then-President Donald Trump to take Justice Anthony Kennedy's spot on the Supreme Court.

Ford claimed Kavanaugh assaulted her at a gathering in high school, Kavanaugh claimed such an incident never happened and was still confirmed to the bench.

O'Donnell asked whether Abedin felt that the senator assaulted her.

'I'm suggesting that I was in an uncomfortable situation, with a senator, and I didn't know how to deal with it,' she replied.

'And I buried the whole experience. But in my own personal opinion, no.

'Did I feel like he was assaulting me in that moment? It didn't feel that way.

'It felt like I needed to extricate myself from that situation. And he also spent a lot of time apologizing and making sure I was OK.

'And we were actually able to rebalance our relationship.'

Abedin was asked by O'Donnell why she was speaking out now.

'I think for most of my adult life, certainly in the last 25 years that I've been in public service or in the public eye, I have been the invisible person behind the primary people in my life,' she said.

'But what I realize is that if you don't tell your story, somebody else is writing your history.'

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a United States-based suicide prevention network of over 160 crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 1-800-273-8255.

It is available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
A five-year-old girl was left in tears after a heartless gang of youths stole all of her candy while she was celebrating Halloween from home quarantine.

A Sydney mum put a trick or treat collection bowl outside her home in the city's inner-west on Sunday after her family were classed as Covid-19 close contacts and forced to self-isolate.

She left a note beside the bowl asking others to consider leaving a treat for her daughter - who she said was devastated to be kept indoors for Halloween.

A Sydney mother has told how her daughter (pictured) was left in tears after a heartless gang of youths stole her candy while she was celebrating Halloween from home quarantine

The mum told how a 'group of about 10 pre-teen boys' took all the treats from her daughter's collection bucket and ran off laughing - with the family helpless to stop them while confined to home quarantine

The little girl though was even more upset after a 'group of about 10 pre-teen boys' took all the treats from her collection bucket as she and her mother watched on helplessly.

'Not only did these boys take our entire bowl of treats, they also stole every item from the bucket we had put out to collect treats for our daughter,' the mother wrote in a local Facebook group.

'All while she watched through the window.

'When I tried to stop them - without being able to open the door - they ran off laughing and my sweet little girl burst into tears.'

The Sydney mum said almost all trick or treaters who came to her family's door were 'kind and lovely'.

She added some even waved to her daughter through the window as they left candy in her bowl.

The mum put a trick or treat collection bowl outside her home in the city's inner-west after her family were classed as Covid-19 close contacts - along with a note asking others to consider leaving a treat for her daughter

But the mother said her family's Covid-safe Halloween celebrations were ruined by the unruly group - who she wrote 'acted so disrespectfully'.

'If you are the parents of these boys, please let them know they stole from an innocent little girl that just wanted to be part of the fun,' she said.

'This group was without parents and acted so disrespectfully they ruined our night and left my daughter in tears.'
A Texas inmate on death row for killing a police officer was found dead in his cell Sunday.

Brandon Daniel, 33, was found unresponsive by a correctional officer at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston at 4:25 am Saturday. Officials entered his cell and determined he wasn't breathing.

Medics arrived but Daniel was declared dead less than an hour later. Officials say it doesn't appear to be an act of foul play.

Daniel's death will be investigated by the office of the inspector general and a medical examiner will perform an autopsy.

The former software engineer was convicted in the fatal shooting of officer Jaime Padron at a Wal-Mart in North Austin on April 6, 2012. Padron was responding to complaint's from employees about a potentially intoxicated man attempting to shoplift.

Brandon Daniel, 33, was found unresponsive in his cell at a Texas prison Saturday morning. Within the hour, he was declared dead

Officer Jaime Padron (pictured) was shot dead by the drunk software engineer at a Wal-Mart in North Austin on April 6, 2012

The two struggled on the floor of the Wal-Mart when Daniel shot Padron, killing him. Police quickly arrested him and found a magazine with six hollow-point bullets in his pocket. He had $57 worth of food, booze and other stolen items in his backpack.

Padron was a Marine veteran and the father of two daughters. He would later have a local elementary school named for him.

In an interview recorded by authorities at police headquarters, Daniel told detectives he was in the Wal-Mart to steal vegetables but tried to get away when he saw Padron.

On three occasions, he was seen by witnesses saying 'I killed a cop.'

It took only an hour of deliberations for a jury to find Daniel guilty of murder in February of 2014 and just eight hours before determining to send him to death row.

Jurors deliberated for an hour before finding Daniel guilty of capital murder in February 2014, and they then needed just eight hours of discussion before sentencing the former software engineer to die.

Daniel had sent a letter to a local judge a year later telling the court to waive any appeals in his case, admitting that he deserved his sentence.

The Allan B. Polunsky Unit, the Texas prison where Daniel was living

The Pollunsky Unit is a supermax prison used solely to house inmates on death row

'I want justice to be served, and I feel the punishment is appropriate for my crime,' he wrote. 'We are both interested in saving the taxpayer's money, the time of all involved and in sparing my family and the victim's family any more angst than necessary. And finally, I would like my time in prison to be the least amount as possible.'

However, Daniel's attorneys continued the appeal process. As recently as 2018 his case was struck down by the Supreme Court without comment.

Daniel's lawyers argue that the judge improperly communicated with jurors. They also said that his trial attorneys acted deficiently by ignoring or missing evidence that Daniel was on the autism spectrum.

A diagnosis could have explained why he had no remorse and the use of drugs and liquor to self-medicate. That could have caused the jury to give him life in prison rather than the death penalty.

There was no execution date set for Daniel.

Padron had been a police officer in North Austin for three years but had worked as a cop for well over a decade.
The corruption inquiry into Gladys Berejiklian's secret love affair with Daryl Maguire has resumed after moving behind closed doors for a period following a fiery morning where the former Premier was grilled over texts from the disgraced Liberal MP.

Ms Berejiklian barely gave an inch defending herself on the second day of her evidence to the ICAC inquiry in Sydney on Monday.

At the centre of the evidence heard on Tuesday were SMS messages she received from Mr Maguire in July 2018, demanding she get a second phone and download a Chinese messaging app.

In July 2018, four days after Mr Maguire called Ms Berejiklian fretting that the ICAC had tapped his phone, he texted the then-Premier inviting her to download the encrypted messaging platform WeChat.

'I'm chatting with my friends on WeChat now http://www.wechat.com,' Mr Maguire texted her.

'OK I will try, what about WhatsApp, that is easy as well. I will do it tomorrow because I don't know my password for apps,' Ms Berejiklian replied.

Mr Maguire then said: 'You need to get a private phone.'

Gladys was grilled over text messages between the pair where Daryl Maguire insisted she buy a new phone

Ms Berejiklian told the ICAC that she did not have a second phone, and never sought to get one.

'Many of my colleagues had two phones, one private, one business but because I was so busy and was so stressed, I always kept one phone throughout my entire career, I never had to (get a second phone),' she said.

'Many people did and many used to suggest that to me, outside of Mr Maguire, but I never chose to do that.'

Mr Robertson said Mr Maguire sent a further message to her saying: 'They can read texts but not the little green men. It leaves no trace.'

'Do you know what Mr Maguire was referring to by the little green men,' he asks Ms Berejiklian.

'No idea,' she replied.

'Could be a reference to the WeChat icon which is a green icon?' Mr Robertson said.

'It could have been, I've never used that, so I don't know,' she replied.

Ms Berejiklian gave evidence that she was on leave when she discovered the nature of the evidence given by Mr Maguire to a previous ICAC hearing on July 13 2018.

'I wasn't sure what was happening that day. He told me that he hadn't been involved in any wrongdoing but I could only go by the information conveyed to me by my staff member,' she said.

Mr Maguire 'told me he had not been involved in any wrongdoing, and my staff member conveyed to me that it was a very bad look, that he had been caught up in some people who had likely been, had done some wrongdoing,' she said.

'So there were still investigations as opposed to findings.'

Mr Robertson asked 'Is this at least right, it was apparent to you on or soon after the 13 July 2018 that Mr Maguire was closely associating himself with people who in all likelihood were doing things improperly?'

'That was a concern that he had been. Obviously, that's what the evidence showed, he had been associating himself, whether or not he knew what they were up to is another matter but certainly, that was the concern, that he had been caught up with people who were accused of doing wrong things, and that was a major concern,' Ms Berejiklian replied.

'But that was your understanding of the position, is this right, when Mr Maguire's evidence of the 13th of July 2018 came to your notice, namely that amongst other things Mr Maguire was closely associating himself with people who in all likelihood were doing things improperly,' said Mr Robertson.

'Yes, that was my concern,' she replied.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (top right) is being questioned by counsel assisting ICAC Scott Robertson (top left) and commissioner Ruth McColl (bottom right)

'You are concerned that he was directly involved with those individuals and with people with respect of whom there were shadows cast, is that right,' asked Mr Robertson.

'Concerned that he was definitely in their orbit. To what extent I didn't know, but at that time, there was, as should be the case, concern,' Ms Berejiklian replied.

'I was absolutely overwhelmed at the shock and grief of what had transpired,' in ICAC that day, she added. 'I can't express what a shock it was to the system.'

She said she spent the days afterwards thinking deeply about what she'd heard.

'I didn't suspect that he'd done anything horrendously wrong.'

The former premier recalled a conversation with her chief of staff Sarah Cruickshank on July 13, 2018, where she told her about her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire.

'(Ms Cruickshank) said, you know, stop having anything more to do with (Mr Maguire). And I did not take that bit of advice, obviously,' Ms Berejiklian told the ICAC.

Gladys faces killer question about how she could sack Daryl but not think something was wrong - as she repeatedly says 'she didn't know' 'To what extent I didn't know' 'I didn't know the extent of it' 'I don't know what I would have reported' 'I don't know what I would have said to this body' 'I certainly did not know of anything' 'I had no knowledge of that' 'I didn't know the extent of what was transpiring' 'I didn't know anything which would add to what this commission was looking at' 'I didn't know what else was part of that' 'I didn't know any details. I didn't know anything' Advertisement

July 13, 2018 was when Mr Maguire appeared before a previous ICAC inquiry.

ICAC commissioner Ruth McColl put it to Ms Berejiklian that she 'must have realised on 13 July, or soon thereafter, as you had more and more of those conversations with Ms Cruickshank, that the fact of your then relationship with Mr Maguire would have been explosive?'

'Absolutely,' Ms Berejiklian replied. 'That would have happened irrespective of the longevity or anything like that.

'That was already going to be the case, because I'd told (Ms Cruikshank) about the closeness of the relationship.'

Ms McColl asked: 'If it was an historic relationship which had preceded the time you were premier, that also preceded the time Ms Cruickshank was your chief of staff, did it not?'

'Yes,' replied Ms Berejiklian.

'And did you not have a discussion with Ms Cruickshank about whether or not there was anything in relation to the period that you had been premier that you needed to disclose having regard to that relationship,' said Ms McColl.

'I can't remember the exact - all the details of our conversation. But I made it known that I was close to him, it was off-again, on-again, and I tried to convey as much as I could ... That was what I remember telling her.'

Ms Berejiklian said as premier she was extremely busy. 'And I remember two things. I obviously divulged my closeness to Mr Maguire. And, secondly, my strong, strong view that I had nothing to report.'

Mr Robertson put it to Ms Berejiklian that she 'would have to accept that the question of whether the relationship was ongoing or historical, in the sense of being before you were premier, was apt to have a very significant impact on the level of political - to use the commissioner's terms - "explosiveness" of any information about your relationship. You'd agree with that, wouldn't you?'

'No, I don't accept that,' the former premier replied. 'The whole debate during these hearings, Mr Robertson, has been for the significance of the relationship and what I felt about it. And I don't think those matters would have made a difference.'

Earlier, Ms Berejiklian said 'I knew in my heart that I had never, ever, ever done anything wrong.

'In fact, anyone who has worked with me or knows me knows I'm not capable of that. Absolutely. But if I had any suspicion whatsoever that I knew anything or suspected anything (about Mr Maguire), of course I would not have hesitated (to tell ICAC about it), she said.

As proceedings opened, the former NSW premier tried to turn the tables on Scott Robertson, the counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Monday morning, but Ms Berejiklian was quickly scolded by Ms McColl for 'looking around corners'.

'But you are suggesting that I assumed any wrongdoing on (Mr Maguire's) part,' said Ms Berejiklian.

'I didn't use the word wrongdoing,' said Mr Robertson.

'But you are trying to, you're asking me to answer a question which would assume that I presumed or had any knowledge of wrongdoing and the straight answer is I had no assumption, no knowledge that there was any wrongdoing involved,' she said.

'Ms Berejiklian, it would be better than if you answer the question rather than looking around corners,' said Ms McColl.

Transcript of phone call between Gladys Berejiklian and her then lover Daryl Maguire, which was intercepted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption

The transcript of an intercepted phone call on July 5, 2018 recorded Mr Maguire telling Ms Berejiklian that he had been summonsed as a witness to a previous inquiry.

When Mr Maguire starts to explain the details, saying 'I think that Hawatt was to benefit from the skullduggery he was getting up to', she interrupts him, saying 'Don't, don't talk ... I don't, I don't want to know any of that stuff.'

Earlier, Ms Berejiklian told ICAC counsel Mr Robertson of Mr Maguire: 'I pressed him a number of times and he said he'd done nothing wrong.'

She also said she took Mr Maguire 'at this word'.

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured left) arrives at the Independent Commission Against Corruption on November 1 with one of her barristers, Sophie Callan (pictured right)

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured left) arrives at the ICAC on November 1, in Sydney, Australia. One of her barristers, Sophie Callan, is pictured on the right

Mr Robertson pressed Ms Berejiklian on whether she had any suspicions about Mr Maguire at this point in time.

In a tapped phone call from 2017, Mr Maguire told her he believed he might be able to secure a $1.5 million payment in relation to a land deal around the Badgerys Creek airport site in western Sydney.

'I didn't believe it would eventuate. I don't even think I was paying attention,' Ms Berejiklian said.

She said she had 'no appreciation or understanding of what he was up to' and just because Mr Maguire said certain things to her didn't mean she 'absorbed' it.

'Whether or not I listened or cared is another matter,' she said. 'I did not assume any wrongdoing.'

Ms Berejiklian added that 'My radar didn't go up.'

Gladys Berejiklian is seen on Sydney's north shore before her ICAC hearing on Monday

In a phone tap played to the ICAC, Ms Berejiklian told Mr Maguire she had secured $170 million for Wagga Wagga Base Hospital 'in five minutes' and said the then state Treasurer and now Premier Dominic Perrottet did what she asked him to.

Channel Seven's Sunrise program asked Mr Perrottet about that this morning.

'Your predecessor Gladys Berejiklian of course has given evidence at the ICAC inquiry. In exchange between her and Daryl Maguire she said, 'Dom does whatever I tell him to.' Were those comments a surprise to you,' asked host Natalie Barr.

'Not at all. Gladys and I have a great relationship. As Premier and treasurer you work very closely together,' Mr Perrottet said.

He said he didn't want to 'give a running commentary on the ICAC' but 'the strange thing ... was that the funding had been in the budget the year before'.

'So we have got a significant investment in healthcare facilities right across the state, Wagga Wagga is an important hospital the NSW government has been investing in.'

ICAC counsel Scott Robertson (pictured left) is questioning former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (right) at ICAC on Monday

Opening proceedings on Friday, ICAC counsel assisting Scott Robertson began with a killer question about her secret lover, Daryl Maguire.

'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.'

Ms Berejiklian said that she did not ask Mr Maguire for the key to her house that she had given to him back.

Mr Robertson asked Ms Berejiklian why she supported a multimillion-dollar proposal for the state government to pay for an upgrade of the Australian Clay Target Association (ACTA) gun club when Treasury said the submission did not demonstrate a net benefit to the state.

ACTA is based in Wagga Wagga and the project was strongly supported by her then secret boyfriend Mr Maguire.

At the time of the proposal in December 2016 Ms Berejiklian was NSW treasurer and chair of the government's expenditure review committee (ERC).

'The bush was on fire in terms of their attitude to the government,' Ms Berejiklian said. 'We'd just lost a seat to the Shooters Party.'

Her view was that supporting the gun club proposal project would have 'kept a portion of the community pleased' and the government was keen to show it wasn't ignoring the bush.

Asked if her support for the proposal could have been influenced by her relationship with Mr Maguire, Ms Berejiklian said: 'It could have been part of the consideration but the ... strongest consideration was the consequence of the Orange by-election.'

In a testy exchange that set the tone for the day on Friday, Mr Robertson asked Ms Berejiklian about her understanding of the proceedings.

'Are you having some difficulty with my questions? I am trying to frame them in a precise way as well so you can answer them yes or no.

Gladys Berejiklian began giving evidence to ICAC on Friday

'Are you having some difficulty understanding my questions,' he asked.

Ms Berejiklian replied: 'Mr Robertson, I'm just concerned that you are skewing the fact that all of my colleagues rightfully deserve my attention and my advocacy and my support for things that mattered in their communities.'

'Skewing or not, you understand that your role as a witness is to direct yourself to the questions that are being asked, you understand that?' Mr Robertson responded.

'Yes, I do,' she replied.

'You have senior counsel to represent you who have an opportunity to ask for clarification. You understand that, don't you?'

'I do, yes.'
A devastated Australian barred from visiting his dying mother in Western Australia after arriving in Sydney has lashed out at Mark McGowan.

The man landed at Kingsford Smith Airport on board one of the first 16 quarantine-free flights to hit Australian shores in nearly two years this morning.

The WA premier insists residents stranded in NSW can't return home even for compassionate reasons due to the state's classification as 'extreme risk'.

'I am scared and emotional because I really want to see my mum,' the teary traveller told reporters at the airport.

'Because the doctor has said she doesn't have long and I'm going to do whatever I can today to see her.'

A devastated overseas arrival (pictured) who has been barred from visiting his dying mother in Western Australia has sent a brutal message to Mark McGowan

The man pleaded for assistance from the NSW Health Department to help him find a way around the extreme border measure and reunite with his sick mother.

'She's been in permanent care for a few years and it's been so long since I've seen her, I love her heaps and I just want to get back there,' he said.

The man then addressed the WA premier on live TV and begged for his compassion.

'Mark, think of the people suffering mentally to see their family, that's also a health issue, I know we have to protect people's lives but you have to bring families back together,' he said.

'We respect you are trying to be safe but everybody needs to be together, please.'

The teary traveller (pictured) said he would do whatever he could to return to Western Australia to visit his dying mother

A devastated traveller has addressed Mark McGowan (pictured) on live TV and begged him to allow overseas arrivals stranded in NSW to come home to Western Australia

The WA Government pledged to continue to keep classifying NSW as 'extreme risk' to discourage people from using Sydney as a pitstop for overseas travel.

Residents from the isolated state who land in NSW on the first day of quarantine-free travel will still be barred from returning home, even on compassionate grounds.

Mr McGowan repeatedly claimed that by relaxing restrictions and reopening to the rest of the world, NSW risked a rise in Covid-19 infections.

The hardline premier said he 'did not want to encourage' Western Australians to board an international flight via Sydney.

'It could mean that under NSW's arrangements, if we drop them to what's called "high", people could go out of NSW overseas, come back into NSW without quarantining, and then demand to come back to WA,' Mr McGowan said.

International travellers have embraced their loved ones for the first time in months after the first of the quarantine-free flights touched down at Sydney airport

'This is the quandary we are in. We don't want to encourage that because all it will mean is we get spread of the virus before such time as we have high enough levels of vaccination.'

The leader said he wanted to boost vaccination rates before allowing residents from NSW and Victoria to enter his state and potentially spread the virus.

Just over 61 per cent of Western Australians are vaccinated.

Mr McGowan is the only state or territory leader yet to announce a roadmap or a concrete date for dropping interstate border restrictions.

Emotional reunions unfolded as the first of the overseas flights arrived at Kingsford Smith Airport before dawn on Monday

Travellers emerged from the airport gates to run into the arms of their loved ones and embrace family members who had been patiently waiting for them

Emotional reunions unfolded as the first of the overseas flights arrived at Kingsford Smith Airport before dawn on Monday.

Travellers emerged from the airport gates to run into the arms of their loved ones and embrace family members who had been eagerly waiting for them.

It marks the first time in 590 days that some families have seen each other after international borders were closed in March 2020.

Under the change to international travel, vaccinated passengers won't have to quarantine in a hotel or at home, paving the way for Australians stranded overseas to be able to come home for Christmas.

Families were reunited for the first time in nearly two years as emotional reunions unfolded outside the arrivals gate on Monday

Families wheel their luggage out the front entrance of the airport after finally being reunited on Monday

Sydney Airport staff carried platters of muffins and savory snacks, Qantas staff donned 'welcome' signs, and a band set up outside - potentially to play 'I still call Australia home'.

Toni and Theo walked in holding a 'welcome home balloon' and blue teddy bear for their infant granddaughter Emilia, who they'd never met.

'Our daughter is flying in from Spain with our granddaughter - we haven't seen her since 2019,' the 67-year-old said.

'Her flights kept getting cancelled, but she was lucky because she would have had to go into quarantine.'

When their daughter Melissa walked through the gates, Toni broke down.

Travellers arrive at Sydney's International Airport as early morning flights arrived from Los Angeles, Japan and Singapore

A returned traveller speaks to media waiting outside the airport as quarantine-free flights touched down in Sydney

As the returned travellers walked through the arrival gates to reunite with loved ones, outgoing passengers were saying goodbye to their families before walking through the departure gates as overseas travel resumed.

Prospective travellers hugged their loved ones goodbye at the taxi stand for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Vivian, in her 50s, said a teary-eyed farewell to her best friend Heather before finally leaving for New York to see her partner and two sons.

The pair were ecstatic.

'First of November, what a day!' Heather said.

Vivian added: 'Both my boys are in college so I had to get a travel exemption for three months and that came through and I made a lot of bookings - five or six, and then eventually landed on this one.'

Heather also explained her neighbour is finally coming home today after spending two years in Dubai.

A returned traveller pushes his luggage through the terminal after the first of the quarantine-free flights touched down in Sydney on Monday

A woman waiting at the arrivals gate waves to her mother who was among the returned travellers on the first of the quarantine-free flights to land in Sydney on Monday

Ava, 27, hasn't seen her boyfriend of six years in two years and is finally flying to Singapore today.

'It was scary before because there was no news about when I could see him, and I don't know when I'll be able to see him again after this, but I am feeling excited.'

'But so many other partners are still separated with no idea when they'll be able to see their loved ones again.'

Alex, 31, was carrying a sun hat while waiting for her flight to New York, and eventually Mexico for her niece's second birthday.

'I'm excited,' she said.

'I know the lockdowns were necessary, but it's been a long time since we've been able to see family members.'

Pakoe, 33, is excited to fly to Fiji with two friends to Fiji for three months to see his family.

'I haven't seen them in three years,' he said.

Another woman and her husband are flying to New York to introduce her 1.5 year old son to her parents for the first time.

Jovial scenes were at the arrival section of Sydney airport early Monday morning.

A returned traveller is reunited with their loved one after the first planes touched down at Sydney Airport on Monday

Alex, 31, was carrying a sun hat while waiting for her flight to New York, and eventually Mexico for her niece's second birthday

Ava, 27, hasn't seen her boyfriend of six years in two years and is finally flying to Singapore today

Meanwhile, fully jabbed people in NSW can from Monday start travelling freely between Greater Sydney and the regions.

The lifting of intrastate travel restrictions will allow families to reunite for the first time in months and marks the return of regional tourism.

'For the first time in a long time, grandparents will be able to visit grandkids... many people will be reunited,' Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Sunday.

He's confident it's a safe time to allow Sydneysiders back into the rest of the state, with double dose vaccination coverage now nearing 88 per cent.

The border opening is estimated to bring a $1 billion a week surge in consumer spending.

As of Saturday, 83.6 per cent of eligible NSW residents aged years and over 16 had received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine and 87.7 per cent were fully vaccinated.

Vivian (left), in her 50s, said a teary-eyed farewell to her best friend Heather (right) before finally leaving for New York to see her partner and two sons

A returned traveller pushes his suitcases on a trolley after arriving in Sydney on Monday

Monday will also see the state's vaccine booster program open to adults who received their second jab six months ago or longer.

Pfizer doses will be available from pharmacies, GP clinics and state-run hubs across the state.

Nationally, rapid antigen tests also become available on Monday.

The changes come as NSW continues to see virus case numbers and hospitalisations fall, after lockdown rules began to be eased three weeks ago.

Some 177 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 statewide in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, 59 fewer than the day before and the lowest daily tally in more than three months.

Now 340 people are in hospital with the virus, including 78 in intensive care.

One death was announced on Sunday - an unvaccinated woman in her 70s from southwestern Sydney.

International travellers have touched down at Sydney airport as the border to NSW re-opens in a landmark day for the state's COVID-19 response

The first overseas flight touched down at Kingsford Smith Airport before dawn on Monday

International travel

Australians who have spent the past year-and-a-half itching to go overseas will now be able to do so as long as they've received both jabs and are permanent residents or citizens.

Travellers will no longer need to apply for an exemption to leave the country but will need to show proof of their vaccination status.

Those under the age of 12 or who can't be vaccinated due to medical reasons will also be allowed to travel.

Australians will also need to show proof of a negative PCR Covid test taken 72 hours before they leave the country.

Travellers under the age of five will not need to receive a Covid test.

Those living in Australia who aren't citizens or don't have permanent residency are still banned from returning Down Under if they were to leave.

Under the change, fully vaccinated passengers won't have to quarantine in a hotel or at home, paving the way for Australians stranded overseas to be able to come home for Christmas

Quarantine restrictions

For those who are double-vaxxed and returning to Australia, there is no longer a requirement to quarantine at home or in a hotel upon arrival in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

This means the gruelling fortnight confined to a hotel room will be a thing of the past, with travellers having had to fork out thousands of dollars to pay for their accommodation.

But the new freedoms do not apply to other states and territories.

In Tasmania, fully-vaccinated travellers can arrive in the state without having to quarantine from December 15.

They will need to provide a negative Covid test 72 hours before arrival.

Tassie residents who have been out of the state for less than a week will not need to be tested.

Qantas has already taken bookings for nearly 500,000 domestic flights within the past fortnight (pictured, Qantas crew on October 28)

Meanwhile Queensland's borders are set to open on December 17, in line with the state hitting the 80 per cent double vaccination target.

South Australia will welcome back fully-vaccinated domestic travellers from November 23 without quarantine, and international travellers once 90 per cent are double vaxxed.

The Northern Territory will allow travellers from hot spots to home quarantine as of November 23.

Western Australia, which has remained mostly shut off to the rest of the country during the pandemic, is yet to reveal its reopening plan - much to the disappointment of families shut off from their loved ones.
The Prince of Wales will argue that a 'war-like footing' is needed to tackle the climate crisis as he opens the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

The royal, who will speak at the opening ceremony of the major conference on Monday, is expected to call for a 'vast military-style campaign' to address urgent environmental issues.

He is expected to stress the urgency of dealing with the climate crisis, saying: 'We have to put ourselves on what might be called a war-like footing.'

The prince will go on to urge leaders across the globe to systematically engage with business to solve the climate problems the world faces.

Prince Charles will argue that a 'war-like footing' is needed to tackle the climate crisis during his speech at COP26

He is expected to say: 'We need a vast military-style campaign to marshal the strength of the global private sector. With trillions at its disposal.'

Earlier today Prince Charles made an impassioned plea to stop climate change for 'generations yet unborn' as he spoke ahead of the Cop26 summit.

In a rare political intervention, the heir to the throne told world leaders that it was 'impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people' demanding action.

He warned that the summit in Glasgow is the 'last-chance saloon' to limit global warming.

Speaking to the G20 summit in Rome, the Prince of Wales also called for trillions of dollars of investment by companies into new technology.

In his starkest warning yet on climate change, he told world leaders: 'Ladies and gentlemen, Cop26 begins in Glasgow tomorrow.

'Quite literally, it is the last-chance saloon. We must now translate fine words into still finer actions.

'As the enormity of the climate challenge dominates people's conversations, and as the future of humanity and nature herself are at stake, it is surely time to set aside our differences and grasp this unique opportunity to launch a substantial green recovery by putting the global economy on a confident, sustainable trajectory and, thus, save our planet.'

He added: 'The planet's health today will dictate the health, happiness and economic prosperity of generations to come  hence our overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn.

'It is also impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands.'

The Prince of Wales (pictured with British Ambassador to Italy Jill Morris) will speak at the opening ceremony of the COP26 summit in Glasgow tomorrow

The royal is expected to call for a 'vast military-style campaign' to address urgent environmental issues

Prince Charles told the politicians that the private sector is 'eager' to work with them and 'ready to play a hugely significant and game-changing role'.

He said solutions to major issues 'seem possible only if there is a much closer partnership between Government, the main multilateral banks, the private sector and its investors'.

Calling for trillions of dollars of investment, he said businesses need guarantees from leaders before they invest in technology.

He added that after almost 50 years of his own efforts in trying to raise awareness of the growing crisis 'I am at last sensing a change in attitudes and the build-up of positive momentum'.

On Monday, Prince Charles is due to welcome leaders to COP26 in Glasgow. The Queen was due to attend but has been advised to rest by her doctors.

After his speech, Charles will attend the launch, by leaders from the fashion industry, of a new digital marker for sustainability.
Much as she may wish she was here in Glasgow, the Queen is definitely better off following medical advice and taking things easy at Windsor.

For as of last night, registrations for the Cop26 climate change summit had reached a staggering 38,895 people  not including all the world leaders who turn up this morning. Thats an awful lot of people from all over the world  193 countries in total.

Indeed, it is more people than all the delegations at the London 2012 Olympics combined and here they are all coughing and sniffling in a confined space.

Greta Thunberg on BBC's The Andrew Marr show this Friday, where she said that sometimes people need to be angered

It is heck of a space, however. This thing is not so much a conference centre as several conference centres bolted together.

Indeed, it is the size of an international airport, with all the attendant security and queuing, except it is full of people all heading to the same destination: gloomland.

In every meeting room, cafe, exhibition hall and lecture theatre the message is the same: the world is on the edge of the cliff and, if something substantial does not come out of this summit, then over the edge we go.

Step outside this fortress complex of steel, glass and gale-thwacked marquees on the banks of the Clyde and you encounter an equally apocalyptic prognosis from the massed ranks of environmental action groups, charities and lobbyists.

Women from organisation Women Wont Wheesht dressed as witches in Glasgow, as the Cop26 summit kicks off in the city

They have been allocated a parallel summit site on the other side of the river.

Called the Green Zone, it opens this morning with thousands of activists from hundreds of organisations all preaching furiously to the converted.

A quick look at the line-up shows that the actor Sir Mark Rylance, something called Poets for the Planet, the Global Citizens Assembly and a team of astronauts are just some of the star turns today  and this summit runs for two weeks.

Meanwhile, camped out somewhere in her Glasgow safe house is Swedens Greta Thunberg.

The bonsai teenage prodigy of climate activism arrived here (by train, of course) at the weekend, to be mobbed by adoring fans.

One click of her fingers, as ever, will bring legions on to the streets.

Somewhere out to sea, the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, is apparently heading for Glasgow and threatening to run the gauntlet of police launches patrolling the Clyde and sail right up to the summit site.

Members of Extinction Rebellion marching through Edinburgh ahead of the first day of Cop26 in Glasgow

You have to wonder why they are bothering since absolutely no one here disagrees with the core message anyway. The view is unanimous: were doomed, unless...

It is remarkable to be in a place where quite so many people are all in such passionate agreement with each other on the same central point.

As of last night, Boris Johnson was saying the same: If Glasgow fails, then the whole thing fails.

So we have the Tory leader, the massed ranks of militant Thunbergians, Greenpeace, an orchestra of refugee musicians, a posse of indigenous storytellers from the Pacific and umpteen others all saying exactly the same thing.

And yet, I can find no one who seems remotely confident that we will see the requisite result when this summit concludes at the end of next week.

So why bother? Why did we ever stick up our hand and volunteer to host the largest single event ever staged on British soil, one which will cost the British taxpayer up to 250 million?

Alok Sharma, Britain's Cop26 president, spoke at the climate conference on its first day this Sunday

Well, at least no one can accuse the UK of not trying.

The man charged with trying to snatch some sort of victory from this widely predicted defeat was in overdrive yesterday.

Five years ago, Alok Sharma was the backbench Tory MP for Reading West. Yesterday, he was being addressed variously as Your Excellency, Mr President and, unofficially, as the man with the world on his shoulders.

It was at the start of last year that Boris Johnson put him in charge of running this summit, after ex-Tory leaders David Cameron and William Hague declined.

Until then, Mr Sharma had been Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and a rising Tory star.

The Prime Minister told him he could keep his Cabinet seat but that he would, henceforth, be the designated president of Cop26 and his task was to deliver a result.

This is the most important Cop  Conference of the Parties  since Cop21 in Paris in 2015. The big ones come round every five years but this one got pushed back a year by Covid.

With an extra years worth of data and performance to work through, it has the longest agenda of any gathering in Cop history.

It was a somewhat subdued start yesterday morning as the president of Cop25, Chiles Carolina Schmidt, handed over the reins.

There is pressure for this conference to achieve results as activists and politicians urge something urgently needs to done to address the climate crisis

She began with a minutes silence for all the global victims of Covid and then announced that she was proud to pass the mantle to His Excellency Alok Sharma.

There was polite applause around the cavernous assembly room, named Cairn Gorm and pretty much the size of a real Cairngorm.

The set looks like a cross between a Tory Party Conference  a huge blue backdrop plus Union flags scattered to remind everyone who the hosts are  and the United Nations. Row upon row of desks are laid out in alphabetical order by country.

Behind them come row upon row of international agencies and approved organisations. I sat behind IGAD-IPAC, ILRI, INBAR and IRENA who, in turn, were sitting behind Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Mr Sharma had just done the rounds of the Sunday morning TV talk shows without any trouble and was now going straight into his inaugural address to the summit.

He was polished, calm, businesslike, exuding none of the bluster which his boss was deploying over at the G20 summit in Rome.

But then he did used to be an accountant before he caught the politics bug. The PM clearly wanted a safe pair of hands, not another showman, for this job.

The lights are flashing red on the climate dashboard, was the closest he got to being alarmist.

If we act now and we act together we can protect our precious promise and ensure where Paris promised, Glasgow delivers.

He was not as defeatist as most. As he explained all day, projections for global warming were a whopping six degree-rise before the Paris summit. After that meeting, projections fell to below four degrees.

Now, they are nearer two degrees and he is pushing to get that down to 1.5. If he fails, it will not be his fault. If he succeeds, Mr Johnson may find he has a new contender for his crown.

President Sharma was followed by a speech of welcome from the leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, of the Scottish National Party. She urged delegates to get out of the complex and talk to a Glaswegian during their stay.

'If youre feeling a little bit bolder, a little bit bolshier, thats the Glasgow effect, she added.

This may explain her peculiar outburst last week when she blamed the citys current bin strike and subsequent plague of rats on Margaret Thatcher. Yesterday, however, she was all smiles.

Cop 26 is formally under way. Yesterday was just the warm-up, however. Today, the world leaders arrive and the party really gets going, though its already a squeeze. Asking Her Majesty to welcome them all by Zoom is definitely the right idea.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed on Sunday evening she had tested positive for COVID-19 after deciding not to travel with President Biden to the G20 summit in Rome because members of her family had already received positive tests.

Psaki, 42, who has had two doses of vaccine, said she was last in contact with the president on Tuesday, and the two sat more than 6 feet apart while wearing masks.

It makes her the most visible member of the Biden administration to test positive.

'While I have not had close contact in person with the president or senior members of the White House staff since Wednesday  and tested negative for four days after that last contact  I am disclosing todays positive test out of an abundance of transparency,' she said in a statement.

'I last saw the president on Tuesday, when we sat outside more than six-feet apart, and wore masks.'

She was a late scratch from Biden's trip to summit in Rome, replaced on the trip by principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Sunday announced she had tested positive for COVID-19 after opting to travel with President Biden to the G20 summit in Rome

She was last at the White House delivering a briefing on October 27, a day before the president left for Rome and the G20 summit

President Biden's press secretary would have expected to make the trip to Rome and Glasgow for such an important series of meetings

Psaki issued a statement on Twitter detailing how she had stayed home after members of her family tested positive on Wednesday

Psaki is seen here with Jean-Pierre and other members of the press team at the White House

Officials at the time cited a family emergency.

Psaki said: 'On Wednesday, in coordination with senior leadership at the White House and the medical team, I made the decision not to travel on the foreign trip with the President due to a family emergency, which was members of my household testing positive for COVID-19.'

She said she was working from home.

'Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms which has enabled me to continue working from home.

'I will plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of the ten day quarantine following a negative rapid test, which is an additional White House requirement, beyond CDC guidance, taken out of an abundance of caution.'

Biden arrived in Rome on Thursday.

After an audience with the pope on Friday, and two days of G20 summitry over the weekend he flies to Scotland on Monday for a major U.N. climate conference.

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre replaced Psaki at the 11th hour for the six-day trip to Europe

Biden spent the weekend shaking hands with world leaders. Here he is seen with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen after talking to reporters about tariffs

His press secretary would usually be expected to attend such an important trip and Biden's chance to make an impact at multiple global summits as president.

White House staff and others traveling with the president have been undergoing daily tests for COVID-19 since before departing Washington and are all fully vaccinated.

Many officials have also received booster shots, due to the close-quarters environment and frequent travel associated with their work.

Biden got his COVID-19 booster on Sept 27, shortly after federal regulators approved the third dose for many Americans.

He is also tested every couple of weeks.

Vice President Kamala Harris got hers on Saturday.

In contrast, Biden's predecessor Donald Trump eschewed masks and repeatedly played down the risks.

He caught COVID-19 towards the end of the 2020 presidential campaign and his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, also caught the virus.
Shackled, shellshocked and with one arm chained to a step-ladder in a sparse, darkened room, this is 'kidnapped' British former public schoolboy Sam Demilecamps moments after he was found by Italian police.

Clutched in his free hand is a mobile phone the carabinieri gave him so he could let his family know he was safe.

The police photograph, obtained exclusively by the Mail, was taken inside the first-floor flat in Monte San Giusto, central Italy, where Mr Demilecamps, 25, said he had been held captive for eight days by a gang who, he claimed, beat and tortured him, and fed him 'leftovers like a dog'.

Sam Demilecamps, 25, said he was held captive for eight days in Monte San Giusto, central Italy, by a gang who, he claimed, beat and tortured him, and fed him 'leftovers like a dog'

His alleged ordeal came to light when he sent a desperate text message to his father, who alerted the authorities.

'I owe money to very dangerous people,' the message said. 'This is matter of life and death  if I don't get 7,000 euros (6,000) I'm dead tomorrow.'

Friends received equally desperate messages and also raised the alarm. Italian law enforcement, working in conjunction with the National Crime Agency (NCA), traced the phone signal to the flat in Monte San Giusto.

On October 13, within 36 hours of being contacted by Mr Demilecamps's family and friends, a team from the carabinieri's special operations division had raided it.

Three young men and a woman have appeared in court on charges of 'kidnapping for the purpose of extortion'.

A statement by Mr Demilecamps, who was educated at 36,000-a-year Hampshire boarding school Lord Wandsworth College, was submitted to the judge.

Sam Demilecamps when police broke-in to the apartment. Mr Demilecamps, 25, was found malnourished and chained to a stepladder after he phoned his estranged father saying he needed 6,000

Mr Demilecamps told how he was abducted from a park in Florence, where he had been staying in a hostel, bundled into a vehicle and driven more than 200 miles south to Monte San Giusto.

'My captors had seen me spending lavishly,' he said. 'They kicked and punched me, used a taser and pepper spray, then dragged me into a car and gave me tranquillisers. They drove me to Monte San Giusto. I was held underwater in a bath and beaten.'

This certainly sounds a terrifying ordeal. But now, with Sam Demilecamps returned to safety and his captors under house arrest and awaiting their day in court, troubling questions are beginning to emerge that cast doubt on Sam's version of events.

It has left onlookers asking: was he really subjected to kidnap and torture? Or, as his 'captors' claim, could he have exaggerated the 'kidnap' plot in order to extort money from his wealthy parents.

During extensive inquiries by the Mail in Britain and Italy, we have investigated the varying accounts.

And what we have learned has left even some members of Sam Demilecamps's own family are sceptical about his story.

For, it is claimed, he knew his 'kidnappers'. More than that, according to their lawyer, they were friends. He also owed them money, it appears  money he couldn't repay, despite his privileged upbringing.

Sam Demilechamps mother Jally McCall and her husband Derek, the managing director of a biotechnology company, live in a 2.5 million home in Hampshire

These facts cast a very different complexion on the 'kidnap' plot that made headlines here and in Italy. Sam Demilecamps  whose parents divorced when he was young and have now remarried  is certainly from well-to-do background.

His mother and stepfather, the managing director of a biotechnology company, live in a 2.5 million home in Hampshire. His father is a former investment banker who used to work in England but now lives in Brussels.

So one of the questions the Italian police asked at the very beginning was this: why, considering the 'victim's' background, was the ransom demand so low?

Mr Demilecamps had been in Italy since June, visiting Naples, Sorrento, Bologna and Florence, before arriving on the Adriatic coast in July, where he is said to have met the four: Rubens Beliga Gnaga, 18, Ahmed Rajraji, 21, Dona Conte, 22, and his girlfriend, Aurora Carpani, 20.

Given their ages  Gnaga is still a teenager  they don't fit the stereotype of ruthless Mafioso-type kidnappers.

A video filmed by Rajraji on his mobile phone  unearthed during our research, and showing Mr Demilecamps diving off rocks into a river near the rest of the group  would seem to confirm that they all knew each other.

Aurora Carpani, 20, is one of the group of four arrested over the kidnapping of the Briton

'You see, you can swim,' Rajraji can be heard telling Mr Demilecamps.

Lawyers for the defendants, who are all unemployed and live between Monte San Giusto and the nearby town of Montegraro, have similar videos and photographs.

'We have many photographs and videos shot by our clients showing them being friendly with Sam, going out together, at the beach, swimming,' attorney Vando Scheggia  who is representing Rajraji  said this week.

'They regularly hung out during the summer.'

Nor is it 'clear', he pointed out, when the scratches and bruises on Mr Demilecamps  highlighted in another police photograph  were inflicted.

Speaking on behalf of the legal team, Mr Scheggia questioned the motive for the alleged kidnap: that Mr Demilecamps became a target after splashing money around.

'Sam bragged about his family's wealth with the people he met in Italy, but he slept in hostels and travelled by bus,' said Mr Scheggia.

'He was penniless. He didn't have any money with him and his credit card either didn't work or was blocked.'

Last year, he offered his Harley-Davidson motorbike for sale online for 6,000  a similar sum to the 'ransom'.

'I'm only selling it because I need the money,' he wrote. Before embarking on his travels abroad, Mr Demilecamps worked as a chef in Brighton, where he is known to have borrowed money from at least one friend.

It's a habit that continued in Italy and eventually culminated, according to Mr Scheggia, in the international drama which unfolded in Monte San Giusto earlier this month when the carabinieri, working with the NCA's Anti Kidnap and Extortion Unit, surrounded the flat where Mr Demilecamps said he was being held hostage.

The apartment was hardly an obvious place to hold a kidnap victim. Gnaga's father, a truck driver, lived there, but allowed his son and his friends to use it when he was away.

'He [Mr Demilecamps] was in the flat voluntarily,' Mr Scheggia insisted.

'It isn't true that he was tortured and beaten up there. They had meals together. He [Mr Demilecamps] even cooked for them. He wasn't given leftovers 'like a dog' as he said.'

But he did owe the four money, Mr Scheggia admitted. He said Mr Demilecamps agreed to stay in the flat while he tried to get the cash to repay them; this, essentially, is the substance of Rubens Gnaga's statement to the court.

Were drugs involved? Marco Fabiani, former lawyer for Carpani, believes there might have been.

Mr Demilecamp's 'likes' on Facebook include 'Stoner Nation', 'Ganja [cannabis] Friend' and 'Daily Dope.'

Back in Brighton, a neighbour said noisy parties where drug use was believed to be rife were often held in the flat where Mr Demilecamps lived, opposite the White Rabbit pub in the city centre.

At the apartment in Monte San Giusto, meanwhile, Mr Demilecamps began appealing to friends in Sussex to wire him the money he owed, around 7,000 euros (6,000).

One, who asked not be identified, received a flurry of 'desperate' calls and WhatsApp messages over several days.

'I have known Sam for a few years after meeting him through friends, he said. 'I've lent him money twice before  a few hundred quid  and he paid it back.

'He called me from Italy and he sounded distressed. He said he was being held against his will, was being controlled and could I help him because he was in terrible danger.

'I was sceptical. But he had always paid me back, so I said I could give him 300 euros. He said he needed more than that  thousands  but I told him I was not in a position to send him that much.'

The 300 euros were paid into Rubens Gnaga's account. Would a kidnapper really have given Sam Demilecamps details of his bank account for the 'ransom' to be paid into?

The final WhatsApp message sent to him and several others gave Sam's exact location in Monte San Giusto.

It read: 'Forward this to the police and my mum, anyone who can help. This is where I am being held hostage. I don't have much time.'

Wouldn't kidnappers have taken Sam Demilecamps's mobile phone from him when they snatched him? The friend said he alerted the police and spoke to officers from the Metropolitan force.

Mr Demilecamps's stepfather, Derek McCall, 61, and mother Jalaleh, 60, known as Jally, received the same kind of messages, as did his father, Patrick.

Some of the messages showed Mr Demilecamps handcuffed, Mr Scheggia told us, but he said: 'Sam would have the others handcuff him when he asked for money, so they could see him in that state.'

Was he ever held against his will? Only briefly, at the end, when Mr Demilecamps thought about leaving, without settling his debts, according to Mr Scheggia.

He was then handcuffed to the step-ladder, he said. By then, the police had traced his mobile signal, and the next day he was freed.

So the photograph of a shackled Mr Demilecamps  published for the first time today  is genuine.

Mr Scheggia is adamant, however, that Mr Demilecamps was never tasered, tranquillised or tortured. Nor was he ever abducted from a park in Florence.

Mr Scheggia's colleague, Marco Fabiani, who was initially part of the defence team, added: 'The kids just wanted their money back and he was attached to a stepladder which allowed him to move around. He could have screamed. But he didn't  why?'

The old lady who lives above the apartment certainly didn't hear anything suspicious.

'I often bump into Gnaga coming and going,' she said. 'He and his friends all seemed nice boys.

'During the summer they made a lot of noise, music, parties until late and always lots of people chatting and taking pictures on the balcony. But during those days of the 'kidnap' it was utter silence.'

Whatever the truth, the four suspects have all paid a heavy price for their involvement with Sam Demilecamps.

They are currently under house arrest, which could continue for up to four months when, by law, it has to be either lifted or extended.

New judges could downgrade the charges. If Mr Demilecamps gave false information to the police, he could also be summoned to stand trial.

If, on the other hand, the charges stand, kidnapping for the purpose of extortion carries a sentence of up to 30 years in jail.

It's not the first time Mr Demilecamps, who describes himself as an 'adrenaline junkie', has made the headlines.

In 2016, he broke a vertebra after leaping 180ft into the sea from a cliff at Taormina in Sicily for a bet. He had to be airlifted to hospital by helicopter.

'He is either very brave or very stupid or maybe a combination of both, but he was certainly fortunate to survive,' a police spokesman said then.

He is not remembered fondly by staff at the White Rabbit pub opposite his old flat in Brighton, where he was once barred for 'obnoxious' behaviour.

Mr Demilecamps is believed to have returned home to Britain. His stepfather and mother declined to discuss the 'kidnap'.

But a source close to the family said: 'It seems the situation is not quite what it appeared . . . we all know about Sam's cliff jump. That sums up what he's like. And he spends money he hasn't got.'

His father, Patrick Demilecamps, said he didn't 'have anything to add to what has already become public knowledge'.

According to the family source, after his son was freed, Mr Demilecamps was asked by the police if he could pay for him to be put up at a hotel for a few nights.

When he subsequently spoke to his son and questioned him about what exactly had happened, Sam is understood to have put the phone down.

Having read this article, you may have drawn your own conclusions.

Additional reporting: TIM STEWART
Boris Johnson will exhort world leaders tomorrow to back up their talk on climate change with action - warning it is 'one minute to midnight'.

The PM is kicking off the COP26 summit in Glasgow desperately trying to get momentum, after securing only lukewarm commitments at the G20 summit in Rome over the weekend.

In a speech, he will pledge to put another billion pounds into green finance, as long as the UK economy performs as expected.

And the premier will repeat that he wants global leaders gathering in Glasgow to unveil steps on 'coal, cars, cash and trees' - the things he believes will make the most different in limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.

Mr Johnson will launch the UN event in Scotland - which will last a fortnight - by meeting and greeting 120 world leaders.

However, crucially they will not include Chinese premier Xi Jinping or Russian president Vladimir Putin as the two big polluters have decided not to come along - although they will give virtual speeches.

He set the tone as the G20 wrapped up by reading the riot act to his fell, saying their promises on tackling climate change are starting to 'sound hollow'.

The PM said there are 'no compelling excuses for our procrastination' on reducing harmful emissions and action already taken amounts to 'drops in a rapidly warming ocean'.

The warnings came as:

One of the biggest security operations ever mounted in Britain got underway in Glasgow, amid warnings that climate protesters plan serious disruption;

A report by the UN's weather agency warned that sea levels were now rising twice as fast as in the 1990s;

The PM told French president Emmanuel Macron to drop threats to penalise Britain, as environmentalists warned a growing spat over fishing rights risked overshadowing the climate summit;

Ministers were closing in on a deal to end deforestation by paying poorer countries not to fell trees;

Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, warned that the Pacific archipelago could disappear underwater unless the Glasgow summit achieves its aims;

Climate poster girl Greta Thunberg backed direct action groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, saying it was necessary to 'anger some people' to get the message through.

Boris Johnson will warn world leaders that humanity has 'run down the clock' on climate change and must get serious about action in his speech to the COP26 summit

Security fences and staff at the entrance outside the COP26 venue in Glasgow, Scotland, today

The premier will repeat that he wants global leaders gathering in Glasgow to unveil steps on 'coal, cars, cash and trees'

Mr Johnson is expected to say later: 'Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change.

'It's one minute to midnight and we need to act now.

'If we don't get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow.'

He will add: 'We have to move from talk and debate and discussion to concerted, real-world action on coal, cars, cash and trees.

'Not more hopes and targets and aspirations, valuable though they are, but clear commitments and concrete timetables for change.

'We need to get real about climate change and the world needs to know when that's going to happen.'

The PM will be backed by Prince Charles, who will also speak at the opening, telling leaders: 'We have to put ourselves on what might be called a war-like footing.'

He will go on to urge nations to systematically engage with business to solve the climate problems we face, adding: 'We need a vast military-style campaign to marshal the strength of the global private sector, with trillions at its disposal.'

Many leaders were travelling from the G20 summit in Rome. These countries are responsible for an estimated 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Johnson had hoped for a 'G20 bounce' as a stepping stone to a deal in Glasgow.

But leaders rejected his call to commit to going carbon neutral by 2050. A bid to ban the construction of new coal-fired power stations was also blocked.

Speaking at the G20 summit in Rome, the PM said that only 12 of the club's members have committed to reaching a target of net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.

Dramatically raising the stakes, he said that if the forthcoming gathering in Glasgow fails to secure a major breakthrough 'then the whole thing fails'.

Mr Johnson said world leaders must now flesh out the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, warning that failing to do so will leave 'the world's only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change... holed beneath the water line'.

The premier escalated his rhetoric amid fears the summit in Glasgow will be a flop after the G20 watered down its Net Zero ambition to 'by or around mid-century'.

The PM has been trying to use the Rome summit of powerful nations including China and Russia to build momentum ahead of COP26, which formally got underway this afternoon and will see world leaders meet for talks tomorrow.

But although the communique from the G20 backed urgent action, it gave more wriggle-room for emissions to continue, with an original goal of '2050' replaced by looser language.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the G20 summit had not gone far enough in advancing climate goals but he still believed in the leaders heading to Scotland.

'While I welcome the G20's recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled  but at least they are not buried,' he said.

More than 120 leaders are expected to attend today's summit in Glasgow, which kicks off a fortnight of intense negotiations designed to secure a global deal on cutting emissions.

Joe Biden and Indian PM Narendra Modi are among the major figures due to take part.

But, in a sign of the global divisions on the issue, the leaders of several major polluting nations have turned down invitations.

China's president Xi Jinping, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro are among the big names who will be missing.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday publicly rejected Mr Johnson's bid to get the entire world to commit to becoming 'carbon neutral' by 2050.

Mr Johnson has already admitted that he was stonewalled by China's Xi Jinping in a call when he suggested the giant economy should aim for carbon output to peak by 2025 instead of 2030.

Speaking at the G20 summit, Mr Lavrov said Moscow was targeting a 2060 date, adding: 'No one has proved to us that 2050 is something we must all subscribe to.'

China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, is also resisting pressure to go carbon neutral before 2060, with president Xi rebutting a personal plea from Mr Johnson last week.

And a hoped-for deal to phase out the construction of new coal-fired power stations by 2030 fell apart. Major coal users including China, India, Australia and Russia are said to have blocked the deal.

Asked about the chances of success at Cop26 last night, the PM said: 'I think it's sort of six out of ten. It's a bit of nip and tuck and touch and go. We could do it or we could fail by the middle of November.'

The Prime Minister said there are 'no compelling excuses for our procrastination' on reducing harmful emissions and action already taken amounts to 'drops in a rapidly warming ocean'

Storms cause COP travel chaos Delegates, campaigners and journalists travelling by train to the Glasgow climate conference fell victim to a weather-related chaos today after a fallen tree on a railway line. All tracks on the main rail route between London and Glasgow were blocked near the town of Milton Keynes due to the tree which fell into overhead electric power lines as the UK was hit by brutal 80mph winds and torrential rain. A Reuters reporter on a cancelled train service said several passengers had changed their travel plans and were booking flights to Glasgow where the United Nations COP26 climate conference kicks off on Sunday. Sharing a video from the scene, Network Rail has said that Euston train station is exit only due to the fact that no trains were running from the station. They added that all passengers are being advised to avoid travelling due to lines being closed. Wind damage has been reported in multiple areas of the UK on Sunday with the Met Office unable to rule out whether any tornadoes have taken place. Yellow warnings for wind and rain are in place over large parts of the west and elsewhere, and more are likely. Advertisement

Meanwhile, the start of COP26 has been disrupted by storms in the UK that have blocked train services north from London - leaving thousands of delegates unable to make it to Glasgow.

In interviews over the weekend, COP26 President Alok Sharma dampened hopes of a significant breakthrough at the summit by saying it is going to be 'really, really tough' for world leaders to strike a deal.

Mr Sharma said there are now two weeks to get an agreement 'over the line' as thousands of delegates from across the globe arrive in Glasgow for the gathering.

The UN summit is aiming to persuade countries around the world to agree action to restrict global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees.

Mr Sharma has urged world leaders to 'leave the ghosts of the past' behind them as he said 'they have to deliver' on the promises they have made to cut harmful emissions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Xi are both snubbing the COP26 summit by not attending in person - although they will contribute virtually.

Addressing reporters in Rome this afternoon, Mr Johnson said that after 'hundreds of summits, speeches, press conferences' the promises made by world leaders are 'starting to sound, frankly, hollow'.

He said: 'The science is clear that we need to act now to halve emissions by 2030 and keep 1.5 degrees within reach.

'There are no compelling excuses for our procrastination. Not only have we acknowledged the problem we are already seeing first hand the devastation climate change causes, from heat waves and droughts to wild fires and hurricanes.

'Unlike many other global challenges, the solution to climate change is clear, it lies in consigning dirty fossil fuels like coal to history, ditching gas guzzling modes of transport and recognising the role that nature plays in preserving life on this planet.

'And harnessing the power of nature through renewable energy rather than orchestrating its destruction.

'If we don't act now, the Paris Agreement will be looked at in the future not as the moment that humanity opened its eyes to the problem but the moment we flinched and turned away.'

Mr Johnson listed a number of promises made by nations to address climate change but said none of them went far enough.

'These commitments, welcome as they are, are drops in a rapidly warming ocean when we consider the challenge we have all admitted is ahead of us,' he said.

Delegates, campaigners and journalists travelling by train to the Glasgow climate conference fell victim to a weather chaos today after a fallen tree on a railway line. Pictured: London Euston is exit only due to overcrowding and suspended services

'Just 12 G20 members have committed to reach net zero by 2050 or earlier. Barely half of us have submitted improved plans for how we will cut carbon emissions since the Paris summit in 2015.

'We have also failed to meet our commitments to provide $100billion a year to support development countries to grow in a clean and sustainable way.

'The UN says emissions will rise by 15 per cent by 2030 and they need to halve by then. The countries most responsible for historic and present day emissions are not yet doing their fair share of the work.

'If we are going to prevent COP26 from being a failure then that must change. And I must be clear that if Glasgow fails then the whole thing fails.

'The Paris Agreement will have crumpled at the first reckoning. The world's only viable mechanism for dealing with climate change will be holed beneath the water line.'

Mr Johnson's comments came after Jose Manuel Barroso, the former European Commission president, expressed concerns over the level of international cooperation on tackling climate change.

Mr Barroso said it 'makes sense' for all of the world's major players to work together for 'global public goods'.

But comparing the current situation to that of the 2008 financial crash, he said: 'I can tell you from experience that today's atmosphere, the political understanding and level of cooperation, is clearly below what was before when we saw the financial crisis.'

Pictured: Vehicles travel through standing water during heavy rain in Bromsgrove, in the West Midlands, this morning

Leaders at the G20 agreed on carbon neutrality 'by or around mid-century' as the conference came to a close just ahead of COP.

Politicians attending the event in Rome also pledged to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad.

But they set no target for phasing out domestic coal.

According to the final communique from the summit, the G20 reaffirmed past commitments by rich countries to provide 100 billion US dollars annually to help poorer countries cope with climate change.

Leaders agreed to 'put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021'.

G20 leaders said they will 'accelerate our actions across mitigation, adaptation and finance, acknowledging the key relevance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century'.

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 said last week it will be 'touch and go' if the gathering will be a success having previously been bullish on the chances of a breakthrough.

Last night the Prime Minister said the summit will be the 'world's moment of truth'.

Told that countries have failed to deliver on the climate change commitments they made in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, Mr Sharma said: 'Well, you are right, this is on world leaders at the end of the day and they made the commitments in Paris that we would limit temperature rises to well below two degrees, pursuing efforts to 1.5 and now in Glasgow they have to deliver.

'We have got the G20 ongoing right now and those world leaders will arrive here tomorrow for the world leaders' summit and my message to them is very clear: Leave the ghosts of the past behind you, it is Halloween today after all, but leave the ghosts of the past behind you and let's focus on the future and unite around this one issue that we know matters for all of us which is protecting our precious planet.'

Told that Mr Johnson appeared to have changed his tone on the likelihood of success at the summit, Mr Sharma said: 'The Prime Minister is absolutely right, it is going to be really, really tough at this summit.

'We have got two weeks to get this over the line. But he was also making the point that when we took on the presidency of COP26 less than 30 per cent of the global economy was covered by a net zero target.

'We are now at over 80 per cent, almost all the G20 nations that we are talking about have got a net zero target for the middle of the century.'

Asked directly if a deal will be done at the summit, Mr Sharma was non-committal in his response.

He told Sky News: 'That is what I am driving towards and I think what I have always said is that what we need to come from out of Glasgow is to be able to say with credibility that we have kept 1.5 alive.'

Mr Sharma was then asked three times during an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show if a deal will be done in Glasgow.

He replied: 'As you said in your introduction, my job is effectively to act as shepherd in chief. This is on leaders.

'It was leaders who made the commitment in Paris. It is leaders of the biggest economies meeting now at the G20 and they need to come forward and collectively we need to agree how we are going to address this gap.'

Mr Sharma said he expected COP26 to be 'in many ways tougher than Paris' because the 2015 pact was a 'framework agreement' and 'some of the most difficult rules are still outstanding after six years'.

'That makes it really challenging and, of course, we know that the geopolitics is more difficult than it was at the time of Paris,' he said.

COP26 suffered a blow last week after President Putin and President Xi confirmed they are not attending in person.

China has faced criticism over its climate plans in recent days after Beijing restated its old aims on emissions without setting out any new ambitions.

Asked if China and Russia need to do more, Mr Sharma said: 'I want more out of every country but I think the point here is that we have made progress and then we are going to have to take stock about where there is a gap in what the commitments are and where we need to be.'

Mr Johnson will arrive in Glasgow this evening following his trip to Rome to attend the G20.

He expressed concerns last week that the climate change summit could 'go wrong' and end in failure.

He said: 'We need as many people as possible to agree go to net zero so that they are not producing too much carbon dioxide by the middle of the century.

'Now, I think it can be done. It's going to be very, very tough, this summit.

'And I'm very worried, because it might go wrong and we might not get the agreements that we need. It's touch and go.'

Mr Johnson said in comments released last night that he hopes world leaders will arrive in Glasgow ready to agree 'decisive action'.

He 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.

World leaders are due to meet in the city to try to hammer out a deal to reduce harmful emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees

Boris Johnson said last week it will be 'touch and go' if the gathering will be a success having previously been bullish on the chances of a breakthrough

'Together, we can mark the beginning of the end of climate change  and end the uncertainty once and for all.'

It was claimed earlier this month that Mr Sharma was angry at Mr Johnson for building up expectations ahead of the summit amid Cabinet fears it will be a 'damp squib'.

Mr Sharma was said to be 'raging' at the PM for 'ramping up' hopes of a breakthrough in Glasgow.

Some ministers believe the Government's messaging ahead of the summit has been too bullish and is 'completely out of control'. Allies of Mr Sharma denied that he was angry with the PM.

The Cop26 summit is a successor to the 2015 Paris Summit, when leaders agreed to limit the global increase in temperatures to below 1.5 degrees centigrade by the end of the century.

Last month, Mr Johnson published a controversial 1trillion plan to meet the 'net zero' commitments, including a ban on gas boilers and a switch to electric vehicles.

But yesterday he said 'barely half' of G20 countries have so far said how they will meet the commitment they made in Paris in 2015. The summit is due to last for a fortnight, with world leaders attending for the first two days.
Covid-19 cases in Victoria have exploded again just days after a host of restrictions were eased.

The state recorded 1471 new cases and four deaths on Monday as Victoria reopened its international borders for the first time in 19 months.

Domestic flights with NSW and the ACT have also resumed.

The latest spike in new infections come a day after the state recorded 1,036 cases and 12 deaths.

Up to 10,000 fully vaccinated racegoers will flock to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday after race went ahead without crowds during last year's lockdown.

The number of active cases has risen to 21,959 as the death toll from the state's latest outbreak grew to 309.

Domestic flights between NSW and Victoria resumed on Monday. Pictured are passengers on a flight from Sydney touching down at Melbourne Airport

Of the 699 cases in hospital, 136 are in intensive care with 86 on ventilators.

More than 46,065 Victorians came forward for testing on Sunday while another 14,413 rolled up their sleeves for a jab.

Around 81 per cent of Victoria's population over the age of 16 are now fully vaccinated as the state welcomed its first batch of quarantine-free international travellers in 590 days on Monday.

Fully vaccinated international arrivals touching down in Melbourne will no longer have to undergo 14 days in hotel or home quarantine.

A flight from Singapore touched down at Melbourne airport on Monday morning, the first of five international planes scheduled across the day.

Another flight from Hong Kong will land at midday.

Passengers don't have to isolate if they are inoculated with an approved vaccine, provide a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of departure and another 24 hours after arrival.

Children aged under 12 arriving with fully vaccinated parents, and people with a valid medical exemption will also not be required to quarantine.

Melburnians returned to Flemington Racecourse for Derby Day on Saturday, a week after they were lifted from their sixth lockdown

Victoria won't cap the number of fully vaccinated returning Australians wishing to enter the state, but unvaccinated people and international arrivals who don't meet the criteria will be limited to 250 per week.

The changes come into effect on the same day as in NSW.

In a move that will ramp up domestic flights along the usually busy Melbourne-Sydney route, travel between Victoria, NSW and the ACT also became unrestricted on Monday.

Krista Kim from Point Cook, whose father died from Covid-19, had an emotional reunion with her Sydney-based daughter Phillipa and her two granddaughters Selma, 2, and Kimiya, 5.

'I just recovered from a heart attack 10 days ago. It's really special,' she told reporters.

She is expecting her other daughter to arrive from Amsterdam on Tuesday.

A host of restrictions were eased in Victoria last Friday after the state reached 80 per cent double dose target. Pictured are Melbourne department store shoppers checking in

Phillipa was meant to see her sister just before COVID-19 hit and now hasn't locked eyes with her in four years.

'We've both got two extra children that we've never met. So much has changed so it's a big deal,' she told AAP.

Outbound international travel is also set to increase, with the federal government no longer requiring exemptions for people to leave Australia.

The next easing of restrictions comes when 90 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have received both vaccine doses, forecast on or around November 24.

At that stage, almost all Covid-19 restrictions across Victoria will come to an end for the fully vaccinated.
The Block's Mitch Edwards and Mark McKie have been fan favourites ever since their first appearance on Nine's renovation show in 2019.

But things haven't always been smooth sailing for the 'stylish grandads', who have faced 'disgusting' homophobic abuse from trolls on social media.

Mitch, 59, and Mark, 60, spoke about the dark side of fame in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Australia this week, revealing some viewers have called them 'f*****s' and even said they deserve to 'die'.

The Sydney-based couple, who have been together for more than 16 years, also addressed their strained relationship with fellow contestant Tanya Guccione, who infamously referred to them as 'pigs' during a heated argument on the building site.

The dark side of fame: The Block's stylish grandads Mitch Edwards (left) and Mark McKie (right) have spoken about the vile homophobic abuse they've faced from trolls and if they will ever be friends with rival contestant Tanya Guccione in a new interview with Daily Mail Australia

'In my life growing up through the '80s and '90s as a gay man, I've been called worse things,' Mark said of Tanya's 'pig' comment.

'You take it into context. At the time I discussed it with Tanya and asked her thoughts reflecting on it.

'If there being a reference to a pig is the worst thing that I've ever been called in my life, I'm doing alright.'

When asked about the online abuse the pair have faced this season, Mark added: 'We still get some people that send us messages that are disgusting, that we are f*****s and we should die.

'In this day and age, that still happens. We still get messages saying that we are disgusting filth and we should die.

'Sometimes I've thought, "Maybe we should screenshot and share those on our social media? Because these people are clearly passionate about us and dislike us so much they would obviously want to share those opinions."

'But those trolls are people who hide behind anonymity. You just have to delete and ignore, but it reminds you that in our society that still happens.'

Comments: The Sydney-based couple, who have been together for more than 16 years, also addressed their strained relationship with fellow contestant Tanya Guccione (pictured), who infamously referred to them as 'pigs' during a heated argument on the building site

Several weeks ago, outspoken mother-of-two Tanya seemingly referred to Mitch and Mark as 'pigs' as the group discussed the 'whiteboard-gate' cheating scandal.

She told Josh and Luke Packham, 'Don't fight with pigs because you get dirty and they love it,' in an apparent reference to the granddads.

When Mitch and Mark later demanded an apology, Tanya insisted she didn't mean to call them literal 'pigs' and was instead trying to say they were behaving like 'animals'.

'That was the behaviour, not the person,' she said. 'The behaviour was animal-like.

'It was an analogy for the behaviour. It was about everyone. I wasn't aiming it at you. So I will apologise to you for taking it personally and thinking I was aiming at you.'

Homophobia: 'In this day and age, that still happens. We still get messages saying that we are disgusting filth and we should die,' Mitch said

Mark told Daily Mail Australia he'd had time to think about it and was ready to move on, adding: 'We all say things in the heat of the moment on the show, and if that's the worst thing that's been referenced to us, we'll probably be alright.'

Mark said he and Mitch hadn't spoken to either Tanya or her husband, Vito, since the show finished filming, but that he'd reached out twice.

'For me, I'd just like to move on,' he explained. 'I haven't had communication with Tanya and Vito since the show.

'I've reached out on a couple of occasions and shared my number, and basically said, "Look, whatever has happened is water under the bridge. If we can help you, I'm here. Here's my number, any time you want to chat."'

Mark said they were looking forward to meeting Tanya and Vito again on auction day, and hope things can be 'civilised'.

Playing nice: Mark said he and Mitch were looking forward to meeting Tanya and Vito again on auction day, and hope things can be 'civilised'

During the interview, the couple also spoke about the incident called the 'biggest cheating scandal in Australian TV history'.

Tanya was accused of secretly taking a photo of the show's production schedule in order to give herself and Vito - as well as the Packham twins - an unfair advantage.

The makeup artist has always maintained an 'anonymous tradie' sent her the photo, but others suspect she masterminded the cheating plot herself.

For example, Kirsty Lee Akers and Jesse Anderson recently told Daily Mail Australia they were convinced she'd broken into host Scott Cam's office and taken the photo.

'I just wish whatever the source was, I wish it was totally clear. It's a shame it wasn't nipped in the bud,' Mitch said of Tanya's repeated denials.

'Apparently next Sunday [auction day] it's all going to be exposed, so we will find out when everybody finds out,' he added.

'We can only speculate, and I think it's kind of unfair to speculate until we have somebody stand up and say, "I took the f**king photo!"'

'It doesn't change the outcome now,' Mark said. 'Is it going to change the houses that we all built? No. Is it going to change what happens at auction? No.'

The truth comes out: 'I just wish whatever the source was, I wish it was totally clear. It's a shame it wasn't nipped in the bud,' Mitch said of the 'whiteboard-gate' cheating scandal

The ageless couple also responded to bizarre rumours they were 'addicted to Botox'.

'I wouldn't be seeking help for Botox addiction. Going by the way we look sometimes, I feel we're in need of a Botox addiction,' Mitch laughed.

'We're not opposed to it, because we know some people are pro and against. When I first met Mark I barely recognised myself, and then I learned to relax!'

Despite the show coming to an end, the pair admit they will be busier than ever in the coming months thanks to their various businesses.

Thriving: 'Mark is now 60; I'm 59. What's so exciting is that at the age we are now, we don't feel we have an age barrier stopping us from anything. We know more, and we care less,' Mitch said

'I remember when I was younger thinking you had to get a whole lot of things achieved in your life because you thought there was a certain point where you couldn't do things,' Mitch said.

'Mark is now 60; I'm 59. What's so exciting is that at the age we are now, we don't feel we have an age barrier stopping us from anything. We know more, and we care less.

'We've launched a brand, Mitch and Mark Home; we're opening up a store in Newport in the first week in December; we've got a podcast coming out, which launches immediately after The Block.

'I'm launching a fashion range, too. People said they loved some of my fashion so I thought, "What the heck? Just do it at 59." We've got lots going on. If it all works, great. If it doesn't, then that's got to be okay.'

The Block continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine
Poh Ling Yeow split from her second husband, Jonathan Bennett, in February.

And by July, they had also parted ways professionally, with documents showing he was removed as Director from her company Jamface in July.

Paperwork submitted to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission listed Jono Bennett's cessation date as July 6, 2021.

Parted: Poh Ling Yeow split from her second husband, Jonathan Bennett, in February. And by July, they had also parted ways professionally, with documents showing he was removed as Director from her company Jamface in July. Pictured together in 2016

It is understood has he has cut all ties from the business and removed as a shareholder.

In a unique situation, Poh, Jono and her first husband Matt Phipps ran the Jamface Cafe at Adelaide Central Market, alongside Matt's new wife Sarah Rich - who also happens to be Poh's best friend of 20 years.

However, while Jono is no longer part of the company, Matt remains a co-owner.

Exit: Paperwork submitted to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission listed Jono Bennett's cessation date as July 6, 2021

The MasterChef Australia star continues to have a warm relationship with her first husband Matt.

Speaking of working with Matt in 2017, Poh told Mamamia: 'He's my ex-husband. She's my best friend. And when we broke up, they got together and it's all dandy.'

It was business as usual for the pair last week.

Trio: In a unique situation, Poh, Jono and her first husband Matt Phipps (pictured) ran the Jamface Cafe at Adelaide Central Market, alongside Matt's new wife Sarah Rich - who also happens to be Poh's best friend of 20 years. However, while Jono is no longer part of the company, Matt remains a co-owner

Pals: It was business as usual for the pair last week. The friends worked side by side at the Jamface stall in Adelaide last Sunday

Happy: They were seen sharing warm banter and were comfortable in each other's company

The friends worked side by side at the Jamface stall in Adelaide last Sunday, sharing warm banter and appearing comfortable in each other's company.

Poh was all smiles, and looked casually chic wearing cut off denim shorts and a white jumper.

The 48-year-old added a pair of black tights to the ensemble, and a pair of boots.

Casual: Poh looked casually chic wearing cut off denim shorts and a white jumper

Details: The 48-year-old added a pair of black tights to the ensemble, and a pair of boots

Free: The chef had on minimal makeup and sported a pink lip, while wearing her hair pulled back into a ponytail

Chic: Matt meanwhile opted for a pair of pink jeans and a black cable knit jumper, along with brown loafers

The chef had on minimal makeup and sported a pink lip, while wearing her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Matt meanwhile opted for a pair of pink jeans and a black cable knit jumper, along with brown loafers.

Poh greeted a friend who had just had a baby and the pair enjoyed a warm chat alongside the stall.

Pals: Poh greeted a friend who had just had a baby and the pair enjoyed a warm chat alongside the stall

Want some cake? She offered her friend some delicacies from her stall

Single: The cookbook author announced her split from Jonathan, 39 in February

In an interview with The Weekend Australian, she revealed the news when asked what she planned to do this year, saying: 'It is about me doing the things I love and remembering who I am without another person. [Husband] Jono and I broke up.'

The cookbook author announced her split from Jonathan, 39 in February.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian, she revealed the news when asked what she planned to do this year, saying: 'It is about me doing the things I love and remembering who I am without another person. [Husband] Jono and I broke up.'

'But Jono and I still work together and are the best of friends,' she added at the time.

Poh became a household name after appearing on MasterChef season one in 2009.
She made a name as a Victoria's Secret Angel.

And now Candice Swanepoel is delving into fashion design as the founder and creative director of the bikini line Tropic of C.

The 33-year-old South African supermodel appeared on Instagram on Saturday to share steamy snaps modeling her 'favorite' swimwear looks.

Smoldering: Candice Swanepoel appeared on Instagram on Saturday to share steamy snaps modeling her 'favorite' swimwear looks

The entrepreneur began a series of photos with a snapshot of her crouched down on the floor hovering over a collection of pictures from a shoot.

'Coming to the end of our first drop...are you ready for round 2!' she wrote and tagged her brand.

For her off-duty look the fashionista wore black biker shorts, a white t-shirt, and a pair of worn white Nike Air Force 1s.

Off-duty: The entrepreneur began a series of photos with a snapshot of her crouched down on the floor hovering over a collection of pictures from a shoot

Expanding: The South African supermodel is delving into fashion design as the founder and creative director of the bikini line Tropic of C

Then, sharing with her 16.1 million followers she posted numerous pics in itty bitty string bikinis taken in a sultry beach photo shoot.

'Looking back at my favorites,' she noted on one of the images.

Candice showed that after two kids she still looks amazing.

The statuesque beauty modeled a multicolor two-piece swimsuit in the first look.

Flattering: Swanepoel's skin glowed as she exemplified perfection in a dusty pink bikini that crossed right below her cleavage

Enchanting: The looker added a patterned sun hat, captivating the viewer as her blue eyes peered out from underneath the brim

Her long, dirty-blonde hair was wet in the stunning shots. And the creative added loads of jewelry to make the looks more charming.

Bronze-toned bracelets, necklaces, and rings layered the superstar's wrists, neck, and fingers.

The intimate stills were created with an artistic eye, giving detail to the beachwear collection.

Taking a dip: Her long, dirty-blonde hair was damp in the stunning shots. And the creative added loads of jewelry to make the looks more charming

Swanepoel's skin glowed as she exemplified perfection in a dusty pink bikini that crossed right below her cleavage.

The matching bottoms were high cut and hugged her svelte figure, complementing her slim shape.

The looker added a patterned sun hat, captivating the viewer as her blue eyes peered out from underneath the brim.

Variety: The business owner showed her range as she presented multiple styles for consumers to choose from

Cute: And another option was a sportier variety that came in a mauve and black checkered top with a blue and black checkered thong bottom

The business owner showed her range as she presented multiple styles for consumers to choose from.

Another offering featured a yellow, brown, and red look that had coordinated red bottoms.

And another option was a sportier variety that came in a mauve and black checkered top with a blue and black checkered thong bottom.

Artful: The intimate stills were created with an artistic eye, giving detail to the beachwear collection

Tropic of C is an 'eco-lifestyle brand influenced by nature and inspired by the female form,' according to the company's Instagram page.

And the founder has enlisted fellow models like Irina Shayk and Joan Smalls for previous campaigns.

True to its name, many of the looks are bright, colorful, and reminiscent of island life.

About the brand: Tropic of C is an 'eco-lifestyle brand influenced by nature and inspired by the female form,' according to the company's Instagram page

Despite heading a successful company, Swanepoel still finds time to be silly with her two sons, Anaca Nicoli, five, and Ariel Swanepoel Nicoli, three.

Saturday she shared a humorous reel in black and white with her tots in tow.

She mouthed a stand-up comedy skit in which a comedian riffs, 'Have you made your people yet? Ohhh, yeah. You wait. I've made my own people. And I'm their leader!'

Under it she captioned, 'My people,' with two blue heart emojis.
Kim Kardashian's friends have shut down speculation she is dating Pete Davidson after they were pictured holding hands on a ride at Knott's Berry Park on Friday evening.

The pair sent tongues wagging after a picture obtained by PEOPLE, showed Kim clutching Pete's hand while screaming in fear as they sat next to each other in a carriage.

Kim, 41, who filed for divorce from husband Kanye West in February, was joined by Pete, 27, and her newly-engaged sister Kourtney and Travis Barker for the outing.

Night out: Friends of Kim Kardashian have shut down speculation she is dating Pete Davidson after the pair were pictured holding hands on a ride at Knott's Berry Park on Friday evening

Despite their cosy display, a source told the publication: 'They hang in the same circles so they will be together from time to time. It's just friends hanging out.'

MailOnline has contacted Kim and Pete's representatives for comment.

TMZ reports Kim attempted to keep a low profile during the visit, although she was spotted by a few eagle-eyed fans.

Buckling in: The pair sent tongues wagging after a picture obtained by PEOPLE, showed Kim clutching Pete's hand while screaming in fear as they sat next to each other in a carriage

Halloween crew: Kim headed to the Halloween outing with a group of friends, including Pete

Spotted: Kim, 41, attempted to keep a low profile during the visit, although she was spotted by a few eagle-eyed fans

Tongues wagging: It comes after Kim and Pete shared an onscreen kiss during a funny Aladdin sketch on Saturday Night Live

Also present during the trip to the theme park were SKIMS CMO Tracy Romulus, her husband Steph Shepard and Harry Hudson.

The insiders also pointed out that the pair had no romantic interest in each other and that they had been acquainted for years prior to the visit.

The media outlet also revealed the trip was organized by Kourtney and Travis.

Kim and Pete were both featured on an episode of Saturday Night Live that previously aired earlier this month, which the former hosted.

In one of the sketches, the pair portrayed Aladdin and Princess Jasmine and humorously discussed taking the next step in their fictional relationship.

During the segment, the two notably shared an onscreen kiss, much to the delight of the studio audience.

Nothing serious: Multiple sources spoke to the media outlet and explicitly stated that the media personality and the comedian are strictly friends

Longtime friends: The insiders also pointed out that the pair had no romantic interest in each other and that they had been acquainted for years prior to the visit

Fans of the pair later took to various social media platforms to discuss their approval and opinions of the fictional couple

Back in September, it was reported Kanye, 44, wants to get back with Kim after she appeared on stage with him as a bride at his Donda listening event.

A source told US Weekly: 'Kanye sees the two of them together and wants to make that a reality now.

'He has been trying to get back in her good graces again and it seems to be working.'

The magazine's source noted that 'Kim supports Kanye and was happy to be on stage in a wedding dress.'

Recent activity: Kardashian (left in 2019) and Davidson (right in April) were both featured on an episode of Saturday Night Live that previously aired earlier this month, which the former hosted

'She has always respected his art and ideas and was all in for the performance,' the insider added.

'It was not a vow renewal. Kim has been hesitant to get back together with Kanye because he was all over the place,' the source said.

Still, their divorce appears to be proceeding, though the couple could choose to pause it in the future.

Kim and Kanye tied the knot back in 2014 at the Forte di Belvedere in Florence, Italy, where Kim was dressed in a custom-made gown by Givenchy Haute Couture.

Ex: Back in September, it was reported Kim's estranged husband Kanye, 44, wants to get back with her after she appeared on stage with him as a bride at his Donda listening event

The parents share four children: North, eight; Saint, five; Chicago, three; and Psalm, two.

The trip to Knott's Berry Farm comes just weeks after Kim's older sister and the Blink-182 drummer officially became engaged.

The happy couple had been friends for years prior to beginning their relationship, and they were first reported to be spending time together this past January.

Before she became involved with the musician, the 42-year-old was in a long-term relationship with Scott Disick, with whom she shares three children.

The drummer, 45, was previously married to both Melissa Kennedy and Shanna Moakler, and he welcomed two kids with the latter of the two while serving as her older daughter's stepfather.

Kardashian and Barker went Instagram official with their relationship just after this past Valentine's Day with a post that showed them holding hands.

The two began being seen together in public much more frequently after that point, and they began the process of integrating their respective families.

The musician eventually popped the big question just under two weeks ago, and he proposed in the middle of a lavish floral arrangement that had been laid out on a beach in Montecito, California.

The happy couple has not announced a date for their wedding ceremony as of yet.

Recent events: The friends' trip to Knott's Berry Farm comes just weeks after Kim's older sister and the Blink-182 drummer officially became engaged; they are seen at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards

In the future: The happy couple has not announced a date for their wedding ceremony as of yet
She is the honorary chair of the Global Gift Foundation.

And Eva Longoria pulled out all the fashion stops for their latest Gala on Saturday night, which took place at the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris.

The 46-year-old Desperate Housewives star looked simply sensational in a revealing velvet dress, which incorporated a thigh-grazing slit, padded shoulders and a chunky waist garment.

Honorary chair: Eva Longoria looked nothing short of spectacular in a velvet slit dress as she she attended the Global Gift Gala in Paris on Saturday

Eva made her jaw-dropping entrance wearing open-toe heels, which boosted her petite frame.

Her lithe pins on full display, the mother-of-one had all eyes on her as she lapped up the glamorous photocall on the red carpet.

The Texas born star - who has also ventured into the world of producing during her career - coiffed her brunette tresses with loose curls and glowed with a full face of night out makeup.

Glowing: The actress pulled out all the fashion stops for the event, which took place at the Four Seasons Hotel George V

Making an entrance: The dress incorporated a thigh-grazing slit, padded shoulders and a chunky waist garment

Special event: The mother-of-one coiffed her brunette tresses with loose curls and glowed with a full face of night out makeup

Striking a pose: Her lithe pins on full display, the mother-of-one had all eyes on her as she lapped up the glamorous photocall on the red carpet

The dress code for the formal evening was black tie, with the theme covering F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby.

The schedule began with cocktails and red carpet appearances, with the foundation's additional chairs and a slew of special guests also in attendance.

The evening progressed into dinner, performances and a live auction.

Finery: The dress code for the formal evening was black tie, with the theme covering F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby (pictured Amaury Nolasco, special guest)

Making a change: The foundation's additional chairs and a slew of special guests were also in attendance (pictured, the organisation's founder Maria Bravo)

Gala: The schedule began with cocktails and red carpet appearances, with the evening progressing into dinner, performances and a live auction (pictured, honorary chair Gims)

Good cause: The Global Gift Foundation is a non-profit organisation that aims to create a positive impact on the lives of children, women and families who are in need (pictured master of ceremonies, Cyril Hanouna)

The Global Gift Foundation is a non-profit organisation that aims to create a positive impact on the lives of children, women and families who are in need.

It was founded in 2013 by the Spanish actress, businesswoman and philanthropist, Maria Bravo.

Eva runs a self-named project for the company, which sets out to improve social inclusion for women and children of Latino origin who suffer economic and social inequalities because of their sex and ethnic origin.
Travis Barker, 45, appeared on Instagram on Saturday with a trio of new edgy snapshots.

The Blink-182 drummer went shirtless as he sat on a bike in an empty parking lot and posed in a backwards hat, dark shades, and sweatpants with a large skull printed on one leg.

His future wife Kourtney Kardashian, 42, commented, 'Lover,' and added a black heart emoji. The comment racked up over 500 likes from adoring fans in just one hour.

The father-of-three struck three poses as he wore black slippers for the casual shoot shot by photographer Daniel Rojas.

One of the flicks sees Travis hunched over the handlebars of the bike, and another focuses on his fashion, only showing his bottom half as he stands over the two-wheeler with his legs straddled.

In the caption he wrote: 'just waking up in the morning.'

Smitten: His future wife Kourtney Kardashian, 42, commented, 'Lover,' and added a black heart emoji and it racked up over 500 likes from adoring fans in just one hour

The post came just as his partner Kourtney shared photos of a new engagement gift the couple received from Jim Shreve, the President and CEO of French luxury brand Baccarat.

The executive sent two engraved, red-tinted, crystal champagne flutes to the newly engaged couple.

Embossed on the items were variations of Kourtney [heart] Travis and vice versa, along with the date the rockstar proposed, October 17, 2021.

And a final line hashtagged the word 'forever.'

Present: The post came just as his partner Kourtney shared photos of a new engagement gift the couple received from Jim Shreve, the President and CEO of French luxury brand Baccarat

Thoughtful: The executive sent two engraved, red-tinted, crystal champagne flutes to the newly engaged couple

The Barker Wellness founder dropped down to one knee and proposed to Kourtney on the beach overlooking the sunset in Montecito earlier this month with her famous family looking on from the Miramar hotel.

Travis and the mother-of-three have not eased up on their public displays of affection - both verbal and physical - since going public with their romance in February.

And since becoming engaged, the reality TV star has been gushing over her pending wedding and her hefty $1 million engagement ring.

A week after she said 'Yes' to the big question, she wrote on Instagram, 'I can't believe this was a week ago.'

The big question: The Barker Wellness founder dropped down to one knee and proposed to Kourtney on the beach overlooking the sunset in Montecito earlier this month with her famous family looking on from the Miramar hotel
Lala Kent and Randall Emmett have 'officially' ended their engagement after three years, after earlier reports they were trying to rekindle this week.

Sources close to the couple believe the split is permanent since their relationship has 'been in choppy waters' for awhile, according to TMZ.

At this point the Vanderpump Rules alum is 'completely moved out of their home' and feels there is 'no hope of reconciliation.'

For good: Lala Kent and Randall Emmett have 'officially' ended their engagement after three years, after earlier reports they were trying to rekindle this week; seen in 2021

Randall is reportedly focusing on his infant daughter Ocean, who they welcomed just seven months ago.

A report by Page Six alleged that Randall had cheated on his partner - who temporarily moved into the Beverly Hills Hotel - while on a work trip in Nashville, Tennessee.

'Randall always lives a double life,' a source claimed to the outlet. 'He lives the life of a husband or boyfriend, and then he lives the life of a serial partier and then goes on a bender.'

Tragic: The couple's shocking split comes just seven months after they welcomed their daughter Ocean

Amid the claims, Kent purged her social media pages of her husband-to-be. And she liked a post that accused him of cheating on her following video posted to social media of him partying in Nashville.

She even took to Instagram to share a video of herself moving into the BHH while Beyonces Sorry played.

Kent and Emmett initially met in 2015, and they began a relationship not long after they made each other's acquaintance.

Unbelievable: Emmett is rumored to have cheated on his partner on a work trip in Nashville, Tennessee recently, according to Page Six; seen in 2019

Prior to becoming involved with the social media personality, the producer was married to his first wife, Ambyr Childers, with whom he shared two children London, 11, and Rylee, six.

The two initially separated in 2015, and although they reconciled, they went on to formally dissolve their union in 2017.

Emmett and Kent went public with their relationship in 2018, and the Midnight in the Switchgrass director popped the question that same year.

The wedding that won't happen: Last week she also showed photos of the wedding dress she was supposed to wear for her 2020 wedding to Randall if the ceremony had not been delayed by the pandemic

The pair initially planned to have their wedding ceremony in April of 2020, although they postponed their plans in response to the ongoing state of the global pandemic.

The two later rescheduled their nuptials and went on to announced that they were expecting to bring a child into their lives last September.

Kent eventually shared a picture of Ocean to her Instagram account for the first time not long after she gave birth in March.

Moving quickly: Earlier this month the star expressed that she would begin trying for another baby the 'second' her daughter Ocean turned one

All seemed fine between the power couple a week ago.

She said she was 'ready to go' with regard to having a second baby with Randall.

The 31-year-old reality television personality spoke to People during Travel & Give's fourth annual fundraiser in West Hollywood and told the media outlet about her desire to expand her family.

Two of a kind: Kent and Emmett initially met in 2015 and began a relationship not long after they met

During the event, Kent noted that the 'second' her daughter turned one, she and Emmett, 50, would be 'back at it with the calendar that shows ovulation.'

The reality television personality also told the media outlet that 'I'm oversharing with you but that's how it goes.'

And two weeks ago she also showed photos of the wedding dress she was supposed to wear for her 2020 wedding to Randall if the ceremony had not been delayed by the pandemic.

Milestones: The pair went public with their relationship in 2018, and the producer popped the big question that same year

Lala said she was inspired to post some photos of the gown after a 'beautiful conversation' with her stylist.

'I wanted to share my wedding dress that I was going to wear on April 18th 2020,' the star captioned her slideshow. 'This dress was custom designed by [Alexandra Renee Scott].'

When asked if she would be wearing it on her special day, which will take place next year by a fan in her comment section, Kent replied she and her designer are 'going to start from scratch.'
She never fails to look sensational.

And Jourdan Dunn showed off her incredible physique as she arrived at Maya Jama's Halloween bash in London on Saturday night dressed as Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street.

The model, 31, put on a sexy display as she slipped into a black PVC bralet and matching briefs which she teamed with length boots.

Party: Jourdan Dunn showed off her incredible physique as she arrived at Maya Jama's Halloween bash in London on Saturday night dressed as Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street

She completed the look with a black and red knitted cropped jumper and had on the claws as a replica of the gloved hand fitted with razors that Freddy used kill his victims in their dreams.

Jourdan added fake blood to her ensemble which was splattered on her leg and face for the party.

She wore her dark tresses in a curly style with two buns and opted for an appropriate vampy makeup look.

The look: The model, 31, put on a sexy display as she slipped into a black PVC bralet and matching briefs which she teamed with length boots

Spooky story: Freddy Krueger is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series (pictured)

Her outing comes after the model recently slammed the fashion industry over racist castings.

The Brit spoke candidly on the podcast Role Model with Leomie Anderson in May, where she reflected on how some castings claim they don't want 'black models this season.'

Calling the act 'f****d up', she claimed: 'Are you trying to say that black can only be beautiful if it's mixed with something?

Scary: She completed the look with a black and red knitted cropped jumper and had on the claws as a replica of the gloved hand fitted with razors that Freddy used kill his victims in their dreams

Details: Jourdan added fake blood to her ensemble which was splattered on her leg and face for the party

'I've gone to castings where I've seen things like, "no black models this season", it's like, wait, what? So black models are for a season?

'And then that's it we keep it moving and we carry on doing the f*****s that we've been doing. Like, come on.

'And then we should be grateful if you are that one black model that has been chosen is like, no, this is really, really f****d up.'

Jourdan has previously claimed she has been paid less than other models for jobs because of her 'skin tone'.

The beauty said that her 'best friends in the industry' and fellow supermodels Cara Delevingne and Karlie Kloss had 'different rates' to her for work.

The star admitted she thought the difference in treatment was 'so f****d up' but that now she 'knows her worth' and has learnt to 'own her voice' in asking for what she wants.
Carole King hit the red carpet before being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame for the second time during a star-studded ceremony on Saturday.

The 79-year-old musician, who earned her first induction in 1990, dazzled in a black sequin blazer as she posed with her two daughters Louise and Sherry Goffin, from her marriage to songwriting partner Gerry Goffin.

Taylor Swift had the honor of inducting King, as well as performing her co-written hit Will You Love Me Tomorrow - which reportedly brought King to tears. She was also treated to a jaw-dropping performance by Jennifer Hudson.

Big night: Carole King hit the red carpet before being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame for the second time during a star-studded ceremony on Saturday

For an added touch of cool style, the New York City native also donned a black scarf around her neck that hung past her knees.

And she stepped out in the black-and-white checkered slip-on sneakers that were made famous, in part, by Sean Penn's character Jeff Spicoli in the 1982 hit teen comedy-drama film Fast Time At Ridgemont High.

She rounded out her look by having her her blonde tresses styled with a liberal dose of soft curls, which hung to about shoulder length.

At one point some of King's family joined her on the red carpet, which included her daughters Louise and Sherry Goffin.

Family affair: The 79-year-old musician, who earned her first induction in 1990, dazzled in a black sequin blazer as she posed with her two daughters Louise and Sherry Goffin, from her marriage to songwriting partner Gerry Goffin

Megastars unite! Taylor Swift had the honor of inducting King, as well as performing her co-written hit Will You Love Me Tomorrow - which reportedly brought King to tears. She was also treated to a jaw-dropping performance by Jennifer Hudson

Casula cool: The New York City native paired her sequin statement piece with trousers and black-and-white checkered slip-on sneakers

Decked out in a black lacy catsuit, which came complete with hints of sparkles, and black heeled booties that showcased her svelte figure, Swift would also wow the audience with a rendition of the King-Goffin penned song Will You Love Me Tomorrow.

The tune was used as the opener for the ceremony that was held at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, which is the home venue to the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

Like the true artist she is, Swift put her own spin on the tune, that was originally performed by The Shirelles in 1960, and was powerful enough to move King to tears.

Along with the six performing artists who were inducted, the influential German electronic band Kraftwerk, Delta blues musician Charley Patton, and musician and spoken word poet Gil Scott-Heron entered the hallowed hall of fame with Early Influence Awards.

The Musical Excellence Awards went to rap legend LL Cool J, rock guitar wizard Randy Rhoads, and renowned keyboardist Billy Preston.

And music executive and film producer Clarence Avant was honored with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Family matters: Carole King had the support of family ahead of the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, which is the home venue for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers

Having gone in to the RRHOF as a songwriter in 1990 with her then ex-husband and co-writer, brought her joy because of the recognition it offered Goffin, who would pass away in June 2014.

But going in to the HOF by herself, she admits, is something special because she never set her sights on being a performer.

'I set out to be a songwriter. That's all I ever wanted to be. I don't want to say I was pulled in, but as a songwriter, you sing your own songs in order to present them,' she revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone.

'And so I was a performer of my own songs, but for a very limited audience. And then James Taylor and then Lou Adler encouraged me into being a performer of those songs for a wider audience. I just had no idea how wide it would be.'

Delivering the goods: Along with her induction duties, Swift also got to perform King's song Will You Love Me Tomorrow during the event

BTS: King also got to share a few one-on-one moments with fellow inductee Dave Grohl, who first entered the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of Nirvana in 2014

King (born Carole King Klein), 79, is one of those artists that has written a slew of songs that many people didn't actually know she had composed.

Her initial success came in the 1960s when she and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits, many of which have become standards, for other artists.

Some on those songs include the likes of The Shirelles (Will You Love Me Tomorrow) in 1960; Bobby Vee (Take Good Care Of My Baby) 1961; Aretha Franklin (You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman) in 1967; The Monkees (Pleasant Valley Sunday) in 1967; and James Taylor (You've Got A Friend)in 1971, among many others.

Fan and colleague; Swift has previously revealed that she listened and learned from the songwriting of King all through her younger years, and still today

While continuing to write for other artists, King would also see massive success as a a performer in her own right, beginning in the 1970s, scoring her breakthrough with her second studio album, Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971.

Some of the more recognizable songs she wrote and performed included It's Too Late, You've Got A Friend, I Feel The Earth Move, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, and Up On The Roof.

She would go on to record 25 solo albums that, in all, translated into record sales estimated to have topped 75 million copies worldwide.

Along the way she won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony, and its performances, were taped for broadcast on HBO and will begin streaming on HBO Max on November 20.
Jussie Smollett put his legal woes behind him on Saturday by paying it forward to the Jenesse Center in Los Angeles, which is a 'non-profit domestic violence intervention and prevention organization.'

The 39-year-old actor, with the help of his Jurnee Smollett and her ex-husband Josiah Bell, dropped off a plethora of items that filled the entire truck of their car.

Some of the items included toys, articles of children's clothing and a car seat.

Charitable: Jussie Smollett put his legal woes behind him on Saturday by paying it forward to the Jenesse Center in Los Angeles, which is a 'non-profit domestic violence intervention and prevention organization'

The outing comes just two weeks after a judge denied Jussie's last ditch attempt to dismiss his criminal case for allegedly lying to police when he reported that he was the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack, and a date has been set for trial.

Back in January of 2019, Smollett had told police that two masked men attacked him in downtown Chicago in January 2019, where he was filming Empire.

He was charged weeks later with filing a false police report, after investigators concluded that he staged the attack and paid two brothers to carry it out because he was unhappy about his salary and wanted to promote his career.

Family affair: The 39-year-old actor, with the help of his Jurnee Smollett and her ex-husband Josiah Bell, dropped off a plethora of items that filled the entire truck of their car

Quick call: Bell seen taking a call outside the non-profit as Jussie and Jurnee unloaded their car

An attorney for the former Empire actor, who played Jamal Lyon on the show, said Smollett's rights were being violated.

He has already performed community service and given up a $10,000 bond under a previous deal with Cook County prosecutors to drop charges.

'A deal is a deal. That's ancient principle,' attorney Nenye Uche said.

But Judge James Linn noted that Smollett's case now was being led by a special prosecutor appointed by another judge, an arrangement that he would not upset.

Jussie Smollett (pictured leaving the courthouse today) played Jamal Lyon on hit show Empire (right). A judge denied his last-ditch effort to dismiss criminal charges against him for allegedly lying to police about a racist attack against him in January 2019

The Chicago police charged the actor (pictured in court in March) with filing a false police report. His jury selection begins November 29

The men accused of helping orchestrate the attack were identified as Abel and Ola Osundairo. The pair were detained and questioned by police on February 13, 2019. They were later released on February 19.

Smollett allegedly agreed to pay them $3,500 to stage the attack.

Ola Osundairo is a personal trainer who appeared in an episode of Empire. Smollet and Ola reportedly became friendly and traded 'workout tips' via text message.

On February 20, Smollett was arrested and accused of lying to the police.

He was bailed out on a $10,000 cash bond and charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

Smollett was hospitalized following the fight that he allegedly paid two brothers $3,500 to attack him

The Chicago Police arrested him in February 2019 for filing a false police report. He was released on February 20 after paying a $10,000 bail. That case, however, was dropped on March 26 by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in return for the actor forfeiting the $10,000 bond he paid

The actor seen leaving Cook County Court after posting 10 per cent of his 100,000 bond

His attackers were identified as Abel and Ola Osundairo. Ola was on one episode of Empire and Smollett and allegedly swapped workout tips via texts afterward

That case, however, was dropped on March 26 by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in return for the actor forfeiting the $10,000 bond he paid.

The City of Chicago would later sue Smollett for $130,000 for the cost of the investigation.

The case was revived when a special prosecutor charged Smollett with disorderly conduct over the police reports. The actor has pleaded not guilty.

Although Uche tried to have the case dismissed, he said Smollett wants 'nothing more than to go to a jury and clear his name.'

Speaking on Marc Lamont Hill's Instagram in mid-September, the actor said: 'I'm going to give it up to God, but if I'm being completely honest, I don't think that... they're not going to let this go.

Smollett (center) starred in the show alongside Taraji P. Henson (left) and Terrence Howard (right)

The actor reportedly staged the attack because he was allegedly unhappy about his salary and wanted to promote his career

'There is an example being made and the sad thing is there is an example being made of someone who did not do what they are accused of.

'On one hand, when I step back, I see how [Chicago Police] played the narrative, the way that they served it to the people. That it was intentionally created to make people doubt from the very beginning.

'From the very, very beginning, it was made to seem that I was lying about something or everything. But at the same time, I'm not really living for the people who don't believe.'

The city of Chicago have requested that the FBI hand over records of their own probe into Mr Smollett's case.

Linn said jury selection in Smollett's trial would start November 29.
Sophie Guidolin is being accused of duping her followers after filming a video of herself using skincare products.

The 32-year-old shared a sponsored post to Instagram for Skora Skincare, rubbing their blemish spot remover on a pimple on the left side of her chin.

The following day, she claimed the product had worked but shared a photo of the opposite side of her face.

'Does she really think she's fooled us?' Gold Coast influencer Sophie Guidolin (pictured) has been called out for her VERY dubious sponsored post

Sophie's post was uploaded by the Celeb Spellcheck Instagram page and captioned: 'The poor brand honestly.'

Instagram star Kurt Coleman also commented on the post: 'That's cracking me up.'

Model Jessie Gurunathan wrote: 'Wait, what the heck did I just watch?! Does she really think she's fooled us switching face sides? This is too much for a Sunday.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sophie for comment.

Post: She shared a sponsored post to Instagram for Skora Skincare, rubbing their blemish spot remover on a pimple on the left side of her chin. The following day, she claimed the product had worked but shared a photo of the opposite side of her face

It comes after Sophie was accused of 'cultural appropriation' after asking her followers if she should dress up as Pocahontas or Princess Jasmine for a Halloween party.

She posted a poll on Instagram Stories so fans could help her decide, but she faced criticism because she is white and Pocahontas and Princess Jasmine are both women of colour.

Pocahontas was a Native American woman from the 17th century whose life story was fictionalised in the 1995 Disney film of the same name. Princess Jasmine is a fictional Arabian character from the 1992 Disney animation Aladdin.

Poll: It comes after Sophie was accused of 'cultural appropriation' after asking her followers if she should dress up as Pocahontas or Princess Jasmine for a Halloween party

Over Influencers, an Instagram account that documents social media gaffes, reposted Guidolin's poll, leading some critics to accuse her of cultural insensitivity.

'It's 2021. People have been pulled up for this before. What planet are you living on to think this is still okay? Let me guess, they're white girls making a way as influencers living on the Gold Coast,' one person commented.

'The two princesses you just shouldn't dress up as,' another wrote.

'Why not just go 'black-face'? Would be same-same. #fail,' a third added.
Christina Aguilera regaled the crowd with a typical showstopping performance at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductions on Saturday.

She hit the stage at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland that night and sang River Deep - Mountain High in honor of Tina Turner.

Tina, who introduced the number with her abusive then-husband Ike in 1966, was one of the inductees into the Hall Of Fame that night.

At the mic: Christina Aguilera regaled the crowd with a typical showstopping performance at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductions on Saturday

Christina let her signature mane of platinum blonde hair fly free as she delivered up a reliably sensational vocal for the crowd.

She demonstrated her fandom by wearing a t-shirt with Tina's face on it - before cinching the look in with mahogany corsetry.

The Burlesque actress complemented the leather corset with a pair of royal purple trousers that featured bell bottoms in a nod to Tina's 1970s icon status.

Sharpening her unmistakable features with makeup she ensured she included a bit of showbiz glitz in her look by stringing on several necklaces.

Fab: She hit the stage at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland that night and sang River Deep - Mountain High in honor of Tina Turner

What a night: Christina let her signature mane of platinum blonde hair fly free as she delivered up a reliably sensational vocal for the crowd

Last detail: She demonstrated her fandom by wearing a t-shirt with Tina's face on it - before cinching the look in with mahogany corsetry

As Christina strutted her stuff around the stage a massive image of Tina in her prime appeared behind her amid an array of gold lights.

Tina's induction speech was given by Angela Bassett who had played her in the 1993 biopic What's Love Got To Do With It.

The film, which takes its name from a 1984 Tina Turner song, was based on the legendary songstress' own memoir I, Tina.

'I, too, am one of those people blessed by Tinas remarkable gift to inspire,' said Angela in her speech according to Rolling Stone.

Singing up a storm: Sharpening her unmistakable features with makeup she ensured she included a bit of showbiz glitz in her look by stringing on several necklaces

Keep on burnin': As Christina strutted her stuff around the stage a massive image of Tina in her prime appeared behind her amid an array of gold lights

Incoming: Although the sold-out induction ceremony was held this Saturday in Cleveland it will not stream on HBO Max until November 20th

'When I played Tina in What's Love Got To Do With It I had the terrifying opportunity of trying to figure out how she became the extraordinary woman that weve come to know. Fortunately, I had the generous guidance of Tina herself to help me.'

Angela added: 'It was one of the most demanding roles Ive ever played. But it was also one of the most fulfilling.'

The How Stella Got Her Grove Back star reflected that 'just like Tina, I too was a little black girl, who had dreams far beyond what the world expected of me.'

She reminded the crowd that 'Tina is already a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame from her earlier work with Ike Turner' - a joint honor awarded in 1991.

The lady herself: Tina's induction speech was given by Angela Bassett who had played her in the 1993 biopic What's Love Got To Do With It

Saying her piece: 'I, too, am one of those people blessed by Tinas remarkable gift to inspire,' said Angela in her speech according to Rolling Stone

Hindsight: Angela called her Tina Turner film film 'the terrifying opportunity of trying to figure out how she became the extraordinary woman that weve come to know'

'However, what brings us here tonight is Tinas journey to independence. For Tina, hope triumphed over hate. Faith won over fear. And ambition eclipsed adversity.'

H.E.R. hit the stage that evening to deliver a duet of It's Only Love with none other than antipodean country heartthrob Keith Urban.

Tina introduced the song in 1984 with Canadian artist Bryan Adams who was supposed to be performing it with H.E.R. this weekend.

However earlier on Saturday it emerged in Variety that Bryan had to withdraw from the festivities as he had been diagnosed with coronavirus.

Paying homage: Angela added: 'It was one of the most demanding roles Ive ever played,' sharing: 'But it was also one of the most fulfilling'

Frontier: Angela noted 'Tina is already a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame from her earlier work with Ike Turner' and said the new honor was her 'journey to independence'

Bryan is vaccinated and currently asymptomatic, according to his representative who confirmed he had tested positive.

All of the performers at the evening's festivities - even if they have been vaccinated - had to be tested for COVID-19 before the show.

H.E.R. seemed to have adjusted well to her new duet partner as she and Keith appeared to be enjoying one another's company onstage.

They struck up a guitar battle according to Rolling Stone and at one point whilst they were onstage together they warmly embraced.

There they are: H.E.R. hit the stage that evening to deliver a duet of It's Only Love with none other than antipodean country heartthrob Keith Urban

Best laid plans: Tina introduced the song in 1984 with Canadian artist Bryan Adams who was supposed to be performing it with H.E.R. this weekend

So Keith stepped in: However earlier on Saturday it emerged in Variety that Bryan had to withdraw from the festivities as he had been diagnosed with coronavirus

Big hit: Country songstress Mickey Guyton belted the lyrics to Turner's classic Whats Love Got to Do With'

Hot! Mickey modeled a strapless black vinyl dress and a denim jacket for her performance

Country songstress Mickey Guyton belted the lyrics to Turner's classic Whats Love Got to Do With,' while donning a black vinyl dress and a denim jacket.

Tina was inducted in a Performers category that included Carole King as well as Foo Fighters, The Go-Gos, Todd Rundgren and Jay-Z.

Clarence Avant, the 90-year-old music executive, has also been given a special award named after the late Ahmet Ertegun who co-founded Atlantic Records.

The Early Influences category consisted of three recipients - the West German band Kraftwerk as well as the late Gil Scott-Heron and the late Charley Patton.

By the way: Bryan is vaccinated and currently asymptomatic, according to his representative who confirmed he had tested positive

Having a ball: H.E.R. seemed to have adjusted well to her new duet partner as she and Keith appeared to be enjoying one another's company onstage

Charley was the 'Father Of The Delta Blues' and Gil was the spoken word poet whose The Revolution Will Not Be Televised became an iconic record.

LL Cool J got a Musical Excellence Award that night - his fellow recipients were Billy Preston and Randy Rhoads both of whom were awarded posthumously.

Although the sold-out induction ceremony was held this Saturday in Cleveland it will not stream on HBO Max until November 20th.

So sweet: They struck up a guitar battle according to Rolling Stone and at one point whilst they were onstage together they warmly embraced
Troubled actor Matthew Newton fled Australia to live in New York in 2012.

But now questions abound as to whether the 44-year-old will return home to attend the funeral of his father, Bert Newton, who died on Saturday at the age of 83 and will be celebrated in a state funeral in Melbourne.

According to a report in Confidential on Sunday, an alleged insider claimed it's 'unlikely' Matthew will fly home to Australia.

Far: Troubled actor Matthew Newton fled Australia to live in New York in 2012. Pictured in 2017

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to the Newton family for comment.

Matthew has kept under the radar since relocating to the U.S. and reportedly resisted requests from his mother, Patti, 76, to return to Australia last year, when New York was struggling through the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The actor and director, who suffers from bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and has a history of addiction, has a notably tumultuous past.

Return? Questions abound as to whether the 44-year-old will return home to attend the funeral of his father, Bert Newton, who died on Saturday at the age of 83 and will be celebrated in a state funeral in Melbourne. Bert is pictured with wife Patti

Not a plan? According to a report in Confidential on Sunday, an alleged insider claimed it's 'unlikely' Matthew will fly home to Australia. Pictured with his father

This includes domestic violence allegations from two former girlfriends: Australian actresses Brooke Satchwell, 40, and Rachael Taylor, 37.

Matthew was also arrested twice in Miami, Florida, in 2012 - the first for trespassing and resisting officers, while a second incident saw him charged with battery and resisting arrest after he attacked a hotel receptionist.

Following the charges, Matthew checked into the Betty Ford Center in California for 90 days of alcohol and drug treatment.

Past: The actor and director, who suffers from bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder and has a history of addiction, has a notably tumultuous past. Pictured in 2001

Woes: This includes domestic violence allegations from two former girlfriends: Australian actresses Brooke Satchwell, 40, and Rachael Taylor, 37 (pictured)

Both matters were later dismissed under the conditions that Matthew completes community service and writes a letter of apology to the hotel clerk.

He was forced to withdraw as director of the Hollywood film Eve in October 2018 after a social media backlash over his alleged history of assault.

According to Woman's Day magazine, Matthew has completely given up on his home country and is happy living with long-term partner Catherine Schneiderman in New York.

Married: According to Woman's Day magazine, Matthew has completely given up on his home country and is happy living with long-term partner Catherine Schneiderman (pictured) in New York. Matt and Catherine reportedly married in 2017

Staying put: Matthew has kept under the radar since relocating to the U.S. and reportedly resisted requests from his mother, Patti, 76, to return to Australia last year, when New York was struggling through the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pictured in 2017

Matt and Catherine, who is the daughter of former New York attorney-general Eric Schneiderman, have dated since 2012 and were reportedly married in 2017.

'Because of his scandals over the years, he can't face coming home to Australia,' a source told the publication.

'Matthew lives a private, almost reclusive, life with his partner Catherine in New York now, where he is rarely bothered. He has no desire to reawaken old demons by returning to Australia,' the insider added.

Final photo: Bert died on Saturday night, after a stunning career that beamed him into the living rooms of Australians for more than 70 years. On October 24, Patti posted a photo of a beaming Newton recovering in his hospital bed while surrounded by five of his grandchildren

TV legend Bert died on Saturday night, after a stunning career that beamed him into the living rooms of Australians for more than 70 years.

He had been receiving palliative care at a clinic in Melbourne at the time of his death, following a long health battle that led to one of his legs being amputated in May.

The TV personality is survived by his wife Patti, daughter Lauren, 40, son Matthew, and six grandchildren.
Hugh Jackman has paid tribute to his former co-star Bert Newtown after the TV legend died at the age of 83 on Saturday.

The Australian stars had starred alongside one another in a stage production of Beauty and the Beast in 1995.

And on Sunday, Hugh, 53, shared some moving memories of his old pal in an Instagram Stories post from him and his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, 65.

Loss: Hugh Jackman (left) has paid tribute to his former co-star Bert Newtown after the TV legend died at the age of 83 on Saturday. Pictured with wife Deborra-Lee Furness (right)

'Deb and I are so sad to have heard of the passing of an Australian icon. Bert Newton. I was privileged to have worked with Bert on Beauty and the Beast for a year.

'Just by watching him, I learned how to handle the spotlight with grace, dignity, humour and class.'

Hugh added that Bert was also 'quietly' generous and never broadcast his acts of charity.

Co-stars: The Wolverine also shared a photo of himself and Bert (right) on the set of the musical Beauty and the Beast in 1995 (pictured)

'Deb and I are so sad to have heard of the passing of an Australian icon. Bert Newton. I was privileged to have worked with Bert on Beauty and the Beast for a year,' Hugh wrote

'What I will remember more than anything was his incredible humanity. His countless acts of quiet generosity when no one was looking,' he added

'But, what I will remember more than anything was his incredible humanity. His countless acts of quiet generosity when no one was looking,' Hugh wrote.

'You were on of a kind Bert. You will be deeply missed. Much love to Patti and the entire family.'

The Wolverine actor also shared a photo of himself and Bert on the set of Beauty and the Beast in the 1990s.

Final photo: TV legend Bert died on Saturday night. On October 24, Patti posted a photo of a beaming Newton recovering in his hospital bed while surrounded by five of his grandchildren

TV legend Bert died on Saturday night, after a stunning career that beamed him into the living rooms of Australians for more than 70 years.

He had been receiving palliative care at a clinic in Melbourne at the time of his death, following a long health battle that led to one of his legs being amputated in May.

The TV personality is survived by his wife Patti, 76, daughter Lauren, 40, son Matthew, 40, and six grandchildren.

His life will be celebrated in am upcoming state funeral in Melbourne.
Big Brother VIP stars Caitlyn Jenner, 72, and Omarosa Manigault Newman, 47, are set to go head-to-head on Big Brother VIP.

A sneak peek for the new series sees the reality TV icons in a bitter tug of war-style game designed to test brute strength.

In the footage, Caitlyn and Omarosa are seen flexing their muscles around a star-shaped wheel.

Face-off: Caitlyn Jenner (pictured) and Omarosa Manigault Newman show off their brute strength as they go head-to-head in Big Brother VIP challenge

Both stars let out audible grunts as if their life depends on it in the bitter duel.

Things are certainly set to get heated between the two women, who have been in a war of words before the premiere.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Caitlyn branded Omarosa 'a bully' and said she was 'even more despicable' than she'd expected.

'I wasn't a fan of Omarosa before the show because she's a bully. After the show, she proved me wrong. She turned out to be an even more despicable human being than I could have ever imagined,' she said.

Rivalry: In the footage, Caitlyn and Omarosa are seen flexing their muscles around a star-shaped wheel. Both stars let out audible grunts as if their life depends on it in the bitter duel

Push: Things are certainly set to get heated between the two women, who have been in a war of words before the premiere

'Hopefully she'll still send me pictures of her wedding party that she had in the White House - the one where Secret Service kicked her out just like when she was fired.'

Omarosa - a former advisor to ousted US President Donald Trump - famously took members of her 39-person bridal party to the White House for a photo shoot ahead of her wedding to John Allen Newman in April 2017.

According to a report by Politico in November 2017, many White House staffers, including security, were caught off-guard by the photo shoot.

Ready for action: Things are certainly set to get heated between the two women. Pictured; Caitlyn Jenner

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Omarosa claimed Caitlyn was trying to take photos of her in the Big Brother house and said the former Keeping Up With the Kardashians star gave off '"Single White Female" vibes'.

'By her own admission, she's been obsessed with me even before I moved into the Big Brother House,' she added.

Omarosa said she was 'shocked' Caitlyn left her political campaign for governor of California to appear on reality TV in Australia, and labelled it 'a publicity stunt'.

Big Brother VIP premieres Monday, November 1 on Channel Seven
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Holly Willoughby made a stylish exist from Grosvenor House on Saturday night as she led the stars making their departures from the Pride of Britain Awards.

Love Island's Chloe Burrows enjoyed a raucous night out at the bash as she was carried out of the venue barefoot by her boyfriend Toby Aromolaran.

The worse-for-wear reality star, 26, looked in good spirits as she wrapped her arms around her partner, 21, as they made their way to a waiting car.

Departures: Holly Willoughby made a stylish exist from Grosvenor House on Saturday night as she lead the stars making their departures from the Pride of Britain Awards

Holly, 40, exuded elegance in a strapless light pink gown which featured a ruffled neckline and figure-hugging design.

She completed the look with white heels and wore her blonde tresses in loose waves over her shoulders while opting for a glamorous makeup look.

Chloe opted for a dark blue sleeveless gown which featured a teal patterned train while she styled her locks into a ponytail.

Toby looked dapper in a black velvet blazer and matching trousers as he helped his girlfriend out of the venue.

Party: Love Island's Chloe Burrows enjoyed a raucous night out at the bash as she was carried out of the venue barefoot by her boyfriend Toby Aromolaran

Looking good: Emily Atack put on a very stylish display in a dark green skirt with a high leg split and a matching crop top

Couple: Vogue Williams was all smiles as she departed the awards show alongside husband Spencer Matthews

Meanwhile, Vogue Williams effortlessly turned heads in a figure-hugging emerald gown with a cut out along the sides.

The garment also featured a leg split while the star added height to her frame with a pair of gold heels.

Vogue was all smiles as she departed the awards show alongside husband Spencer Matthews who sported a white blazer and a matching shirt with black trousers.

Emily Atack put on a very stylish display in a dark green skirt with a high leg split and a matching crop top.

Smooch: Lottie Tomlinson and her boyfriend Lewis Burton put on a loved-up display as they made their departure from the awards

Pals: Comedian Katherine Ryan and reality star Vicky Pattison appeared in good spirits as they were seen catching up on their way out of the venue

The Celebrity Juice star added height to her frame with a pair of black heels while she let her blonde locks fall loose down her shoulders.

Comedian Katherine Ryan and reality star Vicky Pattison appeared in good spirits as they were seen catching up on their way out of the venue.

Lottie Tomlinson and her boyfriend Lewis Burton put on a loved-up display as they made their departure from the awards.

The couple were seen sharing a kiss in their taxi, with Lottie looking sensational in a black long-sleeved mini dress.

Flawless: Emily blew a kiss as she left the bash alongside a group of friends

Loved-up: Simon Cowell cut a dapper figure in a black suit as he departed the awards alongside his longtime partner Lauren Silverman looked incredible in a pale pink sleeveless gown with a diamond collar while she also sported a pair of heels and carried a matching clutch bag.

Cosy: Love Island winners Millie Court and Liam Riordan left the venue holding hands

Stars: Vogue, Vicky and Megan McKenna all looked nothing short of sensational for the star-studded awards show

Finalists: Chloe and Toby finished as runners-up on this year's series of Love Island

Millie Court flashed her decolletage in a plunging brown cardigan while Liam Reardon donned a white T-shirt featuring a Nike motif.

Simon Cowell cut a dapper figure in a black suit as he departed the awards alongside his longtime partner Lauren Silverman.

Lauren looked incredible in a pale pink sleeveless gown with a diamond collar while she also sported a pair of heels and carried a matching clutch bag.

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.

Suave: Danny Dyer and Ne-Yo opted for grey and navy suits while Nicky Byrne went for a more casual look

Attendees: Charlie Brooks donned a black sleeveless jumpsuit while Saffron Barker opted for an emerald off the shoulder gown

Romance: Lottie and Lewis wrapped their arms around each other as they made their way home

Couple: Harry Kane attended the awards alongside his wife Katie Goodland who wore a black dress

Among the winners were 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 went to Gee Walker, who forgave her sons killers and devoted her life to promoting racial harmony in his memory.

All smiles: Vanessa Feltz opted for a champagne dress with a pleated detail and embroidered pattern as she was joined by partner Ben Ofoedu

Dragon: Duncan Bannatyne departed the awards show alongside his wife Nigora Whitehorn

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 said: '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.

Couples: Alesha Dixon and her husband Azuka Ononye (left), Kym Marsh and fiance Scott Ratcliff (centre) and Faye Winter and Teddy Soares (right) all put on loved-up displays

'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.

Radiant: Joanna Lumley donned a pink gown with a black top and matching blazer

Event: The Absolutely Fabulous star's garment featured a ruffled detail while she also sported a pair of silver earrings

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.
Justin Lacko bared all in a racy photo shoot on Sunday.

The former Love Island Australia shared a photo of himself in the shower with his bare bottom exposed.

The 30-year-old showcased his muscled back and pert derriere in the photo, as he gently stoked his wet hair in the image.

Oh my! Justin Lacko, 30, (pictured) bared all in a naked photoshoot on Sunday, sharing the image to Instagram

It comes after Justin came out as bisexual, or sexually fluid, in a series of posts in March last year.

The now-deleted Instagram posts were obtained by The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

'Love who you want to!' he wrote. 'Doesn't matter the sex.'

Justin added: 'I won't lie anymore within myself. I want freedom to be free. I respect myself to say this. I love me and always will.'

Freedom: 'Love who you want to!' he wrote. 'Doesn't matter the sex.' Justin wrote: 'I won't lie anymore within myself. I want freedom to be free,' he added

He then clarified that 'this isn't me coming out at all about being gay. This is me coming out today that I fall in love with a person, not a sex. I love women and man [sic], that's it.'

He concluded: 'Gay, bi, straight, just be who you are. I don't care and neither should anyone else.'

Justin rose to fame on Love Island Australia in 2018. He went on to appear as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

'Love who you want to!' he wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post. 'Doesn't matter the sex'

'I want freedom to be free. I respect myself to say this. I love me and always will,' he added

While on I'm a Celebrity, he admitted he had stopped speaking to his grandmother because she questioned his sexuality.

'I have held onto a grudge with my grandma. I say 'hi' to her when I see her at Christmas time, I acknowledge her, but that's it,' he said.

'She said something like, "I think it's time we admitted that Justin is gay and in the closet. He never brings girls home".'

Justin said he was hurt and disappointed by his grandmother's words, even though his other family members supported him.

Details: He concluded: 'Gay, bi, straight, just be who you are. I don't care and neither should anyone else'
Actor Matt Le Nevez was sent packing from the Celebrity MasterChef kitchen on Sunday night.

The 42-year-old was gracious in defeat when judge Andy Allen told him he failed to cut the mustard with his duck and mash dish.

'Mate, the flavour of the mash is on point,' Andy began.

Out: Offspring actor Matt Le Nevez, 42, (pictured) was booted from Celebrity MasterChef on Sunday after failing to impress the judges with his duck and mash

'Like, you've loaded it up with butter and seasoning, which is what you need to do. It's just... it's a little bit grainy.

'Then the duck breast. My render could have been, you know, a touch better.'

The Offspring star, however, offered nothing but a sweet farewell to the judges after being called out for the rookie error.

Today felt like being back on stage or on a big day on a movie set with all the pressure of getting it right,' said the beloved actor

'I've enjoyed learning and I'm a better cook now than when I first got here,' he added.

He was then hugged by the rest of the cast in a send off.

Skills: 'I wanted to learn as much as I could about cooking the duck, because I've never cooked a duck before in my life,' the actor said

Speaking to Ten afterwards Matt said he didn't have any regrets.

'I wanted to learn as much as I could about cooking the duck, because I've never cooked a duck before in my life,' the actor said.

'I thought I might have a chance to survive, I thought it might come down and Dilruk [Jayasinha] and I because I knew Tilly [Ramsay] would be okay because she's an incredible chef,' he said.

Matt went on to say he was always a fan of the reality show.

'I never had any desire to be on reality television at all, but to me, it isn't that, it's a show that highlights and exemplifies cooking,' he said.

Fan: 'I never had any desire to be on reality television at all, but to me, it isn't that, it's a show that highlights and exemplifies cooking,' Matt said

'I really wanted a chance to learn from the judges and the experience and try and become a better cook, because families revolve around the kitchen.'

Matt chose to support the charity People Stories during his time on Celebrity Masterchef, which offers education support to children in regional and remote areas of Cambodia.

Celebrity MasterChef continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel 10
Former Love Island contestant Belle Hassan turned heads as she stepped out in a barely there bodysuit in London's Mayfair on Saturday night.

The reality star, 26, who recently admitted she had cried over her weight gain, put on a confident display as she went braless in a black bodycon minidress.

Belle left very little to the imagination as she strutted through the capital in the racy number which had cut away detailing.

Spooky: Belle Hassan, 26, turned heads as she stepped out in a barely there bodysuit in London's Mayfair on Saturday night to celebrate Halloween

The black outfit cut away at the cleavage, waist and hips and highlighted her tanned legs.

The TV personality kept with the spooky spirit of Halloween by wearing some bright coloured contact lenses on the night.

Belle opted for a full smokey eye with a dramatic black eyeliner and mascara and a bold bronze blush. She finished her makeup with a pink lipstick which accentuated her full pout.

Ghoulish: The TV personality kept with the spooky spirit of Halloween by wearing some bright coloured contact lenses on the night

All eyes on her: The reality star, 26, who recently admitted she had cried over her weight gain, put on a confident display as she went braless in a black bodycon minidress

Looking sexy as ever, the star opted to wear her long blonde wavy tresses down and let it fall gently across the shoulders.

She finished the look with a pair of on trend black ankle boots.

Belle recently told her Instagram followers she was on a health kick after putting on weight over lockdown.

Her night on the town comes after her ex, Love Island's Anton Danyluk has reportedly been dropped from appearing on the upcoming series of Ex On The Beach just days before filming is due to start.

The reality star, 27, was set to star on the show this autumn but The Sun claims that he has been flown home after his exes refused to take part in the programme.

Anton's exes include Denise Wilkie, 28, who he split with before heading into the villa in 2019, and fellow islander Belle.

A source told the publication: 'Anton flew out to Tenerife, quarantined for three days and was then told he wouldn't be going onto the show and flew home again.

'They couldn't get any of his exes to confront him on the show, and that's the whole point! It's a pity but they hope he can join another series.'

A representative for Anton was contacted by MailOnline for a comment at the time,

Party time: The star dressed up to celebrate Halloween in London

Ex On The Beach sees celebrity contestants jetting off overseas to live together in a luxury villa, while under the illusion they'll be finding love in the sun.

Soon after touching down in the exotic location, they're soon told that their former flames will be rocking up to surprise them.

Former seasons have seen a slew of celebs take part in the show, including Geordie Shore's Gaz Beadle, Charlotte Crosby and Marnie Simpson.
She enjoyed a night out with Scott Disick last week following his split from Amelia Hamlin in September.

And Elizabeth Grace Lindley enjoyed the company of a female friend, rapper Tyga's ex Amanda Trivizas, as she stepped out to a halloween party in West Hollywood, California on Saturday night.

The 20-year-old model showcased her sensational figure as she wore a white bra and matching sheer underwear as part of her Victoria's Secret angel costume for the evening.

Angelic: Scott Disick's rumoured love interest Elizabeth Grace Lindley, 20, stepped out in a white bra and matching sheer underwear to a Halloween party in West Hollywood on Saturday

The blonde beauty could be seen teetering on a pair of high-heeled shoes with see-through straps as she headed into the venue.

Elizabeth walked alongside Amanda who dressed as a mermaid with fiery red hair.

She put on a busty display in a shell bra and wore a green flowing dress with a split to the front which shimmered in the light as she walked.

Standing out from the crowd: The model showcased her sensational figure in her barely-there angel costume as she walked alongside rapper Tyga's ex Amanda Trivizas

Last week, Elizabeth was seen spending a night out with Scott, 38, marking the first time he's been seen in public since his ex Kourtney Kardashian, 42, announced her engagement to Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, 45.

Influencer Elizabeth and Keeping Up With The Kardashians star Scott were together outside Offsunset, a new nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood that has cultivate a reputation for discretion and exclusivity because mobile phones and cameras are banned within the establishment.

The two stayed out together into the early morning hours of Friday, before witnesses said they 'left together in a chauffeured car'.

Catching the eye: The blonde beauty could be seen teetering on a pair of high-heeled shoes with see-through straps as she headed into the venue, showing off her derriere as she walked

Elizabeth was previously linked to Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton earlier in 2021, though they never confirmed their relationship and didn't announce a parting of ways.

Scott was most recently dating another 20-year-old, the model Amelia Hamlin, who ended things with him in September after his DMs complaining about his ex Kourtney and her relationship with Travis Barker were made public.

He sent a private message to another one of her exes, Younes Bendjima, where he criticised her for showing too much PDA with the drummer during a trip.

New love? Last week, Elizabeth was seen spending a night out with Scott Disick, 38, at exclusive nightclub Offsunset on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California

'Yo is this chick ok!??? Broo like what is this. In the middle of Italy,' Scott complained of a photo showing Kourtney straddling and kissing Travis on a boat.

Younes, 28, shot back: 'Doesn't matter to me as long as shes happy. PS: i aint your bro.'

Scott and Amelia were first linked in October of 2020 after they were seen arriving at Kendall Jenner's star-studded Halloween party together.

The way they were: Scott was most recently dating another 20-year-old, the model Amelia Hamlin, who ended things with him in September

Last week, insiders close to Scott told Page Six that he hasn't been doing well since learning of his ex's engagement to Travis Barker, despite splitting from Kourtney more than five years ago.

'Scott is going crazy,' an insider told the publication. 'He's going to go off the deep end. It's really bad. It's about to get dark.'

A source also told Us Weekly the model and socialite feels out of touch with the Kardashians as his ex continues to move on.

'The Kardashians adore Scott and tell him hes part of the family no matter what, but he feels very distant and feels like an outcast more than ever,' the source said.
Suki Waterhouse and Robert Pattinson both opted for casual looks as they attended Vas J Morgan and Michael Braun's star-studded party in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The couple were among the few attendees who didn't don a Halloween costume for the Squid Game-inspired event.

Suki, 29, donned a sheer midi dress with a patterned detail which she wore over a black crop top and matching bottoms.

Party: Suki Waterhouse and Robert Pattinson both opted for casual looks as they attended Vas J Morgan and Michael Braun's star-studded party in Los Angeles on Saturday night

The model also sported a pair of black boots and wrapped up in a matching leather jacket.

Letting her blonde locks fall loose down her shoulders, Suki completed her look with a multi-coloured handbag.

Robert, 35, arrived in a dark jacket with a blue shirt and beige trousers while he also sported a face mask.

The actor will next be seen taking on the role of Bruce Wayne in the upcoming blockbuster The Batman, with a new trailer released this month.

Casual: The couple were among the few attendees who didn't don a Halloween costume for the Squid Game-inspired event

Outfit: Suki, 29, donned a sheer midi dress with a patterned detail which she wore over a black crop top and matching bottoms

Laid back: Robert, 35, arrived in a dark jacket with a blue shirt and beige trousers while

Role: The actor will next be seen taking on the role of Bruce Wayne in the upcoming blockbuster The Batman, with a new trailer released this month

The first trailer for The Batman was unveiled more than a year ago at DC Fandome in August 2020.

The story appears to be set within Bruce Wayne's second year of crime fighting as Batman, when he's not as experienced as later versions of the character but his arsenal is fully developed.

Filling out the main cast will be Jeffrey Wright who plays James Gordon, though he'll later be promoted to commissioner of the police force.

Matt Reeves, who directed the most recent Planet Of The Apes films, will be helming the project from a script he wrote with Peter Craig (Ben Affleck's The Town) and Mattson Tomlin (Project Power) with Reeves and Dylan Clark producing.

The film is currently expected to be released on March 4, 2022.
On Saturday Dakota Johnson and fiance Chris Martin met with a real estate agent near the beach in Los Angeles.

The 32-year-old actress and the 44-year-old Coldplay frontman were joined by their friend Sean Penn, 61, whom Johnson is set to work with in the upcoming film Daddio.

Martin and Penn were seen shoeless as they left one of the properties in Malibu.

House hunting: On Saturday Dakota Johnson and fiance Chris Martin met with a real estate agent near the beach in Los Angeles

The sighting with the real estate agent comes as their relationship appears to be going from strength to strength.

The previously shy couple have been seen out much more this year, and earlier this month Chris called Dakota 'his universe' during a rare public declaration of his love her for, during a Coldplay concert.

For their outing, Dakota wore a light blue denim jacket with a cream shearling collar.

She paired it with cropped, black, lounge pants, and added cream loafers.

The Texas born entertainer sported black-rimmed glasses with red-tinted lenses.

Her brunette locks hung down her back in a natural wave and she was seen in her signature bangs.

Group outing: The 32-year-old actress and the 44-year-old Coldplay frontman were joined by their friend Sean Penn, 61, whom Johnson is set to work with in the upcoming film Daddio

The English musician wore a crewneck black sweater and black sweatpants, and no footwear was in sight as he made his way to a nearby black vehicle.

Martin flashed a gap-toothed smile and rocked a full beard that connected to his cropped hair, which was cut in a longer-at-the-top style.

He had a circular white pin on his top and the hint of a black necklace was draped around his neck.

Sans shoes: Martin and Penn were shoeless as they left one of the properties in Malibu

Dressed down: Penn kept it casual in a black shirt with white lettering, a black bomber jacket, and black sweats

Penn kept it casual in a black shirt with white lettering, a black bomber jacket, and black sweats.

He carried white Asics sneakers in his hand and walked on the pavement in white socks.

The longtime actor's crop of brown hair was slightly disheveled and he was clean shaven.

Pitstop: Afterwards they were seen grabbing coffee and some food at SunLife Organics in Malibu

Happy days: A beaming Dakota laughed while chatting with her musician beau and seemed to slip her hand into the pocket of his sweats

In June Deadline reported that Dakota and Sean had been cast in a film directed and written by Christy Hall.

The drama will follow a chance encounter narrative, exploring dynamics of human connection.

Johnson, Hall, Ro Donnelly, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff are all slated to produce the feature.
Danniella Westbrook may need surgery after a nasty sinus infection left doctors fearing for her brain.

The former EastEnders star, 47, was taken to hospital on Thursday when she took to Instagram to share an image of ambulances outside a hospital in Liverpool.

Following a stay in intensive care, the actress has now reportedly been referred to a palliative specialist who will look into her options to stop her falling so ill again, including surgery.

Shock illness: Danniella Westbrook, 47, may need surgery after a nasty sinus infection left doctors fearing for her brain

A source told the Daily Star Online: 'She is out of ICU now. She is being seen by a cancer palliative specialist over the next few days to discuss options and surgery to stop this from happening again.

'We hope she can be well soon and out of hospital very soon as it's her birthday next week. She's a fighter, that's for sure.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Danniella for comment.

Traumatic: The former EastEnders star was taken to hospital on Thursday when she took to Instagram to share an image of ambulances outside a hospital in Liverpool

The true extent of Danniella's illness emerged on Saturday, with doctors fearing the infection could 'track back to her brain'.

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.'

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.
Sean Penn and Robin Wright's daughter Dylan Penn stepped out to celebrate Halloween on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old actress ended her night mouth to mouth with an attractive brunette woman.

The blonde beauty sported a baby blue ensemble and her unknown companion wore a similar look, but in orange.

A wet one: Sean Penn and Robin Wright's daughter Dylan Penn ended her Saturday night mouth to mouth with an attractive brunette woman

The Flag Day star donned slim fitting pants that had a satin strip down the leg and a corresponding belt.

It was paired with a sleeveless top in the same blue shade, and she had a detached white collar around her neck.

It had a V-neck cut and three narrow rows of vertical ruffles on the front.

And the socialite's long, light locks flowed freely, nearly reaching her waistline as she spent her night on the West Hollywood scene.

Coordinated: The blonde beauty sported a baby blue ensemble and her unknown companion wore a similar look, but in orange

Out and about: The 30-year-old actress stepped out to celebrate Halloween over the weekend

The starlet rounded out her look with black loafers and a matching black purse that she wore crossbody-style.

She was seen carrying a white-encased phone as she exited the party she attended.

And her counterpart wore the same pants as her, only in a bright orange hue.

The mysterious lady sported well-worn white Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers and a flat-brimmed top hat.

She had long, brunette hair and her makeup was beautifully applied.

Halloweekend look: The starlet rounded out her look with black loafers and a matching black purse that she wore crossbody-style

It comes after the up-and-comer attended the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on Friday night.

Dylan, who this year starred alongside her father in a film he directed called Flag Day, was presented with the Rising Star Award.

She flaunted her cleavage in a plunging red cocktail dress with art deco flares around the neckline.
She's living the dream in Los Angeles after packing her bags and leaving Sydney earlier this year.

And Pia Whitesell (nee Miller) certainly turned heads as she attended her first Halloween party since moving stateside on Sunday.

The former Home and Away star, 37, was joined by her husband, Patrick Whitesell, as they arrived at a private Bel Air estate for the DECADA Presents Darren Dzienciol's CARN*EVIL Halloween Party Hosted by Alessandra Ambrosio.

Matching outfits: Pia and Patrick Whitesell dressed up as Neo and Trinity from The Matrix for a Halloween party in Los Angeles on Sunday

The couple dressed as Neo and Trinity from The Matrix, with matching all-black outfits and late '90s-style slim sunglasses.

Pia swept her hair back into a ponytail and sported a low-cut leather top, shiny pants and knee-high boots, which she teamed with a crocodile-skin trench coat.

Patrick, who is one of Hollywood's most influential agents, teamed a long coat with a T-shirt and pants as he held his wife's hand.

Sleek: Pia sported a low-cut leather top, shiny black pants and knee-high boots, which she teamed with a crocodile-skin trench coat

Eye-catching accessory: Pia added a pop of colour by carrying a bright green handbag

Inspiration: Carrie-Anne Moss and Keanu Reeves played Trinity and Neo in The Matrix (1999)

Pia, who played police officer Kat Chapman on Aussie soap opera Home and Away from 2015 and 2018, married Patrick in May.

She is mother to two teenage sons from previous relationships, Isaiah and Lennox.

Pia announced her engagement to Patrick, the executive chairman of the Endeavor Talent Agency, on November 28 last year.

They married in secret six months later and now live together in Los Angeles.

Happily ever after: Pia, who played police officer Kat Chapman on Australian soap opera Home and Away from 2015 and 2018, married influential agent Patrick in May

Ring-a-ding-ding! She had announced her engagement to Patrick, the executive chairman of the Endeavor Talent Agency, on November 28 last year

Patrick's famous clients include Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Idris Elba, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds and many more.

He shares son Evan and daughter Eleanor with his ex-wife Lauren Sanchez.

Lauren, 51, is now in a relationship with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man.
Jess and Eve Gale put their peachy bottoms on full display as they dressed as demons for their Halloween celebrations, before donning black PVC lingerie to be scary playboy bunnies.

The twins, 22, took to Instagram on Sunday to share their sexy costumes from Saturday which consisted of high leg thong PVC bodysuits and thigh high boots, both in an eye catching scarlet colour.

They both had a sweep of red lipstick over their full pouts while sporting lashings of mascara.

Wow: Jess and Eve Gale, 22, put their peachy bottoms on full display as they dressed as demons for their Halloween celebrations

Jess and Eve wore their blonde tresses straight and they fell neatly down their backs in the racy snaps.

The busty bodysuits were on full display as the pair posted a slew of snaps on their Instagram stories.

The girls were headed to the swanky club Playhouse for their glamorous Halloween bash.

Looking good: They then donned black PVC lingerie and knee high boots to be scary playboy bunnies

Setting pulses racing: The twins took to Instagram on Sunday to share their sexy costumes which consisted of high leg thong PVC bodysuits and thigh high boots

Before heading out to the party, they posted a TikTok of themselves strutting their stuff on their balcony to Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake.

On Sunday, the pair donned black lingerie to be scary playboy bunnies, with Eve wearing ears on her head.

They both posed up a storm in the mirror - showcasing their ample assets.

The stunning sisters rose to fame on the 2020 winter series of the ITV2 show, however they failed to find love with Jess splitting from Ched Uzor after the series finished.

The pair faced a bit of backlash when they jetted to Dubai in December, due to the Covid pandemic.

Gorgeous: The busty bodysuits were on full display as the pair posted a slew of snaps on their Instagram stories

Going out out: The girls were headed to the swanky club Playhouse for their glamorous Halloween bash

They joined many other Love Islanders including Joanna Chimonides, Hayley Hughes and Francesca Allen.

After Dubai joined UK's travel ban list, celebrities then began flocking to Mexico's bars and beaches as it established itself as the next COVID getaway destination.

Many stars insisted their trips were for 'work purposes' after criticism from the Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Having fun: Before heading out to the party, they posted a TikTok of themselves strutting their stuff on their balcony to Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake

Amazing: On Sunday, the pair donned black lingerie to be scary playboy bunnies, with Eve wearing ears on her head
Doctor Who returned to the BBC on Sunday night for its 13th series, Flux.

Yet fans of the sci-fi favourite were left unimpressed at the special effects in the first instalment - The Halloween Apocalypse - and claimed they were 'better ten years ago.'

Jodie Whittaker kickstarted her third and final series as the Doctor alongside her loyal companion Yaz, aka Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) with the pair hanging upside down from a gravity board.

It's back! Doctor Who fans slammed the special effects on Sunday as Jodie Whittaker embarked on her final series, Flux

An acid ocean surrounding them, the women soon outsmarted the villain keeping them captive, swirling in amongst an eerie green atmosphere while handcuffed to the gravity bar.

The dramatic sequence did not do enough to keep loyal fans convinced, with one penning: 'I don't understand how the #DoctorWho CGI looked better 10 years ago.'

Another chimed: 'The first half of doctor who tonight feels like the effects budgets been slashed the pieces, the opening looked fake even for doctor who standards.'

MailOnline contacted a representative for the show for comment.

Debut: The first episode introduced viewers to a series of new characters, including comedian John Bishop as companion Daniel Lewis (pictured)

Unimpressed: The dramatic sequence did not do enough to keep loyal fans convinced, with one penning: 'I don't understand how the #DoctorWho CGI looked better 10 years ago'

Opening scene: An acid ocean surrounding them, the women soon outsmarted the villain keeping them captive, swirling in amongst an eerie green atmosphere while handcuffed to the gravity bar

Back in July, Former Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi claimed the show has a 'B-movie, cobbled together quality' due to budget constraints.

Peter, 63, who played the 12th Time Lord from 2013 to 2017, told Digital Spy props on the BBC show 'fall to pieces' and praised his newest movie, The Suicide Squad. for having the funds to 'make the monsters look scary.'

Comparing Doctor Who to blockbuster, The Suicide Squad, in which he plays The Thinker and stars alongside Margot Robbie , Idris Elba and Sylvester Stallone, he said: ' I mean that everything about [The Suicide Squad} was bigger. And also, you know, we had this incredible cast."

'Also there was more money, you know... [at] Doctor Who, we dont really have enough  everything on Doctor Who falls to pieces, all of the props fall to pieces and the costumes have to be stuck together with duct tape and velcro and stuff... I like the kind of B-movie, kind of cobbled together, quality of it.

'You know that theres never really quite enough money, but the ideas are often very special  thats what I like. But its also nice to be somewhere where they do have enough money to make the monsters look... scary.'

Oh dear: Former Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi claimed the show has a 'B-movie, cobbled together quality' due to budget constraints' (pictured in 2015 with the Daleks)

However, some enthusiasts were quick to credit Sunday's explosive episode and were keen to see what the series has in store.

'Doctor Who. Flux was scary, great special effects, it's the kind of debut Jodie Whittaker deserves and deserved #doctorwho,' one praised.

A second referred to the Flux CGI as being 'stunning.'

'What a perfect start!': However, some enthusiasts were quick to credit the explosive episode and were keen to see where the series heads

The first episode introduced viewers to a series of new characters, including comedian John Bishop as companion Daniel Lewis.

Iconic monsters such as the Sontarans and the Weeping Angels returned, with Doctor Who fanatics eventually learning that the Flux was essentially a huge ball of fire destroying everything in its wake as it careered through the solar system.

It was believed that new monster Karvanista was kidnapping Dan in dramatic scenes, yet it was later revealed that he was being saved from the Flux, which was 'ripping through the structure of the universe.'

Tense: It was believed that new monster Karvanista (pictured) was kidnapping Dan in dramatic scenes, yet it was later revealed that he was being saved from the Flux

The jam-packed episode, which also welcomed newcomer Claire (Annabel Scholey), concluded with the Flux threatening to disintegrate the Tardis.

Earlier this month, Jodie revealed she does not know who will replace her as Doctor Who when she bows out at the end of series 13.

Speaking during an appearance on The Graham Norton show, the actress, who quit her role in July, has admitted that bosses are 'never going to tell her' who'll step into her shoes as the new Time Lord.

Meanwhile, Jodie described her final series as 'amazing', likening the six episode to a a 'six-hour film'.

Dramatic: The jam-packed episode concluded with the Flux threatening to disintegrate the Tardis

However, despite being the lead in the programme, Jodie has no idea who'll be her replacement as she revealed that she'll filmed some of the regeneration scenes, in which the Doctor takes on a new physical form.

She said of the secrecy behind the new star: 'They are never going to tell me who it is. We filmed some scenes, but the new Doctor wasnt there.

'I wasnt there for Peter (Capaldi), and I only met him months later when I passed him in the street!'

Leaving: Earlier this month, Jodie revealed she does not know who will replace her as Doctor Who when she bows out at the end of series 13

Emotional: The West Yorkshire native said on The Graham Norton Show earlier this month: 'We finished filming yesterday. Please dont go on about it because I will cry'

Teasing: When quizzed about what fans can expect in the final instalment, Jodie remained tight-lipped, though she did suggest the episodes would be like a feature-length movie

Discussing her final outing with Graham, Jodie told how she recently wrapped up filming and that thinking about the moment makes her emotional.

The West Yorkshire native, who recently described her four-year stint manning the T.A.R.D.I.S as being 'the best job I ever had', said: 'We finished filming yesterday. Please dont go on about it because I will cry.'

When quizzed about what fans can expect in the final instalment, Jodie remained tight-lipped, though she did suggest the episodes would be like a feature-length movie.

She explained: 'Im not allowed to tell you anything, but I can say the first episode is out on Halloween and it is a six-episode story arc  its like a six-hour film and it is amazing.'

The much-anticipated series will be Jodie's last as the Doctor, as she confirmed in July that she was leaving the sci-fi programme after four years.
He's one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

And on Sunday, Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky took on brand new roles as they dressed up for Halloween.

The Thor star, 38, went as a Demogorgon while his wife Elsa, 45, transformed into a blood-soaked nurse as they attended a party in Byron Bay.

Halloween with the Hemsworths! Elsa Pataky is a blood-soaked nurse and Chris transformed into a Demogorgon as the family dressed up for the spooky season on Sunday

Chris embraced his look, wearing a printed jumpsuit, face mask and giant gloves.

For her spooky look, Elsa slipped into a white mini dress with printed bloody splatters, wig, and a headpiece.

Meanwhile, Chris and Elsa's twin sons Sasha and Tristan, seven, dressed up in a virus costume.

The couple's daughter India, nine, also transformed into a doctor.

Dressed for the occasion: For her spooky look, Elsa wore a white dress with printed bloody splatters, wig and headpiece

Chris and Elsa met in early 2010 and married in December that year.

The family of five live in Byron Bay, on the NSW North Coast, in a mega-mansion estimated to be worth $30million, after relocating from Los Angeles in 2014.

They spent years renovating their home, which sits on 4.2 hectares of land, with the help of Sydney-based MCK Architects - but the development faced some resistance from locals, who compared it to a multi-storey car park or shopping centre.

Spooky season: Chris and Elsa's twin sons Sasha and Tristan dressed up in a virus costume while their daughter India transformed into a doctor

Getting into the Halloween spirit: Chris embraced his look, wearing a printed jumpsuit, face mask and gloves

Elsa, 44, told Sunday Life in March that patience, communication and understanding were key to her successful marriage.

'You need to put a lot of work into marriage; I don't think every couple is perfect,' she said.

'It requires patience, understanding, a lot of conversation, getting to know the other person, to know yourself and what you do wrong. It's about not letting one's pride get in the way.'

Elsa also said it was important for her and Chris to spend time together as a couple without the children.
Abbie Chatfield recently sparked rumours she'd rekindled her romance with former Bachelor Matt Agnew after he relocated to Sydney.

And the 26-year-old podcast host was spotted taking a tense phone call during her morning walk at Bondi Beach on Saturday.

The outspoken reality star turned heads during the heated conversation and seemingly didn't care who overheard.

Is everything okay? A strained-looking Abbie Chatfield, 26, was spotted taking a tense phone call during her morning walk at Bondi Beach on Saturday

Abbie cut a casual figure in an off-white sweater which she teamed with a pair of black shorts.

She showed off her natural complexion by going makeup free for the outing.

The Love Island Afterparty star wore her blonde hair up in a messy bun and completed her look with black sneakers.

Outspoken: The reality star turned heads during the heated conversation and seemingly didn't care who overheard

Comfortable: Abbie cut a casual figure in an off-white sweater which she teamed with a pair of black shorts

Natural beauty: She showed off her natural complexion by going makeup free for the outing

TV glamour: Abbie looked worlds away from her usual glammed-up appearance as host of Nine's Love Island Australia Afterparty

Abbie's 342,000 Instagram followers were sent into a frenzy last month after they noticed she and Matt Agnew had started following each other for the first time.

The astrophysicist had previously left her heartbroken on The Bachelor in 2019 when she placed runner-up to chemical engineer Chelsie McLeod.

Matt and Chelsie dated for several months before splitting up.

The pair reconnecting on social media coincided with Matt moving from Melbourne to Sydney, where Abbie lives.

Cute! Abbie's 342,000 Instagram followers were sent into a frenzy last month after they noticed she and Matt Agnew had started following each other for the first time

Something to tell us? The astrophysicist had previously left Abbie heartbroken on The Bachelor 2019 when she placed runner-up to chemical engineer Chelsie McLeod

Abbie revealed in May she 'still cries' about Matt, two years after their on-screen split.

'I told a man that I loved him after, like, two months on The Bachelor. That's quite unwell. That's not right in the head,' she said.

'I still cry about him sometimes. That's going to be a Daily Mail headline - that's fine. Give me free advertising for the podcast, thank you!'
Nicky Whelan celebrated Halloween with a fun girls' night out over the weekend.

And the former Neighbours star went all out for the occasion.

The 40-year-old star looked unrecognisable as she painted her body red to dress up as Darth Talon from Star Wars.

Extraterrestrial! Neighbours star Nicky Whelan was unrecognisable as she painted her entire body in red paint to dress up as Darth Talon from Star Wars on Halloween on Sunday night in Los Angeles

The actress showed off her ripped abs in a black crop top and matching skinny jeans and completed her look with a red headpiece.

Nicky also accessorised with a light saber and fingerless gloves.

Missing from her look was Talon's signature black tattoos.

Darth Talon was a female Lethan Twi'lek who became a Sith Lady in Darth Krayt's One Sith in 137 ABY. Her character appears in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Hot: The actress showed off her ripped abs in a black crop top and matching skinny jeans and completed her look with a red headpiece

Joining Nicky on the night was Kate Neilson, a fellow actress and the former fiancee of troubled AFL star Wayne Carey, who dressed up as a female cop.

The pair looked like they were having a ball at the bash as Nicky appeared to leave her long-term boyfriend Frank Grillo at home.

Nicky and and her beau Frank were recently in Italy, where the actor was filming his new movie Lamborghini.

Girls' night out! Joining Nicky on the night was Kate Neilsen, a fellow actress and the former fiancee of troubled AFL star Wayne Carey, who dressed up as a female cop

Just the girls! The pair appeared to be having a girls' night out

In August last year, Nicky confirmed her relationship with Frank when they were spotted sharing a kiss outside a restaurant in Los Angeles while on a date night.

It came after Nicky's quiet split from Canadian actor Kyle Schmid.

The couple had debuted their relationship on the red carpet in October 2019, but ended things just a few months later.

The actress was previously married to ex-NFL star Kerry Rhodes.

In October 2017, they announced their separation just six months after saying 'I do'.
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker transformed into the criminal couple Clarence and Alabama from Quentin Tarantino's 1993 movie True Romance for Halloween.

The couple, looked every inch the criminal duo as they replicated some of the most iconic moments from the film in snaps they shared to Instagram on Sunday.

Kourtney donned a blonde wig to play call girl Alabama, while Travis covered up his tattoos and wore a wig to play the Elvis Presley fanatic Clarence.

Cult classic: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker (left) have dressed up as Clarence and Alabama from Quentin Tarantino's 1993 movie True Romance (right)

Proving herself to be a fan of the movie, Kourtney captioned the pictures with a quote from Alabama.

The quote reads: 'Amid the chaos of that day, when all I could hear was the thunder of gunshots, and all I could smell was the violence in the air, I look back and am amazed that my thoughts were so clear and true, that three words went through my mind endlessly, repeating themselves like a broken record: you're so cool, you're so cool, you're so cool.'

The movie has become a sort of symbol for the the pair, with Barker even getting the words 'you're so cool' written in Kourtney's handwriting tattooed his hip.

Spitting image: Taking on the roles of Clarence (Christian Slater) and Alabama (Patricia Arquette) (right) - Kourtney, 42, and Travis, 43, were every inch the cool couple for Halloween

Going all in: Kourtney donned a blonde wig to play Arquette's call girl character Alabama, while Travis covered up his tattoos and wore a wig to play Christian Slater

Picture perfect: The couple even posted film poster-like images for the holiday

A longtime lover of the film, the drummer additionally named his 15-year-old daughter Alabama, after Arquette's character.

His ex Shanna Moakler spoke to Us Weekly in May and said that 'Kravis' obsession with the movie was just 'recycling,' as the former pair had bonded over the movie years ago.

'What was weird is that they were posting about a movie that Travis and I basically bonded over. I called him Clarence in the movie. We named our daughter after the character Alabama in the movie.

I walked down the aisle to You're So Cool from True Romance.Our first dance at our wedding was to the love song from True Romance.'

Another take: His ex Shanna Moakler spoke to Us Weekly in May and said that 'Kravis' obsession with the movie was just 'recycling,' as the former pair had bonded over the movie years ago

Additionally Kourtney posted more images from the stylized shoot with the caption 'Okey dokey doggie daddy.'

Written by Quentin Tarantino just a year after his feature film debut, True Romance focuses on newlyweds Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman (played by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette).

They go on the run after stealing a shipment of drugs.

More to this story: On Monday Kourtney added more photos from Sunday

Sitting pretty: The siren was seen in a glam room as she slipped on her sunglasses

And the look is complete: Here she is seen with glasses half on as she looks up

The film boasts a huge ensemble cast including Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Walken, and despite struggling at the US box office earned positive reviews.

This is not the first popular culture moment that Kravis has attempted this Halloween.

Earlier this month, the loved-up couple transformed into iconic punk dup Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.

Kourtney looked unrecognizable in a blonde wig as Nancy, while Travis also looked remarkably different as Sex Pistols bassist Sid.

Star-crossed lovers: True Romance was written by Quentin Tarantino, and boasted a star-studded cast including Christopher Walken, Dennise Hopper and Val Kilmer

Her better half wore a leather jacket and a black shirt underneath, as well as black pants and a spiky black wig.

Really paying attention to detail, Barker sported a replica of Vicious' necklace which had a padlock as the pendant.

Kardashian captioned the series of photos, 'till death do us part.'

The starlet also posted a racy photo of handcuffs on a bed to her Instagram Story later that night - which could have been in reference to the wild and sometimes criminal behavior of their punk heroes.

Bringing back the '70s: Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian dressed up as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen

Long-term commitment: Kardashian captioned the series of photos 'till death do us part'

Death parted them: Nancy Spungen was found stabbed to death in a hotel room and Sid Vicious was arrested for the crime though he overdosed on heroin before he ever stood trial

Travis popped the question to Kourtney earlier this month at the Rosewood Miramar Hotel in Montecito, California with a giant diamond ring said to be worth $1 million.

Kourtney shared images of the lavish proposal on Instagram with the caption 'forever,' as they embraced amid a sea of red roses.

The marriage will mark Kourtney's first and Travis' third.
As Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line of Duty, his job is to quickly get to the heart of complicated investigations.

But when it came to his daughters engagement, Adrian Dunbar was a little in the dark  and only learnt about it when it was about to be revealed in the Daily Mail.

The 63-year-old actors daughter Madeleine said she had to hurriedly give her dad the good news because she had already told the newspaper and it was about to be published.

Engagement: Madeleine Dunbar, 34, proposed to Callum Lazenby-Todd, 32, on Londons South Bank  and nearly got arrested

Detective work: Adrian Dunbar with daughter Madeleine. Inset, as Ted Hastings in Line of Duty

Actress and songwriter Miss Dunbar, 34, is to marry roofer Callum Lazenby-Todd, 32, after she proposed to him on Londons South Bank  and nearly got arrested.

Despite being beaten to the news by the Mail, Dunbar was delighted to learn that his daughter was getting married.

Miss Dunbar said: He said, Of course Im delighted. My baby daughters getting married!

She added: I was a little worried about the fact that I was the one who asked Callum to marry me, because Dad comes from a very traditional Irish background and I was concerned about what he would think.

'But he had no issue with it. He knows me. He knows its the kind of thing I do!

Miss Dunbar told how she was down on one knee on a jetty on the Thames outside Londons Oxo Tower  where the couple had their first kiss  in June when security guards called the police, saying they were trespassing as the jetty was closed.

Miss Dunbar, who yesterday released a single titled Manchild Apocalypse, said: I was really nervous as Id been waiting on this jetty for an hour.

'Callum sat down next to me and I got out an Irish Claddagh ring from a jewellery bag.

'But I was down on my knee declaring my love for this man when I heard a security guard shouting at us, telling us we were not supposed to be there and that they were calling the cops.

Old Bill: The 63-year-old actors daughter Madeleine said she had to hurriedly give her dad the good news because she had already told the newspaper and it was about to be published

She added: I just started bawling. I was crying and crying and crying, because the moment was spoiled.

'But Callum said, Dont worry. Yes, I will marry you, and he let me put the ring on his finger.

The couple, who met in June last year, are expecting their first child in December.

Miss Dunbar said her mother, Dutch-Australian actress Anna Nygh, 73, wondered at first why she didnt wait for Callum to pop the question.

But she said: I think I preferred the special feeling of asking mysel
Dancehall star Shenseea continued her red-hot streak on the festival circuit as she performed on the Rolling Loud New York stage on Friday night.

The Side Chick Song songstress, who performed a memorable set at the festivals Florida staging this summer, made yet another appearance, this time at Rolling Loud New York.

The Jamaican artist, 25, was in her element as the vast New York crowd cheered and sang along throughout her 24-minute set. The highlight of her performance, however, was when an animated Dancehall Queen Famous Red joined the leader of the Shenyengs onstage to dance with male patrons.

Hilarity and excitement ensued as Famous Red attempted to jump on one of the patrons, which resulted in both falling onstage and the dancer taking her wig off and swing it around.

During the performance, Shenseeawho was clad in a sexy black and white, long-sleeved body suit, and a high plaited pony tailditched the sky-high patent leather knee-high boots she was also wearing.

Let me get comfortable on this damn stage, she said as someone helped to unbuckle the boots. I aint no Beyonce and I aint gon act like Im Beyonce up here, she added before she drew for her major hits, including the always popular Lighter, and of course, one of her Kanye West features, Ok Ok Pt. 2, which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The starlet posted a snippet of the performance on her Instagram, with the caption, The beginning /ft sexiest thickaz @dhqfamousred cant handle us #rollingloudny

Widely considered Danchealls current top flagbearer, Shenseea received love from several of her fellow artists in the comments, including Popcaan who commented applause emojis and Tarrus Riley, who sent fire emojis. Also commenting were Ding Dong, Konshens, and Moyann.

The artist is fresh off her performance at the All-Africa Festival (AFF) in Dubai on October 22 and was the first and only dancehall artist who has graced the AFF stage.

Organizers of the event, which pulled some 20,000 people, noted that the Dancehall standout was chosen to represent the genre and the region as she is on of her game.
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.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)  Vermonts Health commissioner is encouraging the states trick or treaters to celebrate Halloween safely this year.

Dr. Mark Levine says most trick or treating is already outdoors. He suggests keeping groups small.

So lets get ready to celebrate safely," Levine said.

He also says people should wear masks and not just costume masks.

Keep groups small, and help discourage large clusters of people. Levine says that in crowded parties or other such gatherings both adults and children are at higher risk of getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19.

Levine says you dont need to disinfect candy, but children should wash their hands before eating any treats.

People should also have flashlights so they can be easily seen in the dark.
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KAKINADA: Cracker manufacturers in the districts of Visakhapatnam and the East and West Godavari have cut down production by 60 per cent for this Diwali season. They did so for fear of eruption of the third wave of Covid19 and likely curbs on public activities related to the festival.

Medical experts have hinted at the possibility of a third wave by October-November months. This has not happened so far and Covid cases have sharply come down. Yet, cracker manufacturers do not want to take a chance.

There also is a shortage of ingredients in cracker manufacturing like sulphur, nitrate, coal etc. A wholesale dealer imports these from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and is supplying to cracker manufacturing units. Reports are that these raw materials are not available in sufficient quantities and hence their prices have been hiked abnormally.

From last year, we are reducing production due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation is worse this season. Officials are not giving permission to cracker manufacturing units for production unless they fulfilled the modified guidelines issued by the government.

Many cracker manufacturers had set up the units by following the previous guidelines. After this, the government has changed the norms and increased the distance between the cracker-making and storage points, so as to limit harm in case a fire erupted, said Satyanarayana Murthy of Komaripalem village in East Godavari district, who is president of the cracker manufacturer zones of Visakhapatnam as also of the East and West Godavari districts.

He said that though two of these district administrations have given permission to cracker manufacturers, the East Godavari officials are hesitant due to some fire incidents in the past. The government can earn a revenue of above Rs 1 crore through GST and other taxes from the cracker units.

There are nearly 120 cracker manufacturing units in these three districts, but the authorities have given permissions only to nearly 80 of these. In East Godavari district, there are 56 cracker manufacturing units, of which only 30 to 34 units got the nod.

Abbanna of Vetlapalem village of East Godavari district, who could not get the permission for cracker manufacturing this time, said many persons would lose work and pay. Every year this season, hundreds of ordinary people used to be engaged by cracker units for work. This time, they will be left high and dry.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai at the last rites ceremony of Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar. (Photo: ANI)

Bengaluru: The last rites of late Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar were performed today with state honours at Sree Kanteerava Studios in Bengaluru.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and a huge crowd of fans were present at the studio to pay their last respect to the late star.

Puneeth passed away on October 29 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.

The demise of Puneeth took the entire country by shock and several popular actors from Mumbai 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, Puneeth is also lovingly called 'Appu' and 'Power Star' by his fans. He 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'.
Naidu visited the historic 118-year-old Ramamohan Library here on Sunday and announced an Rs five lakh donation to the library. (DC photo)

VIJAYAWADA: Vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu called for inculcating the habit of reading books among students by launching a public movement with Voriko Grandhalayam-Intiko Swachhalyam (library to every village-toilet to every house).

Naidu visited the historic 118-year-old Ramamohan Library here on Sunday and announced an Rs five lakh donation to the library. He said that Mahatma Gandhi had visited Rammohan library thrice and the library movement had inspired people to join the freedom struggle.

Naidu interacted with the organizers and shared his views on the importance of developing libraries. He wished that Swachh Bharat should drive in the reading habit.

Half of his donation is earmarked for the development of Rammohan library on behalf of Swarna Bharat Trust run by his daughter Deepa Venkat while Rs 2.50 lakh is for Muppavarapu foundation run by his son M Harshavardhan.

The vice-president said that books had brought revolutionary changes in the lives of Indians for a long time and urged parents to hone this habit among their children so that they can understand the countrys rich cultural heritage and be proud of it.

In a separate programme, Naidu interacted with youngsters undergoing training in various trades at the Swarna Bharat Trust in Atkur village in Krishna district. He said that skills are of utmost importance in facing challenges and hoped that the youth would develop on this front.

He said that Swarna Bharat Trust was working with the objective of developing skills among the youth with a focus on developing rural India. Reputed institutes were providing free training at the trust and everyone should take advantage of such opportunities.

The Vice-President said that one should not forget their teachers, mother, motherland and mother-tongue.
Kakinada: Rajamahendravaram airport (Madhurapudi) will be bustle with hectic activity from Sunday with 12 incoming and an equal number of outgoing flights connecting Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam. Passenger traffic will rev up once this schedule takes-off on Sunday, said airport director Manoj Kumar Nayak.

The schedule: 6E 7118 flight arrives from Hyderabad (HYD) by 8.30 am after its take-off in Hyderabad by 7.10 am. Flight 6E 7119 will depart from RJA by 8.50 am and arrive in HYD by 9.50 am. 6E 7107 flight will depart Bengaluru at 6.45 am and arrive at RJY by 9.05 am. The 6E 7185 flight will depart at 10.25 am at Chennai and arrive by 12.05 pm. 6E 7293 will depart from HYD by 11.30 am and touch RJA by 12.50 pm and 6E 7202 will depart at Tirupati by 11.20 am and arrive by 1 pm and 6E 7187 will depart from Chennai on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by 2.35 pm and arrive in RJA by 4.15 pm. 6# 7228 will leave Hyderabad by 3.30 pm and arrive by 4.45 pm and 6E 7231 will depart from Bengaluru by 3.30 pm and arrive by 5.35 pm . 6E 7311 will depart HYD by 5.20 pm and arrive at 6.45 pm. 6E 7967 will depart from Visakhapatnam by 7.10 pm and arrive at RJA by 8 pm. 6E 7123 will take-off at HYD by 8.05 pm and arrive by 9.20 pm and flight number 2T143 will depart from Hyderabad by 6.45 pm and arrive at RJA by 8.05 pm on Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

6E 7265 will leave RJA by 9.25 am and touch Tirupati by 10.55 am. 6E 7262 will depart from RJA by 12.25 am and arrive in Chennai by 1.55 pm. 6E 7269 will leave RJA on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by 4.35 pm and arrive in Chennai by 6.05 pm, 6E 7229 will depart from RJA by 5.05 pm and arrive at HYD by 6.20 pm. 6E 7923 will depart RJA by 5.55 pm and touch Visakhapatnam by 6.45 pm. 6E 7312 will arrive at RJA by 7.05 pm and arrive in HYD by 8.20 pm. 6E 7232 will depart RJA by 8.20 pm and arrive at BLR by 10.30 pm. 6E 7126 flight will depart from RJA by 9.40 pm and arrive in HYD by 10.55 pm, 2T144 will depart RJA by 8.30 pm and arrive in HYD by 9.45pm.
Hyderabad: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has appealed to the Centre to enact a law to free Hindu temples and religious institutions from government control and also demanded an anti-conversion law.

The outfit has called on all state governments to hand over Hindu temples to the Hindu society and requested the central government to bring in a law in this connection, VHP's International Working President Alok Kumar told reporters here on Sunday. He expressed concern over what he claimed as "mass conversions" going on in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

"These conversions are induced by allurement, deception and fear. The VHP shall resist such conversions with all its might and will intensify its campaign to bring the converted brothers and sisters back to the Hindu fold," he said.

Like Uttar Pradesh and other states, the Telangana government should also pass an anti-conversion law, Kumar said adding "We have also asked the central government to enact a law against religious conversions".

"We have asked the central government (to make law against religious conversions) and started this effort and we will intensify our efforts. A representation has been submitted to the government and we are hopeful that it will consider it." VHP will take up mass awakening programme on both the issues, he added.

The VHP leader further wanted the Telangana government to come up with laws to protect cows and its progeny as "there are increasing incidents of cow slaughter in the state of Telangana."
The check-in baggage belt failed at the Bengaluru airport on Sunday leading to delay in IndiGo's flights, a statement said.

Owing to the check-in baggage belt failure at Kempegowda International Airport, our flights from Bengaluru are facing delays, the statement issued by IndiGo said.

The airline is proactively implementing measures to minimise the impact on other flights, it said.

We are also working with BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Limited) to resolve this issue. We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers, it mentioned.

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By Kevin Crowley and Laura Hurst,

The worlds biggest energy companies are producing the most cash in years, but dont expect them to spend it on bringing on fresh supplies of oil and natural gas to combat shortages in Europe and China this winter.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp. confirmed this week that, for the most part, theyll spend their windfall profits on share buybacks and dividends. Capital expenditures will rise next year, but the increases come off 2021s exceptionally low base and within frameworks established before the recent surge in fossil-fuel prices.

Also Read | IOC's profit rises as high margins soak cost jump

Its a step-change from previous energy rallies, such the early 2010s when emerging US shale plays and fears over fossil fuel shortages prompted a massive upswing in capital spending. That boom ended painfully for the industry, with overproduction and a lack of cost control. This time around, Big Oil appears content to take the cash and hand it over to shareholders, who are both weary of poor returns over the last decade and concerned about the companies significant climate risk.







Its not so long ago they got creamed by prices collapses so its not surprising theyre a bit gun shy on capex, said Stewart Glickman, a New York-based analyst at CFRA Research. Its almost like theyre stuck between two extreme populations  the ESG crowd and cash-flow hungry shareholders.

Producers can satisfy both groups by simply not ramping up spending on fossil fuels. But thats bad portent for consumers crying out for more supply. Europe and Asia are currently competing for natural gas, sending prices to record levels, while the US and India have asked OPEC+ to produce more oil. China has called on state-owned companies to secure energy supplies at any cost.

Chevron is perhaps the best example of a company turning away from the punch bowl. The California-based oil giant generated the most free cash flow in its 142-year history during the third quarter but intends to keep capital spending 20 per cent below pre-Covid levels next year while increasing share buybacks. Its 2022 capital budget will come in at the low-end of its $15 billion to $17 billion range, according to Chief Financial Officer Pierre Breber, some 60 per cent below 2014 levels.

Low-Carbon Pivot

Over time the vast majority of the excess cash will return to shareholders in the form of higher dividends and the buyback, he said Friday on a conference call with analysts.

Even Exxon, until last year the poster child for doubling down on fossil fuels, is now more reticent with its cash. The Texas-based energy giant announced a surprise stock buyback Friday and locked in long-term annual spending in the low $20 billion range, a cut of more than 30 per cent from before the pandemic.

Furthermore, almost 15 per cent of Exxons budget will go towards low-carbon investments, a significant departure from its previous strategy and just months after activist investor Engine No. 1 persuaded investors to replace a quarter of its board. The clean energy spending provides optionality and builds resiliency into our plans, CEO Darren Woods said.

Shell -- which faces pressure from an activist investor as well after Dan Loebs Third Point LLC revealed this week it took a stake in the company -- is even more reluctant about spending on its traditional oil business. Less than half of its capital spending will go towards oil, with the bulk directed at gas, renewables and power.

We will not double down on fossil fuels, Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said this week.
Children have joined the protest against felling of trees to widen the Attibele-Sarjapur Road by the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL).

The agency has proposed to axe 8,561 trees to widen the 155-kilometre road. Some of the trees were sawed off in violation of procedures. Activists took cudgels against the indiscriminate ripping of the greenery for more than a year and took the matter to the Karnataka High Court.

On Saturday, students from several schools joined the protest. Many held aloft placards urging officials to let them breathe and not to snatch away their future.

There are ways to save the trees. Why arent the officials trying that? The more trees we cut, the more carbon will remain in the air at the cost of oxygen. Trees are important to secure our future, not the road, said Raina, a student from Greenwood International School.

Shruti, another student, said tree felling will make future generations suffer. It is difficult to grow such huge trees. Once we lose them, they are lost forever, she said.

Jhatkaa.org, Voice of Sarjapura and Rajani Santosh have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the high court questioning the project taken up without conducting an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). Though the matter was expected to be heard on Saturday, it was not listed. Activists previously noted that some of the trees are a century old. They questioned the assurance for compensatory afforestation, noting that decorative saplings planted by officials will not make up for the huge loss.

Each tree hosts thousands of birds and insects. These decorative plants cant be an alternative, Jyotsna from Voice of Sarjapur said.
COP climate talks were always going to be difficult: 200 countries in search of a plan to prevent catastrophic warming of the planet with time running out fast.

The backdrop of terrifying weather events had brought a renewed sense of urgency to the matter. Then, the energy crisis struck, leaving Asia and Europe scrambling for fossil fuels, forcing China to double down on coal, and giving climate laggards another excuse not to engage. In the US, President Joe Bidens green ambitions have gotten bogged down in domestic politics, undermining his credibility as he tries to push others to curb their emissions.

The aim of COP  the acronym for the conference of parties thats now in its 26th round  is to curb emissions, keep the goal of 1.5 degrees of global warming within reach, reduce coal use, sort out rules for global carbon trading and raise billions in climate finance.

But at the heart of talks is the issue of fairness. Developing nations say rich countries wrecked the planet as they industrialized, and its now unfair theyre thwarting others economic progress -- and failing to provide enough cash to help poor countries adjust. Thats why theres so much talk about how much money will be on the table.

Here is a guide to whats shaping up to be a fraught two weeks of talks. Well take you from the grand aims to the small detail, from a leaders summit in Rome, to the backroom deals where masked delegates will hash out carbon-market rules while trying to keep at a Covid-safe distance.

Also Read | G20 leaders face tough climate talks on second day of summit

Where It All Begins: Rome

COP is being held in Glasgow, Scotland. But its pretty much kicked off already with the Group of 20 leaders summit in Rome. So far, its not looking good as talks are deadlocked on the issue of coal. If the G-20  which includes major emitters China and India  cant make progress, it will bode badly for the talks in Glasgow, where the leaders are heading straight from Rome on Sunday night.

To Glasgow: Roll Call

Some key leaders are going to be missing, including Chinas Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Still, almost 200 countries will be represented. Some delegates will be there in person, some will dial in from home, and there will be strict rules on masks, numbers allowed in negotiating rooms, and Covid testing. The pandemic has added extra obstacles, and some countries go into the talks resentful of what they perceive as unequal access.

Leaders Mark Their Homework

Under the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015, countries have to regularly review their pollution-reduction pledges in order to ensure the world stays on track to limit the rise in temperature to close to 1.5 degree Celsius. The first promises  called Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs  were submitted in 2016, but it was clear that they were well short of what science says is needed.

While some nations have already submitted new pledges over the past year, several major economies, including China and India, havent. The plans made so far would lead to a 2.4-degrees increase in temperature by the end of the century, according to the nonprofit research group Climate Action Tracker. At the start of COP theres a moment of taking stock  to see just how far away we still are from keeping 1.5 degrees within reach. US climate envoy John Kerry has already acknowledged the plans probably wont be enough, and one aim of Glasgow is to make sure countries keep coming back with improved goals.

We need to change and we need to change radically and we need to change fast, says EU climate chief Frans Timmermans. Thats going to be bloody hard; thats the bad news.

Also Read | Thousands demonstrate in Rome as G20 discusses climate

The Goals

The UK hosts describe the aims for this COP as coal, cars, cash and trees. That means ending the use of the most polluting fossil fuel; phasing out the internal combustion engine; raising cash to help developing countries transition to cleaner energy and protect against the ravages of climate change; and reversing deforestation. They also aim to figure out global rules for pricing and trading carbon globally. Expect posturing and grand statements in the first two days  along with perhaps some new pledges  then the leaders leave, and the real work starts.

Priority: Coal

My personal priority: coal, says COP President Alok Sharma.

The UK presidency has set a target for the meeting to consign coal to history  and has been pushing for the goal at G-7 and G-20 meetings this year  with mixed success so far. But coal is still a massive part of the energy mix, and the recent surge in energy prices has forced countries into even greater reliance on the fuel. China is ordering miners to dig up as much as they can and in the US a key lawmaker from coal-rich West Virginia is getting in the way of Bidens plans. The signs from the G-20 suggest Sharmas target may be out of reach.

The Key: Cash

More than a decade ago, developed nations pledged that by 2020 they will raise $100 billion per year to help developing nations transition to cleaner energy. But a report released in the runup to the summit shows they still havent delivered on the promise, a failure that enrages poor countries and undermines developed world leaders credibility as they push others to make expensive changes.

We absolutely need to meet the $100 billion, says Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands. The delivery of that is a foundational element of the success at COP. 

Last month, Biden doubled the latest US pledge to $11.4 billion annually beginning in 2024, but that still has to be approved by Congress, and activists argue it doesnt come close to the USs fair share for the fund. ODI, a think tank, puts that figure closer to $43 billion, based on the USs wealth, emissions and population size.

Finance Day: Follow the Money

Finance ministers, central banks and Wall Street bank CEOs will be in Glasgow on Nov. 3 for finance day, with a focus on how to green the global financial system and funnel money away from polluting industries and into cleaner ones. Watch out for pledges to phase out, or stop, financing for coal. Already weve seen a series of promises, including JP Morgan Chase & Co joining an alliance of lenders aligning their portfolios with net zero by 2050. As always, though, what matters is the detail, and just how rigorously investors hold companies to account.

Paris Loose Ends: Carbon Market

The Paris Agreement left some unfinished business that negotiators still havent been able to tie up: how to standardize rules on carbon trading across the world. The buzzword to watch is Article Six  referring to those lines in the Paris deal that paved the way for a global carbon market but are so complex and controversial that they are yet to be finalized. The good news is negotiators are edging toward a deal on this.

The basic idea is to match carbon-sucking projects that reduce pollution with counterparties who need to reduce emissions, via a market of so-called offsets, which could be worth as much as $100 billion in 2030, according to some estimates. The mechanism in theory should drive money to places where the biggest gains can be made most cheaply.

Offsets are becoming an increasingly important element of decarbonization strategies, says Lidia Wojtal, of think tank Agora Energiewende.While there are already various voluntary carbon markets that can provide such credits, a deal on Article Six would make a difference: it would guarantee a truly global standard.

The difficulty is in creating a robust financial instrument that would translate work on national emissions-reduction pledges into comparable, exchangeable units. The framework needs to be flexible enough to attract investment, palatable to a range of countries with different priorities, and credible. Some negotiators say a bad deal would be worse than no deal if the rules that emerge arent robust enough. There are two big sticking points: one is the need to avoid double counting, the other is how to deal with old credits from a now-defunct system launched way back in 1997 under the Kyoto Protocol. A good deal would result in a net reduction of emissions globally  and the risk is that a bad deal does the opposite.

Broadly speaking, developing nations are eager to reap the funds that would come from a new program, while richer nations led by the European Union are focused on the integrity of the system.

Also Read | 'Hey Joe!' Leaders josh around at G20 summit

The Endgame

At the end of talks theres likely to be some kind of Glasgow declaration. The US and UK have both said they want to make sure countries keep racheting up their plans in the coming years. While several leaders are framing COP as a "make or break" deal for the planet, the reality is probably more nuanced. A clear win on just one issue will probably count as success, and its possible there will be progress that can be built on down the line. Meanwhile the role of business and finance is increasingly important  banks are mobilizing finance to green the economy, and that momentum is likely to be sustained.

Saving Face: the Side Deals

But as the main goals of ending coal and getting a net-zero commitment slip out of reach, work is under way to hatch a series of side deals that would go some way to salvaging the talks  or at least saving face. Theres a plan on curbing methane, for example, which the US and EU are cajoling others to join, and others in the works on aviation and forests. The risk though is that if the main communique is so weak that all the action is in the mini deals, it raises questions about whats the point of COP  and whether climate multilateralism is coming to the end of the road.
India and the UK are set to enhance their International Solar Alliance (ISA) partnership with the launch of a new Green Grids Initiative connecting different parts of the world at the United Nations (UN) COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The new Global Green Grids Initiative  One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG) is an evolution of ISAs OSOWOG multilateral drive to foster interconnected solar energy infrastructure at a global scale.

The new Green Grids Initiative, to be launched at COP26 on Tuesday, will mark a merging of flagship interconnection initiatives from India and the UK as part of their bilateral cooperation.

Also Read | Climate talks get a shaky start: A roadmap from G-20 to COP26

This initiative will bring together an international coalition of national governments, financial organisations, and power system operators to accelerate the construction of new infrastructure needed to deliver a massive scale-up of secure, reliable and affordable power, such as modern, flexible grids, charging points, and electricity interconnectors, the UKs Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, in reference to the joint project.

ISA recently announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to mobilise $1 trillion in global investments for solar energy across ISAs member countries.

The two organisations plan to work with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to develop a Solar Investment Action Agenda and a Solar Investment Roadmap, which will also be launched at COP26.

India-led ISA, an inter-governmental treaty-based international organisation with a global mandate to catalyse global solar growth by helping to reduce the cost of financing and technology for solar, is designed to establish solar energy as a shared solution that simultaneously addresses climate, energy, and economic priorities across geographies.

Also Read | G20 leaders face tough climate talks on second day of summit

ISA, headed by Director General Dr Ajay Mathur and with 98 countries supporting its framework, is aimed at facilitating energy transition at a global level, energy security at national levels, while also ensuring energy access at the local level.

The alliance said it is working with development banks to bring the benefits of solar across the world. Apart from bringing down prices for solar water pumps, it is enabling technological transfer, storage solutions, financial assistance, along with skilling and enabling countries to adopt solar.

It added: The ISA is an observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has been an active participant at Conference of Parties (COPs).

"To continue with ISAs efforts at global outreach, the ISA Secretariat will participate in the forthcoming 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), to be held under the UK presidency, at Glasgow (Scotland) between November 1 and November 12, 2021.
At least 12 civilians were killed Saturday in a blast near the airport of Aden, the Yemeni government's interim capital, a senior security official told AFP.

"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.

Another security official confirmed the toll.

The explosion comes almost three weeks after six people were killed in a car-bomb attack that targeted Aden's governor, who survived.

AFP footage on Saturday showed people pulling out a body from a vehicle that had been completely destroyed, as firefighters put out flames nearby.

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.

A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen's war in 2015.

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.

Also on Saturday, three children were killed and three more were critically wounded in a neighbourhood of Yemen's third city Taez, by what state media said was rebel mortar fire.

"The Iranian-backed Huthi militia targeted the Al-Kamp neighbourhood with... shells, which led to the death of three children," the Saba new agency said.

One of the wounded children has had his legs amputated and all three "are in a critical condition", it added.

A security official told AFP that the three children killed were brothers.

A doctor at Taez hospital confirmed the report to AFP, and said the toll could rise.

Taez is a city of 600,000 people under government control in the southwest of Yemen, a country that has been at war for the last seven years.

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 some 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 crisis.
The first woman and first person of colour to become US vice president, Kamala Harris made history on November 3, 2020. But a year later, she is still trying to figure out what part to play in a role that is by definition thankless.

President Joe Biden, by teaming up with the 57-year-old former California senator, sent a clear message to an electoral base eager for more diverse representation in power.

But with his choice, the 78-year-old Biden -- who had served as second-in-command to Barack Obama during the first Black president's two terms -- has also turned the spotlight full-force onto Harris.

Also read: US Vice President Kamala Harris gets Covid booster shot

A serial trailblazer, she was the first woman and first Black person to become California's attorney general. She was also the first senator of South Asian descent.

But Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, has yet to break another mould -- one into which political customs and the US Constitution have locked her.

"There is no such thing as vice presidential success," said Elaine Kamarck, a senior research fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Vice presidents rise or fall on the record of the president that they serve."

Kamarck, who has written a book on the role of the vice president, pointed out, however, that the job has evolved from being merely ceremonial.

For a long time, "that used to be the joke, that the vice president went to funerals around the world on behalf of the president," Kamarck explained.

But then Al Gore changed the model by taking on "substantive assignments" that would typically have been the priority of President Bill Clinton, she said.

After that came Dick Cheney, whose influence on George W. Bush was so clear that he even got his own movie, the 2018 film "Vice."

As for Obama, he made his "bromance" with Biden clear.

And Biden has put his respect for his own deputy on full public display.

He has lunch with Harris once a week, and his staff makes a point of always mentioning the "Biden-Harris administration" in their communiques -- although this inevitably becomes just the "Biden administration" in news media.

Also read: Kamala Harris' latest social media goof up STEMs from 'Sinking Ship'

Biden also entrusted Harris -- who holds the Democratic Party's majority vote in the Senate -- with an extremely politically sensitive issue: tackling the roots of illegal immigration, in the face of a surge in arrivals at the southern US border.

In June, as part of this mission, Harris travelled to Guatemala and Mexico. But far from winning her accolades, this first-ever international mission earned her a barrage of criticism.

The progressive wing of her party slammed her as being too harsh after she told potential undocumented immigrants, "Don't come."

But the Republican Party said she hadn't been hard enough.

There was also buzz about a television interview she gave on immigration issues in which she appeared nervous and unprepared.

The conservative-leaning Washington Examiner had a field day, mocking her short-lived presidential campaign in the Democratic primary.

"As a candidate, she is a paper tiger. As a politician, she is an out-of-touch weather-vane," the paper wrote. "She has failed upward to this point, and it's clear that she has hit her ceiling."

But since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban and the hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, all eyes have returned to Biden.

"Because she's the first woman of colour... I think she'll get more hostility and more scrutiny," said Kamarck, the vice presidential researcher. "I don't think that she made any serious missteps. And I think they will be forgotten relatively quickly."

For now, it is Harris herself -- like many vice presidents before her -- who seems to be forgotten.

She travels frequently on official business: in November, she will go to Paris to continue Biden's reconciliation efforts after France became outraged when Australia signed a deal for US nuclear submarine technology, throwing out a mega-deal for French conventional submarines.

Harris has also given speeches, presided over ceremonies and received important guests. And she has had some affectionate Twitter exchanges with her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

But in public, she sticks close to protocol and does not open up to journalists -- no surprise in a White House that carefully controls all communication.

Backers of former president Donald Trump -- who had called Harris a "monster" and spread unfounded doubts, seemingly with racist undertones, about her American citizenship -- have jumped at the chance to mock the vice president's demeanour, calling it forced.

After all, for Republicans, Harris is not just the vice president. She is also the most likely candidate to take up the staff of the Democratic Party should Biden choose not to run in 2024.
Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has made his first ever public appearance, officials announced Sunday, after he addressed supporters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

Akhundzada has been the spiritual chief of the Islamist movement since 2016 but has remained a reclusive figure, even after his group seized power in Afghanistan in August.

His low profile has fed speculation about his role in the new Taliban government  and even rumours of his death.

On Saturday, he visited the Darul Uloom Hakimah madrassa to "speak to his brave soldiers and disciples", according to Taliban officials.

Also Read | Taliban says failure to recognise their government could have global effects

There was tight security at the event and no photographs or video have emerged, but a ten-minute audio recording was shared by Taliban social media accounts.

Akhundzada  referred to as "Amirul Momineen" or commander of the faithful  gives a religious message.

The speech did not touch on politics, but sought God's blessing for the Taliban leadership.

He prays for the Taliban martyrs, wounded fighters and the success of the Islamic Emirate's officials in this "big test".

Akhundzada was appointed leader of the Taliban in a swift transition of power after a 2016 US drone strike killed his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

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Thousands of people marched in Rome on Saturday during the summit of the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, calling on them to act against climate change and ensure fair access to Covid-19 vaccines.

Climate activists led the march, carrying colourful placards, playing drums and dancing as they demanded world leaders save the planet.

"We are holding this protest for environmental and social issues and against the G20, which continues undaunted on a path that has almost led us to social and ecological failure," said protester Edoardo Mentrasti.

They marched alongside students and groups of workers in a city on high security alert, with up to 6,000 police and about 500 soldiers deployed to maintain order. Metro stations have been closed and bus routes diverted due to the G20 summit.

Italian police are particularly anxious about unrest after recent protests over the country's mandatory Covidhealth pass for workers turned violent when neo-fascist activists attacked the headquarters of the CGIL labour union in Rome.

In Saturday's march, a large banner saying "stop patents, vaccines are a global right" was held by demonstrators parading along the banks of the Tiber river.

In the morning, the G20 leaders kicked off two days of talks where they were set to acknowledge the existential threat of climate change, but stop short of radical new commitments to tame global warming.

"There is an alternative to a development model based on 20 of the world's most important heads of state meeting in a room and deciding on the fate of the world," demonstrator Luca Ianniello said.

A separate, smaller protest against the Italian government, was in progress a few kilometres away.

Demonstrators have been kept far from the summit centre, located in a suburb built by the 20th Century fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
The UAE on Sunday called on its citizens in Lebanon to immediately return home, a day after recalling its diplomats from Beirut over a Lebanese minister's remarks on the Yemen war.

"In light of current events... the foreign ministry calls on all its citizens in Lebanon to return to the UAE as soon as possible," it said in a statement.

"The ministry has taken all necessary measures to facilitate the return of its citizens," it added.

In an interview recorded in August and aired this week, Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi said Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen were "defending themselves... against an external aggression", sparking a diplomatic row between Beirut and Arab Gulf states.

Also Read | Lebanon pauses amid tense calm after deadly gun battles

A Saudi-led military coalition that has included the UAE intervened to prop up the Yemeni government in 2015 after Huthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in 2014.

Saudi Arabia on Friday gave Lebanon's ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, recalled its envoy from Beirut and suspended all imports from Lebanon.

Bahrain and Kuwait quickly followed suit with similar measures, and the UAE on Saturday recalled its diplomats from Beirut in "solidarity" with Riyadh.

The Saudi foreign ministry said its moves were taken after the "insulting" remarks on the Yemen war, but also due to the influence of Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah.

The UAE's statement on Sunday came shortly after Kordahi said that resigning was "out of the question".

The diplomatic crisis is a fresh blow to Lebanon, a country in financial and political turmoil where a fragile government is struggling to secure international aid, including from wealthy Arab countries.

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United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday a summit of the world's top 20 economies had disappointed him, but hadn't crushed his hopes.

"I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled, but at least they are not buried," he wrote on Twitter.

G20 leaders earlier on Sunday agreed on a final statement that urged "meaningful and effective" action to limit global warming but offered few concrete commitments or details on how they would reach goals to limit harmful carbon emissions.

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Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the cooperative sector has a potential to turn India into a $5 trillion economy and will also prove crucial in making the agriculture sector self-reliant.

He also stressed the need to implement the cooperative model, which is behind the success of milk giant Amul, to uplift agriculture and its allied sectors. "As we can see today, Lal Bahadur Shastri's dream of white revolution is getting realised. But time has come to see beyond this (milk processing). We need to implement this cooperative model to uplift sectors like agriculture and animal husbandry," Shah said.

"The cooperative model will prove crucial in making agriculture 'atmanirbhar' (self-reliant)," he said.

Shah was speaking at an event here organised to mark the completion of 75 years of Amul, which was started in 1946 as a cooperative movement in Anand with the guidance of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and cooperative leader Tribhuvandas Patel, the founder of Kheda District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union, popularly knowns as Amul Dairy. At present, Amul Dairy, along with 17 other district cooperative unions are part of the umbrella body the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which sells its dairy products under the brand name 'Amul'.

Also Read | Congress, BJP engage in slugfest on Sardar Patel's birth anniversary

There are around 36 lakh farmer families in Gujarat who are associated with Amul. "Do not limit yourself to 36 lakh. Today, many farmers have turned to organic farming, but they do not have any platform to sell those organic farm produce in India and the world. Can cooperative organisations like Amul help them in doing it? Time has come to think on those lines. This will also increase the farmers' income," Shah said.

"Timely research was not carried out in seeds. Can the cooperative sector take it up? The sector should also take up the task of developing new vegetable varieties. This will ensure that profits reach the farmers, not the private companies. It will also contribute to doubling the farmers' income," he added.

Expressing confidence that the cooperative movement will play an important role in making India a USD 5 trillion economy, Shah said, "Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi firmly believes that the cooperative sector will be crucial in making India 'atmanirbhar'." Shah also appreciated Amul's role in empowering women. He told the audience that Amul's turnover has reached Rs 53,000 crore in 2020-21.

"Amul started its journey with the collection of 200 litres of milk in 1946. Today, 3 crore litres of milk is processed daily with the help of around 18,000 cooperative societies across Gujarat. Eighteen district-level dairies and 87 milk processing plants are associated with Amul," Shah added.

He also said that the Ministry of Cooperation, which was created in July this year with the motto of "Sahkar Se Samriddhi", was in the process of preparing a charter of the ministry. Remembering the cooperative movement started by Sardar Patel and Tribhuvandas Patel, which led to the creation of Amul, Shah, without giving any specific context, said, "The purpose of a movement is to find a solution to a problem, not to aggravate it."

On the occasion, Shah launched a scheme "Dairy Sahakar", with an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore, wherein the dairy sector would get loans through National Cooperative Development Corporation. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Amul, Shah released a postal stamp, launched the Amul brand of organic fertilisers and awarded progressive farmers. The minister also inaugurated an Ethnoveterinary Supplement Plant and cheese storage facility in Gujarat.

Following his address, Shah visited the Amul Dairy premises and then held a meeting with senior officials of the GCMMF, the state government and the leaders of the cooperative sector leaders there.

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Vector-borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya and malaria have been made as notifiable diseases under the Epidemic Diseases Act, according to an official notification.

The notification makes it compulsory for all hospitals to provide information to the government about any such case that they receive.

On the basis of the data provided by the hospitals, areas where the vector-borne diseases are spreading will be identified and declared as 'infected' or 'threatened'.

The notification also said that legal action will be taken against individuals or institutions found not following adequate measures or not informing about the cases to the authorities.

The national capital has seen a surge in dengue cases.

Delhi has reported over 1,000 cases of dengue this year, with more than 280 cases logged in the last week, according to a civic report released on Monday.

Of the total number of dengue cases this season, 665 were recorded in the first 23 days of this month alone.

The city recorded its first death due to the vector-borne disease this season on October 18.

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Trinamool Congress (TMC) got a shot in the arm in Tripura on Sunday when an MLA of the ruling BJP joined the party months before the state goes for Assembly elections.

MLA Ashish Das, who was elected in 2018 from Surma constituency in Dhalai district, joined TMC at a programme in Agartala which was addressed by the party general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee.

Addressing a group of party workers and supporters, Abhishek said some other MLAs would also join the party soon as a wave in support of Trinamool already swept people of the state. "BJP and Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb is worried over this wave in support of Trinamool. Let me make a promise today that TMC would throw away BJP and establish a people's government in 2023. Trinamool will fight till the last drop of blood to ensure that democratic values remain intact in Tripura," he said.

Abhishek said Mamta Banerjee will visit Agartala in December.

Elections for 60-member Assembly are slated in early 2023. Trinamool set its eyes on Tripura after Mamta Banerjee-led government emerged victorious in Bengal for the third consecutive term in May. TMC targetted at least six MLAs in Tripura, who are believed to be unhappy with Biplab Kumar Deb.

Das said he decided to join Trinamool as BJP failed to fulfill the promises it made in 2018 when it formed its first government defeating the 25-year-old CPI(M) government. "As the government failed to fulfill the promises, be it for providing employment to addressing the issues of education, BJP-led government has failed in all fronts. As a result, the BJP workers, who made the promises to people at the grassroots are unable to face the people again," he said.

Tripura government had earlier denied permission for the TMC programme citing a possibility of Covid-19 spread. But Tripura HC on Saturday granted permission after TMC promised in the court that not more than 500 people would gather at the function on Sunday.

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Earlier this month, Bangladesh was hit with a wave of heightened communal tension when several Durga Puja pandals and Hindu temples were vandalised and Hindus were assaulted after 'religiously offensive' social media posts originated in the country. The wave of violence in the country resulted in tensions in Tripura, where mosques and shops were allegedly burnt and vandalised during rallies to protest Bangladeshi violence.

What happened in Tripura

A mosque was vandalised and two shops were allegedly set ablaze at Chamtilla area in North Tripura district on Tuesday evening during a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) rally taken out to protest against the violence in Bangladesh.

Three houses and a few shops, reportedly owned by members of the minority community, were also ransacked in nearby Rowa Bazar.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists took out a rally to protest against the recent violence in Bangladesh. A group of people threw stones and damaged a door of a mosque in Chamtilla area during the rally. Security forces rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control, the Superintendent of police Bhanupada Chakraborty said.

What was government and police response?

Taking note of the tension in North Tripura, the local administration subsequently clamped Section 144 of CrPC prohibiting gathering of more than four persons in the region. Meanwhile, police said a case was registered suo motu while another was filed by minority organisations seeking action against those who vandalised the mosque. The police provided security to mosques across the state to prevent further communal tension and attacks.

However, the police denied that any mosque was burned, saying that fake social media IDs are being used to spread rumours and fake news and clarified that the law and order situation in the state is "absolutely normal".

The Tripura government also denied that any violence had occurred, alleging that a vested interest group from outside had hatched a conspiracy to create unrest in the state and malign its image by uploading a fake photograph of a burning mosque on social media.

"The police have investigated and found that no mosque was burnt in Panisagar sub-division in North Tripura district as claimed by social media posts," Information and Culture Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said.

Judicial intervention

The Tripura HC has directed the Biplab Kumar Deb government to submit an affidavit by November 10 about actions taken by it and its plans to defuse tension at Panisagar following the alleged vandalism of houses and shops there.

A division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Subhashish Talapatra took up a suo-moto public interest litigation on Friday and sought a report by the state government by November 10 on the alleged vandalisation in North Tripura district. Judges also wanted to know what actions had been taken with regard to fake social media posts.

The HC took notice of Debs announcement of providing compensation to people affected in the violence and directed the government to take urgent action for the same.

Political response to the violence

While the BJP government in the state remains firm on the conspiracy angle, the Opposition is not quiet on the matter. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that Muslims are being brutalised in Tripura and asked how long will the government pretend to be deaf and blind.

"Our Muslim brothers are being brutalised in Tripura. Those who perpetrate hatred and violence in the name of Hindus are not Hindus but hypocrites," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

"How long will the government keep pretending to be blind and deaf," he asked.

He also alleged that those doing violence in the name of Hinduism are "not Hindus but hypocrites".

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress alleged that the BJP was supporting right-wing organisations to reap political benefits ahead of municipality elections slated next month and the Assembly elections in 2023.

The West Bengal unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on the other hand, has blamed the violence in the state as the trigger behind the attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also spoke up on the issue of violence in her country, saying that certain quarters with vested interests were disseminating propaganda to create a communal divide and tarnish the image of Bangladesh.

With PTI and DHNS inputs.

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Activists belonging to the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the student's wing of the Congress on Sunday hurled eggs at Union Minister Ajay Mishras vehicle outside Biju Patnaik International Airport here.

The NSUI activists were protesting the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which the minister's son is an accused.

Mishra, the Union Minister of State for Home is scheduled to attend a function at the CISF campus at Mundali near Cuttack.

The NSUI Odisha had earlier announced that they would protest Mishra's visit to the state.

The NSUI activists also showed black flag to the Union minister.

Police have detained some NSUI activists.

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BJP leader from West Bengal Rajib Banerjee returned to the TMC on Sunday at a rally of party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Agartala in Tripura.

Banerjee, a former minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, said he "repents" for joining the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections despite being asked by the West Bengal chief minister not to leave TMC.

He was named BJP's national executive committee member weeks ago and unsuccessfully fought the Assembly polls from Domjur in Howrah district.

Former BJP leader from Tripura Ashish Das, who had recently left BJP, also joined TMC along with Banerjee.

"I realised that I cannot accept the politics of hatred and divisive ideology propagated by BJP. I cannot accept the anti-people policies of the BJP," he said.

"I had often aired my opinions to the BJP leadership and criticised the personal attack and slander on Mamata Banerjee but no one listened," he added.

Banerjee claimed that he left the TMC due to misunderstanding, and joined the BJP being swayed by its blitzkrieg ahead of the polls.

"All these promises were lies and I cannot be a party to them anymore," he said.

"I am sorry and repentant now. I will work under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee," he said.

Banerjee was not seen in any BJP programme after the election results were announced on May 2 and often criticised the BJP leadership publicly.

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India on Sunday managed to get support from the other G20 nations in seeking faster approval of Covid-19 vaccines by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modis government is quietly nudging the WHO to expeditiously grant the much-awaited approval to the Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech, New Delhi could get all the G20 nations to agree on the need to speed up the process for clearing vaccines for emergency use.

It has been agreed that everybody will help to optimise the processes and procedures of the WHO for vaccine approval and emergency use authorisation and to strengthen the WHO to recognise vaccines faster, Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister, said in Rome.

Read | India's 5 bn Covid jabs by 2022 to help nations: PM

He was briefing journalists shortly after the G20 summit concluded with the adoption of the Rome Declaration.

Goyal, New Delhis Sherpa for the G20 summit, said that the leaders agreed that the Covid-19 immunisation was a global public good and the recognition of the Covid-19 vaccines, deemed to be safe and efficacious by the WHO, would be mutually accepted by all the members of the bloc, subject to the national laws.

Modi, himself, subtly conveyed to the leaders of the other G20 nations on Saturday that New Delhis ability to help end vaccine inequity around the world would depend much on the pace at which the WHO would grant approval to the Covaxin and other Covid-19 jabs developed and manufactured in India.

Also Read | Seeking La Dolce Vita? G20 leaders toss coins into Rome's Trevi fountain

India has been driving home the point that the global recognition of the Covaxin would not only make it easier for its citizens who were administered with the jab to travel abroad, but would also allow it to help support inoculation programmes in other developing nations.

The WHOs Technical Advisory Group for Emergency Use Listing (TAG-EUL) of vaccines is likely to meet again next week to review the additional clarifications provided to it by the Bharat Biotech.

India has always taken its obligations to the world seriously. Today, on this G20 platform, I want to tell you all that India is preparing to produce more than five billion vaccine doses for the world next year, Modi said participating in the first session of the G20 summit. This commitment of India will go a long way in containing the pandemic around the world. Therefore, it is necessary that the WHO grants its approval to the vaccines made in India.

Also Read | PM Modi invites more Spanish investments in India during talks with Sanchez in Italy

The Prime Minister also had an interaction with the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the venue of the summit in Rome on Saturday.

Bharat Biotech on April 19 last submitted to the WHO its Expression of Interest for inclusion of Covaxin in its Emergency Use List. But the United Nations health agency has not yet approved the vaccine for emergency use to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

The WHOs TAG-EUL had on October 26 asked Bharat Biotech for some additional clarifications, which it would review on November 3.

Also Read | India's net-zero pledge a bogus promise

The Covishield developed by the AstraZeneca PLC and the Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), however, was put on the WHOs EUL as early as February 15.

The Modi government has been worried over the unusual delay in obtaining the WHO approval for Covaxin. The senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs have been in touch with Bharat Biotech executives. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla earlier this week said that the government was carefully keeping a tab on the process of putting Covaxin in the list of the vaccines cleared by the WHO for emergency use to contain the pandemic.

India is considered a world leader in the production of vaccines and, before Covid-19 swept the world, its companies manufactured over 50% of the jabs required for immunisation programmes against several diseases around the world.

Also Read | PM Modi says India becoming fully capable to meet any challenge, stresses on unity

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.

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TMC turncoat Rajib Banerjee, who had unsuccessfully contested the April-May assembly poll on a BJP ticket, is likely to join TMC on October 31 during general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's public meeting in Tripura, news agency ANI reported.

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A political slugfest ensued between Congress and BJP on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with Rahul Gandhi reminding "pillars of our democracy are being weakened".

Addressing a gathering at the world's tallest 'Statue of Unity' at Kevadia in Gujarat, Home Minister Amit Shah said, "it is unfortunate that efforts were made to forget Sardar Saheb. After independence, his contributions were never given proper respect and place. He was neither conferred the Bharat Ratna nor proper respect. But it is said, 'how long can clouds keep the sun hidden?'".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "we have to keep in mind that as every person sitting in a boat has to care about it, we too can move forward only when we are united. Only then the country will be able to attain its goals."

He said deriving inspiration from him, the country is becoming fully capable of meeting any external and internal challenges and asserted that his government has given priority to the ideals that preserve national unity.

Read | Sardar Patel charted India's destiny, says CM Yogi

While the government celebrated the event as "Rashtriya Ekta Diwas" or "National Unity Day", Congress said,"in this fight to keep India united; In this fight to ensure love triumphs over hate; In this fight to protect our farmers, our people, our nation; we remember Bharat Ratna Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, today & everyday."

"Today, when all the pillars of our democracy are being weakened, we have to remember the contribution of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was also an important voice among the Congress leaders who built these pillars...Protecting democracy is the real tribute to Sardar Patel," Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Patel's struggle "inspires us to stand like a rock in the fight for justice against the oppression of the farmers" and recalled how the "Iron Man" Patel raised the voice of farmers' rights and self-respect in the Bardoli Satyagraha.

The reference was not lost as Congress has made the issue of the ongoing farmer agitation against three contentious farm laws of the central government a key poll issue in the run up to the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

The slugfest comes in the backdrop of repeated allegations of Congress that the BJP is trying to appropriate freedom fighter icons belonging to the Congress.

The ruling BJP has repeatedly drawn the Patel-Nehru binary to hail the commitment of Patel in unifying India vis-a-vis alleged 'mishandling' of Kashmir issue by India's first Prime Minister.

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When the Congress picked Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit, as the chief minister of Punjab, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati congratulated him but also sought to remind Dalits not to be misled by the propaganda of national parties such as the Congress.

Congratulating Channi but criticising the party that appointed him can be seen as usual politics, except that in Mayawatis case there is more to it than meets the eye. The BSP chief is under huge pressure amid her partys back-to-back poor poll performances in UP and the aggressive wooing of Dalits by the Congress and the BJP. Her appeal to Dalits is a sign of desperation as she tries to prevent a division of Dalit votes.

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The Hindutva discourse has come to dominate social media, much of news television and the editorial pages of significant sections of Hindi language newspapers. It has inspired the founding of several think tanks since 2014 and successfully shaped a seminar circuit all its own in the last seven years, while its leading lights invariably make it to the speakers' lists of sundry literary festivals.

Add to this the vibrant outreach the Sangh Parivar has to the Indian Diaspora, both under the umbrella of its overseas offshoot, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, which is organising October as the 'Hindu Heritage Month' in the US, but also outside it.

For example, on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met representatives of the Italian Hindu Union Sanatana Dharma Samgha and ISKCON in Rome. According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) press release, the PM "lauded the role played by them in propagating Indian culture in Italy". Modi also interacted with several Indologists and Sanskrit experts from Italian universities and "noted their interest in Indian culture, literature, the practice of yoga and Ayurveda," the MEA said.

The last seven years have helped the Sangh Parivar bring out dozens of books sympathetic to its worldview. Prestigious publishing houses have queued up to publish eulogies of the RSS, and hundreds of edit page articles in leading newspapers have followed. The Hindutva civilisational project under the Sangh Parivar, it would seem, has flourished.

R Balashankar, a former editor of RSS mouthpiece Organiser, believes there is now wider acceptability of the BJP's worldview. "The discourse is now BJP ideology-centric, and the stubborn resistance in certain quarters has come down, who now have a better understanding and exhibit better accommodation (of the Sangh Parivar's point of view)," he said. Balashankar, the author of 'Narendra Modi, Creative Disruptor: The Maker of New India', attributes it to the non-discriminatory governance, particularly the social welfare schemes, that Modi has run.

Still, the votaries of Hindutva come across as peeved at not being taken seriously in the academic circles, and their failure to acquire cultural capital continues to trouble them. Earlier this month, at the launch of his colleague Ram Madhav's book, 'The Hindutva Paradigm: Integral Humanism and the Quest for a Non-Western Worldview', RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale was at pains to claim that "Hindutva, it is neither Left nor Right." He agreed with former diplomat Pavan K Varma that there was a need for "shaastraarth" or discussion today.

Such offers from the RSS are not new. Madhukar Dattatreya 'Balasaheb' Deoras, the third sarsanghchalak, reinvented the RSS from an organisation steeped in quasi militaristic discipline to involving itself in social service projects and engaging with other political parties. For Deoras, as author Dinesh Narayan has written in his book 'The RSS and the Making of the Deep Nation', there was nothing so sacrosanct that it could not be broken. The only guiding principle was that "Hindustan is a Hindu Rashtra", everything else could change.

Mohan Bhagwat, the current RSS chief, idolises Deoras. If Deoras used the RSS numerical strength to support the anti-Emergency movement, the organisation supported India Against Corruption movement, conceived at New Delhi-based think tank, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF). The VIF eventually supplied several key bureaucrats once the Narendra Modi government took up the reins of power in May 2014.

Interestingly, according to a University of Pennsylvania survey released in January 2021, India has the world's third-highest number of think tanks, and only the US and China have more. India witnessed a spurt of new think tanks since 2014 when it had 192 and currently has 612. The report noted the prominence of such nationalist think tanks of recent vintage as VIF, India Foundation and Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.

The RSS was first invited to the Jaipur Literary Festival in 2017, with some of the established authors threatening to boycott. However, none did. Namita Gokhale, the event's curator, defended the decision by stating that they have invited representatives of other political ideologies in the past. "However, none boycotted, which was evidence that they had reconciled to the arrival of the Sangh Parivar on the literary scene," recalls political commentator Radhika Ramaseshan.

Ramaseshan points out that the Sangh Parivar representatives pioneered engagement in the blogosphere and social media to win legitimacy among the bhadralok, or intelligentsia, which persuaded others across the political spectrum to follow suit. "One of their prongs in Bengal was to reach out to the Bengali bhadralok outside Kolkata, and they put the likes of Swapan Dasgupta, Anirban Ganguly and Ashok Lahiri on the job. It is a strategy they have earlier deployed in Uttar Pradesh and other high growth states," Ramaseshan says.

The RSS is known to change its stripes. The plethora of think tanks and affiliates help firefight and disseminate government policies. On September 28, 2018, the Supreme Court allowed the entry of women of all ages into Kerala's Sabarimala temple. The RSS compromised its stated position on the issue of gender equality when it opposed the entry of women for strategic reasons  to defeat its ideological opponents, the communists in Kerala.

A little over a week before the SC verdict, at a three-day lecture (September 17 to 19, 2018) at New Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan, Bhagwat said the Sangh had removed offensive references to Muslims and Christians as internal threats in M S Golwalkar's book, 'We or Our Nationhood Defined'. It has been rephrased as "Islamic fundamentalism" and "evangelism". The lecture aimed to convince detractors that the RSS was a moderate, flexible organisation, willing to review some of its positions in a changing world.

In mid-2020, the Sangh Parivar needed another of its affiliates to step up. The RSS helped set up GIA, or the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians, in 2015. It comprises women lawyers, authors and journalists. In March 2020, as reportage over the Delhi riots singed the Sangh Parivar, the GIA came up with its version of the events. Bloomsbury published 'Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story'. It was a shoddy exercise, which lacked rigour, and the publisher soon withdrew it. Soon, another publishing house, Garuda, stepped in. It had earlier published such tomes as 'Urban Naxals' by Vivek Agnihotri.

The Sangh Parivar understood the importance of think thanks early. In 1968, veteran Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh established the Deendayal Research Institute. After the 2002 riots in Gujarat, the BJP leadership founded the India First Foundation and the Image India Foundation. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the BJP's Rajya Sabha member, has headed the Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), which brings out reports on government schemes, like the crop insurance scheme. Mumbai-based Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini trains elected representatives.

One example of firefighting was in the aftermath of Parliament scrapping Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Two little known think tanks arranged the visit of over 24 members of the European Parliament to Kashmir. These were the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies and the Women's Economic and Social Think Tank.

However, the Sangh Parivar isn't merely restricting itself by expanding its ideological footprint but also messaging those it believes support its ideological enemies. Recently, Panchjanya, the RSS mouthpiece, attacked Bengaluru-based IT major Infosys for trying to destabilise the Indian economy and accused it of helping "Naxals, Leftists and the tukde-tukde gang". Clarifications ensued, but the message was unambiguous.

But many within the Sangh Parivar fear that the electoral victories of its political arm, the BJP, and the expansion of its ideological footprint has failed to include the young educated youth. The obscurantism pervading its rank and file and its leadership hinders it from resolving its ideological incoherence over issues such as caste, gender equality and the status of Muslims in a Hindu Rashtra.
The Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police questioned Nayati Healthcare chairperson Niira Radia for nearly four hours in connection with an alleged Rs 300-crore loan embezzlement case, officials said on Sunday.

A senior police officer said Radia joined the investigation on October 27 at the office of the Economic Offences Wing.

"She was asked about 50 questions related to the alleged bank loan. Although she answered all the questions, her response was not found to be satisfactory. So, she will be asked to join the probe in the near future again as the investigation proceeds further, he said.

"After the registration of the case last year in connection with the alleged bank loan, the two parties had decided to settle the matter amicably, but later, when it did not happen, we had to investigate the matter thoroughly from all angles. Notices were also served to parties concerned to join the probe," the officer explained.

All bank accounts and related documents used for transactions by all the parties involved will be examined, police said.

The Economic Offences Wing had earlier this month served notice to Radia and other promoters and directors of Nayati Healthcare and Research NCR Private Ltd to join the investigation in connection with the case.

The development came with the recent arrest of Yateesh Wahaal, Satish Kumar Narula and Rahul Singh Yadav for misappropriation of crores of rupees in connection with the case.

According to police, a complaint was filed by orthopaedic surgeon Rajeev Kumar Sharma against Naarayani Investment Pvt Ltd, holding company of Nayati Healthcare and Research NCR Pvt Ltd and its promotors and directors Radia; her sister Karuna Menon, Narula, Wahaal and others.

Sharma has accused Naarayani Investment Pvt Ltd, Niira Radia, Karuna Menon, Satish Narula and Yateesh Wahaal of "cheating, criminal breach of trust, falsification of accounts, fraud, forgery, embezzlement of funds and other charges.

In his complaint, Sharma alleged that Naarayani had borrowed more than Rs 600 crore from various sources, including DHFL, and invested Rs 311 crore for acquiring a majority stake in Nayati Healthcare NCR.

After taking over the management of the new entity, Naarayani and the four individuals got a loan of Rs 300 crore from Yes Bank for the development of a Gurgaon hospital, but instead, they siphoned off and embezzled the loan amount using fictitious transactions, Sharma alleged.

He further alleged that the accused also borrowed Rs 60 crore from Yes Bank for another hospital project, but embezzled that fund as well.

Sharma also claimed that the five accused wrongfully brought down his stake in Nayati Healthcare NCR from 49 per cent to 6.3 per cent in less than a year and increased their own stake to 93.7 per cent.

Earlier, Nayati Healthcare had rejected the allegations terming it as baseless and had said that it had duly reported to the police certain issues of "misappropriation and maliciousness" detected in a forensic audit of activities of the previous management under Sharma.

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Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Saturday spoke to farmers' leader Balbir Singh Rajewal and discussed the Centre's farm laws issue with him.

Extending his government's full support to the protesting farmers, he told Rajewal about the special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha scheduled to be convened on November 8.

In the Punjab Assembly session, the Centre's three farm laws will be rejected, besides opposing the Union government's recent notification extending the jurisdiction of BSF from 15 km to 50 km along the international border.

"Today, I spoke with Kisan Union leader Balbir Singh Rajewal Ji and discussed about the Three Farm Laws imposed by GoI on us, said Channi in a tweet.

He spoke to Rajewal on phone, the video of which was uploaded on his Twitter handle.

Channi said, we have called a special session in which we will reject the farm laws.

Meanwhile, former chief minister Amarinder Singh asked Channi not to mislead farmers.

'My govt did all this @CHARANJITCHANNI. We spoke to farmer leaders on #FarmLaws & passed our own amendment laws in Assembly too. But Governor is sitting over them & he'll sit over any new laws. Pls don't mislead the farmers with false promises, Amarinder's media advisor quoted him as saying.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invited more investments from Spain in India's infrastructure projects as he met his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez on the sidelines of the G20 summit here and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including the situation in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.

Modi, who is here at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi to attend the G20 summit, was accompanied by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with Sanchez.

The two leaders welcomed the growing bilateral trade and investment linkages including the recent signing of the contract to procure 56 C295 aircraft from Airbus Spain, 40 of which will be Made in India in collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.

Also Read | India's net-zero pledge a bogus promise

The two leaders agreed to further expand bilateral cooperation in new areas like e-mobility, clean tech, advanced materials and deep sea exploration.

Prime Minister Modi invited Spain to invest in various sectors including Green Hydrogen, infrastructure and defence manufacturing and further take advantage of Indias National Infrastructure Pipeline, Asset Monetisation Plan and the Gati Shakti Plan, the release said.

The two leaders discussed India-European Union relations as well as cooperation on climate action and priorities at upcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow. They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest including Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific, it said.

Also Read | PM Modi, other G20 leaders visit Rome's iconic Trevi Fountain

India has voiced concern over the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August. India has underlined the need for Afghanistan's territory not to be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist attacks.

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.

Modi also said he looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Sanchez in India next year.

Also Read | PM Modi says India becoming fully capable to meet any challenge, stresses on unity

Earlier, the Prime Minister's Office tweeted that both leaders had fruitful talks on ways to deepen ties between India and Spain.

"The two nations are cooperating extensively in areas such as trade, energy, innovation and more, it said.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that Prime Minister Modi invited Spain to invest in various sectors in India including green hydrogen, infrastructure and defence manufacturing.

Also Read | Bilateral ties at threshold of new era with PM Modi's UK visit: Indian envoy

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Prime Minister Modi interacted with several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong 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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Sixteen years ago not many were enthused when M Revathi, an ecologist, bought 12.5 acres of land in a village in the fertile Cauvery Delta near Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu to venture into organic farming.

Today, Revathi is an inspiration to several young farmers. The farm she has developed over the years now grows almost every crop including those that were dismissed as unfit for the clay soil nature of the Delta region.

The farm has been designed in a way that it stores the amount of water it needs  five ponds scattered across three acres of land have been dug up by Revathi and her team. We save every bit of rainwater. Being a natural farm, the permeability of the soil allows maximum storage of water and this in turn recharges groundwater. The farm itself is a reservoir as we get water through the year, Revathi told DH.

Not just an organic farmer, Revathi is also an activist whose organisation, INSPIRE, has helped thousands of farmers get enough water for farming. They help by digging ponds in agricultural land.

Gene pool

Today, her land has become a 'mini forest' and is home to several species of birds, reptiles and other organisms, besides boasting of 6,400 trees of different varieties.

From the traditional varieties of paddy that consume less water compared to their hybrid counterparts, to vegetables to pulses to timber  the farm also has 1,400 crops, making it a gene pool.

Also read: Sustainable water management practices in Karnataka

Once you give necessary treatment to the soil and condition it, you can grow any kind of crops. The conditioning will take just a few months time. If you take one step, nature will take ten steps. We have developed a farm that is self-sustainable in every aspect, including the availability of water. Farmers should move towards self-sustainable farms, Revathi said.

If farmers must continue farming without the fear of water, Revathi said, they should have rainwater harvesting structures in their farms.

These ponds will not just store water but also recharge the groundwater. Once that happens, the farmer does not have to worry about water. Water is much more important than we think. Nature does not give water all the time. But we should conserve when it pours, she said.

Citing her success in organic farming, Revathi said the transition from the current method to organic will take a few years and all that farmers need is an open heart to embrace new ideas.

Crop change is not as difficult as one thinks. Besides traditional varieties of paddy, farmers have plenty of options as far as crops are concerned. Once you embrace organic farming, there is no looking back. Farmers should hold on to multi-crop patterns as it helps them generate revenue through the year, she said.
By Martin Ivens

The worlds leaders are gathered in Glasgow this weekend for COP26, but Queen Elizabeth II  most likely the dignitary they were keenest to glimpse  will not be there to greet them. She will address delegates in a recorded video instead. The conference will lack the magic dust that the physical presence of Europes last anointed and longest reigning monarch scatters over such occasions.

This is but the latest of several intimations of royal mortality. The Queen, 95 years old this year, long ago handed over arduous foreign tours to her son and heir to the throne, Prince Charles. Just as the Palace begins to transfer more duties around the royal firm, the UK must begin to think the unthinkable: of life without her.

Britains constitutional head of state cancelled a planned two-day visit to Northern Ireland last week following an overnight stay in a London hospital, news of which Palace officials ill-advisedly withheld from the worlds media. The intention was to play down fears for her health and spare her privacy from intrusion. Instead, it set alarm bells ringing and accusations of a cover-up. To avoid a recurrence, aides will have to be more open with the press and public about the monarchs health in old age.

The Queen is now resting at her home in Windsor Castle, although on Tuesday evening she made an appearance at a reception for the governments investment summit, welcoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Bill Gates amongst other guests.

But the shadow cast by her years lengthens. The Queen was recently photographed with a cane and now conducts her weekly audiences with Johnson by telephone instead of face-to-face, avoiding Londons Buckingham Palace if she can. She has also given up riding, her favorite leisure pursuit. All quite normal for someone her age.

However, one day  later rather than sooner, we hope  bulletins from the Palace will declare something akin to what they said for her grandfather George V (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 UK 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.

Everything will change  from the head on bank notes to the sense of certainty and continuity Elizabeth II has so calmly embodied.

I would be surprised if the Queen doesnt preside over the Remembrance Sunday memorial ceremony, an event she considers the most significant in her calendar. Elizabeth II takes her coronation oath and royal duties with religious seriousness.

Unlike some other modern monarchs and even one recent Pope, she has refused to consider a formal retirement  the job she signed up to at the Coronation is for her, a job for life. The last long-reigning queen, Victoria, cloistered herself away for several years after her husband Albert's death in 1861 and became unpopular for it. That is not her descendants way. Elizabeths intention is to remain in public view as long as she can.

Long live the Queen was the proclamation made following her accession to the throne, but ever since her husbands death her subjects are beginning to grasp that her life has a terminus.

Even the minority of her subjects who are staunch republicans and hate all the flummery associated with royalty will be moved by her departure. In opinion polls, an overwhelming majority think she is doing a great job. Through her dignity and emotional restraint, she has largely avoided the personal controversies that have dogged her children. Above all, she symbolizes continuity in Britains history.

For the Queen is the last link to the age of empire, the second world war and Winston Churchills finest hour.

Critics used to say she was wrong not to give way to her oldest son, the Prince of Wales, once a decent period had elapsed after the death of his first wife, Lady Diana, and his remarriage to Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. But perhaps by staying on, the Queen has performed one last great national service.

Britain has just come through an agonizing period of political turbulence. The Brexit referendum in 2016 was a bitter affair that divided friends, families, classes and the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that make up the UK The aftermath was worse. Years of wrangling in the House of Commons led to a near constitutional breakdown and left the country in political stalemate.

In the eyes of the world and many of its own people, the UK was having a collective nervous breakdown. The one voice of calm in this febrile atmosphere was the Queen. Had she left the scene at that point, the country would have convulsed. Now that the worst is over and political tempers have cooled, perhaps the country she reigned over can find more internal peace  if not agreement  and live with Charles, an heir who is dutiful and dedicated, but a more outspoken and divisive figure.

But first we must come to terms with the idea that the Queens reign is steadily drawing to a close and prepare accordingly  even if royals have a way of wrong-footing expectations. After all, the Queen Mother, who died in 2002, lived to be 101.

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Attacks on Hindu temples, defilement of places sacred to Hindus, vandalising Durga Pooja celebrations, killing Hindu priests, destroying villages with Hindu majority are all not new in Bangladesh. They have been going on for some years now. The recent cycle of violence, which reportedly spread to nearly 23 districts of Bangladesh, is perhaps the worst since Sheikh Hasina came to power 12 years ago.

Around elections and the Durga Pooja have been particularly bad times for Bangladeshs more than one crore Hindus who have become easy targets for Islamic fundamentalists in recent years. Durga Pooja is the most popular festival for the Bengali population all over Bangladesh and hence a favourite target of the Islamic radicals. The attacks have become as much an annual ritual as the pooja itself. This time, the riots assumed disturbing proportions and have been more organised and focussed.

The riots started after a rumour circulated that a copy of the Quran had been placed in one of the pooja pandals. The instigators who placed the Quran, said to be two small shop-owners in Comilla, have been arrested.

The Hasina government swung into action and arrested more than 500 people. She has avowed to mete out such tough and exemplary punishment that none will dare repeat these acts of violence. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said the police is investigating the rioters links with radical Islamic outfits. The government has also deployed border guard troops and units of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to control the rioting.

It is no secret that Hindu voters strongly back Hasina and her party, the Awami League. On her part, she has assiduously built relationships with the Hindu community at various levels. She even fulfilled the long-pending demand of return of the land belonging to the Dhakeshwari Temple back to the temple committee.

Beside the Hindu support base, Hasina has steadfastly carried on the fight against Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh. This has helped her in more ways than any politician could ask for. The Islamic radical elements are a threat not only to the Hindu community but also to the strong vote-bank of the Awami League which has always accused the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), of hobnobbing with the Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat) and other radical outfits to win elections.

The BNP has rubbished these allegations, but the radical outfits have somehow made deep inroads into the BNPs cadre base and surface during elections to swing support in favour of BNP. To a very large extent, the core team of the BNP has not been able to pull itself out of the clutches of the radical elements.

Delhi has repeatedly warned Dhaka of the dangers of the revival of radical Islamic movements and the terror threat that such outfits pose to India from the East, just as Pakistan-backed terrorist groups do in the West.

With the resolve to fight Islamic radicalism as the primary objective, the Hasina government is reportedly planning to table a bill in Parliament to take the country back to the 1972 (secular) Constitution enacted by the first government under Hasinas father and the popular leader of the freedom struggle, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. That Constitution had been junked by Maj Gen Zia ur Rehman, who seized power in a coup after Mujibur Rehmans assassination on August 15, 1975. Zia, much as his namesake General in Pakistan did, junked the idea of secularism and took Bangladesh on the path of Islamic radicalism. Later, in 1988, Gen Ershad declared Islam as the State religion of Bangladesh.

In this background, the statement by the Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Murad Hassan who said that Bangladesh cannot be a haven for radilcal Islamists and will revert to the 1972 Constitution is heartening. We have the blood of freedom fighters in our body. At any cost, we have to go back to the Constitution of 1972I will speak in Parliament to go back to the Constitution Even if no one speaks, Murad will speak in Parliament, he said, demonstrating the governments resolve against Islamic radicalism.

Islamist outfits have, in the meanwhile, threatened to resort to violent protests if such a bill is tabled in Parliament. The radical outfit Hifazat-e-Islams secretary-general Nurul Islam Jihadi has asserted, Islam was the State religion, it is the State religion, it will remain the State religion and threatened a bloody campaign against the proposed bill.

There are reports of close connections between Pakistans ISI and some of the radical outfits in Bangladesh, including the Jamaat and the Hifazat-e-Islam, which successfully got removed Bangladeshs Statue of Liberty, a saree-clad woman holding a scale signifying justice, placed outside the Supreme Court building in Dhaka.

There are serious indications that Pakistans ISI wants Sheikh Hasina out of power and install a puppet regime of radical Islamic outfits that would be supported and controlled by Islamabad. Such a regime would suit China also as it is looking for a Beijing-friendly regime that will keep New Delhi at a safe distance and cancel all economic agreements with it.

Given the highly surcharged atmosphere, it will be tempting for some elements to resort to jingoism and calls for action against Dhaka. A strong and safe Hindu population in Bangladesh is good for India. There is every need to protect them and assure them of all our support. But it is equally important to partner with the Sheikh Hasina government and support its anti-radicalism and counter-terrorism initiatives. It is in New Delhis interest to support Hasina in her fight against Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh.
Since World War II, a global acceleration in economic and industrial growth has led to multiple rips and tears in the delicate balance with nature. About 11,500 years ago, the earth  our only planetary home  entered a long period of stable climate called the Holocene. Climatic conditions were perfect for humanity to flourish across the globe, being not too hot and not too cold  enabling humanity to develop agriculture, domesticate animals, slowly and steadily cut down the forests and drain the swamps to build homes, first as huts built of plant material, then with concrete and metal, now moving to a world filled with high rises.

Human wellbeing has increased, but so has inequality. The impact of uncontrolled material progress is all around us  the pollution of the air, water and soil, the widespread devastation of ecological habitats and the ruination of human health. But at a global scale, less visible to us, other critical processes are going out of whack. Global warming of the planet due to the uncontrolled emission of greenhouse gases, which trap the heat in the atmosphere, has led to the melting of icecaps and glaciers, and the compression of weeks and months of rainfall into days and hours, followed by prolonged periods of drought.

India and its adjacent countries will be hard hit by climate change. Countries like the Maldives will be completely submerged in a few decades, along with large parts of countries like Bangladesh. The Indian coastline -- with prosperous, thriving megacities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai -- will be severely impacted by floods. Bengaluru will not be spared either. As oceans heat up, the change in temperature destabilises air and water currents, derailing expected weather patterns. Not just typhoons, hurricanes and tornadoes, the monsoon itself will become erratic, landing and withdrawing at unexpected times. Of course, this will lead to losses in agriculture, increasing the price of food, and worsening already widespread hunger. Climate scientists unanimously believe that the impacts we are already seeing are just the tip of the iceberg  much worse lies in store for us ahead, unless we can very quickly act to arrest climate change.

In 1994, a number of countries signed up to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC) to combat climate change. Twenty-seven years later, emissions of greenhouse gases have spectacularly increased, instead of stabilising or decreasing. Every year, at an annual Conference of Parties (CoP) meeting, the countries that have signed onto the UNFCC review progress, and agree on new goals and timelines. The CoP meetings scheduled for November 2020 could not take place because of the pandemic, and were postponed to 2021. The 26th CoP meetings will take place in Glasgow starting today, and extending until November 12.

The world has placed a lot of its hope on the deliberations at this meeting. Yet, past experience does not offer us much hope. Fossil fuel companies continue to be a powerful force lobbying for governments to continue burning carbon, and despite growing public opinion, many of the powerful western countries that have played a leading role in contributing to climate change have not come on board, or at least, not enough to make a difference.

While the countries responsible continue to fiddle, like Nero, as we accelerate towards the cliff, what can the rest of the world do? Cities like Bengaluru, responsible for a large and growing proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, must take the leadership to drive the change. There is much that can be done to make Bengaluru more climate-friendly, from better solid waste management to greater focus on tree plantation and wetland restoration, and an increased push towards renewable energy use. But the time is now. And the future of the world is at stake.
A year ago, there was a massive landslide at Talacauvery, where River Cauvery originates. The accident, attributed to the digging percolation pits in a rain-rich area  an ill-thought-out exercise by the Forest Department  unscientific road work, and heavy rains, shows the damage human interference has wrought in the region.

A lifeline for over three crore farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu that irrigates about at least 40 lakh acres of land, the Cauvery is now classified as a "deficit river" that can hardly fulfil the needs of those dependent on it.

There is constant pressure on the river. A growing population, rapid changes in land use along its banks, the obsession with water-intensive crops like sugarcane (in Karnataka) and paddy (Tamil Nadu) and pollution from industries that have mushroomed along its banks, are major problems afflicting the river, farmers and experts say.

Take Kodagu: An Indian Institute Science study found the area under evergreen forest has declined from 40.7% to 27.5% in a little over three decades, mostly due to the uncontrolled expansion of coffee plantations and other uses.

The report estimates that the district lost 66,892 ha of pristine forest cover due to uninterrupted exploitation, and Kushalnagar and Madikeri taluks lost a major chunk of forest due to "Construction activities".

At Bhagamandala, downhill from Talacauvery, local farmers are struggling to earn a living as the changing monsoon and declining forest cover caused rapid erosion of soil cover.

Satish Kumar, vice president of Bhagamandala Grama Panchayat, observed that though there are movements for environmental conservation, the "local participation was lower," he said.

"Consumption is growing and there is a massive degradation of the river's catchment areas," says Chandra Mohan M N, who along with several other farmers has launched a campaign to raise awareness about conservation along the river.

The river has turned into a dumping yard for domestic, agriculture and industrial waste. Unscientific tourism practices like illegal home-stays have also piled woes on water quality and river conservation efforts," he said. Mohan says only enacting legislation specifically to protect the river can save it now.

The rapid decrease in the Green Cover in catchment areas of River Cauvery due to conversion of forest area into cultivable lands is a major problem that needs immediate course-correction, M Revathi, founder of INSPIRE which works among farmers in both states, told DH.

It is very imperative to preserve green cover in the catchment areas. We need trees that will give rain. This is an absolute necessity to ensure we get enough rain so that Cauvery can feed farmers in both states. If we dont protect the green corridor, the future will be bleak, Revathi, who also runs an organic farm in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, said.

As the Cauvery flows further south, the cities along its bank turn into major guzzlers, releasing only sewage in return. Like the Arkavathy, several other small streams that pass through towns have turned into sewage drains.

A recent study by IIT-Madras, which analysed water at several points along the entire stretch of the river, found a range of 'emerging contaminants', including heavy metals and pharmaceutically active compounds, raising serious questions about the river's health.

But the tussle over the water continues. Across the border in Tamil Nadu, farmers want those upstream to stop treating them as a "drain state" by only releasing "excess water" from their dams and leaving the sluice gates shut at other times.

Cauvery water is our right and it is a known fact that the region is dependent on this water for irrigation. The Supreme Court had in 2018 reduced the quantum of water to Tamil Nadu but we dont even get that [water] on time. Karnataka should stop using Tamil Nadu as a 'drain state' and must release water on a pro-rata basis, V Sethuraman, a farmer from Mannargudi, said.

While the deficit was around 32 tmcft on September 30 as against 123.14 tmcft of water stipulated by the Supreme Court, as heavy rains pounded the catchment areas in Karnataka, 41 tmcft water was released in the month of October alone, farmers point out.

Karnataka has always honoured the Supreme Court and Cauvery Water Tribunal directions when it came to sharing water with lower riparian states, a senior official at the Karnataka Water Resources Department told DH.

During years of deficit rainfall too, the state has released Tamil Nadu's share of water, he said, citing the drought years between 2014 to 2018 as an example.

Noting that Tamil Nadu had knocked the doors of the courts often seeking the timely release of water, the official said that only during severe deficit has the state been accused of delaying the release of water to Tamil Nadu.

Prof S Janakarajan, a former professor with the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), observed that agriculture in the Cauvery delta has turned extremely vulnerable and uncertain over the past decade due to various reasons.

For decades, lack of adequate release of water from Karnataka forced lakhs of farmers to draw groundwater for irrigation. As a result, groundwater and soil in the delta districts have turned quite saline, affecting the productivity of crops. Further sediment flow from upstream has practically ceased due to construction of a number of reservoirs, he said.

Water guzzlers

And calls to move away from paddy and sugarcane have not found much traction among the agrarian community. In Karnataka, reports indicate that the area under sugarcane cultivation has increased five-fold in the past 25 years.

With its high yield, the crop is considered profitable, though the delay in payments by the sugar factories poses a big challenge to farmers. There are five sugar factories in Mandya and one in Mysuru

According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association, 54.55 lakh hectares of crop were under sugarcane cultivation in 2021 - 2022 in India, a 3% rise over the previous crop season.

Despite the water woes in Tamil Nadu's Delta region, the obsession with water-intensive paddy continues. A majority of farmers are unwilling to leave paddy as they feel the soil in the region  with its high percentage of clay  is tailor-made for the crop.

Though a new generation of farmers has gone in for a multi-crop pattern by cultivating pulses, vegetables, millets, and bananas, it has not taken off in a big way.

And paddy cultivation in the Delta region has only increased over the past decade, especially after 2012, when many farmers switched from sugarcane following a dip in its demand.

Cauvery S Dhanapalan, a farmer leader from Nagapattinam district, in Tamil Nadu blamed the too much importance given to paddy by the government, as the reason for farmers betting heavily on the crop.

Paddy is certainly a water-guzzler. There is no second opinion, and we know farmers will be the worst affected if we cultivate crops that consume more water. But what do we do when paddy is the only crop that gets us instant money? he asked.

Other factors, like the state infrastructure that makes the procurement of paddy seamless, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) accorded to the crop also make paddy the undisputed king.

We have enough machinery to cultivate and harvest paddy. This is a major reason for people to go for paddy, as labour shortage is a perennial issue in the Delta region. Since there is no machinery available for other crops, paddy is considered a safe bet because insurance is also provided for the crop, G Srinivasan, a progressive farmer from Thanjavur, told DH.

Farmers in the Delta region stress the need to conserve every bit of Cauvery water and rainwater that are available by desilting and cleaning hundreds of lakes, ponds, and tanks which are precious gifts to the farming community by the Chola kings. Youngsters in the region are now spearheading efforts to desilt and deepen lakes and ponds with or without government by creating awareness on the need to conserve every bit of Cauvery water and rainwater.

Sethuraman argues cultivation of paddy is much easier than other crops like cotton and asserts that the irrigation system in the Delta region, believed to be developed during the Cholas rule, has been designed for maximum utilization of water that is available.

Despite all the negatives including the water-intensive nature of paddy, it is still preferred because of the nature of the soil. Moreover, cultivating paddy is easy for a farmer than cultivating cotton. Cotton needs to be fed and carefully monitored almost daily. But paddy need not be watched every day. The farmer does what is profitable and easy for him, he said.

As part of efforts to save water, many farmers now cultivate traditional varieties of paddy that have long been forgotten but they are not adequate to save water on a large scale.

Traditional varieties of paddy consume just 40 per cent of water against their hybrid counterparts. Many are worried about their yield. While the market for such products is good in urban areas, not many are takers in rural areas. And there are no incentives or government infrastructure to market these products, Srinivasan said.

Climate change

Prof S Janakarajan also pointed out that the increasing intensity of storms and cyclones add enormously to the vulnerability of farmers.

There is no normal North-east Monsoon anymore. Invariably, every year, there are storms during the NEM period which bring heavy downpours in a few days inundating crops. What we see these days is either excess water or no water. Sustainable farming in the Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu is increasingly becoming uncertain and challenging, he added.

Among those raising serious concerns about climate change and its consequences are Santosh Koulagi of the Janapada Seva Trust in Melukote, Mandya district. "Looking ahead, climate change is the key factor that requires a lot of attention," he said.

Several socio-economic factors and a lack of clear government policy is to blame for the reluctance exercised by the agrarian community from adopting sustainable agricultural practices, according to Santosh.

V Jeevakumar, a lawyer and farmer in Thanjavur, stressed the need for creating awareness among farmers on the ill-effects of climate change.

Government should focus on more research on the adverse impact of climate change on agriculture and find ways to save farmers and farming. Experts from other fields should also step in and do research, Jeevakumar said.

While enough stress is laid on water conservation and the need for construction of check dams in the Delta region, Jeevakumar said reviving the lakes and ponds built by the Cholas would be enough to save Cauvery and rainwater.

Chola rulers were so meticulous in their planning that we are still dependent on these water bodies to get water to our fields. We have to clean them and maintain them properly so that groundwater is recharged during the rainy season and adequate water both from Cauvery and North-east Monsoon is available for farming, he added.

Though there is a demand for more check dams, Professor Janakarajan opined that this might not be "quite ideal", given the delta's flat terrain.

Let check dams be the last option in this regard. The Delta region is blessed with not just lakes and ponds but also temple tanks, some of which are as huge as lakes. Storing water in such water bodies can be an excellent source to recharge groundwater, Janakarajan added.
When the Congress picked Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit, as the chief minister of Punjab, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati congratulated him but also sought to remind Dalits not to be misled by the propaganda of national parties such as the Congress.

Congratulating Channi but criticising the party that appointed him can be seen as usual politics, except that in Mayawatis case there is more to it than meets the eye. The BSP chief is under huge pressure amid her partys back-to-back poor poll performances in UP and the aggressive wooing of Dalits by the Congress and the BJP. Her appeal to Dalits is a sign of desperation as she tries to prevent a division of Dalit votes.

Also Read | Deepening of caste politics in the country

Things are no better for Chirag Paswan after an acrimonious split of the Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar.

Founded by the late Ram Vilas Paswan, the party, with nearly 5% Paswan votes, punched above its weight. Paswan himself was part of several governments at the Centre and perhaps the longest serving Union minister.

Paswan is no more and the party founded by him is at a crossroads, with the slugfest between chacha (uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras) and bhatija (Chirag Paswan) threatening to permanently damage the vote base of the party. While Paras has become a Union minister in the Narendra Modi government, Chirag seems inching closer to the Opposition camp in Bihar led by the RJD.

The BJP and the Congress, who had not gone for aggressive Dalit politics in past, are making concerted attempts to woo Dalit voters and overturn the old model of the community being represented by Dalit parties in Hindi heartland and elsewhere.

Currently, the most competitive vote base is the Dalit chunk, says political analyst Rasheed Kidwai. You see all the parties, national and regional, vying to woo them as other communities have by and large declared their choices. Moreover, the Dalit vote is numerically significant in most Indian states, and as such truly a pan Indian phenomenon.

But Kidwai points out the Dalit dilemma: right now there is no national level Dalit leader who can capture the imagination of the community. The absence of a coordinated Dalit movement makes political representation a tricky question for the community, he adds.

The classic case is Punjab, where Channi became the first Dalit CM of the state, which despite being the home town of Kanshi Ram and having more than 30% SC population has never been a Dalit discourse in its political life.

In Gujarat, similar moves are afoot ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls. Young Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who shot to limelight after his protest against the 2016 Una Dalit flogging case, shared the Congress dais along with Kanhaiya Kumar last month.

Mevani could help the Congress woo Dalits who make up nearly 7% of the population in Gujarat, where the Congress had managed to confine a dominant BJP to just 99 Assembly seats in the 2017 Assembly polls. But will Mevani, currently an MLA from Vadgam, be in a position to tilt Dalit votes for the Congress across the state is a big question, given the strong network the RSS enjoys in the area.

The Congress is hopeful that its gambit of appointing Channi as Punjab CM pays off and its ripples felt in UP - a state where Mayawati served as the CM for four terms.

Between 2010 and 2012, Rahul Gandhi had made a concerted effort to woo Dalits into the Congress fold. Unfortunately for the grand old party, when the BSP lost the 2012 state polls, the main beneficiary was the Samajwadi Party.

In UP, despite getting core Jatav votes plus some other Dalit ones, Mayawati could not win a single seat in 2014 Lok Sabha polls while the party mustered just 10 Lok Sabha seats in alliance with SP in 2019, belying the earlier perception of a SP-BSP alliance being invincible. Mayawati later walked out of the alliance post the Lok Sabha polls, alleging that SP voters did not vote for the BSP.

There is also a trend that the BSPs performance in other states like MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, which has a significant Dalit population, goes down when it is not in power in UP.

In 2008, when Mayawati was UP Chief Minister, the BSP had secured 7.6% vote share in Rajasthan, which was almost twice what it got in 2003. In the 2013 Assembly election, the BSPs vote share dipped to 3.44% (SP was in power in UP at that time).

Similarly, even in Chhattisgarh its vote share declined from 6.12% to 4.3% when it was not ruling UP.

A significant chunk of Dalit voters tend to shift to the Congress or the BJP in these states when they find the BSP is not in a strong position. Hence a revival in UP is must for the BSP to stay relevant for Dalit voters elsewhere as well.

The SPs gaon-gaon Dalit samwad in UP concluding in December first week is an attempt project the primarily OBC party as pro-Dalit and blunt the Dalit-Jatav political rivalry. But whether Dalits will choose the SP over the BSP, Congress and BJP remains doubtful.

The Sangh Parivar reaches out

The RSS-BJP first began reaching out to Dalits under Seva Bharti during Balasaheb Deorass term as RSS head in the seventies. It has now borne fruit, with the non-Jatav Dalit voters in UP widening the base of the saffron party.

The BJP got almost 50% of total votes in the state in 2019 Lok Sabha polls as the Modi government repeatedly invoked Dalit icon BR Ambedkar and set up chairs in his name and constructing memorials for him. In November 2019, the BJP organised a four-day drive to connect with Dalits.

In 2019, the BJP for the first time appointed a Dalit leader, Thawar Chand Gehlot, as its Leader of Rajya Sabha and went to the town hailing the decision. The party has also been repeatedly pointing out how it made a Dalit leader, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India in July 2017.

In August this year, BJP President J P Nadda felicitated a woman block Pramukh Sonia from Jatav community while in September the party held the national executive meetings of its national morcha in the state.
Babasaheb Ambedkar wished to elevate the Untouchable castes from the subjugated depressing social location to promote them as equal claimants of social rights and political power. Ambedkarite politics was based on the assessment that the social elites lack ethical convictions when it comes to the emancipation of the socially marginalized communities. The post-Ambedkar Dalit politics emerged as a fearless challenge to the Congress parental and moralist appeals and has been admired as a radical transformative force. It has substantiated the democratic churning by elevating the political status of the socially marginalized groups.

Today, though the Dalits claims for political and social justice are enlarged in public discourse, they do not have a centralized location to monitor the ruling elites tactics that often disturbs the Dalits political agenda.

The Dalit assertion is now belittled by the right-wing proponents as a narrow political act and its politics as sectarian rhetoric. Further, Dalits politics lacks ideological or institutional mechanisms to mitigate the growing internal contradictions within the community.

The contemporary Dalit movement has expanded into newer territories with diversified interests and ambitions. Conventional Dalit parties, especially the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Bihar are now supplemented by the promising activism of Viduthalai ChiruthaikalKatchi (VCK) in Tamil Nadu and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) in Maharashtra. Though each party claim to serve the Dalit-Bahujan interest, there is no social or political comradeire between them. Interestingly, in states with huge Scheduled Castes populations, such as Punjab and Bengal, there is a visible absence of Dalits social or political movements.

Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have a history of vibrant Dalit consciousness. They celebrate the legacy of strong anti-Brahmanical social struggles and are heralded for their radical political programs.

However, the Dalit parties in both the states have nominal success in electoral battles. In the recently concluded Assembly elections, though the VCK and VBA have reignited the Dalit-Bahujan political agenda; both are still feeble forces, having limited influence in transforming the power dynamics of the states.

Importantly, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have witnessed divisions within the Dalit voters and often sections within the Dalits have supported parties that often have been termed as organizations of the conservative social elites.

Though the Dalits in these states wear Ambedkar on their sleeves, they differ when it comes to voting in bloc to a Dalit party. Whereas in UP and Bihar, one can witness that the Dalits have offered a committed support base for the BSP and the LJP.

In UP, Kanshi Ram was a maverick leader as he had nurtured a committed Dalit constituency and imagined the possibility of a Dalit-OBC alliance. The Dalit politics utilized distinct political strategies (like anti-upper caste social engineering) and creative local narratives (unearthing caste histories and icons) to make their presence felt. Identical attempts were made by Ram Vilas Paswan in Bihar under populist Socialist slogans.

Though the majority of Dalits here are surviving in precarious social and economic conditions, their political consciousness has been robust and impactful. A committed bloc of Jatav or Dusadh voters has rallied behind the BSP and the LJP, providing them competitive strength in each election, making both the parties influential power holders in national politics.

After an impressive success in UPs politics (Mayawati becoming the Chief Minister of the state four times), the BSP aspired to emerge as the representative party of the Dalit-Bahujan at the national level but failed to replicate the model in any other state. In the last decade, the BSPs political strength and social support have decreased, suggesting that significant sections within the Dalits are now been mobilized by the Hindutva party. Similarly, after the demise of LJPs stalwart leader Ram Vilas Paswan, the party is troubled by intra-family feuds and failed to demonstrate its electoral strength in the last Assembly elections. Importantly, Chirag Pawan, the new leader of the LJP, shows no qualms to demonstrate his affinity with the BJP.

In states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where Dalits have shown commendable political strength, are now demonstrating social ruptures, intra-caste divisions, and mobilization based on caste segmentations. The heterogeneous behavior of the Dalits is seen as social complexity or lack of political consciousness.

It is argued that the Dalit parties have not only failed to form a competent Dalit unity and but also to serve the interests of the lower-rung Dalits. As a result, the parties laden by the social elites have lured the worst-off social groups into their barracks. Interestingly, it is Prakash Ambedkars innovative slogan of Vanchit-Bahujan that has invited the Dalit politics to ponder over providing legitimate leadership to the most-marginalized sections within the Dalits and OBCs.

With the emphatic rise of the right-wing political force, it is perpetuated that the Dalits have heterogenous political ambitions, rational and pragmatic choices and they are now distanced from the narrow identity-based political mobilization. Under such allegations, the Dalit politics radical political agenda is depleting. Without the presence of a powerful Dalit political movement, Indias democracy will not remain vibrant, participative and transformative. The current federal segments of the Dalit politics must deliberate upon its national character so that a unified force can emerge to fight the coercive right-wing power.

(The author is an Assistant Professor, Center for

Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar was laid to rest after final rites were conducted at Kanteerava Studio in the presence of his family members, friends and ruling and opposition leaders of all political parties in Bengaluru. The final rites were conducted as per the traditions of the Ediga community of the Hindu religion.

His mortal remains were brought in a procession from Kanteerava Stadium, which began around 5 am and reached Kanteerava studio. Fans gathered on either side of roads on the way bid him tearful adieu. As many as 10 lakh people paid their last homage to the superstar.

Puneeth Rajkumar, the Kannada cinema superstar, son of Kannada film legend Dr Rajkumar, passed away on Friday (October 29) due to cardiac arrest.

Before the burial, the government of Karnataka accorded him honours according to protocol. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai handed over the Tricolour flag, which draped the mortal remains of the actor to his wife Ashwini and two daughters.

In Pics | 'Power Star' Puneeth Rajkumar laid to rest in Bengaluru

Opposition leaders DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and all cabinet ministers, all bigwigs of the Kannada film industry attended the function held early in the morning on Sunday.

Family members performed worship of Puneeth's mortal remains, which was placed in the decorated palanquin before the burial.

Public 'darshan' was allowed throughout the night for the fans to facilitate the final viewing as huge crowds continued to turn out since Friday late in the noon.

Bigwigs of the Telugu film industry, Chiranjeevi, Nandamuri Balakrishna, Junior NTR, Venkatesh, Srikanth came down to Bengaluru to pay their last homage to Puneeth Rajkumar.

Prabhudeva and Sharath Kumar from the Tamil film industry came to pay their last respects. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted their condolence messages over the untimely death of Puneeth. Prime Minister Modi had put up a picture of Puneeth's family with him in his message.

Also read: Genetic factors may have led to Puneeth Rajkumars death

Kannada film actor Puneeth Rajkumar's mortal remains were laid to rest beside the grave of his father, legendary actor of Kannada cinema Dr Rajkumar. Puneeth Rajkumar's mother Parvathamma is also laid to rest in the same premises. The decision was taken as per the wishes of his family.

Puneeth had pledged his eyes for donation. Dr Bhujanga Shetty, Director Narayana Nethralaya, who collected the eyes of Puneeth remembered the commitment of the family as he promptly received a call from Puneet's elder brother Raghavendra Rajkumar to collect eyes for donation.

Puneeth Rajkumar had donated Rs 50 lakh to the government of Karnataka during the Covid crisis. Puneeth was supporting 16 old age homes and 19 goshalas. Thousands of girl students were supported through the 'Shakthidhama' organisation. But, he never spoke about his philanthropic activities. Puneeth was one of the earliest persons to get the Covid jab, when vaccination hesitancy was still there among people.

Puneeth completed his cine journey as an artist for 45 years as he entered the film industry as a toddler. He has acted in 13 films as a child artiste. As a child artiste, he won the National award for his acting in 'Bettada Hoovu' movie in 1985. He won the best child artist award for his acting in 'Chalisuva Modagalu' and 'Eradu Kanasu' movies.

Show must go on, says brother Shiva Rajkumar as family, fans mourn Power Star's death

He made his debut as a full-fledged hero with 'Appu' movie in 2002. Since then, he had acted in 29 movies. His latest release was 'Yuvaratnaa' which hit the theatres in April earlier this year. His last movie is 'James'. His documentary made by film-maker Amoghavarsha of 'Wild Karnataka' fame shot underwater was all set to release on November 1.

He won two state awards for best actor and five Film Fare awards. He started production House Puneeth Rajkumar Films in 2019 and produced movies of Danish Sait and others. He was a successful television presenter for the Kannada version of 'Kaun Banega Crorepati'.

Puneeth, fondly called 'Appu' was christened as 'Power star' by fans. Puneeth made it a point to spend one whole month with his family. He used to sing and dance on special occasions with his family. The film industry which bounced back after the Covid lockdown has suddenly come under a pall of gloom with his demise.
An approximate 69 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the bypoll to Sindgi assembly constituency in Karnataka, while it was 84 per cent in Hangal segment, election officials said on Saturday. Polling began at 7 am and went on till 7 pm.

According to poll officials, elections were held by strictly adhering to Covid-19 guidelines, and no incidents have been reported.

A total of 19 candidates were in the fray in the two constituencies, including six from Sindgi and 13 from Hangal.

Two candidates from Sindgi were women. Counting of votes will take place on November 2. A total of 4,39,148 voters, including 230 service voters, were eligible to cast their votes from both constituencies, at 560 polling stations.

The by-election was 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.

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Sushant Singh Rajput's flatmate Siddharth Pithani denied bail in drugs case

A special NDPS court here on Saturday once again denied bail to Siddharth Pithani, the flatmate of Sushant Singh Rajput, in a drugs case linked to the Bollywood actor's death in June 2020.

Pithani was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on May 28 this year from Hyderabad and he is currently in judicial custody. He was booked under section 27 (A) (financing illicit traffic and harboring offenders) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, among other charges. His latest bail plea was rejected by Special Judge D B Mane. Earlier, his regular bail plea was rejected in August though the court had given him interim relief to attend his marriage.

On Friday, Pithani moved another bail application saying section 27A of the NDPS Act was wrongly applied and prayed for bail saying only a small quantity of (drugs) was seized. Section 27A pertains to punishment for financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders. Special Public Prosecutor Advait Sethna, appearing for NCB, argued that all these grounds raised by Pithani were considered earlier.

Sethna argued that Pithani had not challenged the previous bail order in the High Court. As section 27A is invoked and the court found substance (in NCB's arguments), the anti-drug agency got 180 days to file a chargesheet, which is also not over. Hence his bail application be rejected, he said.

The NCB has been probing the drugs angle post the death of Rajput, whose body was found hanging in his flat, based on some WhatsApp chats about the alleged supply of drugs to some actors in Bollywood.

Following the actor's death, the NCB began a probe into alleged drug links in the film industry based on WhatsApp chats, and several people were arrested under the NDPS Act in this connection, most of who are out on bail currently.
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
The DAR announced Duncan Indian Territory Chapter is one of the five Oklahoma DAR districts chosen to present a grant to a local womens shelter.

Pictured left to right: Mary Kay Lentz, Regent of Duncan Indian Territory Chapter, NSDAR; Sarah Pool, Great Plains District Director, OSDAR (Oklahoma Society DAR); Meagan McCurley, Safe Center Director.
Local politicians in Louth have welcomed updates from An Bord Pleanala on the Ardee bypass, saying that it has given the project the "green light" to continue being developed, despite concerns by local environmentalists.

The planning board issued a report which clarified that no environmental statements or reports need to be compiled on the impact of the proposed Ardee bypass.

The updated guidance has been welcomed by local politicians, with Fine Gael TD Fergus ODowd saying that the updates from An Bord Pleanala are a green light for the project.

However, local community activists, Friends of Ardee Bog have pushed back against the decision of An Bord Pleanala.

Deputy ODowd says that any other decision by the planning authority would have pushed the project back much further.

Ardee Town is currently choked with congestion and the people of Ardee have demanded that this issue be resolved, the fact that this vital project will now satisfy the public spending code requirements from an environmental standpoint is very positive news.

The town has suffered greatly as a direct result of significant traffic congestion over the last number of years. This has had a major impact on its economic and social development and the pollution resulting from traffic has also had a significant impact on air quality and the health of the citizens of Ardee.

An Bord Pleanala are independent specialists who determine whether a project meets environmental standards and thresholds, we are delighted that they have confirmed that this project will not significantly impact any of the local conservation and protection areas.

However, Friends of Ardee Bog had previously raised concerns about the planned bypass, with the group saying that its construction could potentially endanger the local population of curlew.

The group took the concerns to Leinster House, with a protest being held against the current bypass plans.

In a statement to the Democrat, Friends of Ardee Bog said that it was an outrage that an environmental impact study will not be carried out.

We were disappointed and outraged to read the news that An Bord Pleanala (ABP) has decided that an Environmental Impact Study is unnecessary for the proposed N52 Ardee bypass, said a spokesperson for the group.

This decision is part of an egregious pattern of planning in this country that ignores Irelands natural resources and unique heritage.

The group has said that it will continue to oppose the bypass and that they will do anything necessary to protect Ardee Bog and the endangered curlews.

They have also labelled the project as irrational, saying that a bypass for the N2 is needed rather than the proposed N52 bypass.

Friends of Ardee Bog has also said that the issue of the bypass is a climate justice matter and that the group will continue to protest against the bog being built on as it acts as a carbon sink.
Deputy Nash has described as "scandalous" the fact that one year after raising the crisis in dental care in Louth, the problem for children, medical card holders and dental professionals has only worsened.

Sixth class primary school students in Louth are waiting over a year for a dental check-up for the past three years.

While the number of dentists providing treatment to medical card holders in the county has more than halved, from 34 to 16, since 2017, new figures have revealed.

And everyone on the Adult Oral Surgery and Paediatric Special Care waiting lists have been waiting 12 months or more for treatment, according to official figures obtained by local Labour TD Ged Nash.

Deputy Nash said: The number of dentists who have withdrawn from the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) means there are fewer dental professionals available to treat patients who are entitled to free treatment because they have a medical card.

I have recently been contacted by a host of concerned constituents who have been refused dental care at their regular practice due to their medical card status and by other patients who have been waiting an extraordinary amount of time for essential medical treatment and who are on the Adult Oral Surgery list or who have a child on the Paediatric Special Care waiting list.

Over a year on from when I first drew attention to this serious problem, the problem has only gotten worse.

"I have raised this issue directly with the Minister for Health and HSE on their behalf and behalf of all constituents in Louth and East Meath area.

Frankly, I am shocked by the statistics which prove the huge scale of the problem in terms of waiting times for dental treatment and the impact of the withdrawal of care from medical card patients.

This has left a number of vulnerable patients - from children, to students and pensioners - in the lurch, scrambling to find another dental service or scrapping together money for expensive treatments at a time when household finances are already stretched."

The Louth TD said he has repeatedly raised this issue with the former Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, and current Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly and was assured last year that the Department of Health was urgently pursuing the matter with the HSE National Oral Health Office to seek to ensure that no patients are left without a service.

Deptuy Nash continued: Yet over a year later, we have seen little or no concrete action taken and the situation continues to deteriorate.

"Despite the promises, patients continue to be left without vital dental care or are forced onto unacceptably long and ever-growing waiting lists.

This flies in the face of the Governments own promise under the National Oral Health Policy to develop a model of care that will improve access and enable preventative approaches.

I am aware that the assistant national director with the HSE, Dr Joseph Green has directly warned that unless the provision of basic dental services to adult medical card holders is addressed urgently at the highest level, the HSE Louth Meath dental service may be forced to confine dental services to emergency treatment only, to the detriment of the oral health of both children and adults in particular those with special care needs.

This red alert for dental care cannot continue to be ignored by the Minister for Health.

Deputy Nash said the Minister for Health and the HSE "urgently need to engage with providers and their representative body and put an effective plan and resources in place to ensure the people of Louth & East Meath have timely and affordable access to essential dental treatment".

Deputy Nash said that he has also requested a meeting with the Irish Dental Association to establish how I can assist to address this problem and the people he represents.
A 20 year old Limerick man who Dundalk district court heard had allegedly attempted to flee in a taxi after being involved in a fight, had received a bad beating in the incident, his solicitor told Judge Eirinn McKiernan.

Johnathan Stack with an address at Cragg, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick was charged with being intoxicated in a public place and using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour on Park Street, Dundalk on July 3rd last.

The court heard a group of men were involved in the row and after the taxi was stopped on Dublin Street, the defendant was unsteady on his feet.

The court heard he had 11 previous convictions.

The defence solicitor said her client had received a bad beating by members of the public that evening and when gardai arrived he was irate and that was the reason why he didnt act appropriately.

She added he has not come before the courts for the past six years and has turned his life around and is now working as a foreman.

The solicitor said he is extremely embarrassed and had 300 in court and stressed It is out of character for him now.

Judge Eirinn McKiernan imposed a 200 fine for the threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour charged and marked the other offence taken into consideration.
For more than 90 years, The Eagle-Tribune Santa Fund has assisted those in need in the Merrimack Valley through generous contributions from businesses, organizations and individuals. This year the need is as great as ever.

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US President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Pope Francis as they meet at the Vatican, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. President Joe Biden is set to meet with Pope Francis on Friday at the Vatican, where the worlds two most notable Roman Catholics plan to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and poverty. The president takes pride in his Catholic faith, using it as moral guidepost to shape many of his social and economic policies.
PORTALES  The Portales City Council on Tuesday got a first glimpse of possibilities for redistricting as a result of 2020 U.S. Census results.

The council took no action on the districting choices, which will require more work sessions and public input, Mayor Ron Jackson said.

Brad Morrison, a project manager and redistricting specialist for Research and Polling, an Albuquerque-based market research and public opinion firm, presented two options for redistricting the city, based on the firms reading of census results.

Morrison said Research and Polling bases redrawing of district lines on achieving equal population in all districts, ensuring that minority voting is not diluted, compactness (a uniformity of geometric shapes among districts), and contiguity.

You should be able to draw the district boundary without lifting your pencil from the paper, Morrison said.

Portales noted a total population decline of 1.2% between 2010 and 2020, leaving a total population of 12,137 in the city. That means the city council districts or wards should be about 3,034 people, with some deviation allowed.

The loss of population also left inequality of population among the citys four wards, with the biggest loss in Ward A on the citys northwest side, represented by councilors Veronica Cordova and Jake Lopez. The population of that district is 2,730 people  about a 10% deviation from the ideal 3,034.

Ward B, just east of Ward A, includes 3,073 people. Ward C south of Ward B, contains 3,240 residents. Ward D, south and west of Ward A, has a population of 3,094.

Research and Polling presented two plans:

 Plan A would nudge Ward As boundaries with Ward C and Ward B, leaving 2,932 people in Ward A, 3,069 in Ward B and 3,042 in Ward C. Ward D would be left unchanged.

 Plan B would change boundaries between Ward A and Ward B to add more to Ward As population than in Plan A, and move a few blocks from Ward A into Ward D. The changes would leave 2,965 people in Ward A, 2,991 in Ward B, 3,042 in Ward C, and 3,194 in Ward D.

Portales has until Dec. 1 to submit a redistricting plan to the state, Morrison said.

Councilors proposed advertising and a workshop in November before announcing a final decision at the councils Nov. 25 meeting.

In other matters Tuesday, the council:

 Authorized notification of a March 1 election for municipal officers to the New Mexico Secretary of States office.

 Recognized the citys entire Public Works department as employees of the month. Public Works Director John DeSha noted that public works employees have stepped in willingly to help out other departments, including cemetery maintenance sanitation truck driving to help alleviate manpower shortages.

 Presented a humanitarian award to Portales Police Officer Jarvis Hall for helping a disabled person in a powered wheelchair to get to warmth and safety in a downpour.

 Authorized grant agreements with the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration that will provide $250,000 to acquire land and plan for city cemetery improvements, and $85,000 to purchase a new backhoe and jackhammer attachment for the cemetery.

 Authorized an agreement with the New Mexico Department of Transportation that will result in $133,332 toward surface improvements and other work on 18th Street from New Mexico Drive to Avenue I. The local share of the funding comes to $33,330 with the remaining $99,999 coming from DOT.

 Approved a seventh amendment for development of the Blackwater Wellfield, a major source of Portales water supply in a contract with the Daniel B. Stephens and Associates engineering firm, based in Lubbock. The new amendment, adding $19,143.50 to the total cost, includes researching the citys water rights in the area with the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, identifying other wells for future development, and other engineering services. The total value of the contract is now $497,769.24.

 Authorized application for a Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the citys share of the cost of developing an all-hazards mitigation plan along with Roosevelt County and other county communities. The total cost of the citys participation would be $75,000, and the citys share would be $9,375, which would be matched by an equal amount from the county.

 Approved payment of $1.7 million in bills, and quarterly budget adjustments resulting in a net decrease of $533,794 in the citys fund balances, which includes $22,251 in revenue and $556,145 in expenditures.

 Recognized in a proclamation signed by Jackson a Walk to End Alzheimers Day to be held statewide this fall.
CLOVIS  Between six to nine months of project design, a similar timeframe to acquire easements and 12 to 14 months of construction, plenty of time still separates the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority from the Texico lateral it envisions as part of its water delivery system.

Its just as well, since an agreement with EPCOR Water thats a linchpin to the lateral is only at its starting point as well. But those who attended a Wednesday study session at the ENMWUA office saw no reason they couldnt find common ground.

A portion of the authority held a Oct. 20 study session for initial discussion of the Texico lateral, a piece of the interim groundwater project that would connect Clovis, Portales, Cannon Air Force Base, Texico and Elida for municipal water delivery.

The city of Clovis, thanks to a $2 million award in state economic development dollars, is extending its water system to the Clovis Regional Airport, about halfway between Clovis and Texico along N.M. 523. The authority aims to use that extension, then continue its own build the rest of the way to Texico.

A big advantage of this, Authority Chair Mike Morris said, is it shortens the Texico lateral and makes the option look a lot better from the authoritys perspective.

Max Carter, the authoritys Texico representative, said the village council requested the lateral travel east until it reaches N.M. 108, then head south to Texico on 108s west side. The authority aims to build through private land adjacent to the roads to avoid issues with any future road construction by the state.

The Wednesday study session, attended by 10 people, included EPCOR, which operates Clovis water system. Authority members are seeking a deal where EPCOR would provide Texico with an interim allotment of bulk water in exchange for the opportunity it would receive to acquire new customers east of the airport. The authority proposed a jurisdiction line a half-mile west of 108 to keep EPCOR and Texico water systems separate.

Daniel Bailet, vice president of business development for EPCOR, said the high-level issue is this is all good news, but plenty of low-level issues remained.

There are a lot of complexities, Bailet said. I think a small working group of us can get together and do that. I dont see it happening in this meeting.

Authority members agreed, and set up an initial call for Wednesday. Participating on EPCORs behalf will be Bailet, Operations Supervisor Mark Huerta and Manager Tom Torres. The authority will be represented by Morris, administrator Orlando Ortega and engineer Jim Honea.

Discussion points from Bailet included an authority request for a percentage of connection fees and utility payments for those new customers. Ortega said the authority could alternatively make a deal with operation and maintenance costs.

Bailet said hed want EPCOR to have operation and maintenance responsibilities west of the jurisdiction line, even if the company was only likely to pick up a handful of residential properties as new customers. He also said any deal would require flexibility, since EPCOR requires Public Regulation Commission approval.

Morris said at the conclusion of the session compromises were needed, but nothing Bailet discussed felt like a dealbreaker.

The authority aims to eventually connect the interim system to its main water source, the Ute Reservoir in Quay County, at which point it would no longer seek water from EPCOR to satisfy Texicos needs. Ortega said thats probably around 15 years away.
PORTALES  Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority officials had not viewed their intake structure at Ute Lake from out on the lake, and when they did recently, they found some work needed to be done.

We dont see this side, because were not in the water, Orlando Ortega, executive director, told the board on Thursday.

The ENMWUA board on Thursday authorized the spending of $21,505 to have Clovis-based Preferred Painters clean and paint the fixtures on the lake side of the intake structure to improve appearance.

The water-side intake structure elements had been neglected since the facility was constructed in 2016, Ortega said. In addition, he added, several buoys that mark the intake structure on the lake should be replaced.

The intake structure is awaiting the completion of pipelines that will carry water from Ute Lake in Quay County to a water treatment plant in Curry County north of Clovis, with a booster pump station that will lift the water to the top of the Caprock. Treated water will then be piped to a point near Cannon Air Force Base, where the water will be diverted to Clovis and other locations.

The board on Thursday also approved easements that will allow sections of the pipeline that will transfer treated water to Cannon AFB from the treatment plant to cross four private land parcels.

Jim Honea, project manager for Jacobs Engineering, told the board on Thursday that, including the four parcels for which the board approved easements on Thursday, there are five properties that have finalized easements for that pipeline.

Seven other properties are in appraisals, and owners of eight properties have had easement offers sent to them, Honea said.

The total cost of that pipeline is estimated at $44.7 million, according to the ENMWUA website.

Construction began on Sept. 27 on another pipeline that will take water from Cannon Air Force Base to Portales, Honea reported to the board on Thursday.

So far, about 7,000 feet of pipeline has been laid down, Honea said, including crossings of areas of Blackwater Draw that may contain archeological resources. Honea said archeologists are monitoring the construction to ensure protection of areas potentially containing artifacts.

Planning, design and property procurement is also advancing for a part of the pipeline that will carry untreated water from the top of the Caprock to the water treatment plant, Honea said.

In other matters Thursday the board:

 Approved an updated asset management plan for the ENMWUA, which was last updated in 2018, Ortega said. The plan helps the district operate, maintain, rehabilitate and replace infrastructure in a cost-effective manner, Ortega said. In addition, the plan document states, The plan also forms a basis for the financial plan, operational plan and the authoritys rate structure. Mike Morris, board chairman, added that the plan keeps officials informed that policy has been reviewed and things are updated. Currently, the plan recognizes only the intake structure at Ute Lake and completed pipeline sections that connect at Cannon AFB as assets.

 Learned from Haleigh Marez, office manager, that the authority garnered revenues of $4.6 million and recorded expenditures of nearly $6.5 million in September. From July through September, the authority recorded nearly $7.8 million in revenues and just over $6.8 million in expenses.

 Learned from Jacquelynn Bowens, support services manager, that Ute Lakes storage had dropped from 153,100 acre-feet of water on Sept. 22, to 149,300 acre-feet on Thursday. The lakes elevation had also dropped from 3,779.08 feet above sea level on Sept. 28 to 3,777 feet above sea level on Oct. 21.
James Cox

Fireworks 'are not toys' and can be 'unpredictable'.

That is the message from Dublin Fire Brigade as they call on the public not to use fireworks over Halloween.

As they're illegal in Ireland they may not comply to any particular standards, and can explode at the wrong time, warns Assistant Chief Fire Officer, John Guilfoyle.

Mr Guilfoyle also has this message about bonfires: "Stay back from the bonfire, sometimes there is a temptation to get as close as we can, to get the front seat at the bonfire to see all the action and stuff. Bear in mind you don't know the contents of a bonfire, the smoke can be very toxic so stay well back and give yourself a bit of space, there is also a risk of sparks and debris coming off a bonfire which can cause burns."
Effingham, IL (62401)

Today

Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High 54F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy in the evening, then off and on rain showers after midnight. Low 39F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
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
Large tech companies may soon have to pay significant taxes no matter what tax loopholes they had before. BBC News reports G20 leaders have reached an agreement that would set a global minimum tax rate of 15 percent for large companies. The long-in-the-making deal should be official as of today (October 31st) and would be enforced starting in 2023.

The US originally pitched the concept to prevent companies from using creative accounting (such as the "Double Irish arrangement") to avoid paying most of their taxes in the country. Other countries embraced the idea, though, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) told CBC News the move could rake in about $150 billion from corporations around the world.

The deal could discourage tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Netflix from relying on loopholes to maximize their profits. If the deal collects the promised money, governments could better fund public services and help tackle problems like climate change.

There are numerous criticisms, however, and not just from those who generally oppose higher taxes. Oxfam, for instance, blasted "generous carve outs" that protected sone income and take 10 years to phase out. The pro-equality group also claimed the deal was "extremely limited" and would affect fewer than 100 companies while generating little money for poorer countries. The arrangement might beat the status quo for G20 nations, but it won't necessarily address some outstanding concerns.
2021 - 2021 The services for infant Ellie Faith Nance will be held at noon Saturday, November 20, 2021, in the Central Assembly of God Church. Burial will follow in the Kremlin Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home. Ellie Faith Nance was born November 17, 
Sunday, October 31, 2021

Political consulting is a field dominated by men. There are only two women who ran a successful U.S. presidential campaign. One of them is Kellyanne Conway, who ran Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016. I recently read a piece published by the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics where she reflects on that race and women candidates in general. Conway argues that women candidates often have some advantages. They are frequently seen as new and fresh. They are also often perceived as consensus builders, as honestly trying to work across the aisle. Women candidates are also often seen as more ethical and incorruptible. "There is a reason why you have never heard the term "old girls network". There isn't one", says Conway.

At least half of my clients are women candidates and based on my own experience, I can confirm a lot of what Conway says. I have also observed that in focus groups, respondents more often use the words "no scandal" to describe women candidates.

Going back to Kellyanne Conway and the 2016 election, Conway notes that nobody saw Hillary Clinton the way just described. Few voters would have described her as fresh, incorruptible or a consensus builder. In fact, while Clinton once was a popular figure (people forget that she left office as Secretary of State with a net positive approval rating), she had turned into a very polarizing figure by summer 2016. The term "double haters" refers to voters who had a negative opinion about both candidates, Trump and Clinton. While disliking both candidates, they were sure about one thing, namely that they did not want to vote for Clinton. On election day, they overwhelmingly voted for Trump and thereby delivered him the victory.
It's been more than eight months since a glacial chill-the magnitude of which nobody quite anticipated-crept across Texas, forcing power plants offline, freezing natural gas wells and wreaking havoc on every part of the state's energy system. Millions were plunged into darkness for days. Hundreds of people died. Damages topped $20 billion. And Texas's leaders vowed to do everything within their power to prevent such a crisis from happening again.

But they didn't do everything. And now, as temperatures are forecast to start dropping again in America's second-most populous state, Texas is still at risk of another crippling energy crisis the next time it faces perilously cold temperatures.

When Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed in June a series of reforms intended to shore up the electrical grid that catastrophically failed last winter, he pledged that "everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid in Texas." But one key segment of Texas's energy system that fell woefully short during February's deep freeze has gone largely unchanged: the natural gas system that seized up, choked power plants of fuel and led to shortages across the region.

"Texas has not done enough," said Michael Webber, a University of Texas at Austin professor who specializes in energy. "We are not ready for another cold winter."

The call for more preparation in Texas comes at a time when energy systems are aging the world over, buckling under the strain of ever-growing demand. Climate change is plaguing them with increasingly extreme weather, and a rapid transition to cleaner power resources has made them more fragile and easier to shock. Europe and Asia are already in the throes of energy shortages that threaten to spread to U.S. shores. And Texas-having been among the first to endure what would prove to be a series of energy crises worldwide-stands out as a test case of what could be done, at least if the political will is there.

When the freak arctic blast hit Texas in February, it sent a shockwave through the U.S. energy capital, triggering a cascade of failures. At its peak, the storm took down nearly two-thirds of the power supply on the Texas grid, causing widespread blackouts and, ultimately, at least 210 deaths. Multiple parts of the system were to blame: Regulators failed to predict the severity of the low temperatures, the grid operator vastly underestimated demand, wind turbines froze and gas, coal and nuclear plants tripped offline.

It's the gas industry that has experts the most concerned heading into this winter. It's the No. 1 supplier of power-plant fuel in the state, and dozens of generators reported trouble getting fuel after gas wells and delivery systems froze. For most of the crisis, gas-fired plants accounted for around half of the generation outages, according to data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, commonly known as Ercot. And yet, even after a spate of power reforms, there are no gas-sector winterization requirements in place for this winter, or next.

That's because the oil and gas industry-an outsized influence in Austin-successfully lobbied to limit the scope of the weatherization requirements to only those facilities that a committee deems critical to the state's power grid, not those supplying gas to, say, generators in other states, industrial users or exports. But that mapping process to decide which of the state's hundreds of thousands of wells, half a million miles of pipeline and thousands of facilities are critical won't be completed ahead of this winter. Regulators have until September 2022 to decide who's on that list, and only then will winterization rules for those facilities be developed, a process that itself can take up to six months. In short, gas winterization mandates aren't required to be in place until 2023.

That kind of regulatory carve-out isn't uncommon in a state like Texas, where fossil fuels still reign supreme. The oil and gas industry was Abbott's top campaign contributor from January 2017 through 2020, giving him $16.5 million, 21% of the total raised, according to a report by Texans for Public Justice, a watchdog group focused on curbing political corruption in the state. Abbott got about $4.6 million from oil, gas and energy interests during the post-legislative session this year, his biggest haul for that period since becoming governor, according to an analysis by the Texas Tribune.

The lack of requirements at gas facilities is in sharp contrast to power plants, which state regulators ordered to fix anything that broke during the storm by Dec. 1. By that same date, power plants will also need to finally meet the winterization standards that were recommended-but never adopted-after a similar storm in 2011 caused massive blackouts. State lawmakers also passed bills intended to reform Ercot and protect consumers from being exposed to sky-high wholesale power prices.

The only mandate for gas companies for this winter, meanwhile, is to register their facilities with utilities as critical infrastructure to protect against, but not necessarily eliminate, the risk of power cuts when the grid is stressed. But even then, there's a special loophole that allows operators to pay $150 to opt-out of even that registration process.

"Texas is still vulnerable if the gas system is dysfunctional again," said Neil Chatterjee, a former commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, who stepped down this summer. The potential disconnect between power and gas upgrades is setting up the state for potential disaster. "It all must work in tandem."

By opting not to winterize-a process the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimates costs between $20,000 and $50,000 per new oil and gas well-the gas sector would be saving cash, something investors and lenders have been targeting after a decade of hefty spending and poor returns. Operators are also betting that enough of their own wells will remain open even if rivals' freeze, potentially reaping eye-wateringly high prices. Due to February's storm, power companies lost billions of dollars and several went bankrupt; gas sellers, meanwhile, ended up with an $11 billion windfall as demand for limited gas supplies spiked.

"There's a moral hazard in the gas market where their underperformance was rewarded with unusual profits," said Webber, who emerged as a prominent voice in the aftermath of February's deep freeze, pointing out the flaws in Texas's energy system and what went wrong. "We built our power sector on the assumption that the gas is dispatchable and available, but if you can't get the gas, the whole system comes down."

The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry with what critics contend is a light touch, says it's taking actions to encourage the sector to prepare anyway, even if it's not being mandated. It sent a notice to gas operators earlier this month urging them to "take all necessary measures to prepare to operate in extreme weather conditions" this year. It's inspecting sites to create a baseline to decide what the regulations should be, said Jim Wright, one of the group's three commissioners. "We are in a lot better position" than in February, he said, noting that he's now talking to the state's power regulator on almost a daily basis.

Wright acknowledges, though, that the legislation "doesn't really set deadlines that accurately address this current winter. It does address winters after this one."

Meanwhile, no one in the sector has been able to estimate what percentage of the state's gas industry has prepared for winter voluntarily. It's not even clear if it's being tracked. A spokesperson for the governor's office didn't reply to a request for comment.

"Natural gas companies made billions of dollars. The least they can do is go out there and make sure the state of Texas doesn't have this situation happen again," state Sen. Jose Menendez, a Democrat, said in an interview, adding that he wants critical parts of the gas system prepared ahead of this winter.

Of course, some gas producers already take precautions. Since it began operating in West Texas, Ovintiv Inc., a Denver-based oil and gas company, regularly installs temporary insulation on pipes and key equipment, injects methanol into natural gas and installs wind walls at its field operations before each winter, according to a company representative. The company still lost production in February, though, due to power cuts.

The degree that a gas producer winterizes, if at all, will come down to the economics of its wells and whether it thinks Texas will see extreme cold in back-to-back winters. So far, most forecasts are for a milder-than-normal season across the southern U.S. due to La Nina conditions, though that won't prevent the polar vortex that contains icy air above the North Pole from spilling out occasionally. Usually, Texas is too far south to feel those effects, but not always. Besides, last winter was a La Nina, too.

"If the same weather were to occur this winter, I don't have a lot confidence for the gas industry to produce more gas than the last time around, and I have small confidence that the power plants would perform better," said Beth Garza, a former utility executive and market monitor who is now a consultant for think tank R Street Institute. The gas industry has "a history of not being there for when they are most needed from the electric sector."

Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, said it's in the financial interests of gas companies to make sure they are operating and selling their product, adding that many companies are, in fact, winterizing. However, he contends it doesn't make sense to apply mandates across the whole gas industry since only a portion of it supplies the state's power sector. Power outages were the main reason for the drop in natural gas production during the storm, Staples said, citing an industry commissioned report on the event.

Still, a BloombergNEF analysis found 52% of the gas volume decline came before Ercot's first power cut in the early hours of Feb. 15, suggesting frozen equipment was also to blame. Ercot estimates about 12% of power generation failures at the height of the outages were due to fuel supply issues.

"Gas got a little bit of a pass on some of these things, and that industry doesn't have a market monitor and it's largely unregulated," said Carrie Bivens, a former Ercot operations manager who now serves as the independent market monitor for the grid with Potomac Economics. She concedes the industry can't prepare for every possible situation, especially a "1 in a 100 years" event like what happened last winter. That's a frequent talking point cited by power and gas regulators and traders: Ercot doesn't usually have back-to-back cold winters.

Other market reforms are being discussed but won't be ready for this winter, either. That includes expanding the state grid's links to neighboring ones-something that could subject Ercot to federal authority. And unless regulators decide to change it, the wholesale power price cap will revert back to $9,000 a megawatt-hour at the start of the year after it was temporarily reduced to $2,000 after the February storm. Additionally, power producers can still seek an exemption "for good cause" if they can't comply with the new mandates.

FERC Chairman Richard Glick said in September he wouldn't let Texas ignore or water down federal recommendations to better prepare for cold snaps. FERC is looking at imposing reliability standards but it can't push weatherization mandates on the gas industry. When asked by Bloomberg News at an October briefing about power plants in the state, Glick was wary. "I don't think those plants are going to be weatherized before winter. I remain concerned, and I think it's something we need to act on," he said.

Texas has a history of sidestepping federal recommendations. After a February 2011 winter storm knocked off nearly 200 power plants in Texas and triggered blackouts for 3.2 million, a report by FERC and the organization that investigates large blackouts, called the North American Electric Reliability Corp., recommended the state consider requiring power plants prepare for winter and set minimum weather-preparation standards for gas producers. It's those 2011 power recommendations that are now going in effect this winter, 10 years later.

As the days grow shorter, Texans who can't shake the memory of last winter's catastrophe aren't leaving things to chance. Residents are buying backup generators. American Electric Power Co., a utility that serves the state, now has emergency mobile generation on hand. Power producers like Vistra Corp. are stocking up on alternative fuels at their facilities, even as the gas industry enjoys its loophole that lets it sit out upgrades.

With the state enacting too little change for her liking, Texas resident Kelly Hopkins went ahead and installed solar panels and battery storage to her home to avoid future blackouts. "Nothing has been done" to harden the grid, said Hopkins, 50, who teaches early American history at the University of Houston.

During the cold snap, the Hopkins's lights and heat were out for three and a half days, so she erected a tent in the dining room and filled it with blankets, sleeping bags and mattresses to keep her and her family warm. The panels went up in May. When Hurricane Nicholas blacked out much of South Texas in September, they had lights, laptops, TV and refrigeration while the neighbors were without power for 18 hours.

"Climate change is making things more extreme, and although I don't think we'll see cold like that again, hurricanes are going to come and knock the power out," she said. "Things are going to happen."

- - -

Bloomberg's Joe Carroll contributed to this report.
Command Master Chief Octavia Harris made it to the Navys highest enlisted rank with three strikes against her  she was Black, female and gay.

In a military where you could be tossed from the ranks for your sexual orientation, she kept hers hidden for 30 years while earning one promotion after another.

Beyond being a survivor, Harris became a star, one of the first women to serve on a combat ship.

Now retired in San Antonio, she left the Navy in 2012, two years after President Barack Obama signed a bill ending the Dont ask, dont tell policy.

DADT, as it became known, was a Clinton administration compromise designed to ease the militarys outright ban on gay servicemen and women. It still saw 13,194 of them driven from the armed forces, according to an analysis by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

People still got kicked out under that, said Harris, 57. I had to spend my entire career in the closet.

Harris completed seven deployments, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the 1991 Gulf War, and doing it the hard way  by occasionally confronting sexist sailors, sometimes outranking them, often as the only woman in the room.

In her first decade in the Navy, women still could not serve aboard ships such as frigates, destroyers, aircraft carriers and submarines. They werent allowed to fly carrier-based fighters.

Today, women make up 18 percent of the Navy and handle all those specialties and weapons systems.

On ExpressNews.com: It was 1964 - and these women became U.S. Navy officers in a different world

The ban on womens service in combat ended in 2015, allowing their entry to combat arms specialties the following year.

This isnt for me

Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer

In December 1994, Harris was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. By the time she left the ship, in March 1998, she was a chief petty officer, one of the senior female non-commissioned officers on board.

Harris took a hard line on insubordination from the men, some of whom were resentful. But she was often backed by senior male NCOs and officers.

She heeded the advice of a supportive male boss who challenged her to create a Tiger team to solve a problem aboard ship as a way to earn their respect.

It worked.

Im a chief petty officer and Ive got to earn a junior persons respect, Harris said. And so I said, No problem and I did it, but no male chief petty officer would ever have to do that. They would have the respect just by virtue of the fact that they are a chief petty officer.

Off the job, Harris also had to navigate the treacherous riptides of Navy social life, occasionally taking men with her to official events as the years turned to decades.

It wasnt that she wanted to, but there was a reputation to keep and a brand to burnish. That necessity didnt really end until DADT ended.

People knew, Harris said. A lot of people knew I was (gay). And early on in my career I think that was one of my problems  I felt like if I didnt date a guy I was putting a spotlight on myself.

On ExpressNews.com: Senate clears way for gays to openly serve in armed forces

Harris joined the Navy at 16, while a high school junior. Part of what drove that decision was family history; her brothers already were in the military. But there also was the chance to travel and a desire to become a part of an organization that had a mammoth footprint.

There was only one hitch as Harris prepared to enter basic training in Orlando, Fla.: She didnt know how to swim.

That wasnt uncommon for kids like her growing up in New York City, but the Navy recruiter waved it off, saying she could learn. Harris went to a YWCA, signed up for a swim class and quickly earned her certificate. She still keeps it in her Stone Oak home.

The restrictions on women grated on her. Despite her strong showing on the military entrance exam, she was shunted into an administrative job because the recruiter claimed women werent allowed to become electricians or plumbers.

That was a lie, but in tune with the times. Those jobs were almost always held by men, and the tendency to keep it that way masked deeper problems. Sexual assault and sexual harassment was honestly the norm, Harris said.

And you know, there was no such thing as sexual assault preventive response programs, there was no such thing as any kind of reporting-type programs in place, Harris said.

In fact, a lot of women would get out. They said, This isnt for me, and if they had any kind of a problem then theyd go to medical and say, Im stressed out, I cant take this. Even if they disclosed what happened to them, they would just be discharged with personality disorder so they would get a general discharge.

Changes come slowly

/Courtesy of Octavia Harris

With few formal protections in the Reagan-era Navy, women had to stand their ground. Harris toughed it out, sometimes supported but too often alone.

You had to say, I dont care what you guys say or do, I belong here and nothings going to change that, and thats what I did, she said. You know I had thick skin and I would dish it right back out.

Harriss crucible came when she boarded the Nimitz in 1994 as a member of its 2,200-strong ships company, which ballooned to 5,000 when Navy flight squadrons were included. She saw no female pilots.

On ExpressNews.com: Defense secretary says he's removing military's sex assault cases from commanders' decision-making

I want to say when I embarked, there were like only 30 women and by deployment it had gone up, Harris said. There was probably 80 of us out of the 2,200.

Privacy and security were issues. The berthing she led had 20 women in it. A couple of hatches separated them from another area where male sailors slept.

The women carefully navigated those spaces.

The one woman officer I talked to, she said, Unless its a screaming rape issue and  theyre caught in the act, she just made it seem like, Dont make any waves. They want us to fail, they want us to be a bunch of whiny bitches, Harris said.

That was her advice to me.

Theres no doubt in my mind, Harris said. There were a lot of sexual assaults back when I joined and when we first opened all these fields up to women across the services.

She told her sailors shed take their cases to the master at arms, the ships military police force. She also made it clear that the women had to make sure their accusations were credible.

It was horrible back then, but we kept going and our numbers kept growing to show that we can do these jobs and we belong here, but thats what brought us here today, Harris said. Every job is open to any woman that can qualify. Dont drop any standards. If she can qualify just like the guys, she belongs there.

She settled in San Antonio to be closer to relatives. Harris now chairs the VAs Advisory Committee on Women Veterans, representing more than 2 million people, and is Texas Ambassador of the foundation that supports the Military Womens Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

In the most recent statistics available, the Pentagon reported 6,236 sexual assault and harassment complaints by service members in fiscal year 2019, a 3 percent increase over the previous year. It said 1,630 sexual assault cases resulted in discipline, including 795 court-martial charges.

The Defense Departments inability to stop or slow sexual harassment and assaults, even after sweeping changes to protect victims, has pushed policymakers to end the role of commanders in the legal process that determines who gets charged.

Lawyers who specialize in prosecuting sex crimes will do that job instead.

No one has really fixed the problem, Harris said, partly because commanders dont want to deal with the distraction of such cases.

She pointed to the 2020 death of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen at Fort Hood as an example of what can happen when sexual harassment isnt reported and dealt with.

On ExpressNews.com: Army punishes 14 at Fort Hood as it releases report on Vanessa Guillen's death

In her final Navy job as the command master chief, or the top NCO, aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Pinckney, Harris gave women advice learned over a long career: When at a liberty port, dont go out drinking with the guys. Always know who youre with, have a buddy system in place and hold others accountable.

No means no, she added.

We fought hard to get into these positions and women before us fought hard to help us get to these positions, Harris said. It still saddens me and angers me that women are still being objectified, and still being raped and still being sexually harassed in todays military when all they want to do is serve their country.

sigc@express-news.net
Profound grief and mourning are now part of life for so many of us  at least 1 in 3 Americans have close family or friends who died of COVID-19.

Of course, all the other ways of dying  heart disease, cancer, accidents  never stopped. A gut-wrenching article in the Washington Post described prolonged grief disorder. A condition of chronic mourning newly recognized as an official mental health diagnosis, it is now in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5.

Death is something we all must come to terms with. Many faiths and cultures believe that as difficult as it is to lose loved ones, death  and the transition to the afterlife  is to be honored and celebrated.

That belief was magnificently manifested last weekend at San Antonios Muertos Fest, the largest in Texas and one of Americas top seven fall festivals. In its ninth year, the festival celebrates Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a Latin American, Indigenous tradition on full display at Hemisfair.

The sound of Tejano music and poetry, the smell of Mexican food and incense, and the intense feelings of sorrow and hope thickened the humid air when I attended with my husband last Sunday afternoon. Last year, the event was virtual, but this years crowd  reaching a record high of 125,000 people  looked like Fiesta.

Except this celebration was no Fiesta. No, this was a solemn, spiritual tradition of people paying their respects at more than 50 ofrendas, or altars, built by the community to remember their deceased loved ones. Their stories brought tears to my eyes, yet I marveled at the love and strength of the living.

The tradition of Day of the Dead heals the living. Many community members who built altars said it helped them grieve and seeing their deceased loved ones honored by thousands brought peace.

Astrella Tanguma built an intricate altar out of recycled materials in honor of her father, Juan Tanguma Sr., as well as her brother, Jose Angel Tanguma Sr., a Tejano musician who died in May. She said she hopes this will bring closure.

Maybe I will finally be able to accept his death when this is over, she said.

Juan and Crystal Marquez, there with their three young daughters, were emotional as they spoke of the loved ones theyve lost. They say they treasure this tradition.

Seemingly everyone stopped to take in the grand community altar that includes 656 photos of the deceased. Mariana Vasquez, who lives in New York and works with the citys COVID-19 contact tracing unit, built the altar.

Vasquez, whos built four of San Antonios community altars, knows grief. She built her first miniature altar 14 years ago, after her grandmother, mother and boyfriend died in the span of seven months.

She stood in the altars shadow, burning copal, a resin from Mexico, while some shared their gratitude and sadness.

The depths where grief will take you  if you let it, Vasquez said.

Some of those honored by their families with altars have been in the news.

Seeing the altar for Erin Rios Castro, a 19-year-old domestic violence victim brutally killed in 2018, a tragedy I have written about, hit me  hard. I instantly recognized her young, beautiful face.

Diana Cristina Rubio, a 26-year-old who died along with her friend Daniela Lute in an August head-on collision with an alleged drunken, wrong-way driver on I-35, was another young, beautiful face.

Amanda Gonzalez, one of Rubios best friends, took weeks to build Rubios intricate altar.

I just felt like she was more than a news story, Gonzalez said through tears that moved me to tears. She was such a beautiful person. Everyone should know about her and care about what happened to her.

May we all be so blessed to be remembered in such a sacred way.

Nancy.Preyor-Johnson@express-news.net
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.

If you want a simple way to see the gap between this subculture and the rest of the country, look at Rotten Tomatoes. People who write critically about movies and shows often have different tastes than the audiences around them, especially when politics is involved.

Hillbilly Elegy was a movie in which the hero was widely known, in real life, to be a Republican. Audiences liked the movie fine. It has an 83 percent positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Culture writers frequently loathed it. It has a 25 percent positive critics score. Thats a 58-point gap.

Dave Chappelle recently released a comedy special that took comic potshots at almost everyone. Audiences adored it. It has a 96 percent positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (though admittedly its unclear how many of the raters actually watched it). A small group of people found it a moral atrocity, and the current critic score is 44 percent positive. Thats a 52-point gap.

A more significant example of the subculture gap recently 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, Va., public school administrators taught that fostering independence and individual achievement is a hallmark of white individualism.

A Williams College professor recently told the New York Times, 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.
Re: Honesty breaks through fog of depression, Other Views, Sunday:

My heart was deeply touched reading Josh Brodeskys essay. Making the difficult choice to be vulnerable and reveal his recent struggle with depression, he gave voice to many of us.

Given Brodeskys position as editorial page editor, I appreciate how hard it was for him to publish this essay. Im grateful he decided not to, in his words, leave it in a shoebox. Seeing his courage, many readers might find their own courage to speak honestly about their struggles. We all have them, after all.

My tears flowed when Brodesky shared the loving description of the family visit, as well as the picture of his children. We all needed the chuckle over Tucker, the dog.

I closed my beloved Express-News with an alls right with the world feeling, all because of his column.

Susan Sabino

Column was timeless

Thank you for a beautifully written column that reminds readers that depression lurks in every household. Josh Brodesky's Thoreau-like cadence of sentences and snippets of Walt Whitman help us take in the interior landscape of the subject matter.

Interestingly, both Whitman and Henry David Thoreau suffered bouts of depression. The column is timeless, and readers should step back for a minute and savor life  kids, family, nature, ones purpose  in a world that seems like its falling apart.

Rafael Castillo

Balance? Nonsense

The phrase Never Again has come to represent a universal goal of preventing future genocides  a goal we have failed at miserably. We seem unable to connect our historical knowledge with our moral choices.

The facts of the Holocaust are well documented. The Nuremberg trials following World War II gave us thousands of documents showing how the Nazis carried out their Final Solution, their plan for the destruction of the Jewish people.

The Holocaust should be taught in high school history classes. Sadly, a school administrator in Southlake told teachers if they have a book about the Holocaust in their classroom, it should be balanced by having one from an opposing perspective. There is no balanced perspective on the Holocaust. The only opposing perspective of the Holocaust comes from Holocaust deniers.

As a retired history teacher, I dont have to deal with such nonsense. But I do get mad!

Carl Lloyd

For love of Trump

Former President Donald Trumps lawyer John Scott is now the Texas secretary of state. How far does Abbott need to go?

I wish he had the same affection for the people of Texas as he does for Trump. Maybe we could get a new power grid and other needed programs approved.

Vote!

Hamilton Cook Jr.

Pro-death not pro-life

Re: Its past time for death penalty to be abolished in Texas, Other views, Oct. 24:

Roger C. Barnes commentary in favor of abolishing the death penalty raises a question: Where are all the pro-life legislators and citizens, those who are willing to trample on womens freedom to defend the rights of a 6-week-old embryo when it comes to the lives of adult humans accused of serious crimes?

Texas led all 50 states with over one-third of U.S. executions since 1976. Many states have either abolished the death penalty or do not use it.

But were pro-life here in Texas! Do you see the hypocrisy?

Im in no way suggesting heinous crimes should not be punished, but claiming to support the sanctity of life while supporting the death penalty is unsupportable.

Susan Hull, Bandera

End death penalty

As Roger Barnes points out in his guest column, Texas executed three people in 2020 and has executed three people in 2021.

Support for the death penalty has dropped in recent years, as the number of exonerations has forced the public to recognize that innocent people sit on death row. Likewise, it is now clear that certain forensic techniques such as the study of bite marks and blood splatter are, in essence, junk science.

Then, too, capital trials are expensive. There is also plentiful proof capital punishment does not deter crime.

Finally, perhaps, the public has simply grown weary of looking for closure through blood vengeance that brutalizes new generations of Texans.

Barnes is right. It is time to abolish the death penalty.

Rachel Jennings

The Powell Principle

Re: Even in failure, Powell modeled character, Other views, Brandon Lingle, Oct. 24:

At a moment when it most mattered, despite all of Gen. Colin Powells touted character, sacrifice and patriotism, he failed us in the worst way. Not only was his credibility shattered, he failed to truly come clean about it and failed to be held accountable in any real way. Instead, he is still held up as an example we can all learn from, which somehow ultimately reinforced his character, credibility and life of service.

No, Ive learned the military and political elite have standards and criteria different from the rest of us. America is very polarized because of this double standard. We can call it the Powell Principle.

Fernando Centeno
He called his musical troupe the Flying Neutrinos.

But sputtering and stalling might be a better way to describe their mode of transportation on numerous sea-faring voyages.

For nearly 12 weeks in 1991, David Pearlman, his family and his Flying Neutrinos, a traveling jazz band, called a floating dock home as they attempted to right their sinking ship in Southport Harbor.

Pearlman, 77, who anointed himself Poppa Neutrino, died Jan. 23 of congestive heart failure in New Orleans.

"He was congenial, affable, engaging and, in my opinion, irresponsible," recalled Ronald Manning, who, as Fairfield's then-public works superintendent, helped provide parts, welders and mechanics to get Pearlman back onto the high sea and out of Southport.

"I call him irresponsible because he had children aboard that boat," said Manning.

And Manning uses the term "boat" loosely to describe Pearlman's vessel.

"It was the most unbelievable unseaworthy thing I had ever seen," he said. "To be an adult and to risk killing yourself that's your choice, but to have kids on board, that's being irresponsible."

More for you Flying Neutrino patriarch dies

The two-story, pink-and-weathered-gray vessel was cobbled together from a condemned barge, wooden planks and discarded dock floats. It was powered by two motor vehicle engines bolted together, which slowly pushed two side-wheel paddles.

"The two side-wheel paddles were snot-welded together," said Manning. "It was a very poor weld. The boat was so full of holes it looked like Swiss cheese. The only thing keeping it afloat was the Styrofoam pushed into the bottom." The boat, on a journey from Newport, R.I., to Mexico, limped into Southport on Dec. 24, 1990, before running aground just outside the waterfront home of the late actor Jason Robards. It stayed there until the tide pushed it to the Ye Olde Yacht Yard's dock.

Aboard were Pearlman, a former merchant marine turned guitar player and itinerant philosopher; his saxophone playing fourth wife, Betsy Terrell; three of their children; three other musicians and several cats.

Then-First Selectman Jacquelyn Durrell boarded the crippled boat on Jan. 19, 1991, with Manning and Michael Koolis, a town-employed welder.

"Speaking with the mayors of other communities where they have stopped," Durrell, who died in 2009 told the Connecticut Post, "they all say the same thing: They're lovely people, but you do have to give them a nudge (to get them on their way)."

Manning vividly remembers that day. "He brought me coffee in a dirty old cup," the retired public works official said. "It was so foul I just wanted to throw it overboard."

In appreciation of the donated sprockets, chains, drive shaft, truck axle and technical assistance, the troupe gave a free jazz and rhythms and blues concert Feb. 17, 1991, which 200 attended at the Pequot Library in the Southport section of town. But it wasn't until March 8 that they departed Fairfield. Within a day they again ran aground off Port Jefferson, N.Y. There they stayed until August, when the vessel was towed to Manhattan and determined to be unsafe for voyage by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Pearlman was born on Oct. 15, 1933, in Fresno, Calif., and led a life designed for a made-for-TV movie. He lied about his age and entered the U.S. Army at 15, studied at a Baptist Seminary in Texas and became a preacher in San Francisco and New York, where he founded the First Church of Fulfillment. Pearlman's eccentric life became fodder for Alec Wilkinson's "The Happiest Man in the World," published by Random House in 2007.

He is survived by his wife, several children and grandchildren.

And his journey from Newport to Southport to New York was not his last.

In June 1998, he set off for France from Canada on a 40-foot ramshackle raft with his wife, three dogs, two crew members and a piano. In two months he got as far as Ireland.

A third trip around the world was planned and scuttled when a new raft smashed near Lake Champlain.
At Femina, we are an inclusive bunch, bringing stories of relatable everywoman to the fore. Reliance Jewels, a jewellery destination that has become a must-visit for most women wanting to shop suitable options for everyday and festive wear, is also focused on keeping the design requirements of its women wearers front and centre. So, a collaboration only seemed natural.



After a successful association with the Femina Brides magazine in 2020 and putting three gorgeous women on its cover adorned in their designs, Reliance Jewels and Femina Brides came together once more to hunt for three new brides-to-be who would become their cover stars for 2021. A few weeks and several screening processes later, we shortlisted 75 women out of the hundreds who applied on Feminas social media handles. We then invited them to be a part of 3 very special virtual masterclasses - one each on nutrition and fitness, beauty, and fashion. Celebrity fitness trainer Vinay Bhambwani talked about the importance of a well-rounded fitness and wellness routine for brides-to-be. Kinjal Doshi, a hair and makeup expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry, dished her expertise on bridal makeup and hair and showed how to create failsafe looks. And, lastly, we had celebrity stylist Chandni Bahri, who showed how to style bridal jewellery by layering necklaces and stacking bangles and rings using the stunning pieces from Reliance Jewels brand new collection, Kaasyam. Three lucky women, who embodied the spirit of todays modern brides, were then handpicked by us to be on the cover of the Femina Brides magazine.



Disha Parashar, an interior designer from Ajmer; Anupam Singh, an architect and interior designer from Gurugram; and Kriti Srivastava, an engineer from Kanpur, represented the crop of individualistic brides-to-be who made for the perfect cover stars. We styled them in opulent dresses from the best bridalwear designers in the country and the most wedding-worthy resplendent gold and diamond jewellery sets from Reliance Jewels new collection, Kaasyam, thats inspired by the ancient city of Banaras and is modern in its designs; much like its new-age wearers, who are a sum of their heritage values and contemporary sensibilities.





On Disha Parashar: Outfit, JADE by Monica and Karishma; Jewellery, Reliance Jewels





On Anupam Singh: Outfit, Dolly J; Jewellery, Reliance Jewels





On Kriti Srivastava: Outfit, SVA By Sonam & Paras Modi; Jewellery, Reliance Jewels





Dressed in lehengas from designers Rahul Mishra, JJ Valaya, and Shantanu & Nikhil, and wearing gold and diamond jewellery from Kaasyam, Disha, Anupam, and Kriti sure give us a glimpse into the kind of fun-loving and happy brides these women will make on their big day.



In addition to our three winners, five other women, Vishwasini Dave, Sonia Tanwar, Jerusha Dorcas, Mona Dua, and Isha Diwan, won special hampers worth Rupees 9k for winning us over with their active participation and enthusiasm in the special makeup, fashion and fitness masterclasses.

The 2021 leg of Reliance Jewels X Femina Brides cover hunt was all about celebrating women by making them feel like their best versions. It was also a chance to acquaint them with modern bridal jewellery designs from Reliance Jewels so they can choose from styles that are new-age and in sync with their personalities.

Want to be on the cover of Femina Brides magazine, too? Keep an eye out for announcements on Feminas social media and, who knows, you might just be our next breakout star!






Atlanta, Georgia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 30, 2021) - Become a hero and save the world from Spike Mutant Protein: A rare never-seen-before, Non-Fungible Token Collection Modelled after the COVID-19 virus.





Figure 1: Spike the Mutant Protein, Sinister NFTs Modelled After the Novel COVID-19 Virus

Spike the mutant is launching a rare, first of its kind, non-fungible token (NFT) on the ERC721 Blockchain Network volume 1 of the series 'The Plague' is set to release to the public November 9th 2021, official mint price set at .07ETH.

Spike the mutant protein NFTs are rare, sinister artworks modelled after the virus that shook the world to its core; the COVID-19 virus. There will be a limited number of the Spike proteins available on mint day. Buyers of volume 1 of these rare NFTs will receive the most contagious Spike Proteins that would randomly multiply depending on their rarity.

Crypto enthusiasts and collectors of rare and unique NFTs would be able to save the world by minting the volume 1 release of Spike the Mutant NFTS exclusively on the website. After 100% sale of the volume 1 is recorded, rare NFTs from season two's collection would be airdropped to holders of Spike the Mutant's first drop, while the rest would be made available for purchase.

Spike the Mutant Protein NFTs

The collection is inspired by a fusion of apocalyptic scenarios and the coronavirus pandemic that changed the civilized world as we know it. The NFT collection is billed as a reminder to everyone now and future generations of a never to be forgotten reminder that things can change in the blink of an eye. And pathogens are one of the greatest threats to human civilization.

"Spike the mutant protein has mutated into 10,000 different variants. A sinister collection that will remind you and future generations of the day the doomsday clock ticked one more minute closer to midnight."

According to the project's roadmap, these, sinister NFTs would be released in 5 different volumes or seasons with holders getting airdrops of ultra rare NFTs from each volume upon its release. There are also multiple utilities for an interactive trading experience that will keep you guessing whats next.

About Spike the Mutant Protein

Spike the Mutant Protein NFT collection is created by a team of long-term crypto enthusiasts and a published microbiologist. This collection is a deflationary asset stored on the Ethereum ERC-721 Blockchain.

Social links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/spike_nft

Telegram: https://t.me/spike_the_mutant

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/spikethemutant

Media Contact:

Company: Mutant Pathogen

Contact Name: Alex Edwards

E-mail: info@spikethemutant.io

Website: https://www.spikethemutant.io

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/101467
Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - October 30, 2021) - Aladdin Pro recently implemented a crypto on-ramp solution within its application. Now, users can easily purchase cryptocurrencies with their fiat by using the Aladdin Pro wallet. Aside from this, the platform offers one of the lowest fees for fiat-to-crypto conversion in the entire crypto market.





Figure 1: Aladdin Pro Enables Fiat-to-Crypto Purchase with Low Fees

The Aladdin Pro team believes that providing the infrastructure for fiat-to-crypto conversion can pave the way for global crypto adoption. Aside from this, providing lower fees encourages more users to try dipping their toes into crypto with lower risks. While this brings in more new users to the crypto industry, it also attracts veteran traders who are looking for an affordable way to convert fiat into crypto.

According to a representative from Aladdin Pro, the team is constantly looking for ways to improve the value that the wallet is offering to its users. The team expressed that they are very bullish and optimistic about the project and are looking forward to the future where more users adopt blockchain and cryptocurrency into their daily lives.

The Aladdin Pro wallet is a multi-currency blockchain wallet with the highest security features. It has the best crypto wallet security as it integrates multi-layered security measures. The wallet integrates custody control while still maintaining decentralization.

Meanwhile, the wallet also offers a secured payment gateway, extensive asset support, advanced staking services, and now, users can easily buy crypto seamlessly with low fees. Because of its world-class protection, high performance, cost efficiency, and user friendliness, the wallet now has more than 425,000 active users from 133 countries across the globe.

The team is very confident that their wallet service is one of the best wallets in the world. "We have a dedicated tech support team that's assigned to help Aladdin Pro wallet users with any problems that they may have within the app," the team said.

"We are expecting to have more users now that we have implemented a fiat on-ramp, but we are prepared to handle these changes for the better," they added.

For more information visit:

Website: https://aladdinprowallet.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aladdinpro_

Telegram: https://t.me/aladdinprowallet

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aladdinprowallet/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aladdinprowallet/

Download Aladdin Pro: Play Store / App Store

Media Contact:

Rohit Mohan

social@aladdinprowallet.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/101459
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Oct. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacinda Ardern's government will face growing calls to deliver on election promises as the covid crisis subsides, according to new research from Lord Ashcroft Polls. Ardern remains the country's most popular politician and voters give her high marks for dealing with most aspects of the pandemic, but questions remain over delivery in key policy areas like crime, transport, health and housing - the most important issue for voters.

Lord Ashcroft's research - comprising a 5,000-sample poll and focus groups throughout the country - also explores voters' views of life and opportunity, indigenous rights, the country's place in the world, and current social and cultural issues. The findings include a revealing exploration of how voters see New Zealand's leading politicians and their parties.

In his introduction to the report, Lord Ashcroft writes:

"Most still feel lucky to be in what they believe is still one of the best places in the world to live, but pressures are crowding in. The cost of living was spiralling, people told us; healthcare was not what it should be, transport infrastructure was lacking, and crime was becoming a frightening feature of daily life in what people had always considered an unusually safe and peaceful country.

"Nor is Ardern herself politically invulnerable. Her saintly demeanour has so far served her well, but there is a feeling that she benefits from very professional but tightly controlled PR. When we asked our focus groups to imagine each political party as a house, most thought Labour's would be a normal, cheerful, comfortable sort of place - but 'there would be portrait of Jacinda in the hallway, like Mother Theresa' and the Prime Minister herself would be in the kitchen, pretending to cook.'

"No-one will criticise a leader for good presentation, but these things could soon start to grate as attention turns from the pandemic towards her biggest Achilles heel: delivery. The failure of the Kiwibuild scheme to come anywhere close to meeting its homebuilding targets is only the most glaring example of the gap people are beginning to see between empathy and results."

Meanwhile, the National Party "seems to people to be divided and demoralized, and with no clear sense of direction. It is hard to escape the parallels with the UK Conservatives in the early years of Tony Blair, when the Tories found it hard to gain a foothold in public debate... There are no shortcuts back to power for a party ejected from office."

Lord Ashcroft concludes: "Voters are willing to cut the government some slack while it deals with a crisis. But the post-covid questions are piling up. Before long, they will be looking for answers."

Living the Kiwi Dream? Politics and Public Opinion in New Zealand is available to download for free from LordAshcroftPolls.com, together with full data tables from the poll.

LORD ASHCROFT KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. He is a former treasurer and deputy chairman of the UK Conservative Party, and honorary chairman and a former treasurer of the International Democrat Union. Lord Ashcroft has been polling since 2005, mostly in the UK, the US and Europe, winning a reputation for objective and impartial research and analysis. Living the Kiwi Dream? is his first polling project in New Zealand.

LordAshcroftPolls.com // LordAshcroft.com // Twitter/Facebook: @LordAshcroft

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1674223/Living_the_Kiwi_Dream_cover.jpg
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., (NYSE: CLF) today issued the following statement regarding the announcement by President Biden's Administration of an alternative steel Section 232 arrangement between the United States and the European Union.

Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs' Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Today's announcement of an alternative Section 232 measure with the EU is evidence that President Biden and his Administration understand the critical role of the steel Section 232 program in providing a level playing field for American companies and workers. This tariff rate quota arrangement will guard against a harmful surge of steel imports from the EU.

The agreement recognizes that the United States has the most environmentally friendly steel industry in the world. Cleveland-Cliffs produces high-quality flat-rolled steel products with all stages of production occurring in the United States, from the mining of key raw materials through melting and finishing. In furtherance of Cleveland-Cliffs' commitment to decarbonization, the Company has spent more than $1 billion since 2017 to build the world's most technologically-advanced direct reduction plant in Toledo, Ohio. This plant produces hot briquetted iron that is 70% less CO2 intensive than imported metallics such as pig iron.

I wish to thank Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai, for negotiating a deal that respects the importance of maintaining strong Section 232 measures to the benefit of U.S. national and economic security."

About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs also is the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials and direct reduced iron to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. The Company serves a diverse range of markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products and is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 25,000 people across its mining, steel and downstream manufacturing operations in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.clevelandcliffs.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211030005021/en/

Contacts:

MEDIA CONTACT:

Patricia Persico

Director, Corporate Communications

(216) 694-5316

INVESTOR CONTACT:

James Kerr

Manager, Investor Relations

(216) 694-7719
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) said it extends its thanks to the U.S. Administration for reaching a solution to steel tariff dispute with the European Union. The solution is a big win for the company and its customers, employees and dealers in Europe, the company said in a statement on Saturday. Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson, called the agreement 'an important course correction in U.S.-EU trade relations, that will allow us to further Harley-Davidson's position as the most desirable motorcycle brand in the world. Earlier today, the U.S. President Joe Biden's administration and European Union have agreed to end a dispute over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump in 2018. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the agreement with the EU maintains the 232 tariffs but allows limited volumes of EU steel and aluminum to enter the U.S. tariff-free. In return, the EU will drop retail tariffs it threatened to assess starting in December against high-profile American industries. The EU had set to increase tariffs on December 1st to 50 percent on iconic American companies, like Harley Davidson and the Kentucky bourbon industry. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - October 31, 2021) - Luna-Pad is a peer-to-peer creative Platform for the new TerraLuna ecosystem and Binance innovative chain applications. Because the Terra ecosystem's usage is skyrocketing, Luna-Pad comes up with more innovative innovations.







Figure 1: Luna-Pad Now Available on Crypto Exchange LBank

Luna-Pad is firmly committed to promoting new initiatives that want to join the Terra and BSC ecosystems. Luna-Pad allows its investors to participate in public offerings that Luna-Pad holds on its Launchpad.

Luna-main pad's goal is to serve various purposes, including Launcher (TerraLuna & BSC ecosystem). Wallet on the go Payments may be made using a credit card or a debit card from VISA or Mastercard using a mobile wallet. The TerraLuna environment has Dapps on Dapps. The Luna-Pad team consists of six persons with extensive expertise in the cryptocurrency industry.

Our smart contracts have been thoroughly reviewed and are meticulously built to ensure that the generated BNB and token are kept safe in the smart contract at all times. The Administration or Campaign Owners would not be allowed to transfer the tickets under any circumstances.

Staking adds Luna-Pad owners to IDO allow lists, enables users to subscribe to IDO, and allows them to receive Luna-Pad Tokens at a fixed 20% APY.

Luna-Pad provides various options for Projects to retain their sales flexibly and securely, according to their needs. Projects that are launched on Luna-Pad will receive additional exposure to a large community and the crypto world. Luna-Pad will integrate their coin into the Luna-Pad mobile wallet app after the project is launched.

For the initiatives launched at Luna-Pad, will be provided free Liquidity Pool and Staking Pool facility. All campaigns would be set up and handled by the Luna-Pad staff, leaving the projects to their own devices.

Luna-Pad IDO campaigns are tailored to each project's unique requirements. Once the campaign is live, smart contracts take control of the whole process from start to finish, including the fundraising, listing, liquidity lock, and vesting schedules, among other things.

On October 28, 2021, Luna-Pad Farm Syrup Pools was introduced after being listed on the Pancake Swap. Farm Syrup Pools are liquidity mining pools created specifically for Luna-Pad liquidity mining and companies launched on Luna-Pad and are part of our ecosystem to help bootstrap liquidity in the early stages.

Also, LUNAPAD is listed on crypto exchange LBank, the deposit opened on October 28, 2021, and the trading and withdrawal started on October 29. In order to celebrate the listing of LUNAPD on LBank, the crypto exchange planned a giveaway offering $10,000 $LUNAPAD to all participants in the $LUNAPAD Trading Competition and Trading Lottery. The competition started on October 29, 2021, and will end on November 6, 2021.

About Luna-Pad

Luna-pad is a peer-to-peer (P2P) innovative Launchpad to launch new projects in the TerraLuna ecosystem and Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It comes up with the most transformative technologies since the Terra ecosystem adoption is increasing enormously. It offers multiple use cases in the main plan of Luna-pad such as Launchpad (TerraLuna & BSC ecosystem).

Visit to Know More:

Website: https://luna-pad.com/

Github: https://github.com/LUNAPAD/LunaPad-Token-Contract

Telegram Ann: https://t.me/lunaPad_Ann

Telegram Group: https://t.me/LunaPadofficial

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LunaPadOfficial

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunapad_official

Luna-Pad Contract address :

0xD1FdF57241df3C36dad469060caC9f1ea2eE7585

Media Contact:

LBK Blockchain Co. Limited

LBank Exchange

marketing@lbank.info

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/101486
RIYADH, UAE, Oct. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jazeera Paints, a leading paint manufacturer in the MENA region, is proud to announce that its FIREDAMP W3, a high-quality, fire-proofing paint, has been certified as a Clean Air Gold, a certificate by Intertek, a multinational assurance, inspection, and product testing and certification company, that acknowledges the high-quality and eco-friendliness of FIREDAMP W3 paint as one of the first fire-proofing paints certified in MENA markets.

The fire-proofing paints are a type of paints that aids in preventing the spread of fire and limiting its impact on buildings. The importance of fire-proofing paints stems from building's security and safety. "When a fire occurs," Hani Saraya, Project Sales Manager at Jazeera Paints, explains, "the paint swells due to heat exposure, creating a protective layer, the layer expands due to the gases released by the fire, then, works as a barrier that suppresses the gas inside, preventing the high heat generated by fire from reaching the surface, and helps prevent building collapse."

The market is filled with various types of fire-proofing products depending on the building and surface. Jazeera Paints, however, has highly dependable formulations of fire-proofing paints that encompass a broad range of buildings and surfaces such as iron, wood, gypsum, etc. "We, at Jazeera Paints, are proud to offer Firedamp W3 to our clients as the first certified fire-proofing paints, proving our commitment to regional fulfilment at an affordable price with the highest quality," Saraya adds.

Jazeera Paints also offers a list of top-performing, fire-proofing products for each type of surface. Many of these products have been utilized in a host of mega-projects across Saudi Arabia. These products include Firedamp 263, a fire-proofing paint that is used on iron surfaces, such as columns and beams; Firewood 150, one of the finest fire-proofing paint for wooden surfaces for its quality of suppressing heat from spreading and protecting wooden materials from collapsing; and FIRETECH, a fire-proofing paint that is used on gypsum surfaces.

All experts strongly recommend using fire-proofing products to limit the devastating impact of fire accidents. You may find fire-proofing products available to order from the official Jazeera Paints website at https://jazeerapaints.com along with experts to assist you in your paint selection.

Follow us on https://twitter.com/JPaintsGlobal.

About Jazeera Paints

Founded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1979, Jazeera Paints is a pioneering paint manufacturer in the GCC and MENA, with an established reputation for manufacturing and exporting high-quality and eco-friendly paints.

It is a leading company in the paint industry and the first manufacturer to launch "Green Products" that meet the requirements of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the MENA region.

Through the Jazeera Paints Academy, Jazeera Paints endeavors to raise the level of quality and progress of the paint industry in the region. In 2012, the academy became the first institution to offer specialized training in paint manufacturing and applications in the GCC and MENA.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1674625/Jazeera_Paints_Fire_Paint.jpg
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - October 31, 2021) - In the last few weeks, Shiba Inu and Safemoon have been the most talked about and sought-after coins in the crypto market. Both coin prices have increased by huge margins, some in millions of dollars. Since it was launched in March 2021, Safemoon coin price increased by +1,195,960.12%, while Shiba Inu (launched early August 2021) increased by +4,548,339.79%, as of writing.









Bitrise

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8372/101488_2d17fc9b64d888df_001full.jpg

For investors who have invested In Shiba Inu, Safemoon or either of the coins, it will be a smart move if they start paying attention to another fast-rising competition called Bitrise Coin. Since its release in late July, the Bitrise coin price has increased by +13,362.17% at the time of writing this release. The coin has also recently broken the $150 million market cap. This is an indication more and more investors are joining Bitrise coin.

Bitrise token, which experts believe will be the next 'Shiba Inu and Safemoon', has been doing very well over the last few weeks as the project takes shape and shows it will be a game-changer in DeFi.

Bitrise has one of the most innovative tokenomics. As a hyper-deflationary payment network token, Bitrise is the first cryptocurrency ever to include automatic Buyback with the real use case of payment systems.

The network collects a 12% fee from all token sales, and 5% of it is sent to the Buyback contract, which automatically buys the tokens from the liquidity pool. Therefore, token liquidity is automated hence not prone to manipulation. This is one of the exceptional features that Bitrise tokenomics is competing with Shiba Inu and Safemoon coins.

For the remaining 7%, 3% goes to marketing and 4% is rewarded to token holders as a reward in the form of BNB. Now, this is where Bitrise coin becomes exciting and a tough competitor to Shiba Inu and Safemoon. The reward sequence is automated, which means rewards are automatically sent to the investors' wallets every 60 minutes. Therefore, investors can regularly monitor their rewards and will not need to request for the payments to be made. The rewards provide a static income.

Apart from tokenomics, the amazing product offerings is another reason why it has broken the $150 million market cap. The team has already developed some of these products, with the popular Bitrise Audit being the first release. The audit platform provided free audits to blockchains and smart contract projects and was released in August. It has been a game-changer in audits, and a huge number of developers have already used it.

But it is the Bitrise dApp Wallet that is one of the most exciting products, and since its release on 28th October 2021, it has been a game-changer. It is rivaling some of the popular wallets, like Trust Wallet, due to its outstanding safety and security features. The dApp Wallet comes with private keys, mnemonic phrases, passwords, and authentication to keep your assets secure. Hacking a wallet with such features is almost next to impossible.

In addition to security features, the wallet will enable users to trade all coins, including Shiba Inu and Safemoon. Users can now swap BEP20/ERC20 tokens in one go because Bitrise wallet supports multiple blockchain platforms. Traders on this wallet will no longer need Pancakeswap or Uniswap to trade tokens. They will easily swap Shiba Inu, Safemoon and other tokens without the need for conversion tools.

Trading on Bitrise wallet enables P2P transactions, where two individuals trade without the need of an intermediary no matter where they are in the world. The wallet also supports global transactions. Transacting local currency is attracting zero fee. These are just some of the wallet features that are making Bitrise among the top Shiba Inu and Safemoon competitors.

The Bitrise Exchange is another product in the pipeline, which will enable users to transact thousands of coins, including Shiba Inu and Safemoon. It is a centralized platform that charges lower transaction fees and offers an incredibly high transaction speed.

Though Shiba Inu and Safemoon coins are producing huge ROI for the investors, the Bitrise token is the next big thing. The coin is already trending on major platforms, and thousands are joining every day. With the $150 million Market Cap break, this is definitely a token to watch.

Media Contact

Gert Sanem

Email: contact@bitrisetoken.com

Website: https://www.bitrisetoken.com

Telegram: https://t.me/bitrisetoken

PR - Cryptoshib.com

Email: info@cryptoshib.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/101488
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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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Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
In this undated photo provided by Lucy Bernholz, author Bernholz poses for a picture. Bernholz traveled America, speaking to groups of low income and working class people who donate their time, money and other resources, including online data about themselves, for her new book, "How We Give Now." (Courtesy of Lucy Bernholz via AP)
Kevin Thompson is running for one of the two available seats to be part of the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Dublin, Oct. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Wind Turbine Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global wind turbine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market is expected to reach value USD 200.81 billion in 2026, from USD 81.80 billion in 2020, registering growth at a CAGR of 15.86% during the forecast period 2020-2025. There was no significant impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the market owing to the continuous operations of existing wind turbines and the maintenance activities except a sudden hault on the maintenance in the first half of 2020, further recovering since the second half of 2020.

The market studied is expected to witness significant growth due to rising energy demand coupled with the increasing share of wind power in the global power generation mix, efforts to reduce the reliance on fossil fuel-based power generation. The increase in the global wind energy capacity resulted in considerable demand for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services of various components, particularly wind turbine (excluding tower), as it involves most of the wind power equipment in it. However, the adoption of other clean energy source like solar and other alternatives are likely to hinder the growth of the market.

Key Highlights

Increasing, offshore deployment of wind turbine likely to drive the global wind turbine maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) market during forecast period.

Moreover, the adoption of wind power for power generation is increasing significantly. Various countries are investing in the wind energy market which likely to increase the requirement for maintenance. Middle-East and Africa region witnessing significant growth in wind power plant which is likely to provide the opportunity to the growth of global wind turbine maintenance, repair & overhaul market.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing global wind turbine maintenance, repair & overhaul market owing to the largest and fastest increasing wind power installed capacity in 2020.

Key Market Trends

Rising Deployment of Deep Water Offshore Wind Turbine Is Expected To Drive The Market

As demand for energy is rising, major countries and companies are turning towards the adoption of renewable energy as it has the ability to provide clean energy. The adoption of offshore wind energy with advance technology attracted the countries and companies for high investment.

By location of deployment, the offshore industry is expected to remain the driver of the global wind turbine industry investments during the forecast period, owing to declining costs and improved technology.

The offshore wind industry witnessed major installations in 2020. For instance, China installed a 3 GW offshore wind in a single year, followed by the Netherlands (installed 1.5 GW), Belgium (installed 706 MW), the United Kingdom (installed 483 MW), and Germany (237 MW). However, the slowdown of growth in terms of new installation in the United Kingdom was mainly due to the gap between the execution of projects in the Contracts for Difference (CfD) 1 and CfD 2 rounds. Furthermore, in Germany, the slowdown in new installations was primarily caused by unfavorable conditions and a lower level of the short-term offshore wind project pipeline.

The expected increase in the deployment of wind turbines in more complex and challenging environments, such as farther offshore, coupled with the growing capacity of the wind turbine capacity, has put additional pressure on the operating components of the wind turbine. This results in premature failure of the components, such as gearbox and other components, and is likely to cause a significant downturn in wind farms. Additionally, the costs involved in providing MRO services are much higher than onshore sites. Factors, such as increased material, service, and hard-to-access terrains, are restraining growth compared to onshore facilities.

These recent trends expected to drive the global wind turbine maintenance, repair & overhaul market during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific to Grow at the Fastest Rate

Asia-Pacific is the largest wind energy market in the world, owing to the contribution of China. The region has a cumulative installed capacity of 346.70 GW, of which onshore wind power installed capacity is 336.29 GW and offshore wind power installed capacity is 10.41 GW. ?

Asia-Pacific is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, as it is home to countries, such as China, India, South Korea, and others.

As of 2020, China had the largest wind power installed capacity in Asia-Pacific, around 278.32 GW. The country is also considered among the top markets in the onshore wind power industry globally. In 2020, China added up to 58.93 GW of new wind power, with 48.94 GW onshore installations and 9.99 GW offshore installations. All of this indicates that China is expected to be the largest market for maintenance, repair, and overhaul services in the Asia-Pacific region.

On the other hand, India, the second-largest country in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of wind energy installed capacity, sat only with a capacity of 38.625 GW as of 2020. However, over the next ten years, the electricity demand is expected to double in the country of 1.35 billion people. Accordingly, the Indian government has set a target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, of which 60 GW is expected to come from wind energy, and a target of 450 GW by 2030, of which 140 GW is expected to be wind-based generation. The country boasts a technical potential at a 120-meter hub height of a vast 695 GW.

South Korea also aims to have a total renewable energy capacity of 63.8 GW by 2030, with approximately 18 GW coming from wind power. The international players, such as Orsted, have stated that South Korea may thrive from wind power generation, particularly in offshore areas considering its geographical characteristics. ??

This, in turn, is expected to present Asia-Pacific as an excellent business destination for players involved in the global wind turbine maintenance, repair & overhaul business during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The global wind turbine maintenance, repair, and overhaul market is moderately fragmented due to many companies operating in the industry. Some of the key players in this market include Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, General Electric Company, Suzlon Energy Ltd, ABB Ltd, and Stork (a Fluor Company), amongst others.

Additional Benefits:

The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Key Topics Covered:



1 INTRODUCTION



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET OVERVIEW

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Global Renewable Energy Mix, 2018

4.3 Wind Power Installed Capacity and Forecast in GW, till 2026

4.4 Market Size and Demand Forecast in USD billion, till 2026

4.5 Global Average Size of Wind Turbine in MW, 2018-2026

4.6 Recent Trends and Developments

4.7 Government Policies and Regulations

4.8 Market Dynamics

4.8.1 Drivers

4.8.2 Restraints

4.9 Supply Chain Analysis

4.10 Porter's Five Forces Analysis



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 Location of Deployment

5.1.1 Onshore

5.1.2 Offshore

5.2 Service Type

5.2.1 Maintenance

5.2.2 Repair

5.2.3 Overhaul

5.3 Component

5.3.1 Gearbox

5.3.2 Generators

5.3.3 Rotor Blades

5.3.4 Other Components

5.4 Geography

5.4.1 North America

5.4.2 Europe

5.4.3 Asia-Pacific

5.4.4 South America

5.4.5 Middle-East and Africa



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Mergers and Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Collaborations, and Agreements

6.2 Strategies Adopted by Leading Players

6.3 Company Profiles

6.3.1 Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA

6.3.2 General Electric Company

6.3.3 Stork (a Fluor Company)

6.3.4 Moventas Gears Oy

6.3.5 ZF Friedrichshafen AG

6.3.6 Vestas Wind Systems A/S

6.3.7 Suzlon Energy Ltd

6.3.8 ABB Ltd

6.3.9 Dana SAC UK Ltd

6.3.10 Nordex SE

6.3.11 Mistras Group

6.3.12 Integrated Power Services LLC



7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gjxw5d
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.



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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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
Lovinas Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher , Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.
Goshen, IN (46526)

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Snow showers this morning. Peeks of sunshine later. High 44F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 70%..

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Governor Northam Announces COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement for State Workers

Localities and private employers are encouraged to do the same

RICHMONDGovernor Ralph Northam today announced that Virginia will require its state workers to show proof that they are fully vaccinated or be tested for COVID-19 every week. This policy will impact approximately 122,000 employees and will go into effect on September 1.

Governor Northams action comes as the highly transmissible Delta variant is driving up cases across the Commonwealth and around the country, primarily among unvaccinated people. Nearly 73 percent of Virginia adults have had their first shot, and 54 percent of all Virginians are fully vaccinated against the virus, which is higher than most states.

The only way to end this pandemic is to for everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, said Governor Northam. As head of state government, we have a responsibility to lead by example and ensure the safety of our employees and the people they serve. The three vaccines are safe, effective, free, and widely available, and I strongly urge every eligible Virginian to get their shot. The time for waiting is over.

Last week, President Joe Biden announced a vaccination requirement for federal workers and Governor Northams executive directive is consistent with this policy. The full text of Executive Directive Eighteen can be found here.

Our valued state employees are dedicated to public service, and I am confident they want to do what is necessary to keep themselves, their co-workers, and the public safe, said Secretary of Administration Grindly Johnson, who oversees the Department of Human Resource Management.

Virginians who have not been vaccinated are encouraged to go to vaccinate.virginia.gov or call 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users call 7-1-1) to find a nearby vaccination clinic. For answers to frequently asked questions or to learn more about vaccination for COVID-19 in Virginia, visit vdh.virginia.gov/covid-19-vaccine.

# # #
Governor Northam Announces Virginia Achieves Top 10 Performance in the Country for COVID-19 Vaccinations

Twelfth largest state outpaces other states to reach top ten

RICHMONDGovernor Ralph Northam today announced that Virginia now ranks 10th among all states for the percentage of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and for the total number of shots administered. More than 82 percent of individuals 18 years and older have received at least one dose and 74 percent of adults are fully vaccinated. Nearly 6 million people have received vaccinations and nearly 12 million shots have been administered among the 8.5 million people who live in Virginia.

Weve reached the top ten because so many Virginians have worked so hard for so long, said Governor Northam. 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.

The three available vaccines have proven to be enormously effective in reducing cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Cases have declined to 1,500 per day as of October 26a drop of 40 percent over the last two weeks and significantly lower than Januarys peak of over 6,000 daily cases. Hospitalizations have fallen 42 percent over the last four weeks and are nearly two-thirds lower than pre-vaccine levels. Additional data on COVID-19 and vaccination efforts in Virginia can be found on VDHs data dashboards.

Virginia is delivering strong progress in vaccinating eligible children, with more than two-thirds having been vaccinated. Health officials anticipate that the federal government will give final approval to vaccinations for 5- to 11-year-olds in the coming days. Virginia is home to more than 700,000 children ages 5 to 11.

Federal health officials have also recently approved booster doses for all three available COVID-19 vaccines, and more than 403,000 Virginians have received a booster so far.

Virginians who have not been vaccinated yet are encouraged to go to vaccinate.virginia.gov or call 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users call 7-1-1) to find a nearby vaccination clinic. For answers to frequently asked questions or to learn more about vaccination for COVID-19 in Virginia, visit vdh.virginia.gov/covid-19-vaccine.

Click here for the ranking posted on the New York Times website.

# # #
After a one year break Formula 1 returns to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez next week. The organization however has to rebuild the F1-circuit because it was used as a hospital during the pandemic.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Formula 1 had to skip many usual Grands Prix in 2020. The Mexico Grand Prix was one of them, which was particularly bad news for Red Bull Racing. After all, the circuit is arguably the best track for the team.

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez didn't shut down completely during the pandemic. Indeed, it has served as a hospital to assist the overcrowded healthcare in Mexico. According to Rodrigo Sanchez, the marketing director for the Grand Prix, the circuit is almost ready for Formula 1 again.

"Compared to other years, we are on the same preparation schedule," he explained to Motorsport.com.

The preparation however isn't going to be like other years. "The track was given back to us with enough time to prepare for the race. Since the track has been a hospital, it has been undergoing an intensive clean-up process and we are still doing that every day. The pandemic is not over yet , so we have to continue to take care of ourselves according to the sanitary protocols," said Sanchez.

Ideal investment for the Autodromo

According to the director, it helps that the circuit has been well maintained in recent years. It was a hefty investment to have the Autodromo modified by Hermann Tilke seven years ago, but Sanchez believes it was well worth it. "We haven't had to do any repairs in all that time."

The organizer is smooth when all the effort is done, though. After all, he has had little rest since the pandemic began. "Someone asked me 'How did you spend your gap year?' but it wasn't a gap year at all," For example, the planning for all the health protocols alone took over a year. So let's hope that the fans in Mexico can enjoy a spectacular Grand Prix next week.
The Mexican Grand Prix is next on the program of Formula 1. Ferrari travel to the race in Mexico City with high hopes and believe the high altitude circuit offers a chance to finish on the podium again.

Racing at an exceptional altitude

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico is a special track. It is located at an altitude of 2.2 kilometres. The engines will suffer from the very thin air and the turbocharger has to compensate the power drop by using more of the supercharger.

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto says in conversation with the Italian branch of Motorsport.com that the circuit in Mexico will suit the SF21 best, but he doesn't want to talk about a victory just yet. For that, something will probably have to go wrong for title contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Read more Domenicali thinks about reversed grids to make sprint races more spectacular

Ferrari continues to make progress

"I'm happy with the progress I've seen in the last few races and it gives me some confidence for the next few races, especially in Mexico where we'll be running with maximum downforce on a track that is less sensitive to power, so the gap to Mercedes will be smaller. I can say that the Mexican track will be more favourable to us than the one in Austin," explained Binotto.

"In Austin, although we were using maximum downforce, we were almost able to match the speed of the others. Considering the difficulties of last year there has definitely been a big step forward: of course, there is still a gap to the best engine, but now we believe the gap is no longer so dramatic," he concludes.

Read more Verstappen enters special top ten, but record still far away
Daphne Technology, a Swiss startup that has developed multi-pollutant reduction technologya green convertertargeting the maritime industry, has secured strategic investments from Shell Ventures, Trafigura, AET and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures.

Daphnes technology removes toxic and GHG emissions such as nitrogen oxides, methane and carbon dioxide from the combustion gas of any fuel type, including oil, LNG, biofuels, ammonia, and hydrogen. The plug-and-play solution breaks down the pollutants, converting them into non-hazardous by-products, which are either released into the environment or transformed into valuable products. As a result, Daphne can contribute to a circular economy and a significant reduction in GHG emissions.

The company is currently pursuing commercial deployment and scaleup and is positioning its solutions in landmark projects. Because Daphnes technology can be applied to multiple fuel types, it could make a substantial impact across the energy system.





Shell Ventures led the CHF 10 million (US$11 million) capital raise along with Trafigura. AET, and all previous investors co-invested, including Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and the Innovation Fund. The capital raise earmarks the second round of funding since Daphne Technology spun off from the Swiss Federal Technical Institute (EPFL) in 2018.

All new shareholders are joining Daphne with the common goal of accelerating the company's technology deployment and maximizing its impact.

Daphne Technologys innovative approach has the potential to become a pivotal technology for the maritime industry. The ability to capture emissions from hydrocarbon maritime fuels and meaningfully reduce emissions in the short-term is a critical component of the industrys transition to net zero emissions, in which multiple fuels and multiple abatement solutions will be required. This investment fits well with our strategy to invest in and develop technologies and business models that will be required for the transition to net zero. Margaux Moore, Head of Energy Transition Research at Trafigura
MEYER NEPTUN Engineering, a new startup within the Meyer Group focused on green innovations in the maritime industry, plans to work with the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT Rostock) on the establishment and operation of a development platform for power-to-liquid fuels from renewable energy and CO 2 .

Power-to-Liquid (PtL) is based on the conversion of renewable energy into liquid fuels and chemicals such as methanol using CO 2 that is already in the atmosphere. Thus, climate-neutral fuels with high energy density can be produced for use in ships or aircraft.

LIKAT Rostock is seeking support for the project from the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure.

This platform will be available for further research work not only with LIKAT, but also with other research institutions and companies, in order to work in productive cooperation in a targeted manner on environmentally and climate-friendly mobility.

Together with the shipyards of the MEYER Group, MEYER NEPTUN Engineering will test the fuels generated in the research project under real conditions on board. The goal is to make climate-neutral and sustainable solutions ready for the market for different types of ships, which MEYER NEPTUN Engineering will work on in the future.

With our versatile maritime research and development facilities and projects, we form a true playground for engineers and technicians from a wide range of disciplines. To this end, we continue to look for people who want to join us in making shipping climate-neutral. Malte Poelmann, Managing Director of MEYER NEPTUN Engineering

The Leibniz Institute for Catalysis is one of the largest publicly-funded research institutes in Europe in the area of applied catalysis.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana lawmakers are trying to wade into a political thicket they haven't braved in nearly 25 years: the redrawing of maps setting the state's Supreme Court districts.

The hurdle for a successful redesign is high. Prior discussions across the last two decades about remapping the Louisiana Supreme Court collapsed in disagreement. But House and Senate members looking at wide population disparities across the high court's districts say it's time to try again in the special redistricting session planned for February.

Ive seen a lot of interest in the Supreme Court. I think the fact that the numbers are so different in these districts creates a lot of interest, said Rep. John Stefanski, the Crowley Republican who chairs the House's redistricting committee.

Every 10 years with the release of new U.S. Census data, the Legislature reworks the boundary lines for U.S. House, state Senate, state House, Public Service Commission and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education seats to account for population shifts around the state.

Lawmakers have the authority to draw court districts, but aren't required to do so. Without that mandate, legislators have regularly avoided the task rather than maneuver through the thorny politics of the judiciary and its elected judges.

The seven Louisiana Supreme Court districts  represented by justices elected to 10-year terms  were last updated in 1997 based on census data from 1990, when the state had 400,000 fewer residents than it does today.

The high court districts vary widely in population size.

About 477,000 people live in the Supreme Court's New Orleans-based district that elected Justice Piper Griffin, compared to nearly 839,000 people in its Baton Rouge regional district that elected Justice Jeff Hughes, according to data provided to lawmakers by their staff.

If Louisiana's population was spread evenly across the court districts, each justice would be elected from a district containing about 665,000 people.

I think the Supreme Court has the most obvious out-of-balance populations in their districts, and so theres been a push to rebalance the numbers, said Senate President Page Cortez, a Lafayette Republican.

Still, interest in the high court mapmaking effort doesn't necessarily mean there's a consensus on how those districts should be drawn. Reaching that consensus will be difficult because of the lack of requirement to redesign the districts and the two-thirds vote needed in the House and Senate for any new map involving Louisiana's high court.

That's the real elephant in the room, Stefanski said of getting the super-majority vote. It's certainly a daunting prospect to pass something.

Getting two-thirds of lawmakers to agree on anything contentious has become harder as the Legislature has grown more partisan.

While Republicans hold two-thirds of the Senate seats, they need two votes from either independents or Democrats to reach that hurdle in the House if GOP lawmakers vote as bloc. And Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards would have to sign off on new districts drawn by the majority-Republican Legislature, or lawmakers would need a two-thirds vote to override his veto.

Black lawmakers are interested in having two majority-minority Supreme Court districts, up from the one that exists today, noting that one-third of Louisiana's population is Black. A pending lawsuit in federal court argues the current Supreme Court maps are discriminatory against Black voters.

Some lawmakers earlier this year tried unsuccessfully to expand the number of districts on the court, seeking to add two new seats that would help ensure at least one new majority-minority district. That could further complicate efforts to redraw the existing district maps, if a portion of lawmakers still prefer the increased district approach.

Meanwhile, lawyers in the Legislature whose profession is regulated by the Supreme Court and who may one day have to present a case before the justices will be treading carefully in the discussion.

A decade ago in the last redistricting special session, lawmakers toyed with redrawing the Supreme Court's boundary lines. But House and Senate leaders disagreed in 2011 about whether to revamp the maps, and court leaders asked to be left alone, so the districts were left untouched.

In the 2001 redistricting session, the Supreme Court seats weren't even included on the agenda despite some interest in reworking them.

The court hasn't weighed in on the latest effort  at least not publicly.

The Justices are aware of the Legislatures interest in redistricting the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has not taken a position, court spokesperson Trina Vincent said in a statement.

___

EDITORS NOTE: Melinda Deslatte has covered Louisiana politics for The Associated Press since 2000. Follow her at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte.
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.
HELENA, Mont. (AP)  Montanas redistricting commission delayed a decision on a map dividing the state into congressional districts after an all-day meeting on Saturday.

The commission failed to reach a consensus on the map proposals they were considering, instead kicking the decision until after receiving more public comments next week as they speed towards a November 14 deadline.

The two Democrats on the commission pushed to approve a map they had proposed that would divide the state into an eastern and western district and place Kalispell, a Republican stronghold in the northwest corner of the state, in the eastern district. That map would give Democrats a fighting shot at winning in the western district despite the state's increasingly red political hue.

But the map faced opposition from Republican members of the commission, who are against placing the mountain community of Kalispell in an eastern district dominated by prairieland and agricultural communities.

Commission Chair Maylinn Smith, who was appointed by the states Supreme Court, said she could not break the tie in favor of a proposal by Democrats or Republicans before receiving additional public comment on a new proposal submitted by the Republican members of the commission just two days before the meeting.

Smith's decision came after the commission sat through four hours of public comment on Saturday.

The comments fell largely along party lines, with Democrats in favor of district proposals that would create a competitive district in the west that would include Helena, Missoula and Bozeman.

Republicans, on the other hand, argued that the commissioners should not take into account political competitiveness. Such proposals would likely favor Republican candidates in both an eastern and western district.

Democratic state lawmaker Marry Ann Dunwell of Helena said the Republican proposals would turn congressional races into anointings."

They will not have to engage with voters or constituents to earn their elections, Dunwell said.

Rep. Derek Skees, a Republican from Kalispell, brought to the commission meeting a map labeled Montanifornia with Missoula and Bozeman, both college towns and Democratic strongholds in the western half of the state, marked as San Fransoola and Bozangeles respectively. He used the prop to argue against proposals that would create a competitive congressional district in the western half of the state.

Skees and others pointed to a law passed by the GOP-dominated state legislature earlier this year that banned the consideration of previous election results when drawing district maps. Under that law, Skees argued that any proposal made by Democrats that would give them a chance as winning a western district is illegal and would be challenged in court.

The map now favored by Republican commissioners keeps Bozeman and Missoula in the western district but places Helena  the blue-tinted state capitol  in an eastern district, a move Democrats say they strongly oppose.

Smith has said that she would like Republicans and Democrats on the commission to reach a consensus but would vote in favor of either the Democratic or Republican proposal if the commissioners cannot find a resolution. The commission has until the middle of November to finalize the districts.

The 2020 Census gave Montana a second congressional district for the first time in 30 years, spurring a redistricting process that had included debate about the changing nature of the state. Booming towns such as Bozeman and Missoula in western Montana provide a contrast to the stagnating agricultural communities in the prairie region that covers the eastern half of the state.

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Iris Samuels 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.
ROME (AP)  French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stuck to rival positions Sunday in their countries' post-Brexit dispute over fishing in the English Channel, with France maintaining its threat to impose sanctions starting Tuesday that could include a blockade of British boats.

The two leaders held a 30-minute meeting on Sunday morning while attending the Group of 20 nations summit in Rome, and each addressed the escalating tensions over the granting of fishing licenses as they held separate news conferences at the end of the meeting.

I dont want any escalation, but we must take things seriously," Macron said "My wish is not to go toward retaliation measures...Its rather to find an agreement."

France has threatened to bar British boats from some of its ports and tighten checks on boats and trucks carrying U.K. goods if more French vessels aren't licensed to fish in U.K. waters by Tuesday. Paris 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.

Macron said he invited Johnson to work on a methodology for granting more fishing licenses to French ships.

The ball is now in their court. If the British dont do any significant move, (retaliation) measures starting from Nov. 2 will need to be implemented, the French president said. "I would deplore it. But what we cannot do is not respond and not defend our fishermen.

Fishing is a tiny industry economically, but one that looms large symbolically for maritime nations like Britain and France. Britains exit from the economic rules of the 27-nation European Union at the start of the year means the U.K. now controls who fishes in its waters.

Paris 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.

Johnson, speaking at the same time as Macron on Sunday, said the U.K.s position is unchanged."

I must say I was puzzled to read a letter from the French prime minister explicitly asking for Britain to be punished for leaving the EU," the prime minister said. I just have to say to everybody that I dont believe that is compatible either with the spirit or the letter of the U.K.'s withdrawal deal and post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU.

Both sides accuse the other of breaching the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Britain says it is actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings, a formal legal process in the deal, if France does not drop its threats.

A top French top official said Johnson and Macron agreed during their meeting Sunday that there was a need to talk to each other in a situation of important tensions. He said actions need to be taken as soon as possible to get to a de-escalation.

The French official, speaking anonymously in accordance with the presidencys customary practices, said France and Britain would have talks in the coming hours and days on practical details, with the aim to ease tensions and stabilize the situation.

Britain, however, denied the leaders had agreed to take steps to deescalate the spat, saying it was entirely up to France to calm the waters.

The U.K. government said in a statement that during the meeting, Johnson reiterated his deep concern over Frances rhetoric and expressed his hope that the French government would de-escalate.

Johnsons spokesman, Max Blain, said it will be for the French to decide whether they want to step away from the threats they have made in recent days."

Both in our rhetoric and our actions we have not in any way sought to escalate this," Blain said. ".The de-escalation would have to come from the French side.

But France's Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune on Sunday accused Britain of targeting" France in a political choice" and said Britain had breached the terms of the Brexit deal.

For the EU as a whole, around 90% of the expected licenses have been granted, but all the missing ones are French, he tweeted.
Do you know which was the first phone with a Super AMOLED display? Some of you may have answered the original Galaxy S, but that is not the case  if you read our story of OLED displays on mobile phones you will know that it was the Samsung S8500 Wave, which beat the Galaxy S to market by two months.



Back then we called this a "modest retail package" - if only we knew what was coming

Or maybe you answered correctly because you still remember the Wave phones and the OS they ran  Bada (Korean for ocean). It was a precursor to Tizen, the OS that runs on Samsung smart TVs today and used to be a major part of the companys smartwatches too (though that seems to have come to an end with the Galaxy Watch4 series, which switched to Googles Wear OS).



Meet the Samsung S8500 Wave - the first phone with a Super AMOLED display

Lets rewind a bit. Maemo was a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices (internet tablets and smartphones) developed by Nokia. Intel had a similar system dubbed Moblin. Then the two tech giants decided to combine their efforts into MeeGo (which is part of what made the Nokia N9 awesome).

But then Nokia abandoned Intel to pursue other love interests (you know the one). So, Intel and others  Samsung among them  started the Tizen project as a sequel to MeeGo. Samsung had its own Linux-based OS at the time, Bada, which was eventually merged into Tizen in 2013. The company has been the main user of Tizen ever since. The family tree of Linux-based mobile operating systems is convoluted to say the least.



The Wave was a beautiful phone  It even had 3.5 mm jacks and camera buttons

Back to the S8500 Wave. Other than the OS, it was like a smaller Galaxy S. It ran on the same Hummingbird chipset (1.0 GHz Cortex-A8 CPU), an early Samsung chip predating the Exynos line. The phone had the same 5 MP camera with autofocus and 720p video recording too, same 1,500 mAh battery even.

The screen was smaller, 3.3 inches, than that of the Galaxy S (4.0"), though it had the same resolution - 480 x 800 px. Like on the Galaxy, this display enjoyed the protection of first generation Gorilla Glass.

And while we had seen AMOLED displays before, this one was special. With no gap between the display itself and the protective glass (this is part of what made it Super AMOLED), the whole interface appeared to float on the surface of the glass. The display had vibrant colors and true blacks, of course. Here it is compared to some high profile competition:



The first Super AMOLED display showed great promise

The Wave and the Galaxy S may have ran different OSes, it wasnt immediately obvious  both were skinned with TouchWiz, the UI Samsung used for most of its phones (starting with its touch-operated featurephones). The hardware was similar enough that industrious developers managed to get Android running, all the way up to 4.4 KitKat (2013). Even the Galaxy S itself officially only got up to 2.3 Gingerbread.



TouchWiz made both Bada and Android look the same



Notification shades and quick toggles are cool in any OS

As for official software releases from Samsung, the Wave was updated to Bada OS 2.0 in late 2011 with a completely redesigned UI and full multitasking. Bada 1.x was capable of multitasking (its Linux, after all), however, it limited third-party apps to running only one at a time (a power saving feature). Version 2.0 lifted that restriction.

Since it didnt run Android, Symbian, Window Mobile or any one of the other established operating systems, Bada needed an app store. And it had one, Samsung Apps. When we reviewed the original Wave the store had only 60 apps (all of them free), though Samsung had promised to bring that number up to 100 by the time the phone launched.



The Bada OS app switcher  The Samsung Apps store for Bada software

Lack of apps was a major issue for Windows Phone as well, Microsofts misguided bid to remain relevant in the smartphone segment. If your platform doesnt have apps for the major social networks, instant messengers, streaming and other popular services, then its dead in the water.

Lessons learned. Now, feast your eyes on some photos we took with that 5MP camera on the Wave. The phone had a camera key that launched the app and could be used to take a photo (but no focus, though, this was a single-stage button).



Samsung S8500 Wave camera samples

And here is a video sample - the Wave had one of those early 720p-capable cameras. Not the best, but necessary as the world was transitioning from SD to HD:

While Samsung released several other Wave phones (including the Wave II and Wave 3, plus lower-end models), the end came swiftly for Bada  the last launch was in 2011, less than two years after the first.



The Samsung S8500 Wave was the first of its kind - unfortunately, its kind didn't last very long

A bit later the Samsung Z series launched with the new Tizen OS, the successor to Bada. That too fizzled out pretty quickly, the Samsung Z came in 2014 and the last Tizen phone, the Samsung Z3 Corporate edition, launched in mid-2016. And that was all she wrote.

Of course, Tizen continued to be used in Samsungs smart TVs and smartwatches, but after years of trying the company found out that it doesnt really need an alternative smartphone OS to Android.

In fact, in 2019 TouchWiz, the symptom of Samsung using too many phone OSes, was killed off in favor of One UI  the one true software for Samsung phones. Even Microsoft, Nokias partner in crime, learned the lesson that a good Android skin is worth more than a proprietary OS. Now both Samsung and Microsoft are working with Google to implement cool new features for Android (especially for foldable and dual-screen phones).
Oppo announced the Reno6 5G, Reno6 Pro 5G, and Reno6 Pro+ 5G in China in May, and the first two began their global rollout in July, starting with India. The Pro+ variant arrived in Europe in September, but under the Reno6 Pro 5G moniker. That means you get a Snapdragon 870 SoC with the European Reno6 Pro 5G, unlike the Indian model that has the Dimensity 1200 chip at the helm.

We did a hands-on review of the Dimensity model a few months ago, and now we've received the Snapdragon variant for review at the office in the Arctic Blue color, but you also have the option to pick one in Lunar Grey shade.

The Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G's box includes a 65W adapter, charging cable, protective case, SIM ejector tool, and some paperwork. However, it skips the wired earphones we get with the Dimensity 1200 variant.

The Reno6 Pro 5G is built around a 6.55" Super AMOLED curved display with FullHD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. The screen has a fingerprint scanner underneath for password-less unlocking and in the top-left corner is a punch hole for the 32MP selfie camera.

Around the back is a quad-camera system housed inside a rectangular island, and it is superior to the one we have on the Dimensity model since it consists of a 50MP sensor with OIS, a 16MP ultrawide unit, a 13MP telephoto unit, and a 2MP macro camera. The smartphone can also record videos in 1080p up to 120FPS and in 4K at up to 60FPS.

The Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G Snapdragon variant runs Android 11-based ColorOS 11 out of the box and has 12GB RAM and 256GB storage onboard. That's the only memory configuration it comes in, unlike its Dimensity counterpart, which is also available in 8GB/128GB trim.

Like the Dimensity model, the Snapdragon version packs a 4,500 mAh battery with 65W charging, but it also supports reverse charging missing from the former.

Our review of the Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G Snapdragon version is underway, so stick around to find out if it's worth buying.
Week 43 in review: Redmi Note 11 series debut, Xperia Pro-I is here with 1-inch type sensor

Another week to recap, let's begin. Xiaomi introduced three new phones in China - Redmi Note 11 Pro and Redmi Note 11 Pro+ and the more affordable vanilla Redmi Note 11. The two Pro devices are identical aside from one key difference - the Plus variant brings 120W fast charging, while the regular Pro has a bigger battery.

The Redmi Note 11 is going to be available in Gradient, Black, and Mint Blue colors and start from CNY1,199 ($187). The first flash sale will take place on Monday, November 1. Redmi Note 11 Pro will follow on November 5 in Black, Aurora Gradient, Violet, or Forest Green colors. Prices start from CNY1,699 ($265). The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ will be available on the same day as its non-Plus sibling, but it starts from CNY1,999 ($310) and skips on the gradient paint job.

Sony unveiled a phone we scarcely heard rumors for. The Xperia Pro-I (I for Imaging) brings the 1-inch type sensor from the company's popular RX100 VII pocket camera but optimized for a phone. What that means is that while in fact there is a 1"-type sensor in the phone, it's not being used in its entirety and it effectively behaves more like a 1/1.33"-type unit, essentially the same size you'd find in a Galaxy S21 Ultra, vivo X70 Pro+, or a Mi 11, and smaller than the one in the Mi 11 Ultra (1/1.12"-type). The Xperia Pro-I brings a Snapdragon 888 with 12GB of RAM, a 512GB expandable storage option and 4,500mAh battery for the price of 1,800/$1,800. The rest of its cameras are a 50mm and 16mm.

Qualcomm unveiled four new chipsets  well, two new chipsets and two Plus versions of current chips. The focus is mostly on 5G, though there is a new option for 4G-only needs. The 6nm Snapdragon 778G+ allows for higher clock speeds than its predecessor.

The Snapdragon 690 is a follow-up to the 690, but with mmWave 5G support. The Snapdragon 680 features a 4G LTE modem, so this will be used in basic mid-rangers. Finally, the Snapdragon 480+ is still an 8nm chip with 5G, relatively old Kryo 460 CPU cores and an Adreno 619 GPU. However, the prime CPU now runs at 2.2 GHz (up from 2.0 GHz), the GPU has been sped up as well.

Finally, we heard the Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ will have flat displays and rear panels. The Galaxy S22 Ultra will have a curved front, the brightest display yet with up to 1500 nits, and a green color option.

That's it for this week. See you next one!



Xiaomi reveals the Redmi Note 11 Pro design, confirms the Dimensity 920 chipset This 6 nm chip scored over 500,000 points in AnTuTu. In one of the promo images the phone is held by Uniq member Wang Yibo.





Four new Snapdragon chipsets unveiled for mid-range and entry-level phones The Snapdragon 778G+ and 695 will cater to the premium mid-range market, while the 680 and 480+ aim at more affordable models.





Early Pixel 6 benchmarks put CPU performance below Snapdragon 888, Exynos 2100 The single-core performance is identical since they all use the same big cores, it's the multi-core performance where the Google chip lags behind.





Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22+ to feature flat displays and backs IceUniverse claims the upcoming flagships will look like the iPhone 13 series without a notch.





Google unveils Android 12L, tailored to tablets, foldables, and ChromeOS devices It will be available early next year, "in time for the next wave of Android 12 tablets and foldables".


High school seniors applying for stateside colleges have reached an important deadline: early decision and early action. Monday marks the start of college admissions as the first due date for early applications.

According to CollegeBoard, early decision is binding, while early action is nonbinding. Those who apply to a specific school through early decision will receive their results in December, and they are required to attend that school if accepted.

Early action, however, notifies candidates around January and February, and does not require a full commitment to that school until the regular decision date.

Early admission tends to stand out among colleges since senior year grades and activities arent included in the application, according to 17-year-old Samantha Lorzano.

Instead, applicants are turning in everything theyve done from freshman-junior year to the college of their choice.

Theyre saying, Although my high school experience has not reached its highest point, my past accomplishments are enough to get into your school. To college admissions offices, thats a bold statement to make, Lorzano said.

Early decision/action applications were reported as having higher acceptance rates by colleges, compared to regular applications, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the National Association of College Admissions Counseling.

For Harvest Christian Academy senior Kanghyun Lee, the opportunity to potentially get into his dream school was one he could not pass up. Lee plans on applying for early decision at Brown University.

Andrew Lu, also a senior from Harvest Christian Academy, is applying for early action at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which interested him mainly for their strength in computer science.

I wanted to apply there to see if I could get in. If I do, I can still apply to other schools and compare offers there, Lu said.

Some schools have the option of restrictive early action, which limits the applicant to apply to one school. If their application is accepted, they are not bound to that school and still have time to commit.

Lorzano, a Yigo resident, is applying to Yale University under restrictive early action, not only because she wanted to commit to her ideal school but because the challenges of applying early interested her.

As a young person, this is my prime moment to be ambitious, to chase my dreams, and to make fairly risky decisions.

With these types of risks come hard work.

Students like Lu and Lorzano decided to apply early in the summer of their junior year. Since then, theyve been putting their application together by preparing their transcripts, acquiring recommendation letters, and writing admissions essays.

Making sure the essay prompts stand out in their applicant pool has been the most tedious part of the application process. It takes quite a lot of time to write (an essay youre satisfied with), Lee said.

The application process also depends on grades and the SAT. So preparing for those takes a lot of time as well.

Being a full-time student, varsity athlete, and president of her schools National Honor Society, Lorzano has had to balance a busy schedule along with her applications. Receiving others opinions and recognizing a deadline have been Lorzanos motivations to managing her time and preventing stress.

After turning in their applications, the process will not be over. Despite the long wait for their results, Lee and Lu plan on preparing for regular decision applications due early 2022.

Ill probably be anxious the first week, but after that Ill focus on giving myself more options to consider, Lu said.

Lorzano knows her expectations of acceptance are not guaranteed, but any anxiety will be outweighed by pride in what shes accomplished.

I will be grateful for the opportunity that I put in so much work into this application, and that would outweigh any kind of rejection that I get, which is a good quality to have for life.
What makes me interesting? That was one of the many questions I had asked myself when I started on applications for colleges. The trick was to condense 16 years of my life into something of a resume.

Basically, I needed to reflect  copiously and quickly, especially as I planned to apply in the early decision program.

Once I knew which colleges best suited me, I reviewed their requirements and got to work. Typically, colleges in the states use the Common Application for submission of all required documents and information.

There are exceptions, like the University of California system and the University of Guam, which have separate sites where prospective students may apply.

Crafting my profile turned out to be the easiest part. The Common Application asks you to answer both general questions and college-specific information.

The blanket profile applies to all schools and comprises background information, high school courses, and extracurriculars. The tabs under particular colleges ask for supplemental materials, portfolios, and recommendations.

Recommendation letters are often an essential part of your application. I had asked my guidance counselor, a couple of teachers, and other advisers to write letters, especially those who know me as a student and a person.

I asked each person around two months before my deadline to give them ample time to dwell on our time together and craft an accurate, sincere letter.

The next step was acquiring financial aid. Scholarships are both need- and merit-based, usually requiring essays to describe your circumstances, viewpoints, or even contributions to society.

There are also forms to fill out for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, College Scholarship Service, and the College Boards Institutional Documentation Service, which will ask for fun stuff like tax returns and residency information.

While plowing through and completing all documents, I tackled what was personally the most difficult  the first and final battle: the admissions essay.

Around July, I started skimming through different personal statements that got students into their dream schools.

I read about everything from thought-provoking Costco adventures to Maths acquittal in court against capital offenses of being too hard. Most stories involved a reflection and an overarching lesson.

I started jotting down ideas in the summer, gathering three different outlines until I decided which resonated with my voice and personality the most.

The essay is an important piece that conveys the kind of person you are to the admissions officers, and it was the most trying, yet most exciting part of the whole process.

The monthslong journey is finally over for me, and I hope others can also smoothly cross the finish line.
In 2017, Adam Messier was struggling. Hed lost his job and started drinking, which led to family problems. Hed separated from his wife, and resorted to sleeping in his car, or living with roommates.

Three years earlier, he had been convicted in a criminal sexual conduct case. Although hed received a suspended sentence, he had to register as a sex offender and he was appealing the verdict to clear his name. Ultimately, the Guam Supreme Court would overturn the conviction.

Messier would not live to hear the ruling.

On Sept. 1, 2017, the Navy veteran began sharing a unit at Tumon Horizon Condominiums with Jason Alianza and his girlfriend. A few weeks later, Messiers wife reported him missing.

Last week, three men were charged with aggravated murder in connection with his death.

The case against Messier

In December 2011, Messier was accused of inappropriately touching a teenage girl. According to court documents, the girls sister witnessed the touching, and the two testified against Messier at trial.

Both the girl and her sister admitted at trial to concocting sexual assault allegations previously against two other people, knowing the accused could be prosecuted and incarcerated for the sexually related acts that the two young women fabricated, according to court documents.

During the trial, the prosecutor argued that the girls had no motive to lie about Messier, and noted that there was no evidence that they were lying. The Supreme Court would later rule that these statements violated Messiers right against self-incrimination.

Messier was convicted in January 2013. The court ordered a new trial because it found a myriad of contradictions and inconsistencies between the admitted evidence and the testimonies of the victim and the witnesses, according to court documents. But the Supreme Court remanded the case for sentencing.

At that point, the trial judge disqualified himself from sentencing, indicating he believed the jury made a mistake and expressing that he would have difficulty sentencing Messier given the quality of the evidence and a personal belief of reasonable doubt regarding guilt, documents stated.

A different judge was assigned, and Messier  who could have gone to prison for 17 years  received probation and a suspended sentence. He appealed.

Messiers decline

The stress of fighting the conviction, and being labeled a sex offender, consumed Messier. His wife, Joanne Messier, said he had been a sober recovering alcoholic before the legal troubles started. He lost his job and began to drink.

When he started drinking again, he started having psychotic breaks because he was on medication for his back, because he had injuries from his time in the military and it was not mixing well, Joanne Messier said.

Eventually, the couple separated.

I had to put my kids in front of him and I told him, Listen, youre getting dangerous, she added.

September 2017

According to the account given to police by Alianzas girlfriend, about a week after the three started living together at the condo, Messier threatened to report Alianza to the landlord because of illicit drug use. Alianza recruited his oldest son, Curtis James Blas, and his younger brother, Donovan Elliot Alianza Carriaga, both now 23, and Brandon James Flaherty, now 29, to deal with Messier. Charging documents in the case accuse the four of beating Messier to death, and say the three younger men disposed of his body.

Police found what they believe to be Messiers remains last week, after arrests were made in the case. Alianza died in April 2019.

On Sept. 21, 2017, Joanne Messier made a missing persons complaint, saying she hadnt spoken to her husband in over a week. Police checked with Messiers roommates, who said hed moved out in the middle of the month, documents state.

In one of their last conversations, Messier told his wife he had a new job and thought hed be able to get his own place.

He said, With this new job I have, I think I can afford my own place so the kids can sleep over, because up until then he had roommates and I wouldnt let my kids sleep over if he had people in the house, Joanne Messier recalled.

Missing

Joanne Messier was worried when she couldnt find her husband.

Theres no way he would not contact his kids, his mother or his sister, Joanne Messier said.

She visited the apartment, where Messiers car was parked outside. She talked to his roommates, who said he disappeared.

When he went missing all of his stuff was gone, so I was like, Where was his bed, his sheets?

The roommates were like, I dont know. We opened the door and it was all gone.

But his car was still there so how does he move everything without this car?

Through the years, she urged Guam Crime Stoppers to continue publicizing the case.

Reversed conviction

In 2018, a year after Adam Messier was reported missing, the Supreme Court of Guam reversed his criminal sexual conduct conviction and ordered a new trial.

Joanne Messier recalls receiving the call from the lawyer.

I called my boss the next day and said I cant come in, I cant go to meetings, because my face is so swollen, because I cried all night long, Joanne Messier said.

But Adam Messier could not be found.

When these people killed him, they also killed his chance to redeem himself so now he has no chance, Joanne Messier said. There will always be people that read articles about him being a sex offender, about molesting a 14-year-old, all this and that, but he went through all the right processes and he cannot anymore.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, residents will find creative ways to celebrate the holidays  and Halloween is no exception.

Once again, with the island continuing to follow COVID-19 guidelines, residents adjusted to the new normal as they celebrate the spooky holiday.

With everything going on, you have to celebrate the holidays. You have to make it fun for the kids, said Dominic Lizama of Mangilao. We got to do everything we can so it feels a bit more normal.

Village mayors thought similarly when planning for Halloween and the other holidays to come.

Each of the villages had different events that resulted in Halloween being celebrated throughout the weekend.

Mangilao Mayor Allan Ungacta, said that although restrictions are not as limited, they still had designed their Trick-Or-Trunk event the same way they did last year.

We want to make it as festive as possible and of course, safe and convenient, said Ungacta. We highly encouraged the drive-thru because we wanted to make sure everyone is in their vehicle and make it a safe environment for everyone to participate while making the kids smile and enjoy.

The other villages also had drive-thrus and candy runs, where candy was dropped off to residential homes. There were even Halloween floats that drove around the village.

Difference

One of the differences the mayors have noticed for this years events is that many of their residents are vaccinated and are already aware of how to stay safe in social settings according to the Head of the Mayors Council of Guam and Piti Mayor Jesse Alig.

Because they dont see the pandemic going away any time soon, this is how they will be planning and having their events, Alig said.

I think a lot of what we do has changed and what were going to do will also change and thats the normal we prepare for, said Alig. Whatever it is, our plan needs to be flexible enough to adhere to whatever guidelines are set at that particular time.

Mangilao resident and event volunteer, Ann San Nicolas, spoke about making the most of the limitations.

I dont want it to be here, but this is the new norm. With COVID, we just have to adjust said Ann San Nicolas. Hopefully we can have a safer Guam and a safer world so we can go back to the way it was before.




Haiti - FLASH : Shooting in the grounds of the College St Louis de Bourdon, 1 dead and 3 wounded





On Saturday afternoon, armed individuals on motorcycles entered the grounds of the College St-Louis de Bourdon and opened fire injuring 4 people, the establishment's security guard, a student's parent, an unidentified person and a pupil slightly to the leg.



The hypothesis of an attempted kidnapping is unlikely these individuals entered the compound, where parents and students were located, following a man in a car on which they shot several times for an unknown reason before fleeing. However, several versions of the facts differ and the investigation will have to determine the exact circumstances of this tragedy. According to "unofficial" information, the person the individuals appeared to be pursuing is believed to have died of his injuries.



The injured were rushed to Canape Vert hospital, which was unable to admit them due to lack of fuel, oxygen and water to ensure proper care. The injured had to be taken to another hospital.



Reacting to this shooting, the Ministry of Education in a statement said to have "learned with deep consternation the astonishing news of the attack perpetrated by armed individuals, this Saturday, October 30, 2021, on the grounds of the College St Louis de Bourdon."



The Ministry "strongly condemns this new aggression against life, the right to education and the right of our children to enjoy school learning in peace and in all circumstances"



The Minister expresses his sympathies to the victims and their families as well as to the leaders of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint-Louis and of the management of the establishment and calls on the police and judicial authorities for an investigation to be carried out as soon as possible in order to identify the authors and co-authors of this crime, to prosecute them and punish them with the latest rigors of the law "



SL/ HaitLibre






















Haiti - Politic : Colombia calls for an economic intervention in Haiti





During the Regional Ministerial Summit held this month in Bogota (Colombia) on the migration crisis caused by the flow of Haitian migrants (in the absence of Haiti, which according to a high-ranking source close to the Government, did not would not have been informed of the holding of this summit) Ivan Duque, the President of Colombia declared "I make a clear request to the cooperation agencies so that we can in the countries make a real census of the number of migrants that we have on our territories. Without precise information we will not have precise public policies, this census is necessary."



At this event, Antony Blinken US Secretary of State; Marta Lucia Ramirez the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of Colombia and other Ministers of Foreign Affairs of America discussed at length the continent's migration crisis due to the transit of thousands of migrants from Haiti and other nations, as well as possible measures to stop this exodus.



In the case of Haiti, the Colombian President called on organizations like the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) to make a "structural" intervention.



Affirming "Today, we need an action that allows us to generate hope and income in Haiti, "we need a major industrial mobilization " and for example relaunch the Park Caracol industrial plant, which was inaugurated in 2012 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-15718-haiti-economy-the-caracol-industrial-park-in-figures.html . If we do not find a solution that gives hope [to the Haitian people], we will have an even greater migratory phenomenon throughout the region."



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34996-haiti-flash-colombia-calls-for-a-hemispheric-response-to-the-haitian-migration-crisis.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34962-haiti-flash-56-600-haitians-this-year-crossed-the-dangerous-jungle-of-darien-colombia.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34958-haiti-politic-the-migration-of-haitians-on-the-agenda-of-mexico-and-the-usa.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34954-haiti-flash-106-haitians-found-locked-in-a-container-in-guatemala.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34953-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34920-haiti-migration-crisis-mexico-asks-for-un-help-to-stop-haitian-migration.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Garry Desrosier again Spokesperson for the PNH

Frantz Elbe, Director General a.i of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) has appointed Divisional Inspector Garry Desrosiers as the new Spokesman. He replaces the Inspector General Marie Michelle Verrier in this position, who, it should be remembered, replaced Garry Desrosiers on April 26, 2021.



Contraband : Seizure of 239,000 Capital cigarettes from Haiti

Soldiers from the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (CESFRONT) seized on Saturday, October 30, 239,000 Capital brand cigarettes (1,195 cartridges of 10 packs of 20 cigarettes), from Haiti which were hidden under bananas at the back of a truck, which was traveling on the Dajabon-District Municipal Canongo road section.



Croix-des-Bouquets : New Government Commissioner

The former Government Commissioner of Jeremie Me Roosevelt Zamor has been appointed Government Commissioner at the Parquet of Croix-des-Bouquets, he replaces Me Elder Guillaume in this position.



COP26 D-1 : The Haitian delegation arrives

On one day of the official launch of the XXVI COP26 Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is being held in Glasgow, Scotland from November 1 to 12, 2021, the official delegation of Haiti composed of executives from sectoral ministries, members of civil society, the press, youth organizations and partners, begins to arrive for the various activities of this global event dedicated to global warming.



Geneva : Mission of Haiti closed

The Permanent Mission of Haiti to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva informs the Haitian community in Switzerland that on the occasion of the All Saints and the Dead celebrations in Haiti, its doors will remain closed on the 1st and November 2, 2021. Its activities will resume normally on Wednesday November 3, 2021.



Covid-19 : Increase in cases among people under 19

Since the Back to school, the Ministry of Public Health informs the cases tested positive for Covid-19 are sharply increasing in Haiti in the age groups of 0 to 9 years and 10 to 19 years.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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Greenville, TX (75401)

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Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 61F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 61F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph.
Lebanon's Information Minister George Kordahi speaks to journalists after a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. Saudi Arabia on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021 ordered the Lebanese ambassador to the kingdom to leave the country within 48 hours and stopped all imports from Lebanon, a response to comments by Kordahi who described the war in Yemen as a Saudi "aggression."
Paranormal investigators Allison and Robert (Bobby) Stubblefield of Flintville recently investigated the Oldham Theatre in Winchester, seeking evidence of rumored ghosts. Their YouTube channel, Apparitions Among Us, urges subscribers to go along with them as they explore local establishments that are whispered to be haunted. The husband-and-wife team recently visited a funeral home in Lynchburg and have plans to investigate several other Franklin County establishments in the near future.
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  The eighth grade students in Sarah Kauffmans class at Mickle Middle School on Thursday are busy putting their heads together.

Its a sleepy, fall morning, but the students are hard at work, gathered in groups around whiteboards spread throughout the room, working together to solve math problems.

What do you do, one group asks, if the exponent in your equation is a negative number? Another group of students follows along on a worksheet as one of their peers walks them through a helpful shortcut he uses to solve a particular math question. A teacher and college student observe, occasionally jumping in to provide help.

Theres an air of quiet determination and collaboration in the classroom, where a style of teaching new to the school is at work.

Its called Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, a nationwide college-readiness program piloted at Lincoln Northeast High School last year and expanded to Mickle, Dawes and Culler middle schools and Lincoln High this year thanks to Lincoln Public Schools massive windfall of federal coronavirus dollars.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports the curriculum in the elective class helps diverse students learn key organization and study skills while also preparing them for the rigorous coursework of Advanced Placement or differentiated classes so they can succeed in college.

And, like Thursday morning at Mickle, students also receive support from peers, teachers and college tutors through twice-a-week workshops called tutorials where students can find answers to questions that might be stumping them in other classes or simply learn something theyre curious about.

I think you really have ... to make it a safe place where they feel that theyre able to be vulnerable, so its different than their other classes, Kauffman said.

Schools identify and recruit students  primarily from historically underrepresented backgrounds  who might not have been selected for advanced classes but show potential to succeed in those classes when paired with AVID techniques.

That mission is especially important as LPS looks to close student achievement gaps based on race, including in AP/differentiated enrollment and graduation rates.

(AVID) does a really good job of shining a light in places where we havent before, said Jon Davidson, AVID coordinator at LPS. Thats what I noticed when I walk into classes all across the district now. These are students that represent our gaps.

The program started nearly 40 years ago when a teacher recognized that students needed the skills to be successful once they graduated and go to college. So a curriculum was developed, and AVID took off. Its now being offered in 48 states.

But it wasnt until last year that it was first introduced in LPS.

It had some great results last year in the middle of a year, where it was kind of crazy for a lot of different reasons, Davidson said.

Northeast students enrolled in AVID last year, for example, were less likely to fail classes and miss school and had higher GPAs than their peers. They also accumulated more credits than non-AVID students.

The early success convinced the district to expand the program to four schools this year and Schoo Middle School and Lincoln Northwest High School next fall with $600,000 in federal relief money.

This school year, there are 502 students taking the AVID elective, 63% of whom would be first-generation college students and 92% of whom qualify for the federal free- and reduced-lunch program.

The demographic breakdown is diverse as well. Hispanic/Latino students make up 31.1% of students, followed by 21.6% white, 18% Black, 15% mixed race and 13.6% Asian. Of all 42,000 LPS students, 63.5% are white.

There are 15-20 AVID teachers in the district who complete a three-day training workshop over the summer to learn the curriculum.

In a normal year, students also get a taste of college life through field trips and speakers and working with college tutors. Last year, much of that was done virtually, but this year tutors and speakers are able to return to classrooms.

Liz Larsen, a junior speech pathology major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, found out about AVID online.

I actually had no clue what it was, and I looked it up and it seemed like a really awesome program, she said.

So she went through online training and became a tutor, bouncing between classrooms around Lincoln  including Kauffmans eighth grade class at Mickle  to help students.

I feel like I have a lot to give to the students, because they have a lot of potential at this age and just to help them build those qualities, Larsen said.

Mickle eighth grader Amari Heran signed up for Kauffmans AVID class at her mothers encouragement. Her sister took the class at Northeast and enjoyed it.

I said Yeah, sure, Ill try it out, she said. And so far I really like it. ... It can be a pretty stressful and difficult class, but I learned to get over it and do what I need to do, and it makes me happy that I can do that.

She said AVID helps her learn important leadership skills shell need in college and how to help others. Her favorite part is getting to know classmates she might not have met otherwise.

Ive actually met pretty cool friends that Ive never talked to before, she said.

Kauffman, who taught AVID courses at a school in Wichita, Kansas, came to Lincoln last year. But she missed teaching the course that helped change her students lives in Kansas.

I was really sad when I moved to know that ... I had to close that chapter of my teaching career, she said.

But then she heard the program was just starting out at Northeast with plans for it to grow, so she reached out to Davidson last winter and got the ball rolling.

Davidson, who spends most of his days on the ground at AVID schools, was an AVID teacher in Texas before moving to Nebraska. He said he still receives graduation announcements from former students  tangible signs of the impact AVID has.

AVID tends to draw on that teacher that wants to build a relationship with a student and have that long-term impact, he said. Were teaching them skills that they need to be successful, and really walking with them and supporting them.

And its really amazing once they see, Oh, wow, I can really do this.
DETROIT (AP)  Planet Fitness is donating and will help install treadmills and stationary bicycles in each of Detroits 38 firehouses.

The treadmills and stationary bicycles will be used by firefighters and emergency medical personnel during their shifts and allow them to maintain and improve their cardiovascular health, Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones said.
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.
OnScene TV

A man was shot to death Sunday after trying to clear people off the street at a Halloween party in southeast Houston.

The man was at a party in the 7800 block of Moline Street and was trying to move people from outside the front of the house, when just after midnight, another man took issue with his efforts and confronted him, according to Houston police commander Donna Crawford.
OnScene TV

Police took multiple suspects into custody after a vehicle was stolen and a police pursuit ensued overnight, according to Houston Police.

A vehicle was taken during an aggravated robbery before 1 a.m. on Houstons northwest side, according to Commander Donna Crawford.
OnScene TV

Three men were shot Friday night after an altercation related to a woman in northwest Houston, according to Houston Police.

The shooting may have happened near Antoine and Tidwell, but the men fled to the West 34th Street area, according to police.
Vexing questions remain about what actually happened Oct. 21 on the set of a movie being made near Santa Fe, N.M., when an antique Colt .45 discharged as it was being used as a prop by actor Alec Baldwin during rehearsal of a scene. A projectile from the revolver struck and killed Halyna Hutchins, director of photography on the movie, a Western called Rust. Joel Souza, the director, was standing beside Hutchins and was injured.

The tragic incident prompted understandable anguish on the part of all who knew the 42-year-old Hutchins, a highly regarded cinematographer, as well as a wife and mother. Ongoing police investigations are asking how a gun that was declared cold  that is, safe to fire  as it was handed to Baldwin could have killed someone.

What happened on a New Mexico movie set also should prompt serious soul-searching far beyond the movie industry. We have in mind those among us who dont take firearms seriously enough. Texas elected officials, careless in their Second Amendment convictions and craven in their kowtowing to gun-rights zealots, come to mind immediately.

Similar accidents on movie sets have happened before, although they are rare, thanks in large part to strict safety rules. A 2016 Associated Press investigation found that at least 43 people had died on sets in the U.S., going back to 1990; more than 150 had suffered serious injuries. A tiny percentage of those deaths were specifically attributed to firearms being used as props, even though guns are integral to countless movies.

The gun death most often remembered is that of 28-year-old Brandon Lee, son of the late martial arts star Bruce Lee. The younger Lee died in 1993 while filming a scene for the movie The Crow after being hit by a .44-caliber slug fired from a prop gun supposed to have been filled only with blank rounds.

Lees death was the last recorded accidental death by a gun that was being used as a prop on a movie set. Nearly a decade prior, actor Jon-Erik Hexum was killed on the set of the TV series Cover Up. He shot himself in the head while playing Russian roulette with a gun loaded with blanks, which can still be deadly at very close range.

Now Playing: Investigators say there was some complacency in how weapons were handled on a movie set where Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed a cinematographer and wounded another person. (Oct. 27) Video: Associated Press

In large part because of those two deaths, film makers today are expected to rigidly adhere to page after page of detailed regulations regarding firearms on set. Their bible, so to speak, is Safety Bulletin No. 1, posted anytime a set will involve the use of firearms and compiled and distributed by the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee.

In the very first paragraph the document admonishes: BLANKS CAN KILL. TREAT ALL FIREARMS AS THOUGH THEY ARE LOADED. LIVE AMMUNITION IS NEVER TO BE USED NOR BROUGHT ONTO ANY STUDIO LOT OR STAGE.

The bulletin goes on to lay out comprehensive instructions for firearms protocol. The general rules include never pointing a firearm at anyone; never placing your finger on the trigger until youre ready to shoot; knowing where and what your intended target is; no horseplay with any firearms; never discharging a weapon when the barrel is clogged; and never laying down a firearm or leaving it unattended. Additional regulations speak to movie-production specifics.

Those basic instructions, of course, are well-established rules familiar to all who deal with firearms regularly, from law enforcement officers to the military. It includes many members of the National Rifle Association, particularly those members who recall when their organization was dedicated primarily to shooting safety and basic firearms instruction, rather than to high-pressure lobbying and the wholly invented notion of Second Amendment absolutism that it has championed of late. Mistakes happen, rules are broken and people get careless, but those who know guns best are well aware that rules, regulations and strict protocols save lives.

While cops, soldiers, NRA firearms instructors and responsible gun owners  not to mention Hollywood filmmakers  are usually dead serious about firearms, Texas lawmakers are not. Theyre irresponsible huckleberries when it comes to gun sense.

A responsible elected official would not have supported legislation in the previously concluded session that makes it almost as easy for an adult Texan to walk into a sporting-goods store and purchase a gun as it is to buy a fishing rod or a camping tent.

Make your choice, put down your credit card and pass a perfunctory background check, and youre not only a gun owner but fully authorized to carry it with you just about anywhere you want to go. No licensing needed, no training in laws and safety, no demonstrated proficiency in shooting. Just grab that gun and go.

Go to church with it on your hip or in your purse; go to Applebees and tuck into the Sizzlin Caramel Apple Blondie armed; sit in the stands locked and loaded at Little League games; pray in a pew at church with a pistol on your hip. Youll never know when and where youll have to whip it out and use it, regardless of your skill level or good judgment.

No wonder so many Texas police chiefs opposed the so-called permitless-carry legislation that Gov. Greg Abbott signed in June.

Firearms are ubiquitous on movie sets; deaths and injuries are rare. Firearms are ubiquitous in American society, particularly in Texas and the South; deaths and injuries are anything but rare.

In 2020, gun violence killed nearly 20,000 Americans, the highest total in two decades, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. An additional 24,000 people in this country used a gun to kill themselves. Those figures combined are 25 times higher than any other developed nation.

And the state with the highest number of gun deaths in 2020, in 2019, and many years before that? That would be Texas, Our Texas, with 3,683 last year.

Mortality data from 2019, the most recent year for which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported, shows that even on a per-capita basis, gunshots kill more Texans each year than in Americas other largest states, including California, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New York, where fewer than 900 accidental gun deaths took place. Among the six biggest states, only Floridas gun death rate matched our own.

In the wake of the tragic New Mexico incident, the movie industry is already considering even stricter rules, including potentially banning real guns on sets, and relying on computer-generated images instead. A senior California lawmaker has already filed a bill that would ban the use of live ammunition, and guns capable of firing it, from sets.

Given Texas terrible track record of deadly shootings, including some of the nations worst mass shootings, a Texas lawmaker truly committed to the publics safety would be looking for solutions, too. Worthy ideas abound: investment in community violence interruption programs, prohibiting individuals convicted of domestic violence crimes from possessing firearms, pushing for secure storage of guns at home, funding gun-violence research, to name a few.

If only ideas and common sense were enough. They arent though, not without political courage.

We live in Texas, of course, where gun laws are more relaxed than they were in the real Wild West of Dodge City, Tombstone and Old Tascosa. Until we begin electing lawmakers serious about gun safety and violence prevention, thousands of dead Texans will continue to be collateral damage in our faux Wild West. To the gun lobby and those irresponsible officials who profess their fealty to it, lax gun laws are more important than life itself.
Regarding Big, messy, complicated: Bidens plan churns in Congress, (Oct. 28): Two names I hope never to hear again: Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. To be clear, I remain glad that Joe Biden is the president of the United States and continue to believe he is the right person to heal our nation.

I fully support Bidens Build Back Better agenda and all the good it will do to improve the lives of Americans. However, once again the Democrats have become experts at doing themselves in, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

As someone who studies political communication, I find this is the case both from a messaging and action perspective. The daily bickering among Democrats and repeated misleading claims that a deal is close provide an ongoing soap opera capable of alienating people of all political persuasions. How embarrassing that Biden headed to Europe on Thursday with a framework agreement, something far less than the one thing he needed most to regain the trust of our allies.

I am sad and worried, fearing the impact of this disaster on the 2022 elections, as well as upcoming gubernatorial elections. I wonder if Democrats ever will ever learn from their past rhetorical mistakes.

Richard Cherwitz, Austin

Regarding Deal on budget measure remains elusive, (Oct. 28): From my perspective, Sen. Joe Manchin is a roadblock in the Democratic Party. He says he has not considered moving to the Republican Party, is no liberal and would at best become an independent, if anything, but still caucus with the Democrats. The phraseology that comes to mind when I hear that is: There is no I in team.

He is imposing his will on the rest of the Democrats with no regard for the impact on Democrats as a whole. If he does not at least relent on his opposition to creating a carveout to the filibuster, he possibly relegates Democrats to a losing hand because they will not be able to stop Republican voter suppression in states like Texas.

Ron Curtis, Houston

Regarding Harris County promise to complete all flood bond projects in jeopardy, (Oct. 27): The article mentions that Commissioner Adrian Garcia proposed taking funding for seven projects in the Cedar Bayou watershed and reallocating it elsewhere. Doing what the Democrats do so well. Social Security is a prime example of reallocation. Good luck getting people to vote for another flooding project.

Lillian Shaver, Sugar Land
Oaklands Rudsdale Newcomer High School  as its name implies  has a distinct student body: recent immigrant teens. Most came to California from Central America or Mexico. Many are in the country without legal immigration status or are seeking asylum here. Some came to the United States alone.

These dislocated students confront the expected challenges, including interrupted schooling and mastering a second or third language. But they also arrive at school with medical and psychological needs. And they might have to get to immigration court hearings. Rudsdale staff address all those things on a weekly basis. Some students decide they need a paycheck more than a diploma.

A lot of kids fall off the radar, says Emma Batten-Bowman, who founded and leads the school and who we spoke with in late September. A lot say, Im working, I cant afford to come to school.

For a first-of-its-kind study, we estimated just how many students like those at Rudsdale are enrolled in U.S. K-12 schools. We modeled the numbers and locations of undocumented and asylum-seeking children drawing on a range of federal and other data sources, and we also assessed their educational needs. Roughly 575,000 children arrived in the country with their families or unaccompanied over the 36-month period between October 2016 and September 2019 from Mexico and the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras). Last year about 491,000 remained in the United States with unresolved immigration status and 321,000 were enrolled in public school here.

California and Texas each enrolled about 50,000 of these children, with the bulk of the newcomers landing in Los Angeles and Houston. School districts in Los Angeles County and Harris County received so many new children that each would have had to hire at least 1,000 additional teachers just to maintain the same teacher-student ratios.

This trend isnt abating. After a short pandemic-related pause, huge numbers of migrants have resumed arriving at the southwest U.S. border; 1.7 million migrants were encountered crossing the border in the last 12 months, the largest number in a single year since at least 1960.

While most were single adults, over a third were adults in families or children. In addition, the United States has taken in tens of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan this year and a string of disasters has brought thousands from Haiti to the Texas-Mexico border.

In other words, the United States might need a lot more schools like Rudsdale.

By federal law, all children in the United States have a right to a public education, regardless of their immigration status. Yet schools are not funded or staffed adequately to support this growing student population or to handle sudden surges in enrollment. Unless school systems, funding policies and training for teachers change  and quickly  we are setting up schools to fail.

Federal and state education funding currently isnt flexible enough to deal with the sudden arrival of immigrant children. Schools are allocated money based in part on their enrollments at the outset of the school year. Immigrant students, however, join new schools throughout the year. If per-pupil funding were provided on a rolling basis, districts wouldnt be left in the lurch when absorbing dozens or hundreds of immigrant students.

Federal funds like those provided by Title III are intended for academic and English language learning support only. This presents problems. So many other hurdles  financial, mental, physical and legal  stand in the way of these kids receiving an education. Many of them are dealing with trauma, either from circumstances in their country of origin or from their difficult journey to the United States. When these needs are ignored, that can lead to low attendance, poor grades and  eventually  leaving school altogether.

Even at Rudsdale, 50 students dropped out last year, according to Batten-Bowman. The school obtained grants and has found creative ways, such as paid on-campus internships, to support students financially. But it hasnt been enough. The hardest thing about district funding is all the rules and regulations, Batten-Bowman told us. I need more flexibility with my money.

Teachers we interviewed for our study talked openly about feeling underequipped to address the considerable academic, language and emotional needs of these children. Today more than 70 percent of teachers have at least some English learners in their classrooms, based on survey responses from teachers to some of our recent RAND Corporation surveys. Teachers also need training in trauma-informed instruction, methods that adapt to the behavior and learning needs of distressed children. Certification and credentialing programs and professional development need to include these skills.

In addition, schools often lack staff who speak their new students language, leaving students with no way to communicate their needs. In Californias Oakland Unified, for example, teachers and principals noted to us the need for more staff who speak Mam, an indigenous language of Guatemala, given large numbers of Mam-speaking enrollees.

Philanthropic organizations and policymakers might consider funding grants that could be used flexibly to hire bilingual staff or recruit bilingual volunteers. Organizations like AmeriCorps or other training groups also could collaborate with schools to recruit and train such volunteers.

Community groups, state agencies and multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and Education, also have roles to play in keeping these kids safe and in school.

As just one example of the complexity, the United States has no agreements with the Northern Triangle countries to transfer school records, although such agreements are in place for Mexico and other countries. When undocumented or asylum-seeking children from those countries enroll, schools must start from scratch in determining their needs, and students may be placed in courses they have already taken or in courses far above what theyre prepared for. Much stronger coordination between these agencies is needed to prevent youths from falling between the cracks.

Many news stories have captured the plight of immigrant children detained at the border or deported to their home country. Less visible have been the subsequent years of struggles inside U.S. classrooms. Schools need to adopt new approaches to classroom instruction, teacher preparation, flexible funding and other social supports  because the arrivals arent slowing down anytime soon.

Kaufman and Culbertson are both senior policy researchers at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.
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Foundations at the Osborn farm in Mount Washington where Mother Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers, stayed as she spread a spiritualism that came to be known as the Era of Manifestations.

Engaging With The Dead: Berkshirites & the Spectral World. Part 1: 1781-1900

What is a ghost? What is an apparition? What is the nature of the dead, and can they ever still keep company with the living? These are questions that have occupied human minds for thousands of years. On a more recent local level, they're questions that have been kicked around since the 1700s, in a variety of contexts, and through some very different lenses.

Some of the very first local "ghost stories" were firsthand accounts from settlers living in what were still wild frontier towns poking through wilderness. Some of these had the character of bizarre, menacing encounters with unseen forces and unknown beings that threatened them in their slight footholds on the edge of the forests.



Elder John Leland, best known locally for delivering the Mammoth Cheese to President Jefferson, wrote about mysterious and frightening noises at his home. One such account comes from the area of Sage's Ravine in Sheffield in 1802, when Simeon Sage and numerous other witnesses endured a bombardment by invisible attackers that trashed at least two buildings over almost a week. It started after dusk at a small garment-making shop Sage operated. Two boys and an unnamed man who worked there were retiring for bed, when a huge block of wood came crashing through a window. That was followed by more bits of wood, rocks, mortar. They went outside but couldn't see anyone in the direction the objects were coming from. They went to the main house and woke Sage, who was helpless to do anything but watch as window after window shattered from flying debris. They searched the grounds, the woods. They never saw a soul. This went on til almost dawn, then abruptly stopped. The next night it started up again, and went on for about four hours; then the next night. The fourth day, it started earlier, and went on for an hour or so in broad daylight. Still they couldn't see anyone or find anyone. Then it suddenly stopped, and almost immediately, started a quarter-mile away, at Ezekiel Landon's house. The Landon family was terrified, crouching under their dinner table. It stopped, but then started up again at breakfast, and went on for two more hours. Fifty-six panes of glass were destroyed in the attacks between the two properties and they caused various other damage People came from miles around to see what was happening at Sage's Ravine. No one could find the cause of the attacks  but everybody had a theory. Some said it was witchcraft, others were more skeptical, and said it had to be pranksters  more than one  because the missiles would hit from different sides at once. Perhaps some kind of elaborate new slingshot weapon. But no one could catch the culprit. After the fifth night, the bombardments stopped completely, and never resumed. Further north, a few years later, Elder John Leland of Cheshire was plagued by another kind of mysterious visit in the night  not as damaging, but still loud and disturbing. A firsthand account of it exists in the vault of the Berkshire Athenaeum.

One night he and his family began to hear a loud whirring sound, like an unseen wheel turning. It started by his kitchen window, and then came further and further into the house. It stopped, and then started again the next day. The sound would follow him through the house.

Over and over this happened. The noise would follow them inside and outside the house.

He took apart the window. He looked in other places for the source of the sound. Finally he removed the door off every cupboard in the place. He could not explain the noise. They were getting more and more scared.

One night in bed it was so loud it shook the house. Elder Leland put his face in his pillow and prayed. The sound grew louder then, and nearer, approaching his room. He leaped to his feet. "In the name of God, depart!"

The noise grew to its loudest and most terrible ... and then ceased. He never heard it again.

When he wrote it down in the 1830s, Leland was curiously agnostic about the matter. "These are the facts, that you may form your own opinion. I have none," he wrote.

As an interesting aside, the protege who succeeded him at the Baptist Church in Cheshire, Elder Billy Sweet, also had a strange encounter. Many times he told a story of walking past the old Cheshire graveyard and seeing a phantom white horse emerge from the ground and paw at the stars with its hoof.

Visions or miraculous sightings among clergy were not an uncommon or undesirable thing at this time. This was more than a century after the end of witch trials in New England, and the landscape of beliefs had shifted a great deal. Now, to experience the supernatural was more a sign of how devout you were than of diabolism.

In the 1800s this tremendous diversification of Christian denominations and mystical sects had begun. Some of that was due to the arrival of Mother Ann and the Shakers. And it was really Ann Lee who gave the first local accounts of encountering ghosts. In 1781 she came to the Osborn farm in Mount Washington to spread her ways and doctrines, and dozens flocked to see her. Ann Lee was always talking to angels, to the apostles, to ghosts of the departed.



The Fox sisters of Hydesville, N.Y., claimed to be able speak to the dead and held seances often attended by celebrities. They later confessed it was all fake. She died only three years later but her work went on for decades, especially on the three major Shaker communities that were built up locally in Hancock, New Lebanon and Tyringham. Then there was the lesser known commune of Shaker converts that sprung up in Savoy in a revival around 1815, and they told all sorts of stories of floating lights and apparitions. Some of it even got tied in with the early Savoy legend of a haunted tavern and a murdered traveler tale ... that's a whole other saga, in its own right. But the real peak was what they called the Era of Manifestations, or "Mother Ann's Work," from around 1837 to 1845. Now, everyone around here knows the Shakers shook, they danced themselves into ecstatic trances. But they didn't just dance, they rolled and writhed on the floor. They spoke in foreign languages. They became drunk from gifts of alcohol and native tobacco that were given them by the spirits that were visiting them in the room. Whole groups would see the apparitions, many of them famous historical figures, like Washington and Napoleon. These figures had become posthumous converts, honorary Shakers, they said. They also had a legend that they battled and defeated the devil, in person. Each of the three local communities had a version of this legend, each set at their particular holy mountain. The story went that they surrounded the devil in a circle, singing and slowly narrowing the circle until he was cornered. They killed him and buried with clamshells in his hands, face down so that if he came to and dug, he would just dig lower. In one version, the ghosts of Washington and Lafayette guarded the hill on spectral horses.

The Shakers seem to have had a profound impact on the explosion of mystical sects and practices in 19th-century America that was overlooked by scholars at first, but that's something that's changed in the last few decades. Part of that influence was geographic  most of the Shakers were located right along Route 20, a very important route. Route 20 would eventually become the longest highway in America, and in an era before telegraphs that made it an important pathway not just for people but for the transmission of ideas.

Historian Carl Carmer calls Route 20 "the psychic highway" and a "thoroughfare of the occult" and new revelations and traditions like those of the Shakers and the Seventh-Day Adventists  whose founder came from Pittsfield  spread west liberally over the so-called "Burned Over District" of New York. Hill Cumorrah where the Mormon faith was born is just 10 miles from Route 20, and just 5 or 10 miles north of that was Hydesville, N.Y., where the Fox sisters gave birth to the spiritualism movement.

There's little question that the extensive talk of Shakers summoning spirits of the dead to the east had some influence not only on the Fox sisters and their "messages from beyond" in the form of knocks and rapping on tables, but also on the large population of believers who flocked to such performances.

The spiritualist movement expanded dramatically over the next few decades. It was embraced by a slew of celebrities from Queen Victoria and Mary Todd Lincoln to scientists like Thomas Edison, and a ton of literary figures. We know local poet William Cullen Bryant attended at least one seance with the Fox sisters at the P.T. Barnum Hotel in New York, and was generally friendly to the subject. Decades of traveling mediums and clairvoyants followed, selling these ideas which had largely begun with the Shakers back to the Berkshires in glossier forms.

Well over a hundred mediums and psychics of different styles visited the Berkshires between 1850 and 1900. Most rented small spaces in North Adams or Pittsfield, occasionally there were larger performances in theaters. They found plentiful audiences and clients, but they also encountered a steady stream of skeptics keen to debunk them. There's accounts of local hecklers tricking and exposing mediums as early as 1859, making up fake dead people for them to contact, pointing out discrepancies and slight-of-hand tricks.

One of my favorite instances involves the Eddys, a family of mediums who'd become quite famous in the 1870s. They visited the Berkshires repeatedly, staying several times with the Shaker community in Hancock, where they became good friends of Elder Evans.

The Eddys had an elaborate stage show: they'd bring in this full-length cabinet with partitions, and one of them would sit inside one section and summon spirits, who would come out of the other section of the box. The spirits would be one of the other siblings in a costume. Native American apparitions were a particular favorite.



One of the Eddy brothers traveling medium shows ended in a fistfight in North Adams. In 1879, things got ugly for the Eddys at one of their North Adams appearances when A.C. Whipple, the local Baptist minister, showed up and confronted them. When an Iroquois ghost named "Honto" manifested from the cabinet, Whipple grabbed hold of the spirit, who turned out to be the Eddys brothers' sister, Mrs. Huntoon. William Eddy ran over to tussle with the minister, and then a newspaper reporter from the Transcript got involved, and all four of them ended up rolling around on the floor and throwing punches. As the Pittsfield Sun put it, "the performance was fully exposed  as was Mrs Huntoon, whose garments ended up around her head."

Despite these kinds of incidents, despite even the 1888 confessions by the Fox sisters that they'd made up all the antics that had started the whole thing, spiritualism and psychic performance kept on getting more popular toward the end of the century. Especially in North Adams, which saw at least two dozen traveling mediums and clairvoyants advertising within the last five years of the 19th century.

By then the Berkshires were half way into the Gilded Age, too, and with it a new kind of encounter with spirits was emerging  the "haunting." These were ghosts that didn't need to be summoned, or part of any revelation from God or the Devil. They had an overwhelming tendency to cling to finer houses, particularly after they became vacant, or sometimes just after they stopped entertaining guests and fell off the grid of high society.
In the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar was laid to rest and bidden final goodbye after his untimely and tragic death left thousands of his fans, friends and family members in shock and grief. Wrapped in the tricolour, he was accorded state honours.

Karnataka: The last rites of Kannada actor #PuneethRajkumar were performed at Sree Kanteerava Studios in Bengaluru today with state honours. pic.twitter.com/mzk5m9GoBR  ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2021

Apart from several South film personalities like N Balakrishna, Chiranjeevi, Junior NTR, Venkatesh, Arjun Sarja and Prabhu Deva, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also got emotional.

Karnataka | Choreographer and director Prabhu Deva today paid last respects to late actor #PuneethRajkumar at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru



It is a very sad day. I have no words to explain this loss, he says. pic.twitter.com/QY1xDNm5Yf  ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2021

He also gave him a farewell kiss and called it a personal loss. "It was a personal bonding with the entire family and more so with 'Appu' (as Mr Rajkumar was fondly called). I had seen him as a boy. We had relations since those days. Therefore I am giving him a final salute. Certainly, I was emotional".

Bengaluru | Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot

and CM Basavaraj Bommai pay respects to late actor #PuneethRajkumar pic.twitter.com/lHK0zFBpaB  ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2021

According to ANI, Daughter of actor Puneeth Rajkumar has reached Delhi (from US) & will arrive in Bengaluru by 7 pm today. As per our tradition, we don't perform funeral after sunset. His last rites will be performed at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru tomorrow: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai".

It's a personal loss to me. We have lost a very great talent: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, in Bengaluru#PuneethRajkumar https://t.co/VEV84pnAMO  ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2021

Chiranjeevi and Venkatesh shed tears as they paid homage to the young actor who succumbed to cardiac arrest on Friday. Chiranjeevi said, "We miss you Appu (Puneeth). God has taken you because you were a good person. May the Almighty give strength to your family. May your soul rest in peace. Whenever we came to Bengaluru, we visited Rajkumars family. We got used to it. It was a good experience. Puneeth was a genuine person with a good heart and soul."







Puneeth was the son of matinee idol Rajkumar. He was fondly called Appu by his fans. He made his debut as a child artist with his father in the early 1980s. His best known films included Raam, Hudugaru, and Anjani Putra. He was last seen in the film Yuvarathnaa.
Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra has now given a warning to designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee whose controversial Mangalsutra advertisement has received massive criticism from fans, some of whom have even labelled it as a lingerie advertisement.

"I have seen the (mangalsutra) advertisement. It is very objectionable. Also hurtful to religious sentiments. The yellow part of a mangalsutra stands for Parvati, while the black part represents Shiv. A mangalsutra stands for conjugal happiness. I have already raised objections before. Now I am warning designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee personally and giving him an ultimatum of 24 hours," he said in a video.



Earlier, a legal notice was issued by BJP-Maharashtra Palghar unit legal advisor Ashutosh Dubey. He said that using semi-naked models for Mangalsutra advertisements is obscene.

"I have issued a Legal notice to Sabyasachi Mukherjee Indian fashion designer regarding using semi-naked models for a Mangalsutra collection advertisement as Mangalsutra is part of Holy Hindu Marriage. He outraged the holy Hindu Marriage (Mangalsutra)," he wrote.



I have issued a Legal notice to Sabyasachi Mukherjee Indian fashion designer regarding using "semi-naked models for a Mangalsutra collection advertisement as "Mangalsutra" is part of Holy Hindu Marriage.



He outraged the holy Hindu Marriage (Mangalsutra). pic.twitter.com/QPojQtiOKH  ADV. ASHUTOSH J. DUBEY  (@AdvAshutoshBJP) October 28, 2021

Sabyasachi invited severe flak on his latest advertisement campaign, a photoshoot line for Magalsutras. The designer launched its collection of Intimate Fine Jewellery, but the campaign became the eye of the storm.



People have called the advertisement obscene. Some even said that it hurt their religious sentiments and that it is an attack on Hindu culture. Here's what's happening.


While the future for cryptocurrency globally remains uncertain, it continues to grow at a surprising rate. And now, credit card company Mastercard has announced that it would simplify the process of transacting using crypto even more.

Reuters

Also Read: How Much For Your Data? This Company Gives Free Crypto For Your Eye Scan Data

Reported first by CNBC, Mastercard is working to allow thousands of banks and merchants on its payments network to soon integrate cryptocurrency in their products. It is teaming up with Bakkt, the cryptocurrency firm that was recently spun off by Intercontinental Exchange to act as the provider of custodial services for those who sign up.



Basically, banks on Mastercards global payments network will now be able to offer crypto rewards on credit and debit cards to be paid out in cryptocurrency. Cardholders will get the option to convert their crypto holdings to pay for their purchases as well as hold digital assets via custodial wallets present on Bakkt.

Sherri Haymond, Mastercards executive vice president of digital partnerships said in an interview, We want to offer all of our partners the ability to more easily add crypto services to whatever it is theyre doing. Our partners, be they banks, fintech or merchants, can offer their customers the ability to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through an integration with the Baktt platform.

Also Read: Amitabh Bachchan To Sell His NFTs, Throws Weight Behind Crypto In India

Reuters

Haymond further said in a statement, Together with Bakkt and grounded by our principled approach to innovation, well not only empower our partners to offer a dynamic mix of digital assets options but also deliver differentiated and relevant consumer experiences.



Also Read: Crypto Scammers Target iPhone Users On Tinder, Bumble Dating Apps

This move is hardly surprising as earlier this year, Mastercard had announced that it would start to allow its cardholders to conduct some transactions on specific cryptocurrencies via its network and was working with cryptocurrencies and digital asset companies to widen the spread of crypto adoption.

Keep reading Indiatimes.com for the latest science and technology news and updates.


(The Center Square)  Republicans are trying to flip control of the Virginia House of Delegates and Democrats are trying to hold onto control with every seat on ballots throughout the state on Tuesday.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of a suspect who shot a man Oct. 20 at a Falls Church-area ATM, officials said Oct. 29.

The shooting occurred around 5:20 a.m. as the 73-year-old victim, who was on his way to work, accessed an ATM at the Wells Fargo bank branch at 2928 Annandale Road. The suspect, wearing what police say were a distinctive-looking backpack and white sneakers with thick black laces, approached the victim and startled him, causing him to drop his wallet and spill his credit cards.

The suspect shot the victim once with a revolver and departed the scene without making off with any of the victims money or credit cards, police said. No ATM transaction appears to have taken place during the incident, authorities said.

There was no struggle, there was no fight, there was no resistance, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during an earlier press briefing. The gunman just shoots our victim in the chest. One shot.

A bicyclist discovered the victim, Nelson Alexander Sr., 73, of Falls Church, lying on the ground at 6:14 a.m. that day. Alexander underwent surgery at a local hospital, but died from his injuries three days later. There was a vigil for him at the crime scene Saturday night.

Charlie Patterson, special agent in charge of ATFs Washington field office, offered Alexanders family his deepest condolences and called the shooting an absolute tragedy and unacceptable.

Patterson pledged ATFs full assistance in trying to bring the suspect to justice and said county police would have access to all of the agencys investigative and analytical resources. He encouraged people with tips on the case to call 888-ATF-TIPS. Callers may remain anonymous.

County police ask anyone who has information about the suspect, recognizes him from the banks surveillance footage or may have witnessed the shooting to call the Major Crimes Bureau at (703) 246-7800, option 2. The public also may submit tips anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477) and by texting FCCS plus tip to 847411.

Maj. Edward OCarroll, commander of the Fairfax County Police Departments Major Crimes/Cyber and Forensics Bureau, said the department has been inundated with tips from the community regarding this case.

OCarroll called the shooting a very tragic and senseless loss.

County police played a video showing what appears to be the suspect and two other young men boarding a Metrobus on Oct. 20 at 1:20 a.m. near the Seven Corners Shopping Center in the 6200 block of Arlington Boulevard. The video depicts the trio getting on the bus, chatting in the seats during the ride and departing in the city of Alexandria.

Another video shows a dark-colored 2009 Nissan Murano near the crime scene around the time of the shooting. Authorities said the vehicle had been stolen several hours earlier from the 5200 block of Dover Place in the city of Alexandria.

County police on Oct. 24 found the vehicle on Marshall Street about a half-mile from the bank branch and continue to process it for forensic evidence. Police think the vehicle was abandoned shortly after the shooting. Police are trying to identify all three people in the bus video and are asking area residents to review their home-surveillance video footage not only from Oct. 19 to 20 but also from days preceding the shooting.

Authorities think the three people in the video may have been engaged in other criminal activity that night. The encounter that ended with Alexanders shooting likely was a crime of opportunity, OCarroll said.

At least one of the young men in the video at times bared his face completely, so some members of the public likely can identify him, police said. Authorities are trying to identify all three of the men in the video, OCarroll said.

Justice is necessary before another person gets hurt or killed in our community, he said.

Falls Church man shot in ATM robbery dies of his injuries The case of the senior man who was shot during an ATM robbery in Falls Church has been upgra

Fairfax police use full-court press to find shooter of man at ATM Fairfax County police are seeking a suspect who shot a 73-year-old man Oct. 20 as he was accessing an ATM in the Falls Church area.
Woodbridge, VA (22192)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 49F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 31F. Winds light and variable.
Bord Bia has announced a return to trade show activity with a calendar of events across Europe this autumn, including the recent ministerial-led trade visit to Germany to coincide with Anuga, one of the largest international trade shows taking place every second year, and a crucial landmark on the global food industry calendar.

Bord Bia also coordinated the Irish presence at a host of other European trade fairs, including Sirha in Lyon, Conxemar in Spain and Tuttofood in Italy. It will also co-ordinate visits to Food Ingredients Europe in November, in addition to the largest private label show, PLMA, in the Netherlands in December.

As the world reopens, the opportunity to meet face to face at international trade shows and drive business is incredibly important, says Bord Bias CEO, Tara McCarthy.

These trade shows and trade visits are critical for the export-led recovery of the sector, not least because of the business potential involved for Irish companies trading within the EU, which represents 34% of total Irish food and drink exports.

This relentless focus on recovery and market diversification is critical as we seek to trade our way through 2021 and beyond in more innovative ways than ever to deliver the additional 8bn in exports needed to meet the Irish governments ambitious target of 21bn in Irish agri-food exports by 2030.

Trade visits are designed to support the accelerated export-led recovery of Irish food and drink businesses in the Eurozone, while also promoting the 13bn sector to international buyers.

Structured engagements, both virtual and in person, are more important than ever, said minister of state with responsibility for research and development, farm safety, and new market development, Martin Heydon.

They offer a real opportunity to communicate the premium quality of Irelands food and drink offering, and to the benefit of all those along the supply chain, particularly farmers as our primary producers. This is all part of our strategic response to the challenges the agri-food sector faces arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit impacts and will be about strengthening opportunities for Irish exporting companies while also looking at how we can build on what is already there and diversify into new markets.

Germany is Irelands fifth largest export market for food and drink with an estimated export value of 801m in 2020 and an overall growth of 4%, despite the impact of the pandemic.

In associated news, a recent report by Bord Bia forecast that the Irish food service market  including restaurants, hotel food and beverage, pubs, office catering and other segments that provide food away from home  will grow by 11% on last year to reach almost 5bn by year end, with an additional 56% growth predicted for 2022.

Last year, following eight years of consecutive growth, the food service market fell by a stark 47%  from 8.5bn to 4.5bn.
The announcement by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that the social media giant will change the name of its holding company to Meta in a virtual-reality rebrand has prompted dismay and bemusement.

Yesterday, Zuckerberg said Meta would encompass Facebook as well as apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and the virtual reality brand Oculus.

Announcing @Meta  the Facebook companys new name. Meta is helping to build the metaverse, a place where well play and connect in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of social connection. pic.twitter.com/ywSJPLsCoD  Meta (@Meta) October 28, 2021

The rebrand comes as the company faces a series of public relations crises. A trove of recently leaked documents now known as The Facebook Papers exposed the inner workings of the company, with allegations from whistleblower Frances Haugen that Facebook has put profits ahead of ridding its platform of hate speech and misinformation.

Satirical late-night news programme The Daily Show tweaked Zuckerbergs Meta presentation video by superimposing the tech billionaire onto footage of the January 6 Capitol riots and the 2017 Charlottesville white nationalist march. Both events were organised on Facebook.

Imagine youve put on your glasses or headset and youre instantly in your home space and it has an incredibly inspiring view of whatever you find most beautiful, Zuckerberg says as footage of Capital rioters and a group of tiki-torch-bearing white supremacists plays in the background.

Nobody asked for this new Facebook feature pic.twitter.com/18pHZUX3Ej  The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 28, 2021

Politicians across all party lines also joined the conversation about the controversial rebrand.

New York progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didnt hold back in her disapproval, calling the company a cancer to democracy and a global surveillance and propaganda machine for boosting authoritarian regimes and destroying civil society.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

US senators Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey didnt mince their words either.

Blumenthal, a former Attorney General of Connecticut, alleged the name change was nothing more than an effort to confuse and distract, but ultimately wont erase years of devious practices and disregard for privacy, kids wellbeing, spreading hate, & genocide.

Markey refused to acknowledge the name change.

Facebook wants us to start calling it Meta, but were just going to keep calling it what it is  a threat to privacy, democracy, and children, he said.

Away from the motives for the rebrand, some took issue with the name Meta itself.

Meta is such a low-effort, first draft name that multiple consulting companies definitely got paid millions of dollars to come up with, said comedian and producer Mike Drucker.

Author and science vlogger Hank Green wrote: And it was on that day that thats so meta went from being an interesting observation to a devastating insult.

Other companies joined the rebranding bandwagon. Fast food outlet Wendys tweeted: Changing name to Meat.

Changing name to Meat  Wendys (@Wendys) October 28, 2021

Twitter also jumped on board with the official Twitter account joking they had big news followed by the clarification  lol jk still twitter.

BIG NEWS lol jk still Twitter  Twitter (@Twitter) October 28, 2021

The social media platforms CEO, Jack Dorsey, offered a definition to help anyone confused by the change.

Meta: referring to itself or to the conventions of its genre; self-referential, he wrote.

The Guardian
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said the world must act now if we are to leave a habitable planet to future generations.

Ahead of his departure for the World Leaders Summit at the start of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (Cop26) in Glasgow, the Taoiseach said he hopes the Cop26 will see a "real coming together for global action".

Climate change is already a reality in all parts of the world. If we are to leave a habitable planet to future generations we must act now," he said.

The challenge is big, but I have faith in the capacity of humans to work together to overcome it. Science is leading the way. Leaders must put the right policies in place, as we are doing in Ireland.

He added that he hopes Cop26 will see a real step forward in climate finance, supporting the most vulnerable countries.

The transition must deliver climate justice  nobody should be left behind.

The world leaders summit, which takes place across Monday and Tuesday will kick off two weeks of discussions on global action to climate change among 196 countries, and the EU.

On Monday afternoon, the Taoiseach will take part in a world leaders summit action and solidarity event, a round table event for leaders, hosted by Boris Johnson.

'The challenge is big, but I have faith in the capacity of humans to work together to overcome it,' said Micheal Martin who is attending the world leaders summit in Glasgow. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

On Tuesday, the Taoiseach will deliver Irelands national statement to the summit, setting out how Ireland is contributing to the achievement of the Paris goals.

The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) here admitted in recent days it will be a very significant challenge for Ireland to meet the required 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

That target is already being seen as out of date, with a new United Nations report demanding emissions reductions of at least 55%.
Gardai have made a number of renewed appeals to help identify four bodies discovered in Clare and Sligo in the last 12 years.

Two of the bodies were discovered at the Cliffs of Moher, while the other two were discovered in Doolin and at a beach in Sligo.

The cases are set to feature on Irelands Unidentified Bodieson Virgin Media this evening and gardai have made a renewed appeal for information.

The documentary series follows gardai and forensic scientists across multiple cases, as they try to solve the mystery of a body without a name.

In all cases, foul play was ruled out but gardai are hoping people can bring forward information that will concluded them.

Rosses Point

On June 16, 2009, the body of a man was found on a beach at Rosses Point. The man is buried in an unmarked grave in Sligo Cemetery.

Gardai established at the time that the man had only arrived in Sligo shortly before he died.

He checked himself into a hotel under a false name  Peter Bergman  on June 12.

In Ep2 of Ireland's Unidentified Bodies, Supt. John OReilly describes how the case of an unidentified male found on the beach in Rosses Point in 09 has had a profound effect on him and haunts him 11 years on. Ireland's Unidentified Bodies every Sunday at 10pm on VirginMediaOne. pic.twitter.com/2ehSLNPLf1  Mind the Gap Films (@MindtheGapFilms) October 28, 2021

He was sighted and captured on CCTV in and around the Sligo area for a number of days before he was found deceased at Rosses Point.

Items found on the rocks near where he was discovered included:

black leather Finn Comfort shoes, size 44, manufactured in 2002 in Germany;

dark socks;

a black leather C&A jacket;

navy C&A chino trousers;

a black sleeveless Tommy Hilfiger jumper;

a black leather belt, called Key West USA, made in Italy.

Gardai have issued the appeal in the hope of bringing the case to a conclusion.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sligo Garda Station 071-9157000, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any garda Station.

Cliffs of Moher

The three Clare cases are all being investigated by gardai in Kilrush.

On August 14, 2016, the body of a woman was recovered near Doolin, Co Clare by a member of the Burren sub-aqua unit in the course of a training exercise.

Partial clothing on the body included denim jeans bearing the label Esmara and another item of clothing which was purple in colour bearing a size tag 40/42. A black belt with a woven pattern was also recovered.

The second body recovered in Clare was a man found floating in the water off the Cliffs of Moher on July 30, 2010.

Clothing recovered on the deceased included; black socks and black Velcro strapped runners. The runners bore the label "Indoneisa and Budapest.

A reconstruction was carried out and an image produced by the University of Dundee in Scotland. The image was shown on an episode of Crimecall in October 2014, but the deceased has yet to be identified.

In this week's episode of 'Ireland's Unidentified Bodies' (Sun 31st Oct at 10pm on Virgin Media One), Garda Mervyn Forde and Dr Christopher Rynn describe the production of a facial reconstruction for an unidentified male discovered near the Cliffs of Moher in 2010. pic.twitter.com/1AeRQgqcSM  Mind the Gap Films (@MindtheGapFilms) October 30, 2021

On October 4, 2018, a womans body was also discovered off the Cliffs of Moher.

She was described an Asian female, around 58 in height. She had a slim build and estimated to be aged in her early 50s.

Three items of jewellery were recovered on body; a gold ring with the words "Caby on the inside, a gold ring with green stones and a gold bracelet.

Anyone with information on these three cases is asked to contact Kilrush Garda Station 065 9080557, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any garda station.
A district court has directed that two vehicles impounded by gardai after being parked outside a west Waterford Garda station for almost three years, must be restored to their owners.

The order also leaves An Garda with a large bill in accumulated storage fees.

The 06 Ford Transit van and 97 VW Polo had advertised accusatory statements against a senior Dungarvan Garda over an administrative grievance.

Thomas OSullivan and Laurie Murphy, both of Whitegate, Midleton brought an application for the vehicles return to Dungarvan District Court under the Police Property Act.

They also contested associated summonses.

The case origins, which were not referenced in court, date back to 2017 when a warrant was issued for Mr OSullivans arrest due to his non-appearance in court on a public behaviour-related charge that was later dismissed.

Mr OSullivans claim that he never received the court summons was later substantiated by An Post.

He then sought to have the record removed from the Garda PULSE system but Superintendent Michael Leacy declined, insisting it was a factual representation of An Garda Siochana in this case".

In early 2018 Mr OSullivan parked the vehicles opposite Dungarvan Garda station, with testimony of his grievances attached in large lettering.

Despite a written apology from Assistant Garda Commissioner Michael Finn in 2019 and a note of vindication added to the Pulse record, Mr OSullivan demanded the superintendent apologise or the vehicles remained.

Gardai seized the vehicles at 6.40pm on September 19 last under the 1994 Road Traffic Act and brought them to a Garda compound in Waterford city.

Garda Sergeant Tom Gahan told Judge Brian OShea that relevant road worthiness and insurance certificates were not displayed.

Solicitor for the applicants Daithi ODonnabhain said the vehicles were not in use at the time but were taxed, insured and legally parked.

He said efforts to reach a solution through correspondence with the superintendent, who was not in court, had failed.

Judge OShea ruled that the State had failed to furnish the court with evidence of registered ownership of the vehicles and quashed the summonses.

Storage fees

Garda Inspector Stephen Murphy said storage fees of 35 per day per vehicle now totalled almost 8,000 and gardai were requesting the payment before releasing the vehicles.

However Judge OShea accused gardai of effectively exercising a lien over the vehicles as a device to get payment for the fees.

He said the court could order the destruction or return of the property but the outstanding fees was a civil issue, not a criminal one and it was the gardais option whether to pursue it accordingly.

The judge ordered the vehicles to be returned to the appellants by November 5.

He denied the appellants' request for costs.
Ten days ago, the Taoiseach and Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae had what, on other occasions, might be regarded as a colourful exchange in the Dail.

Mr Healy-Rae put it to Mr Martin, that he, the Taoiseach, had been quoted as saying he was going to reduce the size of the national dairy and beef herd as part of a climate plan. Mr Martin replied that he said no such thing. Youve been quoted in the papers, said Danny. Its out there that youre going to reduce the national herd.

Mr Martin repeated that he wanted to know where he was quoted. As far as he was concerned, he said no such thing. Danny blustered. The Taoiseach got in a dig about Danny making up stuff every day. And so it descended into ruille buille.

What separated this exchange from the usual waffle was the matter at issue. Reducing the national herd in order to cut down on methane gas emissions is considered to be a political landmine.

Danny wanted to make hay on the issue, a chance for him to stand up and declare that you can have your climate change policy, but stay away from our cattle. The Taoiseach carefully stepped around the landmine.

Danny Healy-Rae speaking in the town square in Bantry, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

The sacred cow that is the national herd represents a perfect example of how far politics has to travel in order to accommodate the new dispensation being ushered in by the climate crisis.

The scientific argument is done. Everybody knows what is required. Yet, when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, transformational change is viewed as a threat rather than an opportunity.

Last Monday, the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) set out its submission for the first carbon budget, which will determine what must be cut where to achieve a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030. In the section on agriculture, it was pointed out that it is currently very difficult to mitigate against methane emissions, which largely come from the bovine stock.

The difficulty of mitigating enteric methane at present means that deep cuts in methane would require cuts in animal numbers, which could be very challenging for Ireland, the report read.

In other words, these scientists cant see any way around cutting the national herd.

Environment minister Eamon Ryan said this week that the size of the herd will reduce naturally. Fianna Fail backbench TD Barry Cowen told another radio programme on Tuesday that its a lazy narrative to talk about cutting the herd.

That is the level of debate about one contentious element of the new dispensation. The body politic is obviously of the opinion that the public at large, and particularly rural Ireland, is not yet ready to deal with the specifics of tackling climate change.

Politicians are clinging to the instinctive tactic of kicking the can down the road.

On Wednesday, former Fine Gael minister Michael Ring told his parliamentary party meeting that he thought he was at a Green party parliamentary party meeting. According to the Irish Examiners Paul Hosford, Ring said the Dublin-orientated green agenda was going to finish the Fine Gael party.

Fine Gael TD Michael Ring. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

And who exactly would replace them? A new party of independents led by Danny Healy-Rae who believes that only God above controls the weather?

Agriculture is to be treated as a special case in this country because of its role in society, the economy, and the production of food. But at a time when the planet is facing an existential crisis, there is only so much leeway that can be given to any sector.

Succumbing to the lobby that shouts loudest usually results in the impact of new policies falling heaviest on the sectors with the least voice. Such an approach simply wont suffice when dealing with an existential threat to the planet and future generations. Without climate justice, the moral force driving action to arrest the crisis is hollowed out.

So does the country need to cut the number of cows in the country? According to the CCAC, output in the agriculture sector will fall over the coming decade by between 9% and 17%. If the high volume of emissions from cows is a no-go area, what other parts of agriculture will have to bear a disproportionate burden?

And if agriculture as a whole is to be even more favourably treated compared to other sectors, then who exactly should be targeted to change their lives, standards of living, and livelihoods to make up the shortfall?

Leo Varadkar told Fine Gaels meeting on Wednesday that the party has a good story to tell on climate change, if were willing to tell it. So far, there is no such willingness  and if not now, when?

Its not just the Government that needs to get real, pronto. Sinn Fein and a number of left-wing entities believe that carbon tax should not be increased, despite extensive evidence that such a policy is highly effective in changing lifestyles and reducing emissions.

The objections are largely based on the premise that carbon tax hikes fall disproportionately on those least able to afford it. Yet, built into the carbon tax regime is the ringfencing of revenue to be put directly towards assisting those most impacted.

Ordinarily, simply objecting outright to an unpopular tax is politically astute or cynical, depending on your perspective.

But the future of the planet is not an ordinary political issue. Removing the carbon tax from the quiver of actions to be used in tackling emissions places a greater burden on other strategies and systems.

Inevitably, those with the least voice will bear the greatest load when political manoeuvring is the main focus.

These challenges are not unique to this country. The Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow will be heavily informed by sectoral political interests.

National governments are increasingly talking the talk, but many among them still refuse to walk the walk. Australia, for instance, only this week announced a plan to end emissions by 2050. The plan is not enforced in law, and largely amounts to a target with no penalties attached.

The fossil fuel industry in Australia has the kind of influence that nearly all lobby groups in this country could only dream about.

The resistance to change, the special pleading, the redundant anger directed at the so-called green agenda will all be amplified next week when the Governments climate action plan is published.

Despite that, change will come to the body politic. Nationally, the sacred cows will face the chop in one sense or another. Lobby groups will be shown the door, cynical policies abandoned.

The problem is that time is not on our side. Leaders need to begin telling the good story on climate change without any further delay.

Leaders need to actually lead, persuade, reassure. That might go against natural instincts in politics today, but it has never been more vital.
Our homes have become our fortresses more than ever before.

Architect Roisin Murphy, fresh from shooting the latest series of Home Rescue, agrees: The home really is the castle now and thats a concept thats here to stay.

But, behind the ramparts, Roisin has met more homeowners than ever that have moved her.

Because the architect cares deeply about the human element of the tales she and builder Peter Finn and their clutter-busting crew discover once they knock on the doors.

Architect Roisin Murphy and builder Peter Fin

There are people living extraordinary lives, and on different terms to everyone else, she says, as Home Rescue: The Big Fix started on RTE2 this week.

One of the big issues in Ireland is people who have kids with special needs need more support. For me, enough is enough. Some people  their stories are so extraordinary. They would put some of our ordinary everyday lives in context.

You really dont hear enough about supports  and there are more supports for people in other countries.

Every day, parents are living these extraordinary lives.

Roisin was glad that Home Rescue: The Big Fix has now been expanded into an hour-long show, as it allows the team to spend five days instead of three on each project.

Because a highlight of the entire series for the mum of three was working with Marie Kelly and Dan Stevens and their twin sons Max and Cuinn at their house in Kilcock on the Royal Canal in north Kildare.

I would have liked to have spent the entire series with this family if I had been allowed, she says.

Max and Cuinn both have autism, and their home simply does not work for them or their parents.

Before: The kitchen.

The former living room now serves as a bedroom and the kitchen is dark and cluttered, with space for just one person to use at a time.

But the entire house was also overflowing with joy, she adds.

What struck me about this family was, there are people who work at a different level and its all day, every day and they have a lot of love, and a lot of joy, thats what this family taught me. But, God, Jesus, they could do with a digout.

Marie and Australian expat Dan met in 1998 in Dublin.

I was selling books and you could see he was pretending to be looking at a book, she says.

Dan Stevens and Marie Kelly.

He asked her to marry him the day they met. I said yes, but youre going to have to ask me again a few months from now when we know one another better, she says. Three months later, Dan moved to Ireland for good and they tied the knot in 2000.

Five years later they were joined by Max and Cuinn.

The past decade has been a particularly tough one for the family. Serious health problems have put Dan out of work, leaving Marie the sole breadwinner as a part-time instructor for young adults with special needs.

The rest of Maries time and all of Dans is spent caring for Max and Cuinn. Max has severe autism and Cuinn has mild to moderate autism.

We have no life, says Dan. We are like people working in a factory and the job we have in this factory is caring for these two boys.

The sunroom/living space has become something of a utility room.

Downstairs, the house simply doesnt function well, especially the cluttered kitchen with two ovens on their last legs and no room to cook.

The yellow-painted sunroom has morphed into a utility room, and the living room is now Dans bedroom, packed with furniture including an unused piano.

We had great dreams for this house but the house went on the back burner, says Dan.

Architect Roisin hatches a plan to rescue the house by rejigging the layout. Theyre up against it every day from the moment they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night; its full-on, she says.

Her plan involves swapping the kitchen and sunroom but, with a tangled legacy of wires and pipework to relocate, builder Peter and the crew face a mammoth challenge.

With a whole new kitchen and living room to create from scratch, a new home to be found for the old piano, and a massive sorting job for Dan, Marie and the clutterbusters camp out on the green. We tried to start decluttering a while ago but we just dont have the energy, says Dan.

The most ambitious Home Rescue yet involves emptying three construction tents.

Dan and Maries house is very moving. I mean, you walk in there and you sense the love in the house but you also sense the chaos in the layout. Nothing is going right in the layout, says Roisin. So, if its wrong, youre facing that problem, all day every day.

A shower room opens into the kitchen  a room Roisin describes as a prison as it is so confined.

The family would love to eat together but there is no space. We cant get it wrong, this is heart surgery. The kitchen is the heart and were doing a transplant, says Roisin.

If its not high-risk its really only decoration  and theres nothing wrong with decoration: Its an important part of design. Really good design is about changing patterns of behaviour to improve them.

She and Peter transform the dark, broken kitchen and the gloomy living room, and reinvent both spaces.

I can be quite quirky and eccentric but I wanted it to look like a show house, says Roisin. I wanted panelling and I wanted it to be relatively conservative and I wanted to do it for them.

Of her mission on Home Rescue, she adds: I am really devoted to the job. We cajole and boss people  we only have a few days and this is not just for the telly, its also peoples homes so I want to make sure the homeowners get bang for their buck.
Sudanese security forces shot dead two people during mass protests against the countrys recent military coup, a doctors union said.

The shootings came despite repeated appeals by the West to Sudans new military rulers to show restraint and allow peaceful protests.

Thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets, where whistles and drums accompany chants of revolution, revolution in protest of Mondays coup, which threatens to derail the countrys fitful transition to democracy.

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.

The United States and the United Nations had warned Sudans strongman, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, that they view the militarys treatment of the protesters as a test, and called for restraint.

Gen Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon.

People make their way to join a protest (Marwan Ali/AP)

The pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.

Saturdays 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.

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 demand the dismantling of the now-ruling military council, led by Burhan, and the handover of the government to civilians.

They also seek the dismantling of paramilitary groups and restructuring of the military, intelligence and security agencies. They want officers loyal to al-Bashir to be removed.

One of the protesters killed Saturday in Khartoums twin city of Omdurman was shot in his head, and the other in his stomach, the Sudan Doctors Committee said.

The committee, which is part of the Sudanese Professionals Association, said security forces had used live ammunition against protesters in Omdurman around the capital.

A man waves the Sudanese national flag (Marwan Ali/AP)

It said an unspecified number of protesters were also wounded.

Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoums centre, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the professionals association.

No power-sharing mediation with the military council again, he said.

They (the generals) have failed the transition and instated a coup.

Mr Al-Mustafa spoke over the phone while he took part in the protest in Khartoums Manshia neighbourhood.

Before the start of the protests, security forces had blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoums neighbourhoods.

Security was tight in the city centre and outside the militarys headquarters, the site of a major sit-in camp in the 2019 uprising

Since the military takeover, there have been daily street protests.

A woman chants slogans during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan (Marwan Ali/AP)

With Saturdays fatal shooting, the overall number of people killed by the security forces since the coup rose to 11, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee and activists.

At least 170 others have been injured, according to the UN.

There were fears that security forces may again resort to violence to disperse protesters.

Since Mondays coup troops have fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup demonstrators.

They also beat protesters with sticks and whips.

Representatives of the UN and the US have urged the military to show restraint.
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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
Joplin, MO (64801)

Today

Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 48F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 48F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
FILE - Wade Kitner looks at the northern lights as he fishes in Ventura, Iowa, on Tuesday, June 23, 2015. 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 the Halloween weekend, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021.
Lafayette - With the turmoil thats been happening within the Lafayette Police Department over the past few weeks, it's sure to have an effect on the department both internally and externally?

LPD hasnt had a police chief last four years on the job since former chief Jim Craft served from 2007 to 2016. When you have such turnover in a department, it's will result in "a huge domino effect," said Chris Stewart, executive director for the Louisiana Law Enforcement Association.

Its been a revolving door for LPD, which has had five police chiefs in the last five years. Stewart served in law enforcement for 26 years and said with such turnover, it can start to affect morale within the department.

"It kind of keeps the department in an upheaval all the time," he said. "Its uncertainty and nobody likes uncertainty, especially at your job that you go into every day."

Taking a look at policy and potentially making changes is one of the most important aspects for a police chief, but in order for that to happen, they must first get acclimated with their department said Stewart.

"On average, probably at least six months to a year for a chief to settle down into the job," Stewart said.

With former Police Chief Thomas Glover being fired 10 months into his job and Interim Chief Wayne Griffin being placed on administrative leave 48 hours after taking over, fingers are now being pointed at the source, the Guillory administration.

Stewart said "its a direct reflection of the mayor because, in almost every municipality in the state, the mayor makes the decisions.

Those in the community havent shied away from demanding answers either. During a city council meeting, former NAACP president Marja Broussard told Guillory, we always believe that actions speak louder than words and...Mayor Guillory...your action in firing...Chief Glover is really the last straw.

Stewart said the turnover of chiefs in recent years has an effect on the community and its relationship with the police. "When we keep continuing to have that break in continuity and changes and personalities and policies and everything else, it leaves the community kind of scratching their heads like what do we do now," he said.
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
GILROY, Calif. (AP)  Police in Northern California have launched an investigation into a fatal shooting at a city councilmember's home where one person died and three other people were injured Saturday.

The Gilroy Police Department says the shooting occurred at about 12:55 a.m. during a large outdoor party at the home of Gilroy City Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz's home.

Armendariz told The San Francisco Chronicle in a statement on Saturday that she was unable to share details because of an active police investigation. Police say a suspect fatally shot a man. Three other people were injured and taken to hospitals.

There current conditions are unknown. Police did not name the man who died or any of the injured people.
Specifics about former President Donald Trump's efforts to keep secret the support from his White House for overturning his loss of the 2020 election were revealed in late-night court filings that detail more than 700 pages of handwritten notes, draft documents and daily logs his top advisers kept related to January 6.

The National Archives outlined for the first time in a sworn declaration what Trump wants to keep secret.

And the US House has told a federal court that Trump has no right to keep confidential more than 700 documents from his presidency, citing a committee's need to reconstruct Trump's efforts to undermine the 2020 election and his actions on January 6.

The court filings are in response to a lawsuit Trump brought nearly two weeks ago in which he is attempting to block congressional investigators from accessing hundreds of pages of records they requested from the National Archives, which inherited Trump's presidential papers. The House presents itself as in agreement with the Biden administration, in an unusual show of inter-branch alignment, to oppose Trump.

The records Trump wants to keep secret include handwritten memos from his chief of staff about January 6, call logs of the then-President and former Vice President Mike Pence and White House visitor records, additional court records revealed early Saturday morning.

"In 2021, for the first time since the Civil War, the Nation did not experience a peaceful transfer of power," the House Committee wrote. "The Select Committee has reasonably concluded that it needs the documents of the then-President who helped foment the breakdown in the rule of law. ... It is difficult to imagine a more critical subject for Congressional investigation."

Trump's court case is a crucial and potentially historic legal fight over the authority of a former president to protect his term in office, the House's subpoena power and the reach of executive privilege.

The secret records

Trump is trying to keep secret from the House more than 700 pages from the files of his closest advisers up to and on January 6, according to a sworn declaration from the National Archives' B. John Laster, which the Biden administration submitted to the DC District Court on Saturday.

Those records include working papers from then-White House chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the press secretary and a White House lawyer who had notes and memos about Trump's efforts to undermine the election.

In the Meadows documents alone, there are three handwritten notes about the events of January 6 and two pages listing briefings and telephone calls about the Electoral College certification, the archivist said.

Laster's outline of the documents offers the first glimpse into the paperwork that would reveal goings-on inside the West Wing as Trump supporters gathered in Washington and then overran the US Capitol, disrupting the certification of the 2020 vote.

Trump is also seeking to keep secret 30 pages of his daily schedule, White House visitor logs and call records, Laster wrote. The call logs, schedules and switchboard checklists document "calls to the President and Vice President, all specifically for or encompassing January 6, 2021," Laster said.

Those types of records could answer some of the most closely guarded facts of what happened between Trump and other high-level officials, including those under siege on Capitol Hill on January 6.

The records Trump wants to keep secret also include draft speeches, a draft proclamation honoring two police officers who died in the siege and memos and other documents about supposed election fraud and efforts to overturn Trump's loss of the presidency.

Historic court fight

Some of the questions Trump has raised in his lawsuit have never before been decided by a court. If Trump convinces judges to put Archives' document productions on hold as the case makes its way through appeals, the delay tactic could cripple parts of the House panel's investigation.

Generally, the House has sought records held by the Archives that speak to plans to disrupt the electoral count in Congress, preparation for the pro-Trump rallies before and on January 6 and what Trump had learned about the soundness of voting after the election.

The ex-President now claims he should have the ability to assert executive privilege even when the current President will not, and that the House's requests for records from his presidency are illegitimate.

So far, the Biden White House has declined to keep information about the Trump White House leading up to January 6 private, citing the "extraordinary" Trump-led attempt to overturn the 2020 election and the ongoing bipartisan House investigation. And the Archives -- represented by Biden's Justice Department in court -- has sided with President Joe Biden's directions.

In its own court filing overnight, the National Archives backed the House's request for access, arguing that the attack on the Capitol is worthy of waiving executive privilege.

"President Biden's sober determination that the public interest requires disclosure is manifestly reasonable, and his to make," lawyers for the Biden administration wrote in court.

The Archives has said it plans to begin releasing disputed Trump-era records to the House beginning November 12, unless a court intervenes.

Judge Tanya Chutkan of the US District Court in DC will hold a key hearing on Trump's lawsuit on Thursday.

Former members and scholars take Congress' side

In recent days, the fight over the Trump-era National Archives documents has been heating up.

A bipartisan group of 66 former members of Congress, including some Republicans who had served in leadership posts, told a federal court earlier this week they support the US House in the case.

Their position comes in a "friend of the court" brief this week that Chutkan could look to for legal guidance.

The former members say the need for Congress to understand the January 6 attack shouldn't be undermined by Trump, and they are urging Chutkan to reject his request for a court order that would stop the Archives from turning over documents.

"An armed attack on the United States Capitol that disrupted the peaceful transfer of presidential power -- and not the document requests necessary to investigate it -- is the only grave threat to the Constitution before the Court," the former members write.

A group of government transparency organizations, law professors and other experts are also supporting the House, and the Archives turning over the Trump records, according to court filings.

The case also could play into the possible criminal prosecution of Trump ally Steve Bannon, who has defied a subpoena from the House January 6 committee by pointing to Trump's challenge in court and the possibility the former President might try to claim communications with Bannon are protected. The House voted to hold him in contempt last week, and the Justice Department has said it is evaluating whether to prosecute him.

The-CNN-Wire

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Many pediatricians have already placed their orders for child-sized doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and are anxiously awaiting their shipments of shots.

And parents are coming at them with a lot of questions: When can my child come in to get their vaccine? And what are the side effects?

But before administering vaccine, doctors' offices are waiting for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to give the green light. And, of course, they're waiting for the vaccines themselves.

On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized two 10-microgram doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to be administered three weeks apart to children ages 5 to 11. Vaccine maker Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said they will begin shipping the pediatric doses of their vaccine immediately.

'Everybody is very excited -- even my kids,' Dr. Ilan Shapiro, medical director of health education and wellness for a federally qualified health clinic at AltaMed in California, told CNN on Friday. His children are ages 6 and 9.

Some 28 million children ages 5 to 11 are eligible for the vaccine, and pediatricians and pharmacies are already preparing to administer their shots, once the CDC recommends doing so. On Tuesday, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is meeting to discuss the vaccines.

As the nation approaches this historic moment in the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccinating the youngest age group yet against Covid-19, pediatricians' offices report the mood among parents is a mix of eagerness and hesitancy.

'This is what I expected'

For Dr. Christina Johns, senior medical adviser at PM Pediatrics and a pediatrician in Annapolis, Maryland, the mix of moods is what she expected.

'Two-thirds of families are excited for the vaccine -- these families want to be first in line and will be signing their children up once available,' Johns wrote in an email to CNN about her patients' families.

'One-third of families, on the other hand, are still hesitant and have questions,' she added. 'This is what I expected and falls in line with data from other medical groups.'

Dr. Ania Wajnberg, director of clinical antibody testing at The Mount Sinai Hospital, has seen a similar mix of moods around getting children vaccinated.

'I think probably about a third are dying to do this. I fall into that group,' said Wajnberg, a mother of two children between the ages of 5 and 11. She added that the pandemic has been difficult for children since many have been social distancing from friends and loved ones, and some families view getting vaccinated as a way to bring children a new level of freedom as well as some protection against Covid-19.

'Then I think there's about a third that are nervous and want to wait a little,' Wajnberg said. 'So, they might feel more comfortable after some weeks or months when hundreds of thousands or millions of kids have gotten it. And then of course there may be a group that wants to wait a bit longer.'

The questions some parents have

The majority of US parents in one nationwide survey reported that they will not get their younger children vaccinated right away.

The survey, published Thursday from the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that among parents of children ages 5 to 11, only 27% said they are eager to vaccinate their children against the virus as soon as a vaccine becomes available. A third say they will wait a while to see how the vaccine is working and 30% said they will definitely not get the vaccine for their 5-11-year-olds.

About 76% of those surveyed said that they were 'very' or 'somewhat' concerned about long-term side effects, while 71% worried about serious side effects. A growing number of people also seemed to believe the myth that vaccines could impact fertility. About 66% of people surveyed said they were 'very' or 'somewhat' concerned that the vaccine may negatively impact their child's future fertility.

Those are some of the same concerns that parents have shared with Shapiro, the pediatrician and father based in California.

Most of his patients' parents have asked: ''What are the side effects?' 'What do we know about fertility?' And the third one, 'If I want to have it, when can I get it?' Those are the main three questions,' Shapiro said.

In its announcement about authorizing the vaccine for children, the FDA noted that the vaccine's safety was studied in about 3,100 children ages 5 through 11 who received the vaccine. No serious side effects have been detected in the ongoing study.

Commonly reported side effects in the clinical trial included a sore arm where the shot was administered, redness and swelling, fatigue, headache, muscle or joint pain, chills, fever, swollen lymph nodes, nausea and decreased appetite.

Side effects were generally mild to moderate and occurred within two days after vaccination, and most went away within one to two days, the FDA reported. More children reported side effects after the second dose than after the first dose.

'And of course you have the question, 'What's happening with fertility?' Right now we have a lot of good information that that's completely not happening. There's no reason why parents should be afraid of infertility in kids,' Shapiro said.

'And a lot of parents actually do want to vaccinate,' he added. 'But the question is when? Do I need to use another day of school? Do we need to lose another day of work? There's a lot of other complicated questions.'

Shapiro said that he hopes children get vaccinated quickly in order for the United States to avoid a serious surge in Covid-19 cases this upcoming winter.

'We're closing on the window that we can make a huge difference for December, January and February. That's my main concern right now,' Shapiro said.

'Right now, if we do not strongly do something, I'm extremely worried of what's going to happen in December,' he said. 'We know it takes six weeks to make a difference. So then if I get vaccinated November 1, my body will be defending me completely by December 15. So the window is now -- for adults and for kids.'

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is administered as two doses three weeks apart, and in general, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose.

'The biggest challenge right now is the unknown'

Pfizer's vaccine for the younger children is not only reformulated at one-third the dose, but re-packaged -- with a new orange top, so it will be difficult to mix up with the adult vaccine.

The Biden administration has secured enough vaccine supply to vaccinate the 28 million children ages 5 to 11 who are eligible for vaccination and will help equip more than 25,000 pediatric and primary care offices, hundreds of community health centers and rural health clinics as well as tens of thousands of pharmacies to administer the shots, according to the White House.

The vaccine that Pfizer tested in children is the same as the one used in adults, but a smaller dose -- 10 micrograms, rather than 30 micrograms. The vaccine is expected to ship in packages of 100 doses, which is much smaller than the packages of 1,170 doses used for the adult vaccines.

Hypothetically, providers could start giving Covid-19 shots to 5-to-11-year-olds right now under the FDA's emergency use authorization and before the CDC's recommendation to do so -- something that occurred when vaccines were authorized for older kids -- but that still would depend on which providers' orders for vaccine are filled first and how quickly those providers receive shipments of the doses.

'The main difference for this rollout is that pediatrician offices are likely to be the places to administer vaccines,' Johns wrote in her email to CNN, but she added that the vaccine doses allocated to pediatricians' offices still need to be shipped -- and the timeline for that remains somewhat unclear.

'The biggest challenge right now is the unknown. We do not have information on when we can expect to receive shipments and the supply amounts, which can make setting the dates and times more difficult,' Johns said.

'We also want to be sensitive to the fact that these are children in school, so we need to make sure there is minimum loss of instruction time. Our goal is to make the whole process convenient, easy and accessible for families.'

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The first witness in the civil lawsuit filed against organizers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally testified Friday, saying the attacks by angry White nationalists left her physically and emotionally scarred.

Natalie Romero said she and friends were standing at the Thomas Jefferson statue on the University of Virginia campus the night of August 11, 2017, when they were surrounded by hundreds of chanting White nationalists carrying tiki torches.

The crowd shouted racial slurs, spit at her and her friends and even threw torches at them, she said.

"I tried to keep my head down. I felt like a mouse trapped," Romero testified. The scene felt like "a Salem witch trial-type, like I was going to be burned at the stake," she said.

The next day the UVA student took part in a counterprotest in downtown Charlottesville when she was struck and flipped over a car barreling down the street -- the same car which ran over and killed counterprotester Heather Heyer.

Romero was dragged to safety and propped up by strangers who tried to keep her awake. Feeling the end was near, Romero said she needed her cell phone.

"I thought I was about to die. These are my last seconds of breath," Romero said as her voice began to crack "I had to call my mom now."

Romero said she is still recovering from her injuries.

Romero said she was in a wheelchair for two months before learning to walk with a cane. She suffered a fractured skull, and a broken tooth cut her lip. She added she still has intense headaches and sensitivity to light. Applause can trigger her, she said.

Romero said in her nightmares she sees tiki torches and can still hear the White nationalists' chant "You will not replace us."

Protest leaders cross-examine the first witness

During cross-examination Friday, rally organizer Jason Kessler's attorney, Jim Kolenich, asked Romero if she recognized any of his defendants in the courtroom. Romero said she did not.

Richard Spencer, the lead organizer for the August 11 torchlight rally, asked if Romero recognized him at either the tiki torch rally or the demonstrations the next day. Romero initially said no.

"I would also remind you that the injury blurs a lot of things," said Romero, who often forgot what the question was while she was answering in her own testimony.

Christopher Cantwell questioned Romero for around 30 minutes, wanting to know if she had ever attended any Antifa rallies or noticed any of her fellow students carrying weapons, a point he had made in his opening argument.

Romero said she was not a member of Antifa and she had not seen her fellow students and demonstrators carrying weapons.

Dozens injured during protests

The United the Right rally ostensibly was called to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, but violence broke out when White nationalists, White supremacists and counterprotesters clashed.

Dozens of people were injured and Heyer was killed when James Fields, who came to protest the statue's removal, drove his car into the crowd. Fields is serving two concurrent life sentences.

City residents and counterprotesters who were injured filed the lawsuit and are seeking compensatory and statutory damages for physical and emotional injuries they say they suffered.

Among the defendants are 14 named individuals, including Fields, Kessler, Spencer and Christopher Cantwell, who became the face of the rally after being featured in a Vice documentary.

The suit also names 10 White supremacist and nationalist organizations, including Moonbase Holdings LLC, the company that runs the Daily Stormer website; the League of the South, the Nationalist Socialist Movement and at least two chapters of the KKK.

The defendants say they did not initiate the deadly violence that ensued; they argue they were exercising their First Amendment right to protest. They also say there was no conspiracy and the violence stemmed from law enforcement's failure to keep the opposing groups separated.

Second witness testifies

The second prosecution witness Friday was Devon Willis, who described the scene at the Thomas Jefferson statue.

"I remember that someone, from the direction of the mob, threw some mysterious fluid, and threw it at the direction of our feet," Willis said. "Seemed like it might be some sort of lighter fluid and their strategy might be to burn us alive."

Willis said it got on his shoes and he tried to move farther up the statue to get away.

"I thought I had made a very terrible mistake and that I might die that night," Willis said.

Willis will continue his testimony Monday.

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Commercial genetic tests can unveil surprising details about your roots. My Chinese mother-in-law, born in Hong Kong, found out she was a quarter Irish. The test results even pinpointed the county from where her previously unknown Irish grandfather originated.

Extracting ancient DNA is much harder than sending off a swab, but it has uncovered some startling revelations: Scientists learned in 2010 that humans and Neanderthals had babies together, leaving traces in our genes. And DNA from a tiny finger bone found in a Siberian cave revealed a mysterious early human population with whom Homo sapiens also interbred.

New techniques in ancient DNA analysis are providing more and more tantalizing details about prehistory, including some of the latest scientific discoveries in the past week.

I'm Katie Hunt, standing in for Ashley Strickland, who's on vacation.

A long time ago

In an inhospitable desert in northwestern China, hundreds of stunningly intact mummies, buried in boats, were discovered in the 1990s. The Bronze Age mummies date back as far as 4,000 years ago. Their identity has long stumped archaeologists.

In a new study, scientists sequenced the genomes of 13 of the bodies and found they were descendants of ice age hunter-gatherers.

While this population was genetically isolated, the mummies' clothing and the foods in their unusual graves suggested they interacted widely with other groups living in the region at the same time. But the boats they were buried in still remain a mystery.

Climate changed

Ancient DNA containing secrets of the past isn't just found in old bones.

All animals, including humans, shed genetic material when they lose hair, slough off dead skin cells, pee, poop and bleed. This genetic material leaches into the soil, where it can remain for tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years -- when the conditions are right.

To track the whereabouts of woolly mammoths and other giant creatures of the ice age, scientists took soil samples from locations across the Arctic, extracting DNA from permafrost and sediment in an ambitious study.

Competing theories have been up for debate for a century, but what the research team found suggested it was climate change that doomed mammoths to extinction. In fact, the last stand of these megafauna took place in a unique Arctic ecosystem that doesn't exist today.

Other worlds

The first planet outside our own solar system was discovered in 1995 -- a feat that was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2019.

We currently know of over 4,000 of these exoplanets. However, all of the identified exoplanets spin inside the Milky Way, our local galaxy, and are less than 3,000 light-years away.

Now, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory may have detected signs of the first planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way. Located in the Whirlpool Galaxy, the possible planet would be about 28 million light-years away.

However, due to its large orbit, it will be up to the next generation of astronomers to confirm whether scientists have discovered an extragalactic exoplanet, using a strategy involving X-ray wavelengths.

Fantastic creatures

This might be the most weirdly cute animal you've never heard of. Dicynodonts lived from about 270 million to 201 million years ago, before the rise of the dinosaurs. Rat-like to elephantine in size, these creatures had a turtle-shaped head and tusks protruding from the upper jaw.

Their fossils are shedding light on the evolution of a striking bit of anatomy common in mammals alive today -- think hippos, warthogs, walruses and elephants -- but not found in birds, fish or reptiles: Dicynodonts were the first animals to sport tusks.

Surprisingly, there wasn't a single moment in their evolutionary history where tusks evolved, researchers learned, but the variations did share a combination of features found in present-day mammals.

Wild kingdom

If you've ever caught the beat to "We Will Rock You" by Queen, you share more in common with lemurs in Madagascar than you might think.

It turns out the rhythm patterns in that song are shared by intriguing vocalizations made by our primate cousin the Indri indri, an endangered species of lemur that's one of a few animal species with a sense of rhythm.

Figuring this out wasn't easy -- researchers spent years tracking indris to capture recordings of them singing in the rainforest canopy. The results could further our understanding of the origins of rhythmic abilities.

The wonder

Before you go:

-- A new type of DNA analysis has revealed the closest living relative of legendary Lakota Sioux Chief Sitting Bull.

-- Incidents of great white sharks biting humans have been thought to be a case of mistaken identity -- and now the latest research shows why this may really be what's happening.

-- Marvel at the captivating images that won the British Ecological Society's photography competition.

And to mark this Halloween, check out the science behind fear -- whether you're a scaredy-cat or love a good fright.

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MEDFORD, Ore-- After nearly ten months of negotiations between private forestry representatives, small forestland owners, conservation leaders, and fishing organizations has resulted in a historic proposal for new protections for sensitive species on over 10 million acres of forestland in Oregon.

Governor Kate Brown made the announcement on Saturday, October 30, stating that the proposal seeks to meet the federal standards for a statewide Habitat Conservation Plan.

Todays historic agreement is a perfect example of the Oregon Waycoming together at the table to find common ground, to the mutual benefit of us all, said Governor Brown. Together, this agreement will help to ensure that Oregon continues to have healthy forests, fish, and wildlife, as well as economic growth for our forest industry and rural communities, for generations to come. I would like to thank everyone involved for their role in making this agreement a reality today.

The framework of the agreement consists of riparian buffers for streams, rivers and bodies of water, steep slopes protection to minimize erosion and protect habitats, work on an approach moving forward to improve forest roads and work towards a path to make adjustments and adaptation to forest practices in the future.

Legislation will be brought forward to the Oregon Legislature to solidify the Private Forest Accords in statute. The State will bring forward the proposal for consideration by NOAA Fisheries and the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a Habitat Conservation Plan.
MEDFORD, Ore-- Medford International Airport has begun offering non-stop flights to Reno.

The move was made possible thanks to aha!, which is powered by veteran ExpressJet Airlines. The inaugural flight begins aha! service between Reno-Tahoe International Airport and Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport three times weekly.

Were looking forward to providing travelers throughout southern Oregon with the opportunity to take short trips to Reno and Lake Tahoe without the hassle of a long drive or multiple airport layovers, said ExpressJets CEO Subodh Karnik. aha!s nonstop flight from Reno to Medford will also be a boon to incoming tourists, who will have more time to enjoy hiking, rafting, boating and fishing along the Rogue and Klamath Rivers and the beautiful Crater Lake.

Flights will operate each Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday departing Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport at 11:55 a.m. PT arriving in Reno-Tahoe at 1:05 p.m. PT. The quick 1 hour and 10 minute nonstop flight eliminates the need for time consuming connections at crowded hubs or a long drive.

Nonstop flights give travelers more time for adventure and less time traveling making short, spontaneous vacations possible. Return flights will operate on the same days, departing Reno-Tahoe at 10 a.m. PT and arriving in Medford at 11:10 a.m. PT.
ASHLAND, Ore. -- After weeks of interviews and discussions, Southern Oregon University is close to selecting its next president.

On Tuesday, The Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting to decide who will be their top candidate to become the university's next president.

That meeting is currently planned to happen at the Hannon Library around 1:45 p.m. and will go on for roughly two hours.

In that meeting, SOU's Board of Trustees will hopefully narrow down their top five candidates down to one.

After a candidate is selected, the Board of Trustees will still need several weeks to discuss the details of a contact that would be eventually offered.

But according to SOU's Director of Community and Media Relations, the school hopes to announce its new president sometime in late November.
GILROY, Calif. (AP)  Authorities say a 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with a fatal shooting at a city councilmember's Northern California home.

One person died and three other people were injured. Authorities say Sunday that Benjamin David Calderon was taken into custody Saturday afternoon by a SWAT team after the late-night shooting in the city of Gilroy.

Police were called after violence broke out at a large outdoor party at the home of Gilroy City Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz, about 80 miles south of San Francisco.

At least one suspect fired a gun. No motive has been disclosed.
There are few things more common in a criminal courtroom than seeing a teenage boy whose involvement in violence has left him shackled in a defendants chair.

On Monday, Kyle Rittenhouse will be the 18-year-old in the defendants chair. His age  17 at the time he shot three men in August 2020, leaving one injured and two dead  puts him in the third-highest demographic of accused killers by age in America according to FBI statistics.

Rittenhouse has other things in common with teenagers who find themselves in trouble.

At the time of the shootings he had apparently stopped attending high school before graduation. He was living with his single mother and sisters in a small apartment, working a part-time job, and was poor enough to qualify for representation by a public defender.

From there, of course, Rittenhouses story sharply diverges from the average.

His trial, which has drawn the focus of the world and the spotlight of national media attention, is scheduled to begin Monday with an effort to pick a jury that hasnt already decided that the teenager is either the hero or the villain of the story in a nation  and state and county  where partisanship has divided citizens into opposing teams.

This is not a political trial. This will not be a political trial, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder told attorneys at a pre-trial hearing about the case in September. And despite the clamor around the case, in the courtroom Schroeder appears to be ignoring the court of public opinion and focusing on conducting the homicide trial as he would always conduct a homicide trial.

Picking a jury

Schroeder expects to pick a jury in two days. By contrast, it took a Minneapolis court two weeks to choose a jury in the similarly politically charged trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd.

Schroeder declined attorneys request to use questionnaires to pre-screen prospective jurors to attempt to weed out those with biases about the case before they were questioned in the courtroom. He has told lawyers his past experience gives him faith that jurors will put aside their personal opinions and focus on the evidence presented in the case.

Kenosha County Clerk of Courts Rebecca Matoska-Mentink said 300 prospective jurors received summons for the case, more than twice as many as are typically called in for a homicide trial. Some of those 300 people were allowed to postpone jury service for cause  for instance if someone was going to be away at college for the trial dates. She said she expects about 150 people to arrive at the courthouse Monday as prospective jurors.

Despite the publicity surrounding the trial, Matoska-Mentink said the number of those prospective jurors who contacted her office with concerns was not unusual. No, Im going to say it was pretty average, she said.

She said jurors who receive summons are randomly chosen from Kenosha County residents 18 and older who are United States citizens. Their names are collected from Wisconsin Department of Transportation data of those with drivers licenses or state identification cards.

We dont make any geographical specifications or limitations, Matoska-Mentink said. "It could be that of 150 people, 120 of them could be west of the I (interstate) or vice versa.

Those prospective jurors will arrive in the courtroom to be questioned by the judge and attorneys in a process called voir dire. The judge can dismiss any prospective juror for cause  for instance if a person states they have personal ties to the case or say they have a firmly held opinion on what the outcome should be. The prosecution and defense can each strike up to seven prospective jurors each for any reason as they try to pick a jury they believe will be most open to their case.

Both the prosecution and defense will be aiming to choose a jury that will be most open to their version of what happened the night of the shootings.

The charges

Rittenhouse is charged with-first degree reckless homicide for the shooting death of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, first-degree intentional homicide for the shooting death of Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis.

He is also charged with recklessly endangering safety for firing his rifle toward other people in the crowd, and for carrying a dangerous weapon as a minor.

Rittenhouse came from his home in Antioch, Ill., to Kenosha on Aug. 25 following two days of protest and rioting that broke out in the city following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police officer. He was armed with an AR-15 rifle he took from the home of the stepfather of Dominick Black, a friend in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse and Black joined other heavily armed men who gathered at Downtown businesses along Sheridan Road (state Highway 32). In interviews Rittenhouse gave before the shooting with some of the many members of the media and independent journalists on the street that night, the teenager said he was hired by owners of a car lot to protect property, and that he was acting as a medic.

The shootings happened later that night  captured on video and shared thousands of times on social media before dawn the following morning.

Polarizing case

The Rittenhouse shootings have been decried by those on the left as an example of the danger of right-wing militias and political violence. On the right, Rittenhouse has been raised up as a hero who was justified in killing people who were part of a mob, with supporters arguing he is being persecuted by the government.

Those who see Rittenhouse as a victim donated enough money to pay his $2 million bond, and he has been free while awaiting trial. Donations are also covering the cost of hiring his defense attorneys, Mark Richards of Racine and Corey Chirafisi of Madison. Both are former prosecutors with successful private practices.

Richards past high-profile cases include defending Racine billionaire Curt Johnson, of the SC Johnson family, who was convicted of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. Richards is also the defense attorney for Tyler Huffhines of Paddock Lake, the accused ringleader of a black market THC vape manufacturing and marketing business whose case ended up on the front page of the New York Times.

Prosecutors hope to prove Rittenhouse was not justified in his shooting of Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, when the two clashed in a parking lot on Sheridan Road and 63rd Street, and that he is guilty of homicide and attempted homicide for shooting men who attempted to stop him as he ran away from that first shooting.

The defense has maintained that Rittenhouse was defending himself against a mob that was trying to kill him  and that he reasonably feared that he would be killed or suffer great bodily harm at the hands of the men he shot  so he should be acquitted of the charges against him. Legal experts have said Rittenhouse has a strong self-defense argument.

Hearing evidence

But, as in most homicide trials, it is difficult for the public to predict in advance what evidence will come out in trial, or what can be learned from witnesses on the stand.

Prosecutors have lost a series of motions seeking to introduce evidence they said would give the jury a better idea of Rittenhouses state of mind the night of the shootings  including being blocked from introducing video taken from a car in which Rittenhouse can be heard saying "Bro I wish I had my (expletive) AR. l'd start shooting rounds at them as people can be seen running from a drug store and loading items in a car.

According to statements in court, the person who was with Rittenhouse when that video was taken was Dominick Black, the same person who accompanied him to Kenosha the night of the shootings and who drove Rittenhouse back to his home in Antioch afterward. Black had been dating Rittenhouses sister and the two became friends.

Now 20, Black is charged with two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a minor. He allegedly was the straw purchaser who provided Rittenhouse with the AR-15.

Uphill battle for the state?

One of the wildcards of the trial which may shed light on Rittenhouses mindset that night will be Blacks testimony. Black is on the states witness list. According to court records, the prosecution against him was adjourned in July based on a mutual agreement between Rittenhouse prosecutor Thomas Binger and Blacks attorney Antony Cotton, indicating that Black is cooperating with the prosecution.

Chris Van Wagner and Jessa Nicholson Goetz  two prominent Madison based defense attorneys who were initially hired as the criminal defense attorneys for Rittenhouse before quickly dropping out of the case because of concerns about the behavior of Rittenhouses past civil attorneys Lin Wood and John Pierce  said they believe the defense has a strong case.

While video of shooting deaths would typically be a boon for a prosecution, in this case both Van Wagner and Goetz said the video of the second and third shootings helps the defense argument. Goetz said the fact that Rittenhouse is on the ground when he shoots Huber and Grosskreutz makes it more difficult to retreat and strengthens the defense argument.

I would say I think the state has a very problematic case on all counts, Van Wagner said in August. Its a tough case.

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A headline in the satirical newspaper The Onion  Judge Mandates Prosecutors Only Refer to Kyle Rittenhouse as Hero  captured the flavor of the online outcry over recent judicial rulings in the case.

In the case of The Onion, the headline was a joke. But it reflected the firestorm of criticism that followed the decisions by Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder at a pretrial hearing last week.

At the Oct. 25 hearing, Schroeder ruled against the prosecution in a series of motions, including one in which Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger asked that defense attorneys be barred from referring to the three men shot in the case as rioters or looters. Binger said his request was in line with Schroeders long-standing policy of blocking the state from calling people victims during the course of a trial.

Schroeder said he would not decide in advance to restrain the defense from using the description of rioter or looter during closing arguments if evidence presented at trial supports that. That ruling quickly became simplified by outraged commenters to something like judge says men shot cant be called victims but can be called rioters.

Dean of Wisconsin judges

Schroeder is the longest-serving judge in Wisconsin, presiding over cases in Kenosha County since 1983. During a recent hearing he said he believes he has presided over more homicide trials than any judge in the state.

He is known locally for speaking his mind in the courtroom, and for giving defendants stern, and sometimes painful to listen to, lectures during sentencing.

But attorneys who have regularly appeared in his courtroom say the recent criticism of the judge is off-base, some saying that his decisions on motions in the Rittenhouse case reflect Schroeders focus on making sure defendants can present their case at trial.

Kenosha-based defense attorney Terry Rose has been practicing law for 54 years, spending more time than any other lawyer in Schroeders courtroom. I think hes very fair during the course of a trial and allows a criminal defendant to present his case, Rose said. Judge Schroeder is one who is very cognizant of individual liberty  he is very respectful of the Bill of Rights and willing to enforce those rights.

Another seasoned southeast Wisconsin defense attorney, who did want to be identified by name, said Schroeder has a reputation in the area as a tough judge, but that reputation is focused on sentencing, not on the way he oversees trials.

Id say he is very respectful of the defendants rights that are enumerated in the Constitution that ensure the right to a fair trial, a right to cross examine the governments witnesses, and the right to present a defense, the attorney said. He believes those rights are written into the Constitution for good reason, and he allows defense lawyers to present a defense.

While the two defense attorneys said Schroeder has a reputation of being open to defense arguments at trial, he also has a reputation as being harsh at sentencing. And because some 90 percent of criminal prosecutions end in plea agreements rather than trial, that reputation for tough sentences often outweighs his reputation at trial.

There are a lot of people who think he is unduly harsh on some kinds of sentences and that he is unpredictable on some kinds of sentences, said the defense attorney who did not want to be named. I think more mature lawyers recognize that his bark might be worse than his bite, and there are a lot of lawyers who dont substitute on him.

Not one to pigeon-hole

When criminal charges are filed the case is assigned to a judge, and defendants can ask that the case be reassigned. Schroeders reputation at sentencing is such that he has been the judge with the highest number of substitution requests in the system. This year, there were so many substitution requests that the chief judge imposed a rule that any substitution requests for Schroeder automatically be resigned to Racine County Circuit Court Judge Robert Repischak, who had a similarly high number of substitution requests.

A former prosecutor said Schroeders unpredictability on sentences makes it hard to negotiate pleas, and that that leads efforts to move cases from his courtroom.

There are judges around the state who are known for what we call jumping a plea agreement and giving more time, and he definitely does that, but he also does the opposite, the former prosecutor said. Defense attorneys do not feel comfortable advising their clients about the parameters of what might happen  and that makes it very difficult to reach plea agreements in that (court) on both sides.

The former prosecutor said it has been dismaying to watch media coverage of Schroeders decisions in the case be reported through a lens of politics. When someone is as much as an individual as Judge Schroeder, it is very confusing to people in 2021 when people want to put everyone into boxes.

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At 84, Emma Shuford found a lump in her breast. After a lumpectomy, she was diagnosed with locally aggressive breast cancer. Her doctors said it was treatable but she needed radiation to help stop it from growing.

At first, she refused. Because of her age and a chronic leg injury, she didnt feel safe driving to the cancer center. The bus would take 90 minutes each way, and she couldnt walk the two miles to the bus stop. All her children lived out of state. She lived with her granddaughter, who wanted to help but had a long commute and couldnt afford time away from work. Shuford, a Black woman, was not alone. Race, income, and zip code frequently affect patients ability to pursue or forgo medical treatments, leading to widespread disparities in health care.

But when the cancer center at Cone Health, a regional multi-hospital community health system in Greensboro, N.C., told Shuford it would drive her to and from each of her 30 appointments, she said yes. This allowed her to complete her treatments, and two years later, she remains cancer-free.

It was such a blessing, she says.

Cone had created a transportation hub to address limited access to cancer care among patients like Shuford who couldnt get to appointments. With this program in place, patients who tend to live in two of Greensboros less-affluent Zip codes went from no-show rates of 12 and 15 percent to less than 2 percent.

The hub came about as a result of an earlier study performed at Cone Health, called Accountability for Cancer Care through Undoing Racism and Equity (ACCURE), which sought to eliminate racial disparities in the completion of recommended treatments for breast and lung cancer.

The study identified barriers to patients receiving care, such as lack of transportation. The health system set out to remove these impediments, doing so by employing real-time warnings from the electronic medical record that notified nurse navigators to engage with patients to ensure they completed treatments. This process included immediate follow-up with patients if they missed scheduled visits  identifying and eliminating obstacles to those visits, the same process later used by Cone to get Shuford to her appointments.

At the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting in Chicago on Oct. 25, the ACCURE authors are presenting the survival results of those earlier interventions. The new study shows that overall survival went up for all patients who completed recommended treatments. Previous differences in rates of survival between races were eliminated.

This study is the product of nearly 20 years of community engagement focused on achieving racial equity in cancer care. ACCURE, funded by the National Cancer Institute, was a collaborative effort among the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), The Partnership Project, Cone Health, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). It is the first prospective clinical trial implementing a solution to address racial disparities in cancer treatment. Many studies have observed that some patients dont get prompt or adequate cancer care because of their race, but until ACCURE no programs were developed and proven to successfully address these disparities.

Matt Manning, chief of oncology at Cone Health Cancer Center in Greensboro and a co-author of both studies, said, this study should be lifted up to raise awareness and inspire people that institutional racism can be eliminated . . . through community engagement to create systems-based interventions applying transparency and accountability. The exciting thing is that this study shows how our community is pioneering solutions to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion. This intervention can be applied to other parts of health care and other institutions like education, criminal justice, and law enforcement.

Founded in 2003, the Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative (GHDC) brought together community, clergy, health care, and public health members, and academic leaders. They created a model of community-based participation in research from which the ACCURE study developed.

The collaborative has published over 25 papers on improving health disparities at the community level. Its not surprising these studies have emerged from Greensboro, a small Southern city with a long history of leadership through the civil rights era, from the nonviolent Woolworths counter sit-ins of 1960 to the Simkins v. Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital federal court ruling in 1963 that prohibited racial discrimination in hospitals that had received public funds.

Rather than focusing on the implicit bias of providers, the intervention is a systems change that aims at eliminating the chance for disparate outcomes by race by tracking results and then acting immediately to correct these differences. This includes interventions such as providing transportation, patient assistance funds to help meet the costs of utilities, rent, and gasoline, as well as telehealth access for patients and family members to attend visits without having to miss work. The GHDC believes this is the best strategy for eliminating institutional racism.

The ACCURE intervention is meant to remove the possibility of different outcomes by tracking patient compliance and outcomes according to race and by building organizational accountability into achieving racial equity among patients. This approach seems more conducive to improving equity in health care delivery than trying to ascertain, or change, the motives and biases of individual practitioners. ACCURE was performed at Cone Health and UPMC, and the preliminary results were published in the Journal of the National Medical Association (JNMA) in 2020.

JNMA is published by the National Medical Association, a historically Black physician organization. The paper was rejected by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), because, according to some accounts, it said it was not sufficiently important for their readership and belonged in a journal focused on race and health. The culture at the AMA is beginning to accept the concept of institutional racism, but before 2020, JAMA questioned the very existence of racism in medicine, a controversy that led to the resignation of its editor, Howard Bauchner, earlier this year.

The AMA had missed the larger point: Racism and bias are inherent in the institutions which purport to serve us all. Currently, systems permit different experiences according to race. This is plain to see by studying the effects of race in cancer care.

In the current study, 302 patients with early-stage breast or lung cancer were enrolled at two cancer centers between April 2013 and March 2015. Data from patients seen with these diagnoses between January 2007 and December 2012 were obtained as historical controls to establish control completion rates.

The intervention included a real-time registry derived from the electronic health records of participants to indicate missed appointments or unmet care milestones; a nurse navigator; and clinical feedback. The primary outcome was Treatment Complete, representing completion of surgery, recommended radiation, and chemotherapy for each patient. Treatment completion in the historic controls showed statistically significant Black-White differences (Blacks (B) 79.8 percent vs. Whites (W) 87.3 percent). The disparity lessened within the interventions (B 88.4 percent and W 89.5 percent).

The real-time registry, combined with feedback, improved completion of treatment for all these patients and narrowed disparities between groups because of immediate intervention to improve completion. This included anti-racism training for the navigators as well as opportunities for them to meet patients and their families at the outset of treatments, allowing them to ask questions and make connections.

The meetings, in turn, led to more personal interventions and communication because the patient became a familiar person, rather than a name on a list. The result was that patients missed fewer care milestones.

These factors would prove to be crucial for Emma Shuford. Only by better understanding her personal concerns and priorities was the cancer center able to solve her immediate transportation problem. Similar multifaceted interventions could mitigate disparities in the treatment of other cancers and chronic conditions.

The previous publication in the JNMA fulfilled the studys goal of ensuring equity in the completion of treatment. Since treatment completion is directly linked to outcomes, this was felt to be an adequate endpoint. But now that additional time has passed, the current project is a follow-up study of the overall survival of patients treated during the historical control years vs. the ACCURE study years. This showed that there were differences in five-year overall survival between Black and White in the historic period. As they found in the earlier study, the survival disparity disappeared during the ACCURE period and survivals improved for all.

Shuford was able to complete her cancer treatments because people acted in real-time to identify her personal needs and solve obstacles to completing care milestones, thereby addressing underlying disparities. Disparities in survival will improve for all patients if we track recommended cancer care and intervene in innovative ways.

Manning hopes that other cancer centers will take notice of ACCUREs effectiveness. If adopted, these interventions could have beneficial effects, eliminating disparities at other institutions and in different health care specialties.

Further, he hopes that hospitals will be held accountable for quality measures, reported by race. Hospitals measure catheter-associated urinary tract infections, mammography screening rates, and length of stay. Why dont they report these common metrics by race, gender, and zip code? Until we turn on the light, we are blind to the injustice in medicine.

Joseph D. Stern is a neurosurgeon and author of Grief Connects Us: A Neurosurgeons Lessons on Love, Loss, and Compassion. This article originally appeared in the Washington Post.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
CORVALLIS, Ore.--- Two people were transported to the hospital with minor injuries following a crash on Highway 34 near Corvallis Friday night.

Oregon State Police troopers responded just after 6:30 p.m. to a crash involving a SUV and pickup truck.

The driver of the SUV, 67-year-old Roberta Birman, pulled out in front of a pickup truck heading westbound and attempted to make a U-turn, officials said.

They said the driver of the pickup truck, 27-year old Brandon Seifried, was unable to stop in time to avoid a collision.

Both of the drivers were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

Birman was issued a citation for careless driving. She told troopers her dog that was in the car with her sustained a broken back.

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FARIBAULT, Minn. - A bomb threat in southern Minnesota on Saturday resulted in the Rochester Chemical Assessment Team assisting.

It happened Saturday at 2:10 p.m. at 404 6th St. NW. in Faribault.

A Minnesota State Duty Officer requested the Rochester CAT team to respond to assist with identifying an unknown substance involved in the bomb threat.

"RFD personnel gathered samples of an unknown substance and performed chemical identification tests to attempt to identify the potentially hazardous material. Rochester CAT was unable to determine the exact chemical, but determined it to be non-volatile and not an explosive hazard," the Rochester Fire Department said.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Marques Armstrong had just got out of the shower one morning this fall when he heard gunshots that seemed to come from his Minneapolis backyard. After ducking, he ran upstairs to check on his wife and daughter, then looked out to see a car speed away.

It was a depressingly routine occurrence on the city's predominantly Black north side that reaffirmed Armstrong's staunch opposition to a proposal on Tuesday's ballot to replace the city's police department  and a required minimum number of officers  with a new Department of Public Safety.

Everybody says we want the police to be held accountable and we want fair policing. No one has said we need to get rid of the police, said Armstrong, a Black activist who owns a mental health practice and a clothing store. "There needs to be a huge overhaul from the ground up, but we need some form of community safety because over here shots are ringing out day and night.

The ballot proposal that goes to voters Tuesday has roots in the abolish-the-police movement that erupted after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last year. It has drawn strong support from younger Black activists who were mobilized by Floyds death, as well as from some Black and white residents across this liberal city.

Many people of color who live in the city's highest-crime areas say they fear a steep drop in the number of police officers will leave them more vulnerable amid a dramatic spike in violent crime.

The debate over racial justice in policing that erupted after Floyd's death has brought national attention to Tuesday's vote, as well as a river of out-of-state money seeking to influence an outcome that might shape change elsewhere, too.

The campaign has been bitter. Opponents have attacked the ballot question as vague, with no concrete plan for what comes after passage. Supporters say opponents are overblowing fears about a falloff in police presence  and the prospect that the city's popular Black police chief, Medaria Arradondo, will quit if the initiative passes. Mayor Jacob Frey, who opposes the ballot question, is facing a tough reelection fight, with his two top opponents urging their supporters to leave him off their ballots in the city's ranked-choice voting system.

Arradondo, the city's first Black chief, recently urged voters to reject the proposal after previously saying that an element that would give City Council members more oversight of policing would be wholly unbearable. He has sidestepped questions about whether he would remain if it passes.

Raeisha Williams, an activist with Guns Down Love Up, said she believes the plans supporters are mainly white residents who havent experienced police misconduct or the violence that Black residents are seeing on the north side. Her brother, Tyrone, died in a shooting there in 2018.

Its like our voices are not heard  they are hijacking a movement yet again and making it their own, said Williams, who is Black.

JaNae Bates, one of the young, Black activists leading the movement to pass the ballot proposal, said her group worked hard to take all voices into account. Bates said more than 1,400 of the roughly 20,000 signatures on the petitions to get the measure on the ballot came from north side residents.

Bates said their effort to inform people about what the initiative would do involved knocking on the doors of north Minneapolis homes to hear the voices of those most affected by public safety issues.

Weve been extremely intentional because the residents of these neighborhoods are tired of accepting the status quo, both around police brutality and community violence," Bates said.

Steve Fletcher, a white City Council member who supports replacing the police department, said there's both support and opposition to the plan from all areas of the city.

I think a lot of people are just recognizing that we cannot be the city that killed George Floyd and didnt grow or change," he said.

The ballot question calls for a new Department of Public Safety to take a comprehensive public health approach to the delivery of functions that would be determined by the mayor and City Council. Fletcher and other supporters argue it's a chance to reimagine what public safety can be and how money gets spent. A frequent example from supporters is funding programs that don't send armed officers to call on people in crisis.

Nobody is proposing to reduce our investment in public safety," Fletcher said. "We are proposing to change the way that we make those investments, and ultimately I think in the end, investing more in public safety than we ever have.

The change is being proposed as violent crime in the city is spiking. There have been roughly 80 homicides in Minneapolis so far this year  35 on the north side, according to online police department crime data. Three victims were children, including one who was shot while jumping on a trampoline at a birthday party. The city could near the record 97 homicides of 1995, when it drew the nickname Murderapolis.

That trend is compounded by the fact the city is down about 300 officers from its authorized force of 888, partly due to officers claiming post-traumatic stress disorder after Floyds death and the unrest in the city that followed.

Jerome Rankine, a Black resident in the Kingfield neighborhood on the citys more affluent southwest side, strongly backs the amendment. Rankine, who also sits on his neighborhood association board, says dropping the citys requirement for a minimum number of officers would open the way to innovative ideas to change policing.

Unfortunately, the way that our city charter is set up, we lack the power to turn those ideas into reality, he said. Im voting yes because a yes vote is a vote for taking the barrier to change out of the equation and taking these imaginative ideas of how our policing system can be better.

Rankine's board last week endorsed a vote in support of the public safety question. He said his own neighborhood is divided on the question, and that's fine: "There are no monoliths that cut cleanly across lines, theres no opinion that cuts cleanly across lines of race, he said.

If we are in a movement against police brutality then I feel like all should be welcome in that movement, he said. We have seen Minneapolis police take lives over the last several years and theyve taken the lives of all races and backgrounds, so I feel like there should be no barriers to entry when it comes to being part of the movement.

Bishop Divar Kemp of New Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, back on the city's north side, said the ballot question comes up every day at his church. He said the police department needs to be changed, but the current proposal is dangerous.

We need the police -- theres no other way I can say that, he said.
The "Ghost Fashion" series by Ahn Chang-hong. From left, "2021'1," "2021'8" and "2021'18" / Courtesy of the artist and Savina Museum



By Park Han-sol



In celebration of the upcoming 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Ecuador in 2022, a special exhibition of Korean artist Ahn Chang-hong's work will open its doors to viewers in Ecuador's capital, Quito.



The show, scheduled for Nov. 4 to Dec. 14, is Korea's first "reciprocal exhibition" of its own artist in the South American country, following "National Painter of Ecuador: Oswaldo Guayasamin," which was held earlier this year at the Savina Museum of Contemporary Art in northwestern Seoul.



Ahn's 60 pieces, from oil paintings to large-scale installations, will adorn the walls of Casa Museo Guayasamin  the legendary painter's residence-turned-museum  as well as La Capilla del Hombre ("The Chapel of Man"), alongside the permanent collection of Guayasamin's own artworks.



This opportunity is the first time for La Capilla del Hombre  a cultural complex conceived and designed by Guayasamin in tribute to the peoples of Latin America against the struggles of European colonization  to invite the works of a Korean artist into its gallery space.



For more than four decades, Ahn has told stories of the alienation and marginalization of the nameless population within fast-paced, modern Korea, overshadowed by the histories of war, authoritarian regimes and capitalism, through striking  sometimes explicit  paintings and sculptures.



His latest works to be unveiled in Casa Museo Guayasamin are 20 oil paintings from his "Ghost Fashion" series  a recreation of his earlier pieces born from the tip of a digital stylus pen on his smart device screen  that visualizes the disappearing notion of what it means to be human in the face of capitalist civilization.



"During the very late evening or early in the morning, the city streets, devoid of swarming pedestrians, feel utterly empty. Like an alley of ghosts, humans are gone and the only thing filling the streets are gaudily decorated outfits," the 68-year-old artist wrote in his notes, recalling a moment of inspiration for the series.





Ahn's sculpture, "Blindness, 2016-3" / Courtesy of the artist and Savina Museum
Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, right, and his Cambodian counterpart, Pan Sorasak, on screen, pose after signing the two nations' free trade agreement in a virtual ceremony, Oct. 26. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy





By Kwon Mee-yoo







Korea and Cambodia inked a free trade agreement (FTA), Oct. 26, paving the way for strengthened ties between the two countries as well as helping the economic recovery from the pandemic.







The signing ceremony was held via videoconferencing amid the COVID-19 situation. Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak expressed regrets over being unable to celebrate the special occasion in person.







"Today's signing will be another milestone in strengthening Korea-Cambodia relations despite the difficult challenges of the pandemic," Minister Pan said during the ceremony.







"It is also the desire of both parties that this collateral FTA will further enhance and deepen the partnership between our two economies by optimizing our regional supply chains in mutually beneficial manners."







The Korea-Cambodia FTA was initiated back in March 2019 when Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Cambodia. After two years of assessment and negotiation, the two countries struck a deal in February 2021.







Under the FTA, Cambodia will remove tariffs on 93.8 percent of products, including Korea's major exports to Cambodia  cars, electronics and computers.







Korea will lift tariffs on 95.6 percent of all imports from Cambodia. Cambodia's main exports to Korea are agricultural and textile products.







Korea already signed an FTA with ASEAN, of which Cambodia is a member, and a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but the bilateral FTA is expected to further enhance economic and social cooperation between Korea and Cambodia.







"Once in effect, our bilateral FTA will serve as a solid foundation for strengthening our economic partnership and provide the much needed impetus to expand and intensify supply chains across Korea, Cambodia and the Greater Mekong region," Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said.







"The Korea-Cambodia FTA will serve as a highway for economic cooperation, linking our two countries, allowing free and fast movement of goods and people in both directions, paving the way to shared prosperity and ushering in a brighter future through more trade, more investment and closer cooperation."







Cambodian Ambassador to Korea Chring Botum Rangsay / Courtesy of Cambodian Embassy in Korea

The Korea-Cambodia FTA not just strengthens trade and investment, but also opens up other new opportunities for the two countries.







"For Cambodia, we're hoping to promote more trade in terms of agriculture, textile, clothing and manufacturing, and at the same time we hope to get more investment in the area of technology and automobiles so Korea can transfer technology and equipment to Cambodia," Cambodian Ambassador to Korea Chring Botum Rangsay told The Korea Times after the signing ceremony.







"Cambodia and Korea have a strong relationship dating back to the early 2000s. We share that special bond in the connection between people to people and trade exchanges. Now we hope to promote that bond and increase cooperation in terms of trade so that we can give opportunity to strengthen economic wellbeing and help each other during this crisis of the pandemic."







The Korea-Cambodia FTA is the first of its kind to include clauses on continued exchanges during pandemics.







"I think this couldn't have come at a better time. The struggle to overcome the pandemic would give an opportunity for both countries to complement each other and promote economy and trade to move out of the economic crisis that has been posed by the pandemic," Chring said.







"This clause is specifying the solution to overcome this pandemic for both countries, which means that we are putting people and the prosperity of both countries at the top of our priorities."







Ambassador Chring noted that Cambodia looks to boost agricultural exports to Korea.







"In Cambodia, we have all-year-round summer so we can definitely complement fruit and vegetable supplies to Korea during winter at a reasonable price," she said.







The ambassador also emphasized Cambodia as a good place of investment for Korean companies.







"We have a pool of human resources around 30 years old, so that's our strength. The majority of the population are in the working age and they're also very dedicated workers, as Korea has already known. Cambodian migrant workers to Korea are dedicated, hardworking and quick learners. So in that way, we're hoping that Korean investors will look to Cambodia to invest," she said.







"Furthermore, we have a new investment law that provides a lot of incentive for foreign investors. We will have an online forum to discuss the investment law and we are inviting interested parties in Korea to attend this forum."







The Cambodian Embassy in Seoul also plans to host a hybrid forum before the FTA goes into effect in early 2022 to share information about the FTA.


Members of the Lake Geneva Historic Preservation Commission recently unveiled a plaque honoring Oak Hill Cemetery for being named to the National Register of Historic Places and State Register of Historic Places.

The Historic Preservation Commission conducted a dedication ceremony to unveil the plaque Oct. 16. The plaque will be placed in the cemetery.

During the ceremony, Patrick Quinn, local historian and member of the Historic Preservation Commission, presented John Notz with a certificate, making him an honorary Lake Geneva resident for helping to get the cemetery listed on the registries.

Members of the Lake Geneva Historic Preservation Commission have been working on getting the cemetery placed on the registries for about 13 years.

Officials from the United States Department of the Interior placed Oak Hill Cemetery on the national register on April 26.

The cemetery was also placed on the State Register of Historic Places by the Wisconsin Historical Societys State Preservation Office.

Oak Hill Cemetery was established in 1880 after what is now known as Pioneer Cemetery in the Village of Geneva became full, and village officials began looking for a location for a new cemetery.

Several well-known people are buried in the cemetery including the Sears family, Crane family, John George Moran and 76 Union Civil War soldiers.

Members of the Lake Geneva Historic Preservation Commission are in the process of looking for new members.

The Historic Preservation Commission meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
Local law enforcement is ready as the Kyle Rittenhouse trial gets underway at Kenosha County Courthouse on Monday.

Kenosha Police Lt. Joseph Nosalik said his department will be supporting the Kenosha County Sheriffs Department with security in making sure the trial can be conducted in the same way that any other homicide trial would be although we are aware that there are differing opinions and values surrounding this trial.

While Nosalik said the departments are working together to address the public interest in the case. He said we are not expecting, nor are we aware of any plans for, any large scale demonstration or protest.

Kenosha police spokesman Sgt. Leo Viola said local law enforcement is ready to deal with any kind of contingencies that might arise during or after the trial, and that there are no plans to bring in the National Guard.

Theyre aware that the trial is happening and theres a potential they could be called, but they arent going to be in town or set up in any way for the trial, he said.

Sheriffs Department Sgt. David Wright said there have been no signs that outside groups are planning to make trouble. Though a few armed supporters of Rittenhouse gathered outside the courthouse during early hearings, he said, they have not been seen in recent months.

David Goldenberg, Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, likewise has seen no indication that extremists plan to show up. But he added that could change quickly.

A lot of these groups dont plan very far in advance, he said.

Pleas for peace

Reached last week for a comment prior to the trial, Kenosha County Executive Jim Kreuser offered his wish for a peaceful resolution.

The eyes of the world are, again, on Kenosha, he said in an email. May the world see and experience what I see, a community that continues to work on a path toward healing and developing a deeper understanding of how to make Kenosha County a place that is safe and welcoming to all.

Likewise, the Religious Leaders Caucus of the Kenosha-based Congregations United to Serve Humanity issued a statement last week urging peace in the community.

There will be those who disagree with what is happening within the courthouse walls, but those disagreements should not and cannot spill out into the streets, the statement signed by 16 local clerics and religious read. We hope and pray that, in place of more division, tension, a circus-like atmosphere, violence and death while this trial unfolds, peace and justice will resound loudly throughout the community.Information from the Chicago Tribune, distributed through the Associated Press, was used in this article.(tncms-asset)302d54c2-e776-11ea-859c-00163ec2aa77[3](/tncms-asset)

Information from the Chicago Tribune, distributed through the Associated Press, was used in this article.
ROME (AP)  Leaders of the worlds biggest economies agreed Sunday to stop funding coal-fired power plants in poor countries and made a vague commitment to seek carbon neutrality by or around mid-century as they wrapped up a Rome summit before the much larger United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

While Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron described the Group of 20 summit as a success, the outcome disappointed climate activists, the chief of the U.N. and Britain's leader. The U.K. is hosting the two-week Glasgow conference and had looked for more ambitious targets to come out of Rome.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the G-20's commitments mere drops in a rapidly warming ocean. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres agreed the outcome was not enough.

While I welcome the #G20s recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled  but at least they are not buried, Guterres tweeted. Onwards to #COP26 in Glasgow."

The G-20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions, and Britain had hoped for a G-20 bounce" going into the Glasgow COP26 meeting. Environmentalists and scientists have described the U.N. conference as the world's last best hope" for nailing down commitments to limit the global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average.

The summit laid bare the divisions that still exist between Western countries that polluted the planet the most historically but are now seeing emissions decline and the emerging economies led by China whose emissions are rising as their economies grow.

Britain pushed for a commitment to achieve climate neutrality or net-zero emissions, meaning a balance between greenhouse gases added to and removed from the atmosphere, by 2050.

The United States and the European Union have set 2050 as their own deadline for reaching net-zero emissions, while China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are aiming for 2060. The leaders of those three countries didnt come to Rome for the summit.

In the end, the G-20 leaders arrived at a compromise to achieve climate neutrality by or around mid-century, not a set year.

Before leaving Rome, U.S. President Joe Biden called it disappointing that G-20 members Russia and China basically didnt show up with commitments to address the scourge of climate change ahead of the U.N. climate conference.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not expected to attend the conference in Glasgow, although they are sending senior officials to the international COP26 talks.

The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia...and China basically didnt show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change. And theres a reason why people should be disappointed, Biden said, adding: I found it disappointing myself.

Biden comments came in response to a reporters question about the modest pledges made during the G-20 summit.

We made commitments here from across the board in terms of what were going to bring to (COP26), the president said. As that old trade saying goes, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pushed back at the West's target date.

Why do you believe 2050 is some magic figure? Lavrov asked at a news conference. If it is an ambition of the European Union, it is the right of other countries also to have ambitions....No one has proven to us or anybody else that 2050 is something everyone must subscribe to.

Italy's Draghi said the declaration went further on climate than any G-20 statement before it. He noted that it referred to keeping the 1.5-degree global warming target within reach, something that science shows will be hard to accomplish unless the world dramatically cuts emissions from fossil fuels.

We changed the goalposts, Draghi told reporters.

Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau said that G-20 leaders were able to get together was in itself a success given the coronavirus pandemic.

The fact that we have well laid out the table and know where the sharp edges are, and know what work we were going to have to do at COP is a very positive step, Trudeau said.

The future of coal, a key source of greenhouse gas emissions, also proved one of the most difficult issues on which to find consensus for the G-20.

At the Rome summit, leaders agreed to put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021. That refers to financial support for building coal plants abroad.

Western countries have been moving away from such financing and major Asian economies are following suit: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the U.N. General Assembly last month that Beijing would stop funding such projects, and Japan and South Korea made similar commitments earlier in the year.

China has not set an end date for building coal plants at home, however. Coal is still Chinas main source of power generation, and both China and India have resisted proposals for a G-20 declaration on phasing out domestic coal consumption.

The failure of the G-20 to set a target for phasing out domestic coal use was a disappointment to Britain. But Johnson's spokesperson, Max Blain, said the G-20 communique was never meant to be the main lever in order to secure commitments on climate change, noting those would be hammered out at the Glasgow summit.

John Kirton, director of the G-20 Research Group at the University of Toronto, said the leaders took only baby steps in the agreement and did almost nothing new.

He pointed to the agreement to recall and reaffirm their overdue commitment to provide $100 billion in assistance to poorer countries and to stress the importance of meeting that goal fully as soon as possible instead of stating that they were ready to stump up the full amount.

The agreement to end international coal financing is the one thing thats specific and real. That one counts, Kirton said.

Youth climate activists Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate issued an open letter to the media as the G-20 was wrapping up, stressing three fundamental aspects of the climate crisis that often are downplayed: that time is running out, that any solution must provide justice to the people most affected, and that the biggest polluters often hide behind incomplete statistics about their true emissions.

The climate crisis is only going to become more urgent. We can still avoid the worst consequences, we can still turn this around. But not if we continue like today, they wrote, just weeks after Thunberg shamed global leaders for their blah blah blah rhetoric during a youth climate summit in Milan.

Greenpeace Executive Director Jennifer Morgan said the G-20 failed to provide the leadership the world needed. I think it was a betrayal to young people around the world, she told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Aside from climate issues, the leaders signed off on a landmark agreement for countries to enact a global minimum corporate tax of 15%. The global minimum is aimed at deterring multinational companies from dodging taxes by shifting profits to countries with ultra-low rates where they may do little actual business.

The leaders also said they would continue work on a French initiative for wealthier countries to re-channel $100 billion in financial support to needier countries in Africa in the form of special drawing rights - a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports allocated by the International Monetary Fund and also received by advanced countries.

The leaders said they were working on actionable options to do that and set the $100 billion figure as a total global ambition short of an absolute commitment. Some $45 billion has already been reallocated by individual countries on a voluntary basis.

The commitment reflects concern that the post-pandemic recovery is diverging, with wealthy countries rebounding faster due to extensive vaccinations and stimulus spending.

 Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report. Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Fashion model Munmun Dhamecha was released from the Byculla women's jail here on Sunday, three days after she was granted bail in the cruise drugs case in which she was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3. The Bombay High Court had on Thursday granted bail to her along with co-accused Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, and Arbaaz Merchant.

On Friday afternoon, the HC made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount. Mumbai Cruise Drugs Case: Aryan Khan to Be Released from Arthur Road Jail Today

The release order of Dhamecha was put in the bail box outside the Byculla jail late Saturday evening, after the bond process was completed. Dhamecha's advocate Ali Kaashif Khan on Sunday said, "She has been released from the jail after completion of all the legal formalities. We are now going to file an application before the NCB seeking permission to allow her to go Madhya Pradesh, as she hails from there." Her co-accused Arbaaz Merchant, who is lodged at the Arthur Road jail, is yet to be released. Mumbai Cruise Drugs Case: Aryan Khan Will Be Released From Jail Tomorrow, Say Arthur Road Jail Officials.

Aryan Khan, who was also lodged in the Arthur Road jail following arrest in the case, returned home on Saturday. The HC had in its detailed order asked Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha to appear before the NCB's Mumbai office every Friday between 11.00 am to 2.00 pm to mark their presence. On October 2, the NCB had raided the Goa-bound cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized drugs onboard.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
The blast radius from the controversy over standup comedian Dave Chappelle's repeated remarks about the trans and LGBTQ+ communities in his Netflix special 'The Closer' has now extended further. According to Deadline, the National Labor Relations Board is reviewing bruising charges of "unfair labor practices" against the streamer. Dave Chappelle Maintains His Stand Despite Backlash on Netflix Special The Closer, Says Wont Bend to Anyones Demands.

Naming co-CEO Ted Sarandos as the "employer representative," fired Netflix program manager B. Pagels-Minor and suspended senior software engineer Terra Field filed paperwork with the federal agency on October 27 over the "false and pretextual reasons" and "retaliation" leveled against them respectively. "Netflix engaged in the above activity 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," exclaimed the statement of charge that Bay Area attorney Laurie M. Burgess submitted for the non-binary identifying Pagels-Minor and trans Field. Dave Chappelles Representative Says Hes Open to Discussion With Netflix Employees Upset by The Closer.

Having repeatedly failed to quell the backlash and an October 20 protest/walkout over Chappelle's sixth special on its platform; Netflix was conciliatory to a point. "We recognize the hurt and pain caused to our trans colleagues over the last few weeks," a spokesperson for the streamer told Deadline, adding "But we want to make clear that Netflix has not taken any action against employees for either speaking up or walking out."

In an October 25 video promoting the latest dates on his current tour for his Untitled documentary, Chappelle said he is willing to meet with members of the trans community. However, in listing off his conditions for such a sit-down and praising Sarandos and Netflix, the comic also insists "I am not bending to anyone's demands." On the other hand, Sarandos won't jeopardize the streamer's lucrative relationship with Chappelle because of this crisis. As Netflix employees, former showrunners, GLAAD and the National Black Justice Coalition condemned Chappelle's denigrations of the trans community, Sarandos initially defended the comic and his special against claims of transphobia, saying it did not "cross the line" on hate speech.

After being made aware the betrayal a number of his own staff felt and the way the dustup was playing in the press, Sarandos suddenly softened his stance, at least on the surface. "I screwed up the internal communication, and I don't mean just mechanically," the exec said in a series of calibrated media appearances as an October 20 walkout by Netflix trans staffers and others loomed. He added, "I feel I should've made sure to recognize that a group of our employees was hurting very badly from the decision made, and I should've recognized upfront before going into a rationalization of anything the pain they were going through. I say that because I respect them deeply, and I love the contribution they have at Netflix. They were hurting, and I should've recognized that first."

Still, Field and two other staffers who criticized the streamer over the Chappelle special were suddenly suspended in early October for supposedly attending a virtual meeting they shouldn't have. The trio was reinstated soon after as the absurdity of the situation and the timing became public. Yet, at almost the same time, walkout organizer Pagels-Minor was pink slipped for supposedly leaking very specific compensation info on Chappelle and others to the media. Led by leak obsessed co-CEO Reed Hastings, the rarely-transparent Netflix has been in beast mode to stop leaks from the Chappelle fallout or any other matter.

Fired, but obviously not bowed, Pagels-Minor denied on the record that anything was leaked. The very pregnant Pagels-Minor spoke to the more than 100 people, a mix of Netflix staffers and supporters, who showed up last week at the protest outside the streamer's Vine Street offices in Hollywood. "I want my child to grow up in a world where they see that their parent, a Black, trans person -- because I exist, contrary to what the special says, contrary to what many people say -- that I'm valued, and I'm an important person," Pagels-Minor proclaimed to cheers from the crowd, as per Deadline.

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New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) Greenpeace International on Sunday demanded a faster and more ambitious action plan in response to the climate emergency and COVID-19, saying that the recent G20 Summit failed to confront the global crisis.

Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, said that the G20 Summit's communique was "weak and lacked ambition and vision".

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"If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines. Their communique was weak, lacking both ambition and vision, and simply failed to meet the moment.

"Now they move onto Glasgow where there is still a chance to seize a historic opportunity, but the likes of Australia and Saudi Arabia need to be marginalised, while rich countries need to finally grasp that the key to unlock COP26 is trust," Morgan said.

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The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's 26th climate conference COP 26 began on Sunday and will go on till November 12 in Glasgow in the UK where more than 180 countries will be participating.

Morgan said that activists from around the world are in Glasgow, demanding the missing action to protect everyone from both the climate crisis and COVID-19.

"Governments must respond to the deadly warnings the planet is giving us and cut emissions drastically right now, to stay in line with 1.5 degree Celsius, and that requires stopping any new fossil fuel development and phasing them out.

"At COP26, we will not let up and continue to push for more climate ambition, as well as the rules and actions to back it up. We need to stop all new fossil fuel projects immediately," he said.

Giuseppe Onufrio, Executive Director of Greenpeace Italy, too called for boost in renewables and cutting carbon emissions by Italy, saying the Italian Prime Minister has urged G20 nations to up their ambition to honour a 1.5 degree Celsius pathway, but we are calling on him to lead by example.

As COP co-presidency, Italy must deliver ambitious climate targets that cut emissions at their source as quickly as possible and present a new ambitious plan which must not rely on false solutions such as carbon offsetting, cut GHGs emissions and boost renewables, Onufrio said.

He further said that emissions from G20 nations account for around 76 per cent of global annual emissions and as of July 2021, only around half those emissions were covered by enhanced pledges to cut them in line with the Paris Agreement.

"Large emitters amongst G20 nations including Australia and India have yet to submit new NDCs. At COP26, which starts today in Glasgow, Greenpeace is calling on governments to urgently step up their climate ambition, starting with a phase-out of fossil fuels, and show solidarity with the countries which are the most vulnerable to the climate crisis," he said.

In a similar view, Morgan said that governments must reduce emissions at home and stop shifting that responsibility to more vulnerable communities, through carbon offsetting schemes that compromise their livelihoods.

We are calling for true solidarity to support poorer countries to survive and adapt to the climate emergency. Every moment spent where wealthy governments focus on corporations' bottom lines, rather than enacting solutions, costs people's lives, she said.

Morgan said that if they wanted to, the G20 leaders could help solve COVID-19 with a TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver to enable countries around the world to produce generic vaccines, treatments and diagnostics that will allow poorer countries to protect their people equitably.

Publicly-funded research that led to the vaccine must lead to a People's Vaccine, she said.

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New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) The national capital on Sunday reported 45 new COVID-19 cases, while the positivity rate stood at 0.08 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here.

No fresh deaths were recorded.

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Delhi has recorded only four deaths due to COVID-19 in October. Last month, five people had succumbed to the viral disease.

With the new infections, Delhi's coronavirus caseload climbed to 14,39,870. So far, over 14.14 lakh patients have recovered, the bulletin said.

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The death toll stands at 25,091, it said.

According to the bulletin, authorities conducted 56,751 COVID-19 tests, including 46,468 RT-PCR ones, the previous day.

There are 348 active cases in Delhi. Of these, 142 patients are in home isolation. The number of containment zones stands at 86, the bulletin said.

Delhi reported 37 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and Wednesday.

In April and May, Delhi battled a brutal second wave of the pandemic that claimed a large number of lives and led to a shortage of oxygen and essential drugs in hospitals.

On April 20, the city reported 28,395 cases, the highest since the pandemic began last year. On April 22, the case positivity rate stood at 36.2 per cent, the highest so far.

The highest number of 448 deaths was reported on May 3.

According to the sixth sero survey, 97 per cent of Delhi's population has developed antibodies against coronavirus as a result of a large number of people getting exposed to the virus during the second wave and a robust vaccination drive.

All districts in the capital have a seroprevalence of more than 93 per cent. Four districts  South, Central, Northeast and East  recorded a seropositivity rate of 99 per cent, 99.5 per cent, 99.7 per cent and 99.8 per cent, respectively.

Women (90.1 per cent) have a higher seropositivity rate than men (88.2 per cent). Those aged below 18 have a seropositivity rate of 88 per cent.

Ninety-five per cent of the vaccinated people who have a history of COVID-19 have developed antibodies as compared to 82 per cent of unvaccinated ones.

According to government data, over 2.04 crore vaccine doses have been administered in Delhi since the inoculation exercise started on January 16. Over 74 lakh people have received both doses.

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Damoh, October 31: The headmaster of a government school in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district was suspended after he allegedly forced some girl students to dance with him in an inebriated condition and shot a video of the act, an official said on Sunday.

The alleged incident occurred in the Government Middle School located at Madhiyado village, about 80 km from the Damoh district headquarter, on Friday, the official said. 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.

Family members of girls had complained that headmaster Rajesh Munda in a drunken state forced them to dance with him after bolting a room in the school from inside on Friday. He also shot a video of the dance, District Education Officer (DEO) SK Mishra told PTI on Sunday. Also Read | Shirur Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra: Sitting MLA, Candidates For Assembly Elections 2019, Results And Winners.

The girls narrated the incident to their parents after reaching their homes, he said. Subsequently, an inquiry was ordered by district collector S Krishna Chaitanya. The inquiry report was submitted by the Block Education Officer.

Following the submission of the report on Saturday, the district collector suspended the headmaster with immediate effect, Mishra said, adding that Munda is now attached to the Patera Block Office after his suspension.

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Srinagar, Oct 31 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday paid rich tributes to India's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary, calling him brilliant administrator and champion of masses.

"An epitome of national unity, brilliant administrator and champion of masses, Patel Ji devoted his entire life for strengthening India," Sinha said.

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Patel's significant contribution to the motherland, devotion to the unity, integrity and safety of the nation, leadership qualities will always remain an inspiration for all of us. My humble tributes to him, he said.

The Lt Governor also greeted people on the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas which commemorates the birth anniversary of Patel.

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Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor, administered the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day) pledge to officials and staff of Raj Bhavan.

During the pledge, the participants dedicated themselves to preserve the unity, integrity and security of the nation and strive hard to spread this message among the fellow countrymen.

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Srinagar, Oct 31 (PTI) The famous Dal Lake here on Sunday witnessed a grand Shikara rally organised to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as part of the 'Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav'.

The Shikaras were decorated splendidly in a traditional manner and the boats passed through several scenic spots of the Dal Lake, giving a festive look to the 'Lake of Flowers', an official spokesman said.

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He said the rally, which was held under the 'Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav' and for celebrating National Unity Day, was flagged off by Director, Tourism Kashmir, G N Itoo.

The director said holding of the rally in the prominent urban lake holds a special significance towards tourism development as the Dal Lake is integral to tourism and recreation in Kashmir and is popularly known as 'Srinagar's Jewel'.

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Itoo said the government is dedicatedly working towards taking Jammu and Kashmir high in the world of tourism through the launch of a numerous innovative measures.

He said it is being ensured that all stakeholders are involved in tourism development programmes for effective outcome.

Such kind of events are being organised frequently in Kashmir by the administration towards development of tourism here, he said.PTI SSB

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Ayodhya/Lucknow, Oct 31 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday offered waters from the Ganga and Afghanistan's Kabul river at the site where a temple of lord Ram is being constructed in Ayodhya.

"A girl from Afghanistan capital Kabul had sent water of the Kabul river to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for offering it at the spot where the massive temple of lord Ram is being built," the chief minister said.

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Adityanath said it had been decided that waters of pious rivers from across the world will be offered at the temple construction site, and this girl from Kabul has displayed an exemplary gesture of devotion.

Honouring the sentiments of the girl, who sent the water despite the situation in Afghanistan following the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban, "I have come to Ayodhya to offer the water of the Kabul river and the Ganga at the 'nirman sthal' (construction site) of the Ram temple", he said.

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The chief minister said that she sent the water as part of her rich religious feeling attached with the temple in Ayodhya.

Earlier, talking to reporters in Lucknow, Adityanath hailed the gesture of the girl.

Following the interaction, he flew to Ayodhya in a helicopter to offer the water of the Kabul river along with that of the Ganga at the Ram Janambhoomi temple site.

The gesture becomes all the more important because with the ascendency of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, freedom of women has been curtailed and "in such a situation the gesture of the girl of sending the water for offering at the Ram temple deserves praise", the chief minister said.

The Ayodhya temple has an international appeal and people from different faiths have expressed their sentiments in different countries in its favour, he said.

Adityanath has already said that 12 lakh "diyas" (earthern lamps) collected from all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh would be lit in Ayodhya as part of Diwali.

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Male [Maldives], October 31 (ANI): Mohamed Saeed, former Minister of Economic Development and presently a member of People Majilis is encouraging hate sentiments for President Ibrahim Solih's government to bring Pro-China derived Abdulla Yameen to power in the Maldives.

In 2020, Saeed was invited as a key speaker in one of the Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS's) online conducted international conference. In this conference, he talked about how the Maldives may face challenges with evolving Indian Ocean scenario, reported Maldives Voice.

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He made claims about how the ruling party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has been performing poorly and the socio-economic progress that the Maldives made under former President Yameen's regime is crumbling apart, reported Maldives Voice.

At the conference, he relayed his distress quoting a 2018 CNN based report that stated, 'as China grows, India is looking to build military presence in Seychelles'. He is worried if the Maldives would be at a greater loss by being too dependent on India.

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When asked about the growing influence of China in the Maldives, he quickly made remarks saying the Maldives did not invent free trade and that Maldives had approached the US, Japan and EU for free trade agreements (FTAs) too but only China was willing to invest and explore the Maldives.

He subtly put a message across that China's involvement in the Maldives is inevitable as China is a 'major economic power' that is bound to make investments into neighbouring countries in the continent, Maldives for more reasons because of its geostrategic importance far behind its physical size, reported Maldives Voice.

Two different online conferences were organized by CGSS in the month of September and October of 2020. The first conference criticized the current government of Maldives and questioned its close ties with India. The second conference held in October discussed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) & Regional Connectivity.

The aim of the conference was to get familiarized with the significance of the Belt and Road Initiative and how it contributes to the member states.

But, there has been reported disagreement regarding Free Trade Agreement with China that was signed through rushed parliament in 2018.

The unsustainable debt towards China is worrisome for the Maldives, though Beijing has indicated that it is ready to discuss repayment terms of the loans. However, after what happened in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Djibouti, unsettling concerns about China's 'dept-trap diplomacy' remains, reported Maldives Voice.

The Maldives could meet the same fate as Sri Lanka where the Chinese debt trap led the country to gain a 70 per cent stake in the Hambantota port on a 99-year lease in 2017.

Saeed also commented regarding the relationship between Maldives and Pakistan, saying that the two countries share common ideologies, and the brotherly bond will grow deeper with years to come.

Following this, a writer from CGSS published an article that contained peculiar facts about India and the ruling party in the Maldives. The article had subtle hints where they subjected India as the 'foreign country' who funded MDP, President Solih's government to assassinate the then President Abdulla Yameen.

The article also questioned Solih's administration and its lack of trust in the judicial system, but what the world knows is the opposite. It was Yameen who lacked trust in its judicial system and went on a rampage by jailing the Chief Justice, because the Supreme Court overturned the sentences of many of Yameen's political opponents which was followed by a declaration of the state of emergency in the country for 45 days in 2018, reported Maldives Voice.

Secondly, the article claimed increased crime rates under Solih's jurisdiction. If reports about crime in the Maldives is read in-depth, it's notable that murders and political arrests have gone down increasingly in numbers during his regime.

However, as per Maldives Voice, Yameen's administration record is poor as compared to Solih's government. In 2014, when Ahmed Rilwan, a blogger and reporter for the Maldives Independent was abducted and disappeared. He used to criticize corruption and religious extremism.

A similar case occurred in the year 2017 when Yameen Rasheed who was known for his sarcastic takes on politicians was found dead with 34 stab wounds in Male. All these events occurred under Yameen's administration.

This could also be seen as a threat to the working of media and the art of journalism in the Maldives as Yameen passed the controversial defamation law in 2016, this limited the freedom of the press making it almost non-existent but as soon as Solih's tenure started, media situation in the Maldives significantly improved as stated in the World Press Freedom Index report.

Another baseless claim made in the article was the protest led by 30,000 Maldivian fishermen. The reason behind the protests was portrayed to be the aggravated local fishermen, who were forced to sell their fish under market price as the government's alleged mismanagement of state-owned fisheries companies. But no such event ever occurred or happened, reported Maldives Voice. (ANI)

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Islamabad [Pakistan] October 31 (ANI): Amid the ongoing protest by the banned Islamist group Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a 12-member committee has been formed to play the negotiator's role between the Imran Khan-led government and the outfit, local media reported.

On Saturday, the Minister of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Pir Noor-ul-Haq Qadri said that the committee is in talks with the government as well as the leaders of the proscribed organisation, Geo News reported.

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The federal minister said religious leaders from across the country met Prime Minister Imran Khan and expressed the resolve to wrap up the matter peacefully.

Qadri said the Khan told the meeting's participants that the incumbent government has always welcomed meaningful and serious talks, Geo News reported.

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The Prime Minister also told the ulema that their suggestions, which might save the country from bloodshed, will also be considered, the federal minister said.

"The 12-member committee is in talks with the TLP leadership, and we hope they can move forward [in their negotiations with the proscribed political party]," he said.

The meeting follows several days of unsuccessful negotiations between the TLP and the Imran Khan government.

In the past few days, several clashes have been reported including one outside Lahore, after TLP tried to resume its march on Islamabad to pressurise the government to accept its demands.

At least four policemen were killed and over 250 injured during the clashes earlier on Wednesday.

During a press conference, Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had said the government has decided that the TLP would no more be dealt with as a political party but as a militant organisation.

Hundreds of TLP workers had taken to the streets throughout the country last week to exert pressure on the government for the release of its chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi. (ANI)

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ICYMI: Schoolchildren in Glasgow, the host city of the United Nations upcoming climate conference, urged world leaders to do their best at #COP26 to halt climate change. Read more: https://t.co/qoYsWfsNRP pic.twitter.com/62QwyafOI0 Reuters (@Reuters) October 30, 2021

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It is the most significant change to the federal criminal justice system in decades.

The First Step Act, signed into law this month by President Trump, will begin to undo some of the harshest tough on crime policies of the 1990s, giving nonviolent offenders a chance at earlier release and shortening future prison sentences.

But the law will barely make a dent in the countrys overall prison and jail population, because most crimes are prosecuted locally  not by the federal government  and the vast majority of people behind bars are in state or local facilities.

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Only about 8%  or roughly 181,000 people  are in federal custody. The new law is expected to lead to the release of 53,000 of them over the next decade.

The more than 1.9 million state and local inmates, however, are likely to benefit from the same forces that led to the bipartisan passage of the federal law: crunched budgets, shifting public opinion and a growing consensus that the old policies have been ineffective.

Were at a unique moment where politicians, voters and big donors tend to be in agreement, said John Pfaff, a law professor at Fordham University who researches criminal sentencing.

Many states already match or go beyond whats in the federal law, and legislators in others can now point to federal reform as they push for local criminal justice changes, said Ashley Nellis, a researcher at the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that supports reducing incarceration.

Most of the progress needs to be made at the state level, she said. But this certainly gives states political cover to take bold action.

Here are three areas where where state- and local-level elected officials have also recently pushed for changes in criminal justice:

Guards at San Quentin State Prison in California. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

Reducing prison populations

The U.S. incarcerates people at a higher rate than any other country. In 2016, the most recent year for which data were available from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2,136,000 people were in prison or jail  or 860 for every 100,000 adults.

That rate, the lowest in two decades, has been falling since its peak in 2008, when there were 2,310,300 inmates, or 1,000 for every 100,000 adults.

The reasons for the decline include a sharp decrease in violent crime since the 1990s as well as local efforts to reduce prison populations.

The drop has been concentrated in 10 states  California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina and Vermont  according to the Vera Institute for Justice, a nonprofit criminal justice research group.

The most notable changes were in California, where the government responded to a 2011 Supreme Court order to fix its overcrowded state prisons by shifting inmates to county supervision. Often, that meant parole rather than jail.

In addition, voters have approved two ballot measures since 2014 that reduced incarceration. Proposition 47 changed drug and most theft convictions from felonies into misdemeanors, and Proposition 57 gave nonviolent criminals better chances for early release.

Workers remove stems and leaves from newly harvested marijuana plants in Avondale, Colo., in 2016. (Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)

Marijuana legalization

Under federal law, marijuana is an illegal drug. But since 2012, when Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize pot for recreational use, California and seven other states as well as the District of Columbia have followed suit.

In other places, cities have sought to override state law by decriminalizing marijuana. In February, the city council in Jackson, Miss., voted unanimously to limit the maximum punishment for possession of 30 grams or less to a $100 fine instead of arrest.

This month, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had already instructed police to no longer arrest people for smoking marijuana in public, said publicly for the first time that he supports legalizing recreational marijuana.

Together, legalization and decriminalization have led to significant declines in arrests for marijuana usage or possession, according to the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance.

The group highlighted Oregon, where annual marijuana arrests dropped 96% from 2013 to 2016, and Washington, D.C., where they fell 76%.

Rachael Rollins answers questions from inmates during a forum at the Suffolk County House of Correction in Boston. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

District attorneys

A wave of local prosecutors have ridden into office in recent years on campaign promises to reform criminal justice.

In Boston last month, Democrat Rachael Rollins won the race for Suffolk County district attorney on a platform that included a vow to not prosecute people for low-level, nonviolent crimes such as shoplifting, trespassing and drug possession.

Incarceration should be reserved for violent offenders that are disrupting the safety of our communities, says her campaign website, which lists 15 crimes her office will not prosecute.

By looking at the root causes of many of the non-violent, property crimes and crimes of desperation, we can see that addiction, mental-illness, and poverty are the real culprits, it says. Services, not sentences are the solutions.

In Bexar County, Texas, which includes San Antonio, Democrat Joe Gonzales won the race for district attorney on a platform that included reforming the bail system to grant bail even to people who cant pay as long as their charges are for nonviolent offenses and they are deemed unlikely to flee.

People who are presumed innocent should never have to sit in jail awaiting trial simply because they are too poor to post bond, his campaign website says.

Kimberly Foxx, who won the Cook County states attorney position in Illinois in 2016, has dramatically reduced prosecutions for retail theft and other low-level offenses.

Philadelphia Dist. Atty. Larry Krasner, who was elected in 2017, issued a memo to assistant district attorneys this March promoting new procedures to end mass incarceration and bring balance back to sentencing.

They include not issuing charges for prostitution against people with fewer than three previous convictions and charging retail thefts of under $500 as civil offenses rather than misdemeanors.

jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com

Twitter: @jaweedkaleem

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Both Harrison Chen and Thang Diep graduated No. 1 from public high schools. Both excelled in extracurricular activities and scored high on their college admissions tests. And both are Asian American.

But the similarities stop there.

Chen, who was raised by middle-class Chinese immigrants outside Raleigh, N.C., was rejected by Harvard University. Diep, a Vietnamese immigrant who grew up in a working-class family in Reseda, got in.

Their experiences have left them with distinct feelings about affirmative action and a federal lawsuit against Harvard that puts Asian Americans at the center of one of the most contentious issues in higher education.

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Chen opposes the consideration of race in college admissions and plans to join like-minded Asian Americans at a rally in Boston on Sunday, a day before Harvard is scheduled to go on trial.

People should be judged on character and merit, said Chen, an 18-year-old freshman at his backup choice, Vanderbilt University in Nashville. What does the color of your skin have to do with admissions?

Diep, who favors affirmative action, plans to attend a rally a few miles away in Harvard Square in support of the university and its policies.

Removing race wont advance us to be a more just and equal society, said Diep, a 21-year-old senior at Harvard. Rather, it would limit educational opportunities to people from higher classes and a white background.

The primary fight against affirmative action has long been waged by whites who argue that giving special consideration to racial minorities has unfairly denied them spots at U.S. colleges and universities.

But in the Harvard case, Asian Americans argue that racial considerations have made them a victim of their own academic success. They tend to get better grades and score higher on standardized tests than other races but claim they are frequently rejected as a result of racial balancing, which is akin to racial quotas and has been ruled unconstitutional.

They compare themselves to Jewish students who faced admissions quotas at elite schools in the early 20th century.

Being Asian American actually decreases the chances of admissions, the lawsuit said. Citing a Duke University economists analysis of six years of Harvard admissions data, it claimed that Asian American applicants who have a 25% chance of getting in would have a 35% chance if they were white, and dramatically better odds than that if they were black or Latino.

It also cited an internal 2013 Harvard report that suggested that admissions of Asian Americans would shoot up substantially if they were evaluated based on academics alone.

Students at Harvard, where Asian Americans make up 22% of the current freshman class. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

As it stands, Asian Americans make up 6% of the U.S. population and 22% of Harvards current freshman class. The latter number has been rising since 2010.

In responding to the suit, Harvard said studies of its admissions, including its own internal review, have been either inconclusive or flawed. The data used dont include essential application factors such as personal essays and recommendations and excludes recruited athletes and legacy student admissions, the university said in court filings.

A UC Berkeley economist who analyzed Harvards admissions data found no negative effect of Asian American ethnicity, the filings said.

For each applicant, the university conducts a whole person review that includes considerations of racial and nonracial factors such as socioeconomic background in addition to grades, test scores, recommendations, extracurricular activities and personal qualities such as being kind, respected and likable  an approach Harvard said is well within the law.

The university and its supporters say that admissions of African Americans and Latinos could decline.

If the lawsuit against Harvard succeeds, it would diminish students opportunities to live and learn in a diverse campus environment  denying them the kind of experiences that are central to Harvards educational mission and critical for success in our diverse society, Harvard said in a statement.

On campus this week, student groups held panels and speeches in support of the university. Online, they used the hashtag #DefendDiversity.

The fight is part of a much larger battle.

The plaintiff is a group called Students for Fair Admissions, which was founded by Edward Blum, a longtime foe of affirmative action. He is white.

In 1992, he ran for Congress as a Republican in Houston and lost, claiming that his district was gerrymandered to guarantee the seat to minorities. He sued Texas and won at the Supreme Court.

Blum was also a significant player in the 2013 Supreme Court case that struck down key portions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a decision that civil rights groups say increased voting restrictions, such as voter identification laws that disproportionately affect racial minorities, in several states.

And he helped a white woman sue the University of Texas at Austin over its admissions policy in the most recent affirmative action case to reach the Supreme Court, which in 2016 ruled in favor of the school.

Harvard calls Blum an anti-race conscious admissions activist, and one Asian American civil rights group supporting the university in the case said the lawsuit is a thinly veiled attempt to use Asian Americans to destroy racial diversity on every campus across the country.

The timing could not be better for affirmative action opponents.

The recent replacement of retired Justice Anthony Kennedy  who wrote the 4-3 majority opinion in the University of Texas case  with the more conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh could give them a better chance of winning at the Supreme Court, should the case get that far.

And the Trump administration has taken an increasingly aggressive stance against affirmative action.

The Department of Justice launched a separate investigation into Harvard last year after Asian American groups filed a complaint saying it discriminates in admissions. In July, the department rescinded Obama-era guidelines encouraging the use of race in admissions decisions and suggested race-neutral policies.

In August, it submitted a legal brief backing the case against Harvard. And last month it announced it was also investigating Yale in response to complaints from Asian American applicants alleging discrimination.

In a statement on the administrations support of the Harvard suit, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions said the department stepped in to protect the civil rights of the American people.

A majority of Americans say merit alone should determine who is admitted to colleges, according to Gallup. At the same time, surveys from the Pew Research Center show that a majority support programs to increase diversity at colleges.

If theres a program to support minorities in competing and advancing their prospects in higher education, big majorities will be behind it, said Laura Stoker, a political scientist at UC Berkeley. But when it comes to fiddling with selection criteria, the public support dwindles. Thats because affirmative action can be so easily portrayed as a form of unwanted discrimination.

Overall, 65% of Asian Americans support affirmative action, according to surveys by AAPI Data, which conducts policy research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

But among Chinese Americans, the largest Asian group in the country, support for race-based preferences fell from 78% in 2012 to 41% in 2016. Support among other Asian American groups held steady at 73%.

At least one group of Asian Americans is standing firmly behind Harvard: those who got in. Many of the people set to testify for the university are current students or alumni. Asian American professors are also supporting their employer.

Diep, who is slated to testify, said in court filings his SAT score of 2060 was high, though on the lower end of the Harvard average.

His application file included a note from an admissions officer who pointed out that Dieps essay has emphasized his immigrant Vietnamese identity, and an interviewer noted his above average personal appeal and character.

I was accepted to Harvard most likely based on my personal statement, which reflected the diversity that I brought to campus, Diep wrote in his court declaration.

On the other side are many Asian Americans who were rejected and their parents.

Chen, who aced 17 Advanced Placement classes in high school, said he holds no grudge against Harvard and is more offended by what he perceives as a patronizing admissions process.

Without access to his application file, he acknowledged that he cannot be sure that Harvard would have accepted him even if racial considerations were discontinued.

He will not testify at the trial, but Students for Fair Admissions liked an opinion piece he wrote last month for a Vanderbilt publication, and Chen will speak at a rally with members of the group Sunday.

We have created institutions that fail to reward merit, losing sight of the American Dream and failing our citizens, Chen wrote. We are trying to combat past inequalities with, ironically, additional inequality.

jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com
On the second Sunday in October, in lovely Autumn weather, members of the parish communities of four parishes of the Diocese of Ossory  Borris-in-Ossory, Camross and Castletown in Laois, and Seir Kieran in Offaly  gathered together in St. Kierans Church in Clareen.

This Prayer Service for Walking in Faith and Hope (held under Covid restrictions) was led by Most Revd. Denis Nulty, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin and Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Ossory.

The concelebrants were Fr. Jackie Robinson (Borris-In-Ossory), Fr. Brian Griffin (Camross and Castletown), and Fr. Michael Reddan (Seir Kieran).

The Prayer Services purpose was to mark the coming together of the four parish communities into a recently-established Pastoral Area, in line with the synodal pathway on which the Catholic Church has set out in Ireland and across the world.

To the singing of the Parish Choir, the entrance procession included both clergy and lay people from the four communities. Fr. Brian narrated, while Sr. Regina, Sean Dowling and Mary McCarthy brought to the altar the Cross, water from St. Kierans Well, the Lectionary, and a lighted candle to light our way and so that we can recognise Christs presence among us.

Fr. Reddan gave the opening remarks, and Anna Duffy extended a cead mile failte on behalf of the host community, to all in attendance especially those who had travelled a distance to take part.

Three pupils of the local schools Confirmation class, Fionn Nolan, Odette Bayliss and Joseph Breslin, then narrated the key events of the early history of the parish and Diocese. In a clear, confident and engaging way, they told of St. Kierans origins on Cape Clear Island off the Cork coast, his journey to Italy and encounter with St. Patrick, the story of how Bell Hill in Clareen got its name, the early fame of the Monastic settlement, where kings of Ossory were buried; the Viking raids in the 9th and 10th centuries, the coming of the Augustinians in 1170, and the final destruction of the Monastery in 1548.

The children went on to cite some milestones of modern times, including the building of the present church at the turn of the last century, and said they and their parents and teachers would be delighted if Bishop Nulty could come back for their Confirmation on St. Kierans Day, 5th March 2022.

Fr. Jackie then gave a reading from St. Johns Gospel (John 8: 12-20) after which Bishop Nulty began his homily with sincere thanks to all those who had had a part in organising the Prayer Service. He commended the three children on the wonderful presentation they had just given, and joked that the black and amber jersey worn by one boy reminded him that it was Kilkenny that had adopted those colours from Seir Kieran, rather than the other way around.

On this the eve of the feast day of St. Canice, Bishop Nulty continued, it was fitting that the gathering was taking place here, where the Diocese began. He recalled that Seir Kieran has not only been geographically separate from the rest of Ossory, it has itself been divided into the three separate parts of Osierbrook, Fancroft, and the townslands around Clareen crossroads.

He expressed special appreciation to the Diocese of Killaloe, to Bishop Fintan Monahan and his predecessors, for attending to Seir Kieran during the Penal times, and during other troubled periods through the years. All the same, the bond with Ossory had never frayed, and he loved how this was expressed by Bishop Abraham Brownrigg in the pastoral letter he sent from Kilkenny in January 1900:

This little parish has claims on us, which no other parish in the whole diocese can put forward. It was there the faith was first preached in Ossory. It was in the grateful soil of Seir Kieran that was first deposited the little seed of Gospel truth.

Bishop Nulty then asked the four parish groups represented to stand up, each in turn. This very weekend, he said, Pope Francis was launching a universal Synod. The word synod means coming together.

He emphasised that this synodal pathway must especially seek to engage women and men who have become disengaged, whether because of abuses that have come to light; or because of feeling not welcomed or valued for who they are or see themselves as; or simply because of falling out of the habits of religious observance. The question for this faith community, here in the womb of the Diocese, is what is God saying to Ossory at this moment? What is St. Kieran saying? May we take that first step this day, the Bishop concluded. May it be a gentle step, in faith and hope.

The Service ended with a reading by Catherine OBrien of Pope Franciss own poem, Hope and a recessional hymn. Fr. Michael again thanked all who had been involved in organising the prayer service and in catering for the day. Everybody was cordially invited to the Assembly Room of the National School, where tea, refreshments and conversation with acquaintances old and new made for an enjoyable close to proceedings.
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Just 10% of Irish people are aware of all four stroke warning signs.

That's according to new information from an Ipsos poll on behalf of the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF), which found that 43% of people are unaware of any of the key signs.

In response, the IHF has launched its new Act F.A.S.T. campaign today on World Stroke Day.

IHF Head of Advocacy, Chris Macey, said severe disability, misery and death caused by stroke could be avoided by knowing what the four letters of Act F.A.S.T mean.

According to the foundation, they stand for Facial weakness (can the person smile and has their mouth or eye drooped?), Arm weakness (can the person raise their arms?), Speech problems (can the person speak clearly and understand you?) and Time (call an ambulance on 112 or 999 if you notice any of these).

Mr Macey said, "Stroke is one of the few conditions where your own actions will determine your outcome. Treatment has improved dramatically but doctors still rely on people getting to hospital as soon as possible after experiencing symptoms to give them the best possible chance of recovery."

Broadcaster, Mark Cagney, suffered a stroke in January and is encouraging people to know the signs after his "lucky escape".

He said, "This can happen to anyone and everyone. It doesn't matter if you are Superman or Superwoman. If a vessel pops or it clogs, it will drop you, so if you don't know the signs then you're in even bigger trouble than you were to start with."

Approximately 7,500 people are hospitalised due to stroke each year.
A man, with a Leitrim address, 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
LIMERICK vets are urging owners to keep their pets inside on Halloween night, after one dog sustained serious injuries in a firework related incident.

Rockhall Veterinary, who operate as a small hospital in Limerick City, received reports of Bella the dog, who tore the pads on her paws when she jumped out of a two-storey window on hearing fireworks.

Head Vet at Rockhall Veterinary Henry Street Emma McLoughlin said that over the last few days members of the public have been bringing dogs in who are scared, and some are running so scared that they cant get near them.

Its mainly a fear and anxiety reaction of sorts. Their hearing is much more advanced than our own. We dont know how severe those noises will be on their ears.

The sound of fireworks causes dogs to run or hide, she added. Hiding can be distressing at home and usually takes place behind furniture, where dogs are not engaging with their owners and are highly stressed.

The running then is seriously dangerous. They can get knocked down; they can escape. You saw that dog over the weekend, the Kilkee born veterinary surgeon told the Limerick Leader.

Whilst some dogs wont suffer, her recommendation is to try desensitising them.

Some dogs will be fine by being kept in and being in company. Even if they are outside dogs and dont like being inside, its just safer to bring them in as they might try and scale a wall if they are scared or get caught on fences.

Emma added that owners can make a little den for them with a blanket and their favourite toys, letting them know they are in a safe space.

Some dogs, more sensitive to the sound of fireworks, will require medication. These take the form of natural protein supplements all the way up to anti-anxiety medication like doggy Xanax.

She also stressed the importance of microchipping your dog as this is the only way in which a lost pet can be reunited with their owner, if they do go astray.

If there is no chip, then we have no choice but to alert the dog warden, the charity or the Gardai. We cant hold dogs here, she concluded.
HE is poet, priest and inner-city pastor. Now, Fr Hugh ODonnell is once more spreading the good news that nature is lifes great gift and inviting us all to slow down and return to our connection with nature and with the earth.

What happens to the earth and all its inhabitants happens to us, says the man who taught for several years in the Salesian College in Pallaskenry and whose ancestors still have roots in East Limerick.

But he insists, his new book, launched virtually during the last lockdown, is not preachy although one section of it does focus on things we are doing wrong, the negative side such as wasting water, producing plastics, and ill-treating animals.

Instead, Fr Hugh says, it is  a wake-up call, an opportunity to listen again to the One who speaks to us in the voices of creation.

It is a reminder of what we are missing, he says simply.

Born in Crumlin, Fr Hughs interest in nature was sparked by walks in the countryside with his father and summer visits to Kilkenny grandparents where he said, he was out all day, enjoying the wonder of freedom. You were a child of nature really, he recalls before adding: We have lost that sense of closeness with nature, with animals, with natural sounds.

His father also gave him a love of poetry, his mother a love of words and in his 20s, now preparing for the priesthood within the Salesian order, he began to write, beginning with poetry.

He also taught for a while, arriving in the Salesian College, Pallaskenry in 1979 and staying several years. And for a number of years after that, he was part of the Salesian formation team.

But now, and for the past 17 years, he has been part of the Salesian team in Sean McDermott Street parish, in north inner-city Dublin.

But his strong connection with nature and what it represented followed him to inner-city Dublin and he jumped at a chance to do an MA in religion and ecology.

It helped me to make the connection between faith and care for the earth. You cant really be a person of faith if you are not caring for the earth, Fr Hugh says.

He developed his ideas in Eucharist and the Living Earth and then began a series of short, prose passages or meditations he called Taking the Slow Lane.

Time to Call Home, he explains, builds on that. It is the same idea of trying to get us to slow down, to notice things, to savour lives instead of rushing and racing.

Time to Call Home is published by Veritas and costs 14.99
India has extended the ban on international passenger flights till November 30 due to concern regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020. However, there are numerous countries where Indian citizens can still travel despite the ban. India operates special international flights under the V ande Bharat Mission and under the bilateral "air bubble" arrangements with selected countries.

India has formed air-bubble pacts with around 28 countries, including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan, and France. Under an air-bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories with specific restrictions.

Here's a full list of countries with which India has signed an air bubble agreement:

1. Afghanistan

Indian and Afghan carriers are now permitted to operate services between India and Afghanistan and carry the following categories of persons on such flights:

Afghanistan nationals/residents and foreign nationals holding valid Afghanistan visas, if required

Any Indian national holding any type of valid visa from Afghanistan and destined for Afghanistan only. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian nationals to enter Afghanistan with the particular visa category before the issue of ticket/ boarding pass to the Indian passenger.

2. Bahrain

Air India/Air India Express and Gulf Air are now permitted to operate services between India and Bahrain and carry the following categories of persons on such flights:

Any Indian national holding any type of valid visa from the Kingdom of Bahrain and destined for Bahrain only.

3. Bangladesh

Any Indian national holding any type of valid visa from Bangladesh can travel. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian nationals to enter Bangladesh before the issue of ticket/ boarding pass to the Indian passenger.

4. Bhutan

Indian and Bhutanese carriers are now permitted to operate services between India and Bhutan and carry the following categories of persons on such flights:

Any Indian national. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian nationals to enter Bhutan.

5. Canada

Stranded Canadian nationals/residents and foreigners with valid Canadian visas eligible to enter Canada;

Indian nationals with valid visas are eligible to enter Canada.

Seamen of foreign nationalities; Seamen holding Indian passports would be allowed subject to clearance from the Ministry of Shipping.

6. Ethiopia

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in Africa and holding a valid visa for the destination country. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/ Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter the destination country with the particular visa category before the issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/ Nepalese/Bhutanese passenger.

7. France

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only and holding a valid visa of the destination country. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter the destination country before the issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese passenger.

8. Germany

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only and holding a valid visa of the destination country. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter the destination country before the issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese passenger.

9. Iraq

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for Iraq and holding a valid visa for Iraq. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian / Nepalese /Bhutanese nationals to enter Iraq with the particular visa category before the issue of ticket/boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese passenger.

10. Japan

Any Indian national holding any type of valid visa from Japan is subject to the border measures and travel restrictions imposed by the government of Japan at the time of travel.

11. Kenya

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in Africa and holding a valid visa for the destination country.

12. Kuwait

Any Indian national eligible to travel to Kuwait and destined for Kuwait only.

13. the Maldives

Indian and Maldivian carriers are now permitted to operate flights between India and Maldives

14. Nepal

Indian nationals and nationals of Nepal can travel the country.

Third-country nationals (including diplomats) holding valid visa/entry permit for Nepal.

15. The Netherlands

Stranded nationals/residents of Netherlands, foreign nationals destined for EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only and transiting through Netherlands or spouses of these persons, whether accompanying or otherwise;

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in EU/Schengen area, South America or Africa only and holding a valid visa of the destination country.

16. Nigeria

Stranded Nigerian nationals/residents, foreign nationals destined for Africa and transiting through Nigeria, or spouses of these persons, whether accompanying or otherwise.

Any Indian national holding any type of valid Nigerian visa and destined for any country in Africa.

17. Oman

Any Indian national holding a valid residency permit of Oman and destined for Oman only.

18. Qatar

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for Qatar or any country in South America or Africa only and holding a valid visa of the destination country.

Foreign nationals destined for South America or Africa only and transiting through Qatar.

19. Russia

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for and holding a valid visa of Russia.

20. Rwanda

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in Africa and holding a valid visa for the destination country.

21. Seychelles

Indian nationals or nationals of Nepal or Bhutan stranded in any country in Africa;

All Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and Persons of Indian Origin cardholders holding passports of any country;

All foreign nationals (from any country in Africa) intending to visit India for any purpose (including their dependents on the appropriate category of dependent visa) except those on Tourist Visa; and

Seamen from countries in Africa.

22. Sri Lanka

Following categories of Indian nationals can travel to Sri Lanka--

Indian businessmen on a Business visa.

Indian healthcare professionals, health researchers, engineers, and technicians for technical work at Sri Lanka health sector facilities, including laboratories and factories.

Indian engineering, managerial, design, or other specialists travelling to Sri Lanka on behalf of Indian business entities located in Sri Lanka.

Indian technical specialists and engineers travelling for installation, repair, and maintenance of Indian-origin machinery and equipment facilities in Sri Lanka, at the invitation of a registered Sri Lankan business entity.

Indian tourists visiting Sri Lanka for leisure / pleasure purposes.

Nationals / residents of Sri Lanka.

23. Tanzania

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for any country in Africa and holding a valid visa for the destination country.

24. Ukraine

All Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders holding passports of any country

Nationals of CIS countries excluding Russia (but including diplomatic and service/ official passport holders) intending to visit India for any purpose (including their dependents on the appropriate category of dependent visa) except those on Tourist Visa.

25. UAE

ICA approved UAE residents.

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for UAE or any country in South America or Africa only and holding a valid visa of the destination country.

26. The UK

Stranded UK nationals/residents, foreign nationals transiting through UK or spouses of these persons, whether accompanying or otherwise;

Any Indian national holding any type of valid UK visa and destined for the UK only.

27. The USA

US citizens, legal permanent residents, and foreign nationals holding valid US visas;

Any Indian national holding any type of valid US visa.

28. Uzbekistan

Nationals/residents of CIS countries (excluding Russia);

Any Indian national or national of Nepal or Bhutan destined for and holding a valid visa for CIS countries (excluding Russia).

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A 23-year-old student in Germany can shrink and enlarge his pupils on demand, according to a new case report  a feat that was previously thought to be impossible.

Two tiny opposing muscles in the eye act as puppeteers of each pupil (the dark center of the eye), dilating or enlarging them in a dark environment to let in more light and constricting them in a bright environment to limit the amount of light that flows in. This process was thought to be completely automatic; when you step into a dark room, you don't have to consciously tell your pupils to change size. Pupils can also change size in response to other factors, such as increases in arousal.

It was previously known that some people can change their pupil size at will, but by using indirect methods.

For example, researchers already knew that just thinking about the sun could constrict the pupils and that thinking of a dark room or mentally calculating something could dilate them, said Christoph Strauch, senior author of the new case report and an assistant professor in the experimental psychology department at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Related: 5 experts answer: What's the best way to preserve my eyesight?

But no one thought it was possible to change pupil size by directly controlling it like a muscle  that is, until a student of psychology at Ulm University in Germany contacted Strauch after taking one of his courses. (Strauch was previously a doctoral student at Ulm University).

When he was about 15 or 16 years old, the young man  identified in the case report by his initials, D.W.  realized that he could change the size of his pupils. "I showed a friend that I can 'tremble' with my eyeballs, and he noticed that my pupils became small," D.W. told Strauch and his colleagues at Ulm University. But D.W. didn't notice that he had this ability until he played computer games for long periods of time.

"Constricting the pupil feels like gripping, tensing something; making it larger feels like fully releasing, relaxing the eye," D.W. told the researchers. At first, he would change his pupil size by focusing in front of or behind an object, but with practice, he learned how to do it without focusing on objects. He told the researchers that, to change his pupil size, all he has to do is concentrate on the eye; he doesn't have to imagine a bright or dark environment.

That makes D.W. different from other people who have demonstrated the ability to change their pupil size, Strauch told Live Science. What's more, that he can feel the muscles in the pupils directly "is astonishing, as it was thought to be impossible."

How rare is this?

Through a series of tests, the researchers confirmed that D.W. indeed had this ability  and they found no indication that he was changing the size of his pupils indirectly. In one test, the researchers measured the electrical properties of the skin by applying voltage to test whether he was aroused by increased mental effort, which also might have increased his pupil size indirectly. (He wasn't.)

Without using any indirect method, D.W. could dilate his pupils up to 0.09 inches (2.4 millimeters) in diameter and constrict them to 0.03 inches (0.88 mm) in diameter. What's more, even at the closest point an object can be for the eye to still see it in focus, in which the pupil is already "maximally" constricted (imagine holding up a pencil in front of the eyes and moving it closer to the face and stopping at the point before it becomes blurry), D.W. could voluntarily constrict his pupil even more. By doing this, D.W. improved his focus and could see objects clearly nearly two times closer to his face than he could if he wasn't controlling his pupil size.

Using a type of brain scan known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers found increased activation of certain parts of the brain involved in volition, or the ability to decide and do something out of free will.

The researchers can't say for sure that D.W. was directly controlling his pupils, but from their many tests, they did not find any evidence that he was using indirect strategies.

Can other people learn to do this? Possibly, Strauch said. Finding and researching more people who have this ability might help the team understand whether there's a strategy for training people to control their pupil size at will.

Studies of more people who might have this ability may help researchers describe and understand the phenomenon, such as where it came from, Strauch added. "Quite some people have reached out who believe that they might be able to do the same thing  this is really cool," he said.

The findings were published online Aug. 12 in the International Journal of Psychophysiology .

Originally published on Live Science.
Click here to read the full article.

Alec Baldwin spoke to photographers Saturday for the first time since the incident with a prop gun resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.

Baldwin and his family have been laying low in Vermont since the accident occurred October 21st. However, paparazzi tracked down the actor and his wife Hilaria in Vermont Saturday, with Baldwin  as a courtesy, so theyd stop following his family around  speaking to them but noting he couldnt comment on the incident itself, TMZ reports.

Im not allowed to make any statements because its an active investigation, he said. Ive been ordered by the Sheriffs department in Santa Fe, I cant answer any questions about the investigation. The actor, who was also a producer on Rust, said that he continues to speak to investigators on a daily basis.

She was my friend. The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting, I took her to dinner with Joel the director, Baldwin added of Hutchins. We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened.

Baldwin, who previously met with Hutchins husband Matthew and son in the days following her death, said of Matthew, He is in shock, he has a nine-year-old son. We are in constant contact with him because we are very worried about his family and his kid. As I said, we are eagerly awaiting for the sheriffs department to tell us what their investigation has yielded.

He added, There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this. This is one-in-a-trillion. Baldwin said that Rust will likely not go back into production.

Baldwin previously tweeted the day after Hutchins death, There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother, and deeply admired colleague of ours. Im fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.

Director Joel Souza was also injured in the on-set incident where Baldwin was handed a prop gun he believed was cold but actually contained live rounds. Assistant sirector Dave Halls grabbed the gun from among three set up on a gray rolling table by armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed and yelled cold gun as he handed it off to Baldwin moments before the deadly tragedy, a search warrant revealed.

On Friday, Reed blamed producers and unsafe set conditions for the tragedy.
Click here to read the full article.

Stories of urban life under pressure dominated the 25th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival as the event wrapped Saturday with top honors going to Slovak director Barbora Sliepkova for Lines, called by the jury an exceptional approach to showing how beauty, intimacy and space are intertwined amid social and economic contradictions and connections.

Lines also took the prize for best debut and sound design by Michal Horvath along with $10,000, and was praised for its complex and perfectly well crafted work.

Main competition special mention went to When You Are Close to Me, a look at the lives of deaf and blind people by Italian director Laura Viezzoli, which the jury, including Syrian writer and filmmaker Orwa Al Mokdad and Romanian producer Anamaria Antoci, honored for its explorations of sensitive and intimate space.

Prizes for crucial non-directing work initiated this year went to Mexican director Tin Dirdamal for editing on Dark Light Voyage, while the cinematography prize went to Barbu Balasoiu for You Are Ceausescu To Me. The sound design winner, Michal Horvath, won for his creation of an urban symphony of sound and music in Lines.

Chinese indie docmaker and festival organizer Rikun Zhu won honors for the original approach for his story of a young Maoist artist who dreams of a better life in New York, No Desire to Hide.

Director Andrei Kutsila also took a special mention for his searing look at the repression of protestors in Belarus, When Flowers Are Not Silent.

The prize for best film from Central and Eastern Europe went to Romanian director Sebastian Mihailescu for his ironic treatment of recent history You Are Ceausescu to Me along with a prize of $3,652.

The doc Heaven, a chronicle of disabled children in a Chinese village facility directed by the duo Adela Spaljova and Tomas Etzler, won the fest audience prize, beating out some 120 competition films, 64 in world premieres and 36 in international or European premieres.

As the fest now moves into its two-week online phase, ending live screenings in the historic Czech town, once home to Gustav Mahler, home audiences will be taking in today winning films including Czech Joy competition champ Brotherhood, a Bosnian pastoral family microcosm by Czech Rep.-based Italian director Francesco Montagner.

The jury of the Testimonies section, focused on themes of change and crisis, granted the top prize to How to Kill a Cloud by Finnish director Tuija Halttunen, a look at ethical dilemmas highlighted by the work of meteorologist Hannele Korhonen.

Czech doc maestro Jana Sevcikova, known for carefully crafting lush and incisive films she works on for years from subjects ranging to persecuted Russian Christian cults to the aftermath of the 1988 Armenian earthquake, won the prize for contribution to world cinema. Speaking at the closing gala in the DKO cultural center, amid lights and cameras for a Czech TV broadcast, Sevcikova confessed she was near tears as she gave credit to her resourceful cameraman Jaromir Kacer for staying with me all this time.

The Silver Eye Award for the best feature doc in the East Silver Market, granted by the Institute of Documentary Film, went to director Sasha Kulak for Mara, while Sounds of Weariness won the short doc prize and special mention went to Orpheus by Vadim Kostrov, a look at filmmaking in modern Russia.

Each winner received a work of original art by digital innovator Federico Diaz, a graphic representation of words based on their emotional context  a fitting prize for a fest that has long embraced experimental work, debate, essay films, graphic art and sound design along with films that filmmakers themselves often say they are surprised to learn are considered documentaries.

Fest streaming runs through Nov. 3, offering access to more than 100 films in the Czech territory, alongside filmmaker interviews, tips and discussions from the Inspiration Forum  which includes speakers involved in social movements and innovation  and a master class with Russian director Vitaly Mansky, also honored with a Testimonies jury prize for Gorbachev.Heaven, his doc on the bold former Soviet leader.

Ji.hlava 25th edition winners

Opus Bonum main competition

Lines

Special mentions  When You Are Close to Me, When Flowers Are Not Silent

Editing  Dark Light Voyage

Cinematography  You Are Ceausescu to Me

Sound  Lines

Debut  Lines

Original approach  No Desire to Hide

Student jury  Yoon

Czech Joy

Brotherhood

Special mentions  Ordeal, Preparations for Film T.

Editing  Out in Force

Cinematography  Brotherhood

Sound  Love, Dad

Student jury award  Leaving Beginnings Behind

Central and Eastern Europe

You Are Ceausescu to Me

Fascinations experimental docs

In and Out a Window

Fascinations: Exprmntl.cz

Beautiful Solution

Testimonies

How to Kill a Cloud

Special mentions  From the Wild Sea, Dark Red Forest, Gorbachev.Heaven

Audience Award

Heaven

Short Joy

Open Mountain

Contribution to World Cinema

Jana Sevcikova

Silver Eye

Feature  Mara

Short  Sounds of Weariness

Special mention  Orpheus

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Patti Smith welcomed her old friend Todd Rundgren into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday with a brief but heartfelt speech. She reflected on their lengthy personal history together, saying that when they first met, Rundgren was the runt  a riff on the name of his early band and the title of his 1971 LP  to her wallflower. She spoke about his rapid evolution as an artist and about his wisdom as a producer, which she witnessed firsthand when Rundgren worked on her 1979 album, Wave. Praising him near the end, she called him our wizard, our true star as a nod to his 1972 album A Wizard, a True Star, which she reviewed for Creem at the time.

A little over 50 years ago, Patti Smith reviewed Rundgrens Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren for Rolling Stone.

Todd Rundgren has a fine hand in everything, she wrote. For The Ballad he mixes his hard-edge comic book humor with the various musical colors of the Putney [synthesizer]; produced in a sort of warped rock space that most people have still failed to enter. About a hundred years ago the runt of a Sioux tribe breathed his visions on his people. They dropped that runt crap and crowned him Crazy Horse. I think its time runt be dropped from Todd Rundgren.

Patti Smith inducts Todd Rundgren pic.twitter.com/gN0skPt5RH  Dr. Bryan McGeary (@BMcgeary) October 31, 2021

Read Smiths full Rock Hall speech for Todd Rundgren here.

Todd Rundgren is among the artists being honored tonight, a recognition so deserved on so many levels. The arc of his accomplishments as a musician, songwriter, performer, producer, innovator is so vast I could not possibly encapsulate them, so Ill take a personal route. Todd and I met in our early twenties. We were both from the Philadelphia area, the runt and the wallflower. I was working in a bookstore writing poetry, and Todd was already quite accomplished at 22 years old, the head engineer at Bearsville Studios. I was allowed to sit in the studio while he worked on Stage Fright with the Band.

As his friend. I was privy to the stages of his work on his solo albums  such a swift evolution, from shimmering pop songs to soaring experimental pieces, and he was unflinching in the face of new technology. He would just bend it in his hands. Todd was our producer on my last album with the Patti Smith Group. He would tell the band, If you know what you want, I will help you get it; if you dont know what you want, Ill do it for you. Todd and I have our own personal mantra: No grown-ups allowed. And that is Todd Rundgren, the Peter Pan prodigy, ever curious, ever youthful, ever defiant. He has been our alchemist, our wizard, our true star. And it is my privilege to welcome Todd Rundgren into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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At the 36th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday night  which marking the return of the event to a live setting in Cleveland, after last years strictly virtual edition  there were plenty of surprises among the performance choices, which included Taylor Swift opening the show with Carole Kings Will You Love Me Tomorrow and Paul McCartney and Foo Fighters closing it with Get Back. Among those unexpectedly joining jams were Eminem and Jennifer Lopez for LL Cool J, and Keith Urban filling in for Bryan Adams in a Tina Turner medley. Among speeches, the intrigue included Dave Chappelle in person and Barack Obama on tape helping to induct Jay-Z.

The class of 2021 was being honored at Clevelands 12,000-capacity Rocket Mortgage Financial Fieldhouse in Cleveland, ushering Carole King, LL Cool J, the Go-Gos, Tina Turner, Todd Rundgren, Randy Rhoads, Gil Scott-Heron, Kraftwerk, Billy Preston, Charley Patton and music executive Clarence Avent into the hall.

While the action was plentiful on stage, backstage inductees and inductors fielded questions and posed for photos in the press room going on in the press room.

Carole King, who made history as one of three women inducted twice into the Hall, was still clearly moved by Swifts performance. I came in briefly when she was rehearsing, she said. The version that she did tonight was amazing. She just owned it and she made it her own in a way that I have never heard done that way, and that is my joy as a songwriter, to see how different people interpret a song.

King is already in the hall as a songwriter alongside one-time partner Gerry Goffin, and made history as the third woman to be inducted twice, along with Stevie Nicks and fellow 2021 inductee Tina Turner. Backstage, she talked reverently of Goffin, who died in 2014. Had he been here tonight, he would be here cheering me on just like in the musical Beautiful: Youre going all the way. He really was a supporter of me, long after we werent married anymore, she said.

Being inducted a second time is different, she said, because she was being inducted for something she never thought she would do, which was to be a performer.  I feel that as a performer, after all the years I have been actually doing it, was just part of the way that I bring music to people, she said. I understand what an audience comes to see. I know they dont expect perfection, so thats good. They get the song from the heart with great players.

King was clearly the belle of the ball backstage, posing for photos and getting hugs backstage with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Jay-Z, Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, Swift and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, who portrays Aretha Franklin in the film Respect, and performed the Goffin-King-written classic, (You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman.

Also making a stop backstage was Angela Bassett, who portrayed Turner in the movie Whats Love Got to Do With It? I couldnt say anything but yes, Bassett said about inducting Turner into the hall. Turner, she said, is an inspiration, turning pain into power and her hurt into triumph.. and (showed) what is possible for a woman at any age at any stage.

LL Cool J spoke backstage about hip-hops place in the hall and why it is essential, saying he was happy the hall expanded to include other genres.

For me as a kid growing up at a time when they took music out of the schools, at a time the world was really changing, the Bronx was a war zone, he said. It changed our lives. Me being a kid from Queens, it gave us an opportunity to express ourselves creatively and artistically and to really level up. It gave us a way to really see the world. As a young Black kid in Queens it made me feel empowered. It was the first time I saw kids that looked like me saying something that sounded powerful because, to be honest, most of the time I saw them on the news was in handcuffs. Hip-hop, he said, connected kids and stories all over the world.

Asked about which rock n roll performer inspired him, LL Cool J did not hesitate to name check Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Billy Squier.

I would listen to Hey Joe consistently. You got guys like Billy Squier, that one song The Big Beat, was one if the most important records in the whole hood, he said. Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues, come on, man! The words and the lyrics and the stuff he does in that. He continued about DJs scratching the drum beats of classic songs with vinyl records, and of Run DMCs collaboration with Aerosmith for Walk This Way. We appreciate rock n roll. Were not against rock n roll. We are not anti- rock n roll at all. On the contrary, he said. Its all love.

The love was reciprocated by Dave Grohl, who gave LL Cool Js performance an ovation. Ive definitely listened me to some Foo, LL Cool J said, adding that he and Grohl share a birthday, January 14. We both always laugh about that, he said.

He then talked about attending country shows and being impressed. I dont listen to country music riding in the car, but when you see country music live, these guys are really connected to relationships and telling stories  its like hip-hop.

Asks who he would like to see in the hall next, LL Cool J name-checked Outkast, Eminem, Big Daddy Kane, Eric B and Rakim, KRS 1 and others that did not have mainstream success. We are all looking for something new and fresh. We all want to hear good music, and I dont know who it was but they said there was two types of music  good and bad, he said.

Drew Barrymore wrapped herself in a towel and gave herself a facial to recreate the Go-Gos iconic 1981 Beauty and the Beat album cover before inducting the band. For Barrymore, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was heaven in a place in earth, as she excitedly inducted a band she discovered when she was 6 years old. If youd told tiny me that Id be up here introducing my heroes into the most notable rock club in human history, I would say, Well, I will do my best to honor these women, she said.

Beauty and the Beat, she said, blew the doors off my life It sounded like pure possibility, she said as she shared a photo of herself and Carlisle from when she was just 9. I spent hours staring at that cover and the back side, with all of them in the bathtub  the coolest girls in the world taking a spa day in cool-girl heaven.

Gary Clark Jr. strapped on a guitar after inducting the late blues legend Charley Patton to perform High Water Everywhere, while Brandi Carlile performed All I Have to Do Is Dream by the Everly Brothers for the In Memoriam segment, joined by twins Tim and Phil Hanesroth for three-part harmonies that paid homage to the Everlys two-part magic.

Later, Lionel Richie, who flew in to Cleveland one day after performing a sold-out show at the Wynn in Las Vegas to personality induct Avent into the hall, joked with reporters that he got his energy from drinking 12 cups of coffee.

So many people are grateful to you, Clarence, he told an emotional Avent, as the exec known affectionately as the Black Godfather received the Ahmet Ertegun Award on stage. You have done so much for me and so many artists, you are truly the Godfather of us all.

A planned all-star jam of Rolling Stones songs honoring the late Charlie Watts was apparently scrapped due to time constraints.

Prior to entering the event, all attendees were asked to prove proof of vaccination for Covid-19, with rapid tests being administered to all with access to the backstage area. Last years ceremony was moved to late fall due to the pandemic, and John Sykes, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation chairman, confirmed to the press backstage that the ceremony will now take place every November, with the next eligible Class of Fame ready to be unveiled in January.

Throughout the weekend inside the hall, fans participated in a virtual fan vote located outside an exhibit of the current inductees, with Motley Crue leading the vote.

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Chalk & Blade, the London-based production company behind the hit Hunting Ghislane podcast, which is soon to become a TV drama, has signed with talent agency WME.

In addition, Jason Phipps is joining the as head of content and development. Phipps work includes hit series The Missing Cryptoqueen, which is being adapted for TV, investigative piece Where is George Gibney? and the drama The Cipher starring Anya Chalotra and Chance Perdomo. Phipps commission, Im Not a Monster, made in collaboration with PBS Frontline, won the Edward R. Murrow award, as well as a Podcast Academy Award for Best Documentary Podcast. His Have You Heard Georges Podcast? won a Peabody Award.

Chalk & Blade was founded six years ago by BBC radio veterans Ruth Barnes and Laura Sheeter. The company has created conversational and branded audio for brands including adidas, Net-a-Porter, the United Nations and the Rockefeller Foundation. Hit podcasts also include The Messenger, Incredible Women and BBC Obsesses With I May Destroy You.

Jason is the perfect addition to our ambitious and creative team. He joins us having developed some incredible, fresh-sounding and rigorously reported shows which have had both commercial success and critical acclaim  including winning the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award and a Peabody Award, said Sheeter.

Ive watched Chalk & Blade grow from strength to strength over the last six years. It is an incredible time for independent podcast production to push into the wider media landscape. I cannot wait to join a team taking content to the next level and helping clients tell unique stories in audio form, said Phipps.

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When Laredo Health Department Director Richard Chamberlain had a conversation with some of his university students earlier this year, he knew the city had a bigger issue with COVID-19 than just its active cases.

Two of his students were completely free of their infections when they spoke to him after a class, but they were far from 100%. Both students complained of experiencing a brain fog, making it hard for them to concentrate and succeed in his class despite putting out all the effort they could.

Chamberlain had seen firsthand the direct issues Laredo had with COVID-19: the high number of active cases and the limited number of hospital beds, but he hadnt really heard too much about these specific long-haul symptoms his students were speaking of after class. But now he knew there was an issue, one that he realized would need to be addressed. He just didnt know exactly how he would help.

That is, until help showed up on his figurative doorstep  or more literally  with a phone call.

A helping hand

That phone call came from UT Health San Antonio, and they were interested in helping over the long haul, and with long-haul symptoms.

UT Health San Antonio was recently brought into a nationwide study seeking to understand why some people have prolonged symptoms (referred to as long COVID) or develop new or returning symptoms after the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Simply put, the system is doing research on long-haul COVID-19 symptoms, and it needed somewhere, and someone, to help out in its research.

Chamberlain knew his city could help, and Dr. Jennifer Potter knew she could reach out.

We would not have made that call if I had not known Richard Chamberlain and known his commitment to the community, said Potter, UT Health San Antonios Vice President for research, in a Zoom call Friday morning. These are not easy studies to do. Theyre complicated, and they need really good partnerships.  If we were going to do this, we needed a community partner in the public health department, and Im just really grateful.

So based on having met a few times, we called him and said, So theres this opportunity that we dont know much about, its due in a week. But what we do know is its going to help us understand COVID and how its impacted people, and we think Laredo needs to be part of it. And he went, Sure, no problem. Lets figure something out. And heres a letter of support. What can we do? How can we help?

Just like that, Laredo was added to the study which hopes to learn as much as it can about COVID-19  not just in the initial infection, but how a person is impacted over a long period of time.

PREVAIL

The PREVAIL study  Prevention, Evaluation and Incidence of Long-Term COVID in South Texas  will span over four years of research and involve 900 participants from San Antonio and Laredo. It will look at long-term symptoms classified as long COVID including pain, headaches, fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, fever, chronic cough and sleep problems.

How frequent is it? How long does it last? What makes it better? This study will answer a myriad of questions about the post-acute sequalae of COVID-19 (called PASC), said South Texas Principal Investigator Thomas Patterson, MD, an infectious diseases specialist and professor of medicine in the health science centers Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine.

We will reach out to community partners including the Laredo Health Department and University Health to recruit survivors, especially in the Latinx population that has been so heavily and disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Why Laredo?

The City of Laredo is classified by the Health Resources and Services Administration as a medically underserved area, meaning it has too few primary care providers, high infant mortality, high poverty or a high elderly population.

It has been designated as such before Chamberlain was in his position. He believes the designation is more than two decades old.

We continue to try to overcome this and acquire as many services and programs on the health care side to bring into Laredo over the coming years, he said.

Despite the efforts to address these issues, going into a pandemic with such a designation turned out to be a problem. Laredo had the highest hospitalization rate in the state at 47% in January with capacity and hospital beds constantly at risk of running out since the city saw its first case of COVID-19 back in March 2020.

We have recognized that Laredo has been hard hit, just like every other part of the state, Potter said. In particular, we were getting phone calls in San Antonio, it was all hands on deck just trying to figure out what to do in the early days of the pandemic.

Dealing with these issues was a challenge for the city, but it also led to Potter thinking of it when considering which community would be right for the universitys study.

Research should really be about the people who have struggled with whatever that is, she said. And with the case of the pandemic, Laredo was hard hit. Our campus down there had a tent in it that was an extension of the need to provide services in Laredo and maintain the infrastructure of our public health system. The other reason specifically is the UT System has a commitment to Laredo and wants to make that stronger and more robust as part of what we do.

What they will do

The PREVAIL study is in its infant stages. It came about very fast, so fast in fact Potter said they were signing papers as they went to get ready to set up their research.

Said research is very, very new.

We are actually enrolling our first participant (on Oct. 29), and I think it may be one of the first in the nation, up in San Antonio, Potter said. We are just, literally, signing things as were going along, so it will be very soon that you start to see the reach outs. Theres going to be a publicity campaign that will go out, so we are still setting up in Laredo.

Those interested in joining the study locally can do so, but just not yet. The Laredo Health Department has already designated a case worker to help with efforts in town, but there are still some things to set up.

The only requirement to be a participant is to have tested positive for COVID-19. The research will take place over the span of four years, so there is a time span commitment as well. That time span is critical to the research.

This type of design really is fundamental to public health, Potter said. This is the moment where you study to understand. So epidemiology, this longitudinal cohort study, that will allow us to follow and deeply characterize what people are experiencing, the study actually has adapted because what weve experienced with the delta variant this past summer. So that we can understand the delta variant not only in acute, but also this chronic state.

The goal would be that out of these four years of study, we are able to better treat health and improve the quality of life for people. Were seeing things like the brain fog and other issues like that, so this helps, this is the backbone of building treatment and intervention to help people long term.

The end goal

To be able to carry out research like this in Laredo is important because of the unique situation the city was in during the height of the pandemic.

But researchers and Laredo Health personnel are hopeful this will not only give them the results theyre looking for, but they also hope to find help for those who have survived COVID-19.

We want to understand COVID and its impact on people for purposes of improving their lives, not just for the people in the study but how we deal with COVID moving forward, Potter said. Im sure youve seen stories, or written stories probably about, Is this becoming endemic in the population? Meaning, are we going to have COVID moving forward, its just not going away?

This information is critical to public health, because it provides foundational knowledge that will help us intervene and help other people. Its also the case that people who participate in the study, while theyre giving us the gift of information, they may also because of all of the tests we do get information back about their own health that may be useful to them in improving it. But thats a secondary benefit. This is about understanding a disease so that we can treat the disease better.

So much to learn

No one knows everything about COVID and no one may ever know everything about it, but getting a chance to carry out this kind of research like this right here in Laredo is an opportunity Chamberlain couldnt pass on.

We are honored that we do have big brothers, big sisters that are looking out for Laredo and making sure that public health is still being placed at the forefront, Chamberlain said. (Keeping public health) in the spotlight and knowing that the resources here within the City of Laredo, within the Health Department, will continue to champion the causes that will come in that will benefit the community as well as research on a national, global scale.

Potter hopes to help people right here get treatment they need to alleviate the long-haul symptoms they have experienced, but also she hopes the help the community gives makes an even bigger impact.

A study like this is a bit like a snowball, she said. So you start with one question, but thats the question that you begin your science with. But when you collect information, theres so many things we can start to build on to understand. There will be ancillary studies  these are add-on studies  that people may or may not want to be a part of that will be able to answer all sorts of questions. We are collecting biological information about folks, and we are building a repository of information that will help us understand not just COVID now but other health issues like a pandemic in the years to come. So all of this is just extraordinary.

Were the only site in Texas that was selected, its just extraordinary. And again, I just want to go back to Laredo, because were just so honored that Laredo is willing to be a part of this study because it will not just impact people nationally, but we want to have science about people in communities whose lives were impacted by COVID. Laredo, again, had a very tough go of it, and this is why this research should be done in Laredo and not somewhere else. Thats why we wanted Laredo to be part of this study.

If you are interested in participating in the study, UT Health San Antonio will be putting out communication in the coming weeks looking for individuals to join its research.

For more information about the PREVAIL South Texas study, call 210-567-5262 or visit recover-tx.org.

thomas.lott@lmtonline.com
Seven male migrants were arrested at a stash house along with a mother after her children were allegedly prevented from opening the door to law enforcement officials, according to an arrest affidavit.

The case unfolded on Oct. 27, when a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper received information from a Webb County Sheriffs Office deputy that about six suspicious men were running into a home in the 1400 block of Margarita Lane in the City of Rio Bravo. DPS troopers and U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to the home and walked into the residence through the open gate facing south.

A trooper noticed someone peeking through the window on the south end of the residence. Another trooper then heard a males voice coming from the east window of the residence. Authorities at the front door could hear the volume of the television raised up high.

Authorities conducted a welfare check because a 60-year-old woman lived there by herself, but no one answered. A trooper then heard a female crying coming from the east window. Troopers made contact with the girl, who was identified as a 14 year old.

Troopers instructed the teen to open the front door, but she stated she could not open it because some males were blocking the door and preventing her from exiting. A trooper noticed the window bars loose and removed the air conditioning window unit.

The trooper helped the girl exit the residence through the window. Asked who else was inside, she stated that her brothers  ages 8, 12 and 13  remained in the home. Asked who were the men who were blocking her from the door, she added she did not know any of them.

Due to exigent circumstances knowing that children were left alone with unknown men, troopers forced their way through the front door. Troopers encountered the three children laying down on the living room couches. Authorities escorted them to safety.

Seven men detained at the home confessed to being citizens of Mexico and Guatemala who were in the country illegally.

The house was consistent with being a stash house for undocumented (migrants). There were several mattresses laid out in one bedroom with several bedsheets.  The home was unkept, dirty and (had) trash everywhere on the floor. The home also smelled of burnt marijuana, states the affidavit.

The mother of the children, Maribel Lopez, 42, would arrive later at the location. Lopez stated she was working when her sister called her saying that police were at her home. She claimed she did not know who the seven men were, according to the affidavit. Lopez was arrested and charged with four counts of abandoning, endangering a child.

Authorities identified the men as Hector Rolando Chetziboy, 22, Juan Antonio Urtayo-Gonzalez, 36, Juan Ignacio Macias-Escobar, 26, Marcelino Cuz-Caal, 30, Mariano Tuxpop, 24, Maximo Israel Delgado-Aguilar, 28, and Rolando Javier Valadez Hernandez, 22. Each was charged with unlawful restraint.
Rep. Henry Cuellar announced this week the passage in the House of Representatives of the Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers and Employees Protection Act a decade after the attack of both agents by organized crime in Mexico.

The announcement was made during Cuellars Conversations with Cuellar Zoom event.

As a South Texan and American, I have worked diligently to pass the Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers and Employees Protection Act, Cuellar said. ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata, originally from Brownsville, Texas, was killed by Mexican drug cartel members in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on Feb. 15, 2011. His murderer will not be brought to justice because of a loophole in our current law. I introduced this bipartisan legislation in the House to close that loophole and ensure the safety of all federal employees serving our nation abroad.

This act would mean that any person who harms, kills or attempts to hurt any Federal Agent, diplomat or federal employee abroad can be brought to the U.S. to be prosecuted under United States Courts.

What they tried to do was to bring those murderers to the United States to be tried Cuellar said. It got dismissed because they couldnt prosecute them under the laws, so what we are trying to do is close the loophole to make sure that we are able to prosecute these folks.

The bill passed with support of both Democrats and Republicans and is now on the way to President Joe Biden for signature, after that it would soon become law.

Zapata and Avila were on duty for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while traveling from Laredo to Mexico City for an assignment. As they drove through the state of San Luis Potosi, the agents were aggressively stopped by an SUV on a fake military checkpoint. Both agents identified themselves to the gunmen as U.S. diplomats but were still surrounded and attacked by members of the drug cartels. The gunmen fled and a Mexican federal helicopter arrived to aid Zapata and Avila, however only Avila survived the attack.

Federal law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every single day in service to our nation  they deserve to know that the United States will protect them from harm at home and abroad, Cuellar said. The Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers and Employees Protection Act ensures that we hold all individuals accountable for threats or harm to American servicemembers. I thank Sen. (John) Cornyn for his continued efforts to protect those who guard our country.

Although his murderers were apprehended, last year a federal appeals court dismissed the murder convictions on the basis that the district court did not have jurisdiction over the crimes committed against law enforcement stationed overseas, a statement from Cornyns office reads. The legislation will clarify that federal officers and federal employees serving internationally are protected, and that the U.S. Department of Justice may try their attackers in federal court.

Jaime Zapata Memorial Highway stands as a tribute for his death in the City of Laredo, joining Bob Bullock Loop 20 and U.S. 83.

cecilia.trevino@lmtonline.com
TOKYO (AP)  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas coalition kept a comfortable majority in Sunday's parliamentary election despite losing some seats as his weeks-old government grapples with a coronavirus-battered economy and regional security challenges.

Kishidas Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito together won 293 seats, according to final but not yet official results. That's well above the majority of 233 in the 465-member lower house, the more powerful of Japans two-chamber Diet, where they previously had 305 seats.

The LDP lost 15 seats from its pre-election share, but the 261 seats it won are an absolute majority  a level that allows the party and its ruling bloc to control all parliamentary committees and easily ram through legislation.

The LDP's losses in single constituencies included those held by influential party members, such as secretary general Akira Amari, who was stung by a past bribery scandal. Amari offered to resign even though he eventually secured his seat in proportional representation.

The lower house election is about choosing a leadership," Kishida said late Sunday after his ruling coalition secured the majority. "I believe we received a mandate from the voters.

Kishida said the results were in part due to opposition parties' strategy of fielding unified candidates in many single-seat electoral districts, but also because of voters' judgment of his predecessors over the past four years.

Kishida, 64, dissolved the lower house only 10 days after taking office on Oct. 4. He had won the leadership race in his ruling party because the party's conservative leaders saw him as a safe status-quo successor to Yoshihide Suga and his influential predecessor Shinzo Abe.

Five opposition parties together lost 10 seats as their strategy of unifying candidates in most single-seat constituencies backfired, apparently because the Japanese Community Party was included in their united front. The largest opposition, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lost 13 seats to 96, and the communists lost two seats, retreating to 12.

A big winner was the rightwing Ishin, or the Japan Innovation Party, which nearly quadrupled its seats to 41, rising to the third biggest party. Despite the party's previous stance close to the LDP, its growing criticism of both the ruling and opposition blocs catered to voters who wanted a change from the LDP but found the opposition bloc uncomfortable, experts say.

Kishidas immediate task has been to rally support for a party weakened by Sugas perceived high-handed approach to pandemic measures and his insistence on holding the Tokyo Olympics despite widespread opposition because of a high number of coronavirus cases, which have since dropped sharply.

Kishida repeatedly stressed his determination to listen to the people and to address criticism that the nine years led by Suga and Shinzo Abe had fanned corruption, tamed bureaucrats and muzzled opposing opinions.

The campaign has largely centered on COVID-19 response measures and revitalizing the economy.

While the ruling party stressed the importance of having a stronger military amid worries over Chinas growing influence and North Koreas missile and nuclear threat, opposition parties focused on diversity issues and pushed for gender equality.

Opposition leaders complain that recent LDP governments have widened the gap between rich and poor, did not support the economy during the pandemic and stalled gender equality and diversity initiatives. Japan this year ranked 120th in the World Economic Forum's 156-nation gender-gap ranking.

The opposition has long struggled to win enough votes to form a government after a brief rule of the now-defunct center-left Democratic Party of Japan in 2009-2012, as they have not been able to present a grand vision for the country.

On the economy, Kishida has emphasized growth by raising income, while opposition groups focus more on redistribution of wealth and call for cash payouts to pandemic-hit low-income households.

Kishida, during the campaign, promised to spur growth and distribute its fruit to the people as income.

Kishida said late Sunday he planned to reappoint the same members to his post-election Cabinet to speed up the work on a supplementary budget by the end of this year so that he can fund an economic package to provide support for the people and businesses hit by the pandemic.

I will take concrete steps to achieve our policies as soon as possible, Kishida said. I need to move quickly.

Before working on those, Kishida said he was heading to Glasgow to attend the COP26 summit on Tuesday. It's a global issue for all mankind, and Japan has to take our responsibility, he said.

The LDP opposes legislation guaranteeing equality for sexual minorities and allowing separate surnames for married couples.

Of the 1,051 candidates, only 17% were women, despite a 2018 law promoting gender equality in elections, which is toothless because there is no penalty. Women account for about 10% of parliament, a situation gender rights experts call democracy without women.

Some voters had little hope of change by the Kishida's government.

Shinji Asada, 44, said he compared COVID-19 measures to pick a candidate, hoping for a change of leadership, as he thought the ruling party lacked explanation and transparency over its pandemic measures. He said that despite Kishidas promise to be more mindful of the peoples voices, I thought nothing would change (under him) after seeing his Cabinet, whose posts largely went to party factions that voted for him.

___

Associated Press journalist Chisato Tanaka contributed to this report.
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.
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.
Today

Clear skies during the evening will give way to low clouds and fog after midnight. Low 57F. Winds light and variable.

Tonight

Clear skies during the evening will give way to low clouds and fog after midnight. Low 57F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow

Sunshine and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 77F. Winds light and variable.
This column will wrap up my writing for October already. Daughter Loretta and Dustin have been married a month on Monday. Where does the time go? Do we take enough time out of our busy lives to thank God for all the blessings we have? When our lives dont go as we expect, it is so easy to give up. We need to take one day at a time and remember that God will help us through the hard trials.

Last week sister Emma and I spent a day with sister Verena. We washed off her bedroom walls, ceiling, window and furniture. We emptied sister Susans desk and dresser and packed some of her clothes in totes for now. This was a hard job to do. It makes it so final. Susan collected a lot of things through the years, so we have lots more to sort through. But we made a start at least. The physical work wasnt what was hard. It was the going through a loved ones belongings and knowing they wont need them anymore. It made me think that the only thing I can take with me one day are my children. Let us spend time with our family while we still have each other.

Sunday evening we had supper at niece Emma and Mennos house. They served a good supper of mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken, deep fried mushrooms, potato salad, desserts and more I am probably forgetting. Those enjoying the supper were Joe and me, and sons Benjamin, Joseph (and special friend Grace), and Kevin, daughter Lovina (and special friend Daniel), daughter Loretta and Dustin, daughter Elizabeth, Tim, and children, daughter Susan and children, daughter Verena, sister Verena, sister Emma and sons Jacob, Benjamin (and special friend Crystal), and Steven, and niece Elizabeth and Manuel. The three special loved ones that were usually with all of us were dearly missed. We played board games after supper. It was a rainy evening and cold outside so it was nice to be indoors.

Yesterday daughter Verena hosted a Pampered Chef bridal shower for daughter Loretta which was held here. It was a very good turnout, and Loretta was able to choose lots of free items for her kitchen. The consultant made a chicken club ring and chicken salad. I made a tater tot casserole and potato salad. My daughters and sister and her daughters all brought desserts and snacks, so we had a nice meal to enjoy after the party.

Sister Verena had been staying with us since Sunday. She went home with sister Emma. Emma had supper brought in last night from our bishop, ministers, deacon and their families. She wanted us to come, but it is not so easy to leave since we dont have our buggy. The boys use our other buggy, and Benjamin has one he bought. We need to go look for another one since ours was demolished in the storm in August. We do have an old buggy here that they use to train horses, but the door doesnt shut on one side and with the cold weather its not fun to ride in. To think Joe and I both grew up with open buggies. I think we are spoiled now.

Today daughter Elizabeth goes on a field trip with granddaughter Abigails class to a pumpkin patch, corn maze and pet farm. Daughters Susan and Verena will have her other two children T.J. and Allison at their house for the day. Abigail is so excited to have her mother come to school with her.

Saturday we travel to Berne, Indiana, to attend my family gathering at sister-in-law Nancys house. It is right on brother Amoss 60th birthday. He will be greatly missed as will all the other loved ones that have gone on before us. Gods blessings to all!

Lovinas Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her newest cookbook, Amish Family Recipes, is available wherever books are sold. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.

Chicken Club Brunch Ring

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons mustard

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, snipped

1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped

1 (10-ounce) can chunk white chicken, drained and flaked

1 pound bacon slices, crisply cooked and chopped

2 (8-ounce packages) refrigerated crescent rolls

1 cup (4 ounces) finely shredded Swiss cheese, divided

2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 medium red bell pepper

2 cups lettuce, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, and onion; mix well. In another bowl, put in flaked chicken, bacon, 3/4 cup cheese and 1/3 cup of mayonnaise mixture; mix well. Unroll crescent dough and separate into 16 triangles. Arrange triangles in a circle on a 13-inch round baking stone (or other round pan) with wide ends of triangles overlapping in the center and points toward the outside. There should be a 5-inch diameter opening in center of stone. Using a medium scoop, divide the chicken mixture evenly onto the widest end of each triangle. Bring the outside points of the triangles up over filling and tuck under the wide ends of dough at center of ring. The filling will not be completely covered. Cut tomato slices in half and place a tomato half over the filling in between the openings of the ring. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven immediately and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Cut top of bell pepper off. Remove membranes and seeds. Fill bottom part of pepper with the remaining mayonnaise mixture and place in center of ring. Arrange lettuce around pepper. Slice and serve.
Two area chambers of commerce have been recognized by the Michigan Association of Chamber Professionals for their hard work during a difficult few years.

The Benzie County Chamber of Commerce and Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce both received the 2021 Award of Distinction at the association's Leadership Conference and Annual Meeting, held on Oct. 22 at Crystal Mountain Resort and Spa.

The associations board of directors chose to give every chamber that is a member of the association the award, according to a press release, noting that all chambers faced difficult times and had to make hard decisions during the first year of the pandemic.

Michigan chambers of commerce played an extraordinary role in keeping businesses informed about changes in government regulations, safety protocol and funding relief sources, said Joe Bauman, chair of the Michigan Association of Chamber Professionals in a press release. Any chamber that is able to offer programs and support its members after a year of being shut down deserves to be recognized.

The press release went on to describe the difficulties chambers faced in 2020.

Chamber organizations across the state served as clearinghouses for thousands of businesses and their communities struggling to make sense of rapidly changing mandates that forced many organizations to close their doors, move to remote operations or identify essential employees overnight, read the release. Chamber staff worked tirelessly at the forefront to answer questions, direct resources and advocate for the entire business community.

Michelle Barefoot, director of the Benzie County Chamber of Commerce, said she cant take full credit for the award.

The chamber isnt me; Im not the chamber, she said. The chamber operates on behalf of the business community and area organizations. The chamber has an amazing board of directors. We have a great team here at the Benzie chamber. That team and efforts throughout the year are what was pivotal to weathering that storm and creating an impact in our community.

Barefoot said trying to navigate COVID-19 restrictions and help businesses while dealing with the influx of visitors was challenging.

The pandemic definitely posed a challenge, not only because we are a destination location, but also working with the business community at large just trying to re-tool and understand all the mandates and try to disseminate information. I feel the chamber did a wonderful job making that information as accessible and simplified as possible to allow businesses to stay in business and do things right by them and right by laws and mandates.

Barefoot said being part of the Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance helped, and it was through the alliances advocacy in Lansing that northern Michigan businesses were able to open a bit sooner and with fewer restrictions.

We appreciate the award and recognition of all the hard work that was done in 2020 to support our local businesses and community, said Kristina Bajtka, director of communications and investor relations for the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce. Chamber organizations as a whole tried to keep our members/investors informed on the daily changes that the pandemic posed.

Bajtka said 2020 was a year for reflecting on chamber operations.

The past year was certainly challenging, but for our chamber it was a time to rethink our priorities and funding model, she said. We narrowed our main priorities to four that follow our mission and serve both our investors and community. The four priorities are advocacy, economic development, leadership and downtown development authority.

"As part of the conference, the Manistee chamber along with TraverseConnect and the Midland Business Alliance were selected to orchestrate a panel discussion on the new ways that chambers are leading their communities with a focus on economic development and advocacy. We are honored to be one of the lead chambers in the state and happy to share this information with our fellow chambers.

Stacie Bytwork, president and CEO of the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce, said the association's conference at Crystal Mountain was a great opportunity to reconnect with colleagues from across the state.

Bytwork was also elected to be chair of the association's board of directors.

"I want to thank the Michigan Association of Chamber Professionals and Crystal Mountain for doing a wonderful job on the conference," she said. "The event allowed us to gather and connect again with our colleagues around the state. It will be an honor to lead the MACP in the coming year as the new chair."
Mankato, MN (56001)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low around 30F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low around 30F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Bayern Munich put their shock midweek DFB Pokal exit behind them as they recorded a resounding 5-2 victory at Union Berlin on Saturday.

An early Robert Lewandowski brace was followed by Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller as the Bavarian side overcame the valiant hosts at the Station An der Alten Forsterei.

The visitors raced into an early lead as Lewandowski followed up his penalty after 15 minutes by doubling his side's lead with 23 minutes on the clock, latching on to Muller's through ball to apply the finishing touch.

The match looked to be beyond Union when Sane made it three ten minutes before half-time, but the hosts pulled one back through Nico Giesselmann.

However, Julian Nagelsmann's side restored their three-goal cushion on the hour mark thanks to an unstoppable Coman efort.

Union refused to lie down as Julian Ryerson made it 4-2 in the 64th minute, but Muller delivered the killer blow after 79 minutes, curling home into the top corner after brilliant play from Dayot Upcamecano.
Meadville, PA (16335)

Today

Mostly sunny skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 46F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Low 34F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Super star of South Indian cinema, Rajinikanth underwent carotid artery revascularization after complaining of uneasiness and breathlessness. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin paid a visit to the Kauvery hospital in Chennai to meet the ailing super star of South Indian cinema, Rajinikanth. On October 29, the Kauveri hospital had issued a medical bulletin stating that the superstar underwent carotid artery revascularization.

Stalin, reached the hospital and visited Rajinikanth, and spent some time with him. He enquired about the health of the superstar who is likely to be discharged in a couple of days.

The latest movie of the superstar, Annaatthe is to be released globally on Deepavali day, November 4.



Meanwhile, fans of Rajinikanth conducted special poojas for his speedy recovery at Tirupakyandram Murugan temple at Madurai on Sunday by breaking 108 coconuts and also performing 'Man Soru' (eating from the floor).



The fans also performed special poojas for the success of his upcoming movie Annaatthe.



Source: IANS

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The statement said, "Mr Rajinikanth was admitted in Kauvery hospital, Alwarpet, Chennai on October 28 following an episode of giddiness. He was thoroughly examined by an expert team of doctors and was advised to undergo Carotid artery revascularization. The procedure was performed successfully today (October 29) and he is recovering well. He is likely to be discharged from the hospital in a few days."
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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.
Secretary of State offices to offer evening hours on Wednesdays

Secretary of State offices to offer evening hours on Wednesdays

OCTOBER 29, 2021

Secretary of State offices will shift Wednesday hours to stay open until 7 p.m. beginning Nov. 3 to provide service to residents who cannot visit offices during traditional business hours.

"We continue to offer numerous convenient options for Michiganders to conduct their business with us, including expanded online transactions, self-service stations at grocery stores, and now evening office hours," said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. "We are heeding the call for evening hours from community organizations and leaders and adding another way we're making government work for the people."

Visits during Wednesday evening hours on Nov. 3 are now available for booking at Michigan.gov/SOS. Wednesday hours will now be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time).

The department releases thousands of office visits twice per day, every business day for residents to book online at Michigan.gov/SOS or by calling 888-SOS-MICH. Residents can also walk up to any office and they will be served immediately if there is availability or assisted with scheduling a return visit at a time convenient for them.

# # #

For media questions, contact

Tracy Wimmer at 517-281-1876.

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)
ROME (AP)  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as part of the Group of 20 summit on Sunday  an outreach designed to ensure that the intensely competitive relationship between the world's two largest economies doesn't veer into open conflicts.

Senior State Department officials described the conversations as candid, constructive and productive, saying that Blinken was clear about U.S. concerns during the roughly hourlong meeting. The officials insisted on anonymity to discuss the exchanges.

One of the U.S. goals is to maintain an open line of communication with China and set a virtual meeting later this year between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said that Wang, while blaming the U.S. for a sharp deterioration in relations, said he would like to establish regular contact with Blinken to exchange views on how to manage the differences between their two countries, avoid misjudgments and explore cooperation.

Blinken said at the meeting that China has increased tensions with regard to Taiwan and that America wants to continue its one-China policy, which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. During China's National Day weekend in early October, China dispatched 149 military aircraft southwest of Taiwan in strike group formations, causing Taiwan to scramble aircraft and activate its air defense missile systems. Biden alarmed China shortly after by saying that the U.S. has a firm commitment to help Taiwan defend itself in the event of a Chinese attack.

Asked in a CNN town hall whether the U.S. would come to Taiwans defense, Biden said, Yes, we have a commitment to do that. U.S. officials immediately moved to clarify that there had been no change to U.S. posture toward Taiwan.

Blinken told CNN on Sunday that there is no change in the U.S.' longstanding commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to make sure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself. And we stand by that. He said Biden's commitment dated back to his time as a U.S. senator.

Wang blamed the current Taiwan leadership for the uptick in tensions, as well as U.S. support for what he called Taiwan independence forces, the Chinese statement said. He called on the U.S. to pursue a real one-China policy instead of a fake one, accusing the American side of saying one thing and doing another.

China and Taiwan separated during a civil war in 1949. The U.S. cut formal diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 in order to recognize Beijing. The U.S. does not openly contest Chinas claim to Taiwan, but is committed by law to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats toward it as matters of grave concern.

Blinken noted that the G-20 summit is being followed by the United Nations climate summit in Scotland, saying that the U.S. expects China to curbs its greenhouse gas emissions as a responsible global power for the good of the world.

Trade issues did not come up in any detail, as the conversation largely stayed in the political realm. Nor was China's recent test launching of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile discussed by the two leaders.

___

Associated Price writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.
ROME (AP)  Leaders of the worlds biggest economies agreed Sunday to stop funding coal-fired power plants in poor countries and made a vague commitment to seek carbon neutrality by or around mid-century as they wrapped up a Rome summit before the much larger United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

While Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron described the Group of 20 summit as a success, the outcome disappointed climate activists, the chief of the U.N. and Britain's leader. The U.K. is hosting the two-week Glasgow conference and had looked for more ambitious targets to come out of Rome.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the G-20's commitments mere drops in a rapidly warming ocean. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres agreed the outcome was not enough.

While I welcome the #G20s recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled  but at least they are not buried, Guterres tweeted. Onwards to #COP26 in Glasgow."

The G-20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions, and Britain had hoped for a G-20 bounce" going into the Glasgow COP26 meeting. Environmentalists and scientists have described the U.N. conference as the world's last best hope" for nailing down commitments to limit the global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average.

The summit laid bare the divisions that still exist between Western countries that polluted the planet the most historically but are now seeing emissions decline and the emerging economies led by China whose emissions are rising as their economies grow.

Britain pushed for a commitment to achieve climate neutrality or net-zero emissions, meaning a balance between greenhouse gases added to and removed from the atmosphere, by 2050.

The United States and the European Union have set 2050 as their own deadline for reaching net-zero emissions, while China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are aiming for 2060. The leaders of those three countries didnt come to Rome for the summit.

In the end, the G-20 leaders arrived at a compromise to achieve climate neutrality by or around mid-century, not a set year.

Before leaving Rome, U.S. President Joe Biden called it disappointing that G-20 members Russia and China basically didnt show up with commitments to address the scourge of climate change ahead of the U.N. climate conference.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not expected to attend the conference in Glasgow, although they are sending senior officials to the international COP26 talks.

The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia...and China basically didnt show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change. And theres a reason why people should be disappointed, Biden said, adding: I found it disappointing myself.

Biden comments came in response to a reporters question about the modest pledges made during the G-20 summit.

We made commitments here from across the board in terms of what were going to bring to (COP26), the president said. As that old trade saying goes, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pushed back at the West's target date.

Why do you believe 2050 is some magic figure? Lavrov asked at a news conference. If it is an ambition of the European Union, it is the right of other countries also to have ambitions....No one has proven to us or anybody else that 2050 is something everyone must subscribe to.

Italy's Draghi said the declaration went further on climate than any G-20 statement before it. He noted that it referred to keeping the 1.5-degree global warming target within reach, something that science shows will be hard to accomplish unless the world dramatically cuts emissions from fossil fuels.

We changed the goalposts, Draghi told reporters.

Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau said that G-20 leaders were able to get together was in itself a success given the coronavirus pandemic.

The fact that we have well laid out the table and know where the sharp edges are, and know what work we were going to have to do at COP is a very positive step, Trudeau said.

The future of coal, a key source of greenhouse gas emissions, also proved one of the most difficult issues on which to find consensus for the G-20.

At the Rome summit, leaders agreed to put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021. That refers to financial support for building coal plants abroad.

Western countries have been moving away from such financing and major Asian economies are following suit: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the U.N. General Assembly last month that Beijing would stop funding such projects, and Japan and South Korea made similar commitments earlier in the year.

China has not set an end date for building coal plants at home, however. Coal is still Chinas main source of power generation, and both China and India have resisted proposals for a G-20 declaration on phasing out domestic coal consumption.

The failure of the G-20 to set a target for phasing out domestic coal use was a disappointment to Britain. But Johnson's spokesperson, Max Blain, said the G-20 communique was never meant to be the main lever in order to secure commitments on climate change, noting those would be hammered out at the Glasgow summit.

John Kirton, director of the G-20 Research Group at the University of Toronto, said the leaders took only baby steps in the agreement and did almost nothing new.

He pointed to the agreement to recall and reaffirm their overdue commitment to provide $100 billion in assistance to poorer countries and to stress the importance of meeting that goal fully as soon as possible instead of stating that they were ready to stump up the full amount.

The agreement to end international coal financing is the one thing thats specific and real. That one counts, Kirton said.

Youth climate activists Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate issued an open letter to the media as the G-20 was wrapping up, stressing three fundamental aspects of the climate crisis that often are downplayed: that time is running out, that any solution must provide justice to the people most affected, and that the biggest polluters often hide behind incomplete statistics about their true emissions.

The climate crisis is only going to become more urgent. We can still avoid the worst consequences, we can still turn this around. But not if we continue like today, they wrote, just weeks after Thunberg shamed global leaders for their blah blah blah rhetoric during a youth climate summit in Milan.

Greenpeace Executive Director Jennifer Morgan said the G-20 failed to provide the leadership the world needed. I think it was a betrayal to young people around the world, she told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Aside from climate issues, the leaders signed off on a landmark agreement for countries to enact a global minimum corporate tax of 15%. The global minimum is aimed at deterring multinational companies from dodging taxes by shifting profits to countries with ultra-low rates where they may do little actual business.

The leaders also said they would continue work on a French initiative for wealthier countries to re-channel $100 billion in financial support to needier countries in Africa in the form of special drawing rights - a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports allocated by the International Monetary Fund and also received by advanced countries.

The leaders said they were working on actionable options to do that and set the $100 billion figure as a total global ambition short of an absolute commitment. Some $45 billion has already been reallocated by individual countries on a voluntary basis.

The commitment reflects concern that the post-pandemic recovery is diverging, with wealthy countries rebounding faster due to extensive vaccinations and stimulus spending.

___ Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report. Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington.
In the City of Modern Explorers, it is no surprise that Midlands youth celebrate Halloween with science activities.

On Saturday, for the Midland Center for the Arts' Halloween Bash, the next generation of engineers, scientists, teachers and many other professions walked through with family and friends to observe various demonstrations, including chemical reactions and light refraction.

They left with Halloween candy and a dash of scientific and artistic knowledge.

I love when people are here to learn, said Gina Malczewski, a biochemist with the American Chemical Society, as she conducted a demonstration in front of a group of attendees.

National Chemistry Week was the week prior, from Oct. 17-23. The Midland Center for the Arts says creating intersections between science, art, and things, such as symbolic animals commonly used to represent Halloween, is just what they do.

When you hide vegetables in a dish, this is kind of like that, said Lauren Solinski, the centers Youth and Public Programs Manager. For Halloween, we really relate things to the spooky and scaries. So, we're talking about spiders and bats and how they're actually really good for the environment and good for humans.

Education meets enjoyment

From oscillating reactions to glow sticks and Pop Rocks  various science-related topics were displayed on Saturday for the MCFTA's Halloween Bash.

According to those staffing the ticket booth, the event sold out all 500 tickets before the doors opened. Every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 50 new attendees walked through the hall  stopping at tables with Halloween-themed activities and demonstrations by volunteers.

One volunteer was Center Educator Emma Johnson, who wore a bumblebee costume as she explained "ghost investigations."

The activities included observing color change without mixing liquid. This was shown by using a Mason jar and a bowl, each containing different primary colors to make purple, orange and green as well as testing objects to make a sound reaction  a way to learn about soundwaves.

Johnson asked the young participants engaging questions, which she said were intended to create a learning moment. Most of the attendees were families with young children who dressed up in costume with a treat bag in hand.

Eager to learn, some Midland-area children peeked over the tables, as they were just barely tall enough to see.

Solinski explained that each science table was set up to connect an educational lesson with other disciplines, such as art. She said the goal was to encourage youth to understand while exploring something new.

Alden B. Dow believed that art and science could not exist without one another, and thats the philosophy that we go with, Solinski said.

You don't have to be an artist to visit the center, she continued. You don't have to be a scientist; you can just want to explore and create here.

Many firsts took place at Halloween Bash

Midland resident Maksyn Lynsenko was celebrating his first Halloween as a werewolf. The young werewolf in costume collected candy and petted a spider at the American Chemical Societys station.

And Saturdays Halloween Bash was one of the first major events to welcome Midland-area residents back to the Center for the Arts. Solinski said the center hasnt been able to welcome its typical number of community members due to the pandemic and last years dam failures and flooding.

For example, Saturday marked Midlander Jessica Caraballos first time at the Center for the Arts with her family.

In another first, Midland-area resident Charlie Hatheway handmade a dinosaur-and-rabbit hybrid mask. Hatheway added that other masks were also made for her family and friends.
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.
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
MIDDLETOWN  The citys first firetruck, a circa-1930 American LaFrance, has come full circle after its journey to as far away as New York  nine decades after the Fire Department put it to use.

The cherry-red ladder apparatus was unveiled Thursday afternoon at the R.M. Keating Historical Enterprise Park on Johnson Street, where its being temporarily stored.

Its a little rusty, Mayor Ben Florsheim said Friday afternoon, but the engine started. Everything that is supposed to move moves.

Securing the vehicle and returning it to its city of origin was made possible by the efforts of many current and veteran fire personnel, as well as countless others.

Middletown had the truck in service until the late 1950s, according to the city. It then was loaned to the Connecticut Valley Hospital fire department, the mayor said. When the facility received its own ladder truck, Middletown gave it to Ernest I. Swartz, owner of EIS Brake Parts, formerly located on North Main Street.

Swartz put the truck in his antique museum in Philadelphia, Pa., where it remained until it was bought by retired Capt. William Broderick of the Binghamton, N.Y., Fire Department, the city said in a press release.

It felt like kismet having the opportunity arise out of the blue, Florsheim said.

The process of restoration is expected to take a couple of years, he said.

Once on display  either in the Keating building or another location  the ladder truck will complement the historic Middletown pumper in the lobby of City Hall. The circa-1803 pumper, long housed in the lobby of Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co. on Court Street, was given to the local fire department in 2018.

You can trace the history of the fire service from the first pumper to this, to something many times more technologically advanced than that, Florsheim said.

None of the costs will be borne by taxpayers, he added. Firefighters raised all the funds necessary to allow the former owner to recoup his outlay for the remaining storage costs, which was a couple thousand dollars.

It was basically a donation, Florsheim aid.

People were really excited and moved to see it at the unveiling, the mayor said. The most emotional part for Florsheim was watching former firefighter John Cyrulik, who turned 102 in December, on the truck, inspecting it thoroughly, he said.

Cyrulik served with the department for 29 years. He was celebrated by his family, friends and city officials on both the occasions of his 100th and 101st birthdays.

I was very excited to see him be able to see it again. A lot of firefighters  second- and third-generation  were so committed to turning it into a family project and legend. A lot of people there saw the generations that had come before in that apparatus, the mayor said.

The ladder truck has what appears to be a seat at the back with a steering wheel, Florsheim said. It was so long, it needed a wheel to be able to steer to go around corners.

The body is completely open and exposed to the elements, the mayor said.

Someday soon, the mayor hopes to see the truck as part of the citys Memorial Day parade, and perhaps for what became very popular in the height of the pandemic  drive-by birthday visits from fire crews.

Its such a conversation piece and piece of history, Florsheim said.

It took a labor of love to return the ladder truck. While on duty in early July, firefighter Ryan Scranton received a call from a woman who was in possession of it. She asked whether the department was interested in buying it back, a news release said.

When then-Fire Chief Robert Kronenberger was about to retire, he suggested Scranton contact firefighter Owen Andrews, who tracked down the owner. Retired firefighter Jim Loewenthal got in touch with retired firefighter Gene Olson, who was very knowledgeable about vintage trucks, according to the city.

Robby Gallitto, owner of Gallitto Construction Co. in Middletown, agreed to transport it back. Along with Matt Hubbard, owner of Yankee Heritage Construction Co. in Middletown, they found a mechanic and several truck drivers who offered assistance.

Then, Sign Mart of Middletown donated a two-by-eight-foot sign reading Going Home to Middletown, CT, which was hung on the side of the truck as the group drove the Tiller truck home Oct. 24.

Committee members will be setting up a nonprofit crowdfunding page to help pay for its restoration and future display.
HOUSTON (AP)  Two people have been killed in gunfire at two separate house parties early Sunday morning in Houston, police say.

An 18-year-old woman was killed and three teens were injured when a fight broke out at a party at about 12:50 a.m. and several people started shooting at the back of the house and on the street, said Houston Police Assistant Chief Yasar Bashir.
WASHINGTON (AP)  In a story published Oct. 31, 2021, The Associated Press identified Paul Barrett as teacher of a seminar in law, economics and journalism at New York University. The story should also have noted that his title is deputy director of NYUs Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
ROME (AP)  President Joe Biden reflected on his relationship with Pope Francis on Sunday as he neared the end of his visit to Rome, saying the pontiff has brought him great solace since the death of his son Beau more than six years ago.

Biden was asked about his private meeting Friday with the pope during his closing news conference at the Group of 20 summit. Speaking with emotion, the president harked back to his September 2015 meeting with the pontiff when the leader of the Roman Catholic Church was visiting the United States.

This is a man who has a great empathy," Biden said. He is a man who understands that part of his Christianity is to reach out and forgive. And so I just find my relationship with him one that I personally take great solace in."

Biden, a practicing Catholic, was vice president at the time of Francis' visit to the U.S. He was asked by President Barack Obama to accompany Francis as the pontiff traveled to Philadelphia.

Biden said the wounds were still raw from the death of Beau, the former Delaware attorney general who had died from brain cancer months before the pope's U.S. visit.

Before departing Philadelphia, Francis asked to meet privately with Biden and his family. The president, who has previously spoken about the meeting, seemed to choke back tears Sunday as he recalled how much Francis knew about his late son.

He didn't just generically talk about him," Biden said of the meeting, which he said lasted 10 or 15 minutes in a Philadelphia airport hangar. He knew what a man he was. And it had such a cathartic impact on his children, and my wife, our family, that it meant a great deal."

Biden said after his meeting with the pope on Friday that Francis told him he should continue to take Holy Communion. Some conservative U.S. church leaders say he should be barred from taking the sacrament because of his support for abortion rights.

The president on Sunday sidestepped questions about the Holy Communion controversy, and instead offered a lengthy answer about the comfort he has gained from his relationship with Francis.

He is everything I learned about Catholicism from the time I was a kid going from grade school through high school," Biden said. I have great respect for people who have other religious views, but he is just a fine, decent, honorable man. We keep in touch."

___

Madhani reported from Washington.
JACKSON, Tn. (AP)  There are nearly 9,000 students in Kindergarten through fifth grades in Madison County in public, private and home school programs.

And all of them have been or will be issued a copy of a special Bicentennial Celebration coloring book initiated by the Bicentennial Commission and put together by local artists.

When we first started planning everything for the Bicentennial, we were looking for as many ways as possible to involve the children of the county in the celebration, said Bicentennial steering committee member Judy Renshaw. We did research online of how other communities have celebrated their own bicentennials, and this was something that stuck out to us.

The coloring books have scenes depicting important aspects of Jackson and Madison Countys history like railroad workers working with trains or boats on the Forked Deer River. Some of the pages are portraits of people important in local history as well like Sonny Boy Williamson and Sue Shelton White.

All of the pages were drawn by local artists. Wanda Stanfill was one of the artists who drew five of the pages.

I was glad to be a part of this because I was born and raised here and music was big in my life growing up because my dad was involved in music, so drawing Sonny Boy Williamson and Miss Maybelle was something I wanted to do, Stanfill said.

The book was funded by the Leaders Education Foundation. Eddie Hayes, the chairman of the Foundations Board of Directors, was at Community Montessori School on Tuesday at a ceremony celebrating the donation of the books.

Education is important to us, and this is a great way to educate the children of Madison County on our local history, Hayes said. Its a beautiful book that tells a lot of the important history of the area.

A few students from CMS were present at the celebration, and Jackson Mayor Scott Conger said he was jealous of them.

Yall get a coloring book, and thats something we never had with our local history in it when I was growing up, Conger said. But this is a great idea during an important year for our area and something the children of Jackson and Madison County can hopefully enjoy and learn something at the same time.

Madison County Trustee John Newman was present on behalf of the county.

Remembering local history and teaching it to our children are important, Newman said. Im glad to see our children have this to color on the pages and read about what and who theyre coloring and why theyre important here.

Superintendent Marlon King and CMS Principal Melinda Harris represented Jackson-Madison County Schools at the celebration.

Its so great to see members of the community partner together for the betterment of our children, King said. And this book is an excellent result of some of those partnerships with the Foundation and the Bicentennial Commission.
BANGKOK (AP)  Pro-democracy activists in Thailand on Sunday announced a campaign to gather 1 million signatures to support the abolition of the law that makes defaming the monarchy a crime.

About 3,000 people turned out in central Bangkok for a rally urging the end of the lese majeste law -- also known as Article 112 -- which makes even constructive criticism of the royal institution risky. They also called for dropping charges and releasing those arrested under the law.

The law makes defaming, insulting, or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent, heir presumptive, or regent punishable by three to 15 years in prison. In practice, critics say, it has been used for political purposes. Even advocating the laws abolition can trigger a police investigation.

The rally organizers last year began holding street demonstrations with three core demands: the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who initially came to power as army commander by staging a coup in 2014; amendment of the constitution to make it more democratic; and reform of the monarchy to make it more accountable.

The last demand was the most radical and controversial because the monarchy has rarely faced any public scrutiny and is considered by many to be an untouchable pillar of Thai identity. Its reputation is fiercely guarded by the countrys ruling elite, including the military.

Leaders of the movement holding Sundays rally have been major targets of Article 112, with several facing multiple counts of violating it. Some are free on bail while others remain jailed awaiting trial.

Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, one of the protest leaders, read a letter to the crowd from one of his imprisoned colleagues calling for gathering 1 million signatures to present to Parliament in support of repealing Article 112. The imprisoned activist, Parit Penguin Chiwarak, has been charged in 21 cases, said the protest group.

Organizers later said they had gathered 3,000 signatures at the rally.

There are many political concerns that must be addressed straightforwardly, Panusaya Rung Sitthijirawattanakul, another protest leader, told the crowd.

People who speak out, however, face charges and detentions under Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. These are high school students, university students, lawyers, artists, politicians, nurses, vendors and many others whose faults are their dreams for a better future, better society," she said.

After her speech, she carved the digits 112 into her forearm, drawing blood.

The movement lost steam early this year due to its leaders arrests, COVID-19 restrictions and the controversy over its view of the monarchy.
WILMINGTON, De. (AP)  It was 1968 and Wilmington was recovering.

The National Guard had occupied Delawares largest city for nine months in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination, and the trauma from both of these events left the Black community reeling, marking a moment in Wilmingtons history that city residents still recall today.

Percy Ricks, an artist and longtime educator, however, had something he thought people needed to see. A momentous exhibition composed of drawings, paintings, prints and photographs created by 66 Black artists.

Ricks, a Washington, DC., native, previously served as a combat artist in World War II and became the first Black art instructor in Wilmingtons public schools  eventually becoming a driving force behind the citys art scene.

Ricks would go on to found the Wilmington arts and humanities collective Aesthetic Dynamics Inc., which aimed to highlight Black artists and their contributions to the arts. Still, the organizations inaugural exhibition struggled to find a home as Black artists were shut out of institutions and segregation persisted across Delaware.

In the 50 years since Ricks premiered this exhibition in Wilmington  eventually finding a home for it at the Wilmington Armory  the collection has largely been forgotten and overlooked by historians and institutions despite its significance in Wilmington following two flashpoint moments in history.

Now, the Delaware Art Museum  which at the time overlooked requests to stage the exhibition within its walls  is reprising the exhibition in an effort to reconcile its initial disregard and to illustrate the cultural legacy that Ricks left behind.

One way to get people to begin to acknowledge the treasure that African Americans have was to expose them to it, said James Newton, professor emeritus of Africana Studies at the University of Delaware, and Percy Ricks was the vehicle for that.

TURBULENT TIMES

In 1968, the National Guard began its nearly yearlong occupation of Wilmington after rioting and unrest flooded the city following Kings death. National Guardsmen focused primarily on West Center City, a mostly Black community.

The presence became the longest occupation of an American city since Kings assassination.

The 1971 exhibition served as a reaction to the traumatic events and an effort to connect the community to emerging Black artists and their work. In the process of organizing the event, Ricks sent a letter to the Delaware Art Museum asking for the institution to host the upcoming exhibition.

No reply was received.

In the years that followed, Ricks was critical of the museum and its exclusion of Black artists and work. Ricks felt that Black artists were not recognized or appreciated by the arts community and were mostly neglected as a result of segregation, Newton said.

Delaware Art Museum, which had rejected him, today can look at it and say that the fence was broken and that there was a need to have it mended, said Newton, the UD professor.

Ricks instead showcased the exhibition at the Wilmington Armory, where the National Guard had been housed during the occupation a few years prior. The venue and the exhibition were meant to create an inclusive space where Black artists and attendees could celebrate the art, given that segregation was still prevalent at the time.

The armory and its significance became symbolic in the face of the exhibition that was put on inside, according to Newton.

Here we have an outstanding African-American art show being shown in the community and at the same time, those men had been probably organized and set out to occupy Wilmington a few years earlier, Newton said.

The exhibition drew about 7,000 people during its initial run in 1971.

Ricks continued staging exhibitions after the inaugural 1971 show and became a monumental figure in the Delaware art scene in the years that followed.

In 2001, then-Senator Joe Biden wrote him a letter to express his support for his work and Aesthetic Dynamics.

The arts as a tool for social change is not a new concept, but it is seldom shown so clearly as it is through your lifes work, the letter reads. One can not talk about the arts in Wilmington without mentioning Percy Ricks and that speaks volume about your impact and contribution to the arts in Delaware.

A VISION REALIZED

A half-century after the premier, the reprised exhibition titled Afro-American Images 1971: The Vision of Percy Ricks represents a completion of Ricks vision and a moment of reconciliation between the community and the museum, according to Newton, who described Ricks as a longtime mentor.

Margaret Winslow, curator of contemporary art at the Delaware Art Museum, described the renewed exhibition as incredibly important, in part to ensure that its significance and art are thoroughly documented in art history and the public archives.

Most of all, celebrating the legacy of Percy Ricks, the influence he has had on arts and culture in Wilmington, but more broadly as well, and the influence of this important exhibition, she said.

My hope is that it encourages others to think about those individuals who should be supported and the platforms that they need, and should have, to support their creativity.

For Arnold Hurtt, vice president and organization officer of Aesthetic Dynamics Inc., the reprised exhibition still represents what it showcased in 1971  a platform for current Black artists and inspiration for future ones.

We are taking steps to preserve the heritage, to preserve our spiritual life for people, especially for those who rarely get those chances to be seen, Hurtt said. Theres always a new horizon out there for someone to discover and we hope that this whole exhibition is something for somebody else to discover.

Hurtt hopes the exhibition allows for children to see themselves in the art and to embolden them to create their own art in the future.

If you dont see it, you wont know that the flowers are growing in your backyard because you dont go back there, he said. This is the beginning to open doors for the future, for other artists.
Venice, FL (34285)

Today

Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm this evening. Then partly cloudy. Low 68F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm this evening. Then partly cloudy. Low 68F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
On Purple Heart Day, Americans pause to recognize the wounded warriors of the United States military. The medal is awarded to those who are "wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces."

Looking at the history and traditions of the armed forces, it should come as no surprise that the roots of this medal make it the oldest military award still presented to U.S. service members.

The History of the Purple Heart

Until the Civil War, the U.S. military didnt really award medals for soldiers or veterans of any war. The idea of giving medals was considered a more European military tradition. The idea of the Republic awarding bits of ribbon for combat actions often was looked upon with scorn.

Gen. George Washington didnt see it that way, and we know that because he personally issued medals to a few individuals, three that we know for sure. It was the Badge of Military Merit, and he awarded it to those who performed not only instances of unusual gallantry in battle, but also extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way."

The award he gave those men was a heart in purple cloth, or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding. A few examples of those awarded by Washington still can be seen in museums, but its design is the foundation of today's Purple Heart medal. The award also bears a profile of Gen. Washington, along with an inscription on the reverse that reads: FOR MILITARY MERIT.

Although the medal fell into disuse from those early days through World War I, it was revived in the years between the world wars. On Washingtons 200th birthday in 1932, President Herbert Hoover authorized the wearing of the Purple Heart medal to any service member awarded the Meritorious Service Citation Certificate or who were authorized to wear wound chevrons after 1917.

True to Washingtons original order, the medal was authorized for anyone wounded by the enemy and for those exhibiting meritorious performance of duty. By the end of 1942, it was restricted to those who were wounded by an enemy force.

President John F. Kennedy extended the award to those who were killed in combat in 1962. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan again extended the medal to those wounded by terrorist attacks or as part of a peacekeeping force after 1973. In 1985, those wounded by friendly fire were eligible for a Purple Heart as well. The award is authorized when the Secretary of the Army recognizes it as a qualifying attack, or is authorized jointly by secretaries of the branches involved in the attack.

Staff Sgt. James N. Wheeler received the Purple Heart for injuries sustained during an improvised explosive device attack in Iraq on March 3, 2006. (U.S. Marine Corps)

Special Benefits for Purple Heart Recipients

Those who have received a Purple Heart get some extra state and federal veterans benefits. Though the more local benefits vary by state, the federal benefits offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs are fitting for Americas wounded warriors.

Read: Veteran State Benefits

These benefits include an automatic upgrade for their VA priority group, 10-point preference when applying for a federal job and full funding for the Post-9/11 GI Bill regardless of time spent on active duty.

Purple Heart Day

Every Aug. 7 since 2014 has been recognized as Purple Heart Day. Its an unofficial holiday, so government offices, businesses and stock markets will be open. Those interested in creating an official local celebration that day can coordinate learning activities or ceremonies with local veterans groups.

Those interested in observing the occasion on their own might want to talk to local veterans about their service, meet those who have received a Purple Heart or donate time or money to the Purple Heart Foundation, which helps fund the Military Order of the Purple Heart, advocating and protecting the interest of wounded veterans and caring for the needs of those veterans and their families.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox.
Southeast Utah Group of National Parks Superintendent Patricia Trap, as well as National Park Service Regional Chief of Public Affairs Marco D
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  A small cargo ship carrying 382 people, almost all migrants, has been towed to the Greek island of Kos and 375 of the passengers moved to a special migrant facility, Greeces Ministry of Migration and Asylum announced.

One woman was transferred to a health center in the nearby island of Karpathos, while six people heve been detained for questioning. Asylum requests are being processed, the ministry added.

All passengers will be quarantined, the ministry said, adding that their stay on the island will be temporary.

The Turkish-flagged freighter was located off the island of Greece Friday and towed to a safe anchorage off Kos, close to the Turkish coast, on Saturday.

Coast guard officials have said the boats passengers are mostly male and mostly from Afghanistan. Sundays announcement made no mention of the passengers ethnicity.

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.

We have notified the EU that Turkey is refusing to take their vessel back. ... It is time for the EU to act and provide impactful solidarity and ensure the EU/Turkey statement is upheld, Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarakis said on his Twitter account.

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, continues to be reluctant and is using the issue for political leverage.
ROME (AP)  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that Queen Elizabeth II was on very good form during their weekly conversation earlier this week.

His comment comes a day after Buckingham Palace said the 95-year-old monarch has been told to rest by doctors for another two weeks.

I spoke to Her Majesty as I do every week as part of my job and she was on very good form," Johnson told ITV News on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

As prime minister, Johnson has a weekly audience with the queen. The most recent one took place virtually on Wednesday.

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 and everybody wishes her all the very best," Johnson said.

Last week, the queen underwent medical tests and spent a night at Londons King Edward VIIs Hospital, her first such stay in in eight years.

The queen has continued to work since then and will press on with desk-based duties.

During her rest period, she will miss attending the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which commences on Sunday. However, she has recorded a message that will be relayed to attendees.

She will also skip the Nov. 13 Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an event meant to honor the British and Commonwealth men and women who have fought wars, disasters and pandemics to protect and defend the nation.

However, the palace said it is the queens firm intention to be present for a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in central London on Nov. 14.

Britains longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch, Elizabeth is due to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee  70 years on the throne  next year.
LOS LLANOS DE ARIDANE, Canary Islands (AP)  A volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma that has been erupting for six weeks spewed greater quantities of ash from its main mouth Sunday, a day after producing its strongest earthquake to date.

Lava flows descending toward the Atlantic Ocean from a volcanic ridge have covered 970 hectares (2,400 acres) of land since the eruption began on Sept. 19, data from the European Union's satellite monitoring service, showed. On the way down the slope, the molten rock has destroyed more than 2,000 buildings and forced the evacuation of over 7,000 people.

But authorities in the Canary Islands, of which La Palma is part, have reported no injuries caused by contact with lava or from inhaling the toxic gases that often accompany the volcanic activity.

Experts said that predicting when the eruption will end is difficult because lava, ash and gases emerging to the surface are a reflection of complex geological activity happening deep down the earth and far from the reach of currently available technology.

The Canary Islands, in particular, are closely connected to thermal anomalies that go all the way to the core of the earth, said Cornell University geochemist Esteban Gazel, who has been collecting samples from the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

It's like a patient. You can monitor how it evolves, but saying exactly when it will die is extremely difficult, Gazel said. Its a process that is connected to so many other dimensions of the inside of the planet.

Signs monitored by scientists soil deformation, sulfur dioxide emissions and seismic activity remained robust in Cumbre Vieja. The Spanish Geographic Institute, or IGN, said that a magnitude 5 quake in the early hours of Saturday was not just felt on La Palma, but also in La Gomera, a neighboring island on the western end of the Canary Islands archipelago.

IGN said the ash column towering above the volcano reached an altitude of 4.5 kilometers (15,000 feet) on Sunday before heavier wind scattered it. Many nearby towns and a telescope base further north that sits on a mountain at 2,400 meters above sea level (7,800 feet) were covered in a thick layer of ash.

The eruption has also turned the island into a tourist attraction, especially as many Spaniards prepared to mark All Saints Day, a Catholic festivity that honors the dead, on Monday.

Local authorities said some 10,000 visitors were expected over the long weekend and 90% of the accommodations on La Palma were fully booked. A shuttle bus service for tourists wanting a glimpse of the volcano was established to keep private cars off the main roads so emergency services could work undisturbed.

__

Parra reported from Madrid.
At-large city council

Poole values integrity

Im asking you to join me in voting to elect Robin Poole for city council at-large. Although I cannot think of a reason not to vote for her, I can give you a list of reasons why you should. Robin is smart, kind, thoughtful and honest. We have been next door neighbors for five years, and I can attest to how much Robin loves Midland, and truly how she has a heart to serve its people. Robin will take the time to listen to Midlanders with an open mind. She will carefully consider her decisions and do whats best for our community. She will not take this position lightly  she is a hard worker and values integrity. Take the time to read her editorials for the paper, visit her Webpage and Facebook, or call her on the phone to discuss your questions. After you get to know her and her ideas, youll understand why my husband, James, and I support Robin Poole for city council at-large.

Martha Rice

Corrales knows direction Midland needs to go

Who is this guy, Dan Corrales? I had not met him until a few months ago via a mutual friend. He explained to me that he was running for city council for one of Midlands at-large positions. So, I just watched him that night will eating dinner. He really interacted with everyone well, but what did he stand for? What were his values? Well, after running into each other several more times, I figured him out. Dan is kind, caring and concerned for Midland and Midlanders. He is a conservative with genuine ideas of the direction Midland needs to go.

One night at a concert I met Dans mother and father-in-law. Wow! The father-in-law and I spoke for about 45 minutes. After a while I was taken aback. Thinking that if Dans in-laws spoke so highly of him, then he might be the right guy for Midland, Texas. I do not know of many in-laws that earnestly speak so highly of their son-in-law.

After gathering the information above, I have come to the conclusion that Dan Corrales will be an outstanding Midland City Council member.

Dr. Bill Dodson

Poole is passionate about Midland

Ive known Robin for several years, and I cannot imagine anyone who will represent the citizens of Midland better than her. She is one of the most considerate and hardworking people I have had the pleasure to know.

Her intentions in running for city council are truly to serve our city and its people. No hidden motives or ego behind it. Robin is a Midland native and cares deeply about the long-term well-being of our city. She believes that our city needs to be run in a fiscally responsible way with integrity and transparency. She's passionate about Midland and keeping it a great place to live, work and raise a family.

It is no secret to anyone who lives here that we have a unique set of challenges with the boom-and-bust nature of our economy, the cost of living, quality of services, etc. These are complex issues, and I have confidence that Robin will be diligent in understanding these matters and propose thoughtful solutions that take the needs of all Midlanders into consideration. I encourage you to cast your vote for Robin Poole for city council at-large.

Koby West

District 1

A lot to like about Dufford

I like Scott Dufford. I admire that he addresses parks, potholes and problems instead of preaching politics from a pulpit.

Scott shares his honest, easy smile with everyone and has a deep affection for our community. He is considerate and pragmatic. He listens and is willing to change his mind after weighing the facts. Thank you, Scott, for your long service to Midland.

William F. Dingus

Dufford is taxpayer advocate

Midland has benefitted from the leadership of many great community servants over the years who have represented us with integrity and reflected our conservative values.

Scott Dufford is one of those leaders. On the city council, Scott has been a strong taxpayer advocate and budget hawk. He has brought a business perspective to city hall and judged the appropriation of our tax dollars through the lens of a successful entrepreneur.

Scott is also available and accessible to every constituent and is always ready to solve problems and welcome new ideas. To keep a strong conservative voice on the Midland City Council, re-elect Scott Dufford.

John Norwood

Dufford supports our police

Scott Dufford has an opponent that wants to fundamentally transform our police department. He calls it his Equal Application of Policing -- whatever that means. His intent -- if he were to get elected -- would be to give people power over officers when abuses allegedly take place. That accountability includes for residents to start petitions that put an officers position within the police department on the ballot.

How many signatures would I need -- two, three, four, a dozen -- before I could make a police officer go out and campaign to keep his job? How much would this cost the taxpayers and would we hold elections weekly, monthly, yearly? This wrong-headed thinking will not make our community safer, and I could certainly envision if Scotts opponents policy were adopted it would turn our community into the next Chicago, Seattle or Minneapolis. We have a hard enough time recruiting and retaining good officers. Why would we want to make their job harder than it already is?

Stand with Scott who supports our men and women who serve to protect and defend our city and vote Yes for Scott and send a resounding No to his opponents liberal agenda.

Robyn Lance

Dufford is the most qualified

Scott Dufford, a long-time resident of the city, is by far the most qualified candidate running for re-election for the District 1 council seat. Scott has the wisdom, the character, integrity and insight to make the right decisions for our community. He has never wavered in his commitment to lower taxes, great parks and roads. His opponent, a new transplant to our city, is a little behind the eight-ball when it comes to recognizing or solving the challenges facing Midland.

Amanda Logan

Letters policy

There is a 350-word limit; candidate letters have a 200-word limit.

Letters must be submitted to letters@mrt.com. Deadline is noon Thursdays for the following Sunday. Reporter-Telegram policy limits individuals to one letter in a 30-day period.

Letter-writers should include phone number and address. Failure to do so could delay letters publication.
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.

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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.
Morgan-Scott Retired Teachers Association

The Morgan-Scott Retired Teachers Association met at 9 a.m. Oct. 7 at Rudis Grill.

The meeting was called to order by President Arlene Nortrup. Brian Gillespie, co-chairman of Prairieland United Way, gave a talk about the local United Way. It supports programs in crisis-intervention, mentoring-guidance, child care-development, education, emergency assistance, adult services and youth activities. Be Someones Hero is the motto for this years fundraiser. Campaign pledges should be done by the end of December.

President Arlene Nortrup led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Lois Herbst gave the prayer. There were 16 members and one guest present.

Amy Turpin moved and Barb Hansmeier seconded that the minutes be approved as sent with the change that the donation sent to the Jacksonville Area Museum was as a donation and not as a sustaining member. The motion carried.

Toi Nicolet, treasurer, gave the treasurers report. Mary Jo Barker moved and Marty Reid seconded that the treasurers report be approved. The motion carried.

Arlene Nortrup gave the legislative report.

Mary Jo Barker, membership chair, gave the membership report. IRTA state membership, as of Sept. 14, is 39,275. The majority of state IRTA members are dues deduct. It was noted that we have lost 743 members to death so far in this calendar year. The new online retiree dues deduct form requests beneficiary information of the annuitant. Some 76% of new retirees have been providing this information. It was passed to add a form for the non-annuitant spouse beneficiary to provide their information and signature to become a state IRTA dues deduct member in the event that their annuitant spouse passed away. Those that include the signed beneficiary deduct form would receive a $25 gift card from the association. This is a pilot program for three years and then it would be re-evaluated.

IRTA also is working to strengthen our new member pages on the IRTA website. They are asking us to look at our membership lists to see who are not state members. They will then only solicit those local members. Support of Tier 2 annuitants will be discussed at the IRTA Board of Directors meeting. The IRTA convention will be virtual only this year.

Debbie Richards and Barb Hansmeier, program chairs, reported that TRS will be at the November meeting.

Old business  President Nortrup will send the list of names of members that volunteered for the Jacksonville Area Museum. The IRTA Convention is virtual only on Oct. 19. Arlene Nortrup, Bob Pinkerton and Pat Pinkerton will be our delegates. There are 200 signed up statewide to attend.

New business  Bob Nicolet will get the information to sign up for The Salvation Army bell ringing. We will sign up at the next meeting.

Mary Jo Barker moved and Suzanne Verticchio seconded that we donate to the Prairieland United Way. The motion carried.

Member Betty Ford will be 102. Marge Howard recently passed away.

Door prizes were won by Suzanne Verticchio, Debbie Richards and Bob Nicolet.

The meeting was adjourned at 10 a.m. Our next meeting is at 9 a.m. Nov. 10 at Rudis Grill in Jacksonville. Come early for breakfast and fellowship. Our speaker is Richard Frankenfeld, TRS Outreach Office. He will be discussing pensions and TRS issues. Hope to see you there.

 Submitted by Becky Dimmick
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Pakistan's government and an outlawed radical Islamist party Sunday reached an agreement to end a 10-day long  and at times deadly violent  rally calling for the closure of France's embassy and the release of the party's leader.

Neither Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi nor religious leader Mufti Muneebur Rehman, who took part in the talks, gave any details of the agreement at a news conference in the capital Islamabad.

Thousands of supporters of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party marched from Lahore on Oct. 22 toward the capital Islamabad. They demanded the expulsion of Frances envoy to Pakistan over publication of caricatures of Islams Prophet Muhammad in France. The protest march saw supporters clash with police at several points along the way.

At least seven police officers and four demonstrators were killed.

Details and positive results of the agreement will come before the nation in a week or so, said Rehman, who said he had the endorsement of TLP party leader Saad Rizvi.

The violence erupted a day after the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan said it would not accept the Islamists demand to close the French Embassy and expel the French envoy.

It wasnt immediately clear Sunday when the party would end its rally. Thousands of supporters halted their march in Wazirabad, about 185 kilometers (115 miles) from the capital Friday after roads and bridges ahead of them were blocked. Paramilitary rangers were deployed to stop the protesters from continuing toward the capital.

Sajid Saifi, TLP spokesman, said supporters were ready to pack up but were awaiting instructions from the party's leadership. He said he hoped party leader Saad Rizvi and all the supporters arrested in recent days would be released soon.

Besides demanding expulsion of the French ambassador, the TLP was also pressing for the release of its leader, Rizvi, who was arrested last year for inciting supporters to stage an anti-France protest.

Rizvis party started demanding the expulsion of French envoy in October 2020 after French President Emmanuel Macron tried to defend caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad as freedom of expression. Macrons comments came after a young Muslim beheaded a French school teacher who had shown the caricatures in class. The images were republished by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to mark the opening of the trial over the deadly 2015 attack against the publication for the original caricatures.

Rizvis party gained prominence in Pakistans 2018 elections, campaigning on the single issue of defending the countrys blasphemy law, which calls for the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam.

___

Dogar reported from Lahore.
The Latest on the Group of 20 summit in Rome:

ROME  French President Emmanuel Macron said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison lied to him while he was secretly negotiating a submarine deal with the United States and Britain.

Answering a reporters question about whether he thinks Morrison lied to him, Macron replied, I dont think, I know he lied.

Australia last month canceled a multi-billion dollar contract to buy diesel-electric French submarines and instead decided to acquire U.S. nuclear-powered submarines. The decision was part of an Indo-Pacific pact between Australia, Britain and the U.S.

The pact, known as AUKUS, infuriated France, which recalled its ambassadors to the U.S and Australia over the lost deal.

Macron and Morrison talked on Thursday for the first time since Australia canceled the French submarine contract. They were both in Rome for the Group of 20 nations summit but did not hold a bilateral meeting.

___

ROME  French President Emmanuel Macron called the Group of 20 summit in Rome a success that delivered results, especially on climate change issues, despite many division between nations.

Macron said the two-day summit provided an opportunity "to revive convergence among the world's largest economies ahead of the much larger United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland that got underway as the G-20 meeting ended on Sunday.

The French leader acknowledged that more efforts are needed to reach the goal set in the 2015 Paris climate accord of holding the global average increase in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius ( 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times.

Now, all the work will focus on getting additional efforts from China, from other emerging countries, from Russia, in order to keep going in the right direction, Macron said.

Indeed, we must get the G-20 economies to do more on the coal energy in their countrys energy mix. Thats the next step, he added. We didnt reach it here...That was not realistic.

___

ROME  U.S. first lady Jill Biden toured Romes Borghese Gallery before she says arrivederci to the Eternal City.

Biden made an unscheduled stop Sunday at the gallery, which has an exhibit of works by British artist Damien Hirst. The museum remained open while she was led on a tour, and some tourists walked around exclaiming first lady after realizing who she was.

Biden left after about 40 minutes. Earlier in the day, she and other spouses of world leaders attending the Group of 20 nations summit said their goodbyes over lunch at the Capitoline Museums.

On Monday, the first lady is scheduled to visit a U.S. Defense Department school in Naples, Italy, before she returns to Washington.

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is giving a mixed verdict on the climate change agreements reached at the Group of 20 summit, saying he hopes for more ambitious commitments to be made at the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow.

G-20 leaders agreed during their two-day meeting in Rome on ending financing for new overseas coal plants but did not set a specific year for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The Group of Seven rich democracies have set 2050 for achieving that goal, while G-20 members China, Russia and Saudi Arabia have set 2060.

I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled, but at least they are not buried, Guterres tweeted. Onwards to #COP26 in Glasgow to keep the goal of 1.5 degrees alive and to implement promises on finance and adaptation for people & planet.

Guterres told the G-20 that greater ambition in reducing greenhouse gas emissions was needed to put the world on a path to hold the global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century.

The G-20 acknowledged that impacts are much lower with 1.5 degrees Celsius but also reiterated the looser goals of the 2015 Paris climate accords, which calls for keeping the increase well under 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) while pursuing efforts to achieve the 1.5 degree limit.

The difference might seem slight, but the U.N.s scientific committee has underlined that the disruption from climate effects such as rising seas and extreme weather are much less at 1.5 degrees Celsius than at 2 degrees Celsius.

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ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the key to making a breakthrough on climate change is money for developing nations to green their economies.

He said Group of 20 leaders meeting in Rome had inched forward on curbing global warming, but the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) was in danger of slipping out of reach.

Whats the thing thats going to unlock this? Well the big solvent in so many negotiations is money, Johnson told reporters in Rome before flying to a U.N. climate conference the U.K. is hosting in Glasgow, Scotland.

The British leader said that eliminating coal power was a key to curbing emissions and that the G-20 leaders did not commit as a group to stop using coal domestically.

What needs to happen is that the countries that really depend on coal(,)...they are going to need help, and they are going to need specific packages...in which we in the richer countries help them with investment and technology.

The G-20 leaders also agreed to work to reach net-zero carbon emissions by or around mid-century, language vaguer than the firm commitment to 2050 made by the Group of Seven wealthy industrialized nations.

Johnson said just 12 of the G-20 have pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. China, Saudi Arabia and Russia have set 2060 as their goal for reaching carbon neutrality, and India has not set a target date.

Net zero is the level of emissions than can be absorbed by forests, oceans and abatement measures.

If Glasgow fails, then the whole thing fails, Johnson said.

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ROME  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the promises made in the landmark Paris climate accord are starting to sound frankly hollow six years later.

Johnson struck a grim note Sunday at the end of a Group of 20 summit in Rome, where leaders commitments to curb climate change, he said, were drops in a rapidly warming ocean.

If we dont act now, the Paris agreement will be looked at in the future not as the moment humanity opened its eyes to the problem, but the moment we flinched and turned away," the British leader said.

The 2015 Paris accords seek to keep the rise well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Britain had hoped for a G-20 bounce going into the U.N. climate change conference that started Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. But Johnson said the group of large economies needed to go much further.

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ROME  Premier Mario Draghi says Italy will triple its commitment to climate financing for poor countries to $1.4 billion a year over the next five years.

Draghi made the announcement at the end of the G-20 summit in Rome.

The money is Italys contribution to the $100 billion annually that rich countries collectively have promised but not yet delivered to help vulnerable developing nations transition to low-carbon energy sources and to adapt to the effects of climate change.

According to the final summit communique, the G-20 reaffirmed past commitments to mobilize $100 billion annually to help poorer countries cope with climate change, and committed to scaling up financing for helping them adapt.

A U.N. report issued last week estimated that it would be several more years before rich nations made good on the commitment.

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ROME  Leaders of the worlds biggest economies have agreed to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad, but set no target for phasing out coal domestically as they wrapped up a two-day summit that laid the groundwork for the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

According to their final meeting communique, Group of 20 leaders also made a compromise commitment Sunday to reach carbon neutrality by or around mid-century.

The Group of 20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions. Summit host Italy had been looking for solid targets on how to reduce emissions while helping poor countries deal with the impact of rising temperatures.

Without those targets, momentum could be lost for the larger annual talks that officially opened Sunday in Glasgow and where countries from around the globe will be represented, including poor ones most vulnerable to rising seas, desertification and other effects.

According to the communique, the G-20 reaffirmed past commitments by rich countries to mobilize $100 billion annually to help poorer countries cope with climate change, and committed to scaling up financing for helping them adapt.

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ROME  U.S. President Joe Biden says a new U.S. and European Union trade agreement will crack down on dirty steel that produces carbon emissions and also patch up a trans-Atlantic rift over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs.

Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a joint appearance during the Group of 20 summit that the agreement represented a renewed partnership on economic and environmental matters. The deal would address the excess capacity that can distort the steel market and create a framework for reducing the carbon-intensity of steel and aluminum production that contributes to the warming of the earth.

Biden said that dirty steel made in China would be restricted from accessing the American and European markets, though all like-minded economies could participate in the agreement.

By harnessing our diplomatic and economic power, we can reject the false idea that we cant grow our economy and support American workers while tackling the climate crisis, the president said.

Von der Leyen kept smiling at Biden and calling him dear Joe as they discussed the deal, an apparent sign that the U.S. president had made progress in repairing relations with Europe after the partnership suffered during the Trump years.

The agreement was first announced Saturday in Rome by U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. They said the Article 232 tariffs, as they are known, would not be removed entirely but that some quantity of European steel and aluminum will be allowed to enter the U.S. tariff-free.

In return for Europe dropping its retaliatory tariffs, the U.S. would also ensure that all steel entering the U.S. via Europe is produced entirely in Europe, Raimondo said.

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ROME  French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have met privately to try to resolve an escalating dispute over fishing in the English Channel, but the two countries appeared farther apart afterward and gave starkly differing versions of the meetings outcome.

The post-Brexit spat over the granting of licenses to fish in Britains coastal waters threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats.

After the 30-minute meeting between Macron and Johnson on the fringes of a Group of 20 summit in Rome, a French top official said both leaders agreed Sunday there was a need to talk to each other in a situation of important tensions. He said measures need to be taken as soon as possible to get to a de-escalation.

Britain, however, denied the leaders had agreed to take steps to de-escalate the spat, saying it was entirely up to France to calm the waters.

The U.K. government said in a statement that during the meeting, Johnson reiterated his deep concern over Frances rhetoric and expressed his hope that the French government would de-escalate.

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. 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.

France claims some vessels have been denied permits to fish in waters where they have long sailed. French Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune on Sunday accused Britain of targeting France in a political choice and said Britain had breached the Brexit deal agreed by both sides.

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ROME  President Joe Biden has told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that their countries must better manage disagreements after the partnership between NATO allies was tested by Turkeys threat to no longer recognize the U.S. envoy and its purchase of a Russian missile defense system.

Biden and Erdogan met for nearly an hour of closed-door talks while the two leaders were in Rome for the Group of 20 summit. Turkeys role as a NATO ally has come under sharp scrutiny in recent weeks.

During Sunday's meeting, Biden reaffirmed Turkeys importance as a NATO ally as well as its defense partnership with the U.S., but raised with Erdogan concerns Turkey's possession of the Russian S-400 missile system, the White House said in a statement afterward.

The Turkish president has said hes open to buying a second Russian missile system even though Turkey was kicked out of a U.S. program to buy F-35 combat planes and defense officials were sanctioned after it bought the Russian-made S-400 system. The U.S. strongly objects to the use of Russian systems within the NATO alliance and says it poses a threat to the F-35s.

Erdogans office said in a statement that the meeting with Biden was held in a positive atmosphere in which the leaders expressed the joint will to further strengthen and improve Turkey-U.S. relations and agreed to establish a common mechanism accordingly.

The statement also said there was satisfaction with the mutual steps taken on climate change.

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ROME  Prince Charles has urged world leaders to heed the despairing voices of young people who will bear the brunt of climate change.

The heir to the British throne said a United Nations climate summit that opens Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, literally is the last-chance saloon for the Earth.

Charles told Group of 20 leaders meeting in Rome that they have an overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn.

It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands, he said.

Charles, a longtime champion of environmentalism, said he was at last sensing a change in attitudes and the build-up of positive momentum on climate change. He said governments must play a leading role, but that the private sector holds the ultimate key to the solutions we seek.

On Monday, Charles is due to welcome leaders to COP26 in Glasgow. His 95-year-old mother Queen Elizabeth II was due to attend but has been advised to rest by her doctors.

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ROME  Leaders of the worlds biggest economies are taking in the sights in the Eternal City, visiting Romes Trevi Fountain before getting back to work hammering out a final statement on climate change.

As the water gurgled behind them, the Group of 20 leaders each tossed a coin into the enormous Baroque-style fountain that has been the backdrop of many a film, most famously Fellinis La Dolce Vita.

Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the fountain, youll return to Rome. Not all members of the G-20 participated in the Sunday coin toss; notably absent was U.S. President Joe Biden.

The fountain, which draws its source from Romes ancient aqueducts, went through various phases of design before its current version was inaugurated in the mid-1700s. It depicts Neptune, the god of the sea, taming the waters. Built into a wall of the Palazzo Poli behind it, the fountain draws its name from its location at the confluence of three streets, or tre vie, in Romes historic center.

The coins are regularly scooped out of the travertine basin of the fountain and given to charity.
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.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)  A crucial U.N. climate summit opened Sunday amid papal appeals for prayers and activists' demands for action, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries aimed at slowing intensifying global warming and adapting to the climate damage already underway.

As U.N. officials gaveled the climate summit to its formal opening in Glasgow, the heads of the world's leading economies at the close of their own separate talks in Italy made pledges including stopping international financing of dirty-burning coal-fired power plants by next year. But much of the agreement was vague and not the major push some had been hoping for to give momentum to the climate summit.

Government leaders face two choices in Glasgow, Patricia Espinosa, head of the U.N. climate office, declared at the summit's opening: They can sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions and help communities and countries survive what is becoming a hotter, harsher world, Espinosa said. Or we accept that humanity faces a bleak future on this planet.

It is for these reasons and more that we must make progress here in Glasgow, Espinosa said. We must make it a success.

India Logan-Riley, an Indigenous climate activist from New Zealand, had a more blunt message for negotiators and world leaders at the summits opening ceremony.

Get in line, or get out of the way, Logan-Riley said.

But G-20 leaders offered more vague pledges than commitments of firm action, saying they would seek carbon neutrality by or around mid-century." They also agreed to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad, but set no target for phasing out coal domestically  a clear nod to China and India

The G-20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the worlds climate-damaging emissions and G-20 host Italy and Britain, which is hosting the Glasgow conference, had looked for more ambitious targets coming out of Rome.

But major polluters including China and Russia had already made clear they had no immediate intention of following U.S. and European pledges to zero out all fossil-fuel pollution by 2050. Russia said on Sunday that it was sticking to its target of 2060.

Speaking to reporters before leaving Rome, U.S. President Joe Biden called it disappointing that G-20 members Russia and China basically didnt show up with commitments to address the scourge of climate change ahead of the U.N. climate summit.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson struck a grim tone, saying G-20 leaders inched forward on curbing global warming, but the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) -- struck in a landmark deal at the end of the 2015 Paris climate accord -- was in danger of slipping out of reach.

If Glasgow fails then the whole thing fails, Johnson told reporters in Rome. Before leaving Rome, U.S.

Some observers said the G-20 pledges were far from enough.

This weak statement from the G-20 is what happens when developing countries who are bearing the full force of the climate crisis are shut out of the room," said Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa. The worlds biggest economies comprehensively failed to put climate change on the top of the agenda ahead of COP26 in Glasgow.

While the opening ceremony in Glasgow formally kicked off the talks, known as COP26, the more anticipated launch comes Monday, when leaders from around the world will gather to lay out their countries efforts to curb emissions from burning coal, gas and oil and deal with the mounting damage from climate change.

The leaders of two of the top climate-polluting nations - China and Russia  were not expected to attend the summit, though seniors officials from those countries planned to participate. Biden, whose country is the worlds biggest climate polluter after China, the summit comes at a time when division within his own Democratic party is forcing him to scale back ambitious climate efforts.

At the Vatican Sunday, Pope Francis urged the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square: Let us pray so that the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor is heard by summit participants.

Negotiators will push nations to ratchet up their efforts to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius this century compared with pre-industrial times.

The climate summit remains our last, best hope to keep 1.5 in reach, said Alok Sharma, the British government minister chairing climate talks.

Scientists say the chances of meeting that goal are slowly slipping away. The world has already warmed by more than 1.1C and current projections based on planned emissions cuts over the next decade are for it to hit 2.7C by the year 2100.

The amount of energy unleashed by such planetary warming would melt much of the planet's ice, raise global sea levels and greatly increase the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather, experts say.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry warned last week of the dramatic impacts that exceeding the 2015 Paris accords goal will have on nature and people, but expressed optimism that the world is heading in the right direction.

Sharma noted that China, the worlds biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, had just raised its climate targets somewhat.

But of course we expected more, Sharma told the BBC earlier Sunday.

India, the world's third biggest emitter, has yet to follow China, the U.S. and the European Union in setting a target for reaching net zero emissions. Negotiators are hoping India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce such a goal in Glasgow.

Some of the issues being discussed during the talks have been on the agenda for decades, including how rich countries can help poor nations tackle emissions and adapt to a hotter world. The slow pace of action has angered many environmental campaigners, who are expected to stage loud and creative protests during the summit.

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Jill Lawless in Rome, Ellen Knickmeyer and Seth Borenstein in Glasgow and Silvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

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Follow AP's coverage of the U.N. climate talks at: http://apnews.com/hub/climate
Arnold Mayor Ron Counts presents a Mayors Appreciation Award to Carolyn Doty on July 15. Doty was one of the first members of the citys Veterans Commission and served with that group for seven years. She is the grand marshal for the Arnold Veterans Day Parade.
Yosemite National Park View Photo

Yosemite, CA  Yosemite National Park has lifted fire restrictions within the park.

Park Superintended Cicely Muldoon cited a combination of recent rain, snow, and cooler temperatures that enabled the fire bans to be rescinded. She added those conditions have reduced the fire danger within the park.

The most recent fire restrictions were enacted at the end of August below 8,000 elevations, as reported here. The superintendents new order now allows these activities below that have been provided by park officials:

All previously enacted fire restrictions are hereby lifted, and all associated orders rescinded.

Campfires are once again permitted in the Yosemite Wilderness where not otherwise prohibited by regulation. Fires remain prohibited above 9600 feet and in other designated areas due to scarcity of wood and resource concerns. Where fires are permitted, existing campfire rings must be used.

Campfires and cooking fires may be used in designated campgrounds, picnic areas, and residential areas in accordance with park regulations.

Where wood gathering is permitted, only dead and down wood may be gathered.

Extinguish cigarettes prior to disposal; filters must be properly disposed of in a trash receptacle.
Saudi crown princes investment forum draws back Westerners View Photo

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP)  Saudi Arabias annual cornerstone investment forum has drawn over 1,000 participants, with big-name U.S. financiers and business leaders back on the stage three years after many stayed away following the international outcry over the killing of a government critic.

The three-day Future Investment Initiative, also known as Davos in the Desert, wrapped up Thursday with appearances by finance titans such as Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of the worlds biggest asset manager, BlackRock, who joined a panel that featured Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and South African mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe.

It was a stark turnaround from 2018, when most high-profile guests backed out after it was revealed that aides who worked for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had killed Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The crown prince has consistently denied any knowledge of the operation, despite a U.S. intelligence assessment to the contrary.

In the years since, the crown prince has faced continued scrutiny over the kingdoms widespread crackdown on rights activists, business people, senior royals and perceived critics of his policies. At home, though, he remains popular among many Saudis for ushering in reforms that have transformed the kingdom, loosened social restrictions and granted women greater rights.

Most of the women at the conference, held at the exclusive Ritz Carlton Hotel, wore long-flowing robes, or abayas, over business suits, in line with local customs. But abayas are no longer required and several women opted to forgo them. Others wore colorful abayas, but no head scarves. Such a sight would have been unimaginable only a few years ago when nearly all women wore black abayas and headscarves in public, and often a face covering.

On the opening night, guests attended a gala dinner with live music  also a product of recent reforms  in King Abdullah Financial District. The crown prince hopes to lure firms to open their regional offices there and attract much of the capital now concentrated in the neighboring United Arab Emirates, home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia has told companies they have until the end of 2023 to establish regional offices in the kingdom or lose access to government contracts. The goal is to attract these companies and their employees, as well as their families, to live, spend and invest in Saudi Arabia, replacing the short fly-in trips from cities like Dubai that many consultants and others currently prefer over life in Riyadh, where Islamic law bans the sale of alcohol.

At the forum, it was announced that 44 multinational firms would be setting up new regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia. The government hopes the strategy will add $18 billion to the local economy and create 30,000 new jobs by 2030, part of a wider economic diversification plan to rely less on oil as the main source of government revenue. Some of the companies moving their regional offices to Riyadh are PepsiCo, Siemens, Unilever, Deloitte, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes, according to a government press release. Its unclear whether such companies will scale down their operations in the UAE and elsewhere, or add staff in new offices in Riyadh.

The forum is Prince Mohammeds signature event for trying to bring badly needed investments to the kingdom, but other than the word on plans to open regional offices, there were few major announcements around new investments.

The event is powered by The Public Investment Fund, the kingdoms sovereign wealth fund, which is behind multi-billion dollar investments outside the kingdom and spending billions more on mega-projects inside the country. This includes new tourism destinations along the Red Sea coast and a new, sprawling modern district called Neom.

Prince Mohammed made a brief appearance at the forum Tuesday, where he sat in the front row for a session that featured Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, though he did not take to the stage as he has done in some previous conferences.

The forum opened just a day after a former senior Saudi counter-terrorism official lobbed a slew of accusations against the crown prince on CBSs 60 Minutes. He accused Prince Mohammed of detaining two of his adult children in Riyadh to try and force his return to the kingdom, and also alleged that the prince had sent a team of agents to North America to track him down and kill him. Saudi authorities have denied the allegations.

The forums delegates appeared unfazed by such allegations. The event saw a flurry of networking, deal-making and business card exchanges on the sidelines. This year, many discussions focused on the kingdoms recent net zero emissions pledge, a target Saudi Arabia aims to reach by 2060.

The kingdoms net-zero pledge, however, only applies to emissions within its borders. The government has no plans to phase out its fossil fuel-burning exports to countries like China and India, where demand for energy is growing. Critics have accused Saudi Arabia of green washing.

By AYA BATRAWY

Associated Press
SANAA, Yemen (AP)  At least eight people were killed by a car bomb in Yemens southern city of Aden Saturday, officials said. The blast was the latest to hit Aden, the seat of the countrys 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.

By AHMED AL-HAJ

Associated Press
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced his resignation late Sunday following the heavy defeat of his governing Social Democratic Union in North Macedonias local elections.

The responsibility for this outcome is mine and Im resigning as prime minister and as leader of the Social Democratic Union, Zaev said at a news conference at party headquarters.

Although official results were not yet in from the local elections, Zaev conceded defeat in the most important contest  the mayors race in the capital, Skopje, with incumbent Petre Shilegov losing to a center-right backed challenger, Danela Arsovska. Arsovska will become the capitals first ever woman mayor.

Candidates supported by the main opposition party, the center-right VMRO-DPMNE, appeared set to win at least half of the countrys 80 municipalities, with the Social Democrats set to win fewer than 20. At the last municipal elections, in 2017, the Social Democrats won 57 contests and VMRO-DPMNE only five.

Official results were expected Monday.

Zaev came out against early national elections, saying he will support a Social Democrat-led government under a new leader.

Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of the center-right main opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, called for an early parliamentary elections to be held.

The governing party is now delegitimized, and this is a new reality. The best way now are early elections, Mickoski said, after declaring victory in the local election.

The last national election was held in July 2020 and a new one does not have to be held until 2024. But everything will now depend on the countrys Parliament.

Under the countrys constitution, the Parliament has to vote to accept Zaevs resignation, and that is not a given. The governing coalition has a small majority, with 62 seats in the 120-seat Parliament  46 from the Social Democrat-led We Can coalition of 23 parties, 15 belonging to the the countrys largest ethnic Albanian party and one from the Democratic Party of Albanians.

VMRO-DPMNE leads the Renewal coalition of allied small parties, which has 44 seats, while the Alliance of Albanians has 12 and the fiercely leftist and nationalist Left party has two seats.

If Parliament does accept Zaev's resignation, negotiations would begin to form a new Cabinet under a different Social Democrat leader and that could be protracted.

This is the first time in North Macedonias 30-year history that a prime minister has resigned after a defeat in local elections.

During his first term, which lasted from 2017 to 2020, Zaev resolved a long-lasting dispute with Greece of the country's name. Greece said the original name of Republic of Macedonia and certain clauses in the countrys constitution implied territorial claims on Greece's northern province of Macedonia.

Under the agreement achieved with Greeces then-leftist government in June 2018, the country changed its name to North Macedonia  although its citizens are called Macedonians  and amended its constitution in exchange for Greek support for the countrys efforts to join the European Union and NATO. North Macedonia became NATOs 30th member in March 2020.

Greeces now governing center-right New Democracy party, which opposed the agreement with North Macedonia, has committed to abide by it, but VMRO-DPMNE still strongly opposes it.

While in power earlier, VMRO-DPMNE claimed supposed connections with the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia and erected a giant statue of Alexander the Great in the capital of Skopje, even though ethnic Macedonians are Slavs descended from people who came to the region centuries after Alexander.

Zaevs government and the just-defeated mayor of Skopje, took down the statue and other ancient Macedonian symbols.

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Associated Press writer Demetris Nellas in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.
American Airlines canceled more than 1,300 flights this weekend, citing bad weather and staffing issues, the latest service disruption to hit the skies as travel ramps back up.

More than 800 flights were canceled Sunday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, nearly 30 percent of the airline's total scheduled departures. A day earlier, more than 540 flights were canceled.

In a Saturday letter to employees, American Airlines Chief Operating Officer David Seymour said that "these few days to close out October will be challenging."

Two days of severe winds in Dallas-Fort Worth last week reduced arrival capacity by more than half, driving a large number of cancellations at DFW, Seymour wrote.

"With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences," he wrote in the letter. "To make sure we are taking care of our customers and providing scheduling certainty for our crews, we have adjusted our operation for the last few days this month by proactively canceling some flights."

Earlier this month, Southwest Airlines faced multiple days of service disruptions. More than 2,000 flights were canceled, which the airline blamed on weather and air traffic control issues. As passengers look to schedule more trips 20 months into the pandemic, experts have warned that the choppy return to air travel may signal a messy holiday season ahead. Meanwhile, airlines are also preparing for a rush of passengers once the United States reopens its borders, starting Nov. 8, to vaccinated travelers from countries that have been subject to a travel ban.

There is a tight labor market affecting all economic sectors, said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Teal Group, but he noted that the "difference with airlines however is that a record drop in demand has been followed by a record recovery."

"That's a recipe for trouble," Aboulafia said in an email to The Post. "Hopefully, it will be resolved by the holidays, but I'm sure there will be more disruptions ahead."

A spokesman for the union representing American Airlines pilots said Sunday that "management is delivering more trick than treat today."

"Management is failing at the most fundamental part of running an airline. Connecting crews to the airplane," Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, said in an emailed statement, adding: "Mother nature generates a storm and then management fails to connect crews creating more storms days after."

In the Saturday memo, Seymour said the airline planned to staff up in the coming months, with nearly 1,800 flight attendants returning from various leaves starting Monday and more returning Dec 1. The airline also said it plans to have more than 600 new flight attendant hires start by the end of December.

The airline also said most customers affected by the recent cancellations were rebooked.
Billionaire investor Charlie Munger doesn't mind some shade.

Munger, vice chairman at Berkshire Hathaway, has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to universities and high schools to build school facilities he designed himself. But the amateur architect's latest idea for a mostly windowless mega-dorm to be built on the University of California at Santa Barbara campus faced objection this week when a university architectural consultant quit, calling the plan "unsupportable from my perspective as an architect, a parent, and a human being."

Dennis McFadden, a Los Angeles architect and member of the university's design review committee of 15 years, wrote in his resignation letter that he was "disturbed" by the 11-story, 1.68 million-square-foot building with just two entrances. The massive dorm would house 4,500 students, 94% of whom would not have windows in their compact single-occupancy bedrooms. McFadden called the dorm the "wrong answer" to the need for more housing  raising the question of how much authority wealthy donors have when it comes to planning the buildings their names are etched on.

"As the 'vision' of a 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," McFadden wrote in the letter, first reported by student-run newspaper the Daily Nexus and community outlet the Santa Barbara Independent.

Munger, who has no formal architecture training, says he's unfazed by McFadden's objections, telling The Washington Post that "this is not some crazy idea." He said his plan has been in the works for years and compared virtual windows that would simulate sunlight in the dorm rooms to those in Disney cruise staterooms.

The $1.5 billion project, of which Munger is contributing $200 million, will proceed despite McFadden's letter, a university spokeswoman said.

"We are delighted to be moving forward with this transformational project that directly addresses the campus's great need for more student housing," Andrea Estrada wrote in a statement to The Post.

"We are grateful for Mr. McFadden's contributions and insights during his tenure as an advisory consultant," Estrada added. "We believe that it is a valuable part of our process to consider multiple design perspectives, which is why we ask several external consultants to assist with our project reviews."

Munger, the 97-year-old business partner of Warren Buffett, has previously called conventional architecture "massively stupid," earning him little favor among professionals.

"Architects don't love me," he told the Wall Street Journal in 2019. "Either I change architects, or he does it my way."

Munger said he approaches designing buildings as he would investing: with extreme rationalism.

After years of hearing family members complain about sharing bedrooms in communal college dorms, Munger realized it was possible to give people their own sleeping space by sacrificing the rooms' natural light.

"I was bound by the conventions when I realized how stupid it was," he said. "Naturally, I was sort of ashamed taking so long to reach such an obvious conclusion."

On Friday, following backlash over the design, Munger told The Post that his buildings have been successful on campuses including Stanford and the University of Michigan.

"On any big project, you can't get any two architects to agree on anything," he said. "There's always going to be some criticism."

The University of Michigan facility was also designed to increase density by largely eschewing windows. In 2013, he donated $110 million to build a dorm for graduate students, a building originally set for 300 residents that he conceived as a space for 600.

"I was just there last month and the students are absolutely in orbit," he said. "They love the place, and the university loves having it."

Munger rejected McFadden's claim that the plan had little input, saying he has spent years on the project with architectural firms.

"I'm not anti-architecture," he said. "I just love it in a different way."

His idea has earned the praise of school officials.

UC-Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang called Munger's design "inspired and revolutionary."

But McFadden opposed the suggestion, resigning following the presentation of the plan at an Oct. 5 design review committee meeting.

PowerPoint slides of the plan, called "Charlie's Vision," tout study spaces, dining options, a theater and other amenities.

During the meeting, Navy Banvard, the architect for Munger Hall, told the committee members that the bedrooms will have "virtual windows that simulate daylight," the Daily Nexus reported.

McFadden wrote that "an ample body of documented evidence shows that interior environments with access to natural light, air and views to nature improve both the physical and mental wellbeing of occupants."

"The Munger Hall design ignores this evidence and seems to take the position that it doesn't matter," he added.

Some builders have cut out windows with the goal of enhancing workplace productivity or heightening security, but architects who favor the light they provide argue windows are necessary for sustainability and comfort.

McFadden also raised concerns that the building would look "out of place" in its surroundings on the waterfront campus and reach an unprecedented density. The dorm would qualify as the eighth densest neighborhood on the planet, falling just short of Dhaka, Bangladesh, according to McFadden.

"The project is essentially the student life portion of a mid-sized university campus in a box," he wrote.

McFadden told The Post that others on the committee raised the same concerns during the meeting. He said he wasn't sure how his resignation letter appeared on the Internet and declined to answer other questions about the review process for the dorm's plan. In his letter, he wrote that it was apparent the expert committee was viewed as a "mere formality" and that approval or input was not required for the design "described as 100% complete."

"Yet in the 15 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. "This is the very project the committee exists to consider."

Carla Yanni, an architectural history professor at Rutgers University, emphasized the importance of consulting students, architects and student services staff to design a dorm that considers the residents' needs and surroundings. She described how her university has built full-scale models of housing for students to test before construction begins.

Dorms should be planned in a way that encourages students to mingle and collaborate, said Yanni, the author of "Living on Campus: An Architectural History of the American Dormitory."

But, she said, this manifestation of that idea doesn't acknowledge the spate of social science research explaining the consequences of such a windowless design.

"The arrogance of the proposal is breathtaking," Yanni said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The U.S. Air Force said Sunday it flew a B-1B strategic bomber over key maritime chokepoints in the Mideast with allies including Israel amid ongoing tensions with Iran as its nuclear deal with world powers remains in tatters.

The B-1B Lancer bomber flew Saturday over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes. It also flew over the Red Sea, its narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Egypt's Suez Canal.

The Strait of Hormuz has been the scene of attacks on shipping blamed on Iran in recent years, while the Red Sea has seen similar assaults amid an ongoing shadow war between Tehran and Israel. The Islamic Republic has denied being involved in the attacks, though it has promised to take revenge on Israel for a series of attacks targeting its nuclear program.

Fighter jets from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia flew alongside the bomber.

Iranian state media did not immediately acknowledge the flyover. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The flyover comes after a pattern of such flights by nuclear-capable B-52 bombers since the Trump administration as a show of force to Iran. Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew America from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Tehran agree to drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

In the time since, Iran has abandoned all the limits of the deal and drastically reduced the ability of international inspectors to keep watch over their program. While Iran insists its program is peaceful, the U.S. intelligence agencies, Western inspectors and others say Tehran had a structured military nuclear weapons program through the end of 2003.

President Joe Biden has said he's willing to re-enter the nuclear deal, but talks in Vienna have stalled as a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took over as president.

Biden sending a B1-B bomber into the region allows him to send a clear message of reassurance to regional allies, as the U.S. Air Force's Central Command put it on Twitter. But it doesn't involved a nuclear-capable bomber.

The B-1B came from the 37th Bomb Squadron based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
ROME (AP)  Leaders at the Group of 20 summit in Rome are expressing broad support for sweeping changes in how big global companies are taxed.

The goal: deterring multinationals from stashing profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes  commonly known as tax havens.

The proposal was finalized in October among 136 countries and sent to the G-20 for a final look after complex talks overseen by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It would update a century's worth of international taxation rules to cope with changes brought by digitalization and globalization.

The most important feature: a global minimum tax of at least 15%, a key initiative pushed by U.S. President Joe Biden. This is more than just a tax deal  its diplomacy reshaping our global economy and delivering for our people, Biden tweeted from the summit on Saturday.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says it will end a decadeslong race to the bottom that has seen corporate tax rates fall as tax havens sought to attract businesses that used clever accounting to take advantage of low rates in countries where they had little real activity.

Here's a look at key aspects of the tax deal:

___

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

In today's economy, multinationals can earn big profits from things like trademarks and intellectual property that are easier than factories to move. Companies can assign the earnings they generate to a subsidiary in a country where tax rates are very low.

Some countries compete for revenue by using rock-bottom rates to lure companies, attracting huge tax bases that generate large revenue even with tax rates only marginally above zero. Between 1985 and 2018, the global average corporate headline rate fell from 49% to 24%. By 2016, over half of all U.S. corporate profits were booked in seven tax havens: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore and Switzerland. White House officials are saying the global minimum would result in almost $60 billion of added U.S. tax revenue.

___

HOW WOULD A GLOBAL MINIMUM TAX WORK?

The basic idea is simple: Countries would legislate a minimum rate of at least 15% for very big companies with annual revenues over 750 million euros ($864 million)

If company earnings go untaxed or lightly taxed in one of the world's tax havens, their home country would impose a top-up tax that would bring the rate to 15%.

That would make it pointless for a company to use tax havens, since taxes avoided in the haven would be collected at home.

___

HOW WOULD THE TAX PLAN ADDRESS THE DIGITALIZED ECONOMY?

The plan would also let countries tax part of the earnings of the 100 or so biggest multinationals when they do business in places where they have no physical presence, such as through internet retailing or advertising. The tax would only apply to a portion of profits above a profit margin of 10%.

In return, other countries would abolish their unilateral digital services taxes on U.S. tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. That would head off trade conflicts with Washington, which argues such taxes unfairly target U.S. companies.

___

WHAT IS THE U.S. ROLE IN THE AGREEMENT?

Biden has staked a claim that the U.S. must join the global minimum tax in order to persuade other nations to do so. That would involve raising the current rate for foreign earnings from 10.5% to reflect the global minimum. His tax proposals are still being negotiated in Congress.

U.S. participation in the minimum tax deal is crucial, simply because so many multinationals are headquartered there  28% of the 2,000 biggest global companies. Complete rejection of Bidens global minimum proposal would seriously undermine the international deal.

___

DOES EVERYONE LIKE THE DEAL?

Some developing countries and advocacy groups such as Oxfam and the UK-based Tax Justice Network say the 15% rate is too low. And although the global minimum would capture some $150 billion in new revenue for governments, most of it would go to rich countries because they are where many of the biggest multinationals are headquartered. Developing countries took part in the talks and all signed except for Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

U.S. critics including Republican leaders and some business groups say the proposed minimum tax would make America less competitive and potentially cost jobs, a sign that the key is to get passage from other nations so the U.S. is not disadvantaged.

___

ANY OTHER CAVEATS?

The EU Tax Observatory research consortium cautions that exemptions for companies with actual assets and employees in a given country could exacerbate tax competition by giving firms incentives to move real activity to tax havens.

That means some tax competition among countries would still be possible when actual business operations  as opposed to shifty accounting  are involved.

___

HOW WOULD THE AGREEMENT TAKE EFFECT?

Backing from the G-20 leaders completes a yearslong process of negotiation. Once approval is reflected in the summit's final statement, expected Sunday, implementation then moves to the individual nations.

The tax on earnings where companies have no physical presence would require countries to sign on to an intergovernmental agreement in 2022, with implementation in 2023. The global minimum could be applied by individual countries using model rules developed by the OECD. If the U.S. and European countries where most multinationals are headquartered legislate such minimums, that would have much of the intended effect, even if some tax havens don't.

___

Associated Press writer Joshua Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
In 1918, a girl named Bernadine Cox sent a postcard to her brother, then serving in France. She wrote, "Don't suppose we'll have much Halloween here on account of the epidemic and suppose you have enough Halloween every day on No Man's Land for every person." It was a reminder of the dire circumstances that came at the end of the war: the second wave of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic was hitting major U.S. cities, while service members were hunkered down in trenches across the Western front, facing illness and death.

When World War I broke out, candy had no real connection to the spooky season, which instead focused on macabre imagery, parades, parties and Halloween night pranks. It was more about "tricks," than "trick or treating." However, within a generation, Halloween would become a candy season and the roots of Americans' love of manufactured candy trace back to WWI itself.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Americans developed a reputation for a sweet tooth. Home cooks across the country prepared caramel recipes. Most towns had a corner store at which penny candy or a confection made in-house might be purchased. By the early years of the 20th century, industry transformed the manufacturing of food products, and names like Hershey, Necco and Mars, among thousands of other confectioners, became household names.

Many candies were initially marketed as being healthful. The burgeoning field of nutritional science was beginning to unpack the importance of calories and vitamins. Because of the need to mobilize the country to prepare for war, the U.S. government was paying special attention to perceived nutritional deficits among young men and candy offered a ready solution.

When the United States joined World War I in April 1917, officials thought that the additional calories in sugar might help soldiers go the extra mile. Service members were issued, gifted and could purchase candy. Talk of candy was common in correspondence between families at home and troops in Europe. "You spoke of sending me some homemade candy," wrote one U.S. soldier to his girlfriend on Oct. 26, 1917. "Now kiddo, candy is my middle name and I can eat all of it I get."

Mixed candies, chocolate candies, chewing gum, licorices and gum drops, all made in the United States, found their way into thankful U.S. doughboy hands. Some of these gifted treats were homemade. Meanwhile, for friends or family who didn't feel comfortable creating candies in their kitchens but still wanted to send sweet care packages, manufacturers were there to meet the need.

Well-known manufacturers of the day produced a range of goods that could be purchased or donated in support of the troops. Individually wrapped bars, like New York-based Auerbach, might be mixed with marshmallow or nougat and could be purchased for five or 10 cents. Other companies like Lovell & Covel sold or donated chocolates in 20-pound blocks to be divided and individually wrapped on military posts. Whitman's even sold a "Service Chocolates" package that included popular, pocket-size books to satiate both the belly and the brain.

In 1917, the Pennsylvania-based Goldenberg Candy Company created Peanut Chews specifically intended for the U.S. military. The candy was a sweet, easily traveling, high-protein treat that was thought to increase energy. The Clark Bar, also launched in 1917, fed popular appeal with its peanut butter and taffy core. The U.S. government even purchased an entire year's production of Necco Wafers for military use.

Quickly mobilizing in 1917, the YMCA agreed to operate canteens and post exchanges for the U.S. military. Shipping goods from the United States or purchasing from French purveyors was steep in cost, so from April to December of 1918 the Y began a broad manufacturing program in Europe. According to the National War Work Council, 16 chocolate and candy factories were created in Europe, with a monthly capacity of 20 million tablets or bars, to help satiate the sweet tooth of the American doughboys. The United States imported to Europe some 23,787,700 pounds of sugar for the manufacture of chocolates, chocolate cream bars, chocolate nut rolls, caramels and others treats.

The calorie content and caffeine in chocolate candies boosted energy and morale. After an Army Quartermaster Corps decree in December 1918, the military began issuing a half pound of candy every 10 days to soldiers serving overseas. During the first month of the ration system, it took 3,495,000 pounds of candy to provide each soldier overseas with the allotted portion.

Time overseas also exposed Americans for the first time to European confections. Chocolate was introduced in France over a century before the Revolutionary War and by 1917, not only France, but Belgium and Switzerland had developed signature and exquisite chocolates. Confection and praline were available in and around European towns and U.S. doughboys could even purchase French Poulain Chocolates at YMCA huts. One French volunteer, Emile Palisoul, observed the many American boys who came as customers were "regular candy & chocolate fiends."

When candy was hard to come by, industrious service members responded. A mess sergeant journeyed into the village of Verdun to procure more from local purveyors and a secretary of the 308th Field Artillery, which took part in St. Mihiel drives, found a "first class candy maker" among the ranks.

The troops consumed copious amounts of sweets throughout the war and would later bring home their newly acquired affection for candy. With hundreds of thousands of soldiers now accustomed to eating thousands of pounds of candy per month, it's no surprise that this led to a boom in the candy industry in the United States.

With industries retooling in the post-war period and an increased demand to satiate veterans' sweet tooth during Prohibition, it was a boom time for confection creation. Some estimate that over 30,000 different types of candy were manufactured in the following decade. In 1920 alone, Russel Stover, Fox Cross Candy (Charleston Chew) and Leaf (Whoppers, Jolly Rancher, Payday) were all founded. Some of the companies were founded by veterans - many who had seen unimaginable horror - who were now able to create the sweet side of life.

Candy manufacturers no longer had the U.S. government to buy up huge amounts of candy for the troops, but consumers eagerly bought their own in the booming 1920s. Some of the most beloved items of the modern-day Halloween season - Mars Bar, Oh Henry and Baby Ruth, to name a few - were created shortly after the Great War during a time when the world was recovering from a different pandemic. In the 1930s, the children of WWI-era sweethearts would popularize "trick or treating" in the United States as we know it today. That's no trick, just the treat of learning history.
By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She is currently writing a book about textile artisans.

In a world of not so long ago but that now seems so very far away, the New York City Council passed legislation banning cashless businesses. The vote, 43-3, wasnt even close and the measure took effect in November 2020.

NYC isnt the first place to enact such restrictions. In 1978, Massachusetts became the first to enact such a law, requiring retailers to accept cash and credit. In passing its ban in January 2020, NYC joined New Jersey, Philadelphia and San Francisco, which all approved such bans in 2019. At the time NYC acted, several other cities were mulling similar measures. according to the New York Times in New York City Stores Must Accept Cash, Council Says.

Two rationales motivated NYCs ban. First was the large number of NYC residents  more than 10%  who lack bank accounts, and thus access to credit cards. Without a credit card, they cant easily do business with a cashless business. According to the NYT:

The citys Department of Consumer Affairs said last year that one in nine New York households did not have a bank account, and that one in five were underbanked, meaning they had a checking or savings account but relied on something other than a bank to cash a check. Bronx households, the agency said, were around twice as likely not to have a bank account.

Second is general skepticism over the security of cashless transactions, with the NYT noting they raise the specter of hackers stealing personal data tied to digital transactions. T The NYT reported that NYCs unwillingness to provide carte blanche to new digital technologies extends beyond cashless retail transactions.

But New York City officials have also targeted ride-sharing and meal-delivery apps, as well as facial recognition for building entries  all in an effort to blunt the impact of advancing technology on those who are unable to use it because of financial circumstances, unwilling to for philosophical reasons or vulnerable to its darker aspects.

The penalties for violations look stringent enough to encourage compliance, especially since many of the businesses targeted are smaller ones, such as restaurants, coffee shops, and other sellers of prepared foods. I assume a $1000 fine comprises a significant bite of a days takings. According to the NYT:

Under the bill, businesses that refuse cash face fines of $1,000 for a first violation and $1,500 for each subsequent offense. Businesses with devices that convert cash to cards, like those found in many laundromats, are exempt under certain conditions, including a provision that there be no fee for such cards.

Now, since the city passed its cashless transaction ban in January 2020, the pandemic has unfolded. And with it an explosion in deliveries, with many opting for no-contact deliveries. The cashless transaction ban took effect in November 2020 and thats allowed all parties time to adjust to the new universe.

I was pleased to see that last week, NYC signalled it wasnt going to allow businesses to flout the cashless ban  despite the de facto acceptance many have accorded to cashless deliveries and other delivery modifications during the pandemic. The number of unbanked New Yorkers hasnt changed and they still dont have the credit cards that would be necessary for them to eschew cash in their day to day activities. NYC has received 128 complaints and issued 21 violations since the ban took effect, according to Eater in NYC Fines Upscale Ice Cream Shop Van Leeuwen for Violating Cashless Ban:

Approximately 301,700 households in NYC, or 9.4 percent of the citys population, dont have bank accounts, according to Department of Consumer and Worker Protection data from July 2021, and cannot easily shop at places that dont accept cash. The majority of the citys residents who dont have bank accounts are people of color who live in lower-income neighborhoods without ready access to local banks. Cashless businesses isolate the more than 300,000 unbanked households in NYC from making transactions, as well as those who simply choose not to use plastic, Department of Consumer and Worker Protection commissioner Peter Hatch said in a statement. This decision is a win for all of us and it ensures that we are all included, regardless of how we choose to pay.

Last week, NYC went after the upscale Van Leeuwen ice cream shop for repeated violations of the cashless ban. The companys behavior seems particularly egregious as it seems their outlets arent even equipped to accept cash:

Van Leeuwens cashless days appear to be over. The fancy, minimalist ice cream purveyor has been ordered to pay over $12,000 in fines for not equipping its various NYC stores to accept cash, violating the citys recently-enacted ban on cashless businesses. According to a representative for NYCs Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, the city received six consumer complaints about Van Leeuwens cashless stores after legislation banning the practice went into effect in November 2020. The department then issued Van Leeuwen a cease-and-desist letter, but says that didnt stop the company from continuing to violate the law. In October, the city charged the ice cream shop with 17 violations of the cashless ban and penalized the company with $12,750 in fines. Van Leeuwen  which started as an NYC-based food truck in 2008 and now runs over 20 shops in multiple states, and also sold the popular Kraft mac-and-cheese flavored ice cream this summer  did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Eater on the fines.

Now, my one quibble is that it seems the NYC did take a while to come down hard on Van Leeuwen despite its outright flouting of a ban that came into effect last November. The Eater account says the stores werent equipped to accept cash. But $12,000 in fines should motivate the company to fix that lapse. Even at an upscale purveyor, $12,000 is a lot of ice cream.

Other companies that might seek to go cashless are now on notice that NYC is serious about enforcing its cashless ban.
(Natural News) More than five cemeteries overseen by The Catholic Cemeteries have seen a 15 percent increase in burials and a 10 percent increase in cremations so far this year compared to 2020.

Executive Director Joan Gecik says that she believes the increases are due to a backlog of committal services that were postponed at the height of the pandemic, but the reality is that vaccines more than likely also play a role.

Those who still believe in the plandemic are already fearfully making reservations for burials and cremations of their loved ones for the summer 2022, expecting that the next waves will wipe out family members.

Calvary in St. Paul, Gethsemane in New Hope, Resurrection in Mendota Heights, and St. Anthonys and St. Marys, both in Minneapolis, are among The Catholic Cemeteries facilities where changing trends are being observed in correlation with the jab rollout.

We have a high concern for safety for anyone coming to our cemeteries, including our employees, Gecik said, noting that said facilities are asking people to wear face coverings outside and distance from their loved ones at all times.

It is still going on, Gecik added about the plandemic, making no mention about the potential role that Chinese Virus injections might be playing in this sudden uptick in body disposal requests.

Why are so many Catholics rejecting God and putting their faith in Covidism?

It is disappointing, to say the least, that a religious organization like this would have so little faith in God as to forsake the gathering of family members and loved ones due to fear about some invisible virus.

Even worse is the patent rejection of any consideration that the jabs might be causing more people to die, resulting in the need for more burials and cremations. How is this not even a thought in peoples minds?

The political correctness on display at The Catholic Cemeteries, which have reportedly gone through various levels of safety protocols, the group says, is truly disheartening in light of all that has been revealed over the past several years.

The organization says that rather than going with the Bible, it has chosen to instead follow the recommendations of the corrupt Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a private corporation with a vested financial interest in vaccines that pretends to represent and support public health.

The Catholic Cemeteries is not even meeting in person anymore with grieving family members who lose a loved one, Gecik admitted. Instead, they are offering counseling digitally over Zoom or other means, she said.

Its kind of like being super sensitive to everything that is going on all the time, Gecik added. And that is how it was daily during (the height of) covid.

In 2020, the five sites aforementioned saw 1,035 burials and a 44 percent cremation rate. In 2021 so far, there have been 1,187 burials and a 54 percent cremation rate.

I tend to find that the vax has led to MORE fear and panic than before and everyone is only living for their boosters, wrote one commenter at Natural News, sharing personal observations.

I would rather die of a gunshot wound than allow myself to submit to what they, led by Fauci, represent. Doesnt Xi (Jinping) see that the whole country is being USED by Fauci and no-one will get better until Fauci is arrested?

Another commenter wrote the following simple phrase to illustrate what is happening to peoples bodies, and more specifically their cardiovascular systems, with these injections:

Get clotted, go carotid!

More related news about the Chinese Virus and the injections they are erroneously calling vaccines can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheCatholicSpirit.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A union group called Isotita (Equality) that represents public sector workers is calling for Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) rapid tests to be suspended from use after it was discovered that the swabs contain ethylene oxide, a toxic substance.

The Cyprus-based union says that current requirements mandating testing every 72 hours be immediately discontinued in order to protect the health of workers who are constantly being exposed to the toxin.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECA) says that ethylene oxide, which is used to coat and sterilize both the fraudulent PCR and rapid tests for the Chinese Virus, is toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic when inhaled.

Since the tainted swabs are being jammed up peoples nasal cavities, sometimes multiple times per week, ethylene oxide is almost certainly being inhaled and potentially planting the seeds of chronic disease.

Ethylene oxide is a gas commonly used to sterilise many different types of medical devices, including swabs used in test kits, reported the Cyprus Mail.

Ethylene oxide (EtO) gas sterilisers have been used by hospitals for over 40 years to sterilise surgical equipment and supplies that are heat sensitive or that cannot tolerate excessive moisture.

In the European Union, ethylene oxide is prohibited in food production, and under EU Regulation No. 2015/868, the highest amount allowed in residue is specified at 0.05 mg/kg.

In Fauci Flu rapid tests, however, the amount of ethylene oxide detected is around 0.36 mg/kg, more than six times the allowable level under current government guidelines.

Even trace amounts of ethylene oxide far lower than whats found in rapid tests cause cancer

The media network Pronews TV also ran a special on the tainted rapid tests, noting that highly toxic swabs are being repeatedly inserted into peoples nasal cavities where the deadly substance is being implanted.

Back in August, health authorities ordered a recall on foodstuffs that were found to contain lower levels of ethylene oxide than what is contained in the swabs. Based on this, the rapid tests also need to be recalled and immediately discontinued from use.

The EU government claimed that the levels of ethylene oxide found in food pose no danger to human health because the amounts are too small to cause problems, however based on scientific studies it is assessed that frequent consumption on a long-term basis, even with trace amounts of ethylene oxide, increases the risk of developing cancer, reports explain.

Current EU standards state that a food product can be recalled from the market even where a single ingredient in the foodstuff is shown to be tainted with ethylene oxide at the lowest level detectable, including where the ingredient in question comprises the smallest part of the foodstuff percentage-wise.

Keep in mind that many, if not most, of the available rapid tests for the Chinese Virus come from none other than China. It is thus not a surprise that they contain hidden chemicals that are damaging peoples health on top of the vaccines and face masks.

How ridiculous! Why would the Chinese communists want to harm us using cotton swabs? asked one commenter at the Cyprus Mail sarcastically. Surely the Chinese Communist Party are the most noble and honourable people who only wish to sell their products to us safely  surely!

Another wrote that it was obvious since the beginning of the scamdemic that the testing is part of the poisoning process.

And nothing yet about the graphene oxide also found in masks and same testing swabs, another wrote about additional toxins found in the plandemic protocol.

What about reports that under the microscope bits of the test swabs break off and remain lodged in the upper nasal passage causing inflammation? asked another.

More of the latest news about the Chinese Virus can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Cyprus-Mail.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) It is being reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA (messenger RNA) injection in children as young as five.

As expected, the FDA listened to the recommendation of its advisory panel, which unanimously voted in favor of tampering with the DNA of kindergartners.

Special kid-size doses could start getting plunged into childrens arms as soon as next week. Officials say that these smaller vials contain one-third the amount of spike protein witchs brew as the adult-size version.

As many as 28 million children living in the United States will be eligible for the injections, though there is one last regulatory hurdle: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is almost sure to green-light it.

With this vaccine, kids can go back to something thats better than being locked at home on remote learning, not being able to see their friends, announced Kawsar Talaat of Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The vaccine will protect them and also protect our communities.

What Talaat did not mention, of course, is that the only thing stopping children from not being locked at home on remote learning friendless are the corrupt school boards, which are so infested with Branch Covidians that all kinds of insane rules are being mandated that have zero basis in science.

The Biden regime is also to blame for keeping this ridiculous charade going, as are the millions of Americans who just go along with it like good little lemmings instead of fighting back like their forefathers would have done.

Africa, India both already defeated covid with ivermectin

Meanwhile, non-western countries that were never indoctrinated into the religious cult of Covidism have pretty much eliminated the Chinese Virus from their borders using tried-and-true remedies and common sense.

In central Africa, for instance, the death rate among people who test positive for Chinese Germs has dropped to almost zero, thanks to the widespread use of ivermectin as an early remedy.

Conversely, in the northern and southern countries of Africa where ivermectin is not being used, Fauci Flu deaths are still spiking.

The same is true of India, as those regions accepting of ivermectin have seen the plandemic almost completely disappear. On the flip side, Indian regions where the fake vaccines are being used are seeing skyrocketing hospitalizations and deaths.

Everywhere you look, there is a direct correlation between waves of sickness and heavy vaccination. Wherever you find jabs going into arms, there you will also find lots of sick and dying people whose conditions are being falsely blamed on covid.

We continue to warn our readers about these important facts because almost nobody in the mainstream media is even considering them. The script says to blame every bad thing on the unvaccinated while claiming that the fully vaccinated would have ended this already were it not for the former.

It makes zero sense, of course, but nothing really has since the start of this exercise in stupidity, ignorance and compliance. Perhaps the world is already far past the point of no return.

Sick bunch of people, wrote one commenter at Citizen Free Press. What will they do when kids start dying? Probably nothing because they care more for the billions they will be making. Totally disgusting people.

They are all standing in the boardroom, looking at each other perplexed, totally in shock that they have gotten this far with this con, suggested another.

Havent we learned yet the world is a bunch of rich people with a swindle, who have friends in high places, who change the rules to favor their get rich quick scheme. Climate change, vaccines, nothing is off limits.

More of the latest news about the religion of Covidism can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

CitizenFreePress.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) On the latest episode of Doctors and Scientists, Dr. Brian Hooker Ph.D., P.E., was interviewed Dr. Jessica Rose, Ph.D. to discuss the failures of the vaccine injury surveillance system that was set up by the CDC and FDA over thirty years ago. Dr. Rose is an expert in bio-mathematics and molecular research.

In January of 2021, she utilized her skills as a computational biologist and began analyzing data in the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). Each week, she downloaded publicly-available data sets from VAERS, comparing inputs week-to-week. She discovered that vaccine injury reports went missing from one week to the next. Each week, the data is updated in the VAERS system. She found that some of the data is overwritten, vanished from the system. She also found that hundreds of thousands of covid vaccine injury reports were backlogged and did not appear in a timely manner to alert healthcare professionals to serious issues with the vaccine.

Hundreds of thousands of vaccine injury reports backlogged in VAERS

In the interview, Dr. Rose discussed the systemic flaws of the VAERS system, flaws that stop the passive reporting system from working in the publics interest, as was originally intended. The pharmacovigilance system was set up in 1990 to detect issues with vaccines, to alert regulatory agencies and the public about serious adverse events and contraindications for specific vaccines. The data is managed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Healthcare professionals input the data into the system, and have a narrow thirty-minute window to complete the report. In 2021, healthcare workers have been overwhelmed with vaccine injury reports and have not had the time to enter them all into the system. Many medical concerns associated with the covid vaccine are overlooked, discarded or discounted as coincidental or normalized reactions to the vaccine.

The hundreds of thousands of adverse event reports that have been filed paint a grisly picture of medical malfeasance. These serious public health issues have yet to be addressed by any regulatory agency or judicial process. In the past, vaccines were pulled from the market if the VAERS system documented more than fifty deaths from a single vaccine. In 2021, there have been more than 20,000 deaths recorded in just ten months. Up to 97 percent of these issues are coming from the new mRNA covid vaccines, not the rest of the vaccine supply. Instead of pulling the deadly products from the market, the federal government has issued unlawful mandates, coercing individuals to take part in the depopulation experiment. This might be the biggest flaw with the system yet: The agencies that are supposed to oversee the data and alert the public to medical atrocities are the same entities trying to push a narrative forward  that vaccines are safe and effective. (Related: COVID vaccine experiment causes monstrous spike in vaccine injuries and deaths, serious adverse events under-reported by a factor of eight.)

Serious adverse events and fatalities are occurring at magnitudes greater than what is recorded in the VAERS system

After analyzing missing data in the VAERS system, Dr. Rose came to the conclusion that serious adverse events and fatalities following covid vaccination are much higher than what is recorded in the VAERS system. Some issues are under-reported by a factor of thirty-one, and other, more common side effects can be under-reported by a factor of one hundred. By September, Dr. Rose attended the FDAs Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting, bringing attention to under-reporting problem in the VAERS system. Her research is titled, Critical Appraisal of VAERS Pharmacovigilance: Is the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) a Functioning Pharmacovigilance System? and was published in Science, Public Health Policy and Law.

Her paper concludes that hundreds of thousands of adverse events are backlogged and waiting to be entered into the system. The most important thing I found in my determination is whether or not this tool  which can be a pharmacovigilance tool  is being used as such, Dr. Rose said.

Sources include:

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

NaturalNews.com

IPAKPHPI.com [PDF]
(Natural News) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Moderna the green light to roll out an mRNA booster shot for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19)  not based on actual science, mind you, but rather on a gut feeling.

According to a member of the FDAs vaccine advisory panel who voted in favor of the plan, there is no really truly serious data to support jabbing people with more Moderna needles. Instead, this is a matter of blind faith in the idea that more injections will produce better results.

Its more a gut feeling rather than based on really truly serious data, were Patrick Moores exact words when explaining why he decided to vote in favor of more Moderna mRNA injections.

The data itself is not strong, but it is certainly going in the direction that is supportive of this vote.

Much like a religious cult, Moores statements show that Fauci Flu shots are more of a religious rite that offers the recipient passage into the Cult of Branch Covidianism than they are a science-based intervention that actually helps people stay healthy.

All 19 members of the FDAs vaccine advisory panel, Moore included, voted in favor of recommending authorization for an extra dose of the Moderna shot. Chances are that many of them own stock in Moderna, which is just another Wall Street pump-and-dump scam.

Moderna founders make Forbes list of 400 richest Americans

Thanks to the panels complicity in recommending even more Moderna injections for fully vaccinated people, the companys founders were reportedly able to make the latest Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans.

Moderna co-founder and chairman Noubar Afeyan and fellow co-founder and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Robert Langer are now worth $3.7 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively.

Greed is, of course, one of the major driving factors behind the plandemic. All they had to do was manufacture a crisis, scare the public into complying with whatever was rolled out as the cure, get Donald father of the vaccine Trump to fast-track the profit needles as part of Operation Warp Speed, and voila: instant billionaire status.

Moderna was, after all, the second company to be granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for its injections under Trumps presidency. Since that time, more than 152.3 million doses have been plunged into Americans arms, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Moderna previously announced that it plans to profit from these injections to the tune of nearly $20 billion. That figure could balloon even more if the FDA continues pushing more and more booster shots on behalf of the company and its profit goals.

That same gut feeling is what keeps me from getting it, joked one commenter at Information Liberation about why he is just saying no to Fauci Flu shots from Moderna or any other Big Pharma corporation.

Ive got a gut feeling theyre playing us, wrote another.

That gut feeling comes from getting a nice fact check from Big Pharma, wrote another.

Another pointed out that this is all par for the course from the government and Big Pharma, the ranks of which are filled with criminals, nut cases, and traitors.

Contrary to Big Pharma propaganda, going back to 1910 and The Flexner Report, via Abraham Flexner (not even a doctor), John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J. P. Morgan, the term quack has always referred to those who became modern medical doctors, wrote another, offering a quick history lesson.

Quack comes from Quacksilver, an obsolescent name for Quicksilver: Mercury. The practitioners who poisoned people with Mercury became the dentists and doctors of today: those using patented chemical concoctions instead of natural remedies to treat people.

More of the latest news about the Branch Covidian religious cult can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

InformationLiberation.com

NaturalNews.com

NYPost.com
(Natural News) Bryson Gray, a rapper who became famous in part for his uncharacteristic Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat, had his music banned from YouTube recently after the Google-owned video platform caught him rapping lyrics about how the pandemic aint real.

The controversial rapper became so popular from this song that he hit the top of the charts on iTunes  that is, before Big Tech took aim at him for spreading medical misinformation about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).

On Twitter, Gray announced that his anti-Biden music video was canceled by YouTube for unsubstantiated reasons. In the video, Gray is seen wearing an Impeach Biden t-shirt and is heard dropping lines about, Lets go Brandon!

What medical misinformation is in the song? Gray asked. Woah.

Other lyrics in the now-removed song include a reference to the fact that they just planned it, referring to the plandemic. Gray also raps about how Biden claimed the jabs would stop the spread, but that it was lies and nothing more.

Gray says that initially, YouTube just took down the lyric version of his video. Later on, YouTube also pulled down the main music video without any of the lyrics displayed on the screen. (RELATED: Is there any topic that Big Tech wont censor?)

Gray compares Google, YouTube to a communist dictatorship

The good news for Gray is that YouTubes censorship of his video has only made it more popular. Still, censorship is never a good look for a company that does not want to be compared to a communist dictatorship.

I want to thank YouTube for banning my Lets Go Brandon song, Gray tweeted, adding that all this did was tick people off even more, driving more of them to watch the video.

Lets Go YouTube. Commies, he added.

Grays video is available for view at Infowars.

Hilariously, there are at least two other rappers who have created songs and videos entitled, Lets Go Brandon. Two of them are now best-sellers on iTunes.

Rapper Loza Alexanders version is No. 2, trailing only Adeles new song Easy On Me, while Gray is at No. 6, reports indicate.

Artist Forgiato Blow also has a version of the meme-turned-hit song that is available for listening on various streaming platforms such as iTunes.

According to YouTube, Grays video had to be removed because YouTube doesnt allow claims about COVID-19 vaccinations that contradict expert consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization.

One tech from YouTube did respond to one of Grays tweets, however, to claim that he will be looking into the ban to see if it really qualifies under the platforms community standards.

Jumping in  were passing this along to the right team for a re-review, this person wrote. Well share updates once we hear back from them. Appreciate your patience in the meantime.

As of this writing, Gray has still not heard back from YouTubes tech team, and his videos have not been reinstated.

Why is the most censored rapper in the country someone that doesnt even curse in songs? Gray asked, speaking to Fox News. Why can you rap about murder, sex, and drugs but when I rap about questioning the government I get banned? Is this still America?

THE PANDEMIC IS REAL! wrote one commenter at Infowars.

What we have here is a pandemic, and epidemic, of DOMESTIC ENEMIES, DOMESTIC TERRORISTS, CRIMINALS AND TREASONOUS BASTARDS IN OUR PUBLIC SERVANT OFFICES, GOV AGENCIES AND DEPARTMENTS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, UNIFORMED GOONS, DOJ, PROSECUTORS, COURTS, AND SCHOOLS!

The latest news about Big Techs assault on free speech can be found at Censorship.news.

Sources for this article include:

Infowars.com

NaturalNews.com

DailyMail.co.uk
(Natural News) Podcast giant Joe Rogan is set to take Dr. Anthony Fauci to task over his link to disgusting NIH-funded experiments performed on beagle puppies that were locked in cages and infected with with disease-causing parasites.

(Article by Paul Joseph Watson republished from Summit.news)

An investigation by the White Coat Waste Project found that Faucis division of the National Institutes of Health shipped part of a $375,800 grant to a lab in Tunisia to drug beagles and lock their heads in mesh cages filled with hungry sand flies so that the insects could eat them alive.

They also locked beagles alone in cages in the desert overnight for nine consecutive nights to use them as bait to attract infectious sand flies, the group asserts.

According to the report, the dogs even had their vocal chords severed so they wouldnt annoy the researchers and couldnt cry out in pain by barking.

Over the weekend, Rogan tweeted out a link to an article explaining how legislators are demanding a response from Fauci on the cruel experiments.

Bipartisan legislators demand answers from Fauci on 'cruel' puppy experiments | TheHill https://t.co/pCOdQ2T8hZ  Joe Rogan (@joerogan) October 23, 2021

Expect the media to once again launch a coordinated smear campaign against Rogan for him having the temerity to challenge Fauci, who has been elevated to the status of deity by the establishment.

Taking the side of literal puppy torturers will be a challenging position to take, but no doubt the corporate press will do so anyway.

Over the last few weeks, Rogan has been at war with CNN after the network falsely claimed he had a taken a horse dewormer to battle COVID.

In reality, Ivermectin is widely used in humans and was prescribed to Rogan by a qualified doctor.

As we previously highlighted, CNN refused to apologize to Rogan and doubled down on their idiocy, leading Rogan to call host Don Lemon a dumb motherfucker.

Read more at: Summit.news
(Natural News) A month ago, my brand-new bestseller, The Great Patriot Protest & Boycott Book, came out. A month seems like a lifetime ago. What happened over this past month validates the strategy I laid out. It changes everything.

(Article by Wayne Allyn Root republished from TownHall.com)

My book lays out the case that America and American exceptionalism are under vicious attack. We are facing a radical communist takeover of the United States. I believe we must respond with the tactics and strategies of Martin Luther King Jr.  with strikes, boycotts, protests, intimidation and CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.

The great news is the pilots of Southwest Airlines have put these tactics to work. And theyve proven that conservatives and patriots can use this strategy to save America.

Civil disobedience and intimidation are what liberals (i.e., socialists, communists, Marxists) have used for decades to steamroll us. A vocal and vicious minority has managed to hijack the direction of America with these tactics. Now its time to turn the tables!

We now know two can play at this game.

Until now, conservatives have never used intimidation, strikes, boycotts or civil disobedience. The reasons why are simple. Liberal activists are vicious, violent and loud. Thats because they have nothing to lose.

Have you ever seen an antifa protest? They look like theyve never had a job, or a bath.

Left-wing protesters in 2020 werent about protesting as much as rioting, looting and burning. They caused about $2 billion in property damage in the summer of 2020.

Thats never going to be us. Conservatives dont riot, loot, burn or commit violence. We have too much to lose. Conservatives dont sit home collecting handouts. Our lives revolve around work.

We do all the working, spending and taxpaying in America.

We have jobs, businesses, families, assets to protect. We cant afford to engage in violence or be arrested. Wed go broke just paying the legal fees. Whereas liberals with no assets are provided free legal aid lawyers by the justice system, or free lawyers by billionaire communist backers like George Soros.

But we can copy this strategy of civil disobedience by using the one advantage weve got  buying power. We dont need violence. We can bring this nation and economy to its knees with our wallets and purses.

Other than open borders, the main tool of this communist takeover is COVID-19 vaccine mandates. This is the defunding of the middle class. The middle class doesnt want this vaccine. Cops dont want it. Neither do firemen, prison guards, border patrol, nurses, paramedics, the military or jet pilots. Millions of middle-class Americans will soon be fired or forced to resign. They will lose their jobs, incomes and pensions.

This is how the radical communists will make us jobless and hopeless. This is how they will make us dependent on government. This is how they will destroy first responders and the military. This is how the enemies of America create chaos, crisis, confusion, depression and division.

Liberals are ripping this country apart with their COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

We have to hit back  HARD. Just as my book proposes, the hero pilots of Southwest Airlines just used the power of the purse. A week ago, they refused to fly. They called in sick by the thousands. Thousands of planes were grounded. The airline lost $75 million in just a few days.

The liberal mainstream media once again lied  they made believe this was based on scheduling issues and weather. The last thing they want is word getting out that millions of Americans refuse to take the COVID-19 jab and some of them are fighting back. That message scares government and liberals to death  as well it should.

The first volley was shot by Southwest Airlines pilots and flight crews. The result? VICTORY. Southwests CEO announced they will not adhere to Bidens federal mandate to terminate workers who wont vaccinate. Immediately Delta and American announced the same decision.

Bulls-eye. The airlines blinked. We won. This is the way forward. This is the model for conservatives. We do all the work. We have the buying power. Without our work ethic and dollars, every company in America is bankrupt and out of business.

This is the way forward out of the darkness  with mass protests, strikes, boycotts, intimidation and civil disobedience.

In my next column, Ill lay out a plan that empowers conservatives, Christians and patriots to showcase the full force of our power with nationwide strikes.

As Benjamin Franklin said, we either hang together, or we surely hang separately. Together, we have the power to take back our country from these communist traitors.

Read more at: TownHall.com
(Natural News) Sen. Ted Cruz ripped into Attorney General Merrick Garland this week during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which the Texas Republican and other GOP members demanded to know more about a memo sent to U.S. attorneys and the FBI instructing them to work with local police to investigate parents who show up to protest policies at local school board meetings.

In response to a Sept. 29 National School Boards Association letter which likened parents protesting at school board meetings to domestic terrorists, the DoJ instructed the FBI to begin work on curbing harassment and threats of violence against school administrators after the department said the number of such incidents has risen in the past year.

Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nations core values, said Garland in an Oct. 4 statement. Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety.

The Department takes these incidents seriously and is committed to using its authority and resources to discourage these threats, identify them when they occur, and prosecute them when appropriate, Garland noted further in a memo. In the coming days, the Department will announce a series of measures designed to address the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel.

The memo not only infuriated parents but Republicans and conservatives inside and outside of Congress as well for its blatant effort to intimidate parents into silence.

And Cruz, a Texas Republican, wasnt having any of it.

During this weeks hearing, Cruz inquired of the AG: Let me ask you something, (Attorney) General Garland: In the letter, which you told the House of Representatives was the basis for this abusive memo targeting parents, how many incidents are cited in that memo?

I have to look back through the memo, Garland answered.

You dont know. How many of them were violent? Cruz asked.

Again, the general report Garland began.

How many of them were violent? Cruz persisted.

I dont know, Garland admitted.

Cruz asserted, You dont know. And theres a reason you dont know. Because you didnt care and nobody in your office cared to find out.

I did a quick count just sitting here during this hearing; I counted 20 incidents cited. Of the 20, 15 on their face are non-violent. They involve things like insults; they involve a Nazi salute. Thats one of the examples. My God, a parent did a Nazi salute at a school board because he thought the policies were oppressive. General Garland, is doing a Nazi salute at an elected official, is that protected by the First Amendment? Cruz demanded to know.

Garland replied, Yes, it is.

Other Republicans, including Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, demanded that Garland resign.

And one GOP governor, Ron DeSantis of Florida, vowed to push back against any federal attempt to harass parents in his state.

To mobilize the FBI, theres no need for it, of course. Theres not been any sense that somehow [Florida law enforcement] werent going to do their job if need be, DeSantis said. The reason to do that is to intimidate parents, is to squelch dissent, is to have them shut up and just take it even when they strongly disagree with what may be happening with their kid.

Were not going to let the federal government come in and impose bad policies or mandates on Floridians, he continued. Were going to make sure were protecting parents and students in the state of Florida. Were not going to let the Department of Justice be weaponized to infringe First Amendment rights of parents. We are going to fight to preserve the rights of parents. And as we continue to see the use of fear and intimidation to suppress opposition to the regime, were going to find new ways to be able to empower parents rights to decide what is best for their children.

The Biden regime is full of tyrants, just like every other Democratic administration in the modern era.

Sources include:

USAFeatures.news

Justice.gov
Scientists sailed across the oceans in quest of finding exotic flora and fauna during the Age of Exploration. Now, scientists sampled microplastics by sailing the world's open waters using a tow net and flowmeter.

A multinational team of oceanographers led by Kyushu University academics has now calibrated and processed data from these trips to develop a publicly available dataset that can be used to better analyze the amount of microplastics in the world's waters as their long-term trends.



"Although microplastics have been seen since the 1970s, standardized data from throughout the world is still scarce," says Atsuhiko Isobe, professor at Kyushu University's Research Institute for Applied Mechanics and research leader.



"Our dataset contains actual concentrations of microplastics in the wild, which will aid researchers in determining the genuine impact of microplastics on aquatic creatures and the ecosystem.

Microplasics

Microplastics are tiny bits of deteriorated plastic smaller than five millimeters in size that may move hundreds of kilometers in the open sea and persist at varying depths below the ocean surface depending on their deterioration.



While numerous surveys have attempted to measure the number of microplastics in the ocean over the last 50 years, the combining and archiving of data has proven difficult due to differences in data collection methods and conditions, such as ocean turbulence, as well as counting and analysis protocols.'

Related Article: Seafood's Secret Ingredient: Microplastic



Measuring Microplastics

The researchers gathered, calibrated, and gridded data from a total of 8,218 pelagic microplastic samples obtained from seas throughout the world between 2000 and 2019 to produce the new dataset, which was published in the journal Microplastics and Nanoplastics.



"To build standardized, state-of-the-art 2D maps of microplastic abundance, we collected published and unpublished data on microplastic distribution from throughout the world and calibrated to account for variables such as collecting technique and wave height," adds Isobe.

The researchers estimate that there are 24.4 trillion microplastic particles in the world's upper seas, weighing 82,000 to 578,000 tons (approximately 30 billion 500-ml plastic water bottles).



"While our research increases our understanding of the problem, the overall number of microplastics is likely to be substantially higher because this is simply what we can estimate on the surface," Isobe says. "We need to construct 3D maps exploring the depths of the seas and continue to fill the gaps in our information to acquire a fuller picture."

Oceanic Data

Microplastic data for the Indian Ocean and the waters around Southeast Asia, especially the South China Sea, is one gap. Furthermore, evidence on microplastics smaller than 300 micrometers or even on the nanoscale is lacking. This is due to a lack of field survey techniques for such polymers and equipment constraints and the mesh size of field nets.



Future polls, Isobe believes, will continue to fill in these gaps by employing standard protocols to make data sharing easier.



"While we are making progress, we still have a long way to go before we have a comprehensive picture of the fate of plastic trash and its impact on the ecosystem," Isobe says.



Related Article: New Report Shows How Covid-19 Pandemic Worsened Plastic Pollution

For more environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News! Drop here!
During the Ein Gedi spa's golden era in 1960s, visitors can relax in warm baths before plunging into the salty Dead Sea; the very same coastline that is now dotted with sinkholes.

The Dead Sea a remarkable vast area of water in the desert surrounded by cliff edges to the east and west, has lost a quarter of its total area as of 1960.

Annually, clear waters fade away around a meter long, revealing a lunar scenery lightened by seawater and perforated with massive holes.

In the future, "visitors could be fortunate to get a stream of water here, where individuals can place their toes in," laments Alison Ron, an Ein Gedi citizen who used to operate the spa.

"However, there will be several holes in the ground."

The Majestic Dead Sea Depressions

The sinkholes can reach depths of up to 10 meters, which is proof of the ocean water's downsizing. Vanishing seawater leaves behind buried salt deposits.

The salt spots are dissolved as runoff from regular intervals flood events filters down into the soil surface. The property above breaks down due to a lack of assistance.

The approximately three kilometers of rocky sand that now separates the Ein Gedi thermal tubs from the coast are studded with holes and crevices.

In north, an entire traveler intricate has become a barren wasteland, defaced by sinkholes and surrounded by fence posts. The pavement has been ripped up, the street lamps have been knocked over, and the date planting has been forgotten.

According to Ittai Gavrieli of the Israel Geological Academy, there are large number of depressions along the Dead Sea's coastlines in Jordan, Israel, and the inhabited West Bank.

Which represent human legislation, and has effectively halted the stream of fluid into Dead Sea.

Nutrients have been retrieved from saltwater by energy companies for Israel and Jordan have rerouted the Jordan River's waterways for agricultural and drinking purposes.

Also read: Human's Irresponsibilities Cause Alarming Decline in North Atlantic Right Whale Population

Stabilizing the Dead Sea

According to Gavrieli, the Israel Geological Institute is supervising sinkhole structure from space, but is not a precise science. He described them as threatening but also majestic.

Far too dangerous, responds Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of the NGO EcoPeace, who sees the crater as humanity's retaliation for civilization's improper behavior.

"We will never be able to restore the Dead Sea to its glorious past," he stated. "However, we insist on stabilizing it."

His organization, that is made up of Jordanians, Palestinians, and Israelis, proponents for enhanced seawater desalination from the Mediterranean in order to ease tension on the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan, which could swing back to the Dead Sea.

When contacted by AFP, a press officer for Jordan's water ministry provided no precise solution to the conflict. Rather, he stated that the funding society must perform a "crucial function" in generating interest in "finding remedies to the Dead Sea dilemma."

Jordan neglected a lengthy proposal to construct a waterway with Israel and the Palestinians to transport water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea in June.

So, if the waterway was constructed, it would not have been enough to save the lake, according to hydrologist Eran Halfi of the Dead Sea-Arava Science Center.

"The Dead Sea is losing 1,000,000,000 cubic meters annually, and it was meant to bring 200 million cubic meters," he explained. "This would delay but not stop the decline."

According to climate researchers, its downturn is unavoidable for at least the very next 100 years. Depressions will continue to grow over the next couple of centuries.

The lake, on the other hand, may reach an equilibrium since as its ground declines, the water becomes saltier and evaporation halts.

Also read: Population of Freshwater Insects is Declining, This Common Insecticide May be the Culprit
On Mexico's Pacific coast, at least 300 sea turtles have washed up dead. According to a Mexican environment ministry official, the olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) perished according to preliminary examinations.

According to the official, they were most likely entangled in illegal fishing nets on the high seas or abandoned nets known as "ghost nets," according to the official.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has designated olive ridley turtles as vulnerable.

According to the IUCN, their population is declining, and they are classified as fragile since they only nest in a few locations.

The turtles were discovered washed ashore on Morro Ayuta in Oaxaca, Mexico's westernmost state. Olive ridley turtles deposit their eggs on the beach, which is one of their favorite spots.

Turtle specialist Ernesto Albavera Padilla informed local media that all of the dead creatures were females.

It is not the first time in Oaxaca that many olive ridley turtles have been discovered deceased. Fishermen found 300 of them caught in fishing nets in 2018.

Sea turtles were forbidden from being captured in Mexico in 1990, and anybody who kills one faces severe punishment.

Related Article: Residents Alarmed as Thousands of Dead Sea Creatures Washed Ashore in England Beaches



Investigation

Mexico's navy would assist environmental authorities in their probe into the deaths, according to officials.

Sea Turtle's Life

Thousands of hatchling turtles emerge from their nests along the southeast coast of the United States each year and make their way into the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, just one in 1,000 to 10,000 children will grow up to be adults. Young and adult sea turtles confront several natural dangers, but the mounting pressures posed by people are pushing them to extinction. Except for the loggerhead, designated as threatened, all sea turtles found in U.S. waters are now officially listed as endangered.

Sea turtles confront a variety of life-threatening challenges in the wild. Raccoons, crabs, and ants are among the predators that attack the nest for eggs and hatchlings. Birds, crabs, and a variety of other predators in the water eat hatchlings after they emerge. Except for the rare shark assault, sea turtles are mostly resistant to predation after they reach adulthood. On the other hand, natural hazards aren't the reason why sea turtle numbers have dropped to the brink of extinction. Human behaviors must be examined to fully comprehend what is truly threatening the survival of sea turtles.

Although sea turtles have spiritual or mythological significance in many cultures throughout the world, people continue to eat their eggs and flesh. Sea turtles have given sustenance to many coastal people, particularly in Central America and Asia. Turtle hunters prowl the beaches at night, hunting for nesting females during the nesting season. They frequently wait until the female has laid her eggs before killing her. They then take the eggs as well as the meat. Other components of the turtle, including the oil, cartilage, skin, and shell, may also be used to make goods. Many nations have laws against the collecting of eggs. However, enforcement is slack, illegal harvesting is ordinary, and eggs are frequently sold in local markets.

Also Read: Illegal Wildlife Trade: 15 Giant Tortoises Found Brutally Murdered in Galapagos Islands

For the latest animal news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
CORFE CASTLE, UNITED KINGDOM - AUGUST 12: (EDITORS NOTE: THIS IS A COMPOSITE IMAGE) Satellites, planes and comets transit across the night sky under stars that appear to rotate above Corfe Castle on August 12, 2016 in Corfe Castle, United Kingdom. The Perseids meteor shower occurs every year when the Earth passes through the cloud of debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle, and appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the north eastern sky. (Photo : Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

As a 'mega-constellation' of satellites are littered into space, researchers warn a significant threat this poses to Earth.

For instance, on July of 1979, when a space debris fell to Earth, it proved that not all launched into space disintegrates and disappears. However, the concern does not stop to an instance where a debris lands on somebody's head. Research warns that space junks also pose a risk of light pollution that blocks our view of the cosmos.

These 9,300 tons (8,440 metric tons) of space objects that researchers had found orbiting the planet, including ones that are inoperative, accounts for the increase of overall brightness of the night sky by more than 10%.

Such threat would prevent researchers and astronomers to take accurate measurements and miss significant discoveries altogether.

Space junks make it impossible to get a clear picture

Researchers said that satellites and space debris ruin astronomical images as it scatters reflected sunlight, making the picture often brighter.

In their study, they found that light level across large areas of the planet exceeded a threshold that astronomers had considered 'light polluted', set over 40 years ago.

"Our primary motivation was to estimate the potential contribution to night sky brightness from external sources, such as space objects in Earth's orbit," said lead author Miroslav Kocifaj of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Comenius University in Slovakia. "We expected the sky brightness increase would be marginal, if any, but our first theoretical estimates have proved extremely surprising and thus encouraged us to report our results promptly."

The research focused mainly on the overall impact of space objects on our night skies rather than the effect of single space debris, obscuring astronomers' images of the cosmos, such as the clouds of stars in the Milky Way.

Also read: Charcoal Remnants Reveal Raging Wildfires in Antarctica 75 Million Years Ago

Not too late to save our night skies

With the growing industries sending off large arrays of satellites into space for commercial uses like internet access, our night skies could get even junkier and brighter.

In fact, 12 more operators from Amazon, SpaceX and OneWeb, plans on expanding their existing networks by launching new mega-constellation satellites, increasingly crowding the night skies.

Astronomers have grown uneasy in the recent years, especially with the chances of satellites colliding with each other, which is why the European Space Agency (ESA) proposed one solution to the problem.

The space agency plans to launch in 2025 a four-armed robot into space that grabs individual items of junk and objects, like robot cleaners. In the meantime, ESA expects and hopes that agencies that launch satellites take responsibility in cleaning up what they've littered.

A team of Australian scientists even suggested using telescope lasers to "give humanity an edge in war against space junk."

John Barentine, Director of Public Policy for the International Dark-Sky Association and a study co-author said that their research implies that "many more people than just astronomers stand to lose access to pristine night skies."

Also read: Cows and Methane Emissions: How Do These Hoofed Animals Contribute to Climate Crisis?
AFP Fact Checkers examines some common misconceptions that raise doubt on the possibility of human-caused global warming as world leaders prepare for the COP26 climate summit, which begins on October 31.

Among the many misinformation regarding Climate Change, these are the five most common misconceptions:

Climate Change is a Hoax

Others believe the crisis is a fiction perpetrated by experts to justify their research grants-or even a government plot to control people. If that's the case, it'd have to be a massive undertaking involving many governments and a large number of scientists from a variety of nations.

Thousands of peer-reviewed research in the public domain have resulted in a scientific agreement that human-caused climate change is real. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the most comprehensive of these sources. Moreover, its evidence and procedures are publicized at www.ipcc.ch. Therefore it is far from a secret proceeding.

Its most recent report, which was issued this year and was 3,500 pages lengthy, was accepted by delegates from 195 countries. It includes contributions from 234 writers from 66 countries.

The panel was established due to a UN resolution, which provides fodder for conspiracy theorists while also confirming its legitimacy for others.

Climate Change is Natural and has been Happening Since the Beginning of Time

According to scientists, over the past million years, the Earth has cycled between ice ages and periods of warming. Is this cycle's present warmth just a new stage?

No, this time is different because of the recent warming's pace, relative abruptness, and global scope.

"Global surface temperature has risen faster since 1970 than in any other 50-year period in at least the last 2,000 years," the IPCC claims, citing graphs to back up its claim.

This is based on a variety of sources of information, including palaeological analyses of sediment, ice, and tree rings from before the Industrial Revolution and temperature records dating back to 1850.

No Proof that Humans Caused it

As evidence of unprecedented warming has become unmistakable, some skeptics acknowledge that it is occurring but dispute that it is driven by carbon emissions from humans burning fossil fuels.

The IPCC created a climate model that calculates the effects of many causes. It measures the amount of warmth that occurs with and without human activity.

THIS YEAR, the IPCC report. stated, "It is undeniable that human impact has warmed the atmosphere, oceans, and land."

On page eight of the report, there is an explanation of this result, complete with graphs.

Warming is Not Bad

"Massive volumes of snow and near-record-breaking cold have blanketed large swaths of the United States... Right now, a little good old-fashioned Global Warming wouldn't hurt!"

Donald Trump's tweet on January 20 combined a prevalent climate myth-that cold weather proves climate change isn't happening-with the premise that even if warming is occurring, it isn't all terrible.

Climate is a term that refers to the average weather fluctuations over some time. As a result, a single day or week of snow does not suffice to demonstrate that average temperatures are not rising over time.

Is it possible that "a little global warming" might be beneficial? For example, parts of Siberia may become arable, boosting food supplies, but permafrost thawing in the same region threatens to exacerbate the situation.

A two-degree rise may seem comfortable, but the IPCC estimates that it will raise sea levels by half a meter or more, drowning coastal communities.

Even Scientists Are Unsure About Climate Change

Experts frequently express their skepticism by signing joint statements and articles. However, a review of their qualifications has shown that they are rarely climate scientists.

One of the most significant criteria scientists use to assess the validity of assertions is consensus, and the agreement on climate change is currently overwhelming.

According to a new Cornell University analysis of hundreds of peer-reviewed research on the subject, more than 99 percent of the writers believed that people drive climate change.

Also Read: Carbon Rebound: Emissions from World's Richest Countries Rose Exponentially in 2021

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According to a Thursday report, Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions increased by 9.5 percent last year, mostly due to deforestation, making it one of the only large economies that did not reduce pollution as the pandemic began.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Despite the fact that global emissions declined seven percent in 2020 as a result of Covid-19 stay-at-home policies that crippled the global economy, Brazil emitted 2.16 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. According to a Climate Observatory report, a partnership of environmental groups, this is the highest level since 2006.

It said: "The increase in deforestation in Brazil, particularly in the Amazon rainforest, puts the country at odds with the trend seen in the rest of the planet."

Since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro assumed office in 2019, deforestation has increased in Brazil, with a push to open protected lands to agribusiness and mining.

Last year, when the pandemic brought industry and aviation to a halt, Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, decreased emissions from the energy sector, the same as most other countries. Emissions decreased by 4.6%, reaching levels tha hasn't been seen since 2011.

However, rises of 2.5 in the agricultural sector and 23.7 in "land use modifications," which includes tree cutting and burning, more than reduced this gain.

Land clearance, which is mostly driven by farming and cattle ranching, releases carbon into the atmosphere, which is a huge concern for the world's largest producer and exporter of grain and beef.

Also Read: World Struggle to Control Damage as Levels of Greenhouse Gas Hit All-Time High Record

COP26

The Brazilian Amazon has lost almost 10,000 square kilometers (3,860 square miles) of forest cover every year under Bolsonaro, an area the size of Lebanon, up from 6,500 square kilometers per year during the previous decade.

Bolsonaro's "anti-policies" on the environment, according to Climate Observatory executive secretary Marcio Astrini, are to blame for the rise in emissions.

"Brazil managed the feat of being perhaps the only major carbon emitter to pollute more in the first year of the pandemic," he said in a statement.

"This is one more blow to the international image of the country, which arrives completely discredited to the COP26" - the approaching UN climate summit.

It is the largest climate conference since the 2015 Paris meetings created a historic agreement on reducing global warming, and it begins on Sunday in Glasgow. It is viewed as critical for establishing global emissions-cutting objectives.

Brazil's Greatest Emission Source

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon area surged by 55 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary government figures.

The Amazon, which is 60 percent in Brazil, is the world's biggest rainforest and absorbs massive amounts of carbon dioxide.

In agriculture, the study found that, as a result of the crisis, cattle slaughter has decresed in Brazil, leaving more cows in the field, where they continue to produce methane, a strong greenhouse gas.

When the land sector is removed, Brazil's policies and actions are predicted to result in fewer emissions by 2030 than the country's objectives. However, there are large gaps in Brazilian strategy for decreasing emissions production, and deforestation in Brazil continues to be a major source of worry.

Deforestation rates are increasing as a result of the continuous rollback of forest preservation regulations, driving emissions from Brazil's greatest source - deforestation - upwards after more than a decade of reduction.

Agriculture, which is a significant cause of deforestation, is the second greatest contributor to Brazil's GHG emissions after deforestation.

Related Article: Hunting Down CFCs: The World's Most Potent Greenhouse Gas

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As the storm that was once a potent bomb cyclone over the Pacific Ocean made its way through the continental United States, areas along the mid-Atlantic faced possibly record levels of coastal flooding and this made one governor declare a state of emergency.

Governor Issues a State of Emergency

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued a state of emergency on Friday for sections of the state that were under a coastal flood warning, including Baltimore City, along the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and the Atlantic Coast.

Winds from the east, driven by the system, pushed the tide into the streets of coastal cities like Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis on Thursday night and into Friday morning, in what the National Weather Service (NWS) warned could be one of the biggest tidal events in a decade or two, possibly since Hurricane Isabel in 2003 in some areas.

Hurricane Isabel had blown strong southeast winds into the city while traveling north of the area in 2003, dumping a massive volume of water into Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Comparing the two occurrences, on the other hand, would be like comparing "apples to oranges," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek.

Also Read: Africa's Rare Glaciers May Disappear in Two Decades, Millions at Risk of Disastrous Flooding and Drought

Coastal Flooding

Despite the fact that the winds were not caused by a hurricane, they mixed with the high tide to flood many streets, forcing some inhabitants to rely on canoes to move about. Floodwaters in Annapolis reached 4.09 feet at high tide at midday. According to The Baltimore Sun, the city's record level for coastal flooding was 7.2 feet.

Even if the wind and rain have died down where some are, residents living near the tidal Potomac and Chesapeake's western coastline should be warned that another wave of coastal flooding is on the way later tonight.

The Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia, had risen by 5.99 feet by 4 p.m. local time, and then by slightly over 4.00 feet early Saturday morning.

According to PowerOutage.US, approximately 2,000 customers in Harford County, Maryland, east of Baltimore County, were without power as of 7:45 p.m. Friday. The number of power outages in the county remained over 1,000 as of 11:45 p.m. Friday.

Rainfall

By early Saturday morning, the number had reduced to roughly 300 people. According to The Baltimore Sun, a number of public schools have postponed or canceled after-school programs due to poor weather.

While Dombek said that the rain will be a short-term factor and would not contribute to coastal flooding, a substantial quantity did fall on Friday.

The average amount of rainfall in Baltimore during the month of October is 3.94 inches. The city received 2.22 inches of rain from Oct. 1 to Oct. 28, considerably below the month's normal. By 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29, the city had received another 2.42 inches in only one day with another half-inch of rain occured during the night.

Not only did the amount raise the city's monthly rainfall total over normal, but the city also received more rain on Friday than it did in the first 28 days of the month, according to Dombek.

While the storm will be moving gradually and the region may see some "residual" impacts, the weather should clear up in the following days.

Related Article: Risk of Coastal Flooding on Low-Cost Housing Triples by 2050

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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.

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.
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.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The worlds largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, reported $30.4 billion in third-quarter net income on Sunday, bolstered by a surge in oil prices and recovery in demand as the coronavirus pandemic eases.

Saudi Arabias majority state-owned oil giant Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said its net income more than doubled from $11.8 billion during the same three-month period a year earlier. Last years figure came after profits plunged dramatically as global lockdowns slammed oil prices. Net income refers to the amount left after taxes and preferred dividends have been paid.

Aramco CEO Amin Nasser described the companys third-quarter results as exceptional, a result of increased economic activity in key markets and a rebound in energy demand," even as supply chain bottlenecks imperiled the global economic recovery.

The 158% spike in earnings follows the global loosening of virus-induced restrictions, tightening of gas supplies and acceleration of vaccination campaigns that have pushed prices of crude sharply higher. The price of international benchmark Brent crude was trading at over $83.50 a barrel on Sunday.

Consumers and companies are using more gasoline and airplane fuel as governments relax restrictions, leading to a rally across energy markets.

We are optimistic that energy demand will remain healthy for the foreseeable future, Nasser said.

Crude prices have been helped by production cuts made by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, which meets later this week.

As consumption picks up, the group has gradually started adding barrels back to the market, with plans to pump 400,000 more barrels a day each month through December and raise Saudi Arabias limit of 11 million barrels to 11.5 million next year.

The third-quarter earnings from the oil giant, which listed a sliver of its shares three years ago, represented a major improvement from the same quarter before the pandemic in 2019, which brought in $21.3 billion.

Shares of Aramco finished 0.4% higher on Sunday following the earnings report, with a share costing 37.90 riyals, or $10.10 on Riyadhs Tadawul stock market. Its market capitalization of $2 trillion, just below Apple's, makes it one of the worlds most valuable companies.

Aramco declared a dividend of $18.8 billion in the third quarter, in line with its target, which will be paid in the fourth quarter. The company has said it would stick by a pledge to pay a $75 billion dividend, nearly all of which will go to the Saudi government, which owns around 98% of the company.

Free cash flow rose to $28.7 billion, solidly above the state-backed firms quarterly dividend.

The firms capital expenditure, which is mostly directed toward pumping more oil, was $7.6 billion in the third quarter  an increase of 19% from a year earlier.

The company posted the bumper earnings as the major U.N. climate summit opened in Glasgow, where world leaders are due to discuss growing global efforts to tackle climate change this week.

Saudi Arabia has joined over 100 countries in pledging to cut its carbon emissions to net-zero by 2060. However, it has no plans to change its status as a global leader in oil and gas production even as pressure grows on governments to invest in more renewable energy.

Aramco's financial health is crucial to Saudi Arabias stability. Despite efforts by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the economy, the kingdom still depends heavily on oil exports to fuel government spending.
Predictably, race has been injected into the BOE election. As one of the few black residents of NC, I feel compelled to voice my disgust with the practice of democrats using race to gain power. They would have you all guilted into voting democrat lest you be labeled a bigot by those around you. The only thing that surprises me is that some NC residents seem to be falling for this. We moved our family here largely because of the great schools and the Judeo-Christian values still present in the community. Frankly, I thought New Canaan offered a haven to the virtue-signaling madness that is consuming our society.

It seems this election will test my thesis. We as parents must remain vigilant. If we proceed down the slippery slope of choosing teachers based on race, and offering alternative narratives of our history, we condemn our children to a world of even greater racial tension and resentment. Do you know how to eliminate racism? You eliminate it at HOME. If you want your children to be better people, then teach them to be better. Dont elect those who would indoctrinate your children with Marxist ideology under the guise of social justice. Parent involvement is imperative. Those who dont want transparency and accountability are all but telling you they want to indoctrinate our children. Ironically, those who say to keep politics out of our schools. (Row A) dont have children in the schools.
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John Frayne hosts Classics of

the Phonograph on Saturdays at WILL-FM and, in retirement, teaches at the UI. He can be reached at frayne@illinois.edu.
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Former Urbana Alderman Eric Jakobsson is shown at a Legacy Tree recognition in 2014. The 50-year University of Illinois professor served on the city council for a decade, stepping down in June 2020.
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Which concept should the city use for an entryway monument in South Longview?

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Starkville High School students listen to the instruction of their teacher, Shonna Ryals, through speakers in the ceiling. This technology gives students a learning experience free of miscommunication by allowing teachers to clearly teach through masks.
Looking for good news as we head into the weekend? It's right here. This is a look back on a week of heartwarming coverage from across East Texas.
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
A further ten million Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines have been sent by the UK to COVAX, with 10 million more due to be delivered in the coming weeks to some of the world's most vulnerable people. These additional donations mean 30.6 million surplus doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca will have been given to those in need in 2021.

Oxford-AstraZeneca is the world's most widely used vaccine, accounting for more than half of all COVAX deliveries. Thanks to AstraZeneca's commitment to the UK Government to distribute the vaccine on a non-profit basis, 1.5 billion doses have been used in more than 170 countries.

In 2022, the UK will donate at least 20 million more Oxford-AZ doses. This will mean we have given half of the UK's total order of the vaccine to countries in need.

The UK will also donate all the 20 million Janssen doses ordered by the Government to COVAX. Domestic need for the current booster programme will be met through mRNA vaccines and Oxford-Astra Zeneca, meaning the UK can donate its full Janssen order to developing countries. Janssen aim to prioritise deliveries to countries based on need so COVAX will receive the much-needed vaccines as soon as they come off the production line in 2022.

Today's announcement means that the UK has now set out how 70% of the 100 million vaccines we have pledged to share with those in need have been or will be delivered. Providing this detail of planned donations as early as possible will help COVAX allocate and plan delivery of doses more effectively, ensuring vaccines get to those that need them most.

Today at a meeting of G20 leaders in Rome the Prime Minister will hail the importance of vaccines in allowing the world to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. He will call on G20 leaders to do everything in their power to increase supplies to those that need them, either through direct donation or encouraging pharmaceutical companies to adopt the Oxford-AstraZeneca model which is putting people over profit.

Addressing the G20 Summit, the Prime Minister is expected to say:

Like a waking giant, the world economy is stirring back to life. But the pace of recovery will depend on how quickly we can overcome Covid. Our first priority as the G20 must be to press ahead with the rapid, equitable and global distribution of vaccines."

At the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, leaders agreed to work to vaccinate the world by the end of 2022. The UK will donate 100 million surplus vaccine doses by the middle of next year to help achieve that goal.

Surplus donations alone will not allow us to defeat the pandemic. That is why the UK is backing the Oxford-AstraZeneca production model while providing developing countries with the financial support they need to obtain vaccines - giving 548 million early on to COVAX.

The UK continues to proactively manage our vaccine supply and does not hold a stockpile of covid vaccines. All procured, regulated doses are either used rapidly by our domestic programme or shared internationally with countries in need.
A decades-long friendship and a shared passion for basic science has inspired a $15 million gift to the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) at Washington University in St. Louis to fund undergraduate programs and graduate student fellowships in the life sciences.

DBBS' founding director, P. Roy Vagelos, MD, and his wife, Diana Vagelos, made the gift to honor former Chancellor William H. Danforth, MD, who died last year at age 94. Roy Vagelos, an internationally renowned physician-scientist and pharmaceutical executive, created the DBBS program in 1973 with Danforth's unwavering support.

A pioneering model for interdisciplinary education in the life sciences, DBBS united basic science departments from the School of Medicine with the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences to offer unparalleled training and research opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and medical students. Such collaborations elevated the caliber of the university's life sciences curriculum while also advancing scientific discovery and innovation.

"Bill Danforth was convinced that the improvement of human health would depend on good doctors as well as new knowledge emerging from biomedical research," said Vagelos, chairman of the board at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals since 1995. "He strongly felt that a great university medical school would be rooted in science. We shared this belief."

The Vageloses' gift establishes an endowment designated for two purposes: $10 million for new graduate student fellowships across DBBS, particularly in novel research areas, and $5 million to bolster programming for undergraduates. In recognition of the Vageloses' generosity, the university will rename DBBS the Roy and Diana Vagelos Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences.

In founding DBBS, Roy forged unprecedented connections between academic departments, Washington University's main campuses, and undergraduate students and medical school faculty. Fifty years later, the division remains a nexus for pathbreaking science conducted at the university. This gift will raise DBBS to even greater heights and expand its reach to more aspiring physicians and scientists." Chancellor Andrew D. Martin

After a 10-year career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Roy Vagelos came to Washington University, where he succeeded Nobel laureate Carl Cori as head of the Department of Biological Chemistry in 1966. Besides the creation of DBBS, key accomplishments during his tenure included recruiting leading scientists to the faculty and founding the university's highly regarded Medical Scientist Training Program, which offers students the opportunity to earn a doctorate and medical degree simultaneously and is considered among the top MD/PhD programs in the country.

In 1975, Vagelos left the university to join Merck & Co., where he directed the discovery of the statin drugs Mevacor and Zocor for reducing blood cholesterol. There, he ascended to CEO and chairman. After retiring from Merck, Vagelos joined the Board of Directors as chairman of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He is a member of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National of Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

Additionally, Vagelos and his wife are well-known philanthropists who have supported scholarships, fellowships, professorships, facilities, and science and medical education at other major universities as well, including their alma maters. Roy Vagelos graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and what is now the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Diana Vagelos, a former overseer of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, graduated from Barnard College, where she currently serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees.

Washington University's DBBS in particular is a point of pride for the Vageloses. The division serves as a bridge of sorts across Forest Park by joining the university's two geographically separate academic campuses. Among its aims is to minimize instructional overlap, expose undergraduates to medical school faculty and serve as a pipeline for undergrads interested in pursuing advanced degrees in the biosciences, including medical education. The new gift will provide students with added resources, including increased fellowship opportunities to ease stress and reduce time spent applying for grants so they can more easily focus on research itself.

"Research is ultimately the expression of how we improve at treating diseases," said David H. Perlmutter, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, the George and Carol Bauer Dean of the School of Medicine, and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor. "Roy and Diana's generous endowment will allow us to strengthen research enterprises on both campuses by leveraging the last five years' remarkable growth in research technologies to enhance science education across the university.

"The gift also speaks to Washington University's supportive, tight-knit community, where lifelong professional partnerships and personal relationships are formed," Perlmutter added. "Roy conceived of DBBS, and Bill Danforth brought it to life."

Danforth and Vagelos could talk for hours about basic science  the intricacies, the possibilities  but when it came to enhancing the university's training in the life sciences, their discussions were brief and their decision-making quick and decisive. "When I explained to Bill what I was trying to do in creating DBBS, he became excited and immediately suggested funding sources," Vagelos recalled with a chuckle. "I didn't even have to ask for the money. He offered it. It was incredible."

Vagelos' vision for DBBS proved prescient.

"It's mind-blowing to me that 50 years ago, Roy Vagelos recognized the importance of breaking down administrative barriers and disciplinary silos to help provide cutting-edge training for undergraduate, graduate and medical students," said Feng Sheng Hu, PhD, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences, the Lucille P. Markey Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, and a professor of biology, and of earth and planetary sciences. "I'm particularly delighted that this gift includes a focus on undergraduate programs. It will unlock exciting opportunities for our students, and investing in their careers at an early, formative stage will ultimately advance both research and medicine."

By the time Vagelos became DBBS' founding director, he had notably improved the Medical Campus by recruiting leading scientists to the faculty and establishing the prestigious Medical Scientist Training Program.

"Roy was the best department head I saw while I was at Washington U," Danforth said during a 2007 interview for Becker Medical Library's Oral History Project. "He was incredible.  Roy was so imaginative. He went out of his way to get good people and make sure things worked well."

Since its creation, DBBS has ranked as one of the best doctoral programs in the U.S. The division comprises about 600 graduate students and 13 doctoral training programs, for example, in cancer biology, immunology, neurosciences, computational and systems biology, and plant and microbial biosciences. Today, faculty members from 30-plus departments across the university, including those at the School of Medicine, the McKelvey School of Engineering and Arts & Sciences, contribute to the admission, teaching and research training of the divisions students.

The Vageloses' gift is a testament to Washington University as a major research powerhouse that continues to grow. The School of Medicine, for instance, is a top recipient of NIH funding. And a state-of-art neuroscience research building is under construction on the Medical Campus.

"I've been participating in the university's strategic planning, and there's been a lot of talk about how we're a multiversity, pulling in many directions, not a university," said Steven Mennerick, PhD, the DBBS interim associate dean of graduate studies and the John P. Feighner Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology. "The interdisciplinary, cross-school vision of Dr. Vagelos unified diverse stakeholders in a schoolwide vision of biosciences training. The vision recognized that the best science is done at the boundaries between departments and disciplines. His plan encompassed undergraduate, medical and graduate education, three major training efforts in biology and the biosciences."

After Roy Vagelos left the university in 1975, his relationship with Danforth continued to thrive. At Danforth's invitation, Vagelos served on the boards of the Danforth Foundation and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Additionally, the Vageloses, who reside in Far Hills, N.J., have continued their support of the university over the years by funding a professorship and a fellowship. To their delight, their granddaughter Emma is a second-year undergraduate.

"Washington University is one of the world's great academic and research institutions," Roy Vagelos said. "Bill Danforth devoted his life to the university because he knew that knowledge and research, ultimately, could better humanity. DBBS is a source of pride for both Diana and me, and we want to honor Bill's legacy by further elevating an already stellar program.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a grant to develop the next generation of personal protective equipment (PPE) for combat troops. Harnessing the genetics of hookworms, the research is focused on developing "living factories" that produce antibodies and anti-nerve agents to protect against chemical and biological weapons.

Combat troops require special equipment to guard against chemical and biological agents that could be unleashed in a war zone. While such suits and respirators can protect against chemical and biological weapons, they are cumbersome and can limit mobility at the worst possible times.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis hope to improve soldiers' options by developing the next generation of combat-ready personal protective equipment (PPE). Funding the work is a subcontract to the School of Medicine that is part of a $16.4 million contract awarded to U.S. research and development company Charles River Analytics from the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The goal is to develop personalized protective biosystems that would include living factories of organisms genetically engineered to produce anti-nerve agents, antibodies or other biological antidotes to a variety of chemical or biological threats. The idea is that these living factories  somewhat like the commensal bacteria comprising the gut microbiome  would create a symbiotic relationship with the human body, secreting protective molecules into the bloodstream that could neutralize nerve agents or block weaponized viruses.

To achieve these goals, the Washington University team will harness knowledge of the genetics of helminths  more specifically, organisms commonly known as hookworms.

We will explore ways to use hookworms to generate prophylactic molecules within a subject's body to neutralize threats that soldiers may encounter in war zones or other high-risk environments." Makedonka Mitreva, PhD, professor of medicine and of genetics

"Hookworms have evolved a sophisticated system to secrete molecules that allow them live in the healthy human gut for many years without causing major health problems," she said. "Research has demonstrated that controlled hookworm infections in experimental settings do not cause adverse effects in healthy people. So, we will harness these elements of controlled hookworm infection, along with our ability to genetically modify these organisms to produce antibodies or other proteins that act as protective molecules from within the human body, to develop a next-generation system to protect combat troops from chemical and biological threats."

The hookworms potentially could be engineered to secrete enzymes that break apart or block neurotoxins, such as sarin gas, for example. Similarly, the hookworms could be genetically engineered to produce antibodies against dangerous bacteria, such as anthrax, or life-threatening viruses, such as Ebola and SARS-CoV-2.

Washington University is one of several subcontractor institutions funded on this contract by DARPA to develop advanced PPE for combat troops. Charles River Analytics in Cambridge, Mass., will lead the collaborators, which also include Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; James Cook University in Australia; Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands; and the University of California, Irvine.

The Food and Drug Administration already has approved certain helminths, including hookworms, for investigational use in human clinical trials. Some of these helminths live in the upper intestine, and scientists are investigating their use in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and other diseases.

"Some of the molecules that hookworms secrete have anti-inflammatory properties," Mitreva said. "These organisms can survive longer when the environment they live in is healthy. So, they do what they can to help maintain that healthy gut environment. Because of this, other research groups have investigated certain helminths as therapies for inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases."

Mitreva also explained that hookworms can't reproduce inside the human gut, so in a controlled environment, the hookworms that make up the initial therapy can remain there for years without causing problems. Hookworms have a complex life cycle that includes free-living eggs and early larvae stages that must take place in soil. In a natural infection, people typically become infected by walking barefoot in parts of the world where hookworms are endemic. Such infections can lead to malnutrition in young children or cause health problems in those who are immunocompromised. But controlled hookworm infections  with a set number of organisms given in a clinical trial setting  have not been shown to cause problems in healthy adults. The infections also can be cleared from the body with widely available anti-helminthic drugs.

While Washington University researchers, including Sergej Djuranovic, PhD, an associate professor of cell biology & physiology, will focus on studying hookworms, other collaborators will work to develop other helminth species as living factories, and still others will focus on lightweight, flexible materials to produce personal protective garments that are easier to wear than current PPE for long periods of time and are more protective against chemical and biological threats.
Since March 2020, parents, educators, and politicians have debated whether to send children to school in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. New research suggests that in most regions, with the exception of the South, opening schools for in-person learning was not associated with an increase in COVID-19 case rates in the community. The results of the nationwide study, published in Nature Medicine, included 895 school districts across the United States.

The results suggest it is possible for schools to operate safely and in-person without increasing case rates in the community, says Richard Nelson, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology at University of Utah Health and co-senior author with Westyn Branch-Elliman, M.D., of the VA Boston Healthcare System. But the flip side is true, too. In some areas, in-person school did appear to be a source of community spread.

The researchers analyzed data gathered during the 12 weeks from July to September 2020 by region, and categorized them as the Northeast, Midwest, South, and Mountain West. The Pacific West was not included because nearly all public schools were virtual. The study found that:

In every region analyzed, COVID-19 cases increased during the weeks following the start of school.

The South was the only region where case rates were higher in counties with in-person or hybrid school as compared to counties with virtual learning, after controlling for other contributing factors.

In all other regions, community case rates during the period following school opening were similar regardless of whether school was virtual, hybrid, or in-person.

We know that cases increased substantially last fall throughout the country. In some areas of the country, school mode was a contributing factor to those increasing rates, whereas in other areas it was not. Richard Nelson, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology, University of Utah Health

The results suggest it is possible for schools to operate safely and in-person without increasing case rates in the community. But the flip side is true, too.

In the South, which included 191 counties from Delaware to Texas, traditional in-person school was associated with an increase in community cases of COVID-19 beginning two weeks after the school reopened. The increase was chiefly among people between the ages of 0-9, or 20 and older. Data were not available for stratification that would allow the scientists to analyze impacts on different school-age groups (e.g. elementary, middle, and high school).

The researchers controlled for local policies, including closings of workplaces and public transportation, canceling of public events, COVID testing and contact tracing policies, and mask requirements.

However, because people follow policies imperfectly, another important piece of data the researchers considered was community mobility. This is data collected from Google location history that reflects how much people are actually moving around the community in four categories: residences, workplaces, grocery/pharmacy, and retail/recreation locations.

In communities where people are moving around more, there is more social interaction outside of school and thus more opportunity for infection to spread, Nelson explains. Traditional school in an area where theres lots of movement looks different than traditional school where theres not much movement in the community, in terms of case rates, Nelson says. For this reason, it is important to take community-level mobility into account when evaluating the impact that schools had on cases.

Together, the data suggest that the impact of traditional and hybrid school on community spread varied throughout the country, Nelson says. Further investigation into factors that may have contributed to community spread in the South could help determine the most effective mitigation measures for in-person school.

Branch-Elliman explains that its possible that regional differences in community-level and in-school mitigation strategies, or other factors such as environmental conditions, may have played a role. It is important to appreciate that schools are not islands, Branch-Elliman says. They exist as part of a broader community network.

At the time the study data were collected, vaccinations were not available and the Delta variant had not yet emerged in the U.S. Additional research will also need to investigate how these factors affect the spread of COVID-19.
The National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis a five-year, $9.1 million grant to study resilience in older adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the pandemic's cognitive and emotional effects on older adults.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a five-year, $9.1 million grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study resilience in older adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant also will fund research into the pandemic's cognitive and emotional effects on older adults, including depression, anxiety and even dementia.

Our society is in the midst of a natural experiment on the negative effects of stress on cognitive and emotional health. Older adults have been hit with a double whammy. On the one hand, they've had to take steps to protect themselves from COVID-19 infection, such as staying away from other people. On the other hand, the stresses associated with social isolation can cause cognitive problems and contribute to anxiety and depression." Eric J. Lenze, MD, the Wallace and Lucille K. Renard Professor of Psychiatry, Principal Investigator

Lenze, who directs the university's Healthy Mind Lab, said the new grant also enables his team to study what makes some older adults more resilient. In particular, the researchers will catalogue the effects of exercise and mindfulness on cognitive, physical and emotional health in the face of the pandemic.

"Specifically, we're looking at whether two common stress-reduction interventions  exercise and the practice of mindfulness  might make older adults more resilient to the negative effects of social isolation, thereby preserving their cognitive and emotional health, despite what they've been going through," Lenze said.

Before the pandemic began, Lenze and his colleagues recruited almost 600 adults over age 65 for a study in which participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Some received educational materials. Another group participated in an exercise program. A third group was asked to engage in stress-reduction, mindfulness techniques, such as deep breathing, meditation and yoga. Those in the fourth group engaged in exercise and mindfulness techniques.

About 80% of the people who participated in that study have continued to attend exercise and mindfulness sessions online. "So we won't be recruiting any new volunteers for this new study, and what's important about that is that since these people were studied before the pandemic began, we really can test whether these practices, such as exercise and mindfulness, provided benefits against stress and social isolation due to lockdowns and restrictions related to COVID-19," Lenze explained.

As the study proceeds, the researchers will perform cognitive tests on the participants. They'll also conduct MRI scans to look at the effects of stress on subjects' brains, as well as to investigate the potential protective effects of mindfulness and exercise. The research team also will measure the production of amyloid in the brains of study participants. Amyloid is one of the proteins that clumps together in the plaques that characterize Alzheimer's disease. In addition, they'll use something called DNA methylation to measure cellular aging in study subjects.

In addition to Lenze and other researchers from Washington University, the study also will involve scientists from the University of Connecticut and the University of California, San Diego.

"We would expect that mindfulness and exercise may have beneficial effects on brain health and on resilience," Lenze said, "but as they say here in Missouri, 'the Show Me State,' it's not enough just to believe these things might happen, we want to learn whether or not they're true."
A new type of magnetic brain stimulation brought rapid remission to almost 80% of participants with severe depression in a study conducted at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The treatment, known as Stanford accelerated intelligent neuromodulation therapy (SAINT) or simply Stanford neuromodulation therapy, is an intensive, individualized form of transcranial magnetic stimulation. In the study, remission typically occurred within days and lasted months. The only side effects were temporary fatigue and headaches.

It works well, it works quickly and it's noninvasive. It could be a game changer." Nolan Williams, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

Williams is the senior author of the study, which was published Oct. 29 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Twenty-nine people with treatment-resistant depression participated in the study: About half received SAINT, and the rest underwent a placebo procedure that mimicked the real treatment. After five days of treatment, 78.6% of the participants in the treatment group were no longer depressed, according to several standard methods of evaluation. "It's quite a dramatic effect, and it's quite sustained," said Alan Schatzberg, MD, the Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, who was a co-author of the study.

A lifetime of depression

Tommy Van Brocklin, 60, has suffered from depression since he was 15. "In 1975, they didn't have the medication and understanding they do now," he said. "I was told I wasn't trying hard enough."

"I've functioned all these years, but it's been very difficult at times," the civil engineer added. Talk therapy helped "for about half a day after an appointment." When selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors became available in the 1990s, he started on paroxetine, commonly sold under the brand name Paxil.

"It worked like a miracle drug," he said, but after 10 or 15 years it started to lose its effect. After 25 years, it stopped working entirely. He tried other medications, but none helped; one even made him suicidal.

His sister, who lives near Stanford, connected him with the researchers studying SAINT. He flew from his home in Memphis, Tennessee, and underwent the treatment in September. He felt nothing the first day; on day two, he began feeling emotional  "I felt the struggle of what I'd been through all these years."

"The next day, all of a sudden, it broke through," he said. "I felt so much better, and it's stuck with me."

Specialized magnetic stimulation

The transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration requires six weeks of once-daily sessions. Only about half of patients who undergo the treatment improve, and only about a third experience remission from depression.

SAINT advances that treatment by targeting the magnetic pulses according to each patient's neurocircuitry and providing a greater number of pulses at a faster pace.

In the study, the researchers first used MRI to locate the best location to target within each participant's dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which regulates executive functions, such as problem solving and inhibiting unwanted responses. They applied the stimulation in a subregion that has the strongest relationship with the subgenual cingulate, a part of the brain that is overactive in people experiencing depression. The transcranial magnetic stimulation strengthens the connection between the two regions, facilitating dorsolateral prefrontal cortex control of the activity in the subgenual cingulate.

The researchers also used 1,800 pulses per session instead of 600. (The larger amount has been used safely in other forms of brain stimulation for neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.) And instead of providing one treatment a day, they gave participants 10 10-minute treatments, with 50-minute breaks in between.

For the control group, the researchers disguised the treatment with a magnetic coil that mimicked the experience of the magnetic pulse; both the control and active treatment groups wore noise-canceling earphones and received a topical ointment to dull sensation. Neither the researcher administering the procedure nor the participant knew whether the participant was receiving real treatment.

A hard-to-treat group

The trial participants ranged in age from 22 to 80; on average, they had suffered depression for nine years. They had tried medications, but either they had had no effect or they had stopped working. During the trial, participants who were on medication maintained their regular dosage; participants who weren't taking medications did not start any.
Andrew C. Glatz, MD, an internationally recognized expert in pediatric interventional cardiology, has been selected to lead the Division of Pediatric Cardiology in the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

He also will become the Louis Larrick Ward Professor of Pediatrics and treat patients at St. Louis Children's Hospital. His appointment will begin in March.

Glatz is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the founding medical director of the Cardiac Center Clinical Research Core at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he is also a pediatric interventional cardiologist. He also serves as one of three site principal investigators for CHOP's participation in the Pediatric Heart Network, a research consortium funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

We are delighted that Dr. Glatz will be taking on this role at Washington University School of Medicine. He brings a wealth of investigative, administrative, educational and clinical experience to this position. He earned his medical degree from Washington University, and it is a pleasure to welcome him and his family back to St. Louis." Gary A. Silverman, MD, PhD, the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor, head of the Department of Pediatrics, and pediatrician-in-chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital

Glatz has expertise in treating patients with single ventricle heart disease who need complex neonatal interventions. His practice also is broadly focused on interventional cardiology, and diagnosing and treating congenital heart disease in a variety of patients, from newborns to adults. His work includes quality improvement efforts that include initiatives to reduce radiation exposure in the catheterization laboratory as well as the risk of blood clots that may occur during interventional procedures.

Glatz also is a faculty member in the Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness and serves as associate chief for research in the Division of Cardiology. He is the assistant program director for the Pediatric Cardiology Research Training Program and co-chair of the scholarship oversight committees in the Division of Cardiology.

His research is funded by grants from the NHBLI, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, Childrens Heart Foundation, CHD Coalition, and Big Hearts to Little Hearts. He is also a site principal investigator and member of the leadership team of the Safety of ApiXaban On Pediatric Heart disease On the preventioN of Embolism (SAXOPHONE) study, an international, multicenter randomized trial comparing apixaban to the standard of care for children with congenital heart disease requiring long-term anticoagulation therapy to prevent blood clots. He is also a co-chair for the COmparison of Methods of Pulmonary blood flow Augmentation in neonates: Shunt versus Stent" (COMPASS) trial, a multicenter randomized trial supported by the NIH/NHLBIs Pediatric Heart Network, comparing ductal stenting to surgical shunting for newborns with a condition known as ductal-dependent pulmonary blood flow. In addition, he is a founding member and scientific chair for the Congenital Cardiac Research Collaborative.

Glatz earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Princeton University in 1996 and his medical degree at Washington University School of Medicine in 2002. He completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and then continued his training with fellowships in pediatric cardiology and interventional pediatric cardiology, also at CHOP. Later, he earned a masters degree in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Glatz will take over for David T. Balzer, MD, and Janet Scheel, MD, professors of pediatrics who led the division as interim co-directors.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is present in respiratory droplets. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through droplets can infect people, thus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A new study published in the journal Vision investigates the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in tears and eye secretions and describes the ocular symptoms in patients with COVID-19.

Study: SARS-CoV-2 in Conjunctiva and Tears and Ocular Symptoms of Patients with COVID-19. Image Credit: goffkein.pro / Shutterstock.com

COVID-19 symptoms

Patients with COVID-19 often present with fever, cough, shortness of breath, muscle weakness and pain, as well as various gastrointestinal symptoms. Patients with severe COVID-19 may also develop bilateral pneumonia and hypoxemia. When severe COVID-19 leads to cytokine storms, multiple organs can get affected.

SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in tears and conjunctival secretions, mostly in patients with severe COVID-19. These patients also demonstrate ocular manifestations of the disease.

A cross-sectional study

In the current cross-sectional cohort study, scientists enrolled 56 hospitalized patients. This was a single-site study conducted at the University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Patients were eligible to participate in the current study if they had reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from a nasopharyngeal swab and were within the first 20 days from the onset of symptoms. Patients from the intensive care unit or with a poor general condition were excluded from this study.

Conjunctival secretions and tears were collected using flocked swabs and Schirmer strips for performing RT-PCR. The scientists assessed the ocular surface manifestations through an Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival samples

Of the 56 patients enrolled in this study, 32 were male and 24 were female. The mean age of the patients was 69 years, ranging from 27 to 89 years. The disease severity was mild in five patients, moderate in 30 patients, and severe in 21 patients.

Patients had been admitted to the hospital for an average of 2.4 days before ocular testing. The mean time from the onset of general symptoms until the collection of ocular samples was 7.1 days.

The following percentage of patients had systemic comorbidity: hypertension, 48.2%; diabetes, 28.6%; cancer, 23.2%; heart disease, 21.4%; obesity, 17.9%; and chronic lung disease, 16%. Nineteen patients (33.9%) had reported previous ocular conditions, including cataract surgery (16.1%), glaucoma (5.4%), retinal vein occlusion (3.6%), strabismus (3.6%), uveitis (1.8%), refractive surgery (1.8%), and diabetic retinopathy (1.8%).

Four (7.1%) of the 56 conjunctival swabs samples and four (3.6%) of 112 Schirmer strips tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. In the four patients with positive conjunctival swab samples, Schirmer strip samples were negative in both eyes in one patient, positive only in the left eye in two patients, and positive in both eyes in one patient. None of the patients had both a negative conjunctival swab and a positive Schirmer strip sample.

There was no association observed between the RT-PCR test from ocular samples and ocular symptoms. Twenty-nine percent of patients with a negative RT-PCR and 25% of patients with positive ocular RT-PCR had ocular symptoms. Three of the patients had a moderate illness and one presented a severe course of the disease. Overall, 17 (30%) patients presented ocular symptoms.

The scientists concluded that the viral load was low on the ocular surface because the cycle threshold (Ct) values were high in ocular samples. The patient with positive conjunctival and tear samples in both eyes had a higher viral load in the eyes when compared to the other patients. Only one patient had a high viral load in the eyes than in the nasopharynx. Interestingly, this patient demonstrated more severe systemic disease.

Limitations of the study

Some of the limitations of the current study include a small sample size, as well as the fact that the nasopharyngeal and ocular samples were taken during different stages of the disease. This may affect the homogeneity of the results.

Additionally, the scientists could not perform slit lamp examinations or biomicroscopy to examine the eyes of the patients for any abnormalities or problems.

Conclusion

The current study shows that SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in the conjunctiva and tears of patients with COVID-19. The 7.1% prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival samples found in this study is comparable to previously reported rates.

The results from this study and previous studies indicate that the ocular surface can act as an entry point and reservoir for the transmission of SAR-CoV-2. Contact with the ocular surface may transmit the virus; therefore, commercial ocular antiseptics may help with avoiding transmission and preventing ocular symptoms during COVID-19 infection.

Health care professionals, particularly eye care providers, should be aware of ocular transmission and follow strict disinfection protocols.
The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating one additional imported COVID-19 case which involves the L452R mutant strain.

The 37-year-old female patient arrived from the UK which is a high-risk place. She tested positive upon arrival at Hong Kong International Airport.

Meanwhile, the centre is looking into an overseas COVID-19 case involving a 18-year-old man. He left Hong Kong for Singapore on October 24 on flight TR981 and his specimen collected in Singapore on the same day tested positive to the virus.

He received two doses of the BioNTech vaccine on July 8 and 30 in Hong Kong. The centre is following up on the case with the Singaporean health authority.

The patient lives at Ching Tak House, Tsz Ching Estate in Tsz Wan Shan. As a prudent measure, the place where he resided in Hong Kong during the incubation period has been included in a compulsory testing notice which requires relevant people to take a virus test by November 1.

Meanwhile, specified people linked to Tower 10, Phase 3, the Graces, Providence Bay in Tai Po have to undergo compulsory testing in accordance with a compulsory testing notice tomorrow, the centre reminded residents.

A total of 54 cases were reported in Hong Kong in the past 14 days, all of which are imported.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Governments dedicated webpage.
Jeffersonville, IN (47130)

Today

Cloudy. High 57F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early with showers later at night. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
(Newser)  When it comes to knowing how male and female entrepreneurs are treated differently, it's hard to argue that Natalie J. Egan knows it best. Egan was assigned male at birth and raised as a boy, and a decade ago she was a full-on "tech bro," writes Stephanie Clifford for Elle: In 2009 Egan founded a tech-sales company called PeopleLinx, pulled in $7 million in investments, and cultivated a culture of "chest bumps and kegs," Egan says. "Even as the company grew, we were having arm-wrestling competitions." But by 2015 things were bottoming out: The CEO Egan had hired ended up firing her; Egan's marriage was ending. And then there was her "cross-dressing problem," as Egan puts it. Egan reached out to a friend who had transitioned asking for help "quitting" cross-dressing.

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Instead, the friend gave Egan a supporting prod and went out with her in publicwith Egan dressed as a woman. It was an ah-ha moment, with Egan realizing she was trans. That realization led her to a dark place: Egan decided the next day the only option was to commit suicide. A chance run-in with a college "bro" friend on the way home turned everything around. She began transitioning, and in spring 2016 launched a second tech company Translator. She set up 20 investor meetings, many with former backers, and was floored by how she was received. "They didn't take me seriously at all." She managed to secure funding, but found herself in a different landscape: She was regularly "mansplained" to, men talked over her, and she describes being left standing at meetings when there weren't enough chairs. "I remember being in shock, and thinking, 'Oh, this is what women have been talking about the whole time.'" (Read the full story.)
(Newser)  In 2017, we shared a Gizmodo reporter's experience visiting the last three polio survivors in the US who still rely on an iron lung for survival. One of them was Martha Lillard, who shared her worries about needing to conserve the canvas spiral collars she relies on to provide a vital seal around her neck when she sleeps in her machine each night. Four years later, NPR catches up with the Oklahoma woman, whose fears are largely unchangedor, perhaps, deepened. Now 73, Lillard explains she has tried other ventilation options, but "the iron lung is the most efficient and the best and the most comfortable way." That leaves her quite literally scrambling for parts.

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The machine's belts last a few weeks, the cot inside must be replaced twice a year, and the motor makes it about 12 years. But collars remains the major concern, so much so that she describes herself as "desperate." The collars have a lifespan of a few months, they aren't being manufactured anymore, and she's bought up all the back stock she could find. NPR reports she has a "handful" left. "I try to stretch out, make these collars last longer," Lillard says. "And when they start deteriorating, it gets harder and harder to breathe as they leak more ... That's the most scary thing in my life right nowis not finding anybody that can make those collars." (Read the full story, which talks about how polio has impacted Lillard's life in other ways.)
(Newser)  The story made headlines a few years ago: Three men were freed from prison after serving 36 years for a Baltimore murder they didn't commit. At the New Yorker, Jennifer Gonnerman provides an in-depth look at what happened from a unique perspectivethat of one of the young witnesses whose testimony helped put the men behind bars. Ron Bishop was just 14 in 1983 when his friend DeWitt Duckett was fatally shot inside their junior high school as they walked together in a deserted corridor. The gunman stole DeWitt's jacket. Detectives quickly settled on the trio as the culprits, dismissing Bishop's first-person recollection of a single shooter. He says they threatened him with prison as an accessory to murder unless he changed his story. As a Black teenager terrified they could easily make good on that threat, he went to court and knowingly lied.

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"I was thinking, 'Should I get a gun and blow my brains out?' I was torn between committing suicide or, you know, go into court and tell these bunch of lies," recalls Bishop, now in his 50s. He stayed silent as the men spent nearly four decades in prison, recanting only after the Baltimore State's Attorney office reopened the case decades after the convictions. Bishop says he has been tortured his entire life over what he did, and the story ends with Gonnerman reading a note from him to the three men in which he expresses remorse. All were moved by the message and forgave him. "I really needed that," says Ransom Watkins, one of the three. "That really helped me out, to hear somebody say, 'You know what? I was wrong.' ... You have all these people involved in our case, (and) aint none of them said they were sorry." (The full story is a great read.)
(Newser)  Update: It wasn't a great weekend to be a passenger on American Airlines, and things haven't improved much on Monday. The airline has canceled about 400 more flights, more than 14% of the day's total, bringing the number of canceled flights since Friday to more than 2,300, reports USA Today. More than 500 flights were delayed Monday. The airline is blaming a combination of bad weather and tight staffing. Our original story from Sunday follows:

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Halloween weekend was tough for travelers flying American Airlines. Per CNN, the carrier canceled over 1,000 flights due to bad weather and staffing woes, including at their main Dallas-Ft. Worth hub. "This weather drove a large number of cancellations at DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport), as we could only use two runways instead of the usual five that handle our operation, read a letter sent to staff and shared with USA Today. With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of the regular flight sequences. By Sunday, around 1,500 weekend American Airlines flights had been canceled.

Flights at American's Charlotte hub were reportedly also affected. As CNN notes, the airline industry was hit hard by the pandemic and some companies, including American, chose to offer early retirement packages and buyouts to employees to cut costs. While flyers have begun to return to the skies, in-flight staff haven't always followed, resulting in more frequent service disruptions. American said it expects more in-flight teams will be available as travel ramps up for the holiday season. (Read more American Airlines stories.)
(Newser)  A wrecked car and the body inside have solved a Nevada missing persons case that's been plaguing a family for a month. Per NBC News, the remains of 32-year-old Courtney Bryan and her dog, Booch, were discovered in a crash site off a steep embankment off Highway 101 in Del Norte County, California. Bryan was reported missing September 27 after she failed to return home following a trip to Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Redding, California. Bryan's last known location was Hunt Hot Springs in the forest, where she photographed herself and Booch Sept. 23 prior to her disappearance.

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Courtney's sister, Katana Curven, had since issued public pleas, including on Dateline and on her TikTok, in hopes of finding her sister who she said was not prone to disappearing without contacting family. The mystery was solved Wednesday when a hiker contacted the California Highway Patrol about a crashed vehicle with a dead woman and dog inside. While police have not yet positively identified the body, the crashed 2004 Subaru Legacy is registered to Bryan, per the AP. After hearing the news, Curven updated her TikTok post, which has been viewed some 700,000 times, with the comment: My sister was found. Thank you everyone for all your kind thoughts and prayers and effort. We are going to take this time to grieve.

(Read more missing person stories.)
(Newser)  Leaders of the world's biggest economies reached a vague agreement in Rome on Sunday to achieve carbon neutrality "by or around mid-century," while taking a more concrete step against the burning of coal. The G20 nations did not establish a deadline for ending the domestic use of coal, but they agreed to stop financing coal power plants overseas. The decision on coal represents a step, the New York Times reports, but it falls short of what's needed to affect climate change. "I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled, but at least they are not buried," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted, per the AP.

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The leaders also said they'll work on holding the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius over the preindustrial age by the end of the century. That's the goal that scientists say must be reached to mitigate the most serious damage from climate change. Such pledges aren't the same as taking action, but they could help set the agenda for the UN climate conference beginning in Scotland. The US and UK wanted a firm deadline for phasing out coal, per Axios. A UK spokesman said the final G-20 communique "was never meant to be the main lever in order to secure commitments on climate change." That's what the Glasgow summit is for, he said.

The lack of commitments on issues like climate finance could make agreements at this week's UN summit more difficult to achieve, per CNN. A G20 analyst at the University of Toronto nevertheless said the leaders "took only baby steps" in the agreement, generally reaffirming and harrumphing but committing to few new actions. He gave the example of the overdue $100 billion in aid to poorer countries, which the leaders again said they're committed to "as soon as possible" instead of just fulfilling the agreement. But John Kirton said the deal to stop international coal financing is significant. That's "the one thing thats specific and real," he said. "That one counts." (Read more G20 stories.)
(Newser)  Police in Philadelphia will no longer pull cars over for minor traffic infractions. The bill, which passed Oct. 14 and is expected to be signed into law soon by Mayor Jim Kenney, is designed to end pretextual stops and stick to stopping cars only when public safety requires it. Minor problems like an emissions test sticker that isn't visible or tags that have been expired for only a short time no longer require a stop, per FOX29. The bills author, city council member Isaiah Thomas, wrote in a press release that data and lived experience show that such stops disproportionately affect Black people. Stops for minor infractions that turn tragic when a driver is killed by police, like the case of Philando Castile was shot and killed after being pulled over for a broken taillight, are part of what motivated the change.

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Dennis Jay Kenney, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the bill could have both a positive and a negative effect. The positive: "If you're tired of driving while Black, you're less likely to cooperate during these stops," Kenney told CNN. The downside would be that some of these infractions are illegal because they affect public safety. However, they are still illegal and drivers who break those rules will get a warning or a ticket by mail. Thomas has high hopes that both police and the public will feel safer. "This approach seeks to redirect police time and resources towards keeping Philadelphians safe while removing negative interactions that widen the divide and perpetuate mistrust," he said. (Read more police reform stories.)
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Minister of Housing, Bassim bin Yacob Al-Hamar, has affirmed the Housing Ministrys keenness to ensure that its current and future projects are capable of catering to the service and facilities needs of the beneficiaries so as to provide them with the requirements of decent and quality life, on the one hand, and carry on efforts to achieve the sustainability of housing services, on the other.

He pointed out that the government attaches great importance to the environmental aspects in housing projects by allocating green sites and paths in all modern towns, in addition to waterfronts, beaches and sites to practise various hobbies, noting that the government seeks to enhance sustainable development, citing the Salman Towns use of green energy.

The minister extended sincere congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, on the occasion of the World Cities Day 2021, observed worldwide on October 31 under the theme Adapting Cities for Climate Resilience.

In a statement to the Bahrain News Agency (BNA) marking the occasion, Al-Hamar asserted that the Housing Ministry is making tremendous efforts to achieve HM the Kings vision to provide advanced services to the citizens in its projects across the kingdoms governorates, within a comprehensive vision of urban development that copes with the future development challenges and the population growth rates in the kingdom.

He indicated that the urban development march currently witnessed by the kingdom is based on a number of foundations that guarantee its sustainability, in response to the constant directives of HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals approved by the United Nations, and are implemented within the Government Action Plan.

Al-Hamar lauded the Cabinets recent announcement of the kingdoms intentions to reach net-zero carbon emissions in 2060, to help tackle climate change and protect the environment, noting that the initiative will reflect positively on all development efforts in the kingdom.

He indicated that World Cities Day is a good opportunity to recall Bahrains successful experience in building housing towns and the tremendous achievements attained since its inception.

It is worth noting that World Cities Day was adopted in 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/68/239, and the first World Cities Day was celebrated in October 2014.

World Cities Day aims to promote the international community's interest in global urbanisation, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contribute to sustainable urban development around the world.

The observance day ties in with Sustainable Development Goal 11, to make cities "inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable".
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Police arrested a 31-year-old person for trafficking domestic workers and recruiting them illegally. The General Department of Investigation and Criminal Evidence announced the arrest of the suspect, who is an African national.

Police made the arrest based on a tip-off received.

Officials said they kick-started an investigation based on the information received and identified the suspect.

Public Prosecution is taking legal measures.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Bahrain High Court of Appeal upholds the ruling issued in the largest money laundering case in the history of the Kingdom of Bahrain, convicting Future Bank (FB), six of its officials, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and other Iranian banks,stated HE Chancellor Wael Boallay, Senior Advocate General and Deputy Attorney General.

The convicted officials of FB were sentenced to 10-year imprisonment, except for the sixth defendant, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

A fine of BD 1 million was imposed against all the convicts, CBI and other banks involved.

In addition, the ruling included the confiscation of the remittance amounts estimated at $148,071,818 (one hundred and forty-eight million and seventy-one thousand eight hundred and eighteen), 967,937,627 (nine hundred and sixty-seven million, nine hundred and thirty-seven thousand six hundred and twenty-seven euros), AED 53,350,000 (fifty-three million three hundred and fifty thousand), and IRR 235,093,250,000 (two hundred and thirty-five billion ninety-three million two hundred and fifty thousand).

The appeal submitted by the sixth convict was rejected by the court after reviewing arguments and pleadings of both parties, as the Public prosecution challenged the appeal and requested heavier fines and imposing penalties of the predicate offence against the convicts as per the provisions of the law. Accordingly, the court upheld the rendered ruling.

The Public Prosecution had previously announced that its investigations revealed a huge scheme to launder billions of dollars through FB, which was established in the Kingdom of Bahrain and is controlled by two Iranian banks owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran, namely, the National Iranian Bank, Bank Melli Iran (BMI) and Bank Saderat Iran (BSI), in order to pass suspicious financial transactions for the benefit of the said entities, in violation of laws and regulations.

The intensive investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution revealed banking practices that were carried out in violation of the provisions of the law. It also revealed that CBI had issued instructions to FB regarding the use of an alternative, unapproved transfer system to complete banking operations, for the purpose of concealing the source and movement of funds transferred through it and for the benefit of Iranian banks, as well as circumventing international sanctions imposed on Iranian entities in banking transactions for the necessities of combating money laundering and terrorist financing. It took advantage of the operational control of BMI and BSI over FB and directed its policies as well as their subordination at the time to the Iranian government and CBI. In implementation of these instructions, FB officials, in association with other officials of Iranian banks and CBI, carried out operations of sending, transferring and receiving more than one billion three hundred million US dollars using the said alternative system, as part of a huge money-laundering scheme.

HE added that investigations are still ongoing regarding the rest of the facts, which include international transactions carried out by FB and Iranian banks for the same purposes in violation of the Law on Prohibition and Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, and banking laws and regulations. It is expected that more people involved in the scheme will be revealed in preparation for referring these cases to criminal trial.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Speaker of the Representatives Council, Fawzia bint Abdullah Zainal has affirmed the importance of continuous cooperation between the legislative and executive branches to develop the national economy and serve the public interest. She pointed out the fast-paced steps of the Kingdom of Bahrain in recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and achieving the goals of the comprehensive development march led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

The Representatives Council Speaker praised the support of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and his continuous follow-up on the national efforts to promote the national economy, boost the kingdoms civilizational achievements and overcome the exceptional challenges according to a comprehensive vision that places the national interest at the top of priorities.

The Representatives Council Speaker was speaking during a meeting today with Minister of Finance and National Economy, Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Parliament Affairs Minister, Ghanim bin Fadhl Al Buainin, and the accompanying governmental delegation.

Attended by First Deputy Speaker Abdulnabi Salman, the meeting cast light on ways of boosting cooperation between the Council of Representatives and the Ministry of Finance and National Economy.

The Representatives Council Speaker lauded the national initiatives of the government within the economic recovery plans. She stressed keenness of the legislative branch on the one-team spirit and coordination with the executive branch, notably in the financial and economic field, to work out suitable solutions to the exceptional challenges facing the kingdom.


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DANBURY  About two months into the academic year, the effect remote learning had on students emotionally is becoming clearer.

Increased social-emotional needs and behavioral problems have added stressors on Danbury schools and their staff, leading administrators to reevaluate the districts budget.

They (staff) are overwhelmed, Superintendent Kevin Walston told the school board this past week. Our administrators are overwhelmed, and our kids...its probably overwhelming for them because they havent been in school in so long.

Danbury added resources to get students up to speed academically, but students social and emotional well-being is high priority, said Kelly Truchsess, chief officer for pupil personnel services.

Social emotional has to come first, she said. If kids are not doing OK, we need to pause...the reading curriculum or the math curriculum or whatever it may be to kind of regroup, reset and then move forward. We all know kids don't learn unless theyre in a good place to learn.

Students lost the routine of being in school full-time, Walston said. Social media challenges where kids do something bad and video tape it, have been problems, he said.

Its taken us some time to get them used to being back in the building again, he said. Im confident we will get there.

Younger students were robbed of their early childhood experience and have never had a full year of in-person school, Truchsess said.

When you walk in an elementary school, youre seeing kindergarten through second grade really learning how to do school for the first time, so that has put an immense stress and pressure on our teachers on our administrations, she said.

Stressed staff

Due to substitute shortages, staff are covering extra lunch duties or substituting for their peers, Truchsess said.

Were short staffed, she said.

Absences have been higher, with 133 teachers out two Fridays ago, said Kimberly Mango Thompson, human resources director.

Were seeing high, high absences, which I think is a reflection of what weve all been talking about here, she said to the board. Not only is there illness starting to go around  were in that season  but were also seeing people are really  some are struggling.

Some employees who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 have been out when they dont turn in their weekly COVID test results. But the number of employees in the testing pool has declined to about 150 people, Thompson said.

That number is expected to drop as some staffers get their second shots, she said. Employees now have greater flexibility on testing days, which has helped, she said.

Thompson and the finance director are exploring using an agency that provide substitutes for schools. Substitute teachers, paraeductors, secretaries and nurses are in high demand, she said.

We have exhausted our access to temporary agencies, Thompson said. No one has anyone left. Were all kind of fighting for this limited pool of folks, even on a temporary basis.

The sub shortage is particularly dire for school nurses. Sometimes, nurses need to be pulled to other schools. On rare occasions, one nurse covers two schools, Truchsess said. Thats the first time Danbury has needed to do that.

We need more nurses, she said. We need more support but we have had to make those difficult decisions this year.

Danbury offers an employee assistance program  available to all employees, even if theyre not on the school health insurance  that provides wellness tips, videos and newsletters, but the district aims to add mental health related modules during professional development time, Thompson said.

This has really been hard, she said. If we can leverage some of those dollars that are set aside with that plan for providing some more resources for folks to access either with us or on their own time, thats something were going to prioritize for the coming weeks.

The pupil service staff are being trained on cognitive behavioral therapy, which is an approach to support students that are going through trauma, anxiety, school avoidance or aggressive behavior, Truchsess said.

That will give some additional tools and resources to our staff on how to work with some of the issues were seeing in schools today, she said.

Budget

Walston has noticed the environment throughout the district is slowly improving.

Our schools are getting better, but this is not to say they dont need help, Walston said.

Thats why the district is exploring any savings and reevaluating how it planned to spend federal coronavirus relief funds to provide better resources for classrooms.

Danbury has been unable to find staffers for some positions the district had wanted to hire, such as interventionists at the middle school. Walston said he told the middle school to hire school climate specialists instead to address behavioral issues.

The district aims to hire employees from temp agencies to avoid creating a whole in the budget once the federal COVID funds expire, he said.

He expects to have more details for the school board at its next meeting.

There is a lot of work for us to do so that we can resource our buildings a little bit better right now, Walston said.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  Two of Florida's largest school districts are easing up on their masks requirement this week.

Starting Monday, Orange County students can stop wearing face masks if their parents provide a note opting them out. In Broward County, high school students can choose to wear a mask starting Monday, and it's strongly encouraged, but it will still be mandatory for middle and elementary school students.

Orange County Public Schools 60-day mask mandate expired Saturday. Schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins said it would not be extended in part because of the significant reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases in Orange County.

The districts employees, parents and visitors must still wear face masks in schools, Jenkins said, a mandate likely to remain in place until Dec. 3, though that could change based on COVID-19 data, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

In Broward County, board members said mask mandates and current quarantine policies should stay in place for the lower grades until a coronavirus vaccine is widely available for children ages 5 through 11. The vaccine already is available to children 12 years and older.

I dont think its a very fair situation to put our young ones and their families at risk, said Nora Rupert, according to the Miami Herald.

Eight school districts have defied Gov. Ron DeSantis order that only parents should decide if their children wear masks, not school district officials. The state has levied fines against Broward and Alachua counties school districts equivalent to the annual salaries of the school board members who voted for mask mandates.

In response, the Biden administration has sent $420,957 to Broward County Public Schools and $148,000 to Alachua County Public Schools to offset the fines.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)  Christiana Figueres knows how to hammer out a climate deal, and she doesnt expect the United Nations conference that just started in Glasgow to end with the kind of big moment she engineered in Paris six years ago. But she remains optimistic, saying failure is not going to happen here.

Figueres, the former executive secretary of the U.N.'s climate change program, was a key architect behind the historic 2015 Paris climate agreement. She says the negotiations leading to the two-week conference in Scotland have not progressed enough to reach the U.N.s goals of cutting global greenhouse emissions in half from current levels and securing $100 billion a year in climate aid from rich nations to poor ones.

Those goals probably wont be hit for another two years, but thats OK, Figueres told The Associated Press.

From a science perspective, were still in time, even if we do it in two years, Figueres said in a late Sunday sit-down interview at the negotiations site. From a political perspective, it is a disappointment for many, and I understand. So I do not celebrate it, but I think that we have a responsibility to be honest and to really understand the complexity of what were doing here.

Asked if that means the negotiations will end in failure, like the U.N.'s 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, she said: Its not going to happen here. No, no, no. There's actually been too much progress and too much has advanced for something like that.

Figueres called the climate statements that came out of the two-day Group of 20 summit in Rome that ended Sunday lackluster. Still she said she looks at where we are today, which is sizably much better than what we were in Paris six years ago.

Knowing what details worked to make the historic Paris 2015 agreement and the individuals still working on the issue makes her optimistic, Figueres said. In fact, she now runs a nonprofit organization called Global Optimism.

After the Copenhagen failure, Figueres office spent two years dissecting what went wrong and wrote a 300-page autopsy. One of the big changes was having the conference start with more than 100 heads of state attending for two days instead of leaders coming in at the end of the two-week annual meeting.

That works better because the leaders can set the tone and have more negotiating space to chart the course instead of getting bogged down in details looming at the end, said Figueres, who in Paris also kept the energy of U.N. staff members up with evening dance sessions after most people left.

For heads of state, it is actually a much better use of their strategic thinking, Figueres said.

Before leaving Rome for Glasgow on Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden called it disappointing" that Russia and China "basically didnt show up ahead of the climate conference with commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Two hours earlier, Figueres painted a far brighter picture of Chinas efforts and the strained U.S.-China relationship.

Figueres said it was unfair to say China was not showing up for the Glasgow conference because President Xi Jiping was not coming in person. She said Chinas long-time climate negotiator, who worked on four bilateral agreements that led to the 2015 Paris accord with then U.S. Secretary of State Jon Kerry, is a major force.

And she said China and the United States had high-level intense talks during the last two days and I am joyously expectant to hear results from that.

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Follow AP's climate coverage 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.
GREENBELT, Md. (AP)  A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a scheme to sell COVID-19 vaccines, according to a federal prosecutor.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland said in a news release that Odunayo Baba Oluwalade, 25, of Windsor Mill, pleaded guilty on Friday to wire fraud conspiracy.
Readers all over mourned earlier this month when Gary Paulsens death was announced. When I ask my students what their favorite book is, Hatchet comes up over and over. Some students (usually the guys) admit Hatchet is not only their favorite, but is the only assigned book they ever actually finished in high school. Although the story of Brian, a 13-year-old boy stranded in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash, ranks at the top, many of Paulsens other books, with similar themes of young people fending for themselves and learning valuable life lessons, make the lists of favorites.

I loved stories like this when I was a kid, but I missed out on Hatchet. I was a freshman in college when it came out, so it, like the doomed Cessna in the story, flew off my radar. My wife and I recently read the book to my son, and he enjoyed the story of survival enough that I will not be surprised if he picks it up on his own in a few years to revisit Brian in his wilderness camp.

I am saving one of Paulsens novels to read to him a little later, when the full impact will register; its a book better suited to a slightly older reader. Soldiers Heart tells the true story of a boy who enlisted in the army during the Civil War. Like Brian in Hatchet, Charlie learns to be resourceful and grows up a lot in the face of the trauma of war.

For me, Soldiers Heart is not important because of the coming-of-age story or the historical accuracy of the battle scenes. The novel hits me hard before it even begins, on the dedication page. Gary Paulsen dedicated it to his friend, Mike Magee.

Mike was my dad. After he and my mom split up, he moved up to Washington to study at the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building in Port Townsend. After he finished the course he lived aboard a sailboat and bummed around the docks of Puget Sound. While there he struck up an acquaintance with Paulsen, who had a large cruising trimaran.

My dad always idolized authors. Once, during an event organized by Vietnam veterans protesting their treatment by the VA, we met Ron Kovic, the Marine who was injured in combat and wrote Born on the Fourth of July. Although there were other big names in California politics at the event, meeting an actual author was the highlight for my dad. He thought seeing your name on the cover of a book was the absolute summit of human achievement.

Probably partly because of this, my dad and Paulsen became friends. My dad had obtained his captains license and was qualified to sail Paulsens boat, so eventually, Paulsen asked my dad to sail his trimaran to Hawaii for him.

When my dad called me to say he was sailing a good-sized cruiser to Hawaii, we were excited about different things. I thought sailing to Hawaii and then hanging out on the boat in a harbor in a tropical paradise was the main attraction. To my dad, though, doing this for Gary Paulsen  you know, the author!  was the real badge of honor.

They stopped hanging out as much after the return trip. Paulsen moved away from the coast, and my dad found the Seattle weather to be too damp and dreary for his liking. Nevertheless, the conversations to two men had on the boat affected both of them deeply, and I know that dedication meant almost as much to my dad as having his name on the cover would have.

Rick Magee is a Bethel resident and an English professor at a Connecticut university. Contact him at r.m.magee.writer@gmail.com.
Indias apex traders body, Confederation of All India Traders(CAIT), has estimated a loss of nearly Rs 50,000 Cr to Chinese exporters due to the boycott of Chinese goods in Indian markets. It has also called for a boycott of Chinese goods by sellers this festive season. A statement was issued on Friday by CAITs Secretary-General, Praveen Khandelwal, which said, Like last year, CAIT has given a boycott Chinese goods call this year as well and it is certain that China is going to suffer a loss of about 50,000 Cr this Diwali.

The trend of boycotting Chinese goods picked pace last year after the Galwan valley clash, and the vocal for local call by PM Modi shortly afterwards. According to CAIT, China suffered a loss of Rs 40,000 Cr during the Diwali season last year whereas the total sales jumped to as high as Rs 72,000 crore across major markets in the country. Earlier this year, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said that Indias trade deficit with China has declined from USD 53.57 billion in 2018-19 to USD 44.02 billion in 2020-21. The imports from China have seen a steady decline over the past few years. Imports from China during 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 were worth USD 70.32 billion, USD 65.26 billion and USD 65.21 billion, respectively.

The boycott calls by CAIT has been largely successful because of the anti-China sentiments among Indian consumers. China has faced fierce criticism in India for the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and its ongoing border dispute with the country.
Earlier this week, Captain Amarinder Singh while addressing the media had announced that he is forming a new political party, name and symbol of which will be shared once cleared by the Election Commission.

Former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday reiterated that he will soon launch his own party and hold talks for seat-sharing with Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming state Assembly polls. I will soon launch my own party and will hold talks for seat-sharing with BJP, breakaway Akali factions and others for Punjab elections once farmers issue is resolved. I want to build a strong collective force in the interest of Punjab and its farmers, Captain Amarinder Singh said today. Earlier on Saturday, Singhs media advisor Raveen Thukral refuted the reports of backend talks with Congress. Reports of backend talks with Congress are incorrect. The time for rapprochement is over. I am grateful to Sonia Gandhi Ji for her support but will not stay in Congress now, Thukral quoted Captain Amarinder Singh as saying.



Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had pulled out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September last year over the farm bills with the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the post of Union Minister of Food Processing Industries. Following this, SAD and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in June this year formed an alliance to contest the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections together. Earlier this week, Captain Amarinder Singh while addressing the media had also announced that he is forming a new political party, name and symbol of which will be shared once cleared by the Election Commission.



Singh had resigned last month as the chief minister and had announced that he will be quitting the Congress after months of a rift with Congress state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. He had resigned ahead of Congress legislature party meeting which was called amid unending factional battles in the ruling Congress in the state. Singh was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief minister of the state.
The meeting between the top diplomats is their first since a stormy session in the US state of Alaska in March during which the Chinese delegation berated Washington.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. These talks are set to hold amid a fresh row between the two global powers over Washingtons support for the meaningful participation of Taiwan in the UN. The meeting between the top diplomats is their first since a stormy session in the US state of Alaska in March during which the Chinese delegation berated Washington.



Wang Yi on Friday said Taiwan has no future other than reunification with China, and it has no international legal status other than being part of China. Wang Yi said the US and some other countries could not stop the one-China principle 50 years ago, and they are much less likely to succeed in the 21st century. If they persist, they will pay the price, the minister added. This comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had on Tuesday called on United Nations member states to back Taiwans meaningful participation in the UN system.



This comes as China has consistently made efforts to limit the islands international participation. We encourage all UN Member States to join us in supporting Taiwans robust, meaningful participation throughout the UN system and in the international community, consistent with our one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances, Blinken had said in a statement. Arguing for Taiwans robust participation in the UN, Blinken had said that the islands exclusion undermines the important work of the UN and its related bodies.
GREENWICH  The recovery of Fairfield Countys office-leasing market from the COVID-19 pandemic is gaining pace  and nowhere is seeing more momentum than the countys most southwestern town.

Dubbed the hottest market in Fairfield County in a new report from commercial real estate firm CBRE, downtown Greenwich has proven this year its lasting appeal as an office location for major companies, particularly those in financial services. Boosted by its proximity to New York City and mass-transit connections, the central business district looks likely to maintain its popularity  a boon that could also benefit neighboring areas.

The market has a single-digit availability rate, and its transit access and high-quality space should keep demand coming both from tenants already in the market and new entrants, CBRE officials wrote in the report.

Major demand in downtown Greenwich

During the third quarter, the Greenwich central business district recorded a total of about 92,000 square feet in new leases and expansions of existing office space, according to CBRE. The tally represented a 161 percent jump from the districts total in the second quarter and a 92 percent increase from the five-year quarterly average.

The availability rate now runs at about 9 percent in the Greenwich central business district whose market rentable area covers about 2.1 million square feet of office space. In comparison, the entire Fairfield County market has a 26 percent availability rate for its approximately 41 million square feet of offices.

While there are a number of different reasons for the success in Greenwich, it should also be noted that it is a small market and it doesnt take a lot of activity to make a huge impact on it statistically, said David Block, a Stamford-based executive vice president at CBRE.

In arguably the most significant corporate arrival in the town this year, financial-technology firm iCapital Network last month opened offices at 2 Greenwich Plaza, which is steps from the downtown Metro-North Railroad station and next to Interstate 95. The new offices stand about 30 miles from iCapitals headquarters in Manhattan, at E. 42nd St., across the street from Grand Central Terminal

While iCapital originally planned to bring about 200 jobs to the state, company officials now anticipate that the number of Greenwich-based employees could rise to approximately 300 during the next two years.

Hot market In the third quarter of 2021, the Greenwich central business district recorded a total of about 92,000 square feet in new leases and expansions of existing office space - a 161 percent increase from the second quarter and a 92 percent increase from the five-year quarterly average for the Greenwich CBD. The Greenwich CBD's availability rate now runs at about 9 percent. In comparison, the entire Fairfield County market has a 24 percent availability rate. SOURCE: CBRE See More Collapse

As a result, its footprint is increasing at 2 Greenwich Plaza. It recently signed up for about 25,000 square feet in additional space, raising its eventual occupancy to around 65,000 square feet.

From the perspective of attracting more employees, Greenwich would give us access to employees that we would (otherwise) struggle to access, iCapital CEO and Chairman Lawrence Calcano said. We think having this location really expands our potential employee base.

During the past quarter, downtown Greenwich recorded several other major new leases  including One Rock Capital, which took 13,000 square feet at 1 Greenwich Plaza  while several other financial-services firms expanded their existing offices, according to CBRE.

The new leasing deals for iCapital Network, One Rock and several other finance firms will each run for more than seven years, according to CBRE.

Despite the natural fluctuations of the economy, central Greenwich has always been a desirable destination for businesses and for office space, said Marcia OKane, CEO and president of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce. Since this area is dense with a wide variety of businesses, everyone benefits when leasing rates go up. Restaurants, catering, retailers and nightlife all enjoy a surge from having more consumers in the area who have a demand for these items.

Area-wide impact

Real estate brokers and local officials are expecting more arrivals in the coming months.

Weve gotten interest from companies coming out of New York City because the folks who work there are experiencing Greenwich as residents and saying, This might be a good place to locate my business, said Greenwich Selectwoman Lauren Rabin.

With space tight in the Greenwich CBD, other parts of Greenwich, as well as Stamford, could benefit as companies look for alternative locations.

Theres not that much great space left in the Greenwich (central business district), Block said. So what were seeing is an incredible amount of activity in western Greenwich  like Greenwich Office Park, which we represent and where I think there are going to be a number of announcements before the end of the year on leases signed.

The Stamford central business district, which has grappled for many years with high office vacancy rates, has ample capacity to accommodate any spillover: The availability rate for its approximately 10.4 million square feet of office inventory ran at 31 percent in the third quarter.

I know there are also going to be some great announcements in the next few weeks about a handful of buildings in Stamford around the (downtown) train station that are going to see additional activity as a result of the dearth of quality available space in the Greenwich (central business district) at this point, Block said.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
NEW YORK (AP)  A lawyer for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants the sheriff who charged the Democrat with groping a woman to preserve records of any communications his office had with the alleged victim, journalists or other investigators.

A city court in Albany this week issued a summons charging Cuomo with forcible touching after a criminal complaint was filed by Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple. Cuomo has claimed that the charge was based on flimsy evidence and was politically motivated.

In a letter to Apple on Saturday, Cuomo lawyer Rita Glavin demanded that the sheriff's office preserve all records related to the case, including any notes of conversations it had with the woman who accused the ex-governor of groping her, Brittany Commisso.

It also asked for records of any communications with two legal teams that investigated Cuomo's conduct, one that worked for the state Assembly and another for Attorney General Letitia James.

A preservation letter is a standard legal tactic. Criminal defendants are entitled to a broad scope of evidence and other material related to an investigation, which is typically turned over before trial.

Cuomo resigned from office in August after investigators working for James authored a report concluding he had sexually harassed 11 women, including Commisso.

James announced Friday that she was running for governor. Cuomo's team has accused her of purposely ignoring evidence in his favor because she wanted him out of office.

At a news conference Friday, Apple said he was confident in the strength of the case and insisted politics played no role. He also called the governor's operatives bullies."

The AP does not identify alleged sexual assault victims unless they decide to tell their stories publicly, as Commisso has done.
ALPENA, Mich. (AP)  He knew he wanted to be a priest when he was 13 years old.

Ordained 50 years ago, Father Jim Fitzpatrick, 77, is still serving the community by bringing the love and word of God to others, The Alpena News reports.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination, a Mass was held recently at St. Bernards Church in Alpena, the same church in which Fitzpatrick grew up.

A native of Alpena, Fitzpatrick grew up in the Catholic tradition. Serving God has always appealed to him, so he decided to become a priest. He attended St. Bernard Catholic School, and he always admired the nuns and priests.

I decided while I was in eighth grade that I wanted to be a priest, he said.

After the eighth grade, he went right into seminary at St. Lawrence in Wisconsin, where he went to high school and his first two years of college.

He was ordained at St. Bernards in Alpena.

It was the first ordination of a Catholic priest in the city, Fitzpatrick noted. St. Bernards has a great place of affection in my heart. Its where I was baptized, where I made my first confession. It was terribly uninteresting. And, of course, my first communion, confirmation.

He said the bishop came from Saginaw to his confirmation.

It was grueling, he recalled. The catechism had 144 questions that you had to memorize the answers to.

Hes excited to be celebrating at his home church.

Its very meaningful for me, after 50 years of priesthood, to be able to celebrate with a mass of thanksgiving in the parish where I was ordained, with the people of Alpena, whom I love, Fitzpatrick said.

Over the years, the friendly father has served many congregations and touched many hearts for the Lord.

Although I retired 10 years ago, I came back to Alpena, which is my hometown, Fitzpatrick said. And I have been assisting covering parishes in the Gaylord Diocese since I retired.

He spent six months in Cheboygan covering a parish there, nearly two years at St. Ignatius in Rogers City, and presently he is serving St. Rose of Lima parish in Herron.

Ive been there about two-and-a-half years, he said.

Father Fitz was sent to St. Ignatius of Loyola in Rogers City a few years ago to serve our parish during a very difficult time, said Bernadette Shafto, secretary of St. Ignatius. We do not have adequate words to say how the Lord used him during this time to minister to our parish family. He loved us and cared for us like the wonderful shepherd that he is, and we are ever grateful for him.

Its my impression that he appears to be a shepherd of the people, said Cindy Wahl, coordinator of Fitzpatricks 50th anniversary of his ordination. She has been in Alpena since 2013, and, since then, she has noticed how people are drawn to Fitzpatricks warmth and servants heart.

Father Jim is a peoples priest, she said. And, despite his busy schedule, he is always ready to respond, when someone calls.

Wahl said he came to her home and administered the sacrament of the sick to her husband, who has been hospitalized and has lung problems. He also administered the sacrament to her because she has arthritis and COPD.

Thats the kind of priest he is, Wahl said. He will make time for you. He is a servant.

Fitzpatricks actual ordination date was Feb. 13, but the celebration was postponed until now because of the pandemic, he said.

Archbishop Paul Russell was to be at the Mass on Tuesday.

He has been with the Vatican Diplomatic Corps, Fitzpatrick said of Russell. He served as ambassador representing the Vatican in various countries. He just finished his term in Turkey. And he happens to be in town, so he is going to preach my mass of thanksgiving.

Fitzpatrick was instrumental in the reinstallation of a new historically-inspired main altar at St. Bernards, dedicated in 2015 as part of the churchs 150th anniversary celebration. The church was the first Catholic church established in Alpena. The altar features pieces from the original altar, incorporated into an authentic-looking design that resembles the original. He coordinated altar-altering efforts with Russell, who is also originally from St. Bernards.

It was a $320,000 idea.

It was just incredible, Fitzpatrick noted. Within four weeks  we went over our goal. Can you imagine that?

He was floored by the generosity of the Catholic community in Alpena.

St. Bernards, at that point, was not a rich parish, he recalled. But it was a sign of the sacrifice of the people.

He said the church is such an outstanding example of historic Gothic architecture, that college architecture students from the University of Michigan would come up annually to study it.

It really says something about the beauty of that building, Fitzpatrick said.

He has performed many services in the community, including a large number of Catholic funerals at Karpus-Hunter Funeral Home. Many people in Alpena have crossed paths with Fitzpatrick.

Our prayer for him, at this 50th ordination anniversary celebration, is that the Lord would give him strength and courage to continue to love as Jesus did, forever proclaim the truth of the gospel, and experience Gods shalom peace, Shafto concluded.

Fitzpatrick said he may not be qualified to critique his own homilies, but he can give a few pieces of advice to those who choose to listen.

It has been my belief, through the 50 years that Ive been a priest, that  the most important thing I do during the week is prepare and give the homily, he said.

A homily is also known as a sermon.

Because, there is no faith without the word being preached, he said of The Holy Bible. That doesnt mean that the other stuff is not important. Its critically important for a priest or a minister to be there for the dying, or for the sick, or for the poor, to help them.

Preaching is very important, though.

I have been told that Im a fairly decent preacher, Fitzpatrick said. But, it does not come about without tremendous effort. First of all, you have to love the community youre serving. You have to be tied into life as theyre experiencing it.

He said if the priest or minister is not tied into the life of his community, you will give boring theology, theyll take a little nap, and then theyll go home.

He said being involved in the community every day, and not just on Sunday, is essential to being a good community leader.

One of the primary responsibilities of a shepherd is to make sure that the homily, or the sermon, is faith-encouraging and faith-inspiring, to help them get through the next week, Fitzpatrick said.

One thing about Father Jim, is he embraces the reality of whats going on, Wahl added. Like Afghanistan or persecution, etcetera, and he points to us that it is our moral responsibility to try to put an end to it, or at least respond to it  and thats really important in todays day and age.

People go where theyre fed, Fitzpatrick added.
Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

WINDSOR LOCKS  Four flights were delayed Sunday morning at Bradley International Airport after several fire alarms went off, officials said.

At around 5:15 a.m., the airport was evacuated after several fire alarms were activated, according to the Connecticut Airport Authority.
Despite recreational cannabis becoming legal for adults in Connecticut earlier this summer and setting a timeline for cannabis retail sales to begin by the end of 2022, multiple shoreline towns have taken legislative action to temporarily  or in Clintons case, permanently  prohibit cannabis establishments.

Guilford, Madison and North Branford recently enacted moratoriums preventing cannabis establishments from opening in town for nine months to a year from now. Clinton, meanwhilem, passed an ordinance prohibiting cannabis-related land use, making it unlawful for any building, structure or land to be used as a cannabis establishment, producer, retailer, dispensary and more.

A cannabis establishment, according to Public Act 21-1, is defined a producer, dispensary, cultivator, micro-cultivator, retailer, hybrid retailer, food and beverage manufacturer, product manufacturer, product packager and delivery service or transporter.

Clintons Town Manager Karl Kilduff wrote in an email Thursday that the Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing in September on a regulation drafted to allow a marijuana establishment as defined in state statute.

According to state law, local officials can control the number and locations of cannabis retailers through zoning and can determine where smoking and vaping is allowed.

The public hearing saw overwhelming opposition to the proposed regulation and the Planning & Zoning Commission subsequently rejected the regulation allow for marijuana establishments, Kilduff wrote.

At the hearing, 15 of the 17 people who spoke opposed the regulation allowing establishments, including David Melillo, director of Clinton Human Services, and Vincent DeMaio, Clintons police chief. Only one person felt neutral and one was in favor of allowing establishments.

DeMaio said he had a number of public safety concerns attached to the regulation, including the severe black market he said recreational cannabis would create. He cited a recent $100 million bailout California gave to the legal cannabis industry because of it is having a hard time competing with the black market, he said.

That is going to come to our town because Im sure Madison is not gonna have one, Guilford is not going to have one, Westbrooks probably not going to have one, DeMaio said about cannabis establishments. We would be the sole town on the shoreline.

The Town Council then discussed the topic and its own authority under state statute to pass a local ordinance before drafting one and holding a public hearing, Kilduff wrote.

The Councils public hearing saw strong support for the ordinance that would ban marijuana establishments as a land use, Kilduff wrote Thursday. The ordinance was subsequently unanimously approved by the Town Council.

Clintons current zoning regulations also prohibit medical marijuana establishments.

Guilford First Selectman Matt Hoey wrote in an email Thursday that that towns moratorium allows for full community engagement and discussion.

He wrote that Guilfords Developmental Assets for Youth organization asked for a permanent ban, which the Board of Selectmen would not consider without getting a more informed set of decision criteria.

Their request mentioned that such a ban would send message to the youth and their parents about the risks, particularly related to brain development with the use of cannabis, Hoey wrote Thursday.

Paige Checci, a Guilford resident with a masters degree in medical cannabis science and therapeutics from the University of Maryland Baltimore, said she thinks the blanket moratorium denies opportunities to residents, especially entrepreneurs who want to apply for cannabis business licenses, in a recording of an Oct. 18 Board of Selectman meeting.

A requirement to applying is local support and zoning approval and if this moratorium extends into the period of time when the Department of Consumer Protection begins accepting applications, Guilford may miss out on an opportunity to bring jobs and commerce to the community, Checci said in the meeting recording.

Checci said she understood concerns from residents about retail but she specifically was talking about production, cultivation, manufacturing and business-to-business commerce.

She suggested the PZC review each application on a case-by-case basis and go through a conditional or special use process.

I dont think we should be saying no to jobs, commerce and good business, Checci said. A billion-dollar industry is building in Connecticut so why should Guilford say no while other towns and municipalities say yes and reap the benefits?

The moratorium in Guilford was approved unanimously until June 30, 2022, unless an earlier consensus is reached or the moratorium is amended or revoked. Discussions on this topic may begin as soon as the coming weeks.

Hoey wrote Thursday that he supports the temporary moratorium and that the end of it depends on the results of community engagement informing their individual decisions and the eventual Board of Selectmen vote.

In Madison, a similar action was taken except it was done by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The moratorium specifically is related to the acceptance, review and/or approval of applications seeking to establish the use of land and/or structures for a cannabis establishment and other uses related to recreational marijuana.

Madisons moratorium is for nine months or until the commission adopts zoning regulations. It was approved unanimously Oct. 21.

First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

North Branfords Planning and Zoning Commission took similar action, extending its moratorium for a year, until Oct. 21, 2022.

The commission did so by amending zoning regulations, specifically section 23.2.7. Language was added regarding the commission not accepting permit applications for cannabis establishments, medical marijuana producers, dispensary facilities and/or retail or distribution. Previously, language applied only to medical marijuana producers, dispensary facilities and retail or distribution.

The commission also discussed the possibility of North Branford holding a referendum to determine whether the sale of recreational marijuana should be allowed in town, something Chairman Harry Dulak said should be brought to the Town Council only after something was put together or public comment was held.

Commission member Tricia Mase said in a meeting recording that the moratorium gives the commission time to digest the law and come up with its own regulation.

Im in favor of moving it ahead so we have better time to analyze and figure out what we want to do with the cannabis sale and production in North Branford, member Robert Nowak said in a recording.

Other members agreed, adding that it gives time to evaluate the states and communitys opinions as well as the potential effect on North Branfords economic development.
The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has unveiled his next plan for ex-agitators...

The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has unveiled his next plan for ex-agitators, saying he will focus on wealth creation, leveraging on partnerships that will have positive effects on the economy of the Niger Delta and the country at large.

He said having laid the foundation in his first one year with his outlined vision, the time for action had come to produce the desired result for the benefit of all.

Dikio, in a statement signed and sent by his Special Adviser, Nneotaobase Egbe, after separate meetings with leaders of first and third phases of the PAP in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said his quest to leave a strong legacy was driven by his passion for the development of the region.

He encouraged the ex-agitators to strive to see beyond the monthly stipends, to the economic opportunities around them.

He said: Within the short time I have, we will change things for the better. That is why we have changed the model of trainings that you get to the Train-Employ-Mentor model. The kind of trainings that will make you self-sufficient and qualified to have a job that you will be paid far above the N65,000; trainings that will bring more value to you.

According to Dikio, the Niger Delta remained the richest place in the country not because of oil and gas but its natural endowment, such as human capital, farm produce and fisheries, domiciled across the region and waiting to be explored by willing hands.

He said: We have to be competitive in the water business and take advantage of the blue economy. The Niger Delta is blessed with a lot of opportunities and we need to take charge.

We are organizing a summit in Warri soon. Warri used to be the oil city with lots of activities but now it has become like a ghost town. We want to highlight what the city has, its economic importance and also for entrepreneurial purposes. We have to do everything possible to bring back businesses to the region.

I keep saying this that if you are not providing service you cant be rich. Once you have what you are offering and when you are able to take care of yourself, nobody can insult you.

In his remarks, leader of the first phase ex-agitators and National President of the Leadership, Peace, and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI), Pastor Reuben Wilson, thanked Dikio for restoring their confidence in the PAP.

He said in the past the programme was managed like a personal estate with the beneficiaries grossly shortchanged while others became billionaires but with the coming of Dikio we now have hope because of the new vision.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has denied reports that the Nigerian Army shot and arrested one of its top Easter Security Network,...

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has denied reports that the Nigerian Army shot and arrested one of its top Easter Security Network, ESN, commanders.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, IPOB clarified that the army arrested and shot one Udubuan Sage Chubueze, who is only a member of IPOB and not a top commander of ESN in Ekwulobia Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Part of the statement reads: Our attention has been drawn to the fallacious statement from Fulani controlled military and police that they arrested a commander of ESN in Ekwulobial Aguata Local Government Area Anambra State.

We declare without equivocations that theres no iota of truth in the said fallacious statement.

Explaining what transpired, IPOB said:  What transpired was that he came to his home in Ekwulobia, Aguata LGA to bury his dead mother and soldiers acting on a tip off from a traitor stormed his house. Yes hes an IPOB member but not ESN Commander. But those who sabotaged him shall reap the reward of treachery!

According to him, Nigerian soldiers allegedly shot him in the leg and forced him to wear army camouflage and claimed it was what they got from him.

They also lied that they recovered ammunition from him. How can a man burying his mother be doing so with ammunition? This is another blackmail to hang an innocent man.

We want to make it categorically clear to all and sundry that ESN does not go with army uniforms or police because we are different people.

The Army forced all those items on him just to implicate him but God will vindicate them!

IPOB demanded that a forensic examination be carried out to deflate the lie that he had bullet wounds.

It was the Army that shot him in his compound and claimed he had bullet wounds.

We once again call on the United Nations not to give a blind eye to the atrocities of the Nigeria security agents against Biafrans. The world should hold Nigeria accountable for all the inhuman treatments and secret genocide against innocent people of Biafra, the statement added.
The Nigeria Police Force has debunked reports that suspended Deputy-commissioner of Police Abba Kyari has been recalled to resume work. ...

The Nigeria Police Force has debunked reports that suspended Deputy-commissioner of Police Abba Kyari has been recalled to resume work.

Spokesperson for the police, Commissioner Frank Mba dismissed the report.

How can the police recall an officer suspended by the Police Service Commission?, he said.

Kyari who was formerly OC SARS and commander of the Inspector-General of police Intelligence Response Team (IGP-IRT) had been under investigation after being indicted in a scam case involving Abbas Ramon, commonly known as Hushpuppi.

The FBI alleged that Kyari connived with Hushpuppi to defraud a Qatari businessman of $1.1m.

Giving an update on DCP Kyaris case on Thursday, the IGP said the embattled officer had been queried and that the police were working with the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Attorney -General of the Federation for appropriate sanction on Kyari.

He also explained that the panel constituted to investigate the case had submitted its report to the SGF, Boss Mustapha, for vetting and advice on the findings.

The IGP said they recently got feedback from the SGF and were contemplating their next step.

He also said he has not received any extradition request for the suspended DCP.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over his failure to p...

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over his failure to probe allegations that over 880billion of public funds are missing from 367 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

SERAP wants Buhari to ensure the prosecution of those suspected to be responsible and to order the recovery of diverted public or any missing funds.

The suit followed the stern allegations contained in part 2 of the 2018 annual audited report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation that 880,894,733,084.811 was spent by 367 MDAs without any appropriation.

This was disclosed in a statement by Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAPs Deputy Director, on Sunday.

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1281/2021 filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja last week, SERAP is seeking: an order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to promptly investigate the alleged missing N881bn of public funds and to ensure the prosecution of those suspected to be responsible, and the full recovery of any missing, mismanaged or diverted public funds.

SERAP is also arguing that: Complying with constitutional requirements and international standards on the spending of public funds would ensure effective and efficient management of public resources, and put the countrys wealth and resources to work for the common good of all Nigerians.

Its in the interest of justice to grant this application, as it would improve respect for the rights of Nigerians and improve their access to essential public goods and services, which ought to be provided by the indicted MDAs.

President Buhari has a constitutional duty to ensure the investigation and prosecution of allegations of corruption, as well as recovery of any missing public funds. Section 15[5] of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution [as amended] requires the Buhari administration to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.

Joined in the suit as Respondents includes Abubakar Malami, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, and Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

The date for the hearing of the suit is yet to be fixed.
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A syringe containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Jewish Federation/JARCs offices in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on May 13, 2021. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)
Cannibals, space aliens, zombie rockabilly stars, man-eating plants, and other assorted Halloween menaces popped up in Gentilly on Saturday night. Their ghoulish goal was to entertain visitors at the Swampus Returns Haunted Swamp Tour, a drive-through stationary parade at the NORD headquarters on Franklin Avenue.

The drive-past parade concept was the brainchild of Mike Esordi, the captain of the Krewe of Krampus, a costumed marching group that ordinarily parades in the Bywater during the Christmas season. Esordi envisioned a stationary, socially distanced "parade" as a safe substitute that would allow his krewe to entertain the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stationary Krampus parade on Dec. 5, 2020, was a big success, safely breaking the quarantine doldrums for hundreds of activity-starved New Orleanians.

So Esordi planned another stationary parade for the Halloween season, with the same scrupulous coronavirus-suppressing protocols in place. But before last nights reverse parade rolled, the COVID-19 restrictions had relaxed considerably. So much so that the city permitted a full-blown Carnival-style float parade, the Krewe of BOO!, to rumble through the French Quarter tossing treats to the crowd a week before Swampus.

This, alas, threatened to make poor Swampus instantly obsolete.

Would people still turn out for a reverse parade when a reverse parade was no longer necessary? The answer was, apparently so. Esordi said that by the morning of the parade, roughly 300 drivers had bought tickets to the event, and he was confident the parade would approach the 400-car maximum capacity before the start time.

Esordi  disguised as a leering monster draped in Spanish moss and festooned with plastic skulls  said that he thinks the drive-through parade model may survive past the pandemic era, when its possible for the Krewe of Krampus to march in the streets as usual.

Were trying to figure out a way to incorporate it into whatever we do in the future, Esordi said. I dont know, well see. A lot of people love this format.

Denny Bro, a member of the Disco Amigos  one of the many Carnival-style dance troupes to participate in Swampus  agreed. She said that especially during the Halloween season, parents are searching for ways to celebrate with their kids, and the drive-past formula would always fit the bill.

I think this whole concept is fabulous, she said.

+20 Day of the Dead parade to rattle bones in St. Roch neighborhood, Nov. 2 To the sound of drums and the smell of burning sage, a candle-lit parade of skeletons will ramble through the streets of the St. Roch neighbor

+3 Twin Australian Who Dats pine for New Orleans at the height of the pandemic down under Roya and Yasmin Lennie didnt set out to be Who Dats. It just sort of happened. Nowadays, with an intense COVID-19 lockdown in Australia, wher
HOUMA, LA  In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Renee Ring fights a losing battle to hold back tears when she thinks about the hundreds of people facing addiction and other clients in crisis she works with every day.

Ring, a program manager with the South Central Louisiana Human Services Authority (SCLHSA), is accustomed to working with people in difficult circumstances. She and her colleagues, after all, spend their days helping their clients here in Houma manage them. But hitting in the midst of a pandemic, Ida has pushed many of those people over the edge, as well as many more who were barely holding on before the storm.

There are a lot of very vulnerable clients that ended up in shelters, Ring told Gambit. I look at them and I think, wow, they have no resources, and theyre making it through the worst of the worst you could possibly think of ... They are dealing with mental health and all this tremendous loss, and its just exacerbating everything.

Even two months later, the enormity of that trauma is difficult to grasp. By late October, the SCLHSA had already heard from more than 8,000 people needing help, according to Houma Today.

In Houma, traffic lights have mostly been restored and residents are receiving insurance checks while beginning the frustrating, long haul of rebuilding. In the lower-lying, smaller communities like Pointe-aux-Chenes, Montegut and Dulac, people are living in tents and in their cars, relying on the kindness of strangers and their own community while waiting on government assistance.

Blue tarps  all-too-familiar staples in south Louisiana  have replaced rooftops as far as the eye can see, and in some spots, roads are still obstructed by debris.

But if the physical infrastructure is bad, the areas health services, particularly for those dealing with addiction, is recovering from being almost in ruins. Most of the behavioral health staff Ring works with evacuated ahead of the hurricane and helped clients from remote locations around the clock, as the storm ripped their community and homes to shreds.

Strained health care workers are trying to perform wellness checks but resources remain limited  and the clock is ticking.

Some of the [clients] were struggling with anxiety to the point where it became physical, SCLHSA Clinical Director Misty Hebert says. How do I help them not have to go to the hospital? Because they probably need to go to the hospital.

Before Ida, hospitals were bursting at the seams as COVID-19 patients filled up emergency rooms and ICU beds. When Ida began menacing the coast, several of them evacuated all staff and patients, which put an even greater strain on the already overwhelmed health care system.

The storm didnt pick and choose which buildings to hit, and like most of the bayou and River Parishes, the physical buildings housing clinics and other drug and mental health programs were damaged. Even now, two months later, the network of facilities SCLHSA oversees across south Louisiana are still dealing with storm damage.

Hebert, the clinical director, spent most of the early days after the storm fielding dozens of crisis calls from existing clients on the brink of committing harm to themselves and others, or expressing the urge to use drugs and alcohol to numb themselves.

She says the agency had to increase the number of staff on call because there were so many calls as they scrambled to provide hundreds with support services, like prescription refills and setting up remote appointments.

We got tons of calls from people saying they are just full of anxiety; they need to come in. For the most part, anxiety levels and the need for sedatives has increased," adds Lisa Schilling, SCLHSA executive director.

Mental health worldwide has suffered because of Covid's enormous death toll, economic collapse and compounding climate-change related disasters, but places that were already ravaged by poverty and addiction  which often go hand-in-hand  are feeling it the most.

Thats especially true for Louisiana, which was grappling with an opioid crisis and a wide range of public health issues before the pandemic. The series of hurricanes last year combined with the strain of pandemic lockdowns made that already bad situation worse, and overdoses and associated deaths in the state shot up in 2020.

According to Hebert, the legal substance of alcohol has always one of the top substances used by clients seeking treatment. Opioid usage, despite crackdowns on distribution, has continued to creep up. Lately cannabis has also been a top substance used by clients, she says  that could be because of shifting attitudes about its medicinal qualities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this past spring that Louisiana overdose deaths surpassed a record high of 2,100 in 12 months. And overdose mortality increased statewide by 56% from the previous year  likely because many users who overdosed did so in the solitude of COVID-19 restrictions, or were tempted to use in the first place, because of the heightened stress of the pandemic itself, and couldnt call for help.

Opioid relapses are also high for those who have previously sought treatment  up to 88%, according to a 2016 study published in the medical periodical, Journal of Addiction.

Health officials warn that there will be a lag in terms of figuring out just how bad the situation is. Statistics on how many people are struggling with addiction and mental health issues are difficult to gather because many people do not seek help and it goes unrecorded. Schilling also points out it often takes time before people realize the full extent of their trauma before they begin using or realize its a problem.

Immediately after a disaster like Ida, you are in reactive mode, she says. Anywhere from six to 18 months is when that settles in. Maybe your house is fixed or youre living somewhere and youre able to think about what happened  and thats when the true depression and anxiety manifest. So for individuals who might have had addiction under control, they might turn back to that.

The state health department, meanwhile, is hoping to soon expand its Louisiana Spirit Program, a counseling program implemented during a presidentially declared disaster and funded by FEMA. If it does get approval, a spokesperson told Gambit, the department and regional human services districts like the SCLHSA like will be able to hire additional, much-needed crisis counselors and stress management services to the hardest hit regions.

Ring says the region will be getting about a dozen additional counselors to help them and that the SCLHSA has already been sending out mobile units to the lower-lying areas of the state devoid of easily accessible clinics.

Edward Carlson, CEO of Odyssey House, runs the states largest nonprofit behavioral health center largely focused on addiction treatment.

He says there has been an increase in people from across Louisiana arriving at the expansive New Orleans facility  including Ida-damaged Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes  seeking help for substance abuse issues, including relapses and addictions formed in recent years.

After any major disaster, theres always a spike in addiction, he says. Usage goes up. That doesnt mean everyone winds up becoming an addict, but it increases the likelihood that people will develop problems.

Carlson says the latest storm and ongoing power outages also triggered post-traumatic stress among people who had experienced Hurricane Katrina.

It pushed a few people over the edge, he says. A Katrina survivor himself, he acknowledges a relatable struggle.

Two months after Ida, Odyssey House has remained full, with staff putting others seeking treatment on a waitlist. Some only need counseling or a short-term place to detox and can be seen within a few days; others are in need of much lengthier stays.

COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic has gotten worse, he says. Throw the hurricane on top of that, and its had a huge impact across the board. There is a huge spike in need for services.

In the immediate aftermath of Ida, mental health providers, volunteers and mutual aid groups pooled limited resources together.

Resources have been limited, says Hebert. But everyone was willing to help.

Hebert says a main focus in post-storm recovery was getting medication-assisted treatment restored. This was a logistical challenge for those who were across state lines and because so many pharmacies were unable to receive shipments or even stay open.

In some cases, Hebert was calling five to 10 pharmacies to figure out how to efficiently get life-saving medications to people in need.

We were trying to figure out how to get these sent to other pharmacies, she says. We worked with a few clients from St. John (the Baptist Parish) that were able to get to the local emergency room. Resources were limited but from what was there, everyone was willing to help.

You get really creative during a crisis, Schilling pipes in. We call it Cajun ingenuity.

New Orleans-based collective Trystereo is another organization that has been helping and raising awareness and compassion for those who use drugs. This harm reduction network fundraises and distributes test strips for substances to promote safer drug usage as well as means to reverse overdoses and other supplies.

Trystereo also teaches people how to administer substances like Narcan that can mitigate overdoses and keep people alive. The groups also has been working with other harm reduction groups to donate supplies to the New Orleans area and other organizations like the Acadiana Harm Reduction network.

Charly Borenstein-Regueira, whose 29-year-old son Halley died of an accidental heroin overdose in 2017, also volunteers with regional harm reduction efforts  advocating for less punitive drug policies and stronger rehabilitation and support services.

Borenstein-Regueira says that her outreach work mainly focuses on reducing the stigma around addiction. If there was less shame surrounding the issue, she says, more people would seek help.

Addiction is a chronic illness, It deserves to be treated with the same urgency, skill and compassion as any other fatal illness, she says.

Nine out of 10 Americans suffering from substance abuse disorders do not seek treatment, in large part because of the dehumanizing stigma surrounding addiction, and the misconception that substance use disorders are a moral failing, she adds.

Borenstein-Regueira believes that if her son were still alive, he would want people to understand that drug users are valuable human beings. She says everyone should be informed about how to reverse an overdose and use safer practices when using drugs.

Odyssey House's Carlson agrees that there needs to be more compassion surrounding addiction. We have a philosophy that were going to love them until they love themselves," he says. "If you go out there and you relapse, you can come back.

Down in Dulac, south of Houma, many residents live in poverty. The BP oil spill, for example, decimated the fishing and shrimping industry more than a decade ago, and since then, residents have taken hit after hit. Ida wiped out their livelihoods and their homes.

Because Dulac residents homes are outside of the federal levee district, many cant afford insurance. Many homeowners whose houses have been in their families for generations dont have the proper paperwork or documentation to prove to organizations like FEMA that they live there.

Similarly, the South Central Louisiana Human Services Authority is trying to break down language and cultural barriers to getting aid and gain trust from local Indigenous communities.

A lot of these folks are looking to have that voice to be able to get their needs met, says Ring. There are a lot of cultural implications  its not ever been easy for them to ask for help, but weve been going down there to let them know were available.

Because so many have lost their livelihoods and homes, they have a lot to grieve and a long road to recovery, regardless of whether they are using substances, Ring says.

Theyve made their living on the water, she says. We have fishers and shrimpers and thats how they grew up  They lost their boats, which is the main way to make their living. Itll be a long time before they get back to what they know and love. Its part of the grieving process.

Christine Verdin, a tribal council member residing in Montegut who represents the Point-au-Chien tribe, told Gambit earlier this year that in many communities, its difficult to ask for help but easy to give it out.

Our residents are proud and resourceful, she says. We have lived off the land for years. We have always been able to sustain ourselves. But this is the first time a storm has been this bad. We dont have the resources to get back to where we were.

Friar Antonio Speedy, a priest at the Holy Family Catholic Church, has been opening his church up to the community and trying to help people recover from the storm, both mentally and physically.

Needless to say, its been challenging.

He recalls a local man, in his 60s or 70s, who showed up at the church suffering from septic wounds.

The man had suffered from addiction "his whole life," says Speedy. "He already had amputated toes. He had liver problems. He was in a real bad state. He had holes all over his legs from staph infections."

The church set up a tent for him and tended to his wounds, and then someone took him to the hospital. They haven't seen him since.

Drug dealers are licking their lips taking advantage of people, he says. A lot of people are going to fall back.

Candace Pellegrin from Catholic Charities, which has been collecting donations of food and supplies for the area, also says she picked up on the feeling of hopelessness that has led to increased substance consumption.

Lots of people drink around here, she says. They drink because theyre depressed, or thats what theyre used to  thats what they know.

But the friar has been preaching humility to a congregation in need. He believes that lightness can come out of the dark times the region is facing and he is, among other efforts, trying to raise money to get more campers distributed to the region.

This has given the community an opportunity to reach out to people whom we havent met before, he says. It brought people out of their dens  A lot of people have been afraid to ask for help, but we are all beggars now. We all need help."
New Orleans

Matthew S. Chester has been named as chair of the government enforcement and investigations group at Baker Donelson.

Chester has nearly 20 years of experience practicing law in the private sector and at the Department of Justice. Before joining Baker Donelson, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in New Orleans. During his service as a federal prosecutor, Chester was honored as the recipient of multiple awards, including five Excellence in Law Enforcement Awards from the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission for his work on public corruption prosecutions in and around New Orleans.

He is an honors graduate of Tulane University Law School.

---

Alicia Vial has joined Gambel Communications as a senior communications strategist.

As a senior communications strategist, Vial will develop and manage communications strategies and solutions for a variety of accounts, including Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition, Gulf of Mexico Alliance, The Historic New Orleans Collection and The Beach at UNO.

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A New Orleans native with more than a decade of experience, Vial previously served as the communications director for the Louisiana SPCA.

She earned a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in public relations from LSU.

Baton Rouge

Linda M. Crochet was named executive vice president and chief operations officer for Investar Holding Corp., the parent company of Investar Bank.

Crochet joined the bank in 2019 as the Greater Baton Rouge loan portfolio president and was responsible for managing and improving the Greater Baton Rouge financial operations including budgeting, strategic planning, production, and credit quality. She has more than 35 years of banking experience.

She is a native of Lafayette and a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
A man was shot in the 1400 block of South Galvez Street (map) near the Hoffman Triangle Saturday at about 2 p.m., according to the New Orleans Police Department.

The man kicked in the door of someone's house and they shot him, the NOPD said.

The shooting is one of several violent crimes to occur in the 24 hours beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Here's what else we know from preliminary reports by the NOPD:

72-year-old woman robbed at gunpoint in Gert Town

A 72-year-old woman was robbed at gunpoint Saturday at about 3:30 p.m. when a man came up to her in the 3400 block of Tulane Avenue (map) and demanded her keys, police said.

The woman fought back but gave up her keys when she was threatened, according to the NOPD. The subject drove away in the woman's 2016 Hyundai Elantra with the Louisiana license plate 104BCE, police said.

Man robbed in Central City after car accident

A man was robbed at gunpoint at about 4:20 p.m. Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and South Claiborne Avenue (map) in Central City after getting into a car accident with two other men, the NOPD said.

The men demanded money from the victim. He tried calling the police but they forced him to use an ATM to get money for them. They then stole the man's phone and got away, police said.

No other details were immediately available.

Man shot on I-610 East

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A man was driving on Interstate 610 East at the Saint Bernard Avenue Exit (map) at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday when he started arguing with men in another car and they shot him, the NOPD said.

The man drove himself to an area hospital for treatment, according to police.

Man robbed at gunpoint near Dillard

A 38-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint Saturday just before midnight at Benefit and Annette streets (map) near Dillard University when a man flagged him down and asked for a lighter.

When the man reached for his lighter, the subject pulled out a gun, demanded his belongings and rode away on a bike, according to the NOPD.

Man robbed at knifepoint in Mid-City

A man was robbed at knifepoint Sunday morning at about 2:45 a.m. at Tulane Avenue and South Solomon Street (map) in Mid-City by a man who had been following him, police said.

The victim tried to take the knife away from the robber and was cut on his hand man while doing so. The assailant ran away with the victim's belongings, the NOPD said.

No other details were immediately available.

Anyone with information regarding these crimes is asked to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward.
George Arthur was washing a dish at his kitchen sink when the wind ripped the roof off of his house.

Clutching his two most valued possessions -- a briefcase with important papers and the urn holding his wifes ashes -- the 69-year old retired oilfield worker rode out the rest of Hurricane Ida in his 12-year old Chevy Silverado, the ferocious winds rocking the truck for hours.

It was almost like being offshore again, Arthur said. This truck was rocking like a boat.

Two months after the Category 4 storm slammed southeast Louisiana, Arthurs life is still rocking like that Chevy Silverado in a hurricane.

+6 Hurricane Ida brings 'havoc' to huge swath of Louisiana, but levees prevent mass casualties Hurricane Ida arrived in Louisiana Sunday every bit as ornery as advertised: 150 mph winds, some of the fiercest to ever hit American shores, 

His house in Houma was destroyed; he spent days recently sitting outside waiting for federal inspectors to come tell him if qualified for a trailer.

He's staying with his brother-in-law in Houma for now. Its better than the metal shed he lived in for 19 days after the storm. Bless his heart, Arthur said. I couldnt have lived in that shed much longer.

The long-tail effects of Hurricane Ida have given Arthur plenty of company in misery. For legions of beleaguered souls scattered across southeast Louisiana, Ida's violent winds have yet to subside.

+43 'Total devastation' in south Lafourche, where Hurricane Ida made landfall on Louisiana coast GOLDEN MEADOW  Jrew Lafonts dad built his second house strong enough to withstand the storm that took the first. But a bigger storm came on 

The storms toll on southeast Louisiana was breathtaking. Coastal and bayou communities were reduced to Jenga-piles of rubble. In some places, it was the wind. In others, the water. Some got both.

The Rev. Antonio Speedy, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in the bayou community of Dulac, sees more faces in his church these days. There is a weariness he can feel.

I have not encountered anyone who questions God, he said. A lot are questioning whether they have the strength to get through it.

Holy Family has delivered help, both tangible and spiritual, to people who are hurting. Trailers of supplies. Help finding shelter.

Gods got a plan, Speedy said. Sometimes that plan includes suffering, he allowed.

One small positive? The storm, he said, has given people an opportunity to show love for one another.

+9 Follow Hurricane Ida's path of destruction through Louisiana, with aerial photos and video On the ground in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ida, people tell stories of panicked rescues, unimaginable loss and dangerously close calls.

Not that Ida did.

The storm began inauspiciously in the Caribbean, southwest of Jamaica. But as it traveled across the Gulf, more or less taking direct aim at Louisiana, we added a new phrase to our storm lexicon: Rapid intensification.

The warm Gulf waters and humid air were adrenaline injected into Idas veins, pushing its transformation into a raging monster.

At landfall, near Port Fourchon, winds howled to near 150 mph.

Just to the east, the storm showed no mercy to Grand Isle.

It left the historic resort town as little more than a pile of rubble, its roadways buried under several feet of sand.

It was days before communication was restored and it will be years before the island will be close to what it was before.

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Other coastal communities -- Lafitte, Barataria, Ironton, Point aux Chien -- are also changed forever.

Heading north, Ida barrelled across a swath of Louisiana, from LaPlace to Kenner to Manchac, where houses were battered and residents displaced. Streets soon became narrow passageways between towering rows of soaked carpet, insulation and Sheetrock.

Its been 62 days since Ida's arrival. It will be many years before she truly leaves.

A photographer recently caught up with Calvin Johnson, who was smoking a cigar recently under what once had been a giant pecan tree along the levee in Reserve near where hes lived his entire life.

Johnson used to grab pecans from under the tree on his way to fish on the levee nearby or sit and enjoy a cold drink under its shade. Now the tree has been cut, its stunted limbs a metaphor for what Ida did to his hometown.

The storm's impact won't be soon forgotten.

It's going to be a big change because everything is just different now, he said.
As the only Democrat in statewide office, Gov. John Bel Edwards has served as a focal point, and a convenient foil, for all those Republicans in other offices and leading the Legislature.

But Edwards departure from the state last week  temporarily, to attend the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow  offers a hint of where state politics are headed once he leaves for good in a little over two years.

So get ready for something we havent seen since Edwards trounced then-U.S. Sen. David Vitter after Vitter waged an ugly primary battle against two fellow Republicans, Jay Dardenne and Scott Angelle: a GOP civil war.

Attorney General Jeff Landry, who has been holding down the partys right flank throughout his career, fired the first real warning shot in the direction of Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser. With Edwards out of the country learning how to pivot to the green energy economy  or in Landrys words, cozying up to those responsible for higher gas prices and job losses  the A.G. pointed out that Nungesser gets to be acting governor. That, Landry tweeted, means he can seize the opportunity to immediately issue Executive Order terminating declaration of public health emergency and ending John Bels masking of our kids!

Nungesser, who has a generally friendly relationship with the governor and who has argued that Landry is too extreme to get elected, will do no such thing, of course. But the implicit dare is likely a sign of a more direct onslaught to come if both qualify.

That seems increasingly likely. Nungesser has made no secret of his ambitions, and now a top Landry deputy, Liz Murrill, is making moves to run for attorney general if her boss doesnt seek reelection, something that she surely wouldnt do without inside information. And, as if he needed to further bolster his right wing bona fides, Landry also penned a blistering attack against Republican U.S. Sen Bill Cassidy on the conservative Hayride site for voting to impeach Donald Trump.

To sum up the developments: Game On.

Landry and Nungesser probably wont have the field to themselves, though.

Lurking on the sidelines for now is Treasurer John Schroder, who could take a cue from his predecessor John Kennedy and use his post as head of the State Bond Commission to make political points. He recently delayed a decision to on whether to cut JPMorgan Chase & Co. out of a deal to refinance $700 million in state bonds after CEO Jamie Dimon testified before Congress that the bank wont do business with companies that sell military-style weapons to the general public. Schroder told Bloomberg | Quint that hes working to determine if the bank has policies that he thinks infringe on Second Amendment rights.

Not surprisingly, Landry, who sits on the commission, is pushing the issue.

Also in the wings is state Sen. Rick Ward, R-Port Allen, who said recently that hes considering a run. And still out there are plenty of other Republicans, including state Sen. Sharon Hewitt of Slidell, who is about to oversee the highly political redistricting process, plus a possible a member of Congress or two.

There will surely be at least one Democrat on the gubernatorial ballot come 2023. Still, a majority of Louisianas electorate votes Republican in most cases, and the pendulum is likely to swing back after eight years under Edwards. Add to that the fact that the governor is showing no signs of grooming a successor, and its hard to see another Democrat having a shot.

But then, stranger things have happened. In fact, they did the last time a bunch of Republicans ran in an open race for governor.
Mark Romig screwed up. Big time.

The New Orleans and Co.s chief marketing officer is largely responsible for attracting, hooking and getting people to visit New Orleans from other parishes, states and beyond, however he can. Television commercials are a proven method, so he took that route.

A 30-second spot  The New Orleans you love is back  aired in several markets to let viewers know that despite Hurricane Ida and the pandemic, the Crescent City is open for business. The aim was to nudge them to book a trip, book a room, book a meal and book some good times as they drop dollars to help our local tourism economy.

I have concerns about spending money to lure people to a city that is getting better with its vaccination rates but still has too many unvaccinated people and too many places where people seem to care little about COVID-19 safety. I prefer to see COVID-safe culture bearers and COVID-safe businesses promote themselves as COVID-safe havens, welcoming only the vaccinated and those who can prove they have good reason not to be protected, something more than because I dont want to.

Setting aside those concerns, Ive considered what Romig did, what he didnt do and what he did after that.

New Orleans and Co. is publicly funded to tout tourism and to bring people here to spend money and boost our economy. Without digging into how the system is set up, Ill focus on an important part of what they do and what Romig is responsible for getting done.

If were honest, we want all people of all kinds to visit and spend money. If were honest, pitching New Orleans to people in Hialeah, Florida (92% White) or Boise, Idaho (87% White) is different than selling the city to the people of Atlanta and South Fulton, Georgia (more than 90% Black) or Jackson, Mississippi (more than 78% Black). I appreciate seeing diverse representations when I watch commercials, but I really like seeing people who look something like me. Im sure that was true with the people who saw the controversial spot.

Unfortunately, the commercial Romig approved features a middle-aged White couple with limited visual inclusion of other types of people. I think I caught a millisecond of a Black guy in a quick musical segment. You cant expect much when youre packing in a lot into 30 seconds  or can you?

When its our money, public dollars, we need to count on the basics being covered. I hope friends in Fargo and Spokane appreciate the diversity of the place where they have a good time. With a price tag of about $15,000 for the production and about $1.4 million for television market media placement, we shouldnt have to worry about whether well be presented as we are.

The population of New Orleans is 60% Black. The commercial was scheduled to run from Sept. 27 through Oct. 31 in Houston, New Orleans, Lafayette, Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Monroe, Shreveport, Jackson, Birmingham and Mobile-Pensacola. I cant imagine my friends in Houston, Baton Rouge, Monroe and Birmingham not noticing a New Orleans commercial with no Black people in a prominent role. They did notice. The blowback was swift. Romig pulled the spot, replacing it with one that had been scheduled for early 2020, just as the pandemic struck.

I dont like what happened. What I do like is that Romig took decisive action, he took full responsibility and he apologized.

Its not as though Romig doesnt work with a diverse group of talented professionals. About half of his core, 8-person marketing team includes Black women and a Latino man. He made his decision to run with the quite White spot on a weekend and rushed it into rotation. He skipped an important step.

Identifying, recruiting and hiring diverse talent is important. What matters more is inclusion and listening. Romig didnt include his team. They never saw it. They couldnt raise a flag, ask a question or laugh. I failed my team, Romig told me.

But Romig did what too many people  especially White men  fail to do. He listened, stepped up, spoke up, took responsibility and apologized.

A good apology goes a long way. Romig learned from his mistake. I hope others do, too.
Editor's Note This article is brought to you by American Standard Roofing.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, American Standard Roofing installed about 2000 roofs on New Orleans homes and businesses. Now, 16 years later, very few of them have needed to be replaced because of damage or poor quality.

Its not always just about the shingle, but more about how it is installed, said Julie Lang, director of human resources and production manager at American Standard Roofing. We use a better wind rating installation, so our roofs can withstand much more damage.

Barron Jones, managing partner and co-owner at American Standard Roofing, said each roof the company installs has a high wind application to ensure it has a higher chance of staying in place during a hurricane or other severe weather event.

In general, each shingle gets six nails as opposed to the standard four nails, Jones said. When two shingles overlap, you have 12 nails holding them versus eight nails, which is a big difference.

Jones said that the companys roofs are also installed with metal edging around the perimeter and a specialty starter strip across the shingles or any exposed edges of the home. These serve as a foundation for the overlay of shingles and other roofing materials.

The metal edging holds things down and there is a strip on top of that, so it creates a foundation, he explained. Because we use this specific process on our roofs, they can withstand 130 mph winds versus the 100 mph warranty standard with the exact same shingle. Thats the difference between your home sustaining no damage and having to pay another $10,000 deductible. It makes a really big difference.

When it comes to paying for a new roof, Lang said many homeowners are often surprised to realize they have a separate high deductible if their roof was damaged by a storm. To help those homeowners and others, American Standard Roofing offers financing to help alleviate the burden. Lang said the goal is to install roofs that will last for several years and help homeowners avoid the costly cycle of replacing or repairing poor quality roofs.

To help people more quickly and avoid the supply chain delays that are plaguing many in the construction industry, Jones said American Standard Roofing has changed its entire operation to ensure they can receive materials within days, rather than weeks or months.

We have our own warehouse and our own supply line, he said. We have truckers bring shingles directly from the manufacturers to our warehouse. We do not have to wait for materials from a supplier because we manage everything in-house ourselves. That makes a huge difference.

Lang said getting materials to customers quickly is one key aspect of the companys commitment to helping residents and business owners. Staff members are available to answer calls in person each day. After a call, Lang said a person generally receives a free inspection and quote the same day or the next day.

Within two days, we have somebody there to check things out, she said. Because we have a supply line ready to go, we can usually get roofs on within about 10 days. We know that if someones home is damaged, they cant do any work inside until they have a new roof. We understand that sense of urgency.

Jones added that most American Standard Roofing employees and installers have been with the company for more than a decade, giving them the experience necessary to help residents and business owners.

Our installers know the quality of work that we expect and what needs to be done to meet those expectations, he said. We dont take shortcuts. We treat each house as if it was our own house.

American Standard Roofing is located at 2504 Airline Drive in Kenner. For more information, visit www.trustasr.com, email contact@trustasr.com or call 504-232-6151.
Editor's Note This article is sponsored content.

For many in Louisiana, the idea of going to college is an exciting option. Multiple studies have shown that a bachelors degree can increase a persons earning power by several thousand dollars. Other credentials, such as an associates degree or industry certification, can also unlock new career opportunities.

But the cost can be daunting. At most Louisiana public universities, a 12-hour semester for an in-state student can cost $7,000 to more than $10,000 in tuition and fees. That does not include other expenses such as books and materials, housing, transportation and more.

The good news is that there are several financial aid options available for Louisiana students who want to pursue higher education. Here are some key tips for families:

Fill out the Federal Application For Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.studentaid.gov. By completing this form, a prospective student will be applying for a variety of financial aid options, including TOPS for new Louisiana high school graduates.

Look for scholarships specific to your chosen university or intended major. Many schools offer scholarships based on a persons background or career field. In addition, some national organizations and associations also offer scholarships for students interested in their industries.

Research local scholarship options and apply for as many as possible. Several community groups offer one-time scholarships each year. These include law enforcement agencies, civic organizations and more.

Consider a community college. In Louisiana, most community colleges cost $4,000 to $4,500 per semester in tuition and fees for in-state students. These are an excellent option for a student seeking an associates degree in a specific field or someone looking to build up credits in core courses before moving to a four-year institution.

Keep records of all expenses and receipts, as they may be tax-deductible.

Many people who work in higher education often say, Its not how you start. Its how you finish. There will inevitably be bumps along the road to earning a college degree. Youll struggle in some courses and excel in others. You might decide to change majors and pursue a different career path. All of it is okay and all part of the learning process. Universities themselves are also undergoing lots of changes, so folks there understand the importance of being flexible and adaptable. Here are some key trends to keep in mind on your own educational journey:

Across the country, more people are transferring to a different college after a year or two. Sometimes, another university is in a more desirable location or offers a specific program thats a better fit for a students goals. If you begin to think you want to transfer, do a lot of research ahead of time. Visit your new potential school and talk with the staff and other students. Check to see which of your existing credits will transfer. Transferring can be a positive option, but its also a big move, so you will want to be as prepared as possible.

Your courses wont all look the same. Many universities have returned to mostly in-person classes, but most experts think the online and hybrid courses that took hold during the pandemic will continue to be offered to some extent. These days, the path to a degree could include a mixture of lectures, seminars, online courses, lab work, webinars and other formats.

Stay organized. To successfully complete courses, students need skills like self-motivation and time management. Some like to keep a physical planner or calendar. Others prefer productivity apps or other digital resources. Use whatever works for you so you dont miss deadlines and assignments, as doing so could have a negative impact on a grade.
Norman, OK (73070)

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Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 49F. SSE winds shifting to NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

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Norman, OK (73070)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High near 70F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

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Sayre, Pa.  Police were called to the scene after a patient became irate and attempted to spit on and hit staff members at Robert Packer Hospital.

Gregory Jackson, 49, of Ithaca, NY told officers with the Sayre Borough Police Department he was going to fight and spit on the them as they entered a room at the Robert Packer Hospital.

After speaking with staff, officers alleged Jackson spit on staff and kicked a nurse and doctor.

Once back at the station, officers said they attempted to remove a spit guard from Jackson. According to the report, Jackson attempted to spit on an officer, but was partially obstructed by the guard and missed.

Officers said they placed Jackson back into cuffs and shackles for safety reasons.

Jackson was charged with six counts of second-degree felony aggravated assault, third-degree misdemeanor disorderly conduct, and summary harassment. Unable to post $50,000 monetary bail, Jackson will remain the Bradford County Prison until a preliminary hearing with Judge Larry Hurley on Nov. 9.

Docket sheet
Harrisburg, Pa. -- The idea of Gerrymandering is as old as the country itself. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, "Gerrymandering describes the intentional manipulation of district boundaries to discriminate against a group of voters on the basis of their political views or race."

Pa. has long been politically gerrymandered at the hands of politicians whose only goal is to stay in power, and members of the Pa. Redistricting Advisory Council have been holding listening sessions across the state to gather public feedback on congressional redistricting.

The opinions of Pennsylvanians must be heard as the legislature prepares to draw new congressional district boundary maps," said Gov. Tom Wolf.

"The decisions made through the redistricting process will affect every person and community in Pennsylvania for the next decade. Reviewing the maps is one of my most important acts as governor and I take that responsibility extremely seriously," Wolf said.

Related reading: Pa. redistricting panel rolls back new policy to count incarcerated people in home districts, not state prisons

Related reading: How to get involved in Pa.s pivotal redistricting process

Created by an executive order signed by Wolf on Sept. 13, the six-member council is comprised of redistricting experts who will provide guidance to Wolf and assist his review of the congressional redistricting plan, which will be passed by the state legislature later this year.

The administration said the council will review redistricting processes in other states that reduce gerrymandering, develop factors to determine if a plan improves the integrity and fairness and prevents the dilution of a persons vote, then offer "recommendations to ensure that districts are compact and contiguous to keep communities together and ensure people are proportionally represented."

"I have long believed that gerrymandering is wrong, and politicians should not use the redistricting process to choose their own voters. That is why I have tasked the advisory council with listening to people and providing their expert advice to me so that I can better evaluate the maps in the best interest of all Pennsylvanians," Wolf added.

In addition to the council and the listening sessions, the Wolf administration said they created a redistricting website the public can use "to submit proposed maps, outline communities of interest, and submit comments to help shape the outcome of this critical part of our democratic process."

The release by the administration said Wolf "has long fought to modernize our elections to remove barriers to voting, and improve the process for citizens and election officials."

In 2019, Wolf signed a law "with the most significant improvement to Pennsylvanias elections in more than 80 years." Act 77 of 2019, "created the extremely popular option to cast a ballot by mail without an excuse and provided more time to register to vote, among other enhancements," according to the administration.

The administration secured $90 million to assist counties with purchasing new voting systems with a paper trail and modern security. The state also created the option for people to register to vote, or update their registration online for the first time, which more than 3 million people have used, the release from the administration added.

State College:

When: Monday, Nov. 1 at 11:00 a.m.

Where: Penn State Main Campus at HUB-Robeson Center, 201 Old Main St., University Park, Pa., 16802

Mansfield:

When: Wed., Nov 3 at 5:30 p.m.

Where: Manser Hall at Mansfield University, 31 S. Academy St., Mansfield, Pa., 16933

To attend the public listening session, citizens are asked to RSVP with your name and event date to the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at OIARSVP@pa.gov
Georgia

wire

Female entrepreneurs share business knowledge at Dalton State College

DALTON  I always wanted a career where I could be the kind of mother I wanted to be, and the way to do that was to be my own boss, said Rebekah Conner, who owns Wildwood Charm boutique. I built a career to lead the life I want to live.

Clients have become almost like family for Logan Kilgore, owner/operator of Logan Kilgore Photography. My closest friends, now, started as my clients.

As a makeup artist, youre there for special occasions, like weddings, as well as hard times, like funerals, said Cynthia Evans, who owns CME Beauty Bar and operates out of Taskers Barber & Salon. Youre like a therapist.

A pro of owning ones own business is the decisions youre allowed to make, said April Ashley, founder and owner of Freedom from Laundry. I love having the freedom of calling the shots.

However, owning a business does present hardships, such as having no one above you, (meaning) youre the ultimate boss, Conner said. If, for example, your warehouse floods, youre going, no choice.

Just because normal business hours are over doesnt mean (your work) is actually over, Evans said. She had to set 6 p.m. as a cutoff for returning messages, because it became overwhelming, (as) people were texting me for appointments at 2 a.m.

Set boundaries, she advised others. You have to have that balance and know when to put work aside.

Its hard to set boundaries when (clients) are used to being able to contact you at any time, Kilgore said. I wish I wouldve put a structure in place earlier.

Being a business owner also gets really lonely, (as) friends you had before dont understand youre busy working and unavailable to meet, she said. Ill edit until 2 or 3 a.m., and if I go to bed before 1 a.m., I feel guilty.

She has started setting aside 45 minutes five days a week for the gym, and that is my me time, she said. I feel really good about that.

Ashleys husband gifts her massages at a spa to de-stress, she said. That has become my time to relax.

Surrounding oneself with brilliant minds, then allowing them to do what they do best, is also important to entrepreneurial success, a lesson Ashley learned from her father, a professional motorcycle racer who later owned several bike shops, she said. I dont think we can ever stop learning.

Kilgore, agrees, as she spends roughly $10,000 annually on training, workshops and professional development, she said. I want to get it right, (and) its made a big difference for me.

Finding mentors is critical, as is mentoring others, Conner said. Find a mentor and be a mentor, (because) owning a business can be very lonely.

You want to find people with similar passions as mentors, make friendships with people of other generations  they have different opinions and different knowledge than you  and dont try to do it all yourself, because that could be your downfall, said Leeann Hargis, operations manager of Freedom from Laundry. There are so many people willing to help you for nothing, so find those resources.

If you find someone genuine who wants to help, keep them around, Evans said. Find (people) you can grow from and with.

Ashley, Conner, Evans, Kilgore and Hargis shared their business perspective as part of Dalton State Colleges Wright School of Business Women Entrepreneurship Week panel Tuesday, which was co-sponsored by the Dalton Innovation Accelerator.

A complete experience

Kilgore began her photography career eight years ago when her daughter was born, initially taking pictures only of her, but that grew quickly into photographing other families, said the Northwest Whitfield High School alumna. I specialize in maternity (photos), about 70% of my business, and thats also due to her experience with her daughter.

I missed out on those pictures when she was pregnant, and she didnt avail herself of many newborn photos, either, so I give women a complete experience with memories theyll cherish forever, and I make it easy for them, with a hair-and-makeup stylist on set to make them feel completely gorgeous that day, she said.

Some of her clients have done 40 shoots with her from maternity and newborn to holidays and milestones, so I watch their kids grow up.

My personal and work lives blend together

Conners business began online, but she opened a brick-and-mortar location on Cleveland Highway in 2019, and she currently ships to all 50 states and several countries, she said. I say I accidentally started a business, because with three small children, we needed extra income, as she was a teacher at the time and her husband was in law enforcement.

Im very thankful it turned into something, and Conners dedication has much to do with her business thriving, as my personal and work lives blend together, she said. Im not great at work-life balance, and while theres a lot of personal fulfillment in building something, its also tough when you see things fall apart.

However, one cannot be afraid of making mistakes, she said. Thats just part of starting a business.

You can control your atmosphere

Hargis became interested in entrepreneurship at age 8 as she spoke to small business owners in her hometown of Ringgold.

Shes always wanted to be a boss who makes people feel good about their job, and with a small business you know everyone, which is not the case with a corporation, she said. You can control your atmosphere and the culture you really want as a small business owner.

Time is our most precious commodity

Ashley was a licensed builder in two states and did that for two decades, an experience that taught her what people want and dont want, she said. Time is our most precious commodity, and her business provides people more time to pursue their passions by outsourcing laundry.

People are very busy, and Freedom from Laundry provides a service that gives people time, she said. You can make more money, but you cant make more time.

Her clients have ranged from people with parents in senior centers who prefer to spend their visitation time interacting with their parents rather than doing their laundry to emergency responders who descended upon the Chattanooga area last year following that citys destructive tornado.

Im happy to help people, and I never lost the desire to help people, she said. People appreciate when you make their life easier, and its nice to be appreciated.

I fell in love with the idea of business

Evans has been doing makeup since high school, and it quickly became a business, (as) I got my first two weddings in 2013, she said. She launched Clean Candle Co., which creates clean candles without harmful ingredients, while sitting home in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it got a crazy (good) response.

Evans was challenged to find jobs because she uses a wheelchair, so creating her own work proved a productive solution, and I fell in love with the idea of business early in life, she said. I have a business mind, and my mind never stops.

Conners boutique sells sizes ranging from small to triple-extra large, along with accessories and gifts, and shes had some inventory issues due to the supply chain problems afflicting businesses across the country right now, she said.

Last year, the online portion of her operation received a huge influx of business because people were shopping more online from home, but that reversed this year, with the physical location doing better as people venture back out after quarantining much of last year due to COVID-19.

The pandemic actually led to an increase in business for Freedom from Laundry, as individuals who were having groceries and meals delivered during quarantine quickly thought of also having laundry delivered, although there was concern for Ashley at the start of pandemic because we did a lot of Airbnbs, and those just stopped when travel ceased for the most part, Ashley said. As a business owner, its OK to be scared, but just keep going, and dont turn back those willing to help.

When things opened up, people were crazy, booking two or three years in advance, and this year is the busiest Ive been, Evans said. I havent had a break in I dont know when.

Kilgore took eight weeks off at the start of the pandemic, but bookings have been solid since she returned to work, she said. Photos have become more important, because people are passing away from COVID-19, and shes taken several photos of individuals that were used in obituaries.

Hosting the panel was an ideal way to mark the eighth annual Women Entrepreneurship Week, as women entrepreneurs are near and dear to my heart, and having a pair of Wright School of Business alumnae on the panel in Evans and Hargis is heartwarming, said Marilyn Helms, dean of the Wright School of Business. Entrepreneurship has become an increasingly popular path within the school.

At Dalton State, Hargis learned true leadership and the skills to put in place, she said. I cannot forget what I learned here.
NTV News 24 is a service of Nippon Television, Japan's leading broadcasting network. This page provides a selection of today's stories in English.
COVID-19 magnified a situation that was under the surface before the pandemic, Byelick said.

"Many people have begun to reflect on their lives and what is essential to their happiness. The idea of turning over nearly every waking hour to a company for substandard wages, as well as a lack of career growth plan (not to mention respect) has caused many to re-think their career goals," he said. "Many people are raising their own personal bar for how they spend their time, wish to be compensated and their expectations for how they need to be treated, which has further contributed to the labor shortage. It's a 'buyer's market' when it comes to seeking certain jobs and the job seeker is using that to their advantage."

The tight labor market has been a challenge from a business standpoint.

"Many businesses have been forced to reduce hours of operation, scale back on services offered and have been forced to raise prices as a means to offer higher wages," Byelick said. "From a worker standpoint, there are more options of available jobs from which to choose with greater pay."

Anthony Sindone, Purdue University Northwest clinical associate professor of finance and economic development, said his sense was that workers were on strike over a lack of wages and benefits.
Real estate investor Thomas Wisniewski appears to be nearly out of options for trying to hang on to the hundreds of properties he attempted to acquire at the March 19, 2019, Lake County Commissioners tax sale.

Last week, the Indiana Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a Lake Circuit Court ruling authorizing the Lake County auditor to rescind Wisniewski's 504 unredeemed tax sale certificates.

The three-judge appellate panel found no reason to disturb the April 2021 decision by Circuit Judge Marissa McDermott that found Wisniewski was ineligible to bid at the tax sale due to his own unpaid property taxes that Wisniewski failed to pay off before the deadline set by the Lake County treasurer.

Moreover, the appeals court noted Wisniewski also violated tax sale rules by using family friends and related businesses to buy tax sale certificates on his behalf when he was ineligible to participate due to unpaid property taxes.

"Under these circumstances, we cannot say the circuit court erred by lifting the stay and authorizing the treasurer to act on the forfeiture of the 504 ineligibly obtained tax sale certificates," the appeals court said.
Jeff Biggers is helping to instill the message about understanding climate change in the Region via his latest artistic project.

Biggers, who is the Climate Narrative Playwright-in-Residence at the Indiana Northwest School of the Arts in Gary, recently wrote "Kaminski's Lot," revolving around the important topic of climate change.

"The school commissioned me to do an original play," said Biggers, who is a playwright, historian, journalist, author and actor.

"Kaminski's Lot" opens Nov. 4 and runs through Nov. 13 at Theatre Northwest. As the Climate Narrative Playwright-In-Residence, a role he recently was appointed to, Biggers is playing an instrumental part in IU Northwest's Climate Season yearlong project, which combines the arts and other subjects to help further educate people about climate change.

Biggers, who resides in Iowa City, Iowa, said he's honored to be working with IU Northwest in this role.

The writer said that, to his knowledge, IU Northwest is "one of the first institutions" to hire a playwright-in-residence to solely take on the role of addressing climate change and the environment.

Biggers founded the nonprofit Climate Narrative Project, geared to schools and community organizations, seven years ago.
Ive been working on this book for nearly three years and so many different things contributed to the final story! Its truly a sort of book soup: a bit of this, a little of that. But at the center of it all is a cold case in Iowa that I stumbled across several years ago. My heart went out to the family and friends who are still looking for answers, and that quest for resolution and hope in the midst of such brokenness is littered across the pages of "Everything We Didnt Say."

Absolutely. I love my small town (and the people in it) so very much, but Im afraid sometimes that we think the line between good and evil runs around the outskirts of town. "Us and them" narratives are so simple and satisfying, but the truth is much more complicated. Small towns can be places of intimate community and belonging, but they are also filled with secrets, prejudices and the same turmoil and tragedies that plague, well, everywhere. We arent perfect, we arent even always good, and I think we need to be honest about that. I want to have conversations about where we might be myopic and insular, and find ways to work through our own short-sightedness. I want to be candid about the ways that we fail, and try to be and do better instead of pretending weve got it all together.
Carter and others spoke of Boswell's drive and determination.

She spent her early professional career as a social worker before attending Loyola University Law School in Chicago part-time.

After five years of working full-time as a social worker and part-time law student on top of being a mother and wife, she earned her law degree in 1991.

She'd often bring her son Alger Boswell III with her to night school in Chicago.

Boswell served as a Lake County deputy prosecutor from 1994 to April 2005, when then-Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed her to the bench.

"She was the most logical person I've ever met," friend Paulette Davis said during Saturday's service.

Boswell's cousin Arthel B. Martin, who remarked their relationship was more that of a brother and sister, said that even as a kid Boswell "wanted to save everyone."

Martin said Boswell was also a beloved friend to everyone who knew her.

"If she was your friend," Martin said. "She was your true friend. ... She was a friend to everyone."

Martin remarked that one day he sat in on her courtroom and she had sentenced someone to a lengthy prison sentence.
I stood on these steps on my very first day, on March 1 of this year, he said during his inaugural address at the chapel. The eight months since is one of the most fascinating challenges of my life. Its been a journey of learning, of earning my seat at the dinner table with my Valpo family, of sensing God has sent me to do this work and seeing Him in the faces and eyes of Valparaisos students.

Padilla spoke to various stakeholder groups, starting with the board of directors.

What Ive seen is how four years in a young persons life can translate into devotion to the university to make it what you are today, he said. You are carpenters who walk in the path of the greatest carpenter of all, Gods only Son.

To the faculty, he said, Your scholarship leaps off the pages into the hearts and minds of young men and women. Being teachers, not just scholars, is clearly a passion for the faculty, he said.

To the staff, he said, Its not an exaggeration to see during a pandemic, you helped keep people alive. The extra effort toward cleanliness and safety, as well as vaccinations, has paid off. Last week, there were no new COVID-19 cases on campus.
VALPARAISO  A bronze statue of an old-fashioned firefighter now sits outside the old firehouse on Indiana Avenue, just south of the Porter County Courthouse.

The statue, installed Friday by sculptor Ryan Feeney, was unveiled to the public Saturday morning.

Feeney said the 67 on the firefighters helmet signifies 1867, when the Valparaiso Fire Department was created. The firefighter is meant to look like hes an 1878 vintage. Sitting beside him is Old Joe, the firehouse dog. The original Old Joe is portrayed in an old photograph, sitting on a fire engine.

I just kind of did an old firemans face, Feeney said. The firefighter features a luxuriant mustache. A lot of them were called snot slingers, he said, because the mustache protected the mouth from nasal drips before air supplies were issued to firefighters to protect them during fires.

The firefighter sculpture looks over the scene of some major fires on the courthouse square  including the courthouse itself, in December 1934. 5/3 Bank now stands on the site of a fatal fire. Another line-of-duty fire occurred at the corner of Franklin and Lincolnway; a firefighter fell off a house while responding to a fire in 1905 and died two years later of injuries sustained in that fall.
The bells will be ringing out once again as The Salvation Army's Red Kettles return to Lake County on Monday.

"We start on Monday at all the Strack & Van Til grocery stores and Cabela's in Hammond," Capt. Brian Clark, Salvation Army Lake County coordinator said.

In addition, the Porter County Salvation Army's Red Kettles campaign will kick of from 3-5 p.m. on Nov. 12 in front of the Porter County Courthouse, 16 E. Lincolnway, Valparaiso, said Angie Kalin, developmental director for The Salvation Army.

The kickoff will serve as an invitation for everyone to attend an open house from 1-4 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Porter County Salvation Army headquarters at 799 Capitol Road in Valparaiso.

The Red Kettle campaign kicks off this season as thousands of Hoosiers are still experiencing the ongoing impact of the pandemic as they struggle to stay in their homes.

More than 85,000 households in Indiana are behind on rent, according to Policy Link. The Salvation Army has seen an increase in requests for emergency financial assistance for rent, mortgage, and utilities during the last 18 months.

The Salvation Army in Lake County is hoping to collect $300,000, up from the amount collected in last year's campaign, Clark said.
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.
All 92 counties have submitted applications for READI grants from 17 regions, totaling more than $1 billion.

Greller noted that guidance from the Treasury Department is not final on how ARP funds can be used.

Thats causing a bit of concern, he said. Most of these communities are taking a very methodical, conservative approach.

Indianas Republican congressional delegation did not support ARP, with U.S. Sen. Todd Young saying that just about 10% of the plan covered pandemic relief.

I think were trustees of the taxpayers dollars, and maybe Im old fashioned, but you know what, most Hoosiers agree with me, said Young. We need targeted packages. And people work hard for their money so Im not here to waste money, Im here to support all the priorities Hoosiers want.

Meanwhile, Indiana Democrats see Young as a born-again deficit hawk, noting that he supported spending under former President Trump that resulted in $7.8 trillion in additional national debt, with budget deficits more than $1 trillion.

Greller noted that Indiana mayors and council members have always done a good job of staying out of the political fray.

Ive never been more impressed by Indiana local leaders putting aside the political talk, Greller said. Most officials have never seen this level of investment from Congress.

Brian Howey is publisher of Howey Politics Indiana. Follow him on Twitter @hwypol. The opinions are the writer's.

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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.
Comedian Groucho Marx once quipped: "Who are you going to believe  me or your own eyes?"

Panic among Democrats is well-founded in that Blacks constitute approximately 20% of voters in Virginia and can make all the difference in the outcome of the election. And Blacks poll strongly in favor of parental choice in education.

In 2018, Republican candidate Ron DeSantis defeated Black Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum by fewer than 40,000 votes in the gubernatorial election in Florida. One reason was DeSantis got 18% of the vote of Black women. This was most likely Black mothers expressing appreciation for the 100,000 low-income children attending private schools through tax-credit funded scholarships provided through the Step Up for Students program.

If anything positive has come out of COVID-19, it has driven home to many parents the implications of government and politically controlled schools.

Given the central importance of education to a child's future, more parents are becoming aware of grave implications of losing control of when and where their children are taught, how they are taught and what they are taught.
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 pandemicincluding 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.
The decades-long push to rescind the medals gained new momentum last year amid a broader national wave of reckoning about historical and systemic racism, with Confederate monuments coming down, the military backing efforts to rename military bases in Southern states that now honor Confederate generals and demonstrators holding large protests against the killings of Black men and women by the police.

The U.S. government did everything they could to exterminate and assimilate the Indigenous population in our country, Mr. Heinert said. Our ancestors fought and died to keep our language, keep our tradition and keep our ceremonies, and I think the climate has put us in a space and time that allows us to have a frank conversation about public policy and what it means to be Indigenous in this country.

Kevin Killer, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said the push to rescind the medals honored the wishes of elders whose calls went unheard for generations. Mr. Killer said it was important for future generations to know an injustice was addressed.

It was one of the largest atrocities in the history of this country, where mostly women and children were massacred because they were trying to have peace, Mr. Killer said. History tries to retell it and say there was a misunderstanding, but it was an atrocity any way you look at it.

Bernardo Rodriguez, a tribal council representative for the Wounded Knee District of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said that the community was reminded every day about the tragedy by a memorial to it  and that action by the government to rescind the medals was more than 100 years overdue.
PARIS  Pascale Collino, 64, is far more afraid of the Covid-19 vaccines than of the disease itself. So when the French government decided to implement a new health pass policy barring those without proof of vaccination or a recent negative test from many indoor venues, she took to the streets in protest.

We have to be on the front lines of this fight, Ms. Collino said on Saturday near the French health ministry in Paris, where a large crowd had converged, banging pots and cowbells.

For the third week in a row, thousands took to the streets around France to protest the governments health pass law, which was passed by Parliament recently but still needs a final greenlight from a top constitutional council, expected next week, before it can be fully enforced.
A divided three-judge panel of the court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ruled that the Trump administrations plan, called the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, was based on a fundamental misconstruction of the relevant law, prompted by a tortured series of misreadings.

The panel did not reinstate a 2015 Obama-era regulation, the Clean Power Plan, which would have forced utilities to move away from coal and toward renewable energy to reduce emissions. But it rejected the Trump administrations attempt to repeal and replace that rule with what critics said was a toothless one.

The Obama-era plan had aimed to cut emissions from the power sector by 32 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. To do so, it instructed every state to draft plans to eliminate carbon emissions from power plants by phasing out coal and increasing the generation of renewable energy.

The measure never came into effect. It was blocked in 2016 by the Supreme Court, which effectively ruled that states did not have to comply with it until a barrage of lawsuits from conservative states and the coal industry had been resolved. That ruling, followed by changes in the Supreme Courts membership that have moved it to the right, has made environmental groups wary of what the court might do in cases on climate change.

Shortly after Mr. Trumps election, his E.P.A. repealed the Clean Power Plan.

Professor Lazarus said the Supreme Courts decision to hear the case threatened to sharply cut back, if not eliminate altogether, the new administrations ability to use the Clean Air Act to significantly limit greenhouse gas emissions from the nations power plants.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court on Friday refused to block Maines requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus notwithstanding their religious objections.

As is the courts custom in rulings on emergency applications, its brief order gave no reasons.

But the three most conservative members of the court  Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch  issued a lengthy dissent, saying the majority had gone badly astray.

Where many other states have adopted religious exemptions, Maine has charted a different course, Justice Gorsuch wrote for the dissenting justices. 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. All for adhering to their constitutionally protected religious beliefs. Their plight is worthy of our attention.

The court had earlier rejected challenges to vaccination requirements at Indiana University and for personnel in New York Citys school system. Those rulings were issued by just one justice, which can be a sign that the legal questions involved were not considered substantial.
President Biden received communion on Saturday evening at St. Patricks Church in Rome, a day after he announced that Pope Francis had told him during their long private meeting at the Vatican that he should continue taking the sacrament.

Some conservative bishops in the United States have said the president, a Catholic and a regular churchgoer, should be denied communion because of his support for abortion rights.

Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, attended Mass at St. Patricks, an English-speaking church dedicated to the American Catholic community, after a day of high-level negotiations at the Group of 20 summit.

It meant a lot to the American church in Rome that he made this special effort to be there to be present and to worship with us, said the Rev. Steven J. Petroff, the churchs rector, who offered Mr. Biden communion.
The books own origins go back to around 2011, when Wengrow, whose archaeological fieldwork has focused on Africa and the Middle East, was working at New York University. The two had met several years earlier, when Graeber was in Britain looking for a job after Yale declined to renew his contract, for unstated reasons that he and others saw as related to his anarchist politics.

In New York, the two men sometimes met for expansive conversation over dinner. After Wengrow went back to London, Graeber started sending me notes on things Id written, Wengrow recalled. The exchanges ballooned, until we realized we were almost writing a book over email.

At first, they thought it might be a short book on the origins of social inequality. But soon they started to feel like that question  a chestnut going back to the Enlightenment  was all wrong.

The more we thought, we wondered why should you frame human history in terms of that question? Wengrow said. It presupposes that once upon a time, there was something else.

Wengrow, 49, an Oxford-educated scholar whose manner is more standard-issue professorial than the generally rumpled Graeber, said the relationship was a true partnership. He, like many, spoke with awe of Graebers brilliance (as a teenager, a much-repeated story goes, his hobby of deciphering Mayan hieroglyphics caught the eye of professional archaeologists), as well as what he described as his extraordinary generosity.

David was like one of those Amazonian village chiefs who were always the poorest guy in the village, since their whole function was to give things away, Wengrow said. He just had that ability to look at your work and sprinkle magic dust over the whole thing.
It was only decades later, according to Oxfords report on its research, that vaccine came to be used for inoculation against other diseases. Curiously, while the shortened form vax did not appear until the 1980s, the term anti-vax  spelled anti-vacks  appeared early.

The Anti-Vacks are assailing me  with all the force they can muster in the newspapers, Jenner himself wrote in an 1812 letter.

In our own time, vax  unlike box, tax and many other words  usually takes on a double x in inflected terms like vaxxed or anti-vaxxer, in keeping, the report says, with the trend toward expressive doubling that has become common in certain contexts (particularly in digital communication terms like doxxing).

The report cites neologisms like vaxxie, vaxinista and vax(i)cation and inoculati. Some may fade away and never make it into the dictionary. But others  like strollout, which gained prominence in Australia in May, amid frustration over the slow pace of vaccination programs  may become useful in a broader variety of contexts, McPherson said.

Some coinages speak to the polarization around vaccines themselves. Vaxxident (a road accident supposedly related to vaccine side effects) has so far been seen mainly on vaccine-skeptical websites, while spreadneck and anti-faxxer, relatively rare derogatory terms for vaccine skeptics and Covid deniers, may be more common on liberal blue-state lips.

For the first time, Oxfords report looks at the vocabulary of vaccination in nine other languages. Many languages, including French and Russian, simply use a version of the English word vaccine. In Spanish, the word for vaccine is vacuna, the feminine form of the adjective vacuno, or bovine. Unlike in English, where speakers often say shot or jab in colloquial contexts, vacuna is used across all registers, according to Oxfords report.
3. Over the past five years, police officers have killed more than 400 drivers or passengers who were not wielding a gun or a knife, or who werent under pursuit for a violent crime  a rate of more than one a week, a Times investigation found.

Many were stopped for common traffic offenses: a broken taillight, running a red light or swerving across double yellow lines. Relative to the population, Black drivers were overrepresented among those killed.

Traffic stops  which can be driven by the demand for revenue to fund towns  are the most common interactions between police officers and the public. The police consider them among the most dangerous things they do.

Officers have been charged in 32 cases, and nearly two dozen are pending. Only five officers have been convicted of crimes for the killing of motorists. But The Times found that evidence often contradicted the officers accounts. A visual investigation rolled back the footage capturing 120 fatal traffic stops and found that in dozens of incidents, officers made tactical mistakes that put them in positions of danger.
The travel writer and TV personality Rick Steves is back in Europe, planning itineraries for next year and working on his opus magnum. He believes that by next year people will be ready to travel again.

Do you think Americans are ready to travel overseas again?

I would say its not for everybody, but if you dont mind being well-organized and if youre enthusiastic about following the regulations and rules, its not a big deal. And Europe is ahead of the United States, I believe, in fighting Covid. Theres a huge respect for masks. More museums are requiring reservations to get in because they want to make sure its not crowded. Its kind of a blessing, actually.

You have long held that travel can do a lot of good in the world, but what about carbon emissions, overcrowding and other negative effects of travel?

Climate change is a serious problem and tourism contributes a lot to it, but I dont want to be flight-shamed out of my travels, because I think travel is a powerful force for peace and stability on this planet. So my company has a self-imposed carbon tax of $30 per person we take to Europe. In 2019, we gave $1 million to a portfolio of organizations that are fighting climate change.

Do you think travel will ever feel normal again?

There were certain people who decided they didnt want to travel after 9/11 because they didnt want to deal with security. You know, those people have a pretty low bar for folding up their shop. I got used to the security after 9/11, and Im getting used to Covid standards now. But I do think that, come next year, well be back to traveling again  and I hope that well all be better for it.

Read the full interview with Paige McClanahan.

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WASHINGTON  It was 73 days until Christmas, and the clock was ticking down for Catch Co.

The Chicago-based fishing company had secured a spot to sell a new product, an advent calendar for fishing enthusiasts dubbed 12 Days of Fishmas, in 2,650 Walmart stores nationwide. But like so many products this holiday season, the calendars were mired in a massive traffic jam in the flow of goods from Asian factories to American store shelves.

With Black Friday rapidly approaching, many of the calendars were stuck in a 40-foot steel box in the yard at the Port of Long Beach, blocked by other containers stuffed with toys, furniture and car parts. Truckers had come several times to pick up the Catch Co. container but been turned away. Dozens more ships sat in the harbor, waiting their turn to dock. It was just one tiny piece in a vast maze of shipping containers that thousands of American retailers were trying desperately to reach.

Theres delays in every single piece of the supply chain, said Tim MacGuidwin, the companys chief operations officer. Youre very much not in control.

Catch Co. is one of the many companies finding themselves at the mercy of global supply chain disruptions this year. Worker shortages, pandemic shutdowns, strong consumer demand and other factors have come together to fracture the global conveyor belt that shuffles consumer goods from Chinese factories, through American ports and along railways and freeways to households and stores around the United States.
It has been more than half a decade since coverage of the tech industry, once known for its boosterism, turned adversarial, with Facebook often at the center of the story. As the battle between tech companies and the news media continues, Mr. Zuckerberg appears to be acting on the view, increasingly common in his circle, that journalists are just another hostile interest.

As the opposing sides were digging into their trenches, I thought it would be interesting to talk with Jessica Lessin, a journalist and media executive who often finds herself in an awkward spot somewhere between the battle lines, and who also has an unusually charitable view into both camps. She is the founder and editor of The Information, which started in 2013 as the Silicon Valleys savvy and nimble answer to The Wall Street Journal, where she had been a star reporter.

Bigger publications would like to make a stink that hes going to the indies and not the big guys, which is frankly absurd, she said. Whats really happening is a recognition that there are many different audiences.

She also noted that the reporter from The Information who interviewed Mr. Zuckerberg last week had pressed him on whether he would step down as Facebooks chief executive.

Ms. Lessin has a unique vantage on Mr. Zuckerberg, and on the tensions between tech and the news media. She first remembers hearing his name in 2004, when she edited a story about The Facebook at The Harvard Crimson. She also spent part of the pandemic visiting him at his compound on Hawaiis island of Kauai  their families are close.
This article is part of a special report on Climate Solutions, which looks at efforts around the world to make a difference.

PARADISE, Calif.  When Hope Bolin heard she had to evacuate her home, she saw it as an inconvenience. She had too much to do that day. The fire was in Pulga, still 10 miles off. She walked back to her bedroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth.

Then, with shocking speed, the sky became black.

Soon after, immobile in gridlocked traffic with her young sons, Ms. Bolin feared they wouldnt make it out of Paradise alive. Houses along the road were ablaze. Combusting gas tanks shook their vehicle with each explosion.

Ms. Bolin contemplated off-roading her 4Runner, plowing through fences to another road or down into a canyon. Maybe getting out of the vehicle and running. At one point, she found herself scanning the inside of her car for an object to knock her boys unconscious; she didnt want them to suffer if the fire became inescapable.
Image Credit... Giacomo Bagnara

Whats Up? (Oct. 24-30)

The Facebook Papers

Last week, more than a dozen news organizations published reports based on a trove of Facebooks internal documents leaked by a former product manager. The documents detail what Facebook knew about its role in radicalizing users, employees questions about the impact of its core features, and its struggles to curb dangerous content internationally. The former Facebook employee-turned-whistle-blower, Frances Haugen, has appeared on 60 Minutes, in front of Congress, and  this past week  in Britains Parliament to argue that the company puts profits before people. (Facebook has said that it has millions of documents that counter those shared by Ms. Haugen). Whistle-blowers have filed at least nine complaints against Facebook with the Securities and Exchange Commission based on internal documents. On Thursday, Facebook changed its name to Meta.

Tesla Joins the Trillion-Dollar Club

Tesla reached a $1 trillion market valuation last week, a milestone that has only been passed by five other companies: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet. The spike in Teslas share price was propelled by an announcement from Hertz that it would convert more than 20 percent of its rental fleet to Teslas electric cars by the end of next year. The car-rental company said it would buy 100,000 Teslas, a purchase that Bloomberg reported would generate about $4.2 billion of revenue. Teslas market capitalization is greater than those of General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, Honda and several other automakers combined.

Inflation Is Still Going Up

Both companies and shoppers are noticing the impact of high inflation, driven in part by supply chain shortages. Prices of meat, poultry, fish and eggs in U.S. cities are up 15 percent since the start of 2020. And General Electric, Sherwin-Williams and Hasbro all noted that rising prices were affecting their businesses on calls with investors last week. One measure of inflation released on Friday, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, showed prices in the United States were rising at the fastest rate in three decades in September, while another measure showed the highest ever rate of inflation in the eurozone in October. Signals from the bond market suggest that rising inflation could last longer than the temporary bump in prices that many policymakers had expected because of the pandemic.

Image Credit... Giacomo Bagnara

Whats Next? (Oct. 31-Nov. 6)

It May Be Time to Taper

Federal Reserve officials will gather this week, and the two-day meeting is a big one. The central bank is expected to announce that it will begin winding down the bond-buying efforts it put in place to support the economy during the pandemic. The Fed has been signaling for months that it planned to begin tapering its bond purchases in November. But it is not expected to raise interest rates until at least the middle of next year.
GLASGOW  President Biden will walk into a riverside event space on Monday to try to convince a gathering of world leaders that the United States, which has pumped more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than any other nation, is finally serious about addressing climate change and that others should follow its lead.

But Mr. Biden is coming with a weaker hand than he had hoped.

He has been forced to abandon the most powerful mechanism in his climate agenda: a program that would have quickly cleaned up the electricity sector by rewarding power companies that migrated away from fossil fuels and penalizing those that did not. His fallback strategy is a bill that would provide $555 billion in clean energy tax credits and incentives. It would be the largest amount ever spent by the United States to tackle global warming but would cut only about half as much pollution.

And that proposal is still pending; Mr. Biden was unable to bridge divisions between progressives and moderates in his own party to cement a deal before leaving for Glasgow. If the legislation passes, he hopes to pair it with new environmental regulations, although they have yet to be completed and could be undone by a future president.

The president traveled to Glasgow from Rome, where the worlds 20 largest economies met and decided on Sunday that they would no longer finance new coal operations overseas.
This article is part of a special report on Climate Solutions, which looks at efforts around the world to make a difference.

BLAINE COUNTY, MONT.  The three generations of Obrecht men may not seem to fit the stereotype of conservationists.

Ranchers on a remote eastern Montana prairie near Canada, Sonny, 78, Sam, 61, and Tyrel Obrecht, 31, are ruggedly independent, politically conservative and make their living rearing cattle  those lumbering beasts that are the bete noire of carbon footprintconcerned conservationists.

But things are not always as they seem here on the Great Plains.

The Obrechts stand at the forefront of an emerging collaboration between ranchers, conservation groups and governmental agencies that aims to protect, restore and revitalize the United States and Canadas prairies  or whats left of them.
His expectation, based on experiments in his lab, is for 50 percent of this years air-sown iseeds to grow into trees. He will not know for sure until the November to April seeding season is over.

Similar initiatives have cropped up across the globe. A Canadian start-up, Flash Forest, has developed a mechanical device that shoots seedpods from drones deep into the soil. In Australia, Dendra Systems is using aerial seeding techniques to restore koala forests.

Stephane Hallaires Paris-based company, ReforestAction, has used rudimentary tools  shovels and spades  to plant 17 million trees in 40 countries over the last decade. Mr. Hallaire said using drones was a viable method for capturing CO2 in countries with vast unpopulated areas, like Canada or China. But he said he favored involving local communities and empowering a new generation of entrepreneurs to develop a more sustainable form of reforestation.

The trees need to improve peoples living conditions so that they are not cut down, he said.

In keeping with the European Union pledge to plant an extra three billion trees within its member states before 2030, Mr. Sesma and Mr. Sanchez said they would be satisfied when there was one extra tree planted for every person on the planet, every year.

An ambitious goal, but Mr. Sanchez said, not unattainable: With technologies like ours, it is possible.
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.

Malia Wollan is not out to scold you about your table manners.

Instead, her weekly Tip column in The New York Times Magazine contains tricks for crying on command from a telenovela actress, a guide to doing the splits from a 20-year-old sumo wrestler and advice for treating a wounded manatee from the top brass at SeaWorld.

Since Tips inception in 2015, Ms. Wollan has found value and humor in telling readers how to complete tasks they may never encounter. She applies the recognizable how-to framework to oddball subjects to give readers a glimpse of topics that may be unfamiliar to them. While each column does hold up as a procedural guide, the topic is more often a pretext to explore big philosophical questions and plumb the depths of human expertise.

I think of it as advice thats not really meant to be followed, Ms. Wollan said.

Ms. Wollan, a contributing writer for The Times Magazine, developed Tip with Dean Robinson, a story editor there. Mr. Robinson said he sought her out with a how-to column in mind, impressed by her ability to find interview subjects for wide ranging and totally unconstrained stories, like a feature on what children around the world eat for breakfast.

Ms. Wollan had previously spent five years writing about Northern California for The Timess National desk in San Francisco. She said covering breaking news helped prepare her to write a weekly column because you dont get to do a long, leisurely dive into something.
The Republican candidates in New Yorks competitive races differ from one another in tone, experience and the local issues that reflect their distinctive districts.

But all of those contests, party officials and strategists say, are shaped by the continued salience of public safety in the minds of voters, discussion of education matters like the gifted and talented program that Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to phase out, and intense feelings over vaccine mandates. Some Republicans even argue that the challenging national environment that Democrats appear to be facing may be evident in a handful of city races, too.

This has a lot of likenesses to 2009, when Obama came in on hope and change and then fell flat, said Nick Langworthy, the chairman of the New York Republican State Committee. In 2009 we had great gains at the local level, and then had a cataclysm in 2010. Are we facing that, or is there going to be flatness all the way around?

Whatever the turnout, Republicans are virtually certain to be shut out of citywide offices. Indeed, by nearly every metric, the Republican Party has been decimated in the nations largest city. They are vastly outnumbered in voter registration and have struggled to field credible candidates for major offices.

At the City Council level, Republican hopes boil down to a matter of margins.

The most optimistic Republican assessment, barring extraordinary developments, is that they could increase their presence to five from three on the 51-seat City Council, as they did in 2009. But even that would require a surprise outcome in a sleeper race  and it is possible they retain only one seat (setting aside the candidates who are running on multiple party lines).

Officials on both sides of the aisle believe a more realistic target for the Republicans is three or four seats, a number that could still affect the brewing City Council speakers race and may indicate pockets of discontent with the direction of the city.

The most high-profile of those contests is the last Republican-held seat in Queens.

Ms. Singh, a teacher who is endorsed by the left-wing Working Families Party, is running against Joann Ariola, the chairwoman of the Queens Republican Party. The race has stirred considerable interest from the left and the right and attracted spending from outside groups.
In popular imagination, a saint is someone who is perfect and selfless, who dwells in holy ecstasy and impeccable goodness. Dont call me a saint, Dorothy Day said. I dont want to be dismissed that easily.

But saints are imperfect people. And this is what draws me to this day. Christians dont remember these men and women because they were perfect. We remember them because, like us, they were broken, selfish and fearful, yet God wrought beauty and light through their lives.

At the first Anglican church I attended, over a decade ago, we didnt have a sermon on All Saints Sunday. Instead, congregants were invited to tell stories about people who had changed their life and faith. Some told stories of well-known saints  Teresa of Avila or Francis of Assisi. But they also told of friends bringing casseroles after the death of a spouse, of people showing up when life was falling apart, of professors, parents and neighbors. It was like a less polished version of The Moth Radio Hour, but in church. I loved it.

The story of how I came to know God is one about chance encounters and long friendships, honest conversations and books Ive read, people who have left the Christian faith and those who havent, communities whove loved me and dismayed me.

Though I grew up going to church, for most of my childhood, church history was a hazy and irrelevant idea. My imagination started with Jesus and his followers, then skipped across two millenniums and landed at my own congregation in a small town in central Texas. As an adult, I began learning about church history and it felt like an almost miraculous discovery. This broader global and ancient family expanded my vision of what Christianity is beyond the small confines of my culture, race and moment in time.
The jawboning has been going on for nearly a third of a century.

It started back in 1992. Delegates from around the world  including a hesitant American president, George H.W. Bush  met in Rio de Janeiro for an Earth Summit, earnestly promising to stop wrecking the planet. A new global treaty was hastily drawn up and plastered with a grand title: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

It was bold, promising to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous global warming. And it was vague, requiring countries to do close to nothing, except to keep meeting and jawboning. The United States Senate ratified it that same year without much hesitation.

What has happened to emissions since the nations of the world promised to stabilize them? They have gone up, by more than 60 percent. After a dip in 2020 caused by the pandemic, they have resumed their inexorable rise. Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have already reached alarming levels, and in that sense, the treaty has failed. Global temperatures are rising, too, as basic scientific theory predicted they would.

Catastrophic climate change is upon us  savage heat waves, destructive fires, epic rainstorms  and the situation is going to get much worse. So you would not have to be too much of a cynic to cast a wary eye upon the meeting that began Sunday in Scotland.
Then, in June, in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, the Supreme Court held that Philadelphias refusal to place children with a Catholic foster care agency that wouldnt work with same-sex parents was unconstitutional. According to the court, because the citys foster care contract said that agencies cannot reject foster or adoptive parents based on sexual orientation unless an exception is granted, the city allowed for exemptions and therefore had to offer the Catholic agency one for religious purposes.

By holding that laws that do not mention or target religion may still violate peoples religious rights in certain cases, the Tandon and Fulton decisions sent a message to vaccine resisters: You can challenge the constitutionality of any denial of a request for a religious exemption. In response, vaccine resisters have kept litigation flowing.

With once-settled doctrine upended, lower courts have reached different conclusions about the constitutionality of Covid-19 vaccine mandates. In the Maine case, Jane Does 1-6 v. Mills, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit emphasized the distinctions between medical and religious exemptions and refused to block Maines vaccine mandate for health care workers, which did not offer religious exemptions.

In contrast, in early October, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found that Western Michigan Universitys refusal to grant religious exemptions to student athletes was most likely unconstitutional because the mandate allowed for medical exemptions. This was similar to the reasoning that Justice Neil Gorsuch used in his dissent in Mills, which Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito joined. Troublingly, Justice Gorsuch also questioned how much longer the states interest in controlling the pandemic should be considered compelling.

The Supreme Courts decision in Mills shows it is in no rush to block mandates. Yet, because the majoritys views on the merits remain uncertain, lower courts are likely to continue to go in different directions. The Supreme Court may eventually decide to hear a case using its regular procedures.

If it does, its decision will have significant ramifications for vaccine mandates. Health conditions that warrant medical exemptions are relatively rare. Religious exemptions, by contrast, pose a far greater threat to vaccination efforts. Although very few religions object to the Covid-19 vaccines, policing the sincerity of someone seeking a religious exemption can be difficult and, as the Western Michigan University case shows, denying a requested exemption can now be constitutionally risky.

More worrisome, a decision by the Supreme Court that rejects its own precedent on vaccine mandates and ignores the distinctions between medical exemptions and religious exemptions will reverberate far beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. Whether or not the court intended to unsettle the constitutionality of vaccine mandates, it has done so. A ruling requiring religious exemptions for vaccine mandates will create more uncertainty and encourage people to demand a religious exemption to any health law they do not like.

The choice to invite that future belongs to the justices, but the consequences will be ours.
When Kermit Warren lost his job shining shoes during the Covid-19 pandemic last year, he and his son took his life savings of nearly $30,000 to buy a tow truck to support Mr. Warrens longtime side business of collecting scrap metal.

But after flying from New Orleans to Ohio to buy the truck, Mr. Warren and his son discovered that it was the wrong kind  it was designed for hauling heavy equipment, not scrap metal  so they returned home with $28,180 in cash in a pink gift bag.

As Mr. Warren walked through security at the airport in Columbus, Ohio, the screeners asked him about the money and then let him continue on.

At the gate, just before Mr. Warren and his son boarded their flight, three agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration asked Mr. Warren about the cash. He stammered that he had flown to Ohio to buy a truck but could not give the year, make or model, or show an ad or a picture of the truck, federal prosecutors later said in court papers.
When Daunte Wright was killed last spring by a police officer in Minnesota after being pulled over for expired registration tags, the case drew national attention. So have several other seemingly avoidable deaths of motorists.

Now, a New York Times investigation reveals the scope of such cases across the country  and why traffic stops for minor offenses can escalate into fatal encounters.

Over the last five years, The Times found, the police killed more than 400 drivers or passengers who were not wielding a gun or a knife or under pursuit for a violent crime.

Traffic stops  which are often motivated by hidden budgetary considerations because of the ticket revenue they generate  are the most common interactions between police officers and the public. Yet the police consider them among the most dangerous things they do.

That presumption of peril has been significantly overstated, but it has become ingrained in police culture and court precedents  contributing to impunity for most officers who use lethal force at vehicle stops.

Here are some other key findings.

How encounters escalate

Many of the vehicle stops The Times reviewed began for common traffic violations like broken taillights, or for questioning about nonviolent offenses like shoplifting.

From there, things escalated. More than three-quarters of the motorists were killed trying to flee. In dozens of encounters, officers stepped in front of moving vehicles or reached inside car windows, then fired their guns, claiming self-defense.
Authorities in Virginia are well aware of the risks of tying traffic stops to money, whether from fines or grants. A state inspector general report in 2013 warned about providing incentives for police to conduct excessive enforcement solely to generate additional revenue.

The Virginia grants are a fraction of the roughly $600 million that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sends to states each year. Lucia Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the federal agency, said it did not encourage or require quotas or targets for grant recipients.

But a review of state grant applications found that the number of traffic stops is a common performance measure. In Arkansas, for instance, the goal was three vehicle stops per hour during grant-funded patrols, while in Madison, S.D., officers were required to obtain two citations per grant hour.

Indiana officials boasted in their 2014 annual report that officers enforcing seatbelt laws averaged 3.26 stops per hour. One was in Hammond, where an officer on grant-funded patrol pulled over a Black family and ended up in a dispute with a passenger, Jamal Jones, after demanding he identify himself. Video shows officers smashing a car window and firing a Taser at Mr. Jones, who, according to a lawsuit he later filed, tried to retrieve a document to use for identification.

It was a traffic ticket.

For all the billions spent to promote ticket-writing by police, there is little evidence that it has helped achieve the grants primary goal: reducing fatal car crashes.

In 2019 there were 33,244 fatal crashes nationwide, up from 30,296 in 2010. Traffic safety experts say targeted enforcement works, but improvements in automobile technology and highway engineering account for much of the progress since the 1970s and 80s, when annual fatal crashes routinely exceeded 40,000.

In the wake of the George Floyd protests, some municipalities and states are rethinking their approach to traffic stops. Berkeley, Calif., has proposed shifting away from police enforcement, in favor of an unarmed civilian corps; Virginia lawmakers prohibited stops initiated because of defective taillights, tinted windows and loud exhaust.
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba  In a stark rebuke of the torture carried out by the C.I.A. after the Sept. 11 attacks, seven senior military officers who heard graphic descriptions last week of the brutal treatment of a terrorist while in the agencys custody wrote a letter calling it a stain on the moral fiber of America.

The officers, all but one member of an eight-member jury, condemned the U.S. governments conduct in a clemency letter on behalf of Majid Khan, a suburban Baltimore high school graduate turned Qaeda courier.

They had been brought to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay to sentence Mr. Khan, who had earlier pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. They issued a sentence of 26 years, about the lowest term possible according to the instructions of the court.

At the behest of Mr. Khans lawyer, they then took the prerogative available in military justice of writing a letter to a senior official who will review the case, urging clemency.
Senator Deb Fischer, Republican of Nebraska, championed and secured more modest legislation  tucked into the Republican tax cuts of 2017  that gave small businesses a tax credit to fund family leave. She argued against broader versions, since many companies already offer employees paid leave.

If you have two or three employees, you cannot afford to do paid family leave because you cant afford to hire somebody to take their place, which is why I think the tax credit that we have in law now is really beneficial, Ms. Fischer said.

According to the White House, fewer than a third of small businesses with 100 or more employees offer paid leave. Only 14 percent with fewer than 50 employees do. Ms. Fischer conceded that few small businesses have taken advantage of her credit, but she blamed the Treasury Department, under Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, for dragging its feet on issuing detailed regulations and promoting it.

To Democrats, those proposals are not true leave. They are either loans off other needed benefits or too limited to make a difference. Ms. Gillibrand said that optimally, a stable, generous family and medical leave plan would be an earned benefit like Social Security and Medicare: Workers would pay into the system and claim the benefit when they needed it, regardless of where they worked or how much they earned.

But, she said, taxing workers has become politically difficult. Her 2013 bill envisioned family and medical leave insurance, financed by a small contribution from employers with each paycheck.

This year, the Biden administration and Democratic leaders opted to fund paid leave out of general revenues, bolstered by tax increases on the wealthy and corporations. They said the program was part of a broader human infrastructure effort to help children and young parents, which included child care support, a child tax credit and universal prekindergarten  and therefore didnt need a dedicated funding source.
There was also a message in the list of attendees.

Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary under President Donald J. Trump, walked the halls between a fireside chat with the Bahraini finance minister and a series of meetings. The private-equity executive Stephen Schwarzman, a loyal adviser to Mr. Trump until late in his presidency, bemoaned the vilification of fossil fuel companies from the conference dais. The longtime chemical executive Andrew Liveris, who had been an adviser to Mr. Trump on manufacturing, praised Saudi Arabias economic expansion plans on the sidelines of the gathering.

Guests affiliated with the Biden administration, which has adopted a chillier posture toward the Saudis than did Mr. Trump, were in far shorter supply. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen did not attend. Nor did officials from the White House or the State Department. The sole Biden official who spoke at the conference was Don Graves, deputy secretary of commerce. Mr. Graves met privately with the Saudi commerce minister and participated in a fifteen-minute panel discussion on the topic of global trade. He was whisked away by a coterie of aides immediately after that and declined to answer questions about the event.

For many of those in attendance, the big draw was Saudi Arabias $450 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, whose governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, typically hosts the event.

Allocating money into foreign investment funds has always been a part of Saudi Arabias strategic tool kit. Its a tactic the kingdom has relied on heavily in recent years, as the crown prince has sought to encourage overseas investment into his home country to fund Vision 2030, his blueprint for economic growth and diversification. His philosophy appears to be that by sharing Saudi wealth in markets like the U.S., Britain, Japan and Russia, he is inviting those countries to reciprocate.

During the Trump era, that approach was welcomed. Mr. Trump selected Riyadh as the location of his first state visit in 2017; with his encouragement, a flurry of U.S.-Saudi business deals  including a package of arms sales to the kingdom that was predicted to generate $110 billion over a ten-year period  were announced during the trip.
Im a Hillary-Biden voter, Glenn Miller, a lawyer from McLean and frequent donor to both parties, said as he walked into a Youngkin rally in southern Fairfax County on Saturday night that drew more than 1,000 people. Mr. Miller, who has been active in local efforts opposing the elimination of race-blind admissions tests in schools and has spoken out against critical race theory, explained his tipping point: Working from home and hearing his teenage daughters teacher make a comment during a virtual lesson about white men as modern-day slaveholders.

There are a lot of people like me who are annoyed, he said, adding that he was able to vote for Mr. Youngkin because he did not associate him as a Trump Republican. My problem with Trump was I thought he was embarrassing. I just dont think Youngkin is going to embarrass me or the state.

The McAuliffe campaign has tried to portray Mr. Youngkin as a Trump acolyte, accusing him of exaggerating fears that children are being divided by race by teachers who are encouraging them to see white people as inherently bad.

Hes got parents fighting parents and parents fighting teachers, Mr. McAuliffe said over the weekend. Hes turned our school boards into war zones. Its all about this critical race theory, which is not taught in Virginia. This is all he talks about. It has never been taught in Virginia. Lets call it what it is: Its a racist dog whistle. Hes run a racist campaign from start to finish.

Some Democratic voters said they appreciated the link Mr. McAuliffe was making between former President Donald J. Trump and Mr. Youngkin, who opposes abortion, same-sex marriage and mandates for the coronavirus vaccine.

I see a lot of issues with whats going on in the national Republican Party, said Jerry Dalesandro, 59, a retiree from Virginia Beach. Im a Biden fan, an Obama fan, but also more just a not-a-Trump fan.

Mr. Youngkin has tried to strike a balance between keeping Mr. Trump close but not too close. The former president recently announced he would speak at a telephone town-hall-style event for Mr. Youngkin on Monday. But the Republican candidate said he would not be participating.
JOHANNESBURG  The motorcade of black luxury vehicles carrying President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa rumbled through the narrow township streets, swerved around potholes filled with stale water from backed-up drainage ditches and stopped near the concrete shell of an unfinished government-supplied house.

Mr. Ramaphosa had come to Tembisa, a township about 30 minutes northeast of Johannesburg, ahead of local elections to sell residents on all that his party, the African National Congress, had supposedly done to improve their lives.

I see development everywhere, Mr. Ramaphosa said from atop a mobile campaign stage, eliciting incredulous jeers from hundreds of otherwise supportive residents.

Mr. Ramaphosa, a 68-year-old wealthy former business investor, ascended to the nations highest political office three years ago on a reputation as an exceptional negotiator and consensus builder. He was anointed by Nelson Mandela to help broker the end of apartheid. Two decades later, Mr. Ramaphosa outmaneuvered his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, to win control of the governing African National Congress  and the country.
ROME  President Biden capped a long weekend of diplomacy on Sunday with a swaggering proclamation of Americas renewed force on the world stage, claiming credit for what he cast as breakthroughs on climate change, tax avoidance and Irans nuclear ambitions at the end of a Group of 20 summit that was missing some of his biggest global adversaries.

Buoyed by a three-day return to the interpersonal negotiations that have defined his political career and still overcome emotionally by an extended Friday audience with Pope Francis, Mr. Biden shook off questions about his sagging poll numbers at home and projected new optimism for his teetering domestic policy agenda.

He acknowledged contradictions and stumbling blocks to his long-term ambitions on issues like reducing greenhouse gas emissions with a smile. And he claimed significant progress from a summit that produced one large victory for his administration  the endorsement of a global pact to set minimum corporate tax rates  along with a deal between the United States and Europe that will lift tariffs including those on European steel and aluminum.

In other areas, like climate change and restoring a nuclear accord with Iran, the summit produced few concrete actions.
MOSCOW  It might seem as if little has changed for Russia and the United States, two old adversaries seeking to undercut each other around the world.

Russian nuclear-capable missiles have been spotted on the move near Ukraine, and the Kremlin has signaled the possibility of a new intervention there. It has tested hypersonic cruise missiles that skirt American defenses and cut all ties with the American-led NATO alliance. After a summer pause, ransomware attacks emanating from Russian territory have resumed, and in late October, Microsoft revealed a new Russian cybersurveillance campaign.

Since President Biden took office nine months ago, the United States has imposed sweeping new sanctions on Russia, continued to arm and train Ukraines military and threatened retaliatory cyberattacks against Russian targets. The American Embassy in Moscow has virtually stopped issuing visas.

As world leaders met at the Group of 20 summit this weekend in Rome, Mr. Biden did not even get the chance to hash things out with his Russian counterpart face to face because President Vladimir V. Putin, citing coronavirus concerns, attended the event remotely.
LONDON  James Mason was on duty in a North London police station when a young woman came in to report that she had just been mugged on a city street. Already shaken, the woman became even more unnerved by Mr. Masons questions: What clothes did she wear to work? Did she have a boyfriend? Would she like to go to dinner?

When she contacted him asking for case updates, he continued to aggressively pursue her. And when she told him he was out of line, he replied in an email, Actually, coming on to victims is positively encouraged, adding: Its all part of the friendly and accessible face of the Met Police. Its the rejection thats frowned upon.

Mr. Mason would rise through the ranks of Londons Metropolitan Police Service, eventually becoming a detective chief inspector, while the young woman remained silent about the 2011 episode, saying in an interview that she did not feel empowered to come forward until last year.

At a disciplinary hearing last month, in which the woman was granted anonymity, Mr. Mason was found to have engaged in gross misconduct for abusing his power as an officer for a sexual purpose. Rather than being dismissed, though, Mr. Mason was given a final written warning this month, a ruling that shocked his victim but reflected what criminal justice experts describe as a systemic failing within Britains police forces as they struggle to control or discipline employees who abuse women.
You might think of them as solitary creatures, furiously scribbling or typing alone, but as long as there have been writers in New York City, they have socialized together in an assortment of bars, restaurants, apartments and clubs.

The Times began writing about these places in its very first issues. In 1910, it published an article lamenting the passing of the literary haunts of New York, noting that many once-famous gathering spots were being razed as the city grew and modernized. Number 19 West 24th is gone, the piece began. At least the old 19 is gone, and  no account has been made of the fact that it at one time housed the Authors Club, and that its rakish stairs were somewhat worn away by the feet of Matthew Arnold, Whittier, Lowell and Field. The article went on to list more than a dozen locations that were no more, including Pfaffs beer cellar, where Walt Whitman liked to drink, an unnamed restaurant at 5 Barclay Street where Edgar Allan Poe ate with fellow writers and The Den, where James Fenimore Cooper and friends gathered.

Pfaffs, The Den and the rest may be long gone, but over the decades, dozens, if not hundreds, of other establishments popped up to take their places. Here, we celebrate a few of the most memorable ones.
Fostering innovation in Iceland for the digital era

Iceland is an innovative country, but has untapped innovation potential. Strengthening innovation, especially in the ICT area, is crucial for strong productivity growth and performance in an increasingly digitalised world, as well as a sustained recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Ensuring more effective public support for business R&D is important. The R&D tax incentive scheme is generous by international comparison, but take-up has been low and many smaller firms have not been inclined to innovate. Following increased support, outcomes need to be monitored regularly. Adopting new technologies is also essential for stronger innovation outcomes. Competition-friendly framework conditions are key to sharpening firms incentives to adopt advanced technologies. The public sector too could become more digitalised. The education system needs to provide relevant skills. Participation of adult workers, especially the less educated, in re-skilling and up-skilling programmes should increase further. At the same time, business and universities need to collaborate more to maximise knowledge flows, with important benefits for innovation and society.

In series:OECD Economics Department Working Papersview more titles
Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York for New Managers:

Munich-based global macro fund - ART Global Macro reached its one year anniversary on a high note. The strategy, which was launched in August of last year is up 4.74% year to date through the end of September, according to a recent letter to investors reviewed by Opalesque. The fund was up 5.47% in September following strong performance across all asset classes.

The ART Global Macro fund is managed by ThirdYear Capital, a quantamental shop led by Martin Rossner who was previously with Man Group. ART Global Macro fund invests in liquid and exchange-traded instruments such as equities, government bonds and futures. The strategy was launched together with Agathon Capital and Universal-Investment.

ThirdYear's approach to investing relies on "nowcasting" - using technology to provide short-term forecasts of economic activity - along with fundamental analysis. For the ART fund, ThirdYear processes over 5,000 selected economic and financial time series to predict economic activity for over 20 countries in the near future. The methodology, popular with central banks, uses higher frequency data to determine lower frequency economic data before it is released.

Unlike other macro funds, factors and technical trend signals are deliberately avoided.

In the letter, Rossner notes that a few themes will likely be guiding macro traders ......................

To view our full article Click here
TEXARKANA, Texas (AP)  A suspect was arrested Sunday in a shooting that left one person dead and nine more wounded at a Halloween party in eastern Texas, police said.

Police in Texarkana, Texas, said the suspected shooter, Keuntae McElroy, 21, of Texarkana, Arkansas, turned himself in late Sunday morning. Police say McElroy was booked into jail on one count of felony aggravated assault and additional charges are expected Monday.
Costumes ran the gamut Saturday at Porte Park, with children and adults dressed for the occasion and plenty of treats for the dragons, dinosaurs, princesses, vampires, superheroes, and police officers during the second annual Sanford Halloween Festival.

Its Halloween, I get to be whatever I want, said 4-year-old Laighton Emory, dressed as a witch toting a bag full of candy. I love Halloween.

The event was organized by Sanford Strong, which passed out cider, doughnuts, pumpkins, hot dogs and chips.

Jacqueline Poston, of Sanford, dressed as a beautiful witch, handed out candy. She said it was really nice to be able to get together with people this Halloween.

The Jerome Township Fire Department was on hand to pass out candy and show off Sparky the fire dog, who talked to kids while riding in his fire truck. Firefighter Kevin Nilles said some kids, and even adults, werent sure about Sparky at first. But most people enjoyed him.

State Rep. Annette Glenn, R-Midland, passed out candy and talked to the children along with Sanford Village President Dolores Porte.

This has been a huge success, Porte said. Theres been a steady stream of kids.

This was 2-year-old Harrison Schnettlers first year to go trick or treating. The "dragon" and his parents, Courtney and Mike, enjoyed the event and watching the kids have fun.

Willy Caven was having as much fun as the children as she handed out candy along with Sanford Village Trustee Carl Hamann. Caven said it was important for her to be at the event and support the community.

We were part of the flood, and we wanted to be part of the loving and sharing and coming together in Sanford, she said. We just love Sanford. Many miracles have happened in Sanford.

The pair nearly ran out of candy and Hamann had to run out to find more, only to find a store completely sold out and then going home to get the Halloween night candy stash.

Shenice Willette, of Sanford, brought four children, a dinosaur, Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz, a skeleton and a reaper. Willette said it was a great family event and the kids especially loved it.

Laure Weakman had 1-year-old John and 2-year-old Graham dressed respectively as Baby Yoda and Darth Vader. This was the first year for both to trick or treat, Weakman said.

Theyre having so much fun, she said.

Parents were thankful for the event.

This is good for Sanford, said Jason Patten, of Midland. Its a nice safe event. Patten brought his three children dressed as Iron Man, a witch, and Captain America.

This was really a great idea, he added.

Kathy Laubscher, of Shepherd, said it was great seeing the costumes.

There was a lot of everything, she said.

Penny Tyler handed out candy and said the event demonstrates how much the community is coming back. After losing her house to the flood, Tyler said she never thought the area would have been restored this much this soon after the disaster.

Once, there was no hope, and now its coming back, Tyler said. It is way more back than I ever expected.

Lori Raymond passed out candy, apple slices and toys from the Sanford McDonald's. Midway through the event, she had already passed out 700 pieces of candy.

The flood has really brought us together, said Raymond, who was joined by her husband and their 2-year-old Goldendoodle, Emma.

Raymond said the event was going wonderfully. The kids are so happy.

Patty Ralko and Laurie Bush, both of Sanford, also handed out candy. They were impressed that if the kids forgot to say "thank you," their parents were 100% there to remind them to do so. Both agreed that the children were all very sweet.

Ruth DeFoy and Joie Sawdon, dressed as the lion and the scarecrow, respectively, from the Wizard of Oz, were having a great time passing out candy and letting the children play games.

It was just fun, DeFoy said.

Both agreed the Sanford community needs smiles and is a great community.

This event was first held last Halloween but was limited to drive-thru trick or treating due to high COVID numbers. Sanford Strong leaders Martina and Emily Ricards and Teresa Quintana were thankful to gather this year. For Martina and Emily growing up, Halloween was a major holiday. After all the village has been through, the group wanted to do something special for the community.

There was also a costume contest, which the Ricards sisters (both dresses as witches) and Porte judged. For the 5-and-under contest, the winner was "Cruella de Vil." For the 6-17 category, the "wolfman," Ethan Studebaker of Midland, earned top honors; and for the 18-and-over category, Penny Tyler was the winner as a mermaid.
GILROY, Calif. (AP)  A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with a fatal shooting at a city councilmembers Northern California home, where one person died and three other people were injured, authorities said Sunday.

Benjamin David Calderon was taken into custody Saturday afternoon by a SWAT team after the late-night shooting in the city of Gilroy, officials said in a Facebook post. Police were called after violence broke out during a large outdoor party at the home of Gilroy City Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of San Francisco.
CAIRO (AP)  The U.N. secretary general urged Sudans generals on Sunday to reverse their takeover of the country, a day after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the largest pro-democracy protest since last weeks coup.

Antonio Guterres said the generals should take heed of Saturdays protests. Time to go back to the legitimate constitutional arrangements, he said in a tweet.

He was referring to a power-sharing deal that established joint military-civilian rule following the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.

The U.N. envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, meanwhile, said he met Sunday with Abdalla Hamdok, the deposed prime minister who remained under house arrest in the capital Khartoum.

We discussed options for mediation and the way forward for Sudan. I will continue these efforts with other Sudanese stakeholders, he said.

Since last week, U.N. representatives have shuttled between the military and leaders of the pro-democracy movement.

A military official said that other efforts are underway, also supported by the U.N. but conducted by a Sudanese committee that began separate meetings last week with Hamdok and coup leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he wasnt authorized to release the information, said that Hamdok is still the main candidate for heading a Cabinet that would report to the leading generals. But should he not accept, other Sudanese figures could.

It remains unclear what mandate such a government would have. Burhan had repeatedly said in the weeks prior to the takeover that the military will hand over power only to an elected government. Before the coup, Sudan was ruled by a transitional government that included a joint military-civilian sovereign council and a Cabinet, headed by Hamdok, that ran the day-to-day affairs.

The official said in these negotiations, the prime minister has insisted on the release of all government officials and political leaders arrested since the coup, before engaging in meaningful talks to form a new government.

Hamdok also demanded the return to the pre-coup constitutional order that would set a deadline by which the complete leadership of the country would be handed over to civilians, he said.

Burhan has given an initial approval to release the majority of the detained officials, but said a few must remain in custody for allegedly playing a role in a coup attempt that was thwarted in September, the official said.

He added that another issue is semantic  the military does not consider their takeover as a coup, arguing that they had already been part of the ruling government.

Burhan said he would install a new technocrat government soon, with the aim of holding elections in July 2023. But the pro-democracy movement also fears the military has no intention of easing its grip and will appoint politicians it can control.

Any new prime minister besides Hamdok would also likely face rejection by the pro-democracy protesters.

Eric Reeves, a Sudan expert at Smith College, said the standoff between the military and the protest leaders is likely to be prolonged, given that pro-democracy protesters see the takeover as a naked power grab."

Neither sidecivilian and militaryhas an easy way to climb back or down from the crisis, he said.

He called on the U.S. and the European Union to pressure Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt  the main backers of the Sudanese generals, to not offer assistance to a military-led government, especially to shore up Sudan's already battered economy.

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.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which was in the forefront of the uprising against al-Bashir and now leads the anti-coup protests, insists on the removal of Burhan-led military council and holding those behind the takeover accountable.

We need a full civilian government after our 2-year experience with the generals," said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for association.

Many businesses and shops, meanwhile, remain shut in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, in response to calls from the protest movement for strikes and civil disobedience.

Authorities have also reopened many roads and bridges linking Khartoum neighborhoods on the sides of the Nile river. Other remained blocked by makeshift barricades set up by protesters overnight.

The protests on Saturday were the biggest so far since the coup. Security forces shot dead three protesters in Omdurman during the protests, bringing the tally to at least 12 dead and over 280 wounded since Monday, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee.

The Sudanese police said its forces did not use live ammunition against protesters on Saturday.

Guterres, the U.N. chief, expressed concern about violence against protesters on Saturday, calling for perpetrators to be held accountable.
Lusaka, Zambia (PANA)  As delegates around the world started meeting in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Sunday for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), the UN Climate Change Chief, Patricia Espinosa, has expressed optimism that success at COP26 is entirely possible since there is a platform for action
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Sunday left Ghana at the head of the Ghanaian delegation to attend the World Leaders' Summit of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland.



The Summit, which is being held from October 31 to November 3, 2021, will be one of the largest gatherings of world leaders. It will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.



President Akufo-Addo will at the summit deliver a statement on Ghanas position on Climate Change, as well as measures put in place to combat the threat it poses.



He will also deliver three separate statements on Ghana's efforts to protect her forests and ocean, and participate in the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Summit, being held on the sidelines of COP 26.



Whilst in Glasgow, the President will hold bilateral meetings with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta; the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway, Jonas Gahr Stre; the Prime Minister of Malta, Robert Abela; the British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, Elizabeth Truss; and Mr. Raphael Mariano Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).



President Akufo-Addo was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; the Minister for Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh; the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Jinapor, and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.

He will return to Ghana on Thursday, November 4, 2021.



Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the 1992 Constitution, act in his stead.

Source: GNA









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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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Nicholas Julia Wins Event #54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed ($168,608)

October 31, 2021 Douglas Chase

The 2021 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas has crowned a new mixed game champion as Nicholas Julia prevailed in a field of 319 entries in Event #54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed. He overcame Kristan Lord in heads-up to claim the biggest slice of the $709,775 prize pool and boosted his bankroll with the top prize of $168,608. Runner-up Lord earned a consolation prize of $104,210 and missed out on a maiden WSOP gold bracelet of his own.

Among the returning 17 players were several former WSOP bracelet winners and three of them made it to the seven-handed unofficial final table. As a matter of fact, two were knocked out in the same hand in what became one of the pivotal hands on the final day. Eventual champion Julia sent Kenny Hsiung and Robert Mizrachi to the rail to form the official final table.

Justin Liberto missed out on a second bracelet and finished in third place while other notables on the final day included actor James Woods, Mike Matusow, Bradley Ruben, Marco Johnson, 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem, and John Racener.

Final Table Result Event #54: $2,500 Nine-Game Mix 6-Handed

Place Winner Country Prize (in USD) 1 Nicholas Julia United States $168,608 2 Kristan Lord United States $104,210 3 Justin Liberto United States $69,341 4 Aditya Prasetyo United States $47,164 5 Robert McLaughlin United States $32,808 6 Robert Mizrachi United States $23,352

Final Table Action

Robert Mizrachi fell in sixth place.

When the unofficial final table of this six-handed event began, nobody could have seen how the first two eliminations were to have come. In what may turn out to be one of the most unique hands of the entire WSOP, let alone at a WSOP final table, both Kenny Hsiung (7th Place; $17,017) and Robert Mizrachi (6th Place; $23,352) were eliminated.

The action was picked up with three players involved on a flop of {4-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{5-Clubs} and Hsiung who led out with a bet of about half of his remaining chips. Next, Mizrachi raised all-in for the rest of his stack. Julia, re-raised all-in, and Hsiung snap-called.

All of the hands were turned face-up and it was an incredible analytical sight as Hsuing held {4-Diamonds}{4-Clubs} for a flopped bottom set, Mizrachi and his {7-Spades}{7-Clubs} for a flopped top set, and Julia was in the lead with the {8-Clubs}{6-Clubs} and a flopped nut straight.

The dealer dealt out the turn card {10-Clubs} and nothing changed. The river card was a {a-Spades} and that sealed the deal for the winner Julia.

It was not until two levels later that the next player was eliminated. Robert McLaughlin (5th Place; $32,808) found himself on the unfortunate end of a blind versus blind confrontation holding pocket nines versus the pocket kings held by his opponent, Kristan Lord. The kings held and McLaughlin exited the tournament.

Next to go was Aditya Prasetyo (4th Place; $47,164). Prasetyo got caught up in the whirlwind of a run by Nicholas Julia, whose nines full of kings on sixth street in Stud Hi-Lo put an end to Prasetyos tournament run.

Justin Liberto came unstuck in third place

Justin Liberto (3rd Place; $69,341) had been up and down in chips and was attempting to run a short-stack back up in a hand of Limit 2-7 triple draw versus Lord but the eventual runner-up got the best of him. It was the eight-six low held by Lord that pipped Liberto's eight-seven.

Kristan Lord (2nd Place; $104,210) and Nicholas Julia (1st Place; $168,608) began heads-up play with Julia ahead with more than two to one in chips. Although he came quite close, in the end, the night belonged to Julia.

He played well and he ran even better. Nicholas Julia entered the day as the chip leader and he left it the same way with his incredible performance, which netted him a coveted WSOP gold bracelet and $168,608 in first-place prize.

When asked how he felt after winning his first WSOP gold bracelet, Nicholas Julia responded with, Great! Amazing! Everybodys sweating; the wife, Suzanne. All these guys from Arizona. You know, everyone? I literally have a hundred people texting me were having a great time!.

As far as key hands that got him here, most would expect the double-elimination at the final table to be the answer, but Julia got into a hand early in Day 2 versus Greg Mueller that resulted in him claiming the chip leader position and never looking back from that point forward.

When questioned about whether or not he plays poker for a living, he laughed out loud before explaining how he plays for fun and has no plans to play any more WSOP tournaments in this series. He is taking his one oclock flight back home to Arizona on Saturday and plans on celebrating his win by spending time with his wife and kids.
Shaun Deeb Wins 5th Bracelet in WSOP Event #53: $25,000 PLO ($1,251,860)

October 31, 2021 Josh Noy

Shaun Deeb defeated Ka Kwan Lau heads up to win Event #53: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller at the 2021 World Series of Poker, earning his fifth career WSOP gold bracelet and a $1,251,860 top prize. Deeb prevailed in this prestigious tournament for a second time, defeating a field of 212 entries that produced a prize pool of $5,008,500.

Deeb adds this title to his win back in 2018 and becomes the newest member of the WSOP five-bracelet club. It marked his second final table of the 2021 WSOP and his 12th overall cash, vaulting him up to fourth in the WSOP Player of the Year standings.

Now Im gonna start multi-tabling, I really took it easy, Deeb said. For the rest of the year, youre gonna see me firing pretty hard so its gonna be a battle.

With a fifth title in hand, Deeb was candid about his WSOP goals moving forward.

Im gonna pass Phil (Hellmuth) eventually. Its gonna take me a while but Im gonna pass Phil. Its gonna take me a decade or two but Ill be there.

Event #53: $25,000 PLO High Roller Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Shaun Deeb United States $1,251,860 2 Ka Kwan Lau Hong Kong $773,708 3 John Beauprez United States $537,295 4 Maxx Coleman United States $381,394 5 Veselin Karakitukov Bulgaria $276,870 6 David Benyamine France $205,655 7 Ben Lamb United States $156,387 8 Charles Sinn United States $121,816

Shaun Deeb

Final Table Play

Deeb acknowledged that he was not the most experienced Pot-Limit Omaha player at the final table.

Usually I have my one set plan, but I really kept trying to switch it up on these guys and figure out what way worked best versus them, and just running them over and making the nuts a bunch is the way to go.

Deeb went on to eliminate every opponent of the final five, thanks to a double-up on the very first hand of the day.

I have a cold four-bet for my whole stack, Deeb explained, it was like a crazy, crazy runoff to get me to like seven and a half, eight million right off the start which puts me in second place and from there I never really lost my momentum.

Im gonna pass Phil (Hellmuth) eventually. Its gonna take me a while but Im gonna pass Phil. Its gonna take me a decade or two but Ill be there.

Veselin Karakitukov began the final day as the short stack and was the first to be eliminated after running into Deebs aces. The fifth-place finish marked the Bulgarians first cash of the 2021 WSOP and the largest cash of his career.

Next to go was Maxx Coleman, who was also taken out by Deeb in fourth place. Coleman now has six cashes and a second final table of the 2021 WSOP, adding to a great year after a win in the Poker Masters $10,000 8-Game Mix and three final tables at the 2021 U.S. Poker Open.

John "KasinoKrime" Beauprez entered the day second thanks to a wild runout on Day 3 that sent Ben Lamb packing. The 2013 WSOP bracelet winner added to his 31st-place run at the same event in 2017 with a third-place finish on Saturday.

Ka Kwan Lau brought the chip lead into the final day after finishing eighth in this event back in 2019. The Spaniard, who was born in Hong Kong, carried some significant tournament experience into his heads-up battle with Deeb. Despite doubling up early on, Lau was never able to mount a serious charge at Deebs chip lead and settled for a runner-up finish.

Former WSOP $25,000 PLO Winners

YEAR PLAYER COUNTRY FIRST PRIZE ENTRIES PRIZE POOL 2021 Shaun Deeb United States $1,251,860 212 $5,008,500 2019 Stephen Chidwick United Kingdom $1,618,417 278 $6,602,500 2018 Shaun Deeb United States $1,402,683 230 $5,462,500 2017 James Calderaro United States $1,289,074 204 $4,868,750 2016 Jens Kyllonen Finland $1,127,035 184 $4,370,000 2015 Anthony Zinno United States $1,122,196 175 $4,156,250

The rest of the official final table participants were eliminated on Day 3. Charles Sinn finished eighth, Lamb came in seventh and David Benyamine was knocked out in sixth.

Prior to the final table, a number of WSOP bracelet winners found the money including Ben Yu, Joseph Cheong, Scott Seiver, Chance Kornuth, Bryce Yockey, Joao Vieira, Simon Lofberg, Jeremy Ausmus and Tommy Le.

Shaun Deeb

Check out our 2021 WSOP Hub here!
Bruno Lopes shoved from middle position for 3,030,000. Next to act, Robert Sun re-shoved from the hijack and the rest of the table got out of the way.

Bruno Lopes:

Robert Sun:

The flop gave Sun a set as Lopes shot back in his chair and let out a big sigh. The turn and river came , and the popular French rapper hit the rail in 24th place.
SUMMERVILLE  Nesting consumers are spending more money to fix up their homes since the pandemic started, prompting a pair of furniture and home furnishings firms to set up distribution centers in the Charleston area to take advantage of what's become the fastest-growing import commodity at the Port of Charleston.

Twin Star Home of Delray Beach, Fla., and Commerce, Calif.-based Sagebrook Home will occupy a combined 1.5 million square feet of warehouse space at the Charleston Trade Center off Interstate 26 in Summerville.

The move will triple Twin Star's warehouse capacity in the Charleston area and give Sagebrook its first East Coast distribution site.

"These furniture distribution centers build on Charlestons centrality to the furniture and home goods segment," Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the State Ports Authority, said in a written statement.

Furniture and home furnishings now top the list of fastest-growing imported goods both nationally and in Charleston  up 50 percent year-over-year in the U.S. and 55 percent at the Port of Charleston.

The increase actually started before the pandemic and the series of stimulus checks meant to juice the economy, "but the growth curve during the pandemic and continuing has been just unbelievable," said Micah Mallace, the SPA's senior vice president for sales and marketing.

Mallace said such fast-paced growth isn't sustainable  "You can only buy so many couches," he said  but the surging population in the Charleston area and throughout the Southeast will keep demand for home furnishings strong in coming years.

"Today, certainly in the furniture industry but broadly speaking in retail consumer goods, there has been an awakening that the Southeast is a giant marketplace," Mallace said. "It's where the growth is."

Twin Star makes a range of indoor and outdoor furniture, including coffee tables, bar stools, fire pits and patio seating. Its products are sold through retailers like Home Depot, Costco and Wayfair. Sagebrook makes home decor, lighting fixtures and indoor and outdoor furniture. It specializes in online retail sales and has several showrooms nationwide.

Sagebrook signed a 66-month lease with an option to extend for five years, according to documents filed with the Berkeley County Register of Deeds. Terms of the Twin Star deal were not available.

Both companies plan to begin distributing from the Charleston Trade Center site in December.

Most imported furniture is made in China and Southeast Asia countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia. Ongoing global supply chain issues that have clogged ports and warehouses and delayed shipments have hindered efforts by furniture dealers trying to sell goods from those areas.

"Its tough. You're looking at six to 10 months" to get an order, Sagebrook CEO Justin Kachan told Furniture Today. Kachan said the family-owned company has moved some of its sourcing to Mexico to cut lead times.

Twin Star is owned by New York investment firm Z Capital Group LLC. A Bloomberg report in August stated the investment group is considering selling Twin Star, which is expected to deliver more than $80 million in earnings in 2022.

Charlotte developer The Keith Corp., which built the Charleston Trade Center, has now leased all 3 million square feet of space available at the industrial park, with tenants including German auto parts manufacturer IFA, defense contractor Curtiss Wright and third-party logistics firm RPM Warehouse.

"Charleston Trade Center is a microcosm of the citys booming industrial economy for port-related products, said Lee Allen, managing director of JLL, a commercial real estate firm that's marketing the property.
After 48 years in journalism, there isnt much that happens around Charleston without Bill Sharpe knowing it.

But this past week, a couple of things slipped by him.

On Thursday, Sharpe signed off WCSC-TV for the last time. Hes been a fixture on the citys oldest television station since 1973, chronicling the Lowcountrys biggest stories for nearly half a century.

The Live 5 staff hosted a luncheon at the station in honor of their senior anchormans retirement  and Mayor John Tecklenburg surprised him by showing up to declare it Bill Sharpe Day.

Youre the Walter Cronkite of Charleston, the mayor said. Youre the person we trust.

And that evening, in the middle of a live newscast, Gov. Henry McMaster walked on set to award Sharpe the Order of the Palmetto, which recognizes a lifetime of achievement and service. It is South Carolinas highest civilian honor.

Youre one of the most respected and trusted journalists in the state, and also a marvelous reflection of the goodness and greatness of the Lowcountry and the state of South Carolina, the governor said.

It was good TV, because Sharpe was visibly shocked.

Im speechless, for the first time in my life, he said.

That sly remark, at his own expense, is a bit of a running joke in Sharpes world. His friends claim he could take two facts and talk live on the air for half an hour. But the affectionate ribbing belies Sharpes true personality.

On the one hand, hes exactly the guy the Lowcountry has invited into its living rooms all these years: same smile, same booming voice  whether or not theres a camera pointed at him. He is, in some ways, the personification of a TV anchorman.

But Sharpe has never been one to just show up and read the news; hes a reporter, has good sources among the movers and shakers ... and has never been afraid to hold them accountable. Governors have hung up on him for asking tough questions, and nearly 40 years ago he was arrested  and later cleared of charges  for reporting facts that prosecutors didnt want him to share with the public.

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Sharpe became an important fixture in the community, guiding us through Hurricane Hugo, the Sofa Super Store fire, the massacre at Emanuel AME. He built his trust with the audience naturally, as Tecklenburg noted, and with sincerity.

As WCSC Vice President and General Manager Dan Cates said at Sharpes retirement luncheon: You have the same level of energy and passion you had 48 years ago.

Leah Chase, who worked with Sharpe at Channel 5 for years, recalled covering the Persian Gulf War with him from Israel. One night, their hotel was bombarded with SCUD missiles, and Sharpe ran out of his room, eager to report on the event ... but forgot to pull on his pants.

He was so focused, Chase recalls.

After all these years, and all the awards, Sharpe could justify a healthy ego. But its not there. When his co-workers demanded a speech at his luncheon, he didnt say anything about himself.

Instead, Sharpe bragged on the stations sales staff, his colleagues in the news department. He called his replacement, Raphael James, the most trustworthy and ethical journalist he knows. Thats just Bill  the guy who brings packs of diapers to colleagues with newborns, who calls journalists at other media outlets to compliment them on a good story.

He remembers everyones name and spent as much time at his luncheon chatting with the caterers as his friends. Debi Chard, who famously shared the anchor desk with Sharpe for decades, says: You feel like hes a member of your family. Hes just so kind to everyone.

And Harve Jacobs, who was Live 5s police reporter for decades, says the station wouldnt have hired him if not for Sharpes constant badgering. Jacobs says Sharpe taught him how to sell a story and served as a mentor.

Hes not my friend, hes my brother, Jacobs says.

Spend a little time around Sharpe, and you quickly realize that if he hadnt opted for a career in journalism, he wouldve made an excellent politician ... in the good sense of the word. Just dont ask him to thump his own chest. Like any good journalist, hes empathetic, more interested in everyone else than himself.

Asked to comment for this column, he simply said: Its been a wonderful ride for 48 years. It was the privilege of my life to deliver the news to the people of the Lowcountry where I grew up.

And thats Bill Sharpe, signing off.
York County Family Court Judge David Guyton was sitting in his chambers one morning in early October when two of his colleagues approached him with an unusual idea.

The court's juvenile solicitor and juvenile public defender  two attorneys who typically locked horns across the courtroom  had come together because they wanted Guyton to make an example out of 13 students who recently participated in a series of viral social media challenges disrupting South Carolina schools.

The challenges, shared across the popular social media platform TikTok, encouraged students to take part in "devious licks," a dare where students would damage school property, film the destruction and upload videos of it online.

Adolescent first-time offenders normally wouldnt appear before Guyton, but the children were a small contingent of students vandalizing schools across the state. The solicitor and public defender wanted to signal to other students participating in these challenges that their acts of destruction would not be seen as youthful indiscretions. In a rare move, Guyton, a former Marine who still keeps his haircut high and tight, and the attorneys allowed reporters into his courtroom on Oct. 13.

They wanted the judges message to spread before the problem got worse.

The youths were granted arbitration and a chance to avoid having a criminal record that could affect their ability later to get a job or qualify for scholarships. Guyton warned the young teens that he would not be as lenient should they return. As he spoke, the children's parents nodded and gave him thumbs-ups.

Guyton said that people often told him that he was intimidating in his courtroom, which he considered a good thing.

That was part of our purpose, to scare them, he said.

Since Sept. 1, districts across the state have absorbed at least $20,000 worth of damages and made upwards of two dozen disciplinary referrals in connection with the destruction, a Post and Courier inquiry of South Carolinas 25 largest public school systems found. The TikTok challenges are not only occurring in South Carolina but are also part of a larger social media trend frustrating educators coast to coast.

Officials at the Alaska Middle College School in Anchorage said on their district website staff have spent an enormous amount of time cleaning up and investigating incidents of TikTok inspired vandalism. Several Vermont high schools have reported cases of vandalism in school's bathrooms that officials linked to the social media trend.

I get on a call every week with chapter presidents from other states, and theyre experiencing it too, said South Carolina Education Association President Sherry East.

At first glance, the challenges may seem innocuous: A reboot of viral sensations like the ice bucket challenge on Facebook. But where the purpose of that was to raise awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research, the latest dares are more nefarious.

With a reach of nearly 80 million U.S. users  predominantly between the ages of 16 and 34 according to company statistics  TikTok and its model of short-form video sharing has become a global force. In 2020, it was the third fastest growing brand behind Zoom and Peacock, data intelligence company Morning Consult reported.

East and other advocacy groups have published lists of monthly social media propositions and fear the worst is to come. November dares students to kiss their friend's significant other at school. Others involve exposing genitals, or tells students to jab a breast.

Around the Palmetto State, vandalism has been documented in Beaufort County, Kershaw County, Lexington County Districts One and Three and Sumter County. Richland Two, a suburban Columbia district that serves 27,000 students, has seen more than $17,000 worth of damage to school facilities, including replacement of 228 soap dispensers.

District officials are trying to stop the incidents, but the vandalism is coming on the heels of the delta variant that spread rapidly through South Carolina schools during the beginning of the school year. During the first seven weeks of school, 15 districts went fully virtual, 233 schools shut down, and at least 156,169 students had to learn remotely as education officials tried to control the spread, according to an analysis by The Post and Courier.

During an Oct. 12 board meeting, Richland One Commissioner Cheryl Harris said that she understood why people wanted to hold districts accountable for the vandalism, but pointed out that the children were destroying school property because people online were encouraging them to.

Were already playing catch-up because of COVID, the last thing we need is this kind of stuff," she said.

The disruptions are also exacerbating overworked educators, sapping morale. In the midst of the online frenzy, an elementary school student in Lancaster County slapped their teacher during the "slap a teacher" day challenge. East said the assault has impacted some teachers' desire to educate kids.

Nobody will be a substitute right now; they dont want to take the chance of some kid hitting them, East said.

The district declined to comment on the incident.

South Carolina lawmakers have started to take notice of the property destruction, and told The Post and Courier they do not plan to deal with it lightly. Gov. Henry McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said that every single one of the incidents of vandalism and assault "needs to be prosecuted as they normally would be.

The S.C. Houses top ranking Democrat, attorney Todd Rutherford of Columbia, said districts should go even further if theyre racking up expenses due to viral challenges.

"I think without question we should take a look at going after TikTok and those people that are passing around hashtags that put people's lives in jeopardy, he said.

TikTok did not respond to a request for comment, but representatives from the social media giant were called in front of the U.S Senate Commerce Committee during an Oct. 26 hearing on what social media companies are doing to protect kids online.

Michael Beckerman, the head of U.S public policy for the company, said that the site does not "condone any harmful, dangerous, or criminal behavior" and that they will "aggressively look to remove such content and related hashtags as soon as possible."

Overall, the damage has been minimal but serious enough that administrators have cut their own messages on social media warning of repercussions.

What the social media challenge does not tell you is that these actions could result in infractions that are designated as larceny and severe vandalism, Aiken County Superintendent King Laurence said Sept. 20 on the districts Facebook page. Expulsion, admission into a diversionary program, restitution, and referrals to police could all follow.

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But teachers are the ones dealing with this on a day-to-day basis. Some do not think their districts are doing enough to keep them safe. During an Oct. 11 speech middle school science teacher Will Green gave after being recognized by Lexington-Richland Five district leaders for his work running the school's greenhouse, he said that teachers needed "help now" and that they are "in the midst of a crisis."

The district needs to take a more proactive approach to these ridiculous challenges that do nothing more than threaten the safety of our students and staff at our schools," he said.

District leaders didnt respond to The Post and Couriers questions about disciplinary referrals since the start of the year and whether any TikTok-related incidents have taken place.
MYRTLE BEACH  U.S. Sen. Tim Scott said he'd support former President Donald Trump if he makes a run for a second term in the White House, curbing some speculation the South Carolina Republican could himself be a 2024 candidate.

When asked if he'd support a Trump run he answered "of course" but deflected further questions if he has a desire to run for the Oval Office as well. He added he is focused on his reelection campaign for Senate next year.

"Well at this point I'm not running for president at all," he added. "I'm not going to answer a hypothetical question."

He also downplayed interest in being Trump's choice for vice president.

During the S.C. GOP's "First In The South Republican Action Conference" in Myrtle Beach, when an attendee asked the senator about his 2024 plans during a public question and-answer session, Scott said he's "a guy that's running for reelection" and added "we may have a surprise return candidate."

Scott has been making inroads into the national conversation for years, with recent visits to key primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire, stoking talk of a presidential bid in 2024. Its a proposition some Republican voters seem to like; Scott is often name-dropped alongside Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley.

But overwhelmingly, talk of Trump entering the presidency field in 2024 was one of the main themes that surfaced at the S.C. GOP's conference in Myrtle Beach that took place Oct. 29-31.

Former RNC chairman Reince Priebus also stoked confidence in a Trump 2024 run during his speech.

I think the odds of President Trump running for president are somewhere near 100 percent, Priebus said. I think he will be the nominee of the party.

Scotts national profile has been rising and after several national TV appearances he raised $8.3 million in the third quarter of 2021, holding him at the front of the financial pack among senators across the country facing re-election next year.

He faces two Democratic challengers in 2022: state Rep. Krystle Matthews of Ladson, and Spartanburg County Democratic Party Chairwoman Angela Geter.

Scott's chances for reelection are largely seen as relatively safe in the overwhelming Republican South Carolina.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who serves as the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also said the South Carolina senator's chances look pretty good in 2022.

"I look forward to doing anything I can to help Tim," the Florida senator said. "I am optimistic that he will have a landslide win."
The story out of the Clarendon County town of Summerton just keeps getting worse.

This summer, youll recall, The Post and Courier revealed how the water for the impoverished community of Goat Island became dangerously undrinkable because the company the town had hired to run the water system allowed part of it to fall into disrepair, with pumps broken down, safety equipment removed and weed killer and ant poison scattered near wells.

That story involved what appeared to be falsified reports from the company and ethics questions about a town councilman who  unbeknownst to the public and perhaps even to fellow council members  oversaw the water system for the private contractor while participating in decisions about that arrangement, in violation of state law.

Now, in the most recent installment of our Uncovered investigative series, The Post and Couriers Stephen Hobbs and Thad Moore and The Sumter Items Kayla Green explain how the inside of a 132,000-gallon water tank serving a more affluent part of the community came to be coated with more than a foot of sludge. In short, it wasnt inspected or cleaned for more than a decade, as the possibly infectious slime accumulated year upon year.

This time the problem and solution are more clear. Oh, there are a lot of ins and outs about the relationship between Blackman Laboratory and the town, and competing claims about who was responsible, and we still have the same underlying problems that the Goat Island expose revealed: the absence of a contract spelling out what Blackman had been paid to do for the past two decades, or of any state law requiring such contracts; the lack of tools that would have allowed the State Ethics Commission to see that Councilman Chalmers Stukes was employed by Blackman Lab when he was voting to award the work to his employer, and not alerting his fellow council members to the problems or, apparently, doing his day job very well; and DHECs failure to notice all the problems with the Goat Island system that accumulated over a decade.

Even those failures in our legal and regulatory systems might have been overcome in a better-run local government  one where there was a competitive political environment and an engaged public that was able to watchdog that government better. But loaded on top of all that in the water tank debacle is one fundamental flaw that should give anyone pause, even if their government seems to operate well: The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control recommends but does not require that water tanks be inspected and cleaned out periodically. So its up to local officials to decide when, how and even whether the insides of water tanks are inspected.

Unlike a lot of our regulatory shortcomings, this isnt unique to South Carolina. Only a handful of states require internal inspections. But the reason they do is instructive. Colorado, for instance, added the requirement after 1,300 people in a small city got sick with salmonella in 2008  an outbreak investigators connected to a nasty water tank they suspect harbored bacteria in a thick layer of sediment. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has seen links between uncleaned water tanks and the bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease, but it remains years away from adding federal inspection requirements.

DHEC does conduct regular external inspections  which we suppose can spot such problems as corrosion that could endanger the structural integrity of the tank. And its true that having all the water slowly leak out or even burst out of a water tower  in the Summerton case, about a weeks worth of water for the 72 families the tank serves  could cause a temporary disruption to the water supply. But frankly, wed rather find ourselves suddenly without water in an emergency than unknowingly drink contaminated water for months, years or even decades.

Thats what has happened to the folks in North Shore Villas. It also happened at Goat Island, although the uninspected tank serving that community was probably the least of its problems. Who knows how many other water tanks across the state have gone uninspected for years?

Many South Carolinians get our water from giant systems such as the city-owned utility that serves Charleston. But there are more than 400 smaller water systems serving other parts of the state  most of them tiny or run by private companies or both. Last year alone, DHEC reports, water systems that serve 9% of South Carolinas population violated state or federal regulations. And thats just the violations that were detected.

Thats enough evidence of problems  and room for problems  that our state shouldnt wait for the federal government to follow through on tentative steps toward requiring routine inspection and cleaning of the interior of water tanks. DHEC should require those inspections every few years  at least by the water systems and, ideally, by DHEC inspectors. It's a better idea than waiting for 1,300 neighbors to get sick.
It may be an off-year election but tens of thousands of South Carolina voters will go to the polls Nov. 2, to settle mayoral, city council and other local government elections.

Columbia, Mount Pleasant, Spartanburg and Myrtle Beach  the second, fourth, 11th and 13th largest cities in the state, respectively  are all electing mayors, while multiple other jurisdictions are picking local leaders and other officials, such as for water authorities.

Isle of Palms, at just over 100th in population size among cities in the state, also has a mayor's race.

Information on specific candidates in various races, searchable online by your address and town, can viewed via the League of Women Voters VOTE411 guide online at www.vote411.org.

Charleston County Elections and Voter Registration Executive Director Isaac Cramer, who is in charge of the ballot counting for local government elections, said he expects the largest turnouts to be seen in Mount Pleasant and IOP, primarily driven by races for mayor.

The city of Charleston's numbers are more in doubt, where only three City Council races races are contested.

Voters who have been choosing to cast their ballots early have been citing concerns over COVID-19 as their primary reason to avoid standing in line on Election Day, Cramer said.

The COVID protocols for Tuesday's election remain much the same as they did for the elections of 2020, with social distancing requirements in place, clerks wearing masks and voters given a cotton swab to mark their picks on voting machines.

Like before, facemasks are not required in polling places this year but are encouraged, Cramer said.

Polls are open statewide from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you are in line by 7 p.m., you will still be allowed to vote. You must be a registered voter already to take part since South Carolina does not allow same-day registration.

Where you vote depends on where you live. Your voting precinct and polling place are determined by your address, and should be listed on your voter registration card.

To check your voting location this year, go to the S.C. Election Commission website at scvotes.org. On the homepage, click the tab that says Voters. Then click Check your voter registration.

To vote in the election, you will need one of the following forms of photo ID:

S.C. drivers license

U.S. passport

Federal military ID

S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles ID card

S.C. voter registration card with photo

If you do not have proper photo ID, but are registered to vote, you can cast a provisional ballot.

Among the local races of note:

Mount Pleasant

The region's premier race is for Mount Pleasant mayor, where first-term incumbent Will Haynie is being challenged by departing Town Councilwoman Kathy Landing and newcomer Brandon Armstrong, who has never held political office before.

While the race is non-partisan, all three have been touting their conservative credentials in a municipality where rapid development, traffic and booming housing costs are the biggest profile issues.

Haynie, 60, is a marketing and public relations consultant, and a former leader of Lowcountry Open Land Trust and the S.C. Maritime Foundation. He moved to Mount Pleasant in 2010  returning to the town where he lived for three years as a child in the 1960s  and was elected to Town Council in 2015. He then ran for mayor, winning the 2017 election by a 2-to-1 margin over then-incumbent Linda Page.

Landing, 58, is a certified financial planner and senior vice president of investments at Raymond James and Associates. Orphaned at age 13, she graduated from Duke University at age 20, married a Navy officer and moved to the Charleston area. She won a four-year term on Town Council in the 2017 election.

Armstrong, 62, has done limited campaigning on a $1,500 budget, while refusing donations. She runs a house-painting and restoration company and, according to her website, has a degree as a legal secretary.

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The mayor in Mount Pleasant doesnt wield executive power, like the mayors of Charleston and North Charleston do. Rather, Mount Pleasants mayor functions as a ninth member of Town Council, with extra duties and extra pay, while the towns appointed administrator runs the towns operations at councils direction.

On Town Council, four seats are up but there are 11 candidates. Since the election is town-wide and non-partisan, the top four vote-getters will win seats on council.

Charleston City Council

There is no mayor's race this year, but six of Charleston's even-numbered City Council seats are on the ballot. Only three have listed competitive races.

In District 4, political newcomer and East Side resident Tim Weber faces 15-year incumbent Robert Mitchell. The district covers a portion of the Charleston peninsula on the eastern side from Calhoun Street to the Rosemont neighborhood in the Neck Area.

Voters on James Island will choose between incumbent Councilwoman Carol Jackson, a retiree, and newcomer Caroline Parker, a preschool teacher, in District 12. The patchy area of city boundaries covers most of Charlestons jurisdiction on the island.

District 2 incumbent Kevin Shealy, District 6 incumbent William Dudley Gregorie and District 8 incumbent Mike Seekings have no listed ballot challengers.

Three candidates are eyeing the mayor's seat, while four council seats are up for grabs sought by nine candidates.

Current Mayor Jimmy Carroll is retiring from his four-year term.

The three candidates seeking the mayor's post include Ryan Buckhannon, who has served on City Council for 20 years; Joshua Ryan Langdon Hooser, an attorney; and Phillip Pounds, who was elected to City Council in 2020.

Summerville

In the Town Council race, seven people are vying for three seats.

Charlotte Cruppenink, Dewayne Kitts and James Bryan Ware III are the three incumbents seeking re-election.

Challengers are Jaquetta Middleton, Glenn H. Pipkin Jr., Chad Sweatman and Honest Thompson.

Moncks Corner has nonpartisan elections with no districts, which means the three who attain the most votes will be elected into the positions.
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Glenn Youngkin campaigned early yesterday morning in Alexandria, deeply Democratic territory just across the river from Washington. He tweeted out the photos below to convey the size of the crowd he drew. Its probably a mistake to make much of crowds in this context  Ill never forget my night among the throng packed into the old Minneapolis Auditorium for George McGovern in the summer of 1972  but Youngkin must be doing well to be spending time in northern Virginia on the closing weekend of the race.

Are you kidding me?! This crowd in OLD TOWN, ALEXANDRIA was on  this morning at 8 AM! The momentum is with us, Virginia! pic.twitter.com/wxrGShIAlH  Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 30, 2021

Terry McAuliffe called on Kamala Harris to whip up the enthusiasm of the crowd in Norfolk. I draw the inference that McAuliffe thinks he needs help. If Harris is the help you need, you might be in deep trouble, but he also had Pharrell Williams on hand to deliver a weirdly impersonal message.

Kamala fails to fire up the crowd at a McAuliffe rally tonight in Virginia. pic.twitter.com/7jWbApLbSe  TRUMP_MAGA (@Trump_MAGA2024) October 31, 2021

That isnt to say the event didnt draw a crowd. It did. Rich Edson tweeted out the photo below.

Crowd at Terry McAuliffe event in Norfolk. Vice President Kamala Harris speaking now. pic.twitter.com/1PUyRV0Dp0  Rich Edson (@RichEdsonDC) October 29, 2021

Nick Arama collects a few more clips in the RedState post Cringeworthy Kamalas Effort for McAuliffe Just Might Make People Vote for Youngkin. Aramas roundup includes a clip of Pharrell Williamss pitch to the crowd to vote and be a part of the process of being a Virginian. Woo hoo!

If McAuliffe pulls this race out on Tuesday the only conclusion to draw is that Virginia has become a deep blue state.
Critical Race Theorymore specifically, the Lefts astonishingly successful drive to inflict it on our young people via the public schoolsis the number one issue of this moment in our history. The entire point of CRT is to convince our youth that America is evil, and therefore must be destroyed. Or, as leftists prefer to put it, fundamentally transformed. This is what many if not most elementary school students are being taught, and it only gets worse as they get older.

The Left achieved this remarkable coup when too few of us were paying attention, but now Americans are becoming informed and aroused. We see this in the pushback by parents against left-wing school boards across the country. And, of course, in Virginias gubernatorial election, where the Lefts effort to impose Marxist anti-Americanism on Virginias children has become the central issue of the campaign.

Conservatives have been silent for too long, but this is an opportunity to let people know where you stand. American Experiment now has merch, which you can buy here. Most of it is American Experiment branded (Minnesotas Think Tank), but the anti-CRT items are equally applicable anywhere. You can get anti-CRT buttons:

And t-shirts that say Education Not Indoctrination as well as Cancel CRT.

I would love to see these products cropping up across the country. You can follow this link if you are interested in buying something. We have priced all of the products in the American Experiment store at the lowest possible level to break even, but be aware that there is also a shipping and handling charge.

I assume there are other sources of anti-CRT merchandise, but I wanted to let our readers know about this one. American Experiment is one of the countrys leaders on this issue, having sponsored anti-CRT events in 22 Minnesota cities, drawing localmost important to usas well as national (CNN) and international (Sky News Australia) publicity. And we have been on the case since 2017, exposing left-wing, race-based misinformation in the public schools. So if you want to let people know what you think about CRT, our store is a good place to go.
Our friend Stephen Hunter describes the column below as one more Alec Baldwin piece, this from a film critic and acknowledged firearms expert. Steve is the Pulitzer Prize-winning former film critic of the Washington Post and author of the Bob Lee Swagger novels. His new novel is TARGETED, which will be published in January by Atria/Emily Bestler Books and is available for pre-order now. Steve writes:

What did Alec Baldwin know of the firearm with which he killed Halyna Hutchins? The answer, based on his filmography, is not much.

Whether intentionally or by chance, he has had a remarkably gun-free career as a film actor. He has never made a Western. His most recent exposure dates back to 1994s The Getaway, in which he used a .45 automatic, as did Steve McQueen in Sam Peckinpahs original. However the automatic is a pistol from another era (1911 on) and its protocols are entirely different than the Italian clone of the Colt Peacemaker he reportedly used on the set of Rust.

The perdurable Peacemaker is a genre icon. It has been used safely in literally tens of thousands of Westerns, from The Great Train Robbery of 1903 to this years Old Henry. In todays professional film culture, even with diminished production of Westerns, there still must be hundreds of men and women highly proficient in its use. New Mexico, where the film shoot had gone, has to be jammed with savvy Colt users. Theres even an under-the-radar sport called Western Action Shooting by which thousands of ordinary folks dress up cowboy and use period-accurate firearms in matches. In other words, theres no shortage of expertise.

Clearly, Baldwin was not a western action shooter. One must further wonder if his reputed anger issues or his CEO status as producer precluded some old-salt type from giving him a basic rundown on what he could or could not do or what he should never do with the pistol. If so, that would be one more catastrophe in the chain of catastrophes that killed Ms. Hutchins.

The gun that Baldwin used was a functional Italian replica of the Colt revolver which came into being in the early years of industrialized firearm development, far before such elementary issues as safety became of consideration. It was one of the first cartridge-firing handguns from Connecticuts gun valley, originally released in 1873.

Besides or perhaps in spite of being beautiful and ergonomic, its power, reliability, ease of operation and sturdiness made it a perfect marketplace fit. It was designed to be a short-range, quick-to-deploy mankiller, mandatory protection in the frequent episodes of violence that marked the frontier. Its engineers never cared about safety because they assumed the men who used it to be of practical nature, good with their hands, skilled in survival skills, shooters of experience, of great need to do the necessary fast. They never envisioned it in the hands of actors.

All these years later, it retains some features that make it dangerous to the tenderfoot.

As a single-action revolver, its trigger does one thing; it drops the cocked hammer. That hammer must be cocked by hand, usually with the thumb, wrapping around and securing the upswept spur, drawing it back until it locks in place. Thususuallyshooting requires two discrete behaviorsthe hammer must be cocked, then the trigger pressed.

The art of drawing and shooting the single-action Colt is therefore highly refined, an integration of contradictory motionsthe draw is up and out, the cocking down and back  that demand coordination, dexterity, hand strength and practice. It is not something to be picked up quickly, which is why many producers use shooting doubles, like armorer Hannah Guiterrez-Reeds legendary father Thell Reed, in closeups.

One exception confuses the issue and Clint Eastwood will be eternally grateful for it. He burst into big-screen consciousness in 1967 when heor an Italian shooter-double in close-upblew five galoots out of their boots as if he had a submachine gun. A Fistful of Dollars helped make him a star.

Eastwood or the double had fanned the pistol. It is a feature of the Coltof any revolver that when the trigger is held back, that is, pinned against the rear of the trigger guard, the cocking function is bypassed. There are mechanical reasons for this, but I wont explain them because I am not without mercy. Still, it is this feature which makes fanning possible: if the shooter holds back the trigger, he can slap the hammer back and it flies forward and fires at each slap, over and over. With practice and talent he can get really fast and even accurate.

So it was this big iron that ended up on the hip and then in the hands of Alec Baldwin. I believe the most likely scenario for the incident at Bonanza movie ranch had to involve inadvertent fanning.

Theres even an incident of inadvertent fanning on the record. In John Fords magnificent The Searchers Ethan (John Wayne) tosses The Reverend (Ward Bond) his loaded Colt. Watch it, its loaded,' says Ethan. But the Reverend doesnt watch it. As he raises the pistol to fire at the charging Comanches, his thumb slips off the hammer and he accidentally discharges a shot at 45 degrees into the river.

Something like this must have happened to Baldwin. The actor, as reported, was sitting in the pew of the church, practicing. He was trying mightily to get the draw-cock rhythm down and that was his focus, though dangerously adding the element of speed. It never occurred to him that the gun was loaded. (Rule No. 1: All guns are always loaded.) He was unaware that his muzzle had drifted onto the camera crew where Ms. Hutchins and director Joel Souza were crouched. (Rule No. 2: Never let your muzzle cover anything you arent willing to destroy.)

In practicing the draw-while-cocking integration, his index finger had wandered onto the trigger, depressing it just far enough to bypass the cocking function. (Rule No. 3: Dont touch the trigger until youre ready to shoot.) Struggling awkwardly, he released the hammer under the impression he had cocked the pistol. He hadnt. The hammer flew forward. The gun fired. (Rule No. 4: Always know what your target is.) It is quite possible that absent knowledge of these mechanics, he still believes the gun fired on its own, out of some defect. The defect was his.

Most gun accidents are confluences of unlikelihoods, defying logic and all odds. Just consider the train of if onlys that produced this one. But distraction, more than anything, is a root cause. Whatever the legal, professional, or moral outcome, it should remind all shooters, Hollywood or Baltimore or any place in between, to pay attention. Let me add Rule No. 5: When you have a gun in your hand, it is the only thing in the world.
Following Merrick Garlands recent appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, we posted the portions of his testimony in which he answered (and sometimes evaded) the questions of Sen. Tom Cotton and Sen. Josh Hawley. In this post, I want to add Garlands exchanges with Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cruz did his usual effective job, and the entire thing is worth watching. Towards at the end, at around the seven minute mark, Cruz raised the question of a possible conflict interest Garland had in issuing his infamous memo calling on the Feds to investigate and possibly prosecute parents whose criticism of school boards can be viewed as harassing or intimidating.

One of the main grounds on which parents are vehemently criticizing school boards relates to the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to children. Apparently, Garlands son-in-law sells material to public schools for use in the teaching of CRT.

If parents are investigated for forcefully criticizing the teaching of CRT, or if they are deterred from making forceful criticism, the effect might well be more teaching of CRT than would otherwise occur. And the more teaching of CRT that occurs, the greater the potential for Garlands son-in-law to make money.

Accordingly, Cruz asked Garland whether he sought an ethics opinion from the Department of Justice before issuing his memo directing federal involvement in school board/parent relations. Garland repeatedly refused to answer the question directly. But his response  to insist that there was no reason to seek ethics advice  made it clear that Garland sought none.

Garlands basis for saying there was no need for ethics advice was his assertion that his memo would have no predictable effect on his sons business. I think thats wrong. The predictable effects of his memo are (1) a diminution of pressure on school boards to abstain from teaching CRT, leading to (2) more teaching of CRT than would occur absent Garlands memo, leading to (3) more business for Garlands family member.

Im no expert on legal ethics, though. Perhaps my view of the matter is wrong. But even if it is, I think theres enough of an ethical question here that Garland should have sought the opinion of those at the DOJ who are ethics experts and who are there to help guide DOJ lawyers on matters of potential conflicts of interest.

I doubt that Garlands memo was motivated by a desire to help his son-in-law. Garlands own woke leftism and that of those in the Biden administration for whom he fronts sufficiently explain why he issued the memo.

But the ethical question isnt limited to the actual motive behind the memo. It also encompasses matters of appearance. Arguably, there is the appearance of a conflict here, which is why I believe Garland should have sought an ethics opinion.

I also wonder whether, if the administration hadnt been in such a hurry to issue the memo  the school board association called for action in a letter on a Wednesday and Garland complied just a few days later on the following Monday  he might have sought an ethics opinion.

But maybe Im giving Garland too much credit.

Heres the full colloquy between Cruz and Garland:


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Cross-dressing is gradually gaining prominence in Nigerian society especially in the fashion industry. Although not generally accepted, the likes of Jefferson Ndoma have found a path for themselves in crossdressing.

Although he is originally a highly sought-after make-up artist, it does appear that with cross-dressing, he has found a new level of fame. Upon meeting him for the first time, you wouldnt believe he is a boy even if you were told especially when he crossdresses. In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the 21-year-old University of Calabar sociology undergraduate, speaks about his craft and life as a cross-dresser in Nigeria.

Excerpts:

PT: How long have you been cross-dressing?

Jefferson: Honestly, literally all my life, I remember how Ill intentionally spoil my backpack so my mum would give me one of her handbags to improvise. I also recall how Ill always like my outfit with a little touch of femininity, lets say its pretty much always been there.

PT: Interesting, so at what age did you take up cross-dressing as your career or hobby?

Jefferson: Honestly, I dont wanna brag but I feel like I took it more seriously when I had my own money to finance the things I want. This is because I feel like if you want to do something, it should be worth doing.

PT: Tell us about your childhood

Jefferson: My childhood was awful. Honestly, I wish I was as strong and smart as I am. I hated myself, my body, my family, and the society I found myself in. I was bullied and whenever I told people my dreams they will all start laughing. I was the kid who had no friends, who didnt know how to trust, the kid who always talks to himself, the kid who was way too pretty to be a boy. I got tired or lets say I grew through everything I went through, I learnt everything I know today the hard way including love. So, growing up was hard, but Im sure my 10-year-old self would be so proud of me right now.

PT: Do your parents know you cross-dress now and what do they think about it?

Jefferson: My dad is late. I was raised by a single mum. She is the typical religious Nigerian mum, honestly, she isnt very supportive about it but I know she loves me so much.

PT: Speaking of love and acceptance, how does your girlfriend react when you cross-dress?

Jefferson: I do not have a girlfriend.

PT: Do you attend Church, how do you dress to church?

Jefferson: Yes, I am a Christian and I go to church. Listen, personally, I feel like it depends on my mood, I dont wake up any day and just crossdress. It depends on how Im feeling,I know one day Ill feel like a princess and wear my crown to church.

PT: So, you have never cross-dressed to church?

Jefferson: No, I havent.

PT: You spoke about mood, what inspires your cross-dressing?

Jefferson: As I said, it revolves around my mood. I am honestly inspired by other cross-dressers.

PT: Who is your favorite crossdresser?

Jefferson: The American beauty YouTuber and make-up artist and crossdresser, James Charles Dickinson.

PT: Do you think cross-dressing is ripe for an association in Nigeria?

Jefferson: No no no, the mental image of that is disastrous. I mean an association needs peaceful co-existence and mutual love, that is something I dont see much around here. We dont support each other so much.

PT: Does this mean Nigerian cross-dressers are in an unhealthy competition?

Jefferson: Personally, I aint competing with nobody, Im trying to improve my craft. Unhealthy competition isnt the word I think they aint mentally mature yet!

PT: Speaking of mentality, do you think cross-dressing is misunderstood in Nigeria?

Jefferson: Yeah, theres always a misconception about cross-dressers and transgenders. Cross-dressing is also misunderstood because the people in the limelight arent sending the right picture or right representation, that way everyone judges others by their behavior.

PT: Do you think cross-dressing is becoming a thing in Nigeria?

Jefferson: Yes and Im glad

PT: Do you think Nigerians would ever accept cross-dressing?

Jefferson: Yes with time and freedom from mental slavery and religious prejudices.

PT: How are you often described?

Jefferson: Honestly, that is one thing I dont know. People have different perceptions of me. Some people think Im that gender-confused kid, others think Im sweet, others paint a picture of a girl whos needy and controlling and cant keep a man, so her coping mechanism is posting hot pictures.

PT: What other jobs do you do aside from cross-dressing?

Jefferson: Make-up and hairstyling, and Ive been juggling them with studies

PT: Speaking of crowns, Bobrisky is said to have made so much money, does this mean cross-dressing is a lucrative business?

Jefferson: Cross-dressing isnt a business, its a lifestyle. It is a culture, it is who you areits not a business.

PT: Do you get advances from men as a cross-dresser?

Jefferson: Yes, I get advances from men, and I respect everyones sexuality, so Im very careful with what I do and say around them because most of them dont know Im a boy.

PT: Whats your advice for young cross-dressers like yourself?

Jefferson: Self-acceptance is the key to being truly free. So love and accept the things you cant change and everything will fall into place. It isnt easy but its worth it at the end of the day.
Sani Musa, senator representing Niger-East (APC), has been in the 9th Senate for over two years now. In this exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, he spoke on sundry issues, including his stay so far in the senate, vis-a-vis his legislative contributions, his controversial bill on social media regulation, empowerment programmes for his constituents, state of the nation, the chances of the APC retaining the presidency in the 2023 general elections. He also dismissed the popular notion that the Senate under the leadership of Ahmad Lawan is a rubber stamp legislature.

Read the excerpt of the interview below:

PT: You have been in the senate for more than two years. Can you briefly tell us what have been your contributions in terms of bills, motions, oversight functions, among others?

Sani Musa: Thats a good one. I have been in the senate for almost two years now or more and it has been quite a good experience. You meet diverse people, you sit together with all common interests, and that is how we can make Nigeria better. In terms of my contribution to law-making, I think I have been up and doing because, so far, I think I have presented almost 28 bills and out of these 28, I think that four have been passed, waiting for harmonisation and then transmission to the President for his assent. Some of the bills or almost half of them have gone through the second reading; some are awaiting public hearing from the various committees they have been taken to.

In the area of lawmaking, I believe that we as a country still have a long way to go because the National Assembly needs to be strengthened; we need to make human capital development to also reach institutions like the National Assembly because most of the senators are like me, new in the system and we are beginning to catch up with the rudiments of law-making but we still have a long way to go and in so doing, I also want to call on the National Assembly leadership to see how they can also strengthen the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies(NILDS) to make it strong in developing capacity for lawmakers.

PT: How do you assess the senate under the leadership of Ahmad Lawan?

Sani Musa: The 9th Senate under the leadership of Senator Ahmad Lawan has done very well in the areas of lawmaking . For example, we have been able to regularise our budget cycle. You may recall that budgets would not be passed until some time around July, August or June, which was not good for the economy in the past. Since we came on board, for the third consecutive time now, we are working on presenting the appropriation bill by December so that the President will assent to it and it takes off by (implementation by January) next year. That helps to stabilise the economy and also gives investors some confidence that the economic climate in the country is normal.

You may want to take a look at the Petroleum Industry Bill that was practically becoming a ghost for almost 20 years; we have been able to pass the bill and the President wasted no time in assenting to it. Thats what gave rise to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). I have no doubt that the petroleum sector will be the better for it by the time all the reforms intended in the Act are implemented. All the previous assemblies found it very difficult to deal with it head-on. I must commend the National Assembly and also commend the good relationship between the National Assembly and the executive which has facilitated all these things to have a smooth ride. We have been able to also pass so many other bills like the sexual molestation bill, the rape bills, which are all under consideration. I have also proposed a bill that has gone past the second reading which is an Act to end the stigmatisation of victims of insurgency and banditry in terms of sexual abuse they are getting, among others.

We have also been able to deal with some of the controversies in the Electoral Act which, when resolved, will help deepen our electoral process and ultimately our democracy in the long run. On the electronic transmission of results by INEC, we as a senate have been able to look at the law and then amended it again. Honestly, the intention of the senate was never to disagree or refuse to agree with the transmission of election (results). We only felt that if we were going to do it electronically, it was imperative that all parts of the country have network coverage so that some voters will not be disenfranchised and when you say no its not an issue of disenfranchisement, how do you look at it, where you will say okay Lagos, Ibadan or some areas will have network and they are free to transmit and you go far North and you will be writing on the paper; you know that there can be a lot of discrepancies and a lot of issues which are all what we are trying to avoid. But generally, if you look at it, INEC was not even doing electronic transmission of results before. When they are always citing examples of Edo, saying INEC transmitted results in Edo; there was no electronic transmission; INEC was only publishing results, and when they publish, they take a picture of the results and then send. It is not like it is being collected as a raw result. The results were not livestreamed. So its not real-time coverage. We considered all these before we decided to pass that amendment though we did not also want to breach the Constitution as it relates to INEC, because we did not want to usurp the functions of the electoral body. I think it is always good to have laws that are very very direct, that you understand (that are unambiguous). So, I think to cap it finally, I will say this 9th assembly has done very well. The senate has done quite tremendously, and we believe we have a lot more to do.

PT: Senator, let me take you up based on the concluding part of your response to the preceding question  first that the senate has done so well tremendously under Lawan. But, how do you react to this popular perception that the current senate is a rubber stamp senate always in bed with the Presidency?

Sani Musa: (Cuts in) You as a journalist, I want you to define what rubber stamp means.

PT: Rubber stamp means, to my understanding, whatever the executive arm of government wants, the senate just approves. You may want to clarify this issue of rubber stamp tag, sir.

Sani Musa: Let me be honest with you, I think it is the imagination of the press to have looked at us and think that we can be rubber stamps. If we were rubber stamps, why did we decline to clear Lauretta Onochie as a national commissioner of INEC? Why did we decline to approve the other nominee for the position of national commissioner from Osun State? Why?

So, going back to your question, we are not rubber stamps, we cannot be rubber stamps. We are one arm of government and we act based on the provisions of the Constitution. Although there is the issue of separation of powers, in whatever we do, we cooperate. If there is no synergy between the three arms of government, then how do you want to see progress?

Imagine what happened in the last 8th assembly that the President refused to sign the Electoral Act. Why? Because there was no synergy. Whatever you are doing, even in your own home there is need for compromise in order to move forward.

Going forward, I must add that democracy is alien to us. Democracy just came in and we are trying to now see how we can be able to tolerate our differences despite our diversity. So, in so doing, when you have a government that is not in harmony with each other, then there will be disunity. There cannot be development, there cannot be progress.

As a senate, I will still say that we have done very well and when you call us rubber stamps we dont understand what you mean by rubber stamps. Why didnt you talk of rubber stamps when the PDP government was there and the President was doing everything at will? Why did you not talk about rubber stamps when President Obasanjo unilaterally would leave what was in the Constitution and did whatever he liked?

When you are looking at positions, you should look at both positions and compare. Today, you as a Nigerian should be very happy that the National Assembly, the executive and the judiciary are working in harmony, because this is what will sell our country; this is what will move our country forward and the prosperity we are talking about can only be attained in a situation where there is peace and unity. We have too much in our basket to move on; is it the economy that the government will face or the security? And when two heads are fighting, when the executive and the legislature cannot come together and understand each other, see how they can synergise and attack whatever enemy they have together, what makes you think there will be a smooth sail for the country? There cannot be. Its just like you have a ship, I mean a captain in a ship who is sailing and then you as the passenger you came in and you said no, captain you are not sailing it well, this is the way you do it, when you cannot even navigate, you dont know, you dont even know how the GIS works. And this is the point of those calling us rubber stamps; they dont even know what legislative functions are. And I will say the media in this country are not helping us in terms of giving the country a good image unlike what obtains abroad.

PT: But the media only report what is factual and verifiable.

Sani Musa: We are not just being honest; the press in this country prefers to just see a crisis. Imagine what you see being reported everyday. If you travel to countries such as the U.K., the U.S. and other advanced countries where democracy has been in practice for years, you will see that 70 per cent of their reporting, 70 per cent of the contents of their newspapers are very positive. Why is it in our case it is 90 percent negativity?

PT: (Cut in) But these are not creations of the media. We only report what we see.

Sani Musa: No, no, why is the media not reporting something positive? When they see a positive thing, why dont they elaborate on it? Why do they capitalise on the negative ones?

PT: But the Nigerian media still report the positive ones like social projects of the government and the rest.

Sani Musa: Yes, just 10 per cent. I feel somehow that we, in this country, have relegated the position of giving our country a positive image. It is all about negativity. When they want to hear anything about Nigeria, you will not hear something positive. That has become a very major problem and we need to look at it. So, you understand. The Nigerian project is for everyone of us.

PT: Okay, senator, that takes me to the media not living up to expectation. Could that be the reason you want the social media regulated in Nigeria?

Sani Musa: You see, this is why I said that that our understanding is quite different. I have not seen anybody among you look at the laws, the amendment, the new laws that both the United Kingdom, France, Canada have been doing on social media. None of you has made any comments; Even Premium Times, I have not even seen you look at that and say oh, lets look at what this country is trying to do. You guys have not done it, the only thing you know best is to tell the whole world that we are trying to gag you.

PT: But it does appear you want the social media censored and that is why Nigerians are opposed to it.

Sani Musa: Well, the intention of the bill is not to gag anyone from using the social media as he or she likes. What we seek to achieve is to ensure that social media users dont use their platforms to propagate falsehood and fake news that can jeopardise the peace of the country. You are a living witness in this country about what happened in Jos where somebody posted false claims and people were killed. The same thing in Benue State. Nobody has bothered to say, why should we allow such to happen? Why do you make laws? Laws are made for proper governance of the society. And when you breach it, you face the penalty which will deter others from doing the same thing.

Fact is, when I initiated the bill, I made it clear that this bill is never meant to suppress anyone. In my case, I am 24 hours on social media. All the platforms you think of, from TikTok, poppular with young people, to Twitter, to WhatsApp, to Telegram, to Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, everything. I am in there, my kids are there, they use them, they use them to study, they use them to do researches, then I will just wake up and then say: I dont want any Nigerian to use social media. This is the notation you give when you report that we want to disallow Nigerians free use of social media and its not true. When we say that we want to do is to curtail, to check on the management of good news and fake news. We said lets make some laws that would be a deterrence. Some people, if they remember there is this law, will not post falsehood on their social media platforms. I can sit in the comfort of my room now and post, in just a minute, it will go viral.

PT: You dont want to restrict Nigerians from using social media, yet, want to regulate it to check the spread of fake news. How exactly are you going to achieve this?

Sani Musa: Ours is to find a way to regulate the the intermediaries via which information flows. Who are the intermediaries? They are Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, among others. Let us now work on them, lets come up with a code of conduct and what is that code of conduct? You cannot post falsehood ; you will be punished for it if the court finds you guilty. You can do a video with my face now; all I need to do is to get the app, remove your face, just a picture of you and then I put it on that app and then I will be able to manipulate it the way I want. That app can show you that you are on top of a woman. By the time that thing becomes viral before you can go and clear your name, the damage has been done. And we said no, the intermediary should check. Are you telling me that there is no freedom of expression in Dubai? Why do you run to Dubai for holidays? Why do you like to go there if there you cannot even use social media, so what enjoyment? Why do you go there? But you will use social media even in Dubai. You can interact with anybody, you can chat; you can do anything, but you know there are certain things you cannot do and there are certain sites that even if you want to log in to, you know that it is restricted . Why have people in Dubai not shouted human rights abuse or that their fundamental human rights have been breached?

When you want to make a society, you dont copy. Even in Canada today that they are talking about freedom, there is a limit, because you cant go on social media and start chatting with a girl of 16.

Cant we do it here? Cant we even take the picture of a 16-year-old girl and post it and then play around with it? What we are trying to do is to get the intermediaries to put firewalls on our platforms, just as they did in other countries to curtail the spread of unethical stuff.

Nobody is saying you have no right to criticise the government or call on government leaders to live up to expectations. And even when you breach the law, it is only a court of competent jurisdiction that will listen and hear and it is only the court that can define what fake news that you presented there is. The proof of not being fake news is on you. You are the suspect and once you can prove it, you are a free man.

So, social media is good. If a country like the UK can look into their social media fake news issues, then why cant we do the same? We heard what happened in the UK based on this COVID-19 vaccine and isolation issues. They decided that they should rebuild the laws and successfully they did. So why is it difficult for us to do here?

PT: What is the status of the bill now in the National Assembly?

Sani Musa: It is still at the committee level. After the committee level, they will make their report to the committee of whole and from there we will take it up.

UK censored their social media, but Nigeria, when we say censor, they said oh you want to gag us, you want to refuse us, Okay, tell me what you are reporting that is even positive.

PT: No, we are not creating all these things especially those of us from the mainstream media, we only report what we see.

Sani Musa: How many times have I seen the mainstream media talking about a report that is fake or factual?

PT: We as an organisation do that. There is what is called fact-checking. Whenever we are unsure of the factuality of a report, we fact-check it. That is a way to halt the spread of fake news.

Sani Musa: No, what I am saying is having something something like having Premium Times Newspaper, and then some persons will clone Premium Times Newspaper and credit a particular fake story to it. It happened to ThisDay. See what they did to Governor Hope Uzodinma. So, you are saying with what is happening and there shouldnt be censorship? They shouldnt censor platforms that are doing that, and you said its a decent society, its a free society? Thats not freedom. Where your freedom ends is where mine begins.

PT: The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which will be winding down by 2023, seems to be completely overwhelmed by insecurity, poor economy, among others. How do you rate the government?

Sani Musa: If not for the issue of insecurity in this country I dont think, I can say it that I have not seen any civilian administration that has done very well the way this administration is doing in terms of major critical infrastructural development. And if not for the coming of COVID-19 coupled with economic recession, things would have been much different. But as you can see the government is still doing very well. And honestly, the President is overwhelmed. You can see when we shouted and made a lot of noise, the President listened and decided, look, let the service chiefs go. They have appointed new ones and they have been trying, and you can see now that they have done very well in trying to see how they can curtail the Boko Haram insurgents

PT: (Cut in) And the bandits, too?

Sani Musa: Our military are still engaging the bandits, but the Boko Haram they have neutralised so many of them because we can see that they are no longer as strong as we used to know them. On that note alone, we must commend the President and our military. If you look at it, those days you were scared to join a crowd. You could not go to Emab Plaza here in Abuja because of the fear that terrorists might come and bomb the place tomorrow. But now everyone is free to move about.

PT: Because of the issues of the economy, Boko Haram insurgency, banditry even in your state (Niger State) and general insecurity, dont you think these issues will still work against your party APC- in 2023?

Sani Musa: No, no, no, this cant work. What we are saying and what we are facing. You see we Nigerians forget things easily. Can you drive from here to Emab Plaza now? You could not even drive from here to the airport in the past, youd think there would be one killing or the other. I am not saying there are no killings now, there are still killings, but not like what it used to be when bombs would just go off you understand, in a place that is not unexpected. So, I think we must be honest with ourselves. The security situation is bad, we all know that. But at the same time, we cannot deny the fact that this government is doing well in trying to confront the challenges.

PT: And are you sure the opposition is not going to use all this against the APC?

Sani Musa: (Cuts in) What did the opposition offer you in the 16 years of their administration? When there was oil boom and everything?

PT: But that was why Nigerians voted the PDP out in 2015 and brought in the APC.

Sani Musa: Then, go and aggregate the successes and the failures and see which one is more. Is it this one or the previous administration? Will the PDP have the gut to come and sell themselves to Nigerians and Nigerians will listen to them? When they are in governance, you cannot govern your states very well. The best thing you can do is to abuse the President Show us your scorecard.

PT: So, you think the APC will still retain power in 2023 and beyond ?

Sani Musa: By the grace of God, Nigerians will still believe that we can do better than the PDP. I am very optimistic about that.

PT: Sir, you have less than two years to spend in the senate. What should the people of Niger East be expecting from you?

Sani Musa: You know, those days you had a lot of people blowing your trumpet, but today, you blow your trumpet; nobody does that for you. The last two years have been very tremendous . There have been, as I said earlier, ups and downs. I did my bit. And I can claim that I have, averagely, done well compared to how others have done. I have a lot in terms of empowering the youths; I have a lot in terms of uplifting our educational system, providing infrastructure and training the teachers. I have done very well in the area of agriculture, providing the necessary implements that are needed. When you talk about physical structures, buildings, I have done well; I have built health facilities, so, if I am to give myself a scorecard and you are taking a rating between 1 and 10, as of today, I can tell you that I am at 5

PT: And that is average

Sani Musa: Yes, that is average, and by the time I will get to conclude my remaining two years or so, I will be able to reach 9.

PT: Sir, you are a first term senator and most first term senators always want to come back for another term so they could become ranking senators, become more influential and perhaps be able to chair a committee. Do you plan on returning to the senate for a second term?

Sani Musa: I am a first term senator; I am not a ranking senator, yet I am chairing a committee. So, what are you talking about? Chairing a committee in the senate is not being a member of a particular cabal or caucus. There is a selection committee that looks at the capacity of senators. Look at Senator Tokunbo Abiru that came in last year after the death of Senator Adebayo Osinowo. He is chairing a committee. It is more about capacity and the ability to deliver.

PT: Are we expecting you back in the 10th Senate or do you want to succeed Governor Abubakar Sani Bello?

Sani Musa: I am not the kind of politician that will sit down and say this is my target. 2023 as far as I am concerned is still far away and I am halfway into the mandate given to me. Let me see how I can actualise the mandate. Thereafter I can now assess myself to see if I did well or not. If I did very well then, I will start thinking to say yes, I am going to come back.

PT: But its possible your people are mounting pressure on you to come back because most Nigerian politicians always say their people want them to run or seek re-election.

Sani Musa: That is why I said my kind of politics is completely different, pressure doesnt make me do what I feel is not it. I act based on my conviction. If I feel it is the right thing to do, of course I wont hesitate to do it.
The head of judiciary, human rights and anti-corruption desk at PREMIUM TIMES, Adeyemi Adesomoju, has won the Gani Fawehinmi Prize for Human Rights Reporter of the Year at the 2020 edition of the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA).

He defeated New Telegraph newspapers Juliana Francis and The Nation newspapers Grace Obike.

Mr Adesomoju, whose entry was a two-part story titled Courts where police, others are helped to violate citizens rights wrote it while reporting for The Punch newspaper as a senior correspondent.

Meanwhile, another PREMIUM TIMES reporter with the Development Desk, Medinat Kanabe, who was also nominated for the Adamu MuAzu Prize for Tourism Reporter of the Year, was defeated by an assistant editor with The Nation newspapers, Chikodi Okereocha.

Mrs Kanabes entry was published by The Nation Newspapers before joining PREMIUM TIMES.

Other winners

Winners across 48 other categories also received their trophies and certificates at the presidential hall located within Kogi State government house in Lokoja on Saturday evening. The Nation Newspapers won in 16 categories

Governor speaks

The governor of the host state for the award, Yahaya Bello, hailed journalists for what he described as great job they are doing.

He said as the fourth estate of the realm of governance, journalists are more powerful than the other three arms of the judiciary, legislature and the executive.

He said reports by journalists can make or mar a nation, urging journalists to sanitise the system against those he described as quacks, who trade in fake news, sensationalism and propaganda.

He suggested that as good journalistic works are rewarded annually, the media should also introduce naming and shaming method to expose those he described as bad eggs.

He said: In fact, the world would be a scary and dark place without the mavens who collect, curate and communicate information in a timely and responsible manner. In so doing they dispel falsehood, eliminate dangerous assumptions and provide societies with the basic premises upon which governance and other decisions can be made. This helps to bring order to society and engender human cooperation.

Be responsible

He said journalists should take back their profession from quacks, specifically the myriad of unregulated persons armed with internet-enabled devices who haunt the media space.

Lives and whole societies have been ruined by the irresponsible practice of journalism by media practitioners, or quacks who impersonate them. The use of the tools of the journalists trade to deal in hate speech has set off many a fire which ultimately consumed whole politics and their people.

Fake news is ubiquitous nowadays, whether it is rumour-mongering, dangerous innuendo, character assassination or other forms of inaccurate reportage. The problem is so endemic that in Q3 2020 alone, statistics show there were 1.8 billion engagements with fake news on Facebook alone! Nigeria, like many countries, has fallen victim to it many times, sometimes with devastating loss of lives or properties.

Noting that the NMMA Trust is a very important institution that rewards merit in the way individuals and media houses practise journalism, Mr Bello said the NMMA provides critical motivation for the real journalists to do their work professionally.

In his speech, the chairman of the NMMA board of trustees, Aruna Adamu Rashid, said the body is a non-governmental and non-political organisation that is not interested in politics but the journalism profession.
All road leads to Scotland, the United Kingdom, where over 30,000 official attendees  will be meeting indoors, huddling intense talks, for hours and hours a day, from Sunday to November 12 and potentially longer in what will be the largest summit ever hosted in Britain to discuss arguably the biggest issue defining our existence at this age  Climate Change.

This article is an analysis of what is expected of the Nigerian government as far as climate change is concerned. But before that, it is important to explain that majority of the commitments being made in Glasgow would directly affect our daily lives, especially because Africa has been identified as one of the regions negatively affected by climate change despite contributing very small to global emissions.

Background: Climate Change in Nigeria

According to the Institute of Development Studies, For some time now, Nigerias climate has been changing, evident in increases in temperature; variable rainfall; rise in sea level and flooding; drought and desertification; land degradation; more frequent extreme weather events; affected freshwater resources and loss of biodiversity. The durations and intensities of rainfall have increased, producing large runoffs and flooding in many places in Nigeria.

Rainfall variation is projected to continue to increase. Precipitation in southern areas is expected to rise and rising sea levels are expected to exacerbate flooding and submersion of coastal lands. Droughts have also become a constant in Nigeria, and are expected to continue in Northern Nigeria, arising from a decline in precipitation and rise in temperature. Lake Chad and other lakes in the country are drying up and at risk of disappearing.

Temperature has risen significantly since the 1980s. Climate projections for the coming decades reveal a significant increase in temperature over all the ecological zones. This rapid review synthesizes evidence on the impact of climate change in Nigeria (geographic, sectoral, demographic and security impacts) and responses to address it (i.e. climate change mitigation and adaptation, adaptive capacity and capacity development).

In Lagos Nigeria, residents have been experiencing flooding for many years now  A report on Urban flood risks, impacts, and management in Nigeria estimated that the flooding in Lagos is responsible for the loss of around $4 billion per year. According to Muhammadu Muhammed, head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the devastating impact of the 2020 flooding killed 68 people, affected 35 states including FCT, 320 LGAs and over 129,000 people. Also, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation in 2020 also showed evidence of how a community in Ayetoro, Osun State is under threat of being washed away as a result of flood and rising sea levels.

So with all of this, it is important to understand what the Nigerian government has been up to in the global conversation on climate change.

In July 2021, the Nigerian government submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (referred to as the UNFCCC or the Convention), its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) which are national commitments. The UNFCCC provides the foundation for multilateral action to combat climate change and its impacts on humanity and ecosystems. According to the submitted NDC, Nigeria recommits to its unconditional contribution of reducing carbon emissions by 20 per cent below business-as-usual by 2030, while it increases its conditional target to 47 per cent as against the 45 per cent captured in the 2015 NDC. With this, Nigerias role at COP26 becomes important to analyse.

Who will be representing Nigeria at COP26?

Nigerias delegation to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, will be led by President Muhammadu Buhari who is expected to arrive in the UK from Saudi Arabia where he has been on an official visit. The Nigerian government, like that of other countries, has made commitments towards reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and has also increased its conditional contribution.

Nigeria has also asked developed countries to honour the pledge of $100 billion annually to support climate action in developing countries.

At a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja on the position Nigeria would be presenting at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), the Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, said: We require the developed countries to honour the word given made back in 2009 of mobilizing $100 billion per year by 2020 to support climate action in developing countries.

Ms Ikeazor while lamenting that developing countries especially those on the African continent bear the brunt of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, noted that: Recent announcements, including President Joe Bidens pledge to double US climate finance, have brought developed countries closer to honouring the pledge.

She, however, said more needed to be done to restore credibility and strengthen trust between developing and developed nations.

The minister noted that considering that Africa is at the receiving end of climate change impacts, our focus will be to strengthen our ability to adapt to climate change impacts.

Also, another important element for discussion at COP26, is the question of how to deal with economic and non-economic harms caused by climate change impacts which cannot be avoided through adaptation or mitigation, known as loss and damage. As we look towards the firming up of increased finance for adaptation, we also look forward for progress in the operationalization of the Paris Agreements Global Goal on Adaptation.

She disclosed that: The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland, His Excellency Boris Johnson has invited Heads of States and Government to participate in the World Leaders Summit (WSL) and High Level segment scheduled for Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd November 2021, during which the World leaders will have the opportunity to make national statements.

Osinbajos position on Energy Transition

In recent times, Vice president Yemi Osinbajo has echoed his position loud about global plans to defund the gas sector. In a strongly-worded article for New York-based Foreign Affairs magazine, he criticised the propulsion from rich countries to divest from fossil fuels.

The article, titled, The divestment delusion: Why banning fossil fuel investments would crush Africa was published on August 31.

Mr Osinbajo used the article to react to the decision of seven European countries, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in April 2021 when they announced that they would halt public funding for certain fossil fuel projects abroad.

In his words: A little less than one year prior, Norways sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, sold out of positions in major mining and energy companies because of environmental concerns. And in 2018, Ireland became the first country to pledge to entirely divest from fossil fuels.

Mr Osinbajo said after decades of profiting from oil and gas, a growing number of wealthy nations have banned or restricted public investment in fossil fuels, including natural gas. Such policies often do not distinguish between different kinds of fuels, nor do they consider the vital role some fuels play in powering the growth of developing economies, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

He argued that although all countries must play their part in the fight against climate change, a global transition away from carbon-based fuels must account for the economic differences between countries and allow for multiple pathways to net-zero emissions.

For countries such as my own, Nigeria, which is rich in natural resources but still energy poor, the transition must not come at the expense of affordable and reliable energy for people, cities, and industry. To the contrary, it must be inclusive, equitable, and justwhich means preserving the right to sustainable development and poverty eradication, as enshrined in global treaties such as the 2015 Paris climate accord, he said.

After his August article, On Thursday at a virtual panel discussion on A Just Transition: Balancing Climate Mitigation with Africas Development, organized by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change ahead of the COP26 summit in the United Kingdom, Mr Osinbajo again called on developed nations to favour Africa regarding energy transition and climate change.

We need to just change the direction of the conversation especially as it affects Africa and then talk in concrete terms about what the implications of net-zero emissions by 2050 or whenever will mean for Africa and the world.

Mr Osinbajo further maintained that Nigeria already has an energy transition plan with a budget of about $400 billion which would be used to support facilities that would support and implement the transition and finance green projects within the country.

We drew up an energy transition plan and we are probably one of the few developing countries to have drawn up a plan and try to cost the plan. This is why we have a figure of $400 billion.

Mr Osibajos position on energy transition is not the only voice from Africa on the topic. It appears a lot of other African leaders are being bolstered by Nigerias big stand on climate justice to echo the same sentiment on the future of Africa.

For instance, on Friday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he does not plan to attend United Nations-sponsored climate talks in Glasgow because the country will be holding municipal elections but be will send representatives to the gathering.

But while responding to a delegation of officials from rich nations in South Africa earlier in the week to discuss ending fossil fuel in South Africa, Mr Ramaphosa said that pledges made to assist poorer nations in dealing with climate change need to be honoured first.

We want your more developed economies that have been responsible for the greatest emissions in the world, to be the ones who will live up to the offers they have made in the past, he said. Once they do that, we will then be able to navigate our own transition. he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

Similarly, there appears to be a continental and international rally in support of Nigerias advocacy to halt plans to defund gas projects, just as the global community moves towards the 2050 net-zero emissions target under the United Nations Climate Change agenda.

During a meeting last week between Nigerias Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, and a delegation of the continent-wide Africa Development Bank, AfDB, the latter threw its weight behind the clamour.

The Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate, and Green Growth at the African Development Bank, Kevin Kariuki, had led a delegation to pay the VP a visit on October 21 and expressed the banks commitment and support for a just energy transition.

His words: First thing I would like to mention is that you have inspired us a lot in the recent past, through your strong and very well-articulated position on the issue of gas as far as Nigeria and Africa is concerned.

You clearly stated that gas must be seen to be a transitional fuel for Africa, which is a position that our bank also supports because we do understand that Africa needs to increase its energy access, and you cant increase energy access without utilising some of the resources and energy sources that we have. I believe that this position you have taken was also supported and stated by the Banks president (Mr. Akinwunmi Adesina) during the ministerial retreat.

Also in a recent article by The Conversation, it was argued that focusing on limiting the emissions of the worlds poorest countries while emissions continue to rise in industrialized countries is clearly misdirected. The authors argued that given stark inequalities in energy use and emissions, this could instead entrench poverty and widen inequality induced by worsening climate change, while simultaneously accomplishing very little to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Together, the U.S., U.K., European Union, Japan and Russia have almost the same population  1.1 billion people  as sub-Saharan Africa, but 35 times more gas-fired power plants in operation or under development, and 52 times more coal plants.

When it comes to carbon dioxide emissions, sub-Saharan Africa is collectively responsible for barely half a per cent of all global emissions over time, while the U.S., UK, EU, Japan and Russia are responsible for more than 100 times that amount, or about 57 per cent, the article noted.

With COP26 remaining a few hours to start, all eyes on the negotiations and how the conversion will swing as it is now clearly a battle between developed countries who have contributed more to the climate crisis and developing countries that have not created the problem but are clearly at the receiving end of the disaster that comes with climate change.
A former Senate President, Iyorcha Ayu, has been elected the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as Taofeek Arapaja also emerged as the Deputy National Chairman (South).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Ayu, who was the consensus candidate at the party national convention in Abuja, got 3,426 affirmative votes out of 3,511 accredited voters.

However, Mr Arapaja secured a total of 2,004 votes to defeat his only rival, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Governor of Osun, who polled 705 votes, while invalid votes were165.

Also, Umar Damagum scored a total of 2,222 votes to defeat his sole rival, Inna Ciroma, for the position of Deputy National Chairman (North). Mr Ciroma polled 365 votes.

NAN reports that the position of National Youth Leader was won by Mohammed Suleiman with 3,072 votes, while his co-contestant, Usman Elkudan, had 219 votes.

Efforts to achieve consensus candidates for all 21 elective national offices of the party suffered a setback as agreement could not be reached for three offices.

The three offices were the Deputy National Chairman (South) and Deputy National Chairman (North), as well as the National Youth Leader of the party.

Those returned unopposed with uniform votes of 3,426 were Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary; Ahmed Mohammed  National Treasurer; Umar Bature as National Organising Secretary and Daniel Woyegikuro as National Financial Secretary.

Others returned elected by the Returning Officer, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, were Stella Effah-Attoe as National Woman Leader; Kamaldeen Ajibade as National Legal Adviser; Debo Ologunagba as National Publicity Secretary and Okechukwu Daniel as National Auditor.

Also elected were Setonji Kosheodo as Deputy National Secretary; Ndubisi David as Deputy National Treasurer; Ibrahim Abdullahi as Deputy National Publicity Secretary and Ighoyota Amori as Deputy National Organising Secretary,

Adamu Kamale was elected the Deputy National Financial Secretary; Hajara Wanka as Deputy National Woman Leader; Timothy Osadolor as Deputy National Youth Leader, Okechukwu Osuoha as Deputy National Legal Adviser and Albdulraman Mohammed as Deputy National Auditor.

NAN reports that the new members of the National Working Committee are expected to assume offices after the tenure of the incumbent members expires on December 9.

In his appreciation remarks, Mr Ayu said the PDP was back to take over Nigeria and develop it.

The national chairman-elect said the PDP did it before and would do it again.

I want to sincerely appreciate the PDP family. Today is simply a thank you address. When we started this party 23 years ago, we never in any way imagined that the journey would get us to this stage.

A stage where we ruled for 16 years, we went into rough times, but for anybody who bothers to see, PDP is back.

I want to appreciate all of you who have taken time as delegates as observers, as supporters, as members of the media as members of the security services who have made this event such a wonderful event.

Many people imagine that this convention will lead to the break up of PDP. Those people who are dreaming like that, their dreams were misplaced.

Those who have lost hope should know that Nigeria is not a divided country. A small group of people decided to divide Nigeria.

PDP will come back to unite our people, put them together, north and south, east and west.

We will move ahead to develop this country. We did it before. We are going to do it again. I want to thank the governors, Mr Ayu said.

(NAN)
Nigerias former president, Goodluck Jonathan, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), may have deliberately avoided the just-concluded PDP National Convention in Abuja.

Mr Jonathan said on Friday he was leaving Abuja on Saturday for Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the African Union retreat on the promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa.

But some PDP leaders believe the former president only used the trip as a convenient excuse to stay away from the party convention.

If indeed he was interested in the convention and the affairs of the party, he would have attended briefly and perhaps give a short speech before travelling on Saturday,  one party chieftain told PREMIUM TIMES. He could also have sent his former deputy, former Vice President Namadi Sambo or anyone else to deliver a goodwill message on his behalf.

Party insiders said Governor Douye Diri of Mr Jonathans own Bayelsa State, and his Oyo State counterpart, Oluseyi Makinde, met with the former president on Friday to persuade him to attend the convention.

Our sources said when Mr Jonathan said he had a scheduled flight to Nairobi, the governors urged him to at least make a brief visit to the convention ground. They also offered to arrange a flight for his trip after the event if necessary. Mr Jonathan declined, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

When this newspaper contacted Mr Jonathans media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, Sunday morning, he requested that the paper send a message to him via WhatsApp.

He was yet to respond to the question about Messrs. Diri and Makindes meeting with the former president as of the time of filing this report.

Mr Eze is currently with Mr Jonathan in Nairobi.

Prior to the convention, even before the list of Bayelsa delegates was compiled, Governor Diri reportedly met Mr Jonathan to request him to lead delegates from the state to the event. Our sources said Mr Jonathan agreed.

Some party chieftains interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES said they suspect Mr Jonathans heart was no longer with the party.

Aside from his absence at Saturdays convention, the former president has not been attending the PDP National Executive Committee meetings, nor involved in the effort to resolve the partys intractable internal crises.

There have been speculations that the All Progressives Congress would want to put forward Mr Jonathan as its candidate in the 2023 presidential election. PREMIUM TIMES has yet to independently verify the claim.

The former vice president under Mr Jonathan, Namadi Sambo, did not also attend the convention.

Mr Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo, who has also kept away from the party, are the two living former presidents produced by the PDP which governed Nigeria for an unbroken 16 years.

The third president, Umaru YarAdua, passed on in 2010, about three years into his four-year tenure.
The suspended National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, has described the invasion of the home of Supreme Court Justice, Mary Odilli, as a huge embarrassment.

Mr Secondus, who made this known in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, also said the incident is an insult on the judiciary.

Media reports on Friday indicated that Mrs Odilis Maitama, Abuja residence, was raided by armed operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The EFCC has, however, said its officials did not carry out the raid. Another security agency, SSS, also denied carrying out the raid.

Mrs Odili 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 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 reacting to the invasion, Mr Secondus said that nothing could explain the embarrassing act of the security operatives on a woman who has put in much in the service of her fatherland.

He said that relevant authorities should come clean on what informed such ignoble and dishonourable behaviour and render unreserved apology to the Justice and the Judiciary.

Its our responsibility as a democratic nation to ensure the continued sanctity of the judiciary as a critical component of democracy, he said.

He also condemned the frequent harassment of the judiciary by the current administration, pointing out that it does not tell well of Nigerias democratic credentials and the respect for the doctrine of separation of power.

He also noted that the development calls for more diligence on the part of judicial officers in responding to search warrant requests from overzealous officials of the executive arm of government.
The Commissioner of Police in Anambra, Echeng Echeng, has assured officers and men in the command that he will stand by them at all times in the fight against insecurity.

Mr Echeng made the promise when he visited some police officers who sustained gunshot wounds during the offensive operation against gunmen at Afor Nnobi, Idemili South Local Government Area on Friday.

Mr Echeng, who was joined in the visit by the heads of the Army, DSS, NSCDC and other security agencies in the state, praised the police officers for their gallantry.

He said the visit was to boost their morale and encourage them to stand firm.

According to him, though criminal elements may try, they would not succeed provided that security operatives remained steadfast.

He wished the wounded officers quick recovery, assuring them that the police would not abandon them or leave anyone behind.

We also wish to assure residents of Anambra that the command is more determined than ever to flush out the miscreants in the state and make the entire state safer for law-abiding citizens to go about their lawful business.

(NAN)
The City of Newark in the State of New Jersey, U.S., has celebrated the 61st Independence anniversary of Nigeria and hoisted Nigerias flag at the City Hall.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the flag hoisting ceremony was organised by the Office of the Mayor in collaboration with Nigerians In Disapora Organisation (NIDO), New Jersey chapter.

Uzoma Emenike, Nigerias Ambassador to the United States, who spoke at the event, paid tributes to Nigerians in the U.S. for their exceptional display of professionalism and competence in various fields of human endeavours.

Ms Emenike said that Nigerians residing in the U.S. had contributed greatly and impacted the socio-economic development of their host country.

We have them (Nigerians) as teachers in the classrooms from elementary to tertiary institutions.

They are doctors; nurses, engineers, lawyers, officers, clergy men and women, entrepreneurs, business owners, restaurateurs, and contractors, and so on, she said.

The envoy said Nigerians had continued to fly the countrys flag higher as they excelled and continued to excel in their various endeavours.

We remain proud of their achievements and celebrate their contributions, which cut across every nook and cranny of the United States, Ms Emenike said.

According to her, Nigeria and the U.S. have continued to remain strategic partners over the years.

The U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria, while Nigeria is the second largest U.S. export destination in Sub-Saharan Africa with 3.2 billion dollars in 2019.

The trade in goods between our two countries totalled over 10 billion dollars in the same year.

Ms Emenike said the U.S. and Nigeria had a bilateral commercial investment dialogue and Nigeria was eligible for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

With these indices, the potential for continued Nigeria-U.S. partnership is very bright and huge, and Nigerian missions in the U.S. are committed and determined to build lasting partnerships that would stimulate, sustain and deepen the already existing cordial Nigeria-U.S. relations, the envoy said.

Also speaking, the Consul-General of Nigeria in New York, Lot Egopija, thanked Nigerians living in the City of Newark and State of New Jersey for their contributions to the development of their host country and assured them of the Consulates support.

We are looking forward to continue to work with our compatriots and to ensure that together we attain that state that every Nigerian would want to be.

You have done excellently well but dont rest on your oars; we want to see a bigger and more impactful programme and contribution in 2022, Mr Egopija said.

In his remarks, Barth Shepkong, Chairman, Board of Trustees, NIDO America, enjoined Nigerians to learn from the lessons of the past and work toward building a formidable future.

Mr Shepkong, represented by Josephine Aguoji, Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, NIDO America, urged Nigerians to muster strength and contribute to the growth of the country.

Let us muster strength to set aside ego and personal interest so that we can take advantage of collective passion for Nigeria that we may turn our dream for a greater country into reality, he said.

Also, the President of NIDO New Jersey chapter, Adeola Popoola, urged Nigerians in the diaspora to celebrate in spite of the challenges in their home country.

Mr Popoola said Nigerians had a lot to celebrate and be proud of, urging them to celebrate their home country in unity, love and togetherness.

Paying tributes to Nigerians living in the U.S., the Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, said Nigerians in Newark had contributed immensely to the development of the city.

I salute Nigerians in Newark as they celebrate the six decades of Nigerias independence anniversary and I wish them success in their endeavours, he said.

Represented by the Deputy Mayor, Ligia De Freitas, the Mayor said the U.S. had more than one million Nigerians in the country.

Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world with more than 150 million population and one million Nigerians have immigrated to the U.S., contributing to our nations economy, strength and diversity.

The mayor said the flag-raising was also to honour some eminent Nigerians for their service to humanity, including Prof. Tijani Muhammed- Bande, President of the UN General Assembly, 74th Session, who has held a long career in international diplomacy and received many awards for his works.

NAN report that Mr Bande received Merit Award for his contributions to humanity while Kalu Ndukire received an award for Medical Philanthropy and Anozie Ugenyi got a Merit Award for helping to coordinate the Nigerian community during COVID-19 lockdown.

NAN also reports that the ceremony was attended by top officials of the City Council, officials of the Consulate in New York, including the Head of Chancery, Yazid Abdul, and friends of Nigeria from other countries. (NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari will Sunday, October 31, depart Abuja for Glasgow, Scotland to attend the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The president is scheduled to deliver his national statement at the High-Level segment for Heads of State and Government at the conference on Tuesday, November 2.

President Buharis address is expected to highlight Nigerias key priorities and action to tackle climate change as well as progress on the countrys transition to low carbon economy, consistent with achieving the Paris Climate Agreement.

The conference, hosted by the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy, will bring parties together to help accelerate action towards the Paris Agreement as well as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Given Nigerias leading role in taking climate action and as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, COP 26 will afford a unique opportunity for the Nigerian delegation to work with other parties to make progress on the main goals of the conference including securing global net zero by mid-century and keeping 1.5C within reach; adapting to protect communities and natural habitats as well as mobilising the much needed finances to meet the set targets.

In Glasgow, President Buhari will participate in some side-line events hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The lresident will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of State, Environment, Sharon Ikeazor; National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno (Rtd) and Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.

President Buhari will, thereafter, travel to Paris, France on an official visit to reciprocate an earlier one to Nigeria by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and also attend the Paris Peace forum 2021, the fourth edition to be hosted by the French President.

It will have Heads of State and Government and CEOs of major multinationals, as well as several civil society actors, gathering to advance concrete solutions to the enormous challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to improve global governance in times of COVID-19.

The Summit will focus on spurring a more solid and inclusive recovery by addressing the various gaps in global governance, offering initiatives to better tend to the global commons, and putting forward new principles of action for the post-COVID world.

While the president is in Paris, the Nigerian government will organise the Nigeria-Paris Forum. The event is expected to pull a crowd of Nigerian and French investors, government and business leaders, diplomats and the media in the hope of showcasing opportunities on both sides as well as bringing enlightenment to bear on the prevailing security, economic and investment climate in Nigeria.

President Buhari is expected back in the country after the engagements.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

October 31, 2021
An independent election observer group, Yiaga Africa, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commence the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to new registrants ahead of the governorship election in Anambra.

Cynthia Mbamalu, director of programmes, Yiaga Africa, made the call in the fourth Watching the Vote (WTV) pre-election report in Awka on Sunday.

Ms Mbamalu said: Yiaga commends INEC for its efforts to distribute the PVCs from previous registrations.

However, we are worried that, with less than a few days to the election, the commission has yet to commence distribution of the PVCs to the 76,104 newly eligible voters.

These are voters who recently got registered during the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in the state.

This, if not addressed, could potentially disenfranchise eligible voters.

Ms Mbamalu said insecurity had continued to remain a major threat to the election.

According to her, the current situation of insecurity in the state has hindered political party campaigns, voter education and mobilisation as stakeholders continue to deploy more caution.

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She urged election stakeholders to continue to show determination to ensure credible and peaceful conduct of the election.

Security agencies should partner civil society organisations to promote activities and initiatives that would increase citizens confidence and encourage participation in the election.

Political party candidates and supporters should ensure they promote a peaceful election and encourage citizens to collect their PVCs to vote.

And the citizens should understand that voting in elections is the legitimate means of making citizens voices heard as well as voting in desirable leaders, she said.

NAN
The House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary has called for an investigation into the raid on the home of Mary Odili, a justice of the Supreme Court.

The committee, in a press statement signed by the Chairman of the Committee, Luke Onofiok (PDP) on Sunday in Abuja, said the probe should unmask those behind the warrant used in carrying out the raid.

The Abuja home of Mrs Odili, the wife of a former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, was raided by security agents last week, acting on a search warrant issued by a magistrate.

Mr Odili, who was governor of the oil-rich state from 1999-2007, got a judgement at Federal High Court in Abuja against the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other agencies, restraining the commission and others from arresting or prosecuting him.

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.

The EFCC in a press statement on Friday denied involvement in the raid. PREMIUM TIMES had reported that men of the State Security Services (SSS) were involved in the raid.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had also condemned the raid on the jurists house and called for probe.

Mr Onofiok said the raid further exposed the judiciary to public opprobrium due to the manner the search warrant was procured.

The lawmaker expressed concerns that the warrant was revoked by the issuing Magistrate who had discovered that it was procured by the Applicant on the premises of misrepresented facts.

He added that the development is also a wake-up call to tighten administrative and supervisory control over the operations of law enforcement agencies in the Country.

While calling for investigation, Mr Onofiok said the confidence and respect of citizens in the judiciary may likely wane if incidence of this nature continues unchecked.

On this note, the House of Representative Committee on the Judiciary calls for a discreet investigation to unravel the persons behind this ignoble act, which is capable of straining the existing relationship between the Judiciary and the Executive arms of our democratic government, he said.

Mrs Odili is currently the second most senior Justice of the Supreme Court and she is due to retire in 2022.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar Saturday in Abuja charged all Nigerians to take the opportunity presented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to set Nigeria aright.

Mr Abubakar gave the charge while addressing delegates and party officials at the 2021 PDP National Convention.

According to him, there are many differences, but Nigerians can achieve anything if they put their differences aside.

He said that the convention was an opportunity to make decisions that would shape the future of the party for the benefit of all Nigerians.

Mr Abubakar said Nigeria was passing through the most difficult period of its existence, adding that he is 70 years plus and had never seen the country in such a shape.

He said there was so much insecurity and social tension which were threatening the unity and corporate existence of the country.

He said the situation of the country was an opportunity for the PDP to carry out its responsibility and save the country.

We have a chance now to set the ship on the right course; we have a chance to atone for our collective mistakes and those of past leadership.

We have a chance to unite the country as we march towards achieving the dreams of our founding fathers at independence so many years ago.

We have a chance to set our country on an enviable position in the comity of nations; we can save ourselves, we can save the party, we can save Nigeria together, he said.

Mr Abubakar was the PDP presidential candidate in 2019.

Earlier, the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, noted that Nigeria was going through difficult moments.

The senator decried the insecurity, socioeconomic difficulties and separatist agitations in the country.

He said that Nigerians were tired and were following proceedings at the convention anxiously waiting for its outcome.

Mr Abaribe urged delegates and party officials not to disappoint Nigerians.

He pledged the commitment of all PDP lawmakers in the National Assembly to ensuring that the party enthroned a better leadership in 2023.

(NAN)
In the week that Nigerias police chief said that the security situation in the country has been significantly stabilized, at least 40 people including three police officers were killed by armed non-state actors.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the police chief, Usman Alkali, said Thursday that not only was the security situation getting better, but the existing cases of insecurity were isolated cases of crime and threats to public safety, peace and security in some parts of the country.

However, findings by this newspaper, as part of its weekly review of attacks by armed persons, paint a different picture from what Mr Alkali said.

Last week, between October 24 and 30, at least 40 people were killed in separate incidents across the country. Seven of the victims were security officials while the remaining were civilians.

The security operatives included three police officers, two operatives of theand one Customs official.

The total tally of casualties for the week (October 24-30) was compiled by PREMIUM TIMES from media reports. Thus, unreported cases were not included.

Although the 40 people reported killed last week is lower than the 47 killed in the previous week, the number of incidents was higher last week.

Here are the cases compiled from media reports last week.

South-east

Gunmen in the early hours of Sunday attacked the police divisional headquarters at Unwana, Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State and killed three police personnel on duty.

According to the report, the gunmen attacked the division at about 2 a.m. and killed one constable and two inspectors.

Also in the South-east, some gunmen on Friday attacked operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) in Anambra State, killing two personnel.

The officers were said to have been ambushed by the armed persons while on an election campaign duty in the Ekwulobia area of the state.

Another personnel of one of the security agencies also lost his life when troops of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army had an encounter in Anambra State with IPOB/ESN separatists.

North-central

Armed persons attacked a mosque in Maza-Kuka village in Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State, killing 18 worshipers.

It was gathered that the armed persons invaded the village in large numbers and attacked the villagers, who were performing their early morning prayers on Monday.

In neighbouring Kogi State, six persons were killed while some houses were burnt by armed persons in a Monday morning attack on the Bagana community of Omala Local Government Area of Kogi.

The Commissioner of Police in Kogi, Idrisu Dabban, confirmed the incident to reporters after a visit to the area.

North-west

At least six people were reportedly killed while several others were abducted after bandits on Sunday evening raided Unguwar Samanja village in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Also in Katsina, a large group of bandits on Thursday attacked Dangeza, a farming and business community in Batsari Local Government Area and killed five residents.

South-west

Suspected smugglers killed an officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Fagbohun village, Yewa South Local Government Area, Ogun State.

The smugglers attacked a patrol team of customs officers from the Federal Operating Unit (FOU) who had arrived in the village for an operation.

Two other officers were reported missing after the attack.

Efforts ongoing to tackle insecurity

Speaking on the security situation Thursday in Abuja, the police chief, Mr Alkali, said the police are making efforts to address the situation.

The Nigeria Police Force is however unrelenting in rejigging its public safety strategies to adequately contain prevailing and emerging crime trends across the country.

Mr Alkali said that the strong collaboration between the police, armed forces and other security agencies led to what he described as the improved security situation in the country.

Let me state categorically that the new spirit of collaboration between the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Armed Forces, the Department of State Services and other security and intelligence agencies in the country has indeed spurred a common front in reducing crime and criminality nationwide, he said.
The Chairman of Human and Environmental Development Agenda, (HEDA Resource Centre), Olanrewaju Suraju, has filed a Notice of Preliminary Objections at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking to quash charges of cyberstalking proffered against him by Abubakar Malami.

Former Minister of Justice, Bello Adoke, one of those accused of and charged with fraud in the OPL245 scam, also referred to as Malabu scandal, had petitioned the police, accusing those behind petitions resulting in his prosecution for corruption and money laundering of circulating fabricated evidence against him to unduly incriminate him in the multi-million dollars scandal.

The subject of Mr Adokes petition was forgery of an email in which Nigeria as a sovereign State was shortchanged to the tune of $1.1billion and HEDA and its international partners have been involved in the advocacy for recovery of this money and prosecution of principal actors behind the heist.

However, HEDA and Mr Suraju have denied any wrongdoing in a series of statements issued on the matter, stating that the items they were accused of fabricating featured as exhibits in the Malabu Oil scam trials in London and Milan, Italy.

The federal government, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, recently filed a four-count charge in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/370/2021, accusing Mr Suraju of using his social media handles as well as emails and audio interviews to circulate false information on Mr Adoke.

But in a preliminary objection to the suit against him, Mr Suraju, through his counsel, M.A. BANIRE & Associates led by Muiz Banire, sought the dismissal of the suit, stating that the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the charge against him.

Among other reliefs sought by the HEDA chairman is an Order quashing the Charge for prior engagement in trial by the media before service of the Charge on the defendant on the ground that such act is prejudicial to the right of the Defendant/Applicant to fair hearing

Among grounds for objections to FGs suit include, No court has jurisdiction to embark on trial for, and no person can be charged with or tried for an offence not contained in a written law or that does not otherwise constitute an offence at the time of its commission;

The charges filed against the Defendant/Applicant do not disclose any offence contained in a written law; by the provisions of Section 36(8) & (12) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court to arraign a defendant over a charge is activated by disclosure of an offence known to a written law.

Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended) (hereafter simply referred to as the Constitution) protects the Applicant from being prosecuted or convicted for an offence not set out in a written law.

The objection also stated that, This Charge brought pursuant to Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 violates the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and disregards the decision of the Ecowas Court in mandatory imperatives as set out in Suit No: ECW/CCJ/APP/53/2018;

Engagement in media trial before service of the Charge on the Defendant/Applicant is an act prejudicial to fair trial contrary to Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended); This action is an abuse of court process.

The objection, which was to be served on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and the Federal Ministry of Justice, also submitted that to arraign the defendant under the present counts contained in the Charge Sheet in this matter is to charge him with an offence which is not provided for by law.

It queried, How does one expect a person to plead to an offence not contained in a written law? How does someone even plead to an offence already declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction?

If a defendant can only be charged with an offence provided by law, which he needs to understand in order to appropriately be arraigned, it is not possible to achieve that under a law that has been declared invalid.

On or about the 8th to 11th days of October 2021, the Applicant woke up to a barrage of media reports alleging that the Complainant had filed charges against the Applicant. Although the purported charges are reportedly directed at the Applicant, at no time before or after the publication of the charges which the Respondent filed did the Respondent serve the charges on the Applicant.

We submit that the decision of the Complainant to publicise the Charges against the Applicant rather than serve it on the Applicant as required by law was calculated to do several things, notably: to prejudice the mind of the court against the Applicant so that the Court, which is not insulated from media reports in the public space will form an opinion about the charges even before the Applicant appears before Your Lordship.

This constitutional stipulation creates a presumption of innocence in favour every person who is charged with a criminal offence and that such a person is innocent until he is convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction. We submit that the malicious publication of the charges in this action by the prosecuting Complainant has violated the provision of section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution by negatively prejudicing this court and the pool of witnesses to be called in this case against the Applicant

We respectfully urge Your Lordship to resolve this issue in favour of the Applicant and hold that the publication of the charges without serving same on the Applicant breached the Applicants right to a fair hearing, is an attempt at prejudicing the mind of the court, available counsel and the pool of witnesses in this case. We urge Your Lordship to quash the Charge.

Accordingly, we urge this honourable Court to decline jurisdiction in this case and hold that, based on Suit No: ECW/CCJ/APP/53/2018, that Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act which is the fulcrum of this action violates the provision of Article 9(2) of the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights.
In July 2019, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) organized the first social media influencers summit in Kano as a symposium of ideas and trend analysis on the ways in which social media platforms have taken over the communications super highway and determine what we see and get to know but also inundate us with half-truths, outright falsehood and propaganda. It was an opportunity to reflect on our own agency as active actors in this complex and vast space that has been provided. Yesterday, the second Summit was concluded in Kano. Currently, there are an estimated 108 million regular internet users in Nigeria. Clearly, Nigeria has been transformed immensely since Decree 75 of 1992 allowed for privatization and the vast expansion of telecommunication services. This the context that define the world we live in in which most of us have access to surf on the internet and access the social media.

In his opening remarks, the Executive Director of COTAD, Y. Z. Yau emphasised the importance of the Summit as an incubator of great ideas for democratic struggles, an opportunity to spread innovative systems that work in enterprise and social development and finally, sharing ideas on how to address the serious challenges confronting our Nation, especially rising conflicts and insecurity. This year, 65 presentations were made and two occasions for new ideas  an open mike session for people who have something they want to say that organisers have not thought of and a crazy ideas session for those ahead of the curve to bring the rest of us up to speed.

The world in which we live in is run by the internet and its key feature is that the tech companies that run it are owned by young people, the users are young and they control information flows and massive revenues accruing from the sector. There is a huge disequilibrium however as both in the United States and in Nigeria, the political class in charge is old, in their seventies and totally at variance with the wishes, aspirations and concerns with the youth. It is important to resolve this especially as we live in a world in which we think the social media has given us all great platforms to express ourselves and show our images. This is true but the reality is that the contemporary has been transformed into a surveillance society in which about five companies that run the internet have files on all of us, what we like and what we hate, our passions, our political views and a list of what and those we hate. One of them called Facebook gets 129 million of us to provide them free intelligence daily  90 million on WhatsApp, 30 million directly on Facebook itself while nine million use Instagram. On twitter, we are only 40 million providing them the free intelligence in spite of President Buharis ban showing how weak political power is relative to the vast powers of the social media. Yours truly is guilty as charged as I use these platforms for many hours daily.

Yes, the infamous and all-powerful Facebook was also at the Summit, trust CITAD, they also brought in the guilty as charged. Ebuka Ogbodo, from Facebook joined the meeting online from their London Office and spoke passionately about their commitment and investments in combating and removing hate speech and fake news and particularly, disinformation from their platforms in conjunction with internal and external fact checkers. He can tell that to the marines. Over the past month, we have learnt a lot from Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist, turned whistle blower who has drawn our attention to the harm they cause, using company internal documents. She has shown convincingly in testimonies to the United States Congress and British Parliament that Facebook for the sake of enhancing profits deliberately does harm to the vulnerable by amplifying disinformation and promoting division. They knowingly spread hate speech, pushing people to fight and kill each other and destroying the self-esteem of vulnerable people thereby enhancing harmful outcomes for society. She concludes that while on the formal level, Facebook claims to be fighting disinformation and harm to society. In practice, they do exactly the opposite and that their claims to fighting disinformation is merely a public relations gimmick.

The summit was in Kano, the world headquarters of Kannywood so that was certainly on the agenda, especially, the creeping control of the internet companies on all arenas of culture. One issue that arose was the extensive control and censorship of Kannywood films by government. One example that emerged was that the basic social problem in Kano today is widespread knife attacks on people in the streets by young drugged persons seizing phones from people to sell. Government does not allow depiction of violent gangs so the stories cannot be told. More generally, since its emergence, Kannywood has been characterised by a strong moral and religious form of policing, formal and informal, that limit content. When the 14th Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi II, suggested establishment of a film village to improve content and business prospects, he was shut down. Today, the internet has opened huge new vistas for Kannywood. The industry is rapidly flying above control by government and clergy by going directly to YouTube as Kannywood films are today attracting millions of downloads. For the first time, film makers are now making money through massive internet downloads and advert payments and escaping controls. The positive aspect is that to be competitive, they are being forced to improve content, recruit quality scriptwriters and generally improve the cinematography. So far, it is a good story as the definition of acceptable film is changing from what government and clergy accepts to what the viewers want to watch. Even the singing and dancing borrowed from the Indian scenario is fading out as more original scripts emerge. Today, Kano State government is reflecting on how it can control YouTube, fat chance!!!

For a country like Nigeria, you need crazy ideas to take the country forward. Bulama Mustapha, the Trust cartoonist who led the discussion on crazy ideas emphasized the importance of provoking people to think deeply by presenting complex and multiple ideas in images presented in a soft manner. That is why he uses cartoons in his work in Daily Trust, deliberately pushing people to confront multiple interpretations and confront the reality of critical thinking. Chioma Agwuegbo made the case that to come up with crazy ideas, one must have knowledge and be able to think outside the box. Great reform movements have been advanced by the crazy including: #BringBackOurGirls, #NotTooYoungToRun and #EnoughIsEnough. They have all pushed forward the needle on social and democratic reform, usually under the leadership of young people. Lets encourage more crazy ideas.

The spirit of the Summit was that the social media has the potentials to contribute to transforming society just as it can be used to undermine it. In Nigeria, as in the rest of the world, we have seen elements of both. While its use is increasing, few have approached this from a strategic point such that they can benefit positively from its uses. The Summit provided an opportunity to bring out successful stories of using the social media for good so that such uses could be amplified and replicated.

Yes, the top tech companies  Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon have all developed algorithms that that push extreme stories, hate speech and fake news to go viral because it generates more revenue inflows for them. In that sense, they are the real influencers and the impact of their influence is negative on society. They have developed a system of surveillance capitalism and aggregated vast data on all of us  our ideological and political tendencies, religious views, likes and dislikes to know what to push to us. They have become the big brother watching us. Nonetheless, there is still room for social justice and democracy struggles on their platforms and we all need to learn how best to choose and use opportunities on their platforms to promote just causes.
Dictatorship of the majority is dictatorship nonetheless and it negates the very concept of human rights. The right to hold minority opinion is inclusive in the gamut of rights embedded in the concept of HUMAN RIGHTS. Of all the rights so embedded, the right to minority opinion or dissent from the popular view, has contributed more to the advancement of the concept and practice of human rights as we know and mouth it today, than any other. On the other hand, history has shown that reason is often lost when the majority is whipped up in a frenzy of public opinion. In such cases, the majority has always shown proclivity to be driven by emotions and the herd instinct. The type satirised in ACT III SCENE III of Shakespeares Julius Caesar in a conversation that went thus:

MOB: Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses.

CINNA THE POET: I am not Cinna the conspirator.

BOB: It is no matter, his names Cinna; pluck but his

name out of his heart, and turn him going

Throughout history, this right to minority view or dissent  the very bedrock of all freedoms  is always endangered or even trampled upon, whenever the majority is seized by the frenzy of a popular idea. Those who hold minority views are demonised ostracised or even killed in instances. It might not even help that the minority view or opinion is a mere disagreement about approach or methodology and not against the concept of the idea in currency. Avowed human rights activists, lost in the frenzy of the moment, forget their human rights principles and join in vilifying and demonising those who hold opposing minority opinion.

Under such circumstances, human rights is defined/reduced to the rightness of the opinion of the majority thereby confusing it with the popular two-part democratic precept which says the majority MAY have their way while forgetting the equally important part that says, the minority MUST have their say in a free atmosphere of contestation of ideas.

The two instances I will give in this piece to exemplify this practice of minority view suppression in contemporary Nigerian society, even amongst avowed human rights activists, might sound reactionary to the revolutionary minded but they are the truth.

Now, let me confess that the idea of this piece was birthed as I reminisced on discussions in the public space about a proposed post-humous pardon to Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8. It is my view that some parrellel exists between what happened in Ogoni 26 years ago that led to illegal killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others and what is currently playing out in the South-East of the country. It is said that those who fail to learn from the lessons of history are doomed to repeat its dire consequences. The parallel between the Ogoni/MOSSOP and the IPOB/South-East events, exist around the majority attitude towards the few who hold views opposed to prevalent opinion. This is not however to say that I condole the killing of the Ogoni 9. Let me say without equivocation, that I believe that their trial was a sham and designed to achieve a particular outcome. Their killing in my opinion therefore, was illegal. My intention herein is to point out that human rights activistism tend to be selective and closes its eyes to human rights violations in certain circumstances and how such behaviour hurts the freedom and right to dissent or holding of opposing view to that of the majority.

Before the Ogoni 9, there was the Ogoni 4 who were killed by mob action. Their crime: holding a view that was different and maybe even not necessarily opposed to the prevalent view of the time. Popular history have since consigned the Ogoni 4 to a footnote in history, yet they died expressing their fundamental human rights to dissent. Those unfortunate incidents of 26 years ago keeps the Ogonis permanently divided till this day. Meanwhile, the Ken Saro-Wiwa trial is mostly discussed these days without any reference to the Ogoni 4. A time will come when those who were not around at the time of those events will never know that the Ogoni 4 existed and died. Yet they were human beings like the rest of us. All you hear about the Ogoni 9 today is Abacha. But Abacha took opportunity of a situation and harped upon it to remove a perceived irritant to his government.

A similar scene, although of larger dimension is currently playing out in the South-East. IPOB Biafra is the popular view. IPOB speaks or orders and anyone with a contrary or a less virulent view is demonised or killed.

Within the general concept of fundamental human rights, it is wrong to deny the other man the right to his opinion. The bird which loves to sing should not deny another its right to sing. Tolerance of opposing view is an underpinning cardinal principle behind the universal charter on FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Austin Emaduku

No 2 Owhe Quarters, Ekete Waterside, Ekete

Udu Local Government Area,

Delta State

Email: canoways@yahoo.com
Enter the godtrepreneurs. They are a new breed of salvation merchants marketing God to the weary for a fee. Christian or Muslim (but mostly Christian) their theology is uniquely mercantilist and extortionist. While some operate from trendy auditoriums complete with the razzmatazz of modern technology, others vend their spiritual wares from no fixed address. The poor, who believe that the hypnotist has a secret key to unlock the gate of abundance, make up the larger percentage of his/her patrons.

Woe unto thee O land whose destiny is ruled by superstition instead of production, thou shall continue to be vassals of the diligent, hewers of water and fetchers of firewood for the household of your former enslavers.

Granted that the history of the black man has been tempestuous, but contemporary happenings indicate that the future of the race may be even more so if the ugly trend of zombifying millions of people in the name of religion is not reversed. While the rest of the world is conquering their environment, we are busy hypnotising our people, mystifying their very existence to the extent of robbing them of both their earthly possessions and capacity for rational thinking.

Enter the godtrepreneurs. They are a new breed of salvation merchants marketing God to the weary for a fee. Christian or Muslim (but mostly Christian) their theology is uniquely mercantilist and extortionist. While some operate from trendy auditoriums complete with the razzmatazz of modern technology, others vend their spiritual wares from no fixed address. The poor, who believe that the hypnotist has a secret key to unlock the gate of abundance, make up the larger percentage of his/her patrons.

However, if you look deeply enough, even the wealthy in society and many tenants of power have one powerful marabout or the other, pastor, prophet or man of God who claims to have a direct line to Heaven and its bounties.

The story was once told by a friend who, youd better be warned, cannot be described as an adherent of any religion, although, if my opinion mattered, he would be a veritable candidate for heaven or paradise or wherever else good people are supposed to wind up after their earthly exertions.

According to the story, a famous local champion, a man of God with a thriving ministry in my neck of the woods, who chewed prophesies and was generally believed to be Gods emissary in saving humanity from the end times (which, he sternly warned, was imminent), threw a party for his graduating daughter in whom he was well pleased. The jollity was proceeding without incident until one of the invitees shouted, Praise the Lord.

As the man of God ecstatically raised his hand and replied, Alleluia!, his fingers got caught by the blades of the rolling ceiling fan.

He screamed, Shango o o o!!!

Now, Shango is the Yoruba god of thunder. His name usually doesnt cross the lips of a pastor unless in derision. But see who this merchant of salvation called in his time of distress! You never know what a man is serving until he is confronted with a life-threatening situation.

Or, take the case of a one-time presidential candidate of one of the prominent political parties, Alhaji Omilajoamuku. A good man and worthy philanthropist in his own right, he decided to throw his hat into the ring after a coterie of concerned citizens and progressive youths threatened to harm themselves if the good alhaji did not accede to their request by filing his papers for the presidency.

There is no man that is so virtuous as to be completely immune to flattery. Alhaji Omilajoamuku decided to recognise his own messianic talents. First, he didnt see anything wrong in paying for the patriotic advocacy of pressure groups, even though the rest of the country knew that those rabble rousers were mere political jobbers adroit at marketing political spare parts to whoever needed to overhaul the engine of his brittle ego.

By and by, the presidential aspirant was introduced to a marabout in Senegal who promptly predicted his victory at the primaries and the general elections. He was made to pay for the spiritual intervention of forty Islamic prayer gladiators who, I was told, would not see the sun for forty days but spend the whole time in fasting and prayer. He complied. Then he was introduced to some other powerful intercessors in Mauritania and Saudi Arabia. The spiritual aspect of the electoral preparation cost him untold millions.

Convinced that he had settled one arm of the campaign, the spiritual one, he pursued the political one with gusto. Billions of naira were unleashed in pursuit of the dream. Two weeks before the party primaries, Alhaji Omilajoamuku jetted to the Middle-East to meet the highest ranking of his marabouts, who had instructed that he had to come for some special invocations 14 days to D-Day.

On arrival at the mans abode, he saw a sombre crowd clogging the street. By the time he managed to gain entrance into the yard, he saw that the Muslim faithful were reciting the Salat al-Janazah, the Islamic funeral prayer.

The chief marabout who had a direct line to God and who had assured our friend of victory had died on the very day he promised to put a seal of finality on Alhajis impending victory.

Death is a cruel customer. The Caller becomes the Called  and he no longer answer.

Even Alhaji was not surprised when he lost the primaries and quickly receded to the political junkyard from whence he had emerged. Man can continue playing all the pranks in the world. But God will be God. And he brooks no competition.

In the midst of our underdevelopment, the last thing we can afford is the current mass hypnosis being mis-advertised on television as televangelism. Now, dont get me wrong. There are genuine, spirit-filled televangelists living up to their calling. There are honest pastors whose primary preoccupation is leading people to Christ. But there are also charlatans, modern day versions of Soyinkas Brother Jero.

Seven years ago, a hypnotist gave life to Karl Maxs contention that, Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

Reverend Njohi, pastor of the Lords Propeller Redemption Church in Kenya, ordered the female members of his congregation to attend church without any form of underwear so that Christ could enter their lives. According to the Kenyan Post, which reported the story, the man of God warned members that there would be terrible consequences if they attempted to secretly wear bra or pant. What manner of God interacts with His worshippers through their genitals?

In South Africa, Prophet Penuel Mnguni of the End Times Disciples Ministries in Gauteng, shocked the world when he asked members of his congregation in need of prayers to strip naked and lie on the ground. The scandalous photographs of the prayer session show the young man stepping on his nearly naked worshippers. He had also, at different times, instructed his congregation to eat grass, eat dog meat and swallow live snakes!

He was later beaten up by some angry youths in Mmakaunyane Village. Youths from the Economic Freedom Fighters burnt his church at Soshanguve in Tshwane and tied him and an acolyte with rope. The charismatic pastor eventually wound up at T.B. Joshuas Synagogue church in Lagos, Nigeria, seeking deliverance from the cocktail of demons directing his infamous ministry.

All over Nigeria, we have cases of men of God preying on their prayerful congregations. It is so prevalent that nobody raises an eyebrow anymore when a pastor acquires a private jet when his flock live in abject poverty. It wasnt so many decades ago when clerics were distinguished by their subscription to the vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Now we have people feasting on Gods name. Religious entrepreneurs: People who smile to the bank in the name of the Lord.

We are in an era when Africans are seeking Christian and Muslim Dibias, not clerics. The plague is worldwide.

Bishop Michael Reid was the pastor at Trinity Church from the early 1980s to 2008. He used his mantra, No Miracles  No Jesus, to elevate his own ministry and de-market other pastors, thereby persuading people to follow him. One scandalised blogger who had followed Reids career and eventual downfall wrote: Reid and his people destroyed numerous individuals and families. It seemed Reids definitive test for his Man of God status was No kindness  no decency  no honesty  no integrity  no Jesus.

There are numerous honest-to-God Christian and Islamic clerics out there. But they are fast becoming an endangered species as Let us pray has now become Let us prey.

Lord have mercy!

Wole Olaoye can be reached through wole.olaoye@gmail.com.
AFRICAN coup generals were at work this week. It must really require geniuses to dictate to a people; so they need a lot of rest. But they sprouted from their epileptic life on Monday, October 25, 2021.

The day began with Sudanese dictator, General Abdel al-Fattah al-Burhan organising a coup to overthrow a regime he has dictated to since 2019, and, retained his powers as the Sudanese defacto leader.

That same evening, his mentor in Egypt, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after killing over 1,000 protesters, abandoning President Mohammed Morsi to die in prison by denying him required medical care, holding thousands in detention and sentencing some to death, decided to be magnanimous.

He lifted a four-year state of emergency he had imposed in 2017 under which Egyptians were taken off the list of people who are entitled to fundamental human rights! His excuse for formalising his emergency rule were two attacks on churches. He had made no sacrifices in the Egyptian peoples protests that unseated the dictator, Hosni Mubarak, during which 846 people lost their lives.

He made no contributions in the struggle for full democracy under the Morsi administration. But opportunistically positioned himself to seize power and now thinks he can talk down on the people about patriotism and moving the country forward.

This same Monday, Colonel Assimi Goita who has two stars for each coup he has successfully executed in Mali, expelled the Special Representative of the regional Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Hamidou Boly giving him 72 hours to leave the country. The regime stated: The government of the Republic of Mali has decided to declare the ECOWAS special representative in Mali persona non grata, in view of his actions that are incompatible with his status.

All three trending coup plotters led neo-colonial armies that like parasites, opportunistically fed on the mass disenchantment and protests of their people. In Sudan, the people had gotten fed up with the regime of Omar al-Bashir and in 2019, held a peaceful sit-in opposite the military headquarters. The angry regime sent troops to end the protests by force, killing 127 protesters. But the Bashir government claimed it did not kill more than 87 of them.

What was important was not the number murdered but that the regime could carry out a massacre of the Sudanese people. More protests followed leading to the murder of a total 240 Sudanese.

This led to a balance of forces in the streets with the regime unable to govern any longer and the people having not taken over the reins of state power. It was at this point opportunistic elements in the military on April 11, 2019 claiming to be on the side of the people, pushed Bashir aside.

Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, led a military council which claimed the military was not interested in being in power and that the people who had staked their lives, would determine the new civilian leadership. After a day, Auf announced he was resigning and named General Abdel al-Fattah al-Burhan as his replacement. But the people were not impressed, they demanded a transfer of power to a transitional civilian government and an end to military rule.

The military seemed to have had the impression that the people were just tired of seeing Bashirs face, not that they are opposed to dictatorship or wanted to take their destiny in their hands. General al-Burhan dug in as Chairman of the Transitional Military Council promising to hand-over power to elected civilians within two years.

Burhan s first trip as Head of State in May 2019 was to his mentor, el-Sisi, the Egyptian Pinochet. The next was to the UAE monarchy while his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, visited the Saudi monarchy. None of these threesome are lovers of democracy or peoples power.

It is uncertain what the new Sudanese dictators learnt or were taught on these trips, but they came back determined to crush the peoples power in the streets. The generals from June 3, 2019, ordered the armed forces, special forces and the vicious militias including the infamous Janjanweed to take out the protesters. On that day, scores of protesters were murdered in Khartoum; about forty corpses dumped in the Nile River, ladies were raped in the streets and hundreds tortured.

Despite this extreme brutalisation and mass murders, the people held the streets, forcing General Burhan and his fellow-travellers to accept a transition power sharing arrangement with the civil populace. Mr. Abdalla Hamdok became Prime Minister. It was agreed that a Sovereignty Council under which al-Burhan would continue to lead for another 20 months, rather than step down as planned in February 2021, was established.

But like General Ibrahim Babangida in Nigeria who after seizing power, promised a return to civil rule in 1990, but failed, then fixed new dates of 1992, January 1993 and August 1993 until forced out of power, al-Burhan and his fellow generals have not kept to the transition date.

Finally, on Monday, General al-Burhan staged a coup against himself and retained power while detaining the civilian component of the government including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdock.

There has been worldwide condemnation of the newest coup in Africa with the United Nations Security Council wrangling for some time to reach a compromise on the unacceptable situation in Sudan.

But coups in Africa are becoming like designer wears; African and world leaders condemn a coup if it is not from their fashion houses, or accept them if it is. For instance, the African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki has been quick to condemn the Sudanese coup, which is highly commendable, but has been silent on the coup in his native Chad which occurred six months earlier.

The Nigerian government that condemned the coups in Mali and Guinea is the same government that rolled out the red carpet for General Mahamat Deby that carried out the Chadian coup in which he sacked the executive and made that countrys legislature, history.

It is the same United States that has threatened sanctions against the coup plotters in Khartoum, that welcomed the bloody el-Sisi coup in Egypt, warmly welcomed the dictator to the White House with then President Donald Trump hailing the Butcher of Cairo as my favourite dictator.

It is the same African leaders who were deadly silent when democratically elected President Robert Mugabe was overthrown in Zimbabwe, that can be seen weeping that the military has toppled governments in Mali, Guinea, and now Sudan.

So long as the legendary international community engages itself in selective amnesia on coups in Africa, or in deed in any part of the world, so would the Sisi, Burhan and Assimi Goita boys club of professional coup plotters continue to expand.
Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa on Sunday in Yenagoa commended security agencies for the swift rescue of an expatriate kidnapped by gunmen.

Mr Diri gave the commendation in a statement issued by his media aide, Doubara Atasi.

The governor said the immediate rescue of the expatriate, an employee of PAACHE Construction Ltd., showed resilience and professionalism on the part of the security operatives.

The state government is grateful; the security agencies ensured swift response and their effort yielded immediate result, he said.

The governor also reiterated the governments commitment to ensuring adequate protection of lives and property in the state.

Our government has zero-tolerance for crime and violence. We shall never tolerate crime, he said.

Mr Diri urged security agencies in the state to trail members of the kidnap gang who might have escaped with bullet wounds during the rescue mission.

He cautioned community leaders against harbouring criminals or providing care for those injured while committing crimes.

READ ALSO: Three kidnapped Catholic seminarians freed in Kaduna

As good citizens, we need to support security agencies with intelligence to tackle crime more effectively, he said.

The governor urged investors and residents in the state to go about their businesses without fear, saying: We are committed to ensuring your safety and security.

PAACHE Construction Ltd. is the firm handling the 4.5-kilometer Igbedi Road project in Bayelsa. (NAN)
Plattsburgh, NY (12901)

Today

Sunshine in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 43F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. A shower of rain or wet snow possible. Low 34F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
CASABLANCA, Morocco, Oct. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- An American Jewish Committee leadership delegation concluded a week of consultations with senior Moroccan officials, civil society organizations, U.S. and Israeli diplomats, and Jewish community partners  the latest round of talks on issues of mutual concern in more than 30 years of high-level contact between AJC and the Kingdom of Morocco.

The delegation, led by AJC President Harriet Schleifer and Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson, praised His Majesty King Mohammed VI for his historic December 2020 decision to re-establish and expand formal relations with the State of Israel, which had been frozen since October 2000, and reiterated AJC's support for the territorial integrity of Morocco, a U.S. strategic partner.

"Days after installation of a government popularly elected last month, and as the first anniversary of Moroccan-Israeli normalization approaches, AJC came to Rabat and Casablanca to renew longstanding friendships, introduce ourselves to newly appointed ministers, and explore opportunities to strengthen ties with both the United States and Israel," said Isaacson.

"We expressed our continued strong support for the American recognition of Moroccan sovereignty in the Western Sahara, our appreciation for the multiple steps the government and civil society organizations have taken to preserve and celebrate the country's Jewish heritage, and our commitment to the success of Moroccan-Israeli cooperation across multiple sectors," he added.

The AJC delegation discussed a range of regional and bilateral concerns with Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, and was hosted for meetings in seven other ministries  focusing on the country's pluralist tradition, its efforts against extremism, the recently released national development plan, opportunities for increased investment and tourism potential, women's rights, renewable energy, and educational curricula.

In Rabat and Casablanca, the group met with top U.S. and Israeli diplomats, business leaders, newly elected young parliamentarians, policy analysts, and members of an AJC programming partner organization, Association Mimouna, a growing circle of young Moroccan Muslims dedicated to honoring the country's Jewish traditions. AJC leaders paid a return visit to the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, whose curricula include instruction in the tenets of Judaism.

Meeting with Amb. Serge Berdugo, Secretary-General of the Conseil de la Communaute Israelite du Maroc, an AJC international partner, and with other leaders of the country's Jewish community, the delegation paid homage to the 2,000-plus-year history of continuous Jewish presence in Morocco  and exchanged views on the new opportunities offered by relations with Israel, including an expected surge in visitors.

The AJC visit, a month after parliamentary elections that routed the Islamist governing Justice and Development Party, was widely covered in Moroccan and regional media. The AJC delegation included Board of Governors member Gail Binderman and Director of Middle East and North Africa Initiatives Benjamin Rogers.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org


Li Ganjie, Secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, attended the Seminar and took the opportunity to meet with Martin Wansleben, CEO of DIHK, and Ansgar Kriwet, Member of the Management Board Sales of Festo. A number of people delivered speeches at the Seminar, and these included: Zhou Naixiang, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Governor; Gao Yan, Chairperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); Stephan Weil, Minister President of Lower Saxony of Germany; Melanie Huml, Deputy Minister President and Minister of State for European and International Affairs of Bavaria of Germany; Frank Ruckert, Charge d'Affaires of Embassy of the Germany in China; and Shi Mingde, President of the China-Germany Friendship Association. In addition to introducing the major development strategies of Jinan, Qingdao and Shandong to attendees in the context of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the Seminar included expert discussion groups and cooperative experience-sharing sessions.

Dialogue with Shandong 2021- Germany-Shandong Industry Cooperation and Exchange Seminar was co-hosted by the People's Government of Shandong Province, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), and DIHK. With the theme 'Strengthening Cooperation in Innovation and Seeking Industrial Development', the event included thematic workshops, a series of industry linking meetings, and on-the-spot discussion meetings. The seminar was conducted both online and offline.

More than 50 German institutes and enterprises came to Shandong to attend the event. Among them were more than 30 Fortune 500 companies, among them Siemens, Volkswagen, and Festo, as well as many lower-profile industry leaders. The industry exchange and linking meetings included four sessions: Sino-German Scientific and Technological Innovation, High-end Equipment Manufacturing, Building Energy Conservation, and Environmental Protection Technologies.

Several industries in Shandong Province and Germany are complementary and as such, there are close economic and trade exchanges. Germany is Shandong Province's largest trading partner in the European Union. From January to September 2021, Shandong Province's total amount of import and export trade with Germany amounted to CNY49.93 billion, up 18.3% YoY.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=405773

Caption: The site of the themed seminar

SOURCE China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shandong Sub-council
Volunteer Minister response to the needs of the city since the pandemic began relieved the load of city social services.

Throughout Northern Italy, the region most severely affected by COVID-19, Volunteer Ministers of Pro.Civi.Co.S

Delivered food, supplies and prescriptions to those confined to their homes

Worked in COVID testing stations, providing crowd control

Formed helplines where those in need of assistance could call for aid

Sanitized and worked in high-risk facilities such as homes for the elderly

Raised funds to purchase supplies for those affected by the disaster

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. It constitutes one of the world's largest independent relief forces.

With the events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige called on Scientologists to redouble their efforts to aid their fellow man. He issued a directive entitled "The Wake-Up Call," which inspired astonishing growth within the Volunteer Minister program. In response, Volunteer Ministers of Italy formed Pro.Civi.Co.S, which was entered into the registry of the National Department of Civil Defense the following year. The Verona chapter of Pro.Civi.Co.S was formed in 2008 and is listed in the regional register of civil protection associations.

Over the past two decades, Pro.Civi.Co.S and the Volunteer Ministers of Italy have responded to disasters at home and abroad, including the L'Aquila and Amatrice earthquakes in Italy, the South Asian tsunami of 2004, the Haiti earthquake of 2010, the 2019 Albania earthquake, and the 2020 Croatia earthquake.

A Volunteer Minister's mandate is to be "a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others." Their creed: "A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well."

For more information, visit the interactive timeline, 20/21A Look Back & A Look Ahead, on the Scientology website.

SOURCE Church of Scientology International

Related Links

http://www.scientology.org


THOMASVILLE, Ga., Oct. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As a precautionary measure, Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) is voluntarily recalling Tastykake multi-pack cupcakes due to the potential presence of tiny fragments of metal mesh wire. The recall was initiated following notification by a vendor of the possible contamination in a supplied ingredient.

The products being recalled were distributed to retail customers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, and West Virginia.

No injuries or incidents have been reported in connection with the recalled items. See below for product list, UPCs, and "enjoy by" dates.

The recalled products are:

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION UPC # ENJOY BY DATE





Tastykake Chocolate Cupcakes 0-25600-00219-3 DEC. 14 12.75 oz. (6-2ct)

DEC. 18



DEC. 21





Tastykake Creme Filled Chocolate Cupcakes 0-25600-00223-0 DEC. 14 14.25oz (6-2ct)

DEC. 18





Tastykake Buttercreme Iced Creme Filled Chocolate Cupcakes 0-25600-00230-8 DEC. 14 14.25oz (6-2ct)*

DEC. 18 *Tastykake Buttercreme Iced Creme Filled Chocolate Cupcakes 0-25600-00230-8 DEC. 18 14.25oz (6-2ct) (Inner packages sold individually) 0-25600-00004-5 DEC. 18

Consumers should not consume these products.

Affected product should be discarded or may be returned to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may call Flowers' Consumer Relations Center at 1-866-245-8921. The center is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Consumers also may contact the center via e-mail by visiting www.flowersfoods.com/contact/consumers.

About Flowers Foods

Headquartered in Thomasville, Ga., Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States with 2020 sales of $4.4 billion. Flowers operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of bakery products. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder, Canyon Bakehouse, and Tastykake. Learn more at www.flowersfoods.com.

FLO-IR FLO-PRO FLO-CORP

SOURCE Flowers Foods, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.flowersfoods.com


See the winning cartoon here: https://evanstonroundtable.com/2021/03/23/marthas-take/

"Martha Rosenberg's cartoons and writing are incisive and brilliant. NewsBlaze is pleased to bring her insights to readers and readers love her work," said Alan Gray, NewsBlaze Editor-in-Chief. "We look forward to seeing her new tragicomic cartoon book about life on the Chicago streets with HIV and crack. We'll help with publicity after she selects an agent and publisher."

NINA, founded in 1962 by Donald Grubb, longtime chairman of Northern Illinois University's journalism department, includes as association members newspapers with a circulation of over 200,000 as well as independent weeklies.

The annual ceremony, held virtually this year, gave awards to eleven newspapers in categories ranging from best general feature and special section to best business/financial/consumer story to humor.

Rosenberg is a former contributor to the National Lampoon, the parody magazine that launched the careers of P. J. O'Rourke and John (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) Hughes. She has written and illustrated an award-winning health book, a medical textbook and hundreds of scientific and nonscientific papers. Rosenberg is currently working on a tragicomic cartoon book about life on the Chicago streets as HIV and crack debut.

About Martha Rosenberg

Martha Rosenberg is the senior Health Reporter for NewsBlaze, and contributes to British Medical Journal (BMJ), Consumer Reports, Public Citizen, the Annenberg Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California at San Francisco and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. She has appeared on CSPAN, National Public Radio and lectured at the medical school and university levels.

Trained in pharmacology, Rosenberg has successfully given voice to whistleblowers in both the drug and food industries who have sought to expose wrongdoing against workers, patients and the public.

Martha Rosenberg has been an important part of the NewsBlaze team since sending her first story to NewsBlaze in December 2006. Her work can be seen on the Martha Rosenberg profile page.

To Connect with Martha Rosenberg, call or email NewsBlaze or connect with her on twitter @MarthRosenberg.

About NewsBlaze Pty. Ltd.

NewsBlaze was founded in 2004 as an independent online newspaper and information portal, forming relationships with other publishers and wire services. NewsBlaze covers broad topics of interest to readers worldwide, which has helped build a loyal, global following of readers, especially in Australia, North America and Europe.

In addition, as the lead Syndicate Partner of the World City Press Network, NewsBlaze provides news, editing and content services for the publishers that make up the World City Press Network. Visit NewsBlaze.com to learn more.

Media contact: Alan Gray, [email protected], +1 775 241 8446

SOURCE NewsBlaze

Related Links

https://newsblaze.com


SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- At present, smart products are being continuously launched in various fields in order to meet the demand for a higher quality of life. To acquire competitive advantages, competitors are paying increasing attention to low power consumption and miniaturization of products. In particular, competition in the areas of wearable devices and handheld terminal devices is becoming increasingly fierce. With this in mind, storage enterprises are increasingly tasking themselves with vigorous research and development of Multi-Chip Packaging (MCP) storage products.

Since its establishment in 2011, FORESEE, an industry brand of Longsys, has specialized in the research and development of strongly stable and reliable storage products that are in keeping with the times. In order to meet the needs of industry customers for miniaturized storage chips with low power consumption, FORESEE launched the nMCP series of products (NAND-based MCP) in 2019, providing a range of capacity combinations including 4Gb+2Gb, 2Gb+2Gb, 2Gb+1Gb, and 1Gb+1Gb. Based on different storage technologies and processes, the nMCP is designed uniformly on the same system, which integrates NAND memory and low-power DRAM in a single package. Stacked packaging of Flash and LPDDR reduces the PCB design area of terminal products by 30%-40%, while simplifying the PCB layout and wiring. This is conducive to accelerating product development for industry customers, and providing them with improved geared storage solutions. In addition to saving PCB space, FORESEE nMCP can also reduce the cost of procuring components in the bill of materials (BOM), thereby reducing overall system costs. FORESEE nMCP ensures product performance and reliability while meeting the miniaturization requirements of customers.

The low-power nMCP has a core voltage of 1.8V, and operating voltages of 1.8V and 1.2V. The power consumption of a 1.8V NAND Flash is around 40% lower than that of a 3.3V NAND Flash, and the power consumption of a 1.8V/1.2V LPDDR2 is around 30% lower than that of a 1.8V standard DDR2 device. nMCP series products comprehensively meet the low power requirements of most wearable devices and IoT.

In order to put the minds of industry customers at ease, he FORESEE R&D team has conducted rigorous standard testing on nMCP series products. The FORESEE nMCP has passed strict reliability tests (such as HTOL and HTSL for three lots) in accordance with the JEDEC standard. The Flash part has passed comprehensive and rigorous chip-level tests (nearly 50, including a total of 80 sub-tests). The LPDDR part has passed four tests (and over 40 sub-tests), namely the temperature aging, high temperature pressure, high and low temperature function, and performance tests.

With the widespread application of IoT, the nMCP has become an optimal storage solution in the rising IoT and wearable markets. The nMCP can be used in products such as telephone watches, MIFI and POS devices, feature phones, and particularly in 4G modules. Due to its high stability and compatibility, the product is best suited to wireless communications modules, wearable devices, and IoT applications requiring miniaturization and low power consumption. FORESEE will continue to provide industry customers with highly reliable storage products with diversified storage capacities.

SOURCE Longsys
Yili's net profit in the first three quarters has exceeded that of last year, signaling a new outlook for the company's growth prospects. The performance also indicated that Yili is now expected to become the first dairy company in Asia to exceed RMB 100 billion in revenue.

As Pan Gang, the Chairman of Yili Group, said, "We will invest more in the tracks focused on new consumption trends and aspire to do our best in each of them. We will also accelerate our digital transformation to boost the overall operational efficiency of the Group, in a bid to achieve our strategic objectives."

Core products maintain stable growth, while new growth drivers emerge

Yili has continued to stand out as the pacesetter of the market in liquid milk, ice cream, and other products. Yili Satine Organic Milk, AMBPOMIAL, and Changqing have clinched first place in their respective market segments.

New product sales have risen strongly, with brand potential beginning to emerge as the new force underpinning Yili's performance growth. High-growth categories, including cheese, mineral water, low-temperature milk, and milk formula, have all sustained rapid growth.

Yili's Xinhuo adult milk powder has led the market segment in sales volume, while Jinlingguan has been the infant formula brand which has seen the most rapid growth in China's market. During the first three quarters of 2021, Yili's infant formula category has reached a growth rate of more than 30% year-on-year.

Yili has now covered major consumption scenarios of cheese. The first three quarters saw a year-on-year increase of 180% in the total retail sales of Yili's cheese business.

Strengthening infant formula leadership and entering the nutrition product market

Yili has proactively enriched categories and its strategic cooperation since the beginning of 2021.

On October 27, 2021, Yili joined hands with goat milk leader Ausnutria Dairy and became the latter's largest shareholder. Ausnutria also features a comprehensive layout in nutrition products and has been licensed with China's quality mark for healthcare products. This will significantly facilitate Yili's future expansion in the health food market.

Digitalization empowers the industry to improve operational efficiency

Yili has established a dedicated team working in digitalization since 2019 and has developed its digitalization-oriented transformation strategy for the next decade, laying out a roadmap for marketing, products and supply chains.

"Digital transformation should be accelerated to ensure our consumer-oriented practice in terms of brand-building and product innovation. That is the major task for Yili in 2021," according to Pan Gang.

SOURCE Yili Group

Related Links

www.yili.com


London, Oct 31 : Another 41,278 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of infected cases in the country to 9,019,962, according to official figures released on Saturday.

The country reported a further 166 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 140,558. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test, Xinhua news agency reported.

There are currently 8,983 patients in hospital with Covid-19.

The latest data came as coronavirus infections in England have increased to their highest level since the beginning of the year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Around one in 50 people had the virus in the week ending October 22, the highest level since January 2, the ONS reported.

The pandemic appears to be growing in England, as the coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the 'R number' in England is estimated to have risen to between 1.1 and 1.3.

The R number indicates the average number of people each Covid-positive person goes on to infect.

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. Meanwhile, more than 13 per cent have received booster jabs or third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

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)
Rome, Oct 31 : German, French and British leaders have expressed hopes of a return to full compliance with the Iran nuclear deal by all parties after a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday.

"We welcome President Biden's clearly demonstrated commitment to return the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and to stay in full compliance, so long as Iran does the same," said a statement jointly issued by Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The meeting of the four leaders was held at the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Rome, Xinhua news agency reported.

"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 added.

Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani met EU coordinators on Wednesday and agreed to resume negotiations aimed at reviving the JCPOA, by the end of November.

"Return to JCPOA compliance will provide sanctions lifting with long-lasting implications for Iran's economic growth," said the statement, adding that "this will only be possible if Iran changes course".

The four Western leaders called upon Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to "seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency." The previous U.S. administration pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in 2018, and reimposed old sanctions, as well as new ones on Iran. Iran retaliated by gradually dropping some of its commitments under the pact, and "has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps, such as the production of highly enriched uranium and enriched uranium metal," the leaders said.

On Friday, the United States imposed sanctions against companies and individuals related to Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs. Iran slammed the latest U.S. sanctions against its entities as "completely contradictory behavior".

"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.

Between April and July this year, six rounds of talks were held in Vienna, Austria, with regard to a strict monitoring of Iran's nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions on Iran, before the process was interrupted by Iran's governmental transition.
Damascus, Oct 31 : The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned the Turkish decision to extend its troops' deployment in Syria and Iraq for two more years, saying such practices threaten international peace and security, according to the state news agency SANA.

In a statement, the Ministry stressed that the regional and international status quo can't tolerate the practices of the Turkish government.

The Ministry pointed out that the Turkish forces are launching military attacks on Syrian soil, which run against the UN Security Council resolutions that call for respecting the sovereignty and independence of the Syrian territories, Xinhua news agency reported.

It further called on the international community to hold Turkey accountable for the "war crimes and aggression it committed against Syria".

It also demanded compensation for all the losses caused by the Turkish military operations in Syria, which, it said, "left a hefty toll on civilians, the country's infrastructure, private and public properties, natural resources, and the Syrian historical heritage." Since 2016, several Turkish cross-border operations have taken place in northern Syria, targeting areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Turkish forces have also established military bases and observation points in the countryside of the northern province of Aleppo and the north-western province of Idlib, with the help of local armed rebels.

The Syrian government has for long demanded the withdrawal of the Turkish forces from Syria, saying such forces entered the country illegally without the consent of the Syrian government and supported ultra-radical rebel groups against the Syrian government forces.
Tehran, Oct 31 : The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has ended an advisory notice which warned against flying of commercial planes over Iran's airspace for "safety reasons," Siavosh Amir Mokri, Head of the Iran's Civil Aviation Organization (CAO), said on Saturday.

To remove the nearly two-year restriction, the CAO and Iran Airports Company had engaged in negotiations with European airlines, the region's aviation authorities as well as the EASA, Amir Mokri was quoted as saying by Iran's state TV.

The EASA issued the notice in January 2020, due to Tehran and Washington's regional confrontations and following Iran's fire of missiles against a US base in Iraq in the same month, Xinhua news agency reported.
Lagos, Oct 31 : Nigerian police on Saturday said three security personnel were killed following a gunfight with unidentified gunmen in the north-western state of Zamfara.

Mohammed Shehu, Spokesperson for the police in Zamfara, said in a statement that a patrol team comprising policemen and local vigilantes were ambushed by unidentified gunmen on a road in the Shinkafi local government area of the state on Thursday.

Shehu said the operatives engaged the gunmen in a gun duel that lasted for hours, adding some gunmen were killed while others escaped with gunshot wounds, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Unfortunately, a police operative and two civil defence personnel paid the supreme price and their corpses were evacuated and buried accordingly," he added.

There have been a series of gunmen attacks in Nigeria in recent months, leading to deaths and kidnappings.
Sydney, Oct 31 : Australia's state of Victoria on Sunday officially passed the milestone of 80 per cent of the population above 16 years having been fully vaccinated, as daily case numbers in the state continued to drop.

Victoria reported 1,036 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 and 12 deaths in the 24 hours to midnight Saturday, an encouraging drop from 1,355 new cases reported on Saturday and 1,656 on Friday.

Currently 702 Covid-19 patients in the state are in hospital, with 128 in intensive care and 80 requiring ventilation, Xinhua news agency reported.

The state's death toll in its latest outbreak is 305.

Meanwhile, the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) recorded 177 new locally acquired cases and one death in the 24 hours to 8:00 p.m. Saturday night.

Authorities have expressed optimism that the state's high vaccination rate has effectively kept case numbers and hospitalizations low.

"Our vaccination rate has been the key to our freedom. We've opened up and as we've opened up, we have been able to do so safely," said NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, adding that the cases and hospitalization numbers are both below expectations.

The latest data showed that 93.5 per cent of NSW's above16 years' population have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 87.5 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
Bengaluru, Oct 31 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai bid an affectionate goodbye to Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar early on Sunday morning before the final procession at the Kanteerava Stadium.

While paying his last respects, Bommai became emotional. Folding his hands before the mortal remains of Puneeth, he was tearful and bid goodbye and affectionately kissed his forehead.

The photos have gone viral on social media. Bommai had camped with the family when Puneeth was shifted to a hospital following cardiac arrest on Friday. Later, he also paid several visits to the Kanteerava Stadium where the mortal remains of Puneeth were kept for final viewing.

He made several appeals to the people and fans of Puneeth to maintain peace and law and order and also to cooperate with the police. He also deputed his cabinet ministers to overlook the procedures.

Opposition leaders Siddaramaiah, state Congress President D.K. Shivakumar also attended the function. Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant appreciated the work of police personnel for working day and night continuously from Friday and controlling huge crowds without giving any room for untoward incidents.
Lucknow, Oct 31 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah will lay the foundation of a university in Azamgarh on November 13 and also address a huge rally on the occasion.

Azamgarh is the parliamentary constituency of Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made this announcement at a party meeting on Saturday.

He said: "Azamgarh ensured victory for two chief ministers, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, but the district is still facing an identity crisis. We are going to give a university to Azamgarh and its foundation will be laid by Amit Shah on November 13." He also appealed to the party workers to start preparations for a huge rally on the occasion and added that Azamgarh will also get the gift of an airport and expressway.

Yogi Adityanath asked the party workers to tell the people about the changes that have taken place after 2017 when the BJP came to power in the state.

"Previous chief ministers used to make houses for themselves, but we have made houses for 43 lakh people. Similarly, earlier only selected districts used to get power supply, but now all districts are getting electricity without any discrimination." Amit Shah's rally in Azamgarh, according to political analysts, is a frontal attack on the Samajwadi Party president in his constituency.

A senior SP functionary said, "The chief minister should also put out a list of projects that have been stalled in Azamgarh and other constituencies represented by SP. We will do it after the rally."
Ayodhya, Oct 31 : Former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ashish Tiwari has been booked for abetting the suicide of a woman banker, who was found hanging from the ceiling of her rented room in Ayodhya on Saturday.

The deceased Shraddha Gupta, 32, was a deputy branch manager in the Punjab National Bank.

Along with Tiwari, a police constable Anil Rawat and a Balrampur resident, Vivek Gupta, have also been booked for abetment to suicide after a complaint was lodged by the deceased banker's father, Rajkumar Gupta, at Faizabad Kotwali police station late on Saturday evening.

The first accused, Vivek Gupta, was scheduled to marry the banker, but the engagement was cancelled in April last year after Shraddha raised questions on his character.

All three accused have been named by Shraddha in her suicide note, which was recovered by the police, hours after her body was sent for autopsy.

The banker had categorically claimed in the suicide note that the two policemen and Vivek Gupta were responsible for her suicide.

According to the police, Shraddha joined as a clerk at the PNB in 2015 and rose through the ranks to become an officer in 2018.

She was staying alone at a rented house, adjacent to the bank branch in Faizabad.

On Saturday morning, when the milkman knocked at Shraddha's door and found no response, he informed the landlord. When there was no response after repeated knocking, the landlord peeped through a side window to find her hanging from the ceiling.

Ayodhya SSP Shailesh Pandey has confirmed that the FIR has been lodged and investigations are underway.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has demanded a high-level probe in the matter.

"The way the female PNB employee in Ayodhya has cast direct accusations at police personnel in her suicide note is a bitter truth about the poor law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. It is a very serious issue that even an IPS officer's name is surfacing in this. There should be a high-level judicial inquiry," he said.
San Francisco, Oct 31 : Several users who have updated to macOS Monterey are complaining that USB devices including hubs as well as docks are not working after the upgrade.

macOS Monterey is the next version of Apple's desktop and laptop operating system that replaces the previous macOS Big Sur and it was introduced alongside the latest Apple ecosystem updates back in June at WWDC 2021.

Some users noted that macOS Monterey is specifically causing issues with USB 3.0 devices. For some people, their USB hub is no longer working at all, while for others their hub's HDMI and USB-C ports continue to function.

"I can not connect a trackball or keyboard via the hub's USB 2.0 or 3.0 ports to the Air since installing Monterey. The hub's VGA port still works on Monterey; I haven't been able to test the other ports yet. Also, a different hub (with fewer ports...) does work," a user wrote on Apple's Developer Forum.

"My USB-C hub has issues with this update. The HDMI port connected to my second screen is working on the hub but none of the USB3 ports are working at all. I have tried different C ports on the MacMini and different hubs (I have 4)," mentioned another user.

Users have been reporting the issue on Apple's own Developer forums date from as far back as July, when macOS Monterey was in beta.

A user mentions that "my USB-C hub has issues with this update. The HDMI port connected to my second screen is working on the hub but none of the USB3 ports are working at all".

In a few cases, the USB hubs seem to work, with the power delivery port not working, while for some the additional connectivity for external displays fails to work.
Tripoli, Oct 31 : The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that it has deported 140 illegal Bangladeshi migrants to their country of origin.

The migrants, including nine with medical conditions, were assisted to return to Bangladesh from Benghazi last week, in the first Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) flight from the city since the resumption of the IOM's VHR program, Xinhua news agency quoted the UN migration agency as saying.

"Closely facilitated and supported by the Embassy of Bangladesh, the returning migrants underwent health checks and were provided with counselling services and protection screening, as well as personal protective equipment and Covid-19 tests before boarding," the statement said.

Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos since the fall of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, making the North African country a preferred point of departure for illegal migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.

The VHR program, run by the IOM, arranges the return of illegal immigrants stranded in Libya to their homelands.

Since 2015, more than 53,000 migrants have been returned from Libya through the VHR programme, with support from the European Union and the Italian Migration Fund, according to the IOM.
Kuwait City, Oct 31 : Kuwait has decided to recall its ambassador in Lebanon for consultation and asked Beirut's Charge d'Affaires in Kuwait to leave the country within 48 hours, according to state media reports.

The decision was made on Saturday due to Lebanon's "insistence on making negative statements and reluctance to handle unacceptable and condemnable positions against Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), not to mention the Lebanese government's failure to take action to halt continued and growing smuggling of narcotics into Kuwait and other GCC countries", Xinhua news agency quoted the kuwait Foreign Ministry as saying in a statement.

The statement is based on "historical ties, deep-rooted bonds and the same destiny between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia", it said.

Saudi Arabia on Friday decided to ban all imports from Lebanon and gave the Ambassador 48 hours to leave the Kingdom, after comments by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi that called the Yemeni Houthi militia's actions "self-defense" against the Riyadh-led coalition.

At a press conference on October 27, Kordahi dismissed claims accusing him of hostility against Saudi Arabia and said "nobody should dictate to Lebanon what it needs to do in terms of keeping a minister in the government or not".

Lebanon's Hezbollah has refused to bow to Saudi Arabia's demand for Kordahi's resignation.
Bengaluru:Ashiwini Revanth, Vanditha Rajkumar, Drithi Rajkumar (wife and daughters of Puneeth Rajkumar) grieving on the body of Actor Puneeth Rajkumar at Kanteerava Stadium ,in Bengaluru on Saturday 30th October 2021.. (PHOTO:IANS/Dhananjay Yadav) Image Source: IANS News

Bengaluru, Oct 31 : The family members have thanked the Karnataka government, police and fans for the well organised funeral of Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar on Sunday.

Shivarajkumar, elder brother of Puneeth thanked Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for the arrangements. "I also thank the government, all departments and police for their cooperation," he said.

Raghavendra Rajkumar, another sibling, stated that it was an appropriate decision by the government to not allow the procession of the fans. "We have seen violence and damages to public properties at the time of my father Dr Rajkumar's funeral. We didn't want this to happen. No one should get hurt," he said.

Fans will be allowed only after "haalu-tuppa" ceremony (offering of milk and ghee to the deceased person's grave). It will take some time. The decision will be taken after discussing with Chief Minister Bommai, he said.

"This is because, before the family members could perform these rites, fans themselves had done everything at the grave of our father Dr Rajkumar. Some had even dug up the grave. We don't want this to happen this time," he said.

Meanwhile, prohibition orders were clamped in the surrounding areas of Kanteerava Studio by Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner Manjunath until further orders. As many as 10,000 police personnel were deputed to maintain law and order in the city. About 10 lakh people visited and paid their last respects from Friday noon till the early hours of Sunday.

Shivarajkumar has appealed to the fans of Puneeth not to take any extreme steps and take care of their families. One person is reported to have committed suicide and two died of heart attacks following the untimely death of Puneeth Puneeth Rajkumar.
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 31 : The schools in Kerala are set to open from Monday after a gap of 20 months. The state education department will conduct 'Pravesanolsavam' celebrations to welcome the children back to schools in a grand manner but apprehensions are high as the Covid cases have not declined.

State minister for General education, V. Sivankutty told the media that all schools in the state would welcome students with celebrations adhering to Covid-19 protocol.

However, possibilities of a large number of students shying away from offline classes are high as the state recorded 7,427 fresh Covid-19 cases and 358 deaths on Saturday. Many parents are apprehensive of sending their children to schools.

Rajesh Nair, a software engineer at Thiruvananthapuram while speaking to IANS said, "My children are in primary classes and I don't want them to get exposed in offline classes. Covid-19 is still high in the state with fresh cases touching 7,427 on Saturday, I will not send my two daughters to school." The minister also said that there was no need for panic as the government has made all preparations for the reopening of schools. Sivankutty while speaking to IANS said, "We have made all preparations for the reopening of schools, and children and parents need not have anxiety in the same." Primary students and those in Classes 10 and 12 will attend their schools from Monday while those in Classes 8, 9, and 11 will attend classes from November 15.

The state education department has put the slogan "Thirike Schoolilekua or 'Back to School'.

The Minister said that teaching will not be in a full-fledged manner at the initial stages and focus would be on fun, play, and recreation to instill confidence and camaraderie among children. The minister also said that the parent, teacher associations were also taken into confidence to bring in maximum number of students back to schools.

While the state government is stating that it has done all preparations for the reopening of the schools, possibility of students of tribal areas skipping the classes in large numbers is being feared.

In Tirunelli panchayat of Wayanad district, 50 per cent of the population comprises tribal people, including the Kurichiya and Paniya tribes.

Poovan Thampan, a farmer from the Kurichiya community from Tirunelii panchayat while speaking to IANS said, "Children have lost interest in attending classes and they have lost classes as the Internet connectivity here was poor. This led to children losing interest and engaging in other vocations like grazing cattle and catching fish as well as plucking fruits and collecting honey from forests. Unless the tribal department does not take active interest with the support of the state education department there would be a drastic fall in the number of students attending classes." The state education department, however, said that the department is conducting an awareness programme among the tribal community in Wayanad and Idukki districts of the state in association with the tribal department. The state education department also said that teachers, including single school teachers are asked to monitor the drop in students in tribal areas and to pursue the parents to send children back to schools.

A senior officer with the state education department while speaking to IANS said, "We will monitor the situation for the first week and assess the number of dropouts and will engage the parents of these children with the support of the tribal department, panchayat, and block offices, and local social and political workers to convince the parents to send their children back to school. It will not be a major problem and within one month of the reopening of the classes we are expecting more than ninety percent attendance in classes in tribal areas." The education department has also completed cleaning of the schools, and disinfection has been taken up with the support of public and stakeholder support.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Lucknow, Oct 31 : SP MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh, who holds the Gauriganj seat in Amethi, submitted his resignation from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Sunday in protest against the lack of development in the constituency.

He handed over his resignation to Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit at the latter's residence.

Singh told reporters that two major roads of his constituency that connect Amethi to Sultanpur and one to Ayodhya, are in an extremely poor condition.

"Since 2018-19, I have been constantly trying to get these roads built. I have approached the authorities several times but nothing happened. I raised this matter in the state assembly and the state government assured that these roads would be constructed within three months. However, nothing has happened as yet," he said.

Singh said that there is no justification in remaining a member of state Assembly in which the government is giving wrong information and false assurances.

According to Singh, both these roads were constructed during 2016-17 but could not last long due to poor quality of construction.

He demanded an SIT investigation under the supervision of a retired judge.

He said that the officers in the present government have become masters and work is being done to undermine the rights of public representatives. Action should be taken against the responsible officers and contractors.

"These people are also misleading the government," he added.
Kabul, Oct 31 : Mullah Hassan Akhund, the Acting Prime Minister of the Taliban-led Afghan government, met visiting Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov here and discussed bilateral ties.

During the meeting on Saturday, the the two sides discussed bilateral relations, humanitarian assistance, economic and transit cooperation and the international engagement with Afghanistan, Xinhua news agency reported citing an official statement issued in Kabul as saying.

They also discussed issues related to a number of Afghan-Turkmen joint projects, fibre optic and railway projects as well as construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline Project, 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 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.
Hyderabad, Oct 31 : After a record voter turnout in the Huzurabad Assembly by-election, leaders of both the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are keeping their fingers crossed as to who would have benefited from the increase in poll percentage though few exit polls suggest an edge for the BJP's Eatala Rajender.

In the fiercely contested by-election on Saturday, 86.33 per cent of nearly 2.37 lakh voters cast their votes. The poll percentage was 2.5 per cent higher than the turnout in 2018.

Both thw TRS and BJP are confident of a win in the by-election, seen as a battle of prestige for Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his close aide-turned-rival Rajender.

Out of 2,36,837 voters, 2,05,053 cast their votes in the by-election, which was peaceful barring minor skirmishes between the supporters of the two major parties.

Till the counting of votes on November 2, suspense will continue over the winner due to lack of clear indications.

Ever since Rajender quit the TRS and resigned from Assembly to join the BJP in June after he was dropped from State Cabinet by KCR over allegations of land grabbing, a close contest was seen on cards. A neck-and-neck battle was predicted after TRS named its student wing leader G. Srinivas Yadav as its candidate against the former minister and four-time MLA Rajender.

Finance Minister T. Harish Rao, who led the TRS campaign, exuded confidence of a big win for the party. "Under the guidance of KCR and with the blessings of people of Huzurabad, we are sure of a big victory," he said.

The TRS leader noted that there was greater awareness among voters and they enthusiastically participated in the polling while following Covid-19 guidelines. He thanked the voters and all the party leaders and workers who worked hard for the party's victory for the last four months.

The BJP state president Bandi Sanjay was equally confident of his party's victory. He said though the TRS tried to influence the voters with money power, they acted with political consciousness. He claimed that people supported BJP and Rajender.

Sanjay said the information received from party cadres at field level shows that BJP is winning the by-election with a huge majority.

Rajender also exuded confidence that he will win the state. He said despite all the conspiracies by the TRS and all attempts to lure voters with money, they backed him. He alleged that TRS spent hundreds of crores to win the bypoll.

Meanwhile, some exit polls showed that BJP will emerge victorious with about 50 per cent votes. TRS is likely to poll 43 per cent. The Congress party's Venkat Balmoor may get just 5.7 per cent votes.

Though it was initially expected to be a three-cornered contest, the Congress clearly lagged behind BJP and TRS due to delay in announcing the candidate and launching the campaign.

The Congress party had garnered 34 per cent votes in 2018. Rajender had retained the seat 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 a nomination to the Legislative Council.

Rajender had been winning Huzurabad seat as TRS candidate since 2009. He had served as Finance Mnister in the first TRS government after formation of Telangana State in 2014.

After TRS retained power in 2018, KCR again made him a Minister and entrusted him with the health portfolio.
Chennai, Oct 31 : The Madras High Court has ordered detaining of the Panama flagged cargo ship 'MV Navios Venue' that is lying at Mumbai port for three weeks.

The High Court passed the order while hearing a petition filed by P. Rajamani whose fishing boat was hit by the Cargo ship 19 nautical miles away from the Colachal harbour in Kanyakumari district on October 22.

The fishing boat owned by Rajamani, 'Shij Mon -1' had 17 crew members who were thrown off and badly injured when it was hit by the cargo ship. The fishing boat was totally damaged in the collision.

Two fishermen, who were seriously injured, were rescued by the Indian Coast Guard patrol vessel and admitted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical college while the remaining 15 managed to reach the shore with the support of other fishing boats that were fishing in adjacent premises in the sea.

The petitioner, Rajamani prayed to the court that the ship plies with a Panama flag and 'if it is permitted to sail beyond our territorial waters, the injured fishermen would not get any compensation'.

He requested the court to take action to detain the ship in Indian territory, and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy directed the Indian Coast Guard, Director General of Shipping, and Mumbai port to detain the Panama vessel, 'MV Navios Venue' in Mumbai port itself for three weeks.

The court ordered notice to the official respondents and the ship and adjourned the case till November 26.

Coastal Marine Police of Tamil Nadu had registered a case under Sections 280 (rash navigation of a vessel), and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code. The case was registered following a complaint filed by the driver of the boat.
Lucknow, Oct 31 : Nearly 2 crore 'One District-One Product' (ODOP) items, worth around Rs 1,000 crore, have been sold on e-commerce platform Flipkart, benefitting lakhs of small artisans and crafts persons in Uttar Pradesh.

Even as marketplaces remained largely closed during 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, e-commerce websites played a crucial role in ensuring that a link between the markets and consumers remained active.

Uttar Pradesh MSME Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said the government had tied up with e-commerce websites to provide a wider platform for ODOP products, including an international market under which products, like Kala Namak rice, were being sold internationally.

"Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mantra of vocal for local, e-commerce websites have proved to be highly beneficial, especially during the pandemic where more people had shifted to online marketplaces. Lakhs of workers under the ODOP scheme, a flagship programme of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, launched in 2018, have benefitted vastly from this," Singh said.

The government had signed an MoU with Flipkart in 2020 to sell ODOP products on the website, having earlier tied up with e-commerce website Amazon. More than 20,000 products under ODOP are sold across the platforms.

The ODOP scheme was launched in 2018 with the aim of identifying one special product from each district so that it could be promoted, packaged and marketed better to boost the industry and help artisans.

Currently, there are some districts where more than one product is being promoted by the government.
Abu Dhabi, Oct 31 : The UNited Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced the withdrawal of its diplomats from Lebanon and advised its citizens not to travel to Beirut.

UAE Minister of State Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar said the decision to recall the diplomats affirms the countrys solidarity with Saudi Arabia, given the unacceptable approach of some officials in Beirut towards Riyadh, reports Xinhua news agency.

Al Marar underlined the continuity of work in the consular section and visa centre in the country's mission to Beirut during the current period.

The UAE has also decided to prevent its citizens from travelling to Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia on Friday banned all imports from Lebanon and gave the Lebanese ambassador 48 hours to leave the Kingdom, after comments by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi that called the Yemeni Houthi militia's actions "self-defense" against the Saudi-led coalition.

At a press conference on October 27, Kordahi dismissed claims accusing him of hostility against Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon's Hezbollah has refused to bow to Saudi Arabia's demand for Kordahi's resignation.
Mumbai, Oct 31 : Sanjay Gupta and Bhushan Kumar's joint production, 'Visfot' went on the floors last week. Krystle D'Souza who recently made her foray in Bollywood has now joined the star cast of the film which includes Ritesh Deshmukh, Fardeen Khan and Priya Bapat. Krystle's part is pivotal to the story and she has been paired with Fardeen.

Talking about the film, the actress says, "There is no greater thrill as an actor than being called on to be a part of a fantastic script. That's what this film is for me and I am so incredibly grateful to Bhushan sir and Sanjay sir. The story is such a roller coaster ride filled with twists and turns." On working with Fardeen and Riteish, she says, "I am so kicked to be sharing screen space with the ever so charming Fardeen Khan and the solid Riteish Deshmukh. These actors are so different from each other and there's so much to lap up from them individually when we work together and shooting this will be a fun ride".

Krystle had impressed the audience with her work in 'Chehre' where she featured alongside some prominent names like Emraan Hashmi and Amitabh Bachchan. With 'Visfot', the promising actor seems to be taking a step forward to venture into the space of drama.

'Visfot' directed by Kookie Gulati is the official remake of 2012 Venezuelan drama, 'Rock, Paper and Scissors'. Presented by T-Series and White Feather Films, the film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Anuradha Gupta and Sanjay Gupta.
Kanpur : , Oct 31 (IANS) In what seems to be a perfect replay of the 1999 blockbuster 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', a man in Kanpur who was married five months ago, helped his wife to reunite with her boyfriend. But the only deviation from the movie plot was that the woman chose to go with her lover.

Pankaj Sharma, who works as an accountant in a private firm in Gurugram, had married Komal in May this year.

Pankaj told reporters that his wife Komal used to maintain distance from him since their marriage. "She neither consummated the marriage nor even talked to anyone. After being coaxed, she confided that she wanted to marry her lover Pintu," he said.

When Pankaj informed his in-laws, they tried to convince Komal but she remained unrelenting.

The matter then reached the Anti-Domestic Violence Cell and Asha Jyoti Centre where a meeting was arranged between the woman, her husband, her boyfriend and their relatives.

Seeing that Komal was determined, Pankaj agreed and even planned their marriage. He also arranged a lawyer to solemnise the marriage of his wife to her lover Pintu on Friday evening which was attended by the relatives and guests from both the sides.
Bhubaneswar, Oct 31 : Congress' student wing, National Student Union of India (NSUI) members on Sunday hurled eggs at Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Ajay Misra Teni's carcade near Bhubaneswar Airport over his son's alleged involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.

According to sources, the Union Minister is in Odisha to attend a programme. On his way to the programme, the activists hurled eggs and threw black ink at his vehicle. Youth Congress activists also showed black flags to the Minister shouting "go back Ajay Misra" slogans.

"Odisha is a State of farmers and a sacred place of Lord Jagannath. Earlier, we had warned the Minister not to enter Odisha due to his son's alleged involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence," said NSUI State president Yashir Nawaz.

Despite the warning, he came to Odisha. So, the NSUI hurled eggs and ink on his vehicle, he said.

Nawaz warned that the NSUI activists will continue their protest whenever the Union minister visits the state until he tenders his resignation. Police have detained some NSUI activists.
Kabul, Oct 31 : Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August, education has become a major point of concern for many young females aspiring to make a name for themselves. Even though the interim government of the Taliban has repeatedly assured that female education will be allowed in the coming days, the rigid stance on the matter in the past has kept young girls vary of their dreams turning into a reality.

With meagre hopes of revival of female education system in the country, many girls have opted to continue their education through online classes, taken secretly and without the permission or information of the Taliban, a step towards a brighter future, which may have serious life-threatening consequences.

Fatima, a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the female, and some of her friends from Herat province log into their online classes secretly every day amid the ongoing ban.

"If the Taliban get to know that I and some other girls like me are taking online lessons, they might punish me severely. They might even stone me to death," said Fatima.

"There are serious threats to girls like me," she added.

While Fatima's voice had clear signs of concerns and fears; she also had passions of learning in her eyes and strength, confidence and vision in her voice when she said: "I have not lost hope or my aspirations. I am determined to continue studying." Fatima is among hundreds others, who are challenging and breaking the rigid rules of the Taliban, and opting to take hidden makeshift classes online.

The platform used for online classes for Fatima and others, has been created by Code of Inspire (CTI), Afghanistan's first all-female coding academy, which created encrypted virtual classrooms, uploaded course content online, and gave laptops and internet packages to at least 100 of its students.

"You can be locked at home and explore the virtual world without any hesitation, without worrying about geographical boundaries. That's the beauty of technology," said Fereshteh Forough, the CEO and founder of CTI.

The ground situation for females remain uncertain as the Taliban have allowed allow boys schools to reopen but told young girls to stay home until conditions permitted their return.

But for the young girls like Fatima, history reveals that the Taliban had banned female education in the country during their previous time of ruling about two decades ago, a fact that further diminishes their dreams of education and a better future.

In the recent meeting between the Taliban delegation and the UN, it was stated that a framework was being worked on, aimed at re-structuring the rules and system of Afghanistan, in which, education gains remain among the priority topics.

"The education gains of the past two decades must be strengthened, not rolled back," said Omar Abdi, deputy executive director of the Unicef.

It is pertinent to mention that failure to let girls get educated, comes with a major cost, which includes poverty, child marriages, early child bearing and lack of understanding of basic rights for females along with access to the basic services.

Afghanistan, under the Taliban control is seeking global recognition.

However, the world community has insisted that no recognition can be facilitated until promises made and efforts of the Taliban in creating an image of a new and transformed setup are met.
Seoul, Oct 31 : After several delays, South Korean tech giant Samsung is likely to launch the upcoming Galaxy S21 FE smartphone during Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 in January.

The CES 2022 is slated to take place in Las Vegas from from January 5 to 8.

If the reports are to be believed, then the Galaxy S21 FE could go official in the initial days of CES. This contradicts previous rumours suggesting January 11, 2022 as the launch date, GizmoChina reported.

According to the report, Samsung doesn't usually announce its smartphones at CES.

Even when the company announced its Galaxy S21 lineup in January last year, the South Korean giant hosted its own Galaxy Unpacked event a few days after CES, the report said.

However, the company showcases some of its gadgets and appliances at the Consumer Electronics Show, it added.

As for the specifications, the Galaxy S21 FEA is expected to feature a 6.4-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

The display holds a punch-hole design to house the 32-megapixel selfie camera. It is also expected to pack a triple camera setup and come powered by a 4,500mAh battery with support for 25W fast charging.
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 31 : The Southern Air command conducted a 7.5 km 'unity run' on Sunday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence, 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

In a statement, the Command said that all Air Force personnel including civilian employees and their families of Southern Air Command, Akkulam and Air Force Station, Shangumugham participated in the event.

The unity run was flagged off by Air Marshall J. Chalapathi and Air Force Commanding in Chief at Southern Air Command, Akkulam.

Station commander of Air Force Station, Thiruvananthapuram flagged off the run at Shangumugham Beach. The Air Force Commanding in Chief felicitated two Air Force personnel, Sargent Noah Nirmal Tom and Sargent Alex Antony who represented India in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

It is to be noted that the Central Government has dedicated this year to celebrate 'Amrit Ki Mahotsav' with a series of programmes and activities. The Indian Air Force has conducted 'Unity Run' at All Air Force Stations pan India.

The Air Force statement said that this would feature in the Limca Book of Indian Records for mass participation.
Seoul, Oct 31 : The South Korean government will deal sternly with violators of Covid-19 rules during the Halloween weekend and foreigners will be no exception, Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol said on Sunday.

The minister issued the warning during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, saying Halloween celebrations pose a high risk of additional infections, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Halloween falls on Sunday this year.

"The government and local governments have been carrying out joint patrols in areas frequented by foreign nationals and visited by multiple people," Jeon said, referring to a week-long patrol period that ends Tuesday.

He said the authorities have also been conducting a campaign to discourage people from gathering.

"With regard to foreign nationals who are caught violating antivirus rules, we plan to take strict measures in accordance with relevant laws," he added.

South Korea is set to begin a phased return to normal life on Monday, starting with the lifting of curfews on restaurant hours and allowing private gatherings of up to 10 people in the capital area and up to 12 in the rest of the country.

Jeon said cluster infections continue to be reported across the country and that concerns persist over an increase of cases amid the return to normal.

He called for continued adherence to social distancing protocols, such as mask wearing and regular ventilation.
Ramallah, Oct 31 : Palestine has extended its coronavirus-related state of emergency for another month despite a decrease in fresh cases and fatalities.

In a decree issued by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the state of emergency was extended effective immediately from Saturday so as to combat the spread of the virus, Xinhua news agency reported citing state media.

The state of emergency was first issued in March 2020 after the discovery of the first cases of coronavirus in the Palestinian territories and has been extended or re-declared every month since then.

According to the state media report, Abbas called on the competent authorities to take all necessary measures to confront the risks resulting from coronavirus, protect public health, and achieve security and stability.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that there were seven new Covid fatalities and 210 cases in the in the last 24 hours.

The statement said that there has been a significant drop in fatalities and new cases in recent days compared with the last few weeks.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi : Rahul Gandhi pays floral tribute to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Shakti Sthal on her death anniversary on Sunday, October 31, 2021.(Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi : Rahul Gandhi pays floral tribute to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Shakti Sthal on her death anniversary on Sunday, October 31, 2021.(Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi : Rahul Gandhi pays floral tribute to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Shakti Sthal on her death anniversary on Sunday, October 31, 2021.(Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi : Rahul Gandhi pays floral tribute to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Shakti Sthal on her death anniversary on Sunday, October 31, 2021.(Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Oct 31 : Congress leaders on Sunday paid floral tributes to Indira Gandhi on her 37th death anniversary and remembered her lifelong dedication and service to the nation.

Rahul Gandhi paid tributes at Shakti Sthal, and later went to Indira Gandhi Memorial, where he along with Congress president Sonia Gandhi paid homage to the late former PM on anniversary of her martyrdom day.

Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet, "my grand mother served the nation without fear and her life is inspiration and great example of women power".

The Congress party also hailed Indira Gandhi for her lifelong dedication and service to the nation. It tweeted: "She represented strength.

She epitomised sacrifice.

She personified service.

A billion salutes to the Iron Lady of India, our very first woman Prime Minister, a true Bharat Ratna, Smt Indira Gandhi, on her death anniversary." Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "World leaders will gather in Glasgow soon. But Indira Gandhi was ONLY PM, other than the host, to attend 1st UN Conference on Environment, Stockholm, in 1972. She made a historic speech & created huge impact. She walked the talk on environment. We mark her death anniversary today." Indira Gandhi was martyred in 1984 when her guards opened fire on her on this day, when she was the Prime Minister of the country.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : At least 30 per cent of the population or 40 crore individuals, called the 'missing middle', are devoid of any financial protection for health, said a Niti Aayog report.

In its report 'Health Insurance for India's Missing Middle', Niti Aayog has said that the expansion of health insurance or assurance coverage is a necessary step, and a pathway in India's efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

"Around 20 per cent of the population -- 25 crore individuals are covered through social health insurance, and private voluntary health insurance. The remaining 30 per cent of the population is devoid of health insurance; the actual uncovered population is higher due to the existing coverage gaps in PM-JAY and overlap between schemes," said the report.

As per the report, the 'missing middle' predominantly constitutes the self-employed in agriculture and non-agriculture informal sector in rural areas, and a broad array of informal occupations, semi-formal, and formal in the urban areas.

In the absence of a low-cost health insurance product, the 'missing middle' remains uncovered despite the ability to pay nominal premiums, said the report.

The report further suggests that a comprehensive product designed for this segment, which may be an improvement upon the existing Aarogya Sanjeevani plan and offering the patient cover, can expand the health insurance coverage.

The Niti Aayog report says that most of the Indian health insurance schemes and products are not designed for the 'missing middle'.

The private voluntary health insurance is designed for high income groups, which costs at least two to three times the affordable level for the 'missing middle'. Affordable contributory products such as ESIC, and the government subsidised insurance, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY) are closed products. They are not available to the general population due to the risk of adverse selection, suggests the Niti Aayog Report.
Chennai, Oct 31 : Indian Premier League (IPL) side Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday rewarded Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, with Rs one crore for his "stellar achievement" at the quadrennial games.

CSK also presented a special jersey with the number 8758 (highlighting Chopra's medal-winning effort of 87.58 metres) as a mark of respect to the thrower, who joined 10m air rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra as only the second individual gold medallist in the Olympics from the country.

"The entire nation is proud of Neeraj for his stupendous achievement. By becoming the first Indian to win a medal (gold) in the track and field, he has set a benchmark and is an inspiration for the next generation. 87.58 is a number that will forever be etched in Indian sporting history and it's an honour for us to present this special jersey to Neeraj. We wish he brings more glory to the nation," said CSK CEO KS Viswanathan.

The 23-year-old athlete, after receiving the award and special jersey, mentioned that the past two months have been an opportunity for him to experience new things and also thanked the Chennai Super Kings management for the support.

"Thank you so much for your support and for the prize. It feels good. The last two months have been hectic and an opportunity to experience new things. I never thought that I'll get so much love after winning gold. It was completely unexpected and it feels good. Hopefully I'll work hard and get good results," said Chopra.
Cairo, Oct 31 : An archaeological mission from the Cairo University has discovered the interior of a tomb at the Saqqara necropolis near Giza Pyramids, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement.

The tomb belonged to Ptahemwia, an official who served under King Ramses II in the 19th Dynasty around 3,300 years ago, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

"The importance of discovering this tomb is due to the positions held by its owner, who was a royal scribe, head of the treasury, chief overseer of the cattle and also in charge of divine offerings at the temple of Ramses II in Thebes (Upper Egypt)," said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The excavations of Cairo University's Faculty of Archaeology at Saqqara necropolis started in the 1970s and the actual search for royal tombs began in the 1980s, which led to the discovery of several tombs from the Ramesside Period, according to Ahmed Ragab, dean of the faculty.

But the current mission, led by archaeology professor Ola el-Aguizy, has been working in the site since 2005 and has recently unveiled the entrance and interior of Ptahemwia's tomb.

"What has been discovered of the tomb is its entrance built of stone carved with reliefs showing the owner of the tomb. The entrance leads to a hall whose walls have drawings painted and coloured on a layer of plaster," said el-Aguizy, head of the mission.

She added that the mission unearthed stone blocks with inscriptions and a number of Osirian columns, some standing in place and others buried by sand.

The Saqqara necropolis contains numerous pyramids, including the world-famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb, and a number of mastaba (a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inward sloping sides) tombs.

The Djoser pyramid, built during the Third Dynasty, is the oldest complete stone building complex known in history.
Mumbai, Oct 31 : Akshay Kumar is one actor who holds comedy by the scruff. Having many comedy films to his credit, the actor also knows what clicks with the audience. Displaying his epic sense of humour and marketing acumen, he recreated the iconic meme pose from 'Phir Hera Pheri' to create a buzz around his upcoming film 'Sooryavanshi'.

The actor took to his Instagram and shared a picture of him in the iconic pose. He wrote, "Side wala swag! That's my waiting pose for #Sooryavanshi to hit cinemas on 5th Nov. Strike your favourite pose and share it with hashtag #WaitingPoseForSooryavanshi. I would invite the coolest ones to pose with me in real. Jaldi karo, I am waiting??" The actor can be seen sporting a python print shirt paired with brown coloured pants. His salt and pepper look adds to his charm.

On the work front, the actor has a string of releases lined up which include 'Sooryavanshi', 'Atrangi Re', 'Prithviraj', 'Bachchan Pandey', 'Raksha Bandhan' and 'Ram Setu'.

Talking about 'Sooryavanshi', the film has been directed by Rohit Shetty and also stars Katrina Kaif with Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh in extended cameos. The film is set to revive the box-office as it's set for a massive theatrical release on November 5.
Mumbai, Oct 31 : Prime Video's popular show, 'One Mic Stand' returned with its second season and has been getting a lot of positive response from the connoisseurs of humour. Sapan Verma, India's celebrated comic artiste is the brain behind 'One Mic Stand' as he takes the seat of the show creator, showrunner and show host.

While the first season was more about exploration and testing the waters for such a concept, 'One Mic Stand 2' is more about pushing the boundaries and setting the benchmark a notch higher.

In an exclusive chat with IANS, Sapan Verma spoke about what goes into putting together a show like 'One Mic Stand', how the show helped him evolve as an artiste, how he aims to give back something to the art of comedy and how humour can find its inspiration from the most unusual things.

Verma explains the core idea behind the show as he mentions, "When we get any celebrity on the show, our objective always is to make them comfortable on stage and let them be themselves on stage. We don't want to feed lines or content. It's their story, they have to talk about it. Of course, we have writers who help write the set, but it is always their (celebrities') story." The essence for a good comedy lies in diversity, and that's where 'One Mic Stand' as a show derives its strength from, as Sapan says, "If I do (only) smart humour or slapstick, it'll become very one dimensional. The idea is to get five very different voices and different personalities".

While the comic has given his heart and soul to give India one of its most loved shows, 'One Mic Stand' has helped him too in many ways in terms of learnings and experiences. Commenting on the same, he shares, "One Mic Stand works beautifully for me because I'm involved in every process; be it scripting, costumes, the set, edit, sound, music or packaging. I love that part of it, I have learned so much. It takes a huge team. This would help me because I like doing this, I would like to create more shows in the future." For him, just putting your head down and working to the best of your capabilities helps any artform evolve, he says, "Everybody who's doing good work is contributing to the scene and the industry in their own way. You don't have to especially carve out a special time or do something exclusively for the scene." "Amit Tandon went to the US five years ago, did shows for NRIs and opened up the full market for all of us. A Zakir Khan or a Prashasti Singh going to tier 2 and tier 3 cities, an industry is getting created that way," he adds.

When asked about how he plans to give it back to the medium of comedy, Sapan had a very profound take on the subject, "You can do small little things as comedians, you can give chance to new talents, like whichever city I go to, there is always an opening act and I've started paying for the opening acts, even if it's a small amount, but to give them the chance and to promote the local scene." When quizzed about how he views the relationship of thrill, chaos and discomfort, Sapan says, "Those three words describe my experience of working on the show. There was a lot of chaos when we were shooting. Excitement and thrill, you need that for any art form otherwise you tend to stagnate. Chaos, I think it just makes you a better person when you come out of it, maybe. I think the only thing is to learn, to become better out of it and to write a very funny set about it".

"Discomfort, well, what is comedy if you don't go out of your comfort zone, standup is a little bit getting out of the comfort zone. Doing something like 'One Mic Stand' for me, was getting out of my comfort zone and working with a bunch of comedians. So I think all of them (chaos, thrill and discomfort) make you better in the long run. I think the beauty of comedy is like, you can convert the good, bad, ugly everything from your life into a funny side and have a very good, funny set," Sapan concluded.
Bamako, Oct 31 : The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) said that seven soldiers were killed and three others wounded in two terrorist attacks in the West African nation.

An army escort was ambushed near the town of Mourdiah, resulting in two deaths and two injuries, Xinhua news agency quoted the FAMa as saying in a statement.

In the second attack in the town of Segou, a FAMa patrol vehicle was attacked by a mine.

"The five occupants of the vehicle were killed. A sweep in the area of the incident led to the arrest of two suspects," said the FAMa.

The latest attacks came after FAMa troops suffered two fatal attacks earlier this month.

On October 17, a soldier and four terrorists were killed in an attack on an army post in Acharane in the Timbuktu region.

On October 6, a complex attack targeted a convoy of the Malian Army on the Koro-Bandiagara axis, killing 16 people and injuring nine in the FAMa ranks.

Since 2012, Mali has been facing serious security, political and economic crises.

Independence insurrections, jihadi incursions and inter-communal violence have caused thousands of deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands of people despite the presence of UN, French and European forces.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Goa, even being the smallest state in India with just 3,702 square km in area, is going to witness a big political fight as at least eight national and regional forces will be putting all their might to win 2022 assembly polls.

While the BJP is aiming to form government for the third time in the state, the Congress who lost despite being the single largest party in the 2017 elections, is preparing to give a tough fight to the ruling party.

Politicians like the former Congress national president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP president Arvind Kejriwal visited Goa to strategise for the upcoming elections.

Recently, the Shiv Sena also announced to contest the state polls along with regional parties like the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).

BJP National General Secretary of Goa, C.T. Ravi said: "Such political parties come and go during elections. Neither AAP nor TMC have a cadre or leader or a vote bank which can impact the election outcome. Therefore, they are like guests.

In 2012, contesting only 28 out of 40 seats in the state, the BJP won 21 alone by securing 34.68 per cent votes. However, despite winning a majority on its own, the BJP formed the government with a coalition partner and Manohar Parrikar, the most popular state BJP leader at that time, became the chief minister.

The Congress, on the other hand, received 30.78 per cent of votes but won only 9 seats. MGP won 3 and GFP won 2 seats.

In 2017 Assembly elections, the Congress won 17 seats with 28.35 per cent votes, while the ruling BJP could get only 13 seats despite getting 32.48 per cent votes. However, being the single largest party in the state, the Congress could not form the government and BJP came back to power with the support of regional parties and other Independent MLAs.

Regional parties like GFP and MGP had won 3 seats each. Although, AAP got 6.27 per cent of the votes, they could not win a single seat in the Legislative Assembly.

Talking about rivalry with the Congress, Goa BJP state president Sadanand Tanavade told IANS: "Our main fight in Goa is with the Congress and on some seats it is with the old parties like the GFP and the MGP. But as far as these new political parties like AAP and TMC are concerned, there is no threat to the BJP." Terming TMC's entry in Goa as detrimental to the prospects of Congress, Sadanand Tanavade said: "As Mamata Banerjee is eyeing Congress vote bank, this will further dent the prospects of the grand old party in the state.

"Mamata Banerjee has not come here to win the elections but to get some votes so that her party can get the national status," he added.

On the question if BJP is going alone in the state, Tanavade said: "No decision has been taken on alliance with any other political party. Only the high command and the parliamentary board will decide." Ravi, who is optimistic about the victory of BJP, said: "We are doing positive politics as we are driven by the agenda of development. That's why we are not worried. We will form the government for the third time in the state on the basis of development and our performance." "We have currently 28 MLAs in the state and are working to get more in the next elections," he added.
Canberra, Oct 31 : Australia recorded the lowest number of daily coronavirus cases in weeks on Sunday, reporting 1,220 new locally-acquired infections.

There have been more than 65,000 new cases reported in October, the most in any month since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 and more than twice as many as all of last year, reports Xinhua news agency.

With the new cases, Australia's overall infection tally stood at 170,564, with a total of 1,735 deaths.

More than 400 deaths were also reported in October.

On Sunday, Victoria state reported 1,036 new cases, the lowest since September 28.

There were 177 new cases in New South Wales (NSW), the first time in nearly three months that the daily count dipped below 200, according to local media the 7news.

In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), seven new cases were reported, also the lowest daily count in weeks.

As of Sunday, 88.2 per cent of Australians aged 16 and older have received one Covid vaccine dose and 77.2 per cent were fully inoculated, according to the Health Department of the Australian government.

Victoria, Australia's second biggest state, became the third jurisdiction to have 80 per cent of its over-16 population fully vaccinated.

The federal government on Sunday announced that quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia will resume from Monday.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said it would be a major boost for the tourism industry leading into summer.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, Oct 31 : Kartik Aaryan who has made the audience fall in love with his performances, seems to be in a happy place currently. The actor recently posted a video of him where he can be seen in the company of some adorable guests.

The actor took to his Instagram to share a short video of him being surrounded by adorable puppies. Kartik seems to be loving the company of man's best friends. Captioning the video, he wrote, "Sacha Pyaar ??" Wearing a tangerine coloured t-shirt, the actor chuckles with excitement as he gets mobbed by a 'paw'-erful crowd. Sunny Singh, his co-actor from 'Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety', commented on his post, "Hahahah cutee." On the work front, the actor will soon be seen in ambitious projects like, 'Dhamaka' and 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2' and 'Freddy', of which 'Dhamaka' directed by Ram Madhvani will be the first to release on Netflix.

The film is Kartik's departure from soft genres of comedy, romance and drama and it presents a completely different side of him as an actor; that of an intense actor.

Kartik will be essaying the role of Arjun Pathak, a journalist who gets a chance to realign his career after he gets a phone call from a terrorist. The film that also stars Mrunal Thakur and Amruta Subhash is set to hit the screens on November 19.
Islamabad, Oct 31 : Pakistans National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf has warned the proscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) protesters of being mindful of the fact that the country will not tolerate or allow presence of any armed militia.

Yusuf stated that the TLP protesters had crossed the line by using force against security officials, that resulted in the death of at least three security officials, while dozens others were injured.

"TLP had crossed the red line and exhausted the state's patience," he said.

"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," said Yusuf, giving a clear caution to TLP from trying to taking matters into their hands.

The NSA went on to say that any outlaws, who target security personnel, damage public property and create widespread public disruption, "would be treated like terrorists without any leniency".

While the NSA has come out with clear plans of not bowing down to the TLP demands, the Imran Khan-led government has initiated and resumed negotiations with the proscribed group's clerics, aiming to come down to a settlement and an arrangement, which would stop thousands of protesters, who have been marching towards Islamabad, causing massive chaos, violence and disruptions, leading to confrontation with the security forces.

As per details of the new round of talks, influential leaders were brought to Rawalpindi and Islamabad, where brief round of negotiations were held.

What seemed to differ in the new round of talks was the change of tone by the government officials, as senior ministers were directed to refrain from issuing strong statements against the banned TLP.

Details also revealed that the detained Saad Rivzi, the amir of TLP was brought to Islamabad along with at least three senior members of the TLP Shura, Maulana Shafiq Amini, Engineer Hafezullah and Pir Inayatul Haq for direct negotiations with the government's negotiation committee.

While the negotiations are underway, some TLP leaders are still angry over government ministers branding the outfit as Indian agents.

"Why did they brand us Indian agents? The whole nation wants to know who is getting money from the enemies. We have asked the government to change the negotiating team which does not insult us after the meeting," said a TLP leader.

The issue has pushed the country into a non-time bound unrest as authorities have blocked road routes leading to Islamabad by digging bunkers, blocking roads with containers and deploying thousands of security personnel across the Punjab province, with an aim to stop the protesters from what they call the red line and move towards the federal capital.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken notice of the ongoing anti-government march and has given the mandate to the negotiating team to ensure that the matter does not aggravate into further chaos in the coming days.
Agartala, Oct 31 : In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its national executive member from West Bengal Rajib Banerjee and sitting MLA in Tripura Ashis Das on Sunday joined the Trinamool Congress during a mega rally here, which was addressed by party's national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Rajib Banerjee, a former minister in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's cabinet had defected to the BJP in January this year. After rejoining the Trinamool, he said that it was his mistake to join the BJP, which according to him gave false promises to the people to gain political and electoral mileage.

"I apologise to Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee and all the people for joining the BJP. I am ashamed and feel guilty to join the BJP. Whatever responsibility the party (Trinamool) gives me, I with all sincerity perform the task," an emotionally charged Banerjee told the gathering.

Ashis Das, a Scheduled Caste leader and a BJP MLA from the Surma Assembly seat in northern Tripura, took the Trinamool flag from Abhishek Banerjee along with Rajib Banerjee.

While praising Mamata Banerjee and slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ashis Das, on October 5 in Kolkata had claimed that people in Tripura have been suffering a lot after the BJP-led government came to power.

The 43-year-old BJP legislator (Das), after shaving his head and performing a 'yagna' at the Kalighat temple in Kolkata on October 6, said that political anarchy and chaos were prevailing in the BJP-ruled Tripura where people are unhappy with the performance of the state government.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Teachers working in Delhi government funded colleges have not got their salaries for the past two months for the want of grants.

Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) said stopping grants and delay in disbursement of salaries is a "brutal assault" on teachers.

Teachers of the Delhi University have protested against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for "delaying" the grants.

DUTA president Rajib Ray said that Kejriwal has not fulfilled his March 2021 promise made to the college principals about Rs 28 crore grant, due to which teachers are facing difficulty.

Festive season is round the corner but teachers are not able to meet their daily requirements due to non-payment of salaries.

On September 15, DUTA had raised this issue with University Grants Commission (UGC) and also with newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh on October 20.

If the salary is not released immediately, then DUTA will intensify its agitation, Ray warned.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has also been approached to get the grant for these 12 colleges released.

Teachers' organisations have appealed to the Delhi government to release the grant prior to Diwali, so that teachers can celebrate the festival of lights.

The teachers are also facing the financial woes due to Covid-19.

With the grant, only the salary demand of teachers and staff can be met, while arrears of pension, medical bills, Seventh Pay Commission are still pending.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : In his first-ever public appearance, Taliban supreme leader Maulvi Haibatullah Akhundzada addressed supporters in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Pajhwok News reported.

Akhundzada, who was appointed as the movement's spiritual leader five years ago, addressed seminary students on Saturday.

Sources close to the group confirmed to Pajhwok Afghan News that Akhundzada addressed his followers at the Darul Uloom Hakimah.

They said a security blanket was thrown around the venue in Kandahar city as the Taliban leader delivered his speech.

Without speaking on political issues, Akhundzada prayed for the success of the Taliban leadership.

Media coverage of the event was not allowed, officials said.

On Sunday, a 10-minute audio recording of his speech was released on social media accounts of the Taliban.
Bhubaneswar, Oct 31 : Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Sunday staged a protest near Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar over increasing prices of fuel and other essential commodities.

BJD activists rode cycles, rickshaws and rallied on foot from Keshari talkies to the agitation place as a mark of protest against the spiralling rise in the prices of fuel. The women workers were seen burning chullahs to protest against the hike in the price of the LPG cylinders.

Later, the BJD workers submitted a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind through Governor Ganeshi Lal.

Senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra said following the steep rise in the fuel prices and the imposition of GST and other cess by the Union government, consumers are suffering a lot.

"If the government does not roll back the price hike, we will intensify our protest and hold similar demonstrations in every Assembly constituency," warned Mishra.

However, opposition parties in Odisha, BJP and Congress have termed the protest as a move to divert the attention of the people from the Mamita Meher murder case.
Vientiane, Oct 31 : The Laos government has extended the ongoing lockdown in the country for another 15 days, as the number of Covid-19 cases has continued to rise.

Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office Thipphakone Chanthavongsa told reporters that the lockdown measures were necessary as the virus has spread across Laos, and the country has recorded hundreds of locally-transmitted cases in recent days, reports xinhua news agency.

Restrictions are necessary to protect citizens and foreign residents living in Laos, while preventing as many deaths as possible, said Thipphakone.

The National Taskforce Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control on Sunday reported 679 new locally transmitted cases and six imported cases.

Among the community cases, 284 were reported in Lao capital Vientiane, 122 in Vientiane province, 59 in Oudomxay, 55 in Luang Namtha, 39 in Bokeo, 38 in Luang Prabang, 21 in Khammuan, 16 in Saravan, 12 in Savannakhet and Sekong, seven in Champasak, six in Xaysomboun, two in Xieng Khuang, one in Bolikhamxay province.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Laos reached 40,271 with 65 deaths.

Laos reported its first two cases of the virus on March 24 last year.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Khartoum, Oct 31 : Three protesters were killed in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum as demonstrations continued against the military takeover of the country, authorities said on Sunday.

According to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, protesters on Saturday gathered in the country's major cities of Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman, reports Xinhua news agency.

As the bridges linking the three cities were closed, the protesters could not reach the capital city which houses the government headquarters, Republican Palace and the Army Command.

"Three protesters were killed after they were shot during the demonstrations in Omdurman city," the non-governmental committee said in a statement, adding that 110 demonstrators were injured from live ammunition and tear gas.

Sudanese Police said it was forced to use tear gas after some protesters became aggressive.

"There were protesters who deviated from peacefulness and attacked the police forces and some important sites which forced us to use tear gas," said the police in a statement.

On October 25, the General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency across the country, dissolved the transitional Sovereign Council and the government, and relieved the state governors.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was detained along with other civilian leaders, but was released.

However, the army chief denied the "arrest" of Hamdok, saying the Prime Minister was staying at Al-Burhan's house and was safe, until being released.

Demonstrators continued their protests in Khartoum, rejecting the measures announced by Al-Burhan and demanding a civilian government.
Lucknow, Oct 31 : Continuing her series of 'pratigya' (promises), Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Sunday, announced that if the Congress came to power in Uttar Pradesh, 20 lakh youths would be given jobs, women would get the facility of free bus travel and fishing would be given the status of farming.

"The Nishad community will have rights over rivers and sand mining. We will also set up a university in the name of Guru Matsyendranath (Guru of Gorakhnath)," she said while speaking at a Pratigya rally in Gorakhpur.

She further announced that if the Congress came to power, the ad hoc and contract workers would be regularised and the purchase price of wheat and paddy would be raised to Rs 2,500 while sugarcane MSP would be Rs 400.

"Women will be given three free gas cylinders in a year and treatment up to Rs 10 lakh would be free for all. Besides, we will ensure full loan waiver for farmers. ASHA workers would be given an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month," she added.

Priyanka said that India was a nation that survived on faith. "We have faith in the earth, faith in religion, faith in our labour and faith in our leaders. We have faith in what the leaders say and when huge advertisements tell us that development has arrived, we begin to wonder. Time has come to question our leaders and ask them where is the development," she said.

Mounting a scathing attack on the Yogi Adityanath government, she said that the chief minister was working against the principles of Guru Gorakhnath.

"Amit Shah said that law and order in UP is perfect. In Lakhimpur, his party leaders mowed down farmers. In Gorakhpur, the police killed businessman Manish Gupta. In Lucknow, an executive Vivek Tiwari was shot dead by policemen and in Unnao one girl was raped and set on fire while another was raped and an attempt was made to kill her in an accident. You do not need a binocular to see the reality but a good pair of spectacles," she said.

Priyanka berated the Modi government and said that they had promised to enable a person with 'hawai chappal' to travel by air. "But travelling by road has become impossible due to rising fuel prices. The Prime Minister flies to Italy in his Rs 8,000 crore aircraft but in UP farmers die waiting in queues for fertilizer. A farmer's income is Rs 27 per day but his businessmen friends earn Rs 1,000 crore per day," she said.

Priyanka said that politics would change drastically if more women came in.

She ended her speech with 'Jai Guru Matsyendranath' and 'Jai Guru Gorakhnath' -- both spiritual gurus of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Los Angeles, Oct 31 : Country star Keith Urban stepped in for Bryan Adams after the rocker who immortalised himself with 'Summer of 69' tested positive for Covid and pulled out of Saturday night's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Adams, reports Variety, was set to perform in a medley of songs with Christina Aguilera, Mickey Guyton and H.E.R. in honour of this year's inductee, Tina Turner. The Canadian rock immortal was set to recreate his duet 'It's Only Love' (from his 1984 album 'Reckless') with H.E.R., but the plan had to be abandoned. He was tested for Covid before arriving in Cleveland, Ohio, for the festivities.

All participants in the Hall of Fame ceremony were required to show a negative Covid test, regardless of vaccination status. Adams is fully vaccinated and showing no symptoms.

Urban took the stage at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to handle vocals and guitar for the planned collaboration with H.E.R. Angela Bassett, who portrayed Turner in the 1993 film 'What's Love Got to Do With It?' (and received an Oscar nomination for the role) was on hand to induct the icon into the Hall for a second time as a solo artiste.

Aguilera sang 'River Deep, Mountain High' and Guyton tackled 'What's Love Got to Do With It?'
New Delhi, Oct 31 : A National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Mumbai has convicted an accused in Bhivandi, Maharashtra and sentenced him to seven years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 in Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) case.

An NIA special court, Mumbai pronounced judgement pertaining to recovery of fake Indian currency notes having value of Rs 4.78 lakh from five accused, all residents of Bandra (East). Five accused were Rehan Abbas Shaikh, Shafahad Mukhtar Ansari, Anees Iklak Shaikh, Kishor Namdeo Fular and Rohit Kumar Nagendra Singh. The case was originally registered on October 11, 2018 at Bhiwandi Taluka police station of Thane districts, Maharashtra under section 489-B, 489-C, & 34 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Subsequently, NIA re-registered the case on December 4, 2018 and took up the investigation.

After investigation, the NIA had filed three charge sheets. First charge sheet was filed on January 5, 2019 and subsequent charge sheets were filed on September 30, 2019 and April 23, this year against nine accused persons. On October 30, accused Rohit Kumar Nagendra Singh pleaded guilty before NIA Special Court, Mumbai. The Court convicted him for the offence under section 120-B, 489 (B) and 489 (C) of IPC and sentenced him to seven years of RI and fine of Rs 1000.

Trial against the remaining charge-sheeted accused is continuing.
Los Angeles, Oct 31 : China's jingoistic Korean War epic, 'The Battle at Lake Changjin', has become the highest-grossing film in the world for 2021, surpassing the Chinese New Year breakout comedy hit 'Hi, Mom', reports 'Variety'. It was release on September 30, China's National Day.

The film, which has been made mandatory viewing for all government employees in China, recreates the gritty battle fought in harsh winter weather conditions by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army at the Chosin Reservoir, a.k.a. Lake Changjin, against U.N. troops led by the Americans. Chinese victory in the battle led to the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops from North Korea.

The war film, co-directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, has grossed $845 million in 29 days, marching past 'Hi, Mom', which earned $821 million at the beginning of the year over a 90-day period.

'Lake Changjin' at present is China's second highest-grossing film in history behind local title 'Wolf Warrior 2' ($854 million), where also Wu Jing plays a pivotal role, that of a military action hero, as in the Korean War film.

Buoyed by the success of 'Lake Changjing', its producers have already started work on a sequel titled 'Water Gate Bridge'.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a review meeting with District Collectors having low vaccination coverage on November 3. PM Modi will chair the meeting immediately after returning to the country from Europe visit.

The Prime Minister will hold the review meeting with districts having low vaccination coverage on November 3 at 12 noon via video conferencing.

The meeting will include districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of Covid vaccine. Prime Minister will interact with District Magistrates of over 40 districts of Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, and other States with districts having low vaccination coverage. Chief Ministers of these States will also be present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, India's Covid inoculation coverage has reached 106.14 crore as of Sunday morning. A total of 68,04,806 vaccine doses have been administered in the last 24 hours. This has been achieved through 1,06,01,975 sessions.

Nearly 112 crore vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far through Govt of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category. More than 13 crore balance and unutilized Covid vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs to be administered, as per the data shared by Union Health Ministry on Sunday morning.
Beijing, Oct 31 : Smartphone brand Xiaomi has announced its record-setting 10,000th Mi Home store in China.

According to GizmoChina, during the launch of the Redmi Note 11 series a few days back, Redmi's GM and Xiaomi President Lu Weibing had hinted that the tech giant was gearing up to open its 10,000th Mi Home store in China before the end of October.

The 10,000th Mi Store has now been opened right on schedule, the report said.

The Mi Home store adopts a unique architectural design and is located in Shenzhen's Happy Coast and covers an area of more than 600 square metres.

The tech giant will be giving the first 1,000 buyers at the new store the chance to pay an additional 1 yuan and get the Redmi Buds 3 alongside their purchases.

The company also hinted at plans to integrate the Mi Home store and after-sale service centre in the future in order to bring the after-sales services closer to fans.

Lu also hinted at the Redmi Note 11 series launch that the company has already expanded the number of its brick and mortar stores to cover over 2,200 counties.

This represents 80 per cent of the entire counties in China.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday warned the Centre of converting the government offices into "grain markets" if it forcibly evicts the farmers from the protest site where they have been agitating against the three contentious farm laws for the past 11 months.

The warning came two days after the Delhi Police removed all the barricades from Tikri and Ghazipur borders for the smooth movement of traffic.

However, the farmers see it as "move" to displace them.

"If the farmers fail to sell their produce in mandis at a fair price, then, what better place to do so than the government offices?" Tikait said. He demanded that the Centre engage in dialogue with them and repeal the farm laws.

Earlier, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha had released a statement asserting that before opening all the roads, the Centre will have to open the avenues to fulfill their demands.

Whether the agitation continues or shift to the national capital is a collective decision to be taken at an appropriate time, he asserted.

Though the Government and the agitating farmers have met 11 times on the negotiating table, the talks remained inconclusive.

The Supreme Court, in its ruling last week, had held that though the farmers have all the freedom to protest, they cannot "block" the roads causing inconvenience to the public.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : The Election commission of India has announced schedule for bypolls of two Rajya Sabha seats in Kerala and West Bengal. The ECI has also announced bypolls for one seat of Legislative Council in Maharashtra and three seats in Andhra Pradesh and six in Telangana.

An EC statement said, "The Commission having re-assessed the situation in the State of Kerala and after taking into consideration all relevant facts, has now decided to conduct above-mentioned two by-elections to the Council of States from Kerala and West Bengal." The seats going for bypolls fell vacant after the resignation of Jose K. Mani from Kerala on January 11 and TMC MP Arpita Ghosh from West Bengal on September 15.

The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) which has a strength of 99 legislators to the 41 of the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala is likely to win the Rajya Sabha seat easily. The LDF is likely to give the seat to Kerala Congress (M) itself but Jose K. Mani who resigned from the Rajya Sabha to contest assembly elections and lost it from his home turf Pala, is unlikely to be a candidate as he is concentrating on his assembly constituency, that was held by his father late K.M. Mani for a record fifty years at a stretch.

Kerala Congress (M) leader and former MLA, Stephen George is the front runner for the seat, sources in the party told IANS.

The EC had on May 28 decided that "due to the outbreak of the second wave of Covid-19 in the country, it would not be appropriate to hold by-election to the Council of States from Kerala till the pandemic situation significantly improves and conditions become conducive".

But, after re-assessing the situation in Kerala, the commission said it decided to announce the schedule for by-election in Kerala and West Bengal.

The EC also announced six Telangana and three Andhra Pradesh seats of the Legislative Council that fell vacant after the retirement of members in May and June respectively.

The ECI has directed the Chief Secretaries of the states to depute a senior officer to make it clear that its instructions regarding Covid-19 containment measures are compiled with during the elections.

The polling and counting for all seats would be held on November 29.
Bengaluru, Oct 31 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai thanked fans of Kannada film actor Puneeth Rajkumar for maintaining peace, law and order for the last three days during paying final respects to the legend.

After the last rites of Puneeth, who passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest, Bommai said that though his fans turned up in lakhs, all of them coordinated with authorities.

He also thanked the police, BBMP, Revenue Department and other authorities for working hard to ensure no incident of violence took place in the last three days during final homage. "No inconvenience was caused to the public and I thank them from the depth of my heart," he said.

Bommai also extended his gratitude to Puneeth's family members for their cooperation.

"I thank Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar. Shivaraj Kumar has thanked me for the arrangements. It shows the humility of the Rajkumar family. As a government, in that situation, it is our duty to monitor and manage the situation. We have done it," he said.

Meanwhile, sources in the Narayana Nethralaya explained that Puneeth's eyes have been successfully transplanted to two persons. The first donor got it on Saturday and the second transplantation was done on Sunday.

Rajkumar, the legend of Kannada film industry, had donated his eyes and his wife Parvathamma Rajkumar also followed the path of her husband.

Taking cue from their favorite star, 40 members of Yuva Bharatha Samithi and Shri Adishakthi Taruna Sangha pledged to donate their eyes in Vijayapura district of Karnataka.
Chennai, Oct 31 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin on Sunday paid a visit to the Kauvery hospital in Chennai to meet the ailing super star of South Indian cinema, Rajinikanth. The matinee idol underwent a carotid artery revascularization surgery a couple of days ago after he complained of uneasiness.

Stalin, reached the hospital and visited Rajinikanth, and spent some time with him. He enquired about the health of the superstar who is likely to be discharged in a couple of days.

Rajinikanth was admitted to the Kauveri hospital in Chennai on October 28. His wife Latha and other close family members maintained that Rajinikanth was admitted for a routine medical check-up but there were reports that he was suffering from uneasiness and breathlessness.

On October 29, the Kauveri hospital had issued a medical bulletin stating that the superstar underwent carotid artery revascularization.

The statement said, "Mr Rajinikanth was admitted in Kauvery hospital, Alwarpet, Chennai on October 28 following an episode of giddiness. He was thoroughly examined by an expert team of doctors and was advised to undergo Carotid artery revascularization. The procedure was performed successfully today (October 29) and he is recovering well. He is likely to be discharged from the hospital in a few days." The latest movie of the superstar, Annaatthe is to be released globally on Deepavali day, November 4.

Meanwhile, fans of Rajinikanth conducted special poojas for his speedy recovery at Tirupakyandram Murugan temple at Madurai on Sunday by breaking 108 coconuts and also performing 'Man Soru' (eating from the floor).

The fans also performed special poojas for the success of his upcoming movie Annaatthe.
Srinagar, Oct 31 : On Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary on Sunday administered unity pledge to government officers.

Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta, paid tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary being observed as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas across the nation, an official statement said.

"To commemorate the national celebration, Chief Secretary administered unity pledge to the Administrative Secretaries besides officers and officials of Civil Secretariat.

"October 31 is being observed as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day) across the country, not only to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the architect of National Integration of Independent India, but also to reaffirm the commitment of citizens of India to uphold the security, unity and integrity of the Nation.

"The officers and officials of civil secretariat, Srinagar, participated in the pledge taking ceremony virtually.

"Similarly, pledge taking ceremonies were held in the offices of Divisional Commissioner Jammu and Kashmir and Deputy Commissioners of all districts of the Union Territory", the statement said.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will, on Monday, join 120 heads of states/governments from around the world, including US President Joe Biden, at the high-level segment of the COP26, the crucial negotiation platform for countries to work out their emission plans to collectively restrict global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Like this year's 'World Leaders' Summit' (WLS), it is not every year that heads of the states visit the COP and/or take part in the deliberations that in turn decide their respective country's policy for climate action. The last time they were at the COP in large numbers was at Paris in 2015 when the major document of Paris Agreement 2015 took shape.

Starting Sunday, the 26th edition of Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place at the UK's Glasgow.

This COP26 is deemed critical because, as warned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), every additional 0.5 degree of warming will increase heat extremes, extreme precipitation, and droughts and for coastal areas, sea level rise will be a threat to their very existence.

India has a target to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, and it has already achieved 24 per cent by 2016.

"World leaders need to come together in person and put climate change on the world agenda. The WLS before the COP is a good thing because they need to set the tone for the COP to discuss," said Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) Sunita Narain.

"However, will they actually call out the need for transformational action, will they call out the need for looking at climate justice as the bedrock of climate negotiations moving ahead, I am not sure," she quickly added during a pre-COP media consultation.

Modi, before departing for the G20 and COP26 summits, had said: "In line with our tradition of living in harmony with nature and culture of deep respect for the planet, we are taking ambitious action on expanding clean and renewable energy, energy efficiency, afforestation and bio-diversity." He had also made clear what are the stakes for India when he declared: "I will also highlight the need to comprehensively address climate change issues including equitable distribution of carbon space, support for mitigation and adaptation and resilience building measures, mobilisation of finance, technology transfer and importance of sustainable lifestyles for green and inclusive growth." As has been maintained by India, there is no mention of net zero targets. Most of the western world has been pressuring India for declaring net zero goal, which India - and all the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) - has already termed as shifting the goal from 2030 as per the Paris Agreement to a future date.

India has said it will announce its stance at an appropriate time. Rich countries are favouring 2050 as the net zero goal.

The updated synthesis report of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) showed that for all available NDCs of all 192 parties taken together, there would be a sizable increase, of about 16 per cent, in global GHG emissions in 2030 compared to 2010. The country-wise updates had clearly shown how inadequate the action on part of rich nations was, a point that the developing nations have been harping on.

Net zero is absorbing or removing as much carbon as a given unit consumes. Carbon emissions are responsible for global warming and the COP is a platform to negotiate and bring the emissions considerably low to prevent that temperature rise.

Scientists, however, have a word of caution about the concept of net zero. "There is no clarity on what the rich nations are saying when they talk of net zero targets. Is it net zero CO2 or is it net zero greenhouse gases (GHG)?" asked visiting Researcher at the Jadavpur University, Shreya Some.

The major push for net zero was given by the September's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the IPCC. "But, the IPCC report is very clear that it is net zero carbon," she said.

Net zero or not, what will matter ultimately will be domestic actions and it is where the government has not evoked much trust. As if to showcase the glimpse of the future, the years 2020 and 2021 have witnessed more frequent and high intensity climate catastrophic events across the globe, India was no exception.

In such situations, question remains as to what is the accountability expected from the state and how should India tackle the twin challenges of climate and growing inequality? Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar said: "The equity conundrum provides an opportunity to design our future actions in a way that tackles the issues together. Both inequality and climate change are in fact symptoms of a deeper malaise - a flawed, overconsumption based economic system that is predatory and exploitative by nature. So, the only way we are getting out of this quicksand is by fundamentally reimagining progress and development." With rich countries insisting on net zero pledges and many from the developing nations, including India, insisting on delivery of promises first -- and both parties refusing to budge from their position, will there be a consensus at the end of the two week meeting? Will net zero 2050 be the bone of contention? Will this COP be a failure?

"What you do in 2050 does not matter, what you are actually doing now and in the next 10 years is crucial. What do you do about adaptation and finance? There is no debate that goals by developed countries are highly inadequate," pointed out Associate Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Tejal Kanitkar.

"In fact, the global stock taking is in 2023, so why do you suddenly want to push that timeline to 2050. What the rich nations did - rather not do - by 2020 is out in the open now. So, now, this COP and the target of net zero by 2050 is an attempt at green washing that failure." "COP failing means what?" Kanitkar said. "Whatever the outcome, it does not mean that the Paris Agreement will go away."
Ayodhya, Oct 31 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday offered water from Kabul River, sent by a girl from Afghanistan, to Lord Ram in Ayodhya.

The Chief Minister performed the 'Jal Abhishek' by mixing Ganga water with Kabul River water.

A girl from Afghanistan had sent the water to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a request that it should be offered at the Ram temple. The Prime minister asked the chief minister to do the same.

The chief minister said that the water represented the sentiments of the people of Afghanistan.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Delhi Police on Sunday arrested two sharp shooters of the city's notorious Sonu Dariyapur gang for opening fire in Bawana area.

The two accused have been identified as Roshan alias Sumit Sahani, 23, and Ankit Dabas alias Vishu, 22.

According to the police, the gangsters who had been demanding Rs 50 lakh from the owner of Neelgiri Machinery, came on a motorcycle and opened fire near the factory in Bawana area on October 26.

They also handed over a threat note to a worker before leaving.

"A case under the Arms Act was registered at Bawana police station," a police official said.

A team under Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Arvind Kumar was formed to investigate the case. After examining all the evidences, they apprehended both the criminals from Barwala.

During interrogation, they admitted their involvement in the crime. The motorcycle used was recovered from their possession, the police said.

"While Roshan rode the motorcycle, Ankit opened fire to scare the workers and handed over the threat letter. They were hiding in Sonepat's Gannaur. The Crime Branch team has arrested both criminals from Barwara," ACP Arvind Kumar said.

Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Alok Kumar said that efforts are being made to trace other members of the gang.

Further investigation in the case is underway.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal reviewed progress of sea trials of Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) 'Vikrant' during an onboard visit at sea on Sunday.

The ship had sailed out for the second sea trials on October 24.

"The ship is now progressing with second phase of sea trials, during which detailed trials and testing of propulsion machinery, electrical and electronics suites, deck machinery, lifesaving appliances and ship systems is being progressed," the Indian Navy said.

After witnessing the sea trials, the minister impressed upon Cochin Shipyard Ltd to ensure timely delivery of the ship in April 2022 to realise commissioning of the ship by August 2022 to commemorate 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

With the delivery of the aircraft carrier, India would join a select group of nations with the capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier, which will be a real testimony to the aMake in India' thrust of the government.

The maiden sea sortie of the ship was successfully undertaken in August this year. During it, the ship's performance, including hull, main propulsion, PGD and auxiliary equipment was found satisfactory.

Designed by Indian Navy's Directorate of Naval Design (DND), Vikrant is being built at Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), a public sector shipyard under Sonowal's Ministry.

The indigenous design and construction of the aircraft carrier by the Indian Navy and Cochin Shipyard Ltd. is a shining example of the quest for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and "Make in India" initiatives with more than 76 per cent indigenous content.

This has led to growth in indigenous design and construction capabilities, besides development of large number of ancillary industries, with employment opportunities for over 2,000 personnel and about 12,000 employees in ancillary industries.

Indigenous content towards procurement of equipment, besides work by CSL and their subcontractors is being directly invested back into the Indian economy. Around 550 Indian firms including about 100 MSMEs are registered with the CSL, who are providing various services for construction of the IAC.
Patna: People perform rituals during Govardhan Puja celebrations, in Patna on Oct 28, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: People perform Govardhan Puja in New Delhi on Oct 28, 2019. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Gurugram, Oct 31 : The Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti (SHSS) has announced it will perform Govardhan Puja in Sector 12, Gurugram on November 5 to oppose the Friday prayers in open areas in the city.

Outfit members will also distribute 'Annakoot Prasad' on the occasion, it announced by at a press conference here on Sunday.

Sector-12 was the same location where the police arrested 30 members of Hindu outfits on October 29 for attempting to disrupt the Friday prayers.

Addressing journalists, SHSS Haryana state Presiden Mahavir Bhardwaj said that Namaz being held in public places in Gurugram should be stopped immediately.

He has also told the Chief Minister that the district administration is misleading the government by showing the list of designated Friday prayer sites without any official's signature on the list.

Bhardwaj has demanded the Haryana government issue a notification banning any religious practice at public places in the state.
New Delhi/Mussoorie, Oct 31 : On the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, marking the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a 'Sardar Patel Leadership Centre' was dedicated to the nation at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie on Sunday.

Underlined 'New Generation Reforms for New Generation Civil Servants', Union Minister of State for Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh said, "Increasing Transparency, Accountability and People-Centric Delivery mechanisms must become cornerstones of 'New Generation Reforms for the New Generation Civil Servants'." Addressing the latest batch of civil servants and referring to the Prime Minister's 75th Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Singh said, "Today the world is also a witness to how India is writing a new chapter of governance here and in this decade of 'Amrit Kaal', we will give priority to Next Generation reforms." He also reiterated Modi's commitment to ensure that all the facilities like service delivery should reach citizens up to the last mile and it should reach the last person seamlessly, without hesitation or any kind of difficulty, a statement from the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said.

Dwelling on the relevance of 'Sardar Patel Leadership Centre', Singh said, the Centre aims to lay the foundation capacity building for future generations of civil servants so that they learn from the best practices of leadership across the world while at the same time they remain connected with their cultural ethos, values and roots.

Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), K. Srinivas said the objective behind this Centre's establishment is to enable a civil servant to constantly remain in touch with Sardar Patel Leadership Center, an entity that can provide them with upgraded skills and guidance for their own personal pathways. "Every officer must determine his or her own path of self-guided learning in the spirit of Mission Karmayogi," he said.
Kolkata, Oct 31 : Hours after Rajib Banerjee's re-induction in the Trinamool Congress, there was strong resentment within the party with senior leaders like Kalyan Banerjee openly criticising the decision, saying that he failed to understand why a "top to bottom corrupt person like Rajib Banerjee was taken back".

Addressing the media on Sunday evening, Sreerampore MP Kalyan Banerjee said: "The top leadership of the party has decided to bring back Rajib Banerjee and I, as a common worker and the MP of the party, will have to accept the decision. In one of the election meetings in Domjur (in Howrah district where Rajib Banerjee was the BJP candidate), Mamata Di said that Rajib Banerjee has three/four flats in Gariahat (posh area in south Kolkata) and other places and he has investments in Dubai)." Quoting from famous Bengali poet Sunil Gangopadhyay's "Keu Kotha Rakhe Na (Nobody kept his word)", the veteran Supreme Court lawyer said: "(Trinamool General Secretary) Abhishek Banerjee had said that anyone who hurt the sentiment of the common workers will not be taken back in the party. I am a common worker and I shall have to abide by the decisions taken by the party hierarchy." "But I fail to understand why a person who is top to bottom corrupt will be taken back in the party. Being a Trinamool Congress and a MP I shall have to accept all the decisions taken by the top leadership of the party." Rajib Banerjee, a former minister in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's cabinet, had defected to the BJP in January this year. After rejoining the Trinamool, he said that it was his mistake to join the BJP, which according to him gave false promises to the people to gain political and electoral mileage.

"I apologise to Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee and all the people for joining the BJP. I am ashamed and feel guilty to join the BJP. Whatever responsibility the party (Trinamool) gives me, I with all sincerity perform the task," an emotionally charged Banerjee told the gathering.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Demanding immediate disbursal of salaries to employees, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will held a protest against the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporations on Monday.

AAP leader of opposition in North Delhi Municipal Corporation, Vikas Goel said, "Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) employees have not received salary for three months. AAP demands immediate disbursal of salaries to municipal employees. If MCD can't pay its employees' salaries then the BJP leaders should resign." AAP's leader of opposition in South Corporation, Prem Chauhan said, "South MCD's revenue is the highest among all the three corporations, yet its employees are not getting salary. AAP will gherao BJP outside Civic Center, protest at Civic Center, headquarters of North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations tomorrow to protest against non-payment of salaries to employees by the BJP-ruled MCDs." Goel claimed that even the retired MCD employees haven't received their pension for the last two to three months.

The Leader of Opposition in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation Manoj Tyagi said, "The way we clean our homes for the Diwali season, in the same way all of MCDs sanitation workers have been working tirelessly to clean the entire city for the past 10 days. But it is so shameful that despite all the toiling, they don't receive their salaries. Retired employees of the corporations have also not received their pension even during the festive season." Refuting AAP's claims, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor has said that it's shocking to see leaders of the opposition (LoPs) in three municipal corporations playing with the sentiments of municipal employees over pending salary issues.

"LoPs who are a part of the municipal system are aware that civic bodies are facing financial hardship as Delhi Government is not releasing pending municipal funds exceeding Rs 13,000 crore as per the recommendations of the third, fourth and fifth Delhi Finance Commission," Kapoor said.

Kapoor suggested that instead of doing lip service, the three LoPs ask Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to release pending municipal funds, so salaries can be paid on time. "The LOPs should note that municipal staff would never forgive the AAP government for repeatedly stopping their salaries by not releasing municipal funds," Kapoor added.
Tokyo, Oct 31 : Fifteen people were reported injured in Japan's Tokyo by a man wielding a knife on a Keio Line train on Sunday night, according to Kyodo reports.

Among the injured, a man in his 60s was seriously hurt and unconscious.

The authorities immediately took the suspect, a man in his 20s carrying a knife, into custody after the police received a report about the knife-wielding man around 8 p.m. local time, Xinhua news agency reported.

The police arrested the suspect for attempted murder, and are currently investigating the incident and questioning the suspect.

According to the police, the suspect also used an oil-like liquid to set fire in the train, burning part of the fifth carriage of the train.

The police also received a report that hydrochloric acid was spread on the train, but later denied that the acid was used.

The incident took place on a train bound for Shinjuku in central Tokyo and caused panic among passengers amid the fire and smoke.

Screaming of several people was heard from the carriage where smoke and fire blew, with people climbing through the windows to get out of the train.

After the incident, the train stopped at a station that is not originally planned for the fast train, where people temporarily got off for shelter.
New Delhi/Glasgow : , Oct 31 (IANS) Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations have reached new highs, the increase has continued in 2021 too, the past seven years are on track to be the seven warmest on record, and the global sea level rise accelerated since 2013 to a new high in 2021, the 'State of Climate in 2021' report said on day one of the COP26 on Sunday.

The levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) at 413.2 parts per million (ppm), methane (CH4) at 1,889 parts per billion (ppb)) and nitrous oxide (N2O) at 333.2 ppb, respectively have increased 149 per cent, 262 per cent and 123 per cent of pre-industrial (1750) levels, the 'State of the Climate in 2021' report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) released at the start of the UN Climate Change negotiations, COP26, in Glasgow.

Starting Sunday for next two weeks, at Glasgow, world leaders and negotiators would be discussing the dire circumstances that anthropogenic activities that have led the globe to a catastrophe and work out modalities to enhance efforts to reduce emissions to restrict global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era.

"The global mean temperature for 2021 (based on data from January to September) was about 1.09 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 average," the report said.

The past seven years are on track to be the seven warmest on record, according to the provisional WMO State of the Global Climate 2021 report, based on data for the first nine months of 2021. A temporary cooling 'La Nina' event early in the year means that 2021 is expected to be "only" the fifth to seventh warmest year on record. "But this does not negate or reverse the long-term trend of rising temperatures," the report said.

"Record atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and associated accumulated heat have propelled the planet into uncharted territory, with far-reaching repercussions for current and future generations," the WMO said in a release.

"The provisional WMO State of the Global Climate 2021 report draws from the latest scientific evidence to show how our planet is changing before our eyes. From the ocean depths to mountain tops, from melting glaciers to relentless extreme weather events, ecosystems and communities around the globe are being devastated. COP26 must be a turning point for people and the planet," said United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

"Scientists are clear on the facts. Now leaders need to be just as clear in their actions. The door is open; the solutions are there. COP26 must be a turning point. We must act now a" with ambition and solidarity - to safeguard our future and save humanity," Guterres said in a video statement.

"Extreme events are the new norm," WMO Secretary General Professor Petteri Taalas said, adding: "There is mounting scientific evidence that some of these bear the footprint of human-induced climate change." "At the current rate of increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, we will see a temperature increase by the end of this century far in excess of the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels," Taalas said. "COP26 is a make-or-break opportunity to put us back on track." The report combines input from multiple United Nations agencies, national meteorological and hydrological services and scientific experts. It highlights impacts on food security and population displacement, harming crucial ecosystems and undermining progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, at a press conference with Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, said the Turkmen delegation and the Islamic Emirate held good talks on economic and political issues including restarting the TAPI project, Tolo News reported.

Muttaqi said during the two-day visit, both sides discussed issues around strengthening political relations and economic ties.

He said they talked about the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, adding the implementation of the project in Afghanistan will start soon.

"Important issues such as TAPI, railroads and electricity were discussed. We discussed how to strengthen the projects that had already started.

"Also, the projects that were started by Turkmenistan, such as TAPI -- its practical implementation will start soon in Afghanistan." Muttaqi said Meredov has invited him to visit Turkmenistan.

Meredov and his accompanying delegation also met Deputy PM Abdul Salam Hanafi and discussed economic issues -- especially the TAPI project -- and railroads and made important decisions, the Islamic Emirate Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, the report added.

The TAPI project was launched in 2016. TAPI pipeline is expected to carry 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas each year along a route stretching 1,800 km (1,125 miles) from Galkynysh, the world's second-biggest gas field, to the Indian city of Fazilka near the Pakistan border.

Work on the project in Afghanistan began in February 2018 and will include a 1,814-kilometre gas pipeline intended to pass through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India, with at least 816 kilometre of the pipeline passing through Afghanistan.

However, the construction has faced delays in Afghanistan due to insecurity, among other issues, in the past years, the report said.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested a "wheeler dealer" on Sunday in a bribery case against Maharashtra's former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

The agency arrested Santosh Jagtap from Thane under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act on Sunday morning. He was produced before the court later in the day and it sent him to the agency's custody till November 4 for interrogation.

It is alleged that Jagtap was engaged in transfers and postings of government officials. The agency has issued summons to Jagtap to join the probe but he ignored them repeatedly. Thereafter, the CBI knocked the doors of the court, secured a non-bailable warrant against him, and arrested him.

It is also alleged that he was in direct touch with Deshmukh.

The agency had also carried out raids at his place in August and Rs 9 lakh cash was seized from his house apart from phone, laptops and documents.

On April 21, the agency had lodged an FIR against Deshmukh on charges of corruption and misuse of official position. The FIR was lodged after the agency conducted a preliminary enquiry against him on the direction of Bombay High Court.

After the High Court ordered the CBI to carry out the preliminary enquiry, Deshmukh had resigned from the post.

The FIR states, "The preliminary enquiry prima facie revealed that a cognisable offence is made out in the matter, wherein the then Home Minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh, and unknown others have attempted to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of their public duty." It was alleged that Deshmukh allegedly told some police officers to collect Rs 100 crore every month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Earlier, the agency had also raided premises of Deshmukh in Mumbai and Nagpur.
Agartala, Oct 31 : Tripura's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday accused the Trinamool Congress of creating "lawlessness" in the state and claimed that it much ahead of West Bengal in development terms.

State Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said that Trinamool's national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, while addressing a gathering here earlier in the day, praised the CPI-M-led Left, which, according to the BJP leader, "pushed the state into backwardness during their 25 years rule".

He alleged that the Trinamool tried to bring a large number of people from West Bengal and Assam for their public meeting but the state police stopped them at the entry point at Churaibari in northern Tripura and several of them tested Covid-19 positive.

"Saradha chit fund case accused Kunal Ghosh had earlier blamed (Trinammol supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee of involvement in the ponzi scam. Ghosh is also now leading the Trinamool in Tripura. Abhishek Banerjee is accused in coal scam while his wife is accused in gold smuggling cases," Chowdhury, a Trinamool-turned-BJP leader, said, terming the Bengal leaders "migratory birds".

Claiming that BJP-ruled Tripura is far ahead of West Bengal, he said that the per capita income there is Rs 1,15,748 against Tripura's Rs 1,25,191 despite the former having more resources. He said Tripura's GSDP is 16.46 per cent against Bengal's 12.47 per cent and literacy rate 95 per cent against Bengal's 76 per cent.

"Tripura is far better in the Covid management in the country while Bengal not only poorly dealt with the pandemic... Covid vaccines being smuggled in Bengal," he alleged.

Chowdhury's allegations came after Abhishek Banerjee claimed that that the BJP government's "misrule" led to increasing unemployment, deteriorating law and order, worsening education, health care and other basic services.
Visakhapatnam, Oct 31 : Making good on his promise to come to support the ongoing agitation against the divestment of the Visakhpatnam Steel Plant, Telugu film star and Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan landed in the Andhra Pradesh port city on Sunday.

Declaring his party's support for the anti-privatisation movement, he participated in a public meeting organised near the steel plant gates at Koormannapalem.

Addressing the gathering, Pawan Kalyan recalled the sacrifices that people of Andhra Pradesh had made for getting the steel plant to the state. "Activists and students had fought for the project and 32 people lost their lives to police bullets in the agitation," he said.

The Jana Sena Party leader blamed the ruling YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh for not raising the matter in Parliament.

"My party has no representation in the Lok Sabha. The ruling party has 22 MPs in Parliament but they are silent. There's no point in blaming the Central government, if the state government is keeping quiet in this matter." Pawan Kalyan demanded the state government convene an all-party meet to discuss the matter, failing which he would spell out his strategy for intensifying the agitation.

He questioned the ruling party on its contradictory stance at Delhi and in the state vis-a-vis the Central government. "The YSRCP supported the CAA and farm laws in Delhi, but opposes them in the state," he said.

Earlier in the day, after his arrival on Visakhapatnam, the Jana Sena Party chief led a massive rally from the airport to the meeting venue.
Gandhinagar, Oct 31 : Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the cooperative movement will play a huge role in achieving the $5 trillion economy envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In his address at an event to celebrate the 75th year of Amul, he said: "Sardar Patel had a very deep relationship with this cooperative movement. The non-cooperation movement the farmers carried out provided the roots for this giant tree, that has grown today in the form of Amul. I fold my hands in respect to each and every contributor who has played a smaller or larger role in the success of Amul, including the smallest milk contributors from the remotest village." Amul was started in 1946 as a cooperative movement in Anand with the guidance of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and cooperative leader Tribhuvandas Patel, the founder of Kheda District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union, popularly known as Amul Dairy. Amul was an acronym for Anand Milk Union Ltd then.

Now, it is a part of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), selling its dairy products with the brand name 'Amul'. The federation has 17 other district cooperative unions having around 36 lakh farmer families in Gujarat associated with Amul.

Referring to the farmers agitation in the initial days of Amul, Shah said: "Agitations are carried out to solve the issues, not create an issue. The farmers in Anand were being exploited and then carried out an agitation against the private dairy through non-cooperation. And through this agitation they sowed a seed, which now has grown into a giant tree providing income to 36 lakh families. Not only did the exploitation stopped but it showed the tactfulness of Sardar in creating a cooperation movement taking along everybody in the process." "Amul's journey began with the collection of 200 litres of milk in 1946 and now, 3 crore litres of milk is processed daily with the help of around 18,000 cooperative societies across Gujarat. Eighteen district-level dairies and 87 milk processing plants are associated with Amul," he added.

Shah said that the Ministry of Cooperation, which was created in July this year with the motto of "Sahkar Se Samriddhi", was in the process of preparing its charter.

He also launched a scheme from the Cooperation Ministry called 'Dairy Sahakar', with an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore, wherein the dairy sector would get loans through the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

During the event, he released a postal stamp commemorating Amul's 75th anniversary, launched the Amul brand of organic fertilisers, and awarded progressive farmers. He also inaugurated an Ethno Veterinary Supplement Plant and cheese storage facility in Gujarat.
New Delhi, Oct 31 : Over 100 children in Delhi have been orphaned due to Covid, while nearly 2,500 have lost either of their parents, according to state government statistics.

The Women and Child Development Department said that it has identified over 250 orphaned children, while in the last one year, the national capital has seen more than 6,000 children who have lost both parents, or their father. Around 40 per cent of these deaths was due to Covid-19.

It said that of the orphans, 230 need care and security, and those who lost either parent, 5,000 need support and security, and it has identified such children and begun measures for their benefit. It assured that all these children will be rendered all the care and support they need.

These figures, the Department said, have been gathered from all the child protection officers, child welfare committees and anganwadi workers, under the Integrated Child Development Scheme, and other sources from all the districts. Bank accounts have been opened for 170 children who lost both parents so that financial aid can be sent to them.

The Delhi government has also launched the Chief Minister's Covid Financial Assistance Scheme, under which the family of Covid-19 victims will be given Rs 50,000, as well as a monthly amount of Rs 2,500. Children left orphaned by Covid will get the Rs 2,500 per month till they turn 25 years old, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced.

"We will not wait for people to apply, but functionaries of the government will go the people's houses and help them fill up the forms," he had said, and directed officials not to decline the aid due to lack of documentation. In such case, the government functionaries concerned will be held responsible.
Harare, Nov 1 : Zimbabwe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party has endorsed President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the party's presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.

Mnangagwa's candidacy was endorsed by all party wings after considering the work he had undertaken to develop the country since winning the 2018 harmonized elections.

The endorsement was made at the party's annual conference which ended Saturday in the town of Bindura, nearly 60 km north of Harare, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper, the party's acting Spokesperson, Mike Bimha said the decision to endorse Mnangagwa was unanimous.

"I want to advise you that all organs and wings of the party have endorsed President Mnangagwa (as the 2023 presidential candidate). This was the main resolution," Bimha told the newspaper after the meeting.

Bimha said the conference resolved to re-energize the party in preparation for the 2023 elections.

The party also undertook to discipline members who engaged in violence and other vices such as corruption and abuse of office.
Lobatse Airport, Lobatse, Botswana [ LOQ / ]

If you are planning to travel to Lobatse or any other city in Botswana, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Lobatse Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Lobatse Airport Map showing the location of this airport in Botswana. Lobatse Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided.

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Lobatse Airport IATA Code: LOQ Lobatse Airport ICAO Code: Latitude : -25.2 Longitude : 25.6667 City : Lobatse Country : Botswana World Area Code : 510 Airport Type : Small Lobatse Airport Address / Contact Details :

Lobatse (LOQ), Botswana Timezone : Africa/Gaborone Lobatse Airport Timezone : GMT +02:00 hours Current time and date at Lobatse Airport is 01:13:14 AM (CAT) on Sunday, Nov 21, 2021

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Lobatse Airport Map - Location of Lobatse Airport Load Map Botswana - General Information Country Formal Name Republic of Botswana Country Code BW Capital Gaborone Currency Pula (BWP)

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Nearest Airports to Lobatse Airport Closest airports to Lobatse, Botswana are listed below. These are major airports close to the city of Lobatse and other airports closest to Lobatse Airport. Nearest airport to Lobatse Airport and Lobatse is Sir Seretse Khama International Airport - (76.04 Km / 47.25 Miles) Following are the nearest airports to Lobatse and Lobatse Airport. Distance between the two airports is given in bracket. Jwaneng Airport - (118.8 Km / 73.82 Miles)

List of 16 airports in Botswana along with Botswana airport codes 

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Al Ain Airport, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates [ AAN / OMAL ]

If you are planning to travel to Al Ain or any other city in United Arab Emirates, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Al Ain Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Al Ain Airport Map showing the location of this airport in United Arab Emirates. Al Ain Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided.

Al Ain Airport Info:

Al Ain Airport IATA Code: AAN Al Ain Airport ICAO Code: OMAL Latitude : 24.255 Longitude : 55.619 City : Al Ain Country : United Arab Emirates World Area Code : 678 Airport Type : Medium Al Ain Airport Address / Contact Details :

Al Ain International Airport (AAN) - Al Ain - United Arab Emirates, Phone: +971 2 505 5000 Airport Type : Public Operator : Abu Dhabi Airports Company Established Year : 1994 Timezone : Asia/Dubai Al Ain Airport Timezone : GMT +04:00 hours Current time and date at Al Ain Airport is 03:13:15 AM (+04) on Sunday, Nov 21, 2021

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Al Ain Airport Map - Location of Al Ain Airport Load Map United Arab Emirates - General Information Country Formal Name United Arab Emirates Country Code AE Capital Abu Dhabi Currency Dirham (AED)

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Judge Coates is an innovator of judicial programs that make a real difference for safer communities.

These programs focus on helping those who struggle with mental health and drug and alcohol addiction.

Her programs focus on treatment and rehabilitation that have better outcomes than imprisonment. She has 18 years experience as a judge and is a strong believer of conservative, community, family centered values. Judge Coates is well respected within the court, the legal community, among law enforcement and community leaders.

We need strong judges in our country who can support the values and traditions we were built on and who believe in reinforcing conservative community values, said ASA President Will Schlotthauer. We believe Judge Coates is the person who upholds the rights and values of parents and believes in serving the people. We heartily endorse Judge Coates for re-election.

The election takes place on Nov. 2. Summit County is an urban county in Ohio that serves more about 555,000 people, making it the fourth most populated county in Ohio. Its county seat is Akron.
Brandon Ford offers Gold Certified Cars in Florida

Brandon Ford has not only the largest inventory of the latest Ford models but also Gold Certified preowned cars in Florida. It means Florida Residents can now buy Gold certified used cars at Brandon Ford. Out-of-state customers are also welcome at the dealership.

Ford vehicles are built for a lifetime so a couple of years of use doesnt ruin the condition. However, the car qualifies as pre-owned and is still in great condition. Gold Certified vehicles are less than six years old and 80,000 miles on the odometer. All Gold certified vehicles pass a comprehensive 172-point inspection which includes Vehicle history, Road Test, and many other tests.

Gold Certified vehicles also come with manufacturer-backed comprehensive limited warranty coverage, complimentary 24/7 Roadside Assistance and more. Worlds largest volume Ford dealership Brandon Ford offers a huge inventory of Gold Certified Ford vehicles in Florida.

Gold Certified vehicles are changing the way used cars are looked at bringing them to a whole new light. It gives a second chance to the used cars and gives the buyers a chance to own a good car at a lesser price.

Interested parties can drop in at the dealership and browse the Gold Certified inventory at Brandon Ford. It has an experienced team to help with the finance and buying process. Out-of-state buyers can visit the branch directly for purchase.

For more details visit Brandon Ford dealership. It is located at 9090, Adamo Dr, Tampa, FL. The dealership is open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. It is reachable at 813-246-3673.


Get Cash Bonus on Custom Order of a New Ford at Brandon Ford

The largest volume Ford dealer anywhere in the world, Brandon Ford, has the latest Ford models. Not only it boasts the newest entrants in the field but also accepts bookings for the upcoming Ford releases. Florida buyers can now make the most of this opportunity by reserving a Ford with a cash bonus.

To make the deal sweeter for its customers, Brandon Ford has launched an exciting new offer on the purchase of new Ford vehicles at their retail dealership. It extends an offer of up to a $1,000 Ford cash bonus on Custom Order of new Ford. This offer is valid on retail custom orders only.

The offer is available on custom orders of all Pick-Up trucks of 2021 ad 2022, Convertible and Coupes - 2021 Mustang Shelby and 2021 Mustang, Transit and Passenger Vehicles - 2022 E transit, transit connect, transit passenger van, 2021 transit cargo van, and transit crew van, and all the 2022 new models coming up.

This cash bonus can be used by the customer for the next purchase or upgrade, saving them a great deal. The buying process at Brandon Ford is easy. Interested buyers can check out the latest inventory at the dealership by dropping by or browsing online. Once the vehicle is finalized, credit preapproval is checked. This gives more idea about the customers choice of vehicle and monthly payments.

With credit pre-approval, the only task left is to finalize the minute specifications and build of the vehicle to complete the purchase. Buying a car doesnt get any easier than this. For more details visit Brandon Ford dealership. It is located at 9090, Adamo Dr, Tampa, FL. The dealership is open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The dealership is reachable at 813-246-3673.


Ronald Greenblatt was recognized for Criminal Defense  General Practice, and Employment Law  Individuals. Patricia Pierce was recognized for Employment Law  Individuals.

Greenblatt, Pierce, Funt and Flores, LLC is pleased to announce that attorneys Ronald L. Greenblatt and Patricia V. Pierce are listed in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in Philadelphia. Ronald Greenblatt was recognized for Criminal Defense  General Practice, and Employment Law  Individuals. Patricia Pierce was recognized for Employment Law  Individuals.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice. Additional details can be found at http://www.bestlawyers.com.

Ronald L. Greenblatt, the managing partner of the firm, is one of the most respected and sought-after attorneys in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mr. Greenblatt has successfully litigated over 1,000 criminal trials on charges ranging from homicide, homicide by vehicle, sexual assault, serious drug offenses, fraud and other white-collar crimes, internet crimes, and DUI/DWI, including cases involving the insanity defense. After years of experience, Mr. Greenblatt knows the criminal justice system from the inside out which includes the judges, prosecutors, members of the police force, and investigators associated with his cases.

Mr. Greenblatt is named as a Best Lawyer in two major practice areas: Criminal Defense  General Practice, and Employment Law  Individuals, making him one of the few attorneys in Pennsylvania to be rated as a Best Lawyer in two areas of law. Mr. Greenblatt works closely with Patricia Pierce, who is recognized as one of the top employment attorneys in the country, to represent individuals in numerous types of employment lawsuits.

Today, after 30+ years of practice, Mr. Greenblatt is one of the leaders of the criminal defense bar in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He is highly engaged in service to the profession. He is a past vice president of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (PACDL) in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and is the immediate past chairperson of PACDLs Philadelphia Chapter, where he still serves on its executive committee. He is a founding member and master of the Philadelphia Inn of Criminal Court, where he is on the executive committee, planning committee, and serves as secretary. He is also a member of the executive committee of the Defender Association of Philadelphia Alumni Association and an active member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey, and the Camden County Bar Association. A graduate of Rutgers University School of Law, Mr. Greenblatt also received his B.A. from Rutgers University where he majored in economics and minored in accounting.

Patricia V. Pierce heads the Employment Law Practice at the firm and serves as a principal in its Corporate Investigations practice. Ms. Pierce has represented individuals and groups of workers who have suffered employment discrimination and workplace harassment, litigating individual and class action employment lawsuits, as well as employee benefits cases in state and federal courts in California, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Ms. Pierce frequently provides advice to executives in negotiating employment contracts and in managing sensitive trade secret and restrictive covenant/non-compete issues.

Throughout her forty-five-year career, Ms. Pierce has tried hundreds of matters to verdict, including jury and bench trials, and has been successful in handling every kind of employment litigation matter including age, gender, hostile work environment, race, national origin, and religious discrimination matters, as well as claims brought by whistleblowers under state and federal laws.

In addition, Ms. Pierce is regularly engaged by small businesses and nonprofit corporations to provide advice and counsel in litigation avoidance and the defense of all types of employment actions. In her role as counselor, Ms. Pierce advises corporate clients on a host of personnel related matters including workplace policies and procedures, performance management best practices, discipline and termination policies and decisions, and the conduct and content of supervisory training.

Ms. Pierce is a frequent author and lecturer for the ABA-ALI Continuing Legal Education Program, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and the National Employment Lawyers Association where she served on NELAs 2011-2012 Convention Committees and continues to act as a moderator and presenter. Ms. Pierce was a Visiting Professor of Law at Santa Clara University in the mid-1990s where she founded an Employment Law Clinic and taught evidence. In Philadelphia, Ms. Pierce has served as an Adjunct Professor at Temples Beasley School of Law and taught law students in Temples Introduction to Trial Advocacy and Advanced Trial Advocacy programs, as well as practitioners in Temples prestigious LLM Trial Advocacy program. Ms. Pierce also taught Employment Law Practice and Procedure at Rutgers School of Law, her alma mater. She also taught trial advocacy for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, which named her as a distinguished faculty member. Ms. Pierce earned her bachelors degree from Rutgers, with High Honors and Distinction in Political Science, and a juris doctor from Rutgers School of Law with High Honors where she was a 1974 Rutgers Community Scholar.

Founded in 1996 as an aggressive criminal defense law practice, Greenblatt, Pierce, Funt and Flores, LLC has grown into a full-service law firm offering individuals assistance in virtually all areas of criminal, employment, personal injury, civil rights, and family law. The firm has four offices within Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Visit http://www.gpfflaw.com for more information.
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters.

Tuesday, Nov. 2 is Election Day in Pennsylvania  and theres a lot on the ballot.

Races for mayor in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, district attorney in Philadelphia, county council in Delco, and borough council in State College are just a few of the local contests that voters will decide.

There also are noteworthy school board races with culture war and labor strife implications, and high-stakes statewide contests for key judiciary posts higher up the ballot. More on both in a moment.

First, the basics:

Confirm youre registered to vote here. If you havent already registered, its too late.

Learn about your mail ballot return options here. If youre mailing your ballot, dont delay, and check the postage before sending it off. The ballot must arrive at a county election office by 8 p.m. Election Day. Consider hand-delivering it instead. It is too late to request a mail ballot.

Find your polling place here. Polls are open for in-person voting from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Take a photo ID to vote in person only if youre at a polling place for the first time.

Read Spotlight PAs handy guide to polling places, voting by mail, and more here.

Before voting, pull up your sample ballot to get a preview of the candidates and questions youll be asked to weigh in on.

Spotlight PA compiled a guide for vetting candidates  and their donors  that focuses on the school board contests that are drawing inordinate amounts of attention and money amid fights over school mask rules and teachings on ethnicity and race.

In short, a good deal of candidate research can be performed via the internet. Donor research for local races, however, might require physically traveling to your local seat of government.

Thanks to state-level campaign finance rules, the legwork is easier  relatively speaking  for vetting statewide candidates, such as those vying for an opening on Pennsylvanias incredibly influential Supreme Court.

The two-way race between Democrat Maria McLaughlin and Republican Kevin Brobson has attracted millions of dollars in donations. Read Spotlight PAs list of the candidates top donors.

The outcome of that race wont change the high courts balance of power, but the new justice will have a say in what cases the court accepts. Theyll also cast their vote in closely watched proceedings  some potentially overlapping with donor interests.

Voters statewide  regardless of party affiliation  will also be naming judges to two other powerful appellate courts: Commonwealth and Superior.

Spotlight PA took a look at the candidates for all three judiciary contests. Deborah Gross, president of the advocacy organization Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, calls the races some of the most important imaginable.

Gross said decisions handed down by these courts affect everyday Pennsylvanians probably more so than a legislator, adding, The judges in these positions really rule on every aspect of a persons or business life.

Not convinced? Watch Spotlight PAs panel on why these elections matter.

Happy voting.

WHILE YOURE HERE... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 10/31/2021



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[ Spoiler Warning: This report contains spoilers about the status of Kenny and Armando's relationship and if they got married and are still together now.]

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Did Kenny and Armando break up or get married? And is the : The Other Way couple still together now?

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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.

couple Kenny Niedermeier and Armando Rubio are planning a wedding as well as having another child together on Season 3 of : The Other Way, so did the couple tie the knot or did they eventually break up? What do spoilers reveal about their relationship now -- are they still together?Kenneth, a 58-year-old from St. Petersburg, FL, who goes by Kenny, and Armando, a 32-year-old from San Felipe, Mexico, met by chance on a social media page that served as a support group for gay fathers.Armando welcomed a daughter Hannah, who was six years old at the time of filming, with his late wife, who had tragically passed away in a car accident.Kenny is dad to a son Bricen and triplet daughters -- Taylor, Cassidy and Madison -- who are all in their twenties. He welcomed his children with a friend who had been willing to undergo in vitro fertilization, and he's also a grandfather to Cooper, 5.Kenny and Armando were just friends for about a year until Kenny visited Armando in Mexico and then Armando made the first move.: The Other Way's second season featured Kenny leaving his Florida home and moving to Mexico to start a life with Armando and Hannah.Kenny's family was very supportive of his relationship with Armando, but Armando had yet to tell his parents he was in a serious relationship with another man.(Armando said he told his parents once before he's gay but their startled reaction sent him "back into the closet" for a while.)Armando therefore told his parents that he was filming a documentary about life in Mexico since cameras were always following him around, but he eventually came clean to them.Armando's parents told him that they'd always love him the same, but they were very emotional and acknowledged it would take them time to accept his way of life.Kenny said it was a "dream come true" to be reunited and living with Armando, but Kenny had many adjustments to make, including learning Spanish and trying new foods.Kenny's apartment also had no central heat or air conditioners, and the nearest bank was 40 minutes away."I have to admit I am worried about our safety as a gay couple. Our culture is very macho-centric and people in Mexico are still homophobic... I'm afraid that we might get hurt," Armando told the cameras.But Kenny eventually proposed marriage to Armando in front of his daughters Taylor and Cassidy, who flew to Mexico for the special occasion.Armando then gathered up the courage to introduce Kenny to his parents. Armando's mother Virginia admitted it was "strange" to see her son with a man, and Armando Sr. hugged his son and shook Kenny's hand."I can tell that she's embarrassed and that she's hurt by this [engagement] announcement. And I'm sad. I'm sad for Armando that his mother took it as something horrible and not as something beautiful," Kenny said in a confessional.Armando figured his parents just needed more time to come around and accept him, without worrying about what society thinks.Armando told his mother that he wanted a real wedding instead of just signing marriage papers at a registry and he hoped for her love and support. Armando wanted his wedding day to be a joyful celebration, and his mother agreed to attend the party.And Kenny quickly came to realize he and Armando had very different parenting styles.Kenny and Armando later headed to a marriage office to apply for a marriage license."Same-sex marriage in Mexico have been legal since 2015, but I have read articles that same-sex couples have had troubles getting their licenses approved," Armando explained to the cameras."Gay marriage in Mexico is still looked down upon because of the culture... In some ways, it's like we're back in time."When Kenny and Armando met with a civil registry clerk, Armando presented a petition letter for a same-sex marriage, but the registry clerk said the pair wouldn't be able to receive their marriage license due to "a law that states, 'No you can't.""And we have a constitution that says, 'Yes you can,'" the registry clerk explained. "Sadly, we don't have legislation that supports us to reform our code -- the one that says we still can't allow same-sex marriage to go through."In Kenny and Armando's official letter of denial from the civil registry clerk, it read same-sex marriage was not permitted in Mexico in order to "save the human species" and preserve union for men and women.Armando and Kenny couldn't believe the wording in the letter, and Armando called it "humiliating.""We are part of the human race," Kenny argued, adding that he felt "very defeated."Armando, however, learned "alternative measures" could be taken, such as going to the Human Rights Commission and submitting a complaint that declares being denied the right to marry violates a basic human right.On Season 3 of : The Other Way, Kenny expressed how he had made a huge sacrifice for Armando and was feeling extremely homesick.Kenny told his daughter Cassidy that he didn't have any regrets about moving but he sometimes fell into depression over missing his family and felt guilty about leaving them. Kenny had been hiding that side of him from Armando so his fiance wouldn't feel bad or responsible."I'm honest with Armando about everything -- but this," Kenny revealed in tears."I've never let on totally how badly I felt about leaving or how hard it's kind of been because he's had feelings about if he forced me to move. Because I know at different times, I put it off due to family issues or family problems and he would get upset with me because he felt I was dragging my feet."But Kenny's mood shifted once Armando Sr. hugged him for the first time after hearing about the couple's upcoming wedding."I've had this dream or this fantasy of this great, big, happy blended family, and I see a glimmer of hope that this is possible," Kenny said in a confessional.Armando Sr., however, wouldn't commit to attending the wedding, and Kenny just hoped something like that wouldn't ruin his fiance's big day.Armando and Kenny later had a major breakthrough for their relationship. The pair went to the marriage office together with all of the necessary paperwork -- and they were told they didn't even need the human-rights letter anymore.The marriage office suddenly became authorized to approve any type of marriage going forward, including same-sex marriages.Many same-sex couples were apparently looking to wed in Mexico and so the demands of citizens pushed this change to apply to the entire state.Armando and Kenny were thrilled, and so they set their wedding date for May 22, 2021.While the pair made a huge stride in the marriage department, they weren't exactly seeing eye to eye over how and when to expand their family.Armando opened up to Kenny and said he felt "an emptiness" inside him, like "something [was] missing," and so he had been thinking about pursuing an adoption. Kenny was a little hesitant about raising another child due to his age.Armando said he's always wanted more kids and envisioned the idea of raising a baby, instead of an older child, which appeared to make Kenny nervous and reluctant."I can see it, but I also know we need to be logical about it... We need to talk on it," Kenny told his fiance.Armando suggested they could maybe make a baby through in vitro so the baby would have Kenny's blood (given Hannah has Armando's blood), and Kenny took a big deep breath. Armando knew convincing Kenny of this was going to be a tall order.Kenny said he liked the idea of adopting an older kid so they could help a child in need, and at age 58 -- even though Armando was 32 -- he thought it would make more sense for them.Kenny told Armando their age gap never entered his mind but thinking about raising a baby was "a hit in the face." Kenny said he never wanted to leave Armando alone to raise a child without him.Kenny got a little emotional, but Armando insisted Kenny's age didn't matter and it's a journey he'd love to do together. Kenny wanted to make Armando's dreams come true, but he also wanted Armando to really think things through.Kenny said they'd take the process step by step but he was willing to do some research and visit open-minded adoption agencies about same-sex couples.Armando apparently had a good conversation with a private agency, an orphanage, that houses children who are HIV-positive. Kenny said he lost 80 percent of the people he knew to HIV in the 1980s, and so visiting this agency truly warmed his heart and he said he wanted to help.Armando and Kenny were then introduced to some of the children and the men brought them new toys. Kenny just wanted to show the kids love and tenderness, but he wondered if medicine would be readily available for a child with HIV in Mexico and how this child would affect Hannah and Armando's family considering there's still a stigma surrounding the virus.Armando expressed how it would be such a struggle to have his family embrace and support him adopting a child with HIV, but Kenny noted, "I would rather help a kid than make a kid."Kenny didn't totally reject the idea of having a baby, especially given adoption would probably take a lot longer, but he asked Armando to just focus on the wedding for now since that was stressful enough in itself.The possibility of Kenny and Armando expanding their family made Kenny miss his children even more. He was expecting his entire family to come to the wedding, which made him so excited.Cassidy was also pregnant at the time with Kenny's second grandchild, and Kenny cried about the idea of not being by Cassidy's side for every step of the way.Kenny sometimes felt "all alone" as life kept marching on without him."I've been the happiest I've ever been in my entire life, but I've also been the saddest I've ever been in my entire life," Kenny told the cameras, adding that Armando had no interest in ever moving to the United States at that point."Sometimes I wish we had talked about it more, but I committed to it. I fell in love with someone from another country, and sometimes life has hard choices."Kenny then finally revealed to Armando how homesick he had been, and Armando naturally felt a little guilty."I hope this isn't something where you'd want to go back home and cancel the wedding or something," Armando said. "You're scaring me."Kenny assured his fiance, "It's not like that... [but] I do struggle sometimes with missing everyone."Kenny explained how he felt like he was letting his family down, and Armando broke down into tears because he said he'd never want to hurt Kenny's kids because he loved them. Armando worried Kenny's kids wouldn't like him for keeping Kenny away.Kenny promised Armando that wasn't the case and he just wanted to be honest and vent sometimes. Armando told Kenny that he would be there for him going forward, but he worried about Kenny's mindset and whether he'd change his mind about their union.Kenny revealed October 27, 2019 on Instagram he was moving to Mexico to be with Armando soon."#Countdown, little over a month and our #forever starts. #love him #gaycouple #movingforlove #mexico #maydecember #proudofhim #instagay #lucky," Kenny captioned a selfie of the couple.Armando replied, "Can't come soon enough my love! Been waiting for this moment so long, will be the best."Kenny's house in Florida sold in July 2019 for close to $350,000, and then he left for Mexico four months later on November 30 with his dog Truffles on a four-day road trip, Starcasm reported."When I left my hometown of Toledo Ohio when I was 19, I was running away from something, running from who I couldn't be... in Florida I found myself and who I was meant to be!," Kenny reportedly wrote in part on Instagram at the time."Tomorrow I am running again, not away, but towards something, to love, #lovewins #loveislove."Kenny and Armando got married in May 2021 during a romantic ceremony at the Mansarda winery in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, People reported."It's been a long time coming and we're very happy. We're excited to finally be here," Kenny told the magazine after his wedding."It was a battle in many ways, and so it's surreal to finally be able to get married," Armando added, referencing the fact that Mexican government officials had initially rejected their request for a gay marriage license and the COVID-19 pandemic then also forced the couple to postpone their wedding plans."We actually had a lot more time to think about it, and we planned an epic wedding and a lot of things worked out even to our advantage because we had to wait," Kenny said."We noticed that being locked down together, it made us closer and we were able to get to know each other even more," Armando said."We haven't killed each other. And after quarantine, that's pretty good," Kenny joked.Although the couple chose a 100-guest limit, Kenny's five adult children and Armando's eight-year-old daughter Hannah were able to attend."It means everything. I have really supportive children that have always had my back and never let me down," Kenny told People. "Having them here to witness their dad getting married after all these years is amazingly special for me.""They love our relationship and that means the world to me."While : The Other Way has shown Armando's conservative Mexican family struggling to accept his sexual orientation after he came out as gay, at least some of his immediate family attended the wedding."None of my family members have ever been to a gay wedding, so it's a first for every single one of them," he said, although he declined to reveal which relatives did or did not attend. "I'm hoping to open up their minds and what they feel in a positive way.""Hopefully seeing the love between us will really open their minds and hearts all the way, and they can see that love is just love," Kenny added.According to People, the venue's 100-guest limit kept the couple from being able to invite Armando's large extended family.But Kenny said their wedding venue, surrounded by mountains and vineyards, was "gorgeous.""I actually never dreamed that I'd be getting married in a place like this and in a different country than I was born in. It's really surreal for me!" Kenny gushed.In August 2021, Armando and Kenny chatted with PeopleTV's Reality Check, and Kenny shared how married life with Armando was going "pretty darn good.""You can see from our smiles things are going great," Armando, added. "We are living life and learning from each other, things are great."Armando said he and Kenny came out of the COVID-19 pandemic "more in love." (The pandemic hit only four months after Kenny moved from Florida to Mexico)."It does show, I think, that we were meant to be because we had our struggles and things we didn't quite know about each other, but it all worked out well for us," Kenny said, further explaining that being "locked up" helped him get to know his community and neighbors a lot better.When asked to reveal their biggest struggle thus far as a couple, Armando joked that Kenny's driving is stressful -- and Kenny accused Armando of being a passenger-seat driver.Kenny also said Armando is "a big-time overthinker" in that he "over-analyzes everything to a fault.""He'll make the smallest thing into the biggest thing or he'll worry, worry, worry. And I'm more chill-axed, so that's something we're getting used to with each other," Kenny revealed. "And he's trying to chill out a little more and be more relaxed."Kenny said Armando's worry-wart nature led to "conflict" that : The Other Way viewers are about to see on Season 3, and Kenny also said getting Armando's family to fully embrace their romance also remained "a struggle.""Everything isn't straightforward, everything isn't smooth for sure but we're really trying to work together on it and come together on it," Kenny acknowledged.As for their future together, Kenny and Armando said they are looking forward to a "big" honeymoon in Switzerland once the pandemic ends.And ever since September when Season 3 of : The Other Way premiered on Lifetime, Kenny and Armando haven't been shy about showing their love and affection for one another on social media.Armando posted a beautiful family photo with Kenny and Hannah on September 12, and then a week later, he uploaded a photo of Kenny and himself laughing with his Mexican family."One thing Kenny & I have talked about & always made sure of is being truthful, sincere, authentic and real in our daily lives & when filming because we owe it all to you, the viewers & supporters of our journey," Armando wrote alongside the picture."We aren't perfect. Yes we cry a lot (well, mostly Kenny lol) but what better definition of wearing your heart on your sleeve than that. We have gone through real life issues. Our families & us have had to adjust in different ways. Situations with depth both difficult & easy but with so much heart put into it."Armando added, "Our journey continues... There are unfortunately many ups & downs still to come and a lot of questions we hope will be answered for all of you & myself this season. Not everything is smooth but that's life."Kenny took to Instagram on October 7 with a picture of Armando and himself wearing matching rainbow tie-dye sweatshirts they had been selling to fans.On October 10, Armando shared another cute photo with Kenny and Hannah and gushed, "Circle of love. Never give up on yourself and for those you love! Be invincible in this world."And on October 17, Kenny revealed he and Armando had set up a GoFundMe account for the children with HIV in the Mexico orphanage the men were shown visiting on an episode of : The Other Way.The men are trying to make a difference, and they're doing it as a team.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Dorit Kemsley took to Instagram this weekend to thank the police and her fans for their support after she and her family fell victim to a home invasion last week.

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"More than anything, I'm feeling blessed that my kids and family are safe. Truly grateful for the messages of love and support from you all who have reached out," the 45-year-old reality TV personality wrote in Saturday's post.

People.com said three male intruders broke into and robbed Kemsley's Encino Hills, Calif. home Wednesday night

Her two children -- son Jagger, 7, and daughter Phoenix, 5 -- slept through the incident and her husband Paul "PK" Kemsley was in London at the time.

No injuries were reported during the home invasion, which police are investigating.

"As you all know by now I have been through a terrifying ordeal, one that no parent or person should ever have to experience," Kemsley wrote. "I've received so many messages of love and support and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It's truly overwhelming.

"My kids are unaware of what happened, they slept through it and I thank God for keeping my kids and myself from being physically harmed," she added.
44, of Thompsonville, died Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. A visitation will be held noon to 1 p.m., Monday, Nov. 22, 2021 at Life Story Funeral Home. Graveside Services will be held 2 p.m. at Champion Hill Cemetery, Honor. Please visit www.lifestorytc.com to share your thoughts and more. The fami
Now that the school year is in full gear, many families are turning their attention to college planning  and are wondering if they are on tra
CADILLAC  It was a dark, stormy night. (cue the thunder and lighting sound machine). The tormented, demented clowns (cue the projector spotlighting a succession of clown images) who worked at the haunted carnival (cue the animated characters positioned intentionally across the yard) were ready to take new prisoners.

The Halloween-themed decorations spread across Justin and Karri Dumas yard in Cadillac almost write their own horror story.

Northern People An ongoing, weekly series of stories focusing on the people of northern Michigan.

Terror, however, is an almost accidental byproduct of what Justin Dumas called the most decorated Halloween-themed home in northern Michigan.

Makes you happy, makes kids happy. I love it when kids are happy, said Justin, who represents one-half of the married, decorating duo. Karri is the other creator.

The couple started readying their home situated across from Diggins Hill, for Halloween in late August. The early arrival of a gigantic 12-foot skeleton let the community know that it was about to be on.

Slowly and steadily the Dumases added more and more decor until passersby could discover skeletons grilling out by the fire pit, others carrying an overserved bony friend holding up a beer can, and another caught upside -own in a spider web. Keep scanning and visitors see the clown Pennywise beckoning daredevils to venture into a fun house tent. Two other crazed-faced clowns play tug of war with a doll while other creatures, inflated and otherwise, standby at the ready.

We do a projection show on the opening of the tent that we built and it showcases clowns and they look real-like to me and you, said Justin Dumas. You got to see it at night  thats when this place glows. It looks like a Griswold House at Christmas.

For the duo, spiking the neighborhood with a little terror is a proven way to build community.

Back in the day everybody used to decorate, so you dont see it as much, said Justin.

When I was a kid we used to go out and we used to stay out late. There was no worries, there was no craziness, it was just fun. It was just the wonder, said Karri.

The Dumases began piecing together what has become their Halloween haven about 20 years ago when both of their children were young. Their display began with a witch meant to look like it had been smashed. Aside from the smashing, shes still going strong.

Ive never changed a bulb in her or anything, said Justin, They used to make stuff really well back then.

Now, every year the couple scouts garage sales, retail stores, and utilizes handmade items to add to their Halloween loot.

We add every day, I just added lights to the camper, said Justin.

City of Cadillac leaders appreciate the Dumass Halloween handiwork.

In a smaller community, word spreads about where to find those special homes with the best decorations, said Kathy Adair Morin, executive director at the Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau in an email.

Morin added that the Dumas home is one of the most talked-about in the city. She called their decorations extra efforts that provoke a warmer sense of community.

A need for community may be especially poignant now due to a collective sense of uncertainty heightened by the pandemic.

We have school buses that drive by here every single day. I get emails, I get Facebook, I get flowers. I get cards, plants thanking me for it, said Karri. Especially right now I think people are confused and maybe a little scared on everything thats going on, you know I think it brings a smile to peoples faces so theyre excited about it.
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To the editor: I was surprised to receive an email this morning from the Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Repor
Former U.S. ambassador and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is heading to Myanmar on a private humanitarian mission that will focus on pandemic support, his spokesperson said Sunday.

Myanmar has been mired in violence and civil unrest since a military coup seized power in February. Protesters have faced beatings and arrests. The United States suspended a trade deal with Myanmar until a democratic government is restored in the Southeast Asian country.

Richardson said his center has a long history of supporting the people of Myanmar, but he didn't mention the coup in his trip announcement or detail who he planned to meet with while there.

In coordination with our contacts in Myanmar, we are visiting the country to discuss pathways for the humanitarian delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, medical supplies, and other public health needs," he said in a news release.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres was aware of the mission, said Richardson spokesperson Madeleine Mahony.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately comment on the trip.

Mahony declined to say whether Richardson would also be working for the release of an American journalist who has been jailed since May 24.

Danny Fenster was detained at Yangon International Airport as he was about to board a flight to the United States. He is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, an online magazine based in Yangon, Myanmars biggest city.

Fenster was charged with incitement  also known as sedition  for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information. The offense is punishable by up to three years in prison.

Richardson last visited Myanmar in 2018 to advise on the Rohingya crisis. He ended up quitting an international panel set up to work on findings from a previous commission after armed forces were accused of carrying out rapes and killings of Rohingyas.

Myanmar has denied the allegations.

He has made trips to Bangladesh to visit Rohingya refugee camps. The Richardson Center has supported the distribution of personal protection equipment to Rohingya refugees following the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Richardson's official statement on this latest trip also focused on public health. Richardson believes, his statement said, that in moments of crisis and instability such as this one, we must ensure that humanitarian aid is delivered to those most in need.

Joining the governor on the trip were Cameron Hume, former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, South Africa and Algeria; and two officials from the Richardson Center.
TORRINGTON  A veteran worker at a group home is facing sexual assault charges after investigators allege he inappropriately touched a woman under his care, according to his arrest warrant.

James Mennis, of Watertown, has been arrested on charges of third- and fourth-degree sexual assault, according to Torrington police. The 66-year-old was released on $250,000 bond and is scheduled to appear Monday in state Superior Court in Torrington.

No attorney was listed on file for him, according to court staff in Torrington. A number listed for his home in Watertown appeared to have been disconnected. Attempts to reach Mennis by email were also unsuccessful.

According to the arrest warrant, the group home is operated by Community Systems Inc. A message seeking comment left with the executive director of the Connecticut branch of the nonprofit that runs the group home was not returned.

The victim, who police described as a woman in her 20s with developmental and intellectual disorders, disclosed to witnesses and investigators that Mennis had massaged her in secret, including her private areas, according to the arrest warrant.

The warrant stated the womans medical team told police she did not have the ability at the time to give or understand the concept of sexual consent.

The alleged abuse occurred from 2013 through the end of May 2021, according to the warrant. Authorities began the investigation in May when the group homes program director filed a police report after the woman said Mennis had been giving her massages at night, the warrant stated.

An employee told police he visited the home one night to pick up paperwork and saw Mennis vehicle there, the warrant stated. When Mennis encountered the employee at the top of the stairs, he appeared startled and somewhat flustered, the warrant stated.

The employee found the victim lying on the couch fully clothed and the TV was off, according to the warrant. The employee told police Mennis began giving him unnecessary information about how he was covering for another staff member who was sick, the warrant stated.

After the employee left, he got a gut feeling something was off and began to replay what was observed while in the residence and the interaction between Mennis and the woman, the warrant stated.

The victim later told the employee about the massages and said Mennis had instructed her to not talk to anyone about their time together or the things that they do or they would not be able to continue, according to the warrant.

Mennis was placed on administrative leave in June after the allegations surfaced, the warrant stated.

In an interview with police, Mennis said he worked for the organization for about 17 years and claimed to have massaged the womans feet at her request, but denied touching her private area, the warrant stated.
Actor Shahid Kapoor is soon set to land in great trouble after he posted a quirky picture of his wife Mira Rajput. The Kabir Singh actor took to Instagram and shared a video where his wife can be seen struggling to get her outfit right. As Shahid was in a playful mood, his wife catches him filming the moment.

The video begins with Shahid smirking as he records the video while his wife Mira is seen in the background setting her dress as she catches her husband recording. Legend @mira.kapoor, Shahid captioned the post. Mira commented on it and wrote, The hell! Just wait and watch." The video appears to have been shot during their recent family getaway to the Maldives. While they returned from their trip last week, they are still sharing leftover pictures and videos from the trip. Shahid and Mira were joined on the vacation by their kids--daughter Misha and son Zain.

Shahid Kapoor shares a goofy video of wife Mira Rajput

Mira has also been sharing a bunch of pictures and videos from the trip. On October 30, she shared a video in which she showed off a pair of pants which she could not wear since her honeymoon. Just pull it together. A shirt that Ive worn countless times through all my sizes and the pants I bought on my honeymoon that never again fit till this gorgeous day on the beach. (And an overpriced bikini I deeply regret). Im going on a shopping stall (and NOT a haul) till I havent gone through my wardrobe well. Its so much more fun. share your #shoppingstall outfits with me, she wrote with the post.

For the unversed, Shahid and Mira tied the knot on July 7, 2015, in a private wedding ceremony in New Delhi. They were blessed with a baby girl, whom they named Misha in 2016. They welcomed their second child, a baby boy, Zain in 2018. Meanwhile, the couple has recently been overlooking the construction of their new house. The home is constructed on the 42nd and 43rd floor of a high-rise building named Three Sixty West in Worli. It comes with an uninterrupted view of the Arabian sea as well as the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

IMAGE: PTI
Jamshedpur, Oct 30 (PTI) The police on Saturday seized 70 kg of ganja from a four-wheeler during a vehicle checking drive on National Highway 33 in Jharkhand's Jamshedpur city.

The seized contraband is valued at more than Rs 9 lakh, the East Singhbhum district police said.

Following a tip-off, the police were checking vehicles in Narga locality under MGM police station.

When the policemen asked the driver of a car bearing West Bengal registration number to stop, he sped away.

The police gave it a chase and managed to stop it at Baliguma.

The occupants of the car, however, fled leaving the vehicle behind, police said. Altogether 70 packets, each containing one kg of ganja, were found inside the car.

A case under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was registered in this regard. PTI CORR SBN NN NN

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
After tweeting about former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh's alleged run to Belgium, on Saturday, senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam spoke exclusively to Republic and provided details about his accusations.

The senior Congress leader questioned both the Maharashtra and Central governments and demanded answers on how these reports that he claimed are coming. The fresh allegation had come on the same day when the Mumbai sessions court issued a non-bailable warrant against Singh.

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam claims Param Bir in Belgium

"To be a Mumbai CP is a prestigious post, in this condition, he alleged the Government of 100 crore corruption charge and then investigation began later it was found that Param Bir himself used to run a big extortion racket and there are five FIRs against him, still Mumbai Police has not found him. As far as I know, Mumbai Police has maybe stated in court that Param is on the run. What we have learnt right now is that he has run away from India and maybe he ran to Belgium via Nepal, (sic)" Sanjay Nirupam said.

Sanjay Nirupam raises three questions

Commenting on the former Mumbai police commissioner's disappearance, the Congress leader raised three questions. He said:

"Maharashtra police or Mumbai police go and bring small criminals who run away to Bihar, UP, this person after committing a major crime remained in Chandigarh for 6 months, why police took no action? (sic)"

"The Centre says that border security is vigilant, recently BSF was given the responsibility to check security up till 50 km, how did Param Bir run in this condition? (sic)"

"Was Param Bir Singh given a safe passage? Both the Governments need to answer. (sic)"

Non-bailable warrants against Mumbai's ex-CP

A Mumbai sessions court on Saturday issued a non-bailable warrant against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, three days after the Mumbai Police Crime Branch had filed an application at the court seeking the same. It has been purported that the ex-Mumbai CP has reportedly fled the country, or is at the very least, absconding.

On Thursday, October 28, the Thane Magistrate Court had also issued a non-bailable warrant against Param Bir. The court directed the Thane Police to arrest Param Bir Singh and produce him. Acting upon the non-bailable warrant issued against Param Bir Singh, Thane Police wrote to the Malabar Hill police station seeking help to arrest Param Bir. Interestingly on the same day, the ex-top cop himself sought cancellation of his arrest warrant issued by the Chandiwal commission.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Ayodhya on Sunday and carried out a special task after a request was made by a citizen of Afghanistan. This request was particularly of an Aghan girl who had approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the same. Upon CM Yogi's visit to Ayodhya, he visited the 'Ram Janmabhoomi' temple and offered his prayer to Lord Ram.

Holy water from the Kabul river was sent by the Afghan girl to PM Modi and her appeal was that the water be offered at Lord Ram's temple. Such news and initiative indicated hope for a better future. It also spoke of the faith that international citizens had in PM Modi.

CM Yogi carries out Jal Abhishek at Ayodhya

In a tweet, UP CM Yogi Adityanath notified that the task given to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was now successful. Delving into the details of the ritual, UP CM Yogi told ANI that the water sent by the girl from Afghanistan was first mixed with 'Gangajal' (holy water of the Ganga river) and then poured into Lord Ram's makeshift temple site at Ayodhya. CM Yogi Adityanath maintained that these instructions were passed down to him from the Prime Minister himself.

Water from Afghan girl carried pain and suffering: UP CM Yogi Adityanath

While interacting with the media after performing the consecration ceremony, CM Yogi emphasised that the water sent by the Aghan girl carried with itself the fear, pain and suffering of several Afghan women.

CM Yogi said, "Before starting the ritual, a target was set to bring in holy water from around the holy places of the globe. It was also decided that holy water from Hindu pilgrimage sites will also be brought and poured here."

CM Yogi correlated that the Afghan girl must have also had a similar kind of mindset while approaching PM Narendra Modi to make her appeal.

He concluded by saying, "I am fortunate that I have been selected to carry out this task which held the emotions of all citizens of Kabul who were in a state of suffering. "

Image: ANI
The Asus ROG Phone 3 is one of the best gaming smartphones in the Android ecosystem. Developed by Republic of Gamers (ROG), Asus, the smartphone comes with advanced features that help to sustain high performance over an extended period of usage. While the base variant and the top variant of the smartphone was priced at Rs. 46,999 and Rs. 49,999, Asus has come up with the Flipkart Big Diwali Sale offer, wherein both the models are available for a discounted price.

Republic of Gamers is the leading gaming brand from Asus, a Taiwan-based company that manufactures desktops, professional and gaming laptops and smartphones. The ASUS Rog Phone 3 was launched last year and focuses on young gamers, who need a device that can outplay the competition. Along with a high refresh rate display and one of the most powerful processors built by Qualcomm, the ROG Phone 3 is a decent option for someone looking to invest in a gaming smartphone.

Flipkart Big Diwali Sale offers discount on Asus ROG Phone 3

Asus is offering Rs. 12,000 on the 8/128GB variant and Rs. 11,000 off on 12/128GB variant during Flipkart Big Billion Days Sale on Asus ROG Phone 3. Additionally, interested buyers can also avail of an additional discount via SBI Credit Card and EMI transactions worth Rs. 1,250. The Flipkart Big Diwali Sale has begun on October 28 and will last up to Wednesday, November 3, 2021.

The Asus ROG Phone 3 comes with a 6.59" AMOLED display clocked at 144Hz. The screen supports HDR10+ content and can shine as bright as 650 nits. It is built on an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and has a pixel density of 391ppi. Under the hood, the smartphones come with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G processor, accompanied by Adreno 650 GPU. Combined with UFS 3.1 storage and a fast 8/12GB of RAM, the smartphone is capable of running heavy video games at their maximum settings.

It also features an RGB light panel on the back, along with Pressure sensitive zones or gaming triggers that can be used as additional input buttons during a game. On the back panel, the ROG Phone 3 has a 64MP triple camera setup and on the front, it has a single 24MP shooter. The device comes with a 6000 mAh battery that supports 30W fast charging and a dual-speaker setup for stereo output.
Two terrorist strikes in western and central Mali resulted in the deaths of seven Malian troops and the injuries of three others, according to the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa). According to preliminary reports, an army escort was ambushed in the village of Mourdiah in western Mali around midday on Saturday, resulting in two deaths and two injuries. However, in Segou, a FAMa patrol's pick-up vehicle was also attacked in the region of Niendjela in central Mali on Saturday afternoon, killing five soldiers.

The FAMa expressed dissatisfaction with the situation, stating that the vehicle's five occupants died one by one. It also said that the gendarmerie was able to apprehend two suspects in the immediate aftermath of the incident. FAMa servicemen were killed in two separate attacks earlier this month.

Terrorist attacks in Mali

In an attack on an army position in Acharane in the Timbuktu region of northern Mali on October 17, a Malian soldier and four terrorists were killed. On October 6, an attack on a Malian army convoy on the Koro-Bandiagara axis in the country's centre killed 16 people and injured nine in the FAMa ranks, who retaliated by killing 15 terrorists and seizing 20 motorcycles.

More than a month ago, on September 12, an armed militant group attacked a military patrol in central Mali, killing roughly five troops and three terrorists, according to a statement released by the FAMa, as reported by Xinhua news. According to the statement, the terrorist organisation planned the attack for September 12 at 11:45 am, and the Army's Operation Maliko patrol unit. In addition, five army vehicles were set ablaze by the attackers, according to Al Jazeera. Before that, an ambush on Mali's National Road, No. 6 in central Mali killed up to 15 Malian troops on August 19.

Mali has been in the midst of major security problems since 2012

Mali has been amid major security, political and economic problems since 2012. Despite the presence of UN, French and European soldiers, independence insurgencies, jihadist invasions, and inter-communal violence have killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Ethnic massacres and attacks on government forces have become common in central Mali.

(Inputs from ANI)

Image: AP
As the year-long war intensifies, the Tigray forces on Saturday, 30 October, said that they have taken control of a key city on the route to Ethiopias capital. While speaking to the Associated Press, Tigray forces spokesman Getachew Reda said that the fighters seized the strategic city of Dessie. Reda even asserted that Tigray forces already had commanding positions on the outskirts of the nearby city of Kombolcha and had its airport in their sight.

It is pertinent to mention here that taking control of the crossroads city of Dessie and Kombolcha would put the Tigray forces in a position to move south along a major highway toward the capital city of Addis Ababa. Reda said that it is just a matter of days before the fighters will also be able to physically link up with another armed group, the Oromo Liberation Army, with which it struck an alliance earlier this year.

We dont want to be in charge. We dont want Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to take an entire nation down with him, either, Getachew said.

Following the announcement by the Tigray forces, the Ethiopian government, however, denied that the group had taken over Dessie. A spokesman for the Ethiopian government, Legesse Tulu, rejected the forces claim as fabricated propaganda. Tulu told AP that Dessie and its surroundings were under military control.

More on Tigray crisis

It is noteworthy to mention that the Tigray forces have already taken the ongoing war into Ethiopias neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions. The Tigray forces said that they are pressuring the Ethiopian government to lift the months-long blockade on their region of around 6 million people. Amid the rising tensions, thousands of people have been killed after a political falling-out between the Tigray forces, who long dominated the national government and the current PM Ahmeds administration.

Meanwhile, the US has urged the Tigray fighters to halt their advances. On Saturday, the US called on the Tigray forces to halt their advances in and around Dessie and Kombolcha, withdraw from Amhara and Afar and not use artillery against cities. America even urged both sides to begin cease-fire negotiations, saying there is no military solution to this conflict which it said has cost countless lives. The US also said that it continued to be alarmed by reports of the deliberate denial of humanitarian assistance in Tigray, where the UN has reported a de facto humanitarian blockade.

(With inputs from AP)
Days after the Australian government declared their plans to lift a pandemic ban on the country's citizens from travelling abroad, it has also lifted mandatory quarantine for tourists travelling from New Zealand, reported The Guardian. The order from the Australian government would be applicable from October 31. As of now, those who were landing from New Zealand had to spend 14 days in quarantine facilities to break the arrest for the spread of the highly contagious virus. With the latest development, fully vaccinated travellers from New Zealand will be able to visit New South Wales and Victoria without the need for quarantine.

Australia changes quarantine rules

According to the reports, the decision came to revive the tourism sector of the country before Christmas this year. Notably, Australia is one of the favourite tourist destinations for New Zealanders. According to The Guardian, around 1.434 million New Zealanders visited Australia in 2019, making it the country's second-largest source of tourists. The New Zealanders tourists contributed around $1.6 billion to the Australian economy in 2019, reported British daily. The need for arrivals from New Zealand to spend 14 days in quarantine would end from 11.59 pm today. Australia's rapidly increasing vaccination coverage had put the country in good stead to take the next steps in reopening its borders to the world," New Zealand Herald quoted Australia's chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly on Saturday.

'Normalcy' would be a major boost for the nation's tourism

It is worth mentioning that Queensland and Western Australia have been among the states most successful in keeping COVID-19 out, and they also were among the most reluctant to relax their strict border controls after the highly contagious delta variant took hold in New South Wales state in June and spread through Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. Meanwhile, Tourism and Investment Minister Dan Tehan said that the return of normalcy for the tourists would be a major boost for the nation's tourism industry. He, however, said that the tourists coming from Wellington need to fill complete declaration showing they have had a negative pre-departure PCR test within three days of the departure before boarding an Australian bond flight, reported New Zealand Herald.

New Zealand yet to allow tourists

According to The Guardian, the state recorded 25 deaths and around 1,923 locally acquired cases. Around 746 infected Victorians are in hospital, including 137 patients in ICU and 85 people on ventilators. On the other hand, New Zealand COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on October 28 announced a relaxation in the COVID quarantine norms but refused to entertain the foreign tourists to touch down the Wellington soil. According to the recent announcement, the New Zealanders living abroad need to spend seven days in a quarantined hotel run by the military, half the previous requirement.

Image: AP/Pixabay
A significant report released by the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University stated that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China has been resorting to artificial intelligence (AI) technology to simulate war games for invasion operations directed toward Taiwan.

"Within the next five to 10 years, the PLA will likely continue investing in AI to disrupt U.S. military information systems and erode the U.S. advantage in undersea warfare," the report read.

China adopts AI technology to simulate war games for invasion against Taiwan

The aforementioned report is titled 'Harnessed Lightning How the Chinese Military is Adopting Artificial Intelligence' and it claims to have examined nearly 350 artificial intelligence-related equipment deals between Chinese troops and state-owned defence enterprises to adopt AI in the year 2020.

"The report identifies Chinas key AI defence industry suppliers, highlights gaps in U.S. export control policies, and contextualizes the PLAs AI investments within Chinas broader strategy to compete militarily with the United States," a summary of the report formulated by Ryan Fedasiuk, Jennifer Melot and Ben Murphy read.

One of the CSET analysts, Ryan Fedasiuk, wrote in a Tweet, which is now deleted, "Specifically, we find the PLA is buying AI systems designed to identify undersea vehicles, wargame Taiwan operations, track US navy shops and deploy electronic countermeasures, among other tasks,"

'60% are private companies'

The report's executive summary further read, "But as tensions mount between the United States and China, and some experts warn of an impending crisis over Taiwan, it is crucial that the US policymakers and defence planners understand the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) AI technologies already available to the Chinese military."

Quoting one of the researchers, Taiwan News reported, "We find that China's military-civil fusion development strategy is paying real dividends. Of the 273 AI equipment supplies in our data set, 60% are private companies. The overwhelming majority are quite small, established only in the last 10 years."

Key findings of China's AI-based invasion operations against Taiwan

As per the report, Chinese military leaders are already procuring AI-related systems and equipment to prepare for intelligentized warfare, but AI so far represents a small fraction of overall purchasing activity.

"While we can only estimate a floor for Chinese military AI spending, it is likely that the PLA spends more than $1.6 billion each year on AI-related systems and equipment," the report stated.

The report enumerated that China views AI as the key to transforming the PLA into a world-class, globally competitive military force. "PLA advances in AI and autonomy will create new vulnerabilities for the United States and allied forces operating in the Indo-Pacific," it added.

The PLA hopes to use AI to generate asymmetric advantages vis-a-vis the United States, which it regards as a strong enemy, but also a role model for AI development.

"PLA units and military laboratories are focused on developing autonomous vehicles and surveillance systems in the undersea domain, where the United States has traditionally had a significant advantage," the report disclosed

Further, it read, "The PLA is stepping up investment in information operations and adaptive radar systems to jam and blind U.S. sensor and information networks, which PLA leaders judge to be particularly vulnerable."

China-Taiwan feud

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island that shares maritime borders with China (People's Republic of China, PRC). The political, social and international status of the island state continues to be contentious as a result of the Chinese Civil War and a subsequent split of China namely, ROC and PRC. The question persisted through decades whether Taiwan should remain a territory of ROC or merge with the mainland under the newly-formed PRC. The Taiwan issue subsists in the international organisational system and points out whether Taiwan's existence as a sovereign state as part of both ROC and PRC should be legitimised. Currently, the Taiwan identity row hinges on subjects and matters of international law as well.

In 1971, after the vote by a majority in the United Nations, PRC was recognised. However, ROC continued to claim itself as the legitimate representative of China compelling Taiwan to maintain unofficial and representational ties with states and institutions. While the island is claimed by the PRC, the Xi Jinping-led regime refuses to acknowledge and recognise Taiwan's independent diplomatic relations with foreign entities. Domestically, the major feud is between sides and political parties that either favour the Chinese unification notion as opposed to those aspiring a formal international recognition and legitimacy in a bid to attain Taiwanese identity.
Amid the ongoing feud over post-Brexit fishing rights between the United Kingdom and France, several top scientists and environmentalists have urged UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French president Emmanuel Macron to proclaim an urgent truce in their dispute, as they worry that this dispute along with the UK's differences with its EU neighbours will overshadow the vital COP26 climate change summit.

Ahead of the international conference hosting 120 world leaders in the UK's Glasgow, PM Johnson claimed that the Summit will be "the world's moment of truth" and may signify "the beginning of the end of climate change," The Guardian reported. However, environmental activists and scientists expressed their displeasure over the fishing rights dispute among the UK and French governments, especially during the time when the UK is also posing a threat to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, potentially triggering a new trade tension with the EU.

Furthermore, the Brexit minister of the UK, Lord Frost, warned on Saturday that action will be taken against France after French Prime Minister Jean Castex wrote a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying that the UK has demonstrated that leaving the EU has caused more damage than staying in. He even added that the British government was actively considering launching dispute settlement proceedings as set out in article 738 (of the trade and cooperation agreement), which might result in the imposition of duties on French goods if adjudication was unsuccessful, The Guardian reported.

'I think that we need to sort it out': Boris Johnson on post-Brexit fishing rights dispute

UK PM Boris Johnson has even expressed his sentiments to Von der Leyen during the G20 in Rome, stating that French threats to halt British exports in reaction to a disagreement over the fishing licenses were totally unjustifiable. When questioned whether he felt France had broken international regulations, Johnson answered by saying that he believes that they might have.

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, The Guardian quoted the British Prime Minister as saying.

Meanwhile, the scientific and environmental communities were baffled by Paris and London's fierce debates amid the climate change meeting which is widely considered as the most significant summit of global leaders. Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, whose seminal government study in 2006 of the postponing action on climate change which might cause the disastrous consequences, stated that the UK and France should cooperate together instead of a dispute over a comparatively minor problem.

(Image: AP)
For Lesley Stephen, a 55-year-old Scotland woman, who has been suffering from stage-4 breast cancer, it was just a nightmare when the officials from National Health Service (NHS) asked her to call after a week to get the COVID-19 booster jab due to some technical glitch. According to a report by Daily Record, the woman has stage four cancer and her immune system is compromised with her lungs under attack from cancer cells. According to Stephen, she has been regularly advised by her doctors to get the booster jab at the earliest as the disease has already weakened her immunity system.

However, when she called the NHS, the officials of the healthcare system told her to wait for a week to get the COVID-19 jab and flu jabs as the organisation has been facing a major technical issue. Notably, it is vital to take the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for those who have been suffering from fatal diseases including cancer and kidney infection. While speaking to Daily Record, she said that she had an appointment for the COVID vaccine last week. When she visited the clinic, Lesley said a large number of people gathered at the centre.

"I was shocked to hear NHS response"

Stephen told Record that despite having an appointment, she was told it would be a two-hour wait and it was absolute chaos. In the end, she was asked to visit the vaccination centre again. "The hall was crammed with people and I just thought I wasn't going to sit here for hours and I'd just rebook it which I thought would be easy. This week I decided to try and rebook and on Wednesday I tried to book online but I couldn't get past the NHS Inform page, Record quoted Lesley Stephen as saying. "I phoned up and got through to someone who was very nice and who said 'I'm very sorry but our systems are down and can you phone back in a week, the 55-year-old added. I was shocked to hear that it would take a week to fix this system when the country is facing the biggest crisis.

Even a Twitter post couldn't help Stephen

Lesley Stephen also took to Twitter and slammed the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Social Care for the bizarre response from NHS. ''Being a good citizen and immune-compromised with stage 4 cancer, tried to book my booster &flu jabs. Told to phone back in a week as major IT problems -not in a day but in a week! No booster service at drop-in clinics. @HumzaYousaf what a shambles- get it fixed.@HMcArdleHT,'' her Twitter post read. However, her appeal to the minister did not help in getting the vaccine. It is to note that booster doses or the third dose are administered to the inoculated population to boost clinical protection and reverse the effect of fading immunity. COVID-19 booster doses are offered once an individual has completed primary vaccination of two doses. As directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is mandatory for an individual opting for a booster dose to get all three jabs of the same type.

Image: Twitter/@LesleycStephen, Pixabay
As the top diplomats of South Korea and China met in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 summit on October 29, the two sides discussed Korean Peninsula affairs, ways to boost cultural exchanges and held an in-depth dialogue about the end-of-war declaration and reviving the Korean peace process. According to Korean news agencies, Seoul's Foreign Ministry on October 29 issued a statement, saying that minister Chung Eui-Yong and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held talks for over 30 minutes and discussed stepping up cooperation between the two nations and promoting understanding and friendship between the Korean and Chinese citizens.

"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 South Korean ministry said in a statement, as cited by Korean news agencies. "They also shared views on the regional security situation and pending global issues and discussed measures for bilateral cooperation," the statement further read.

Two countries agree to hold next year's commemoration activities

As the two regimes mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-Yong agreed to strengthen the stable and healthy development of bilateral relations between Beijing and Seoul. The two ministers, who met ahead of the G20 (Group of 20) summit, promised to hold next year's commemoration activities mutually, and focus on consolidating political mutual trust. The two countries agreed for providing guidance for the Committee for Future Development of China-South Korea Relations, step up bilateral communication, as well as heed recommendations for forward-looking, up-to-date, and operable policies, the Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reported on Friday.

The two ministers, who are on a two-day visit to Italy for the G20 summit, emphasized majorly on their agenda of ending the 1950-53 Korean War as per Seoul's proposal and steering full-fledged denuclearization talks for achieving long term peace. Last month at the UN General Assembly, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in had proposed that the two Koreas and the US, sign the declaration with the possible addition of China. Moon had emphasized that it is the only way of invigorating the peace process.

Image: AP
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday, October 31 urged Sudans military general to reverse the coup as tens of thousands of angry Sudanese citizens took to the streets rallying in the pro-democracy protests. In a tweet on Sunday, UN Chief Guterres said, We witnessed in Sudan on Saturday the courage of so many people who peacefully protested military rule. Furthermore, he added, ''The military should take heed. Guterres further stated that its time to go back to the legitimate constitutional arrangements. Reports of violence are alarming & perpetrators must be brought to justice.

The UN chiefs appeals came after tens of thousands of Sudanese protesters took to the streets in one of the largest pro-democracy protests since last week's coup demanding a civilian transitional government. The Sudanese citizens have been leading mass protests against the military's forceful seizure of power by launching roadblocks with bricks and barricades that they label a symbol of safety and defiance against the military coup within the north African nation.

Sudan Army fires live rounds of ammunition on protesters

Several Sudanese protestors were reported to have been injured after the Sudan Army fired live rounds of ammunition after the angry protesters, who have been demanding the technocratic rule, attempted to remove barricades set up to defy the militarys seizure of power earlier last week, an independent Egyptian online newspaper, Mada Masr reported. Since the military coup in Sudan, as many as 12 civilians have been killed while close to 100 have been injured in the violent confrontations between the Sudan Army and the civilians opposing the military regime, the US embassy in Sudan said in a statement.

The Head of Sudan's ruling military council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared a nationwide emergency amid the civilian unrest. He dissolved the transitional Sovereign Council and government amid the backlash from the countries of the world. Labelling the recent political upheaval within the country as "a correction of the path and a correction of the transition period, Sudans top military leader Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan blatantly denied that the Sudanese Army had staged a coup against the ruling administration. "Condemnations are expected," Al-Burhan stressed in a televised address, particularly emphasising that the world seeing the military's action as "a coup" must know that it is not.

Image: AP
On Saturday, October 30, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged young people to keep the pressure on world leaders up, applauding them for setting a tremendous example ahead of a crucial climate summit. Guterres dubbed the climate catastrophe a "code red for humanity" in a pre-recorded video address to the world's youth. His statement came ahead of the UN's climate change conference, COP26, in Glasgow.

Guterres praised the youth of the globe for "telling it like it is" and making world leaders accountable for their climate change inaction.

"We need your leadership  not only because of your moral authority as voices of the future. But because you are a critical voice of the present, through your experience, skills and accomplishments," the UN chief said.

The window of opportunity to avert the worst effects of the climate disaster is rapidly closing, he told hundreds of young activists.

'Will call on every country to ensure youth have a share in climate decision making'

"We know what has to be done and have the resources to accomplish it. Young people have been at the vanguard of proposing good solutions, advocating for climate justice, and holding elected officials accountable," Guterres said. It should be mentioned here that the COP26 UN climate meeting, which opens on October 31 in Glasgow, is being described as critical to the 2015 Paris Agreement's sustained success.

Through broad carbon cuts, the historic 2015 agreement pledges nations to keep global temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. Countries also agreed to aim toward a 1.5C temperature limit. Guterres emphasised, "We need young people  every step of the way. I will continue to call on every country to ensure young people have a seat at the climate decision-making table."

However, in the six years since the agreement, emissions have continued to grow, and the latest set of national carbon-cutting commitments leaves the world on course to warm by a "catastrophic" 2.7 degrees Celsius this century, according to a UN report released this month. Guterres encouraged delegates in Glasgow to align their emissions targets with a 1.5 degree Celsius target. In a unified communique to be presented to ministers meeting Saturday as part of pre-COP preparations, the activists will describe their priorities for climate action. Meanwhile, the world leaders are presently gathered in Rome for the G20 summit.

(Image: AP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met for bilateral meetings Saturday with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Argentinean President Alberto Fernandez, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Rome.

In a tweet posted after the meeting with Hisen Loong, von der Leyen praised Singapore for leading by example on climate change and said she was looking forward to the Singaporean contribution to the COP26 U.N. climate conference.

Later she also tweeted an image with Fernandez, commending Argentina's climate goals and adding that the "EU stands with Argentina in the fight against COVID, with an EU loan to buy vaccines."

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 COP26.

The summit kicked off Saturday and is scheduled to conclude Sunday.

IMAGE: AP

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's tardiness at the G20 Summit photoshoot was laughed at by French President Emmanuel Macron and other G20 leaders. On October 30 morning, the British Prime Minister and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau were delayed for the traditional "family photo," promoting other world leaders to laugh at their arrival. The leaders of the world's 20 largest economies began two days of discussions on Saturday for the first time in two years at a face-to-face G20 summit.

In the midst of a fight over fishing rights between the UK and France, a video clip from the event shows Macron beaming at Johnson when he arrived before fist-bumping him. If a lack of licences for small French vessels to fish in British waters is not resolved by Tuesday, France has threatened to block British boats from entering its ports and tighten vessel inspections. As tensions rose, French officials seized a British trawler. After hinting that France had broken the rules of the pact with its fishing threats, Johnson has refused to rule out invoking the dispute mechanism clause in the Brexit trade agreement.

Italian PM greets world leaders for Summit

Mario Draghi, the Italian Prime Minister, received leaders from a number of countries, including Macron, Johnson, US President Joe Biden, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They planned to accept the existential threat posed by climate change but refrained from making any new extreme promises to combat global warming. Because of their persistent concerns about COVID, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed out, lowering prospects for big progress in climate diplomacy ahead of the upcoming COP26 session in Glasgow.

Earlier, UK PM, Johnson admitted that the meetings in Rome and Glasgow would be difficult, but warned that unless bold action is taken, human civilisation might fall apart as quickly as the ancient Roman empire did, ushering in a new Dark Age. G20 countries, which account for up to 80% of global carbon emissions, would increase their efforts to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, which according to scientists is required to avert calamitous new climate patterns. Earlier, the leaders had also acknowledged the critical importance of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by the middle of this century, a goal that some of the world's biggest polluters have yet to commit to.

While the climate discussion will dominate in Rome, the COVID-19 health crisis and economic recovery will take up much of the first day of the Summit, which will be held in a futuristic convention centre called "The Cloud." Concerns about growing energy prices and overburdened supply lines will be addressed. Leaders will also approve plans to vaccinate 70% of the world's population against COVID-19 by the middle of 2022 and form a task force to combat future pandemics, according to media reports.

(With inputs from agencies, Image: AP)
On October 30, Saturday evening, a group of G20 leaders took a leave from politics to visit the Baths of Diocletian in Rome. For the leaders' visit, the centuries-old structure, which once housed public baths in ancient Rome, was lit up. Politicians from the world's 20 largest economies have gathered in Rome for the G20 Summit, the first since the COVID pandemic began. The leaders are meeting in Rome ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, to discuss economic recovery and climate change. The Summit began on Saturday, October 30, and will end on Sunday, October 31.

Except for US President Joe Biden and his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, all of the leaders present at the G20 summit visited the Diocletian Baths. The official Twitter handle of G20 Summit announced, "The Baths of Diocletian, the largest imperial baths in ancient Rome, will be the stunning setting of the cultural event at the end of the first day of the #G20RomeSummit Live streaming at 19 CET on the #G20Italy YouTube channel. (sic)"

The Baths of Diocletian, the largest imperial baths in ancient Rome, will be the stunning setting of the cultural event at the end of the first day of the #G20RomeSummit



Live streaming at 19 CET on the #G20Italy YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/CftpID043D  G20 Italy (@g20org) October 30, 2021

Two-day Summit's focus on 'People, Planet, Prosperity'

PM Narendra Modi and other world leaders have gathered in Rome, Italy, for this year's G20 Summit. The two-day summit focuses on 'People, Planet, Prosperity,' with a focus on pandemic recovery and strengthening global health governance. Prior to the United Nations climate conference-- COP26 -- which opens on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, Italy expects the G-20 to gain major commitments from nations representing 80% of the world economy and accountable for roughly the same proportion of global carbon emissions.

The leaders of the world's economic giants met in person for the first time since the COVID pandemic broke out. Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other international leaders gathered at the Roma conference centre in Rome for a 'family photo.' Later, front-line employees were added to the picture. Premier Mario Draghi of Italy greeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other G20 leaders. The G20 leaders had dinner together later in the day. As soon as the Group of Twenty or G20 Summit concludes, the majority of the leaders in Rome will depart for Glasgow.

(Image: Twitter)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Rome, Italy. PM Modi invited Spain to invest in various sectors in India including green hydrogen, infrastructure and defence manufacturing.

PM Modi holds 'fruitful' talks with Spanish counterpart in Italy

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed that both the leaders had fruitful talks on ways to deepen ties between India and Spain. "The two nations are cooperating extensively in areas such as trade, energy, innovation and more," Bagchi informed.

PM @narendramodi met Prime Minister of Spain @sanchezcastejon.



Invited Spain to invest in various sectors in India including green hydrogen, infrastructure and defence manufacturing. pic.twitter.com/S73SABt9qS  Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 31, 2021

PM Modi, who is in Rome at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi to attend the G20 leaders' summit, was accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval during his meeting with Sanchez.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit, the Indian Prime Minister interacted with various world leaders, including the United States President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong among others.

G20 make commitments on climate neutrality, coal financing

G20 leaders on Sunday made a compromise commitment to reach carbon neutrality by or around 2050 as they concluded a two-day summit, laying the groundwork for the United National climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. As per the final communique, the leaders also agreed to cease public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad but set no limitations for phasing out coal domestically.

According to AP, Italian Premier Mario Draghi told, "We must accelerate the phasing-out of coal and invest more in renewable energy. We also need to make sure that we use available resources wisely, which means that we should become able to adapt our technologies and also our lifestyles to this new world."

The G-20 reaffirmed earlier commitments by rich countries to mobilize $100 billion every year to help poorer nations cope with climate change.

(Image: @MEAIndia-Twitter)
In a major development with regard to the Coronavirus pandemic, a World Health Organisation (WHO) team on Sunday had a crucial meeting with their Chinese counterparts, discussing the need for transparency in the ongoing investigation to find the origin of the COVID virus, informed WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. At the meeting, the leaders also discussed the importance of increasing global access to Coronavirus vaccines and the measures that are to be taken to avert another such pandemic.

Met with Wang Yi, Minister of @MFA_China, at @g20org & discussed 's efforts to scale up global #COVID19 vaccine access, as well as the importance of global solidarity & a science-first approach to overcoming the pandemic & averting future ones. pic.twitter.com/qX7XMNIFLv  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 31, 2021

During our meeting, I stressed the need for ongoing & deep cooperation & transparency to uncover the #COVID19 virus origins. @WHO looks forward to more collaboration with Chinese & international experts as part of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens.  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 31, 2021

WHO Chief Warns Of New Virus

Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the meeting with the G20 health and finance ministers on Friday that a new virus may emerge "at some point" that cannot simply be contained. He urged the world leaders to unite against the pandemic and called for global vaccine equity along with a strengthened finance system.

"Its a biological certainty that at some point, another virus will emerge that we simply cant contain. We can take the steps now to prepare for that virus, to detect it and to respond rapidly when it arrives," the WHO chief said.

During his speech on Friday, the WHO Director mentioned the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases since the second wave fuelled by the Delta variant of the virus. "Driven by the Delta variant, cases and deaths are once again rising globally, including in many of your own countries," Dr Ghebreyesus said, as per WHO's statement. He also asserted that the fear of transmission shall remain even though the countries continue to reach colossal records of vaccinating citizens against the COVID-19 virus. "Although vaccines save lives, they do not stop transmission, which is why every country must continue to use every tool, including tailored public health and social measures, in combination with tests, treatments, and vaccines," he said.

China Accuses US Of Politicising COVID Origin Research

Meanwhile, slamming the latest reports of the United States on the origin of the COVID-19 virus, China on Sunday accused Washington of politicising the report to dent the global image of 'Dragon'. Beijing said that the latest report of the US was "unscientific" and has the potential to damage global efforts in fighting the pandemic. Citing earlier reports of the US, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the latest record was another series of lies presented by Washington in its "so-called virus origin report".

Image: Twitter/@DrTedros
Seven Syrians face expulsion from Turkey after sharing footage of themselves eating bananas on social media, amid broader complaints over the alleged lifestyle of refugees, according to a Turkish news source. The seven, along with a Syrian juvenile, were apprehended in the western city of Izmir on Friday, October 29, according to the private news outlet Demiroren. Earlier this week, the Turkish migration administration said that another seven foreign people will be deported for unrelated reasons.

Turkey has the world's largest refugee population, which is primarily made up of 3.6 million natives of Syria, seeking temporary asylum. While they were first welcomed, increasing economic realities in Turkey have caused local sentiment to turn against them. Since the banana videos from an online news outlet appeared on October 17 showing an incident on an Istanbul street between a young Syrian woman and a group of Turks, videos of people claiming to be Syrians eating bananas have sprung up.

According to Demiroren, those held in Izmir will be deported for threatening public order and security. The kid was transported to a juvenile detention facility. The Directorate General of Migration Management said in a statement posted Wednesday that deportation proceedings will be begun against seven Syrians who had been processed by the legal system. The statement further added, "efforts are underway to uncover all the provocative posts ... and to carry out the necessary judicial and administrative procedures against all individuals who make these posts." Istanbul police announced the next day that 11 Syrians had been arrested for inciting hatred and insulting the Turkish nation.

Syria denounces Ankaras recent threat about sending more military forces

Syria denounced the attack on Saturday, in the harshest possible terms, Ankara's recent warning of sending additional military soldiers and ratcheting up combat operations in Syria and Iraq, a Syrian Foreign Ministry source told the semi-official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), according to Sputnik. Syria mocked the Turkish parliament's approval of cross-border "counterterrorism" operations on Saturday, accusing it of indulging in volatile geopolitics and labelling it a threat to regional peace and security for northern Iraq and Syria. The Syrian FM source urged the Security Council to exercise its mandates and powers by condemning all of the Turkish regime's hostile activities against the Syrian Arab Republic's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. In addition, the FM source asked that the international community take action against Turkey for its ongoing belligerence against Syrian citizens, as well as attacks on infrastructure, public and private property, natural resources, and the country's historical legacy.

(With inputs from agencies)

Image: AP
The UAE has decided to recall its ambassador to Lebanon for discussions in solidarity with Riyadh and to bar its citizens from visiting the country, the official WAM news agency cited the UAE foreign ministry. Led by Saudi Arabia, Four Gulf states, have pulled their envoys from Lebanon, striking a serious blow to the Mediterranean country as it grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades. After Lebanon's communications minister refused to apologise for criticising the Saudi-led war in Yemen, the oil-rich Gulf states, to which Lebanon had previously looked for financial support, withdrew their diplomats and expelled Beirut's envoy.

Riyadh has recalled its ambassador to Lebanon for discussions, according to Saudi state-run channel Al-Ekhbariya, and has ordered that the Lebanese envoy depart the country within the next 48 hours. It also agreed to halt imports from Lebanon into Saudi Arabia. Sputnik reported, citing an informed diplomatic source that Saudi Arabia is considering ending diplomatic relations with Lebanon.

After excerpts from Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi's interview with Al-Jazeera, in which he slammed the actions of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen and called the war in Yemen pointless, Lebanese local Tv channels reported later that all states of the Cooperation Council for Arab States of the Gulf are ready to severe diplomatic relations with Lebanon in the near future.

Gulf governments concerned over Hezbollah's growing political and paramilitary clout

The Gulf governments have been increasingly upset with Lebanon's politics in recent years, concerned about Hezbollah's (a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group) growing political and paramilitary clout, as well as corruption and the government's failure to implement reforms. Hezbollah, according to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, is in control of Lebanon's government. "Hezbollahs hegemony over the political system in Lebanon worries us, and it makes dealing with Lebanon futile," he said, according to the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network.

After Lebanon's violent 15-year civil war ended in 1990, Gulf investors were crucial to the city's restoration, and the Gulf remains an important job market for Lebanese employees who send significant remittances home. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, which records global trade flows, Saudi Arabia was Lebanon's fourth-largest export market in 2019, the year the economic crisis began and the most recent year for which data is available.

Image: AP
Pakistan discreetly approved the 'diplomats' which are appointed by the Taliban to take charge of the Afghan embassy to Pakistan and consulate institutions throughout the nation, according to a media report published on October 30. Despite the fact that Pakistan does not accept the Taliban as the official government in Afghanistan, yet, the selected diplomats were granted visas by the country.

According to the Dawn news publication, Sardar Muhammad Shokaib has started to work as the First Secretary of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, whereas Hafiz Mohibullah, Mullah Ghulam Rasool, as well as Mullah Muhammad Abbas have already been posted to the Afghan consulates in Peshawar, Quetta, and Karachi. Furthermore, Sardar Muhammad Shokaib would be the Charge d'Affaires of Afghanistan in Islamabad.

Since the month of July, when the former government's final envoy, Najibullah Alikhil, resigned amid controversy over the reported kidnapping of his daughter Silsila Alikhil, the Afghan embassy in Islamabad was without an ambassador.

Furthermore, the identity of Shokaib was not revealed, however, as a Voice of America report, he is an ethnic Pashtun located from Zabul Province who has worked in the Information and Cultural Department in southern Kandahar and was linked to a Taliban magazine publication. Additionally, He was detained in Pakistan and afterwards stayed in Peshawar for several years after allegedly working as a Taliban spokesperson under the name Qari Yousaf Ahmadi.

Pakistan's remarks on the appointment of the new 'Diplomats'

Asim Iftikhar, a spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Office, attempted to downplay the new appointments by claiming that they were an "administrative matter," as per PTI. He went on to explain that these appointments are intended to enable the embassy to operate its activities, mainly consular operations as there are several issues to deal with when millions of Afghans who fled from the war-torn nation to Pakistan are residing. He even added that they have to deal with visa issues of these refugees.

Pakistan has been attempting to persuade the international community to engage diplomatically with the Taliban since they took control of Afghanistan on August 15. However, the world leaders are dubious about the Taliban-led administration.

Pakistan provided Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

Meanwhile, during the recent months of instability, Pakistan has already sent vital humanitarian relief to Afghanistan in the form of food and medicines. In October, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had vowed to deliver $280 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan to support the new Taliban-led administration in overcoming the country's dire humanitarian situation. According to Sputnik, Islamabad's other attempts to bolster the Taliban administration include resuming flights with Afghanistan and increasing bilateral trade.

(Image: AP/ Representative Image)
Pakistan has continued to retain its position in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) "grey list" on failing to check the financing of outfits proscribed as "terrorist" by the United Nations (UN) on its soil. While the report claims that Pakistan has been able to make "significant progress" with regard to the Paris-based consensus, it needs to prosecute targeted senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terrorist groups.

''The decision to include Pakistan in the "grey list" was taken by consensus and not by one country,'' FATF President Dr. Marcus Pleyer said while announcing the list of 23 countries earlier in October. He also dismissed rumours about political connotations regarding the FATF decision. "The FATF contains 39 jurisdictions and also the decision and Pakistan was taken by consensus," Pleyer had said, as reported by ANI.

Dr. Marcus Pleyer starts as FATF President today. He is the first FATF President with a two-year term. He is Deputy Director General in Germanys Federal Ministry of Finance. See more informationhttps://t.co/Fs32eXHjvq @BMF_Bund pic.twitter.com/vWtHlQ6yGy  FATF (@FATFNews) July 1, 2020

Pakistan could be shifted to FATF "black list"

Among the listed 23 countries, Turkey has joined Islamabad in the "strategic deficiencies" list, which is externally identified as the "grey list." As per the FATF list, Turkey has also failed to curb terror-financing in its territorial boundaries. The move has levied a heavy toll on Pakistan since it snatches away vital support from Islamabad. "The only other steadfast supporters of Pakistan left in the FATF are China and Mongolia. And unless Pakistan is able to get the support of a third member, it will find it difficult to avoid black listing, should FATF conclude at its preliminary in March-April next year that Pakistan deserves the worst," ANI reported, citing a report in Islam Khabar.

The black listing might choke external financial assistance for the listed countries from the international community, including global financial institutions, ANI reported quoting the report. "The ball is truly in the court of Imran Khan who has pledged to turn Pakistan into Riyasat-e-Madina - an Islamic welfare state like the state of Madina, the Islam Khabar report stated, as per ANI. The FATF list will be a more stringent form of punishment for the financially-hit Pakistan, as per the news agency.

Meanwhile, the FATF list has moved Botswana and Mauritius to the "jurisdiction no longer subject to be increased monitoring" list. On the other hand, 22 other countries other than Pakistan have found a place in the "jurisdiction with strategic deficiencies" list, which includes Albania, Barbados, Myanmar, Morocco, Yemen, South Sudan, Haiti, and more. The FATF has also identified Jordan, Mali, and Turkey among the 23 countries after the last review. While many of these have been able to "make developments" in the jurisdictions AML/CFT regime, most of them have failed to prosecute money launderers and/or target "terror financing," as stated in the FATF report.

(With ANI inputs)

Image: AP, PTI
Pakistan is among the top 10 nations in the world in terms of the total number of unsolved murders of journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has ranked Pakistan 9th on this years Global Impunity Index. Notably, the country has been a mainstay on the index since its inception back in 2008. Somalia remains the worlds worst country in terms of unsolved killings of journalists.

The Global Impunity Index published by CPJ showed rare changes from last year with Syria, Iraq and South Sudan in the same order. The said nations follow Somalia to occupy the worst four spots on the list amid conflicts, political crisis and comparatively weak judicial systems that perpetuate a chain of violence against journalists, news agency ANI reported.

The latest data covered the period from 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2021 and did not include the escalating violence against media personnel in war-ravaged Afghanistan after the country fell to the Taliban. The South Asian country was still ranked fifth, similar to the previous two years.

CPJ stated, Globally in 2020, at least 22 journalists were singled out for murder in retaliation for their work, more than double the total for 2019. For 2021, the number of murders is tracking closely to last years, but political volatility in Afghanistan and other high-risk nations makes the final 2021 total difficult to predict.

The year 2021 also saw sentencings or positive developments in two other high-profile murder cases, involving countries not ranked on the index, CPJ added while noting the turn of events in Malta involving businessman Yorgen Fenech who was indicted in August for his alleged role in the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

What is the Global Impunity Index?

CPJs Global Impunity Index calculates the number of unsolved murders of journalists as a percentage of each nations population. For the same, the body examined the murders that occurred between September 2011 and August 2021 but remained unsolved. However, only those nations are included in the index which registered five or more unsolved cases. CPJ added that it defines murder as a deliberate killing of a specific journalist in retaliation for the victims work.

This index does not include cases of journalists killed in combat or while on dangerous assignments, such as coverage of protests that turn violent. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained, even if suspects have been identified and are in custody, CPJ added.

(Image: PTI)
Foremost spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the 14th Dalai Lama, on Sunday released a message to the ongoing United Nations COP 26 climate conference, Glasgow. While urging the world to pay more attention to Tibet's role in ecology, the Dalai Lama emphasised the responsibility of every individual to help protect the earth from threats of global warming and climate change. These messages come in at a crucial time as reports of the Chinese government exploiting Tibetan mineral resources due to lack of communication channels and vulnerability gain traction.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's message to COP26. https://t.co/sRYFUbH2Jr  Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) October 31, 2021

Dalai Lama urges world nations to pay attention to Tibet's ecology

As world leaders converged at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, the 14th Dalai Lama, through a published message, elucidated the stakes for the most populous continent in an appeal to pay more attention to the Tibetan ecology to further mitigate the threats of the global climate crisis. His message comes in amidst reports of exploitation of Tibet's natural resources and extensive use of the region's population as labour. Subjecting on that the Dalai Lama said, "We should pay more attention to the preservation of Tibet's ecology. This is not only in the interest of 6-7 million Tibetans, but also all the people in the area."

Dalai Lama underlines the importance of the Tibetan plateau

While speaking about the Tibetan plateau that also becomes the source of Asias major rivers which helps sustain the livelihood of another two billion people in downstream in Asia, Dalai Lama asserted that Tibet should not only be protected for the present generation, but also for the future ones as well as for the various species that share the planet.

Dalai Lama said, " Tibet is the source of some of the worlds major rivers, among them the Brahmaputra, the Ganges, the Indus, the Mekong, the Salween, the Yellow River and the Yangtze. These rivers are the source of life because they provide drinking water, irrigation for agriculture, and hydropower, for nearly two billion people across Asia."

While urging international attention on these subjects, Dalai Lama mentioned that the melting of numerous glaciers in Tibet, diversion of rivers, widespread deforestation highlighted the consequences of neglection that Tibet had received.

The Chinese Communist party ruled by President Xi Jinping, who currently has its hands on the territories of Tibet, has diluted the decision-making powers of the local Tibetan administration, which prevailed since the Chinese invasion in 1949. Owing to such oppression since long before, Tibet is also ranked as the second least free region in the world. Back in September, during the proceedings of the 48th UN Human Rights Council Session, China was slammed by delegations from the US, Denmark, Germany and European Union over religious, linguistic and cultural restrictions imposed by the Jinping-led government.

Image Credits - AP
The head of the Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) of Iran, Siavosh Amir Mokri announced on Saturday that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has discontinued an advisory notice which was issued against commercial flights flying across Iranian airspace for safety concerns. Iran's official television cited Amir Mokri as claiming that the CAO and Iran Airports Company have participated in discussions with European airlines, regional aviation authorities, and the EU agency, EASA to lift the almost two-year ban.

The EASA had issued the notice of banning commercial flights over Iranian airspace during the month of January of last year. The ban was implemented in response to regional tensions between Tehran and Washington, as well as Iran's firing of missiles on a US facility in Iraq in the same month, Xinhua reported.

Iran criticises US restrictions on firms

Furthermore, the Islamic Republic of Iran criticised the new US restrictions against its companies on Friday, calling them completely contradictory behaviour. The White House announced additional economic sanctions against various Iranian firms and persons tied to the Islamic Republic's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) industry on Friday, while the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) remains on hold. It is important to note that the US has already placed a slew of economic restrictions on Iranian companies for the country's nuclear program and support for regional terrorist groups.

US President Joe Biden discusses strategies with E3 leaders on Iran

Meanwhile, as Iran continues to make alarming progress with its nuclear program, US President Joe Biden and three European allies were strategising on Saturday on how to reach a diplomatic solution. The conference between Biden and the leaders of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom was conducted during a critical juncture when Iran seeks to enrich uranium to weapon system quantities.

The US President is attempting to resurrect the 2015 nuclear agreement and to get Iran back into accordance with the deal, which would have prevented Iran from developing any nuclear weapons for at least a year.

"We welcome President Biden's clearly demonstrated commitment to return the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and to stay in full compliance, so long as Iran does the same," said a statement jointly issued by Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, DT Next reported.

The four leaders met on the margins of the Group of 20 (G20) conference in Rome. Further, Iran still has to commit to a date for returning to the nuclear talks which were held in Vienna but have indicated that it would do so in the next week, with a targeted deadline of late November.

(Image: Unsplash/Representative)
Teen environment activist Greta Thunberg on Sunday joined thousands of climate change activists who rallied to Glasgow ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Thunberg's arrival in Glasgow, Scotland by train on Saturday was a huge boost for the mob that had marched from around the world to demonstrate during the COP26 Climate Change Summit beginning from today. In a major protest to voice the climate concerns, as many as 1,00,000 supporters are expected to join on coming Friday.

Thunberg took to Twitter to announce her arrival at Glasgow. "Finally in Glasgow for the #COP26! And thanks for the very warm welcome," the 18-year-old wrote. Earlier on October 29, she had attended a small protest against global banks accusing them of "destabilising" the planet and putting lives at risk. Greta's arrival, as said by BBC, was an opening ceremony" to a series of processions and expectedly "violent" protests planned in Glasgow on the sidelines of the UN summit.

Finally in Glasgow for the #COP26! And thank you for the very warm welcome pic.twitter.com/mK4vl7iTM1  Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) October 30, 2021

Thousands of activists descend on Glasgow

Thousands of activists, including pilgrims from the Extinction Rebellion Faith (XR), arrived in Glasgow ahead of the COP26 Glasgow Summit to let the climate concerns known to the world leaders at the United Nations convention. The large mob kick-started their 'Fridays for Future' rallies all across the Scottish city from Saturday, the Independent reported.

'Blue Rebels', Scotland XR's sister group formed the guard of honour for the pilgrims. A Spanish activists group began their journey from Bilbao on a ferry to Portsmouth and undertook a 30-day hike to Glasgow. Young Christian Network also walked around 1,200 miles from Cornwall in support of climate and to demonstrate against the "empty promises of the leaders." Another group Camino walked from London to Bristol and to Glasgow in under two months to attend the international climate change rallies organised in the heart of the Scottish city of Glasgow.

 Climatestrike in Munich! 



We're protesting today to demand #climatejustice from world leaders just before #COP26 starts.



We don't need empty promises. We need climate action. Now! #FridaysForFurture 

 @zauberberg15 pic.twitter.com/C9Tn31KWT5  FridaysForFuture Munchen (@fff_muc) October 29, 2021

Hosted by the UK in partnership with Italy, COP26 Climate Change Summit is a vital global forum beginning from October 31 until November 12. The global summit, to be attended by at least 150 countries or parties, virtually and physically, is expected to accelerate actions towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and restrict global climate increase to 1.5C. It is also aimed to lead the world to "decarbonised" economy by robust actions towards "Net-Zero" commitment. It will also look forward to mobilising funds to meet the pledge of $100bn a year by countries and international financial institutions, among many others.

Image: AP/FFFITALIA_Twitter
If "unrecognition" of the Taliban-led interim government of the Islamic Emirati continues then it will transpire into a larger problem for the world, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said during a press conference, as reported by Reuters. In a clear "message to America", Mujahid on Saturday warned the country of unspecified "problems" that would arise if the international community continued to refuse recognising the Taliban. He also called for "negotiations" in a desperate attempt to gain acknowledgment from the international community.

Speaking at the presser on Saturday, Mujahid also stated that the Taliban and the United States went into war last time due to lack of "diplomatic ties," Reuters reported. "Those issues which caused the war, they could have been solved through negotiations, they could have solved through political compromise," he said. It is important to note that the Afghan war broke out after then Taliban-led Kabul refused to hand over Osama Bin Laden, leader of the extremist group Al-Qaeda, to the US after it mowed down World Trade Center in the twin attack in 2001. On Saturday, Mujahid also said that the due recognition was the "right" of Afghan people and failing to offer so "could turn into a problem for the world."

It is to be noted that the international community, including global financial organisations like World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), have refused to accept the all-male caretaker government of the Islamic Emirati after it was formed on September 8. The global leaders have vehemently condemned the lack of reflection of the "Afghan society" in the outfit-led cabinet of Afghanistan. This has also led to a halt in the disbursement of vital aids to the war-torn nation thus pushing it to the brink of "universal poverty."

US has no immediate plans to release financial reserves worth $9.5bn for Afghanistan

The United States has no plans to release Afghanistan Financial Reserves worth $9.5 billion anytime soon, Sputnik reported, citing International Monetary Fund (IMF). The announcement comes after Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen, last month, urged the international community, especially the US to unfreeze Afghanistan's financial resources as the interim cabinet was "ready" to govern the war-torn nation. However, on Thursday IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice informed that the financial agency has no "further updates to provide on Afghanistan."

It is to be noted that in September, the IMF decided to halt fund supply to Afghanistan amidst rising political instability in the war-torn country. The decision was announced by Rice highlighting that the funds will remain suspended until there is clarity within the international community on recognition of the Taliban-led government.

Image: AP
Syrian state media said the countrys air defenses responded Saturday to missiles fired from Israel toward suburbs of the capital Damascus, wounding two Syrian soldiers.

State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that air defenses shot down several incoming surface-to-surface missiles from northern Israel just before noon, and that damaged was caused besides the wounding of the soldiers.

Israeli attacks on Syria mostly occur during nighttime.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor from the Syrian opposition, said the Israeli missiles hit northwest of Damascus. The areas contains arms depots for Lebanon's Hezbollah group, and positions of the Syrian military and Iran-backed militias, it added.

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.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
A massive explosion near the entrance of the international airport in the port city of Aden, Yemen killed as many as six and injured another 12 on Saturday, Xinhua News agency reported, quoting a senior security official. As per reports, a truck parked outside the main exterior entrance of Aden airport exploded, destroying several vehicles. However, the officials are yet to ascertain the nature of the blast as "some initial tips" indicated electrical faults which led to the explosion, officials told Xinhua under conditions of anonymity.

Several unconfirmed reports suggested "booby-trap" detonated remotely, which led to the assumably "terrorist blast," Xinhua mentioned, citing the official. "There are conflicting reports on the causes of the blast as some initial tips indicate an electrical fault that led to the explosion if a parked truck loaded with a large quantity of diesel near the airport," the official told. The intensity of the blast was felt across the city with windows in the nearby residents' homes being shattered. Meanwhile, no statements were released by government authorities in Aden that confirmed the nature of the attack.

Ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels kill 11 civilians

The explosion took place a day after Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile in Marib, killing 11 civilians, including women and children. The victims of the blast were prominent tribe leader's family from the Al-Amud area, the officials told the Associated Press. Atleast 11 houses were also destroyed in the targeted attack by Houthi rebels on Friday, injuring a total of 16 people.

As recently on October 21, Thursday, 38 Houthi rebels were killed in a fight with the Yemeni military in the central province of Marib, quoting a frontline source, Xinhua website reported. Although no military personnel was killed or injured during the armed conflict on Thursday, ten soldiers were hurt.

Yemen-Houthi Conflict

The Yemen-Houthi Conflict began in September 2014, when the Iran-backed militia seized the capital city of Sanaa. The rebel group toppled President Abed Rabbi Mansour Hadi's government and formed the Supreme Political Council along with its allied forces supported by the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Following the annexure, Yemen's recognised government backed by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) engaged in war with the rebel group since March 2015. The battle forced the last President Hadi to flee the country to Saudi Arabia.

Houthi militants claimed to have fired a ballistic missile at Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh in May 2017. In December 2017, the Houthis killed former support Saleh, indicating he wished to switch sides. In January 2021, former US State Secretary Mike Pompeo proposed to declare the Houthis as a "Foreign terrorist organisation." However, the Biden administration after a month in the White House withdrew arms backing to UAE and Saudi Arabia and called for a ceasefire. The State Department also said that it would revoke Houthi's "terrorist group tag."

A series of strikes and counterstrikes since 2015 has killed thousands of civilians and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine and humanitarian crisis. The shaky cease-fire to end Yemen's civil war has been under the debris of truce breaches and sporadic military escalation by both sides.

With inputs from AP

Image: PTI (representative)
Mexico's Foreign Ministry has urged international leaders of G20 to agree on universal recognition of COVID-19 vaccines. Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, took to the microblogging site Twitter and called on world leaders to recognise vaccines universally and boost vaccination in developing countries. He also said that vaccines should not be a subject of geopolitics.

On Saturday, Ebrard arrived at the G20 summit in Rome and met Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). He stated that he thanked Tedros Ghebreyesus for his contributions to the pandemic and explained why vaccines like Sputnik and CanSino must be recognised sooner rather than later. According to the Foreign Minister, he was extremely helpful and pleasant to work with. Earlier, Ebard spoke at a news conference on August 10, where he said that Mexico urged the countries of the G20 group to accept the vaccines approved by the WHO.

Manana inicia G20, la sesion 1 esta dedicada a economia y salud globales. Ahi planteare reconocimiento universal de las vacunas respaldadas por la OMS. Tambien sostendre reuniones bilaterales con l@s Ministros de Relaciones Exteriores de China, Sudafrica y Argentina. Les informo.  Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) October 29, 2021

Llegue al mismo tiempo que el

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud. Le felicite por su labor en la pandemia y le comparti porque es tan relevante acelerar el reconocimiento de vacunas como Sputnik o Cansino. Fue muy receptivo y amable. pic.twitter.com/Y6ESokK0z5  Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) October 30, 2021

Mexico's President also urged the WHO to expedite the approval of vaccines

This seems to be a strategy that Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government has publicly espoused. During a press conference on October 13, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged the WHO to expedite the approval of vaccines that have demonstrated their efficacy and haven't caused any health problems. When asked about Sputnik V, a Russian vaccine, and CanSino, a Chinese vaccine, the president said that the WHO must act with integrity, free of political or ideological bias, and in accordance with scientific principles, according to Market Research Telecast.

In the meantime, at the G20 conference on Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled a six-point Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative. The plan calls for more vaccines to be provided to underdeveloped countries to fulfil the WHO's worldwide vaccination objective by 2022.

Vladimir Putin urges the G20 countries to recognise vaccines quickly

Also, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the G20 countries must move quickly to find a solution for mutual recognition of vaccines. He also stated that the WHO's prequalification process for new vaccines must be accelerated. Russian President also noted that Russia's Sputnik V vaccination has been approved for use in over 70 countries with a combined population of over 4 billion people, confirming its high safety and efficacy.

(Inputs from ANI)

Image: AP
The presidents of Peru and Bolivia met on Saturday in the Bolivian capital La Paz to sign agreements on bilateral cooperation on environmental issues, energy, commerce and security.

"These are permanent commitments that reflect the strong and remarkable links between Peru and Bolivia," said Pedro Castillo, President of Peru.

Luis Arce, President of Bovia, said his government was interested in enabling his landlocked country to access ports through Peru.

Arce presented Castillo with a special medal, the Bolivian Order of the Andean Condor.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
The President of the upcoming COP26 climate summit, Alok Sharma, recently called on global leaders to banish ghosts of the past and step up with new pledges to lower emissions as the world is running out of time to keep warming below 1.5 degree celcius. While speaking to Sky News, Sharma, a former UK Business secretary, said that during the conference in Glasgow, he will be working to extract meaningful pledges from the representatives of almost 200 nations in attendance. He reiterated that world leaders need to come out of Glasgow saying with credibility that we have kept 1.5C alive. 1.5C really matters.

The UK is responsible for overseeing the negotiations at the COP26. As leaders prepare for the climate conference, Sharma could not say with certainty that the two-week event would end with a deal to keep that prospect alive. But he added that he will try to extract meaningful pledges from world leaders as the planet is running out of time to tackle climate change.

While speaking to the media outlet, the UK Cabinet minister noted that according to IPCC (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) the planet is already at global warming of 1.1C above pre-industrial levels. Sharma went on to say that at 1.5C there will be nations across the globe that will be underwater, which is why the world leaders need to get an agreement in Glasgow in a bid to overcome climate change over the next decade. He added that all countries, particularly the G20 ones, needed to do better in lowering emissions.

COP26 Climate Summit

It is important to mention that delegates from almost 200 nations will be involved in hammering out a deal to prevent climate change. The COP26 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 global leaders at the summit are going to discuss the various ways to collaborate and tackle the pressing issue of climate change. However, experts, according to The Guardian, also believe that developing counties are going to clash with richer nations over the funding that the former say they should be given to help them introduce the green technologies needed to replace their coal and oil-burning power stations. Arab states, on the other hand, reportedly want to continue drilling for oil as long as possible.

(Image: Twitter)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken set to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on October 31, Sunday, during G20 Summit in Rome. This meeting will take place amid conflict between the two nations over Washington supporting Taiwan's "meaningful participation" in the United Nations, ANI reported. The senior diplomats will meet for the first time after a heated meeting that was held in the US state of Alaska in March, wherein the Chinese delegation chastised Washington.

Furthermore, on Friday, minister Wang Yi stated that apart from reuniting with China, Taiwan has no future. He also claimed that Taiwan has no global legal position other than just a Chinese province. The minister went on to say that the United States and a few other nations will not be able to halt the 50-years-old One China policy, and further stated that they are much behind to succeed during the twenty-first century. "If they persist, they will pay the price," the minister added.

Antony Blinken urged to support the 'meaningful' participation of Taiwan

The comments of the Chinese Foreign Minister came after when the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had urged the member states of the United Nations (UN) on Tuesday to support the "meaningful" participation of Taiwan. The United States has called for backing Taiwan when it was seen that China has made continuous attempts to limit the island's foreign involvement.

Citing the statement of Blinken, the news agency reported, We encourage all UN Member States to join us in supporting Taiwan's robust, meaningful participation throughout the UN system and in the international community, consistent with our 'one China' policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. Further, Blinken has argued for Taiwan's strong involvement in the UN, claiming that the island's exclusion jeopardises the UN's and associated entities' crucial work.

In addition, Chinese military activity has gradually increased near the island that Beijing considers as a rebellious province and has further promised to recapture by force if needed. Due to the dispute, Washington and Beijing have established several new campaigns for international assistance for their respective positions with each using ambitious language of sovereign rights and international precedent. No one among the two nations is backing down. Further, US President Joe Biden warned Beijing recently that the US is committed to assisting Taiwan in defending itself in any case of a Chinese invasion.

(Image: AP)
The Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam dont share the same interests as non-claimants Laos and Cambodia.

As Cambodia takes over the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2022, it faces an uphill task to accelerate negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

The code, which is intended to mitigate the risk of conflict in those contested waters, has been in the works for about as long as Cambodia has been in ASEAN.

The Kingdom joined the 10-nation grouping in 1999, and 2022 will be the third-time that Cambodia has held the rotating leadership of the regional bloc. Its also the third time that Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985, has held the ASEAN gavel that was handed to him from outgoing chair Brunei on Thursday.

Of similar vintage is the China-ASEAN Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) that was signed in 2002 and was meant to pave the way for the COC. But analysts say a final deal is still a long way off.

At the ASEAN virtual summit this week, where the bloc agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with Beijing, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang urged ASEAN countries to expedite COC (Code of Conduct) negotiations and strive for its early conclusion. Chinese officials have been reportedly pressing for a conclusion by the end of next year.

ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam contest parts of the South China Sea with China, which claims 90 percent of the area. Over the past decade, its become an issue that has divided the Southeast Asian bloc, because of the competing interests of its members  including non-claimants like Cambodia with close ties to Beijing.

As the 2022 ASEAN Chair, Cambodia will play a vital role in the negotiation process to finalize the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, said Kimkong Heng, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland and visiting senior research fellow at the Cambodia Development Center.

But Viet Hoang, a well-known Vietnamese commentator on South China Sea, told RFA this week that given ASEANs consensus-based decision-making, I cant see how ASEAN countries and China can achieve any agreement on key issues, even if Chinas ally Cambodia will take over the blocs presidency next year.

Risk upsetting China

In his speech at the closing ceremony of the ASEAN summit on Thursday, Hun Sen said Cambodia will steer ASEANs collective efforts to accomplish our most important tasks  especially expediting the rebuilding process of an equitable, strong and inclusive ASEAN Community.

According to Heng, this will be a crucial year for Phnom Penh to improve its international image which was damaged in 2012 when it was accused of siding with China and preventing ASEAN from reaching an agreement on the South China Sea.

It was the first time in the blocs 45-year history that ASEAN failed to issue a joint statement.

Again in 2016, after the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration awarded the Philippines a legal victory against Chinas maritime claims, ASEAN foreign ministers also failed to issue a joint communique due to Cambodias objection to the mention of the South China Sea dispute.

However, the opportunity and ability to mediate the South China Sea disputes will be constrained by Cambodia's close relations with China, said the Cambodian researcher, adding: Given China's growing influence and presence in Cambodia in many areas, including economy and military, it's unlikely Cambodia will do something to upset China.

Credit: RFA Hun Sen in his summit remarks reiterated what he called the core spirit of ASEAN - One Vision, One Identity and One Community.

ASEAN since its establishment in 1967 has been operating based on consensus, yet according to Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia and a long-time Southeast Asia watcher, many years ago ASEAN gave up its prerogative to reach a common position on the Code of Conduct prior to meeting with China.

Claimants like the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam dont share the same interests as non-claimants such as Laos and Cambodia.

Since 2013, however, ASEAN has come up with a formulation on the South China Sea that is included in every chairs statement, he said, that means Cambodia cannot refuse to issue the chairs statement because of wording of paragraphs on the South China Sea.

Thayer pointed to the well-worn statement that is repeated every year and seen in both ASEAN chairs statement of the 38th and 39th ASEAN summits in 2020 and 2021.

We were encouraged by the progress of the substantive negotiations towards the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) consistent with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, within a mutually agreed timeline. UNCLOS is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Furthermore, ASEAN chair or not, Cambodia is only one of the parties to the COC negotiations between ASEAN and China, hence has no special authority to influence the timeline, added Thayer.

That puts Phnom Penh in a tricky position with very little room to maneuver, according to Kimkong Heng.

Cambodia will likely continue to assert that the claimant states should address the disputes bilaterally and stay away from getting involved in this hot issue, he said.

Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn meets with China's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Phnom Penh, Sept. 12, 2021. Credit: Reuters In recent years, Cambodia has become China's iron-clad friend and friendly neighbour, as described the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.

China accounts for about 90 percent of foreign direct investment in Cambodia and Phnom Penh has become even more dependent on Beijing after the U.S. and E.U. imposed various sanctions on the Southeast Asian state.

"If I don't rely on China, who will I rely on?" Hun Sen famously said at an international conference in May this year.

The South China Sea COC negotiation process is likely to get even more complicated since China accused some non-regional players, especially the United States, of getting involved.

The U.S. says its activities in the South China Sea are aimed at ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific but Beijing says theyre designed to counter Chinas influence. Washington also alleged that China had established a military presence at the Ream Naval base in southwest Cambodia.
The authorities in Belarus have blocked access to the website of the pro-Kremlin Russian news agency Regnum.

The October 30 move was the first time Minsk has blocked access to a Russia-based media site, although it earlier blocked the Belarus-based version of the Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The government of longtime leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka did not issue a statement explaining the decision to block Regnum. The website, however, has published numerous articles criticizing Belarus for supposedly anti-Russian policies and urging the rapid unification of the two countries.

Earlier, Belarus blocked access to several Western and independent media outlets, including the websites of Deutsche Welle and Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.

RFE/RL President Jamie Fly condemned the move to block Current Time and vowed to continue providing information to the Belarusian people.

The Lukashenka regimes attempts to criminalize journalism know no bounds and are now depriving the Belarusian people of yet another independent source of news and information. Despite Lukashenkas continued assault, RFE/RL and Current Time will continue to provide objective reporting to the people of Belarus, he said.

Dozens of news websites have been blocked in Belarus and independent media shuttered as part of a sweeping crackdown on information in the wake of unprecedented protests triggered by the August 2020 presidential election that gave the authoritarian Lukashenka a sixth term. The opposition and the West say the vote was rigged to keep him in power.

Lukashenka's government has cracked down hard on the pro-democracy movement, arresting thousands of people and pushing most of the top opposition figures out of the country. The Vyasna human rights center says it considers 833 people to be political prisoners.

Authorities have also declared hundreds of opposition Telegram channels and social-media sites extremist, and anyone operating or using such sites can face jail time or fines.

In the latest move, the Belarusian Interior Ministry on October 29 classified three of the country's most popular opposition social media channels as extremist organizations.
U.S. President Joe Biden has stressed the importance of implementing a U.S.-German agreement on the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline to ensure that Russia cannot manipulate natural gas flows for harmful political purposes, the White House said in a statement.

Biden underscored the importance of continued work to implement the U.S.-Germany Joint Statement on Support for Ukraine and European Energy Security after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her likely successor, Olaf Scholz, on October 30 in Rome on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20).

The agreement between the U.S. and Germany, announced in July, provides for sanctions to be imposed on Russia if the pipeline is used as a geopolitical "weapon."

The controversial natural gas pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. Russia has said it is ready to begin shipping gas through the pipeline, which was completed last month, but German and European regulators must first complete a lengthy approval process.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said early this month that clearing the pipeline could help ease a supply crunch in Europe. The comments sparked concerns that Russia had failed to boost its production of gas to pressure Europe into granting quick approval for Nord Stream 2.

The United States has warned Europe against bowing to Russian pressure on the approval process. A State Department official said last week that, if Russia has more gas to ship to Europe to ease the shortfalls and high prices, it should do so through existing export pipeline infrastructure, including the ones that transit Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is not present at the G20 summit, last week told state-controlled energy giant Gazprom to start pumping natural gas into European gas storage facilities once Russia finishes filling its own stocks, which could happen by November 8.

Washington has long opposed the Nord Stream 2 project, calling it a threat to European energy security because it increases the continents reliance on Russian gas and allows Moscow to exert political pressure on its neighbors.

But the Biden administration in May jettisoned the idea of further sanctions, saying Russia would complete it regardless of the economic penalties imposed.

Scholz, a Social Democrat, is currently in negotiations with the Greens and the pro-business FDP to form a coalition government in Berlin. The parties have differing views on the pipeline, with the Greens against it, while the FDP is skeptical.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and dpa
Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies agreed on a final statement on October 31 that urged "meaningful and effective" action to limit global warming, but angering climate activists by offering few concrete commitments.

The result of days of tough negotiation among diplomats leaves huge work to be done at the broader United Nations COP26 climate summit in Scotland, which starts this week.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he was disappointed that more could not have been done and blamed China and Russia for not bringing proposals to the table.

"The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia and  China basically didnt show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change," Biden told reporters on October 31 after the two-day meeting in Rome.

Although the G20 pledged to stop financing coal power overseas, they set no timetable for phasing it out at home, and watered down the wording on a promise to reduce emissions of methane -- another potent greenhouse gas.

However, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who chaired the Rome gathering, hailed the final accord, saying that for the first time all G20 states had agreed on the importance of capping global warming at the 1.5 degrees Celsius level that scientists say is vital to avoid disaster.

"We made sure that our dreams are not only alive but they are progressing," Draghi told a closing news conference, brushing off criticism from environmentalists that the G20 had not gone nearly far enough to resolve the crisis.

The G20, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for 60 percent of the world's population and an estimated 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

With reporting by dpa, AFP, Reuters, and AP
Preliminary results in Georgias October 30 runoff elections show the ruling Georgian Dream party narrowly winning 19 of the 20 contested mayoral posts, including all five in the countrys major cities, as the opposition alleged that ballots had been rigged.

The Central Election Commission released preliminary results on October 31 showing Georgian Dream candidates winning mayoral elections in the capital, Tbilisi, as well as Batumi, Kutaisi, Poti, and Rustavi.

Georgian Dream candidates were also winning in 25 of 42 local council districts, with 15 districts won by opposition candidates.

After the results were announced, Nika Melia, a leader of the opposition United National Movement (ENM), said the elections were invalid.

Lets not kid ourselves, he said. Elections have been cancelled.

Melia vowed a fight without compromise and later announced that the opposition would call for a major demonstration in Tbilisi on November 7.

Around 2,000-3,000 protesters rallied in the center of Tbilisi later on October 31.

Central Election Commission chief Georgi Kalandarishvili said the voting on October 30 had been competitive, free, and transparent.

He also said several incidents at polling stations, the nature of which he did not specify, had not had an impact on the results, the Interfax news agency said.

Kalandarishvili added that his commission would review complaints over the voting process in the coming days.

In televised remarks, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili hailed Georgian Dreams results and congratulated the winning candidates.

Giorgi Baramidze, another ENM leader, on October 30 called on former President Mikheil Saakashvili to end his hunger strike, saying the opposition needs him alive to help mount a peaceful revolution.



"My Misha, my brother, we need you alive. Only Putin and Ivanishvili want you to die. You must not die on the curse of the enemy," Baramidze said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgian Dream.

He called on Georgians to mount a peaceful revolution by isolating "this morally completely bankrupt regime" through rallies and disobedience.



Saakashvili has been on a hunger strike for almost a month. The opposition, doctors, and Saakashvilis lawyers have been calling on the Georgian Dream government to move him to a private hospital to receive treatment, but Garibashvili has ruled that out, saying on October 29 that Saakashvili has a right to commit suicide.

The runoff elections have been overshadowed by Saakashvili's hunger strike, which came after his arrest within hours of his return from eight years in self-exile abroad on October 1.

The 53-year-old Saakashvili, who was president from 2004 to 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 ENM 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."



In his appeal to Saakashvili, Baramidze said the ENMs main task will be to liberate him by all methods of peaceful struggle and work toward political isolation of the regime -- a regime that has neither a political nor a moral basis, which even these elections showed.

The first round of the Georgian elections on October 2 was criticized by international observers. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said it was marred by allegations of intimidation, vote-buying, and pressure on candidates and voters.

A Council of Europe monitor said the voting was a lost opportunity for local democracy in Georgia, and the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi cast doubt on the overall fairness of the elections.

With reporting by AP and AFP
Opposition parties in Georgia protested outside the parliament in the capital, Tbilisi, on October 31, a day after mayoral runoffs in major cities. The ruling Georgian Dream party dominated the second round of voting according to preliminary results. Nika Melia, a leader of the United National Movement (ENM), addressed the protesters. According to the opposition, the elections were rigged and it is preparing for a larger rally on November 7. Georgia's Central Election Commission said the voting on October 30 had been competitive, free, and transparent.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington is "absolutely in lockstep" with Britain, Germany, and France on getting Iran back into a nuclear deal, but added it was unclear if Tehran was willing to rejoin the talks in a "meaningful way."

Blinken's remarks in an interview with CNN on October 31 come a day after the United States, Germany, France, and Britain urged Iran to resume compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal in order to "avoid a dangerous escalation."

The accord, under which Iran curtailed its nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of global sanctions, unraveled in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States, prompting Tehran to breach limits on uranium enrichment set by the pact.

"It really depends on whether Iran is serious about doing that," Blinken said on Iran rejoining the nuclear talks. "All of our countries, working by the way with Russia and China, believe strongly that that would be the best path forward," he added.

Leaders of the four countries hoping to persuade Tehran to stop enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels, said on October 30 that they wanted a negotiated solution.

"But we do not yet know whether Iran is willing to come back to engage in a meaningful way," Blinken said on October 31. "But if it isn't, if it won't, then we are looking together at all of the options necessary to deal with this problem."

Separately, Iran's foreign minister said on October 31 that, if the United States was serious about rejoining Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, President Joe Biden could just issue an "executive order," the state-owned Iran newspaper reported.

"It is enough for Biden to issue an executive order tomorrow and they (U.S.) announce they are rejoining the pact from the point where his predecessor left the deal," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said. "If there is a serious will in Washington to return to the deal, there is no need for all these negotiations at all."

Talks between Iran and world powers aimed at salvaging the deal, which started in April, are slated to resume at the end of November, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said on October 27.

With reporting from Reuters and AP
North Macedonia held runoff elections on October 31 that were seen as a test for the leftist national government after the center-right opposition won more municipalities than the ruling social democrats in the first round of voting two weeks ago.

The main battleground in the Balkan country's vote on October 31 was the capital, Skopje, where incumbent Mayor Petre Shilegov from the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) was being challenged by Danela Arsovska of the opposition Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian Unity (VMRO-DPMNE).

Runoff elections were also held in Bitola, Tetovo, Ohrid, and Gostivar.

The opposition party won 21 municipalities to the SDSM's nine during the first round of voting.

A total of 33 mayors were elected in the first round. Another 47 posts were up for grabs in the second round. Ethnic Albanian parties, including the Democratic Union for Integration, a junior coalition partner in the leftist government, were competing for more than a dozen mayoral posts.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, the SDSM leader, urged people to vote in large numbers, saying the mayoral race in Skopje was key to implementing his cabinet vision and policies.

Election authorities have introduced new terminals that use fingerprints to identify voters. There were some issues with voters understanding the system on October 17.

First results are expected on November 1.
MURMANSK, Russia -- Two months after 20-year-old conscript Yegor Voronkin arrived at his post in the Murmansk region settlement of Pechenga, he was rushed to a hospital in the city of Severomorsk. For a month, he lay in a coma, fighting for his life. On October 5, he died, never having regained consciousness.

The militarys preliminary finding states that Voronkin died of ethylene glycol poisoning after drinking hydraulic fluid in a suicide attempt.

It is an explanation that Voronkins family flatly rejects. They say he had plans to complete his military service and then move to Moscow with his girlfriend.

He called her almost every day, the girlfriends mother, who asked to be identified only as Alina, told RFE/RL. Lately they had been trying to persuade him to sign a military contract. He said he had no desire to do so  the salary was only 40,000 rubles ($570) and everyone drinks.

Voronkin called for the last time on September 3, one day before he was hospitalized.

The tragedy only adds tarnish to the troubled reputation of the Pechenga military base, home of the 200th Motorized Infantry Brigade, just 11 kilometers from Russias border with Norway. Three conscripts with the unit died within days of each other in February 2020. Officially, one committed suicide, one died of unspecified natural causes, and a third was run down by a military vehicle driven by a drunken officer. Less than a month later, five servicemen were injured in an explosion during a live-fire exercise.

In 2014, a 19-year-old conscript named Anatoly Noskov was found dead next to a purported suicide note in which he asked his family not to blame anyone for his death. His family, doubting the official account, arranged for a handwriting analysis, as a result of which it was discovered that another conscript wrote the note on the orders of the units acting deputy commander. The officer got off with a reprimand.

Voronkins death also comes at a time when the Russian military is becoming increasingly opaque. On October 1, the Federal Security Service (FSB) released a long list of broad topics that could result in people or organizations being designated foreign agents for researching or writing about. The list includes the investigation of crimes in the military and information about compliance with the law and the moral-psychological climate inside the armed forces.

Days later, the prominent NGO Soldiers Mothers of St. Petersburg announced it was ceasing its activities defending conscripts and investigating hazing because of the serious restrictions imposed by the FSB list.

According to the official version of Voronkins case, on the morning of September 4, the conscript entered his units officers quarters and found in a box under one bunk a plastic bottle that once held mineral water but had been filled with POZh-70 hydraulic fluid. It is an antifreeze and anticorrosive that is used in the braking systems of military vehicles.

At about 9:30 a.m., Voronkin took the indicated bottle and drank from it one swallow, after which he returned it to its previous place, the Investigative Committee wrote in its document on the opening of an investigation into a charge of negligence, a copy of which has been obtained by RFE/RL.

'Nothing Unusual'

The Investigative Committees document does not explain how this information was ascertained. The conscripts mother, Veronika Voronkina, told RFE/RL that there were no witnesses to the purported incident and that Voronkins fingerprints were not found on the bottle.

The Defense Ministrys Center for Judicial and Criminal Analysis, which analyzed the contents of the bottle and issued a report that has also been obtained by RFE/RL, wrote that one of Voronkins fellow conscripts said he met Voronkinin the officers quarters and Voronkin told him that he had drunk something containing alcohol. An officer with the unit said he could not exclude that Voronkin had discovered the bottle while cleaning in the room, according to the same report.

Several hours after the purported swallow of POZh-70, Voronkin and other soldiers were sent by truck to receive their second coronavirus vaccination shots. Neither the soldiers with him nor the doctors who oversaw the vaccinations noted anything unusual. After receiving his shot, Voronkin returned to his unit and a couple of hours later began experiencing dizziness and weakness. He vomited several times.

Voronkin was admitted to the Pechenga hospital in the afternoon of September 4. According to the hospital report, he told doctors about his vaccination and how he began feeling ill. He did not mention drinking the POZh-70 or any other substance. He was conscious and asked to speak with his mother.

How did that poison end up in his body? Veronika Voronkina, who works as a nurse at a hospital in Murmansk, said. Why was he vomiting? He didnt complain about anything. They asked him what he had had to eat and drink. He said, nothing unusual.

During the early morning hours of September 5, Voronkin was transferred to the military hospital in Severomorsk after he experienced difficulty breathing because he had inhaled some vomit. His mother was informed of his illness later that day.

Voronkina said the medical staff at Severomorsk was very good, but she felt that valuable time had been lost while her son was in the hospital at Pechenga.

Were they just watching him die? she said. Watching him fall into a coma? ... Couldnt they position him properly so that he didnt breathe in his vomit? He asked them repeatedly to call me, but not one of those bastards did. I was only called by the base commander the next morning at 9 oclock and he told me my son was in intensive care.

'A Living Corpse'

Mikhail Kutushov, a toxicologist and a professor working in Hannover, Germany, told RFE/RL that the combination of POZh-70 and a reaction to the COVID vaccine could have caused Voronkins illness.

A certain percentage of people do experience fever and vomiting after the COVID vaccine, Kutushov said. In my opinion, it isnt possible to be poisoned by one swallow of ethylene glycol, but we need to know the exact composition of the POZh-70. It is based on ethylene glycol, but what else is added? If there are some sort of military additions, then it is hard to say.

The Severomorsk doctors fought to save Voronkin for a month, but nothing helped.

Over the course of a month, my beautiful young Yegor turned into a living corpse, Voronkina wrote in a social-media post. And his mother had to watch this when she visited him.

From the beginning, Voronkina said, officials were inclined to attribute her sons death to suicide.

Investigators called me and asked if I thought it was suicide, she said. No. It was not suicide. He had plans, a girlfriend who was waiting for him. He was a member of a band. In a couple of years, he planned to move to Moscow.

Voronkina said her sons girlfriend also rejects the idea of suicide, saying that, on September 3, the pair had again discussed their plans to move to Moscow and the pressure hed been under to sign a contract for further military service.

Veronika Marchenko, the chairwoman of Mothers Rights, a noncommercial organization that supports conscripts and their families, told RFE/RL that suicide is often the most convenient explanation of such events for the military.

Of course, they dont think much about the feelings of the poor parents, she said. In our view, the more closed the military becomes as a structure, the greater the temptation will be to cover up such cases and the harder it will be to establish the real causes of the deaths of servicemen.

The death of any soldier should be a tragedy not just for his family, but for our whole society, she added.

The Investigative Committee has opened an investigation on suspicion of negligence, but has named no suspects. Voronkina has urged the committee to investigate not only the officers in Voronkins unit but the medical staff at the Pechenga hospital as well.

The press office of the Defense Ministrys Northern Fleet, which oversees the Pechenga military base, did not respond to RFE/RLs request for comment.

Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson based on reporting from Murmansk by Darya Morozko, a correspondent for the North.Realities Desk of RFE/RLs Russian Service.
North Macedonia's prime minister, Zoran Zaev, announced his resignation after opposition wins in runoff elections on October 31.



"I take responsibility for these developments. I resign from the post of prime minister and party president," said Zaev, whose Social Democrats head the ruling coalition.



"I have brought freedom and democracy, and democracy means taking responsibility," he said.



Zaev's governing coalition endorsed liberal-democratic principles as well as integration into the European Union and NATO. North Macedonia joined NATO in March 2020, but talks for its entry into the EU hit a dispute with Bulgaria that has stalled progress toward accession.



The main battleground in the elections on October 31 was the capital, Skopje, where incumbent Mayor Petre Shilegov, from the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), lost to Danela Arsovska of the opposition Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian Unity (VMRO-DPMNE).

Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of the VMRO-DPMNE, declared victory in several major cities in the country, including Skopje, and pointed out that it would be best for the government to leave for early parliamentary elections.



Zaev said there was no need for early elections. By law, the coalition could agree on another candidate for prime minister and form the government without a new vote.



Runoff elections were held in 44 municipalities, including Bitola, Tetovo, Ohrid, and Gostivar.



The opposition party won 21 municipalities to the SDSM's nine during the first round of voting two weeks ago.

Zaev had urged people to vote in large numbers, saying the mayoral race in Skopje was key to implementing his cabinet vision and policies. Turnout in the first round was 48.9 percent.



Election authorities introduced new terminals that use fingerprints to identify voters. There were some issues with voters understanding the system on October 17.



Zaev was elected prime minister in 2017 after 10 years of right-wing rule led by Nikola Gruevski, whose government was shaken by a wiretapping scandal revealed by Zaev. Gruevski fled to Budapest in November 2018 after being convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to two years in prison.



In 2018, Zaev struck a deal with Athens to add the geographical qualifier North to the country's official name in order to distinguish it from the Greek province of Macedonia as a precondition to NATO and European Union membership.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and AFP
Voters in North Macedonia's capital, Skopje, have been casting ballots to elect the city mayor. A number of other cities also have mayoral runoffs taking place on October 31, two weeks after municipal elections in which the opposition made sweeping gains. Parties in the parliamentary opposition are hoping that the local elections might change alliances in the assembly and threaten Prime Minister Zoran Zaev's majority.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that the health ministries of the Group of 20 (G20) countries promptly address the issue of mutual recognition of national COVID-19 vaccination certificates.

Putin made the proposal in a video message to the G20 on October 30 in which he also complained about the lack of international recognition for Russias Sputnik V vaccine, urging the G20 summit in Rome to discuss the mutual recognition of vaccines and vaccination certificates "as soon as possible."

Putin said that, despite the decisions of the G20, not all countries in need can have access to anti-COVID vaccines."

He said that happens mainly because of dishonest competition, protectionism, and because some states, especially those of the G20, are not ready for mutual recognition of vaccines and vaccination certificates."

Putins comments were broadcast on Russian state television after G20 leaders agreed to step up global inoculation efforts.

Earlier this month, South Africa refused to approve the Russian vaccine despite the country's need for vaccines. Sputnik V also lacks regulatory approval in the European Union and the United States.

Chinese President Xi Jinping -- who, like Putin did not attend the summit but participated by videolink -- made a similar call for the mutual recognition of vaccines, according to Chinese state media.

In Russia, where new cases are spiking despite the availability of Sputnik V, Putin has ordered a weeklong paid holiday in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.

Authorities have blamed a spike in infections in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe in large part on a slow vaccination rate.

With only 32.5 percent of the population fully vaccinated, Russia on October 30 reported its highest single-day case tally -- 40,251 -- over the previous 24 hours. The government's coronavirus task force also 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 November, while Moscow reimposed a partial lockdown on October 28. Only essential shops like pharmacies and supermarkets remain open in the Russian capital.

Russias health minister said on October 30 that Sputnik Light will be used only as a booster for people who have already been vaccinated, Russian news agencies reported.

Russia previously promoted Sputnik Light, which comprises the first shot of its two-shot Sputnik V, as an effective standalone vaccine or a booster that can be combined with non-Russian vaccines.

"As the delta variant is advancing, there will definitely be changes made today to the methodological recommendations on vaccinations where it will (say): only use Sputnik Light for re-vaccination," Health Minister Mikhail Murashko was quoted as saying by TASS.

Sputnik Light has demonstrated 70 percent effectiveness against the delta variant three months after injection.

At the G20, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said the international community was "very close to meeting the World Health Organizations target of vaccinating 40 percent of the global population by the end of 2021.

But Draghi noted that, while more than 70 percent of people in developed countries have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the number drops to around 3 percent in the poorest parts of the world.

"These differences are morally unacceptable, and undermine the global recovery," he said.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, TASS, and dpa
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia is working on strengthening its military base in Tajikistan to boost regional security as the situation escalates in Afghanistan.



During a meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon on May 8, Putin also said that Russia is helping to strengthen Tajikistans armed forces.



Rahmon raised concerns over the rising tensions in neighboring Afghanistan since the U.S. announcement last month that it will pull out all remaining American troops by September 11.



"I know you are concerned about this situation. For our part, we are doing everything we can to support you," Putin told Rahmon.



Tajikistan hosts about 7,000 troops from Russias 201st Motor Rifle Division that are stationed in three facilities.



Tajikistan, one of the poorest former Soviet countries, has close economic ties with Russia as hundreds of thousands of Tajiks work in Russia to support families at home.



Rahmon was in Moscow to attend Victory Day ceremonies on May 9 to mark the 76th anniversary of the end of World War II.



Russia and many other former Soviet countries commemorate the May 9 anniversary with parades and celebrations.



Rahmon, who has ruled Tajikistan with an iron since 1992, maintains close relations with Moscow.

Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS
Russian television presenter Igor Kirillov, who was the chief news anchor for state television during the Soviet era, has died aged 89.

For decades, Kirillov was the presenter who informed U.S.S.R. audiences of major news events, including the launch of the Sputnik satellite, communiques issued by the Communist Party, military parades on Moscow's Red Square, and the burials of Soviet leaders at the Kremlin wall.

The news of his death was reported by Channel One and other Russian media outlets as well as the BBC.

The cause of death was not given, but sources quoted by Izvestia and Ren-TV said Kirillov's health began to deteriorate in September. The reports indicated he had suffered a thrombosis -- a blood clot. Interfax reported that he had been hospitalized in October.

Kirillov hosted the daily news program Vremya (Time) for more than 20 years.

Born on September 14, 1932, in Moscow, Kirillov was an actor in the Moscow Drama and Comedy Theater -- now the Taganka Theater -- from 1955 to 1957.

Later he began working at the Shabolovsky television center as an assistant director of the Musical Editorial Office of Central Television. Within months of beginning his career in television, he went on the air and won the announcer competition.

By the late 1980s, the job of television news presenter was no longer the realm of professional announcers but journalists. This was also true in the Soviet Union, and Kirillov was seen less and less on TV.

Kirillov hosted Vremya for the last time on December 30, 1989. The Soviet Union collapsed two years later.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service and the BBC
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Hi George! How are you? Im fine. How are ya doing in school? Im 12-.

With these words, cheerfully written on round smiley face stationery in November 1975, sixth-grader Lori Rubin launched an enduring pen pal relationship with New York eighth-grader George Ghossn.

For 42 years they continued to exchange hand-written letters about once a month. But up until two weeks ago, the lifelong best friends had never met in person or even spoken on the phone.

Then, when Lori, whose married name is Gertz, made a whirlwind visit to New York in mid-April, she and Ghossn finally met face to face. They hugged and cried together and then spent two hours reminiscing.

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On Tuesday morning they met again, this time in Encinitas for a presentation on the importance of friendship at The Grauer School, a private college prep academy that Gertzs son, Jonah, attends.

In an interview afterward, they sat close together and spoke with the familiarity and shared history of siblings. Gertz, 53, occasionally stopped talking mid-sentence to stare over at Ghossn, 56, incredulous that they were in the same room together after so many years.

Im sorry. Im having a moment, she said. I cant believe that my George is here. I just love you so much.

A stack of letters exchanged over the 42 years between pen pals Lori Gertz of Encintas, 53, and George Ghossn, 56, of New York. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Ghossn, of East Islip, N.Y., admits hes the reason for the long-delayed meeting. Superstitious by nature, he worried that meeting Gertz would upset the delicate balance of their old-fashioned letter-writing relationship.

Every few years, she would write to ask if they could meet in person. He always declined. Then he lost his parents and both of his brothers and said he found himself all alone in the world. Alone, except for Gertz.

I didnt want to meet her because I was afraid she wouldnt like me, or that shed be disappointed, Ghossn said. But then I had a lot of loss in my family and I realized she is my family and I needed to meet her. Now I wish Id done it sooner. Our relationship is better tenfold.

Both agree that their friendship has taken on a richer dimension and theyre planning to spend the Christmas holidays together at the Encinitas home Gertz shares with her husband of nearly 20 years, Craig, and their children Jonah, 18, and Talia, 12.

Craig, an attorney, was happy to finally meet George on Tuesday. One of the first things Lori told her future husband years ago was that giving up her friendship with George was non-negotiable.

Oh yeah, I always knew. George came with the package, Craig said.

The friendship was born as the result of a chain letter, a 1970s fad where teens sent out letters to strangers in the hopes of getting even more back. Gertz was disappointed in the response she received from the chain letter so she picked Ghossns name off the enclosed address list and sent the 14-year-old New Yorker a pen pal request. He agreed.

In her first letter she asked if he minded that she was Jewish (he didnt). In his first letter, he sent a school photo (which she loved). Then, with little exception, they continued exchanging letters over the years on stationery, notebook paper, scrap paper and even Post-It Notes.

New York resident George Ghossn and Encinitas resident Lori Gertz have been pen pals for 42 years and recently met in person for the first time. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)

In the early years, they wrote about school, their families and friends and their hobbies. As they moved into their teens and their trust in each other deepened, they gave each other advice on issues like his girlfriends over the years (he and Gertz never had any romantic feelings for one another) and the chaos in her family.

His letters were direct and candid. Hers were deeply felt and poetic. She would go on to become a published author.

Her words are so beautiful, Ghossn said. She always knew the perfect thing to say so that no matter how much loss I felt, her words were enough. They made me feel better. They brought me out of the darkness into the light.

Gertz said she sees letter writing as a sacred and ancient art that younger generations no longer value. Because letter writing takes so long, it allows her time to reflect, self-edit and dig deep into her soul to express what shes feeling. Both she and Ghossn have saved virtually all of the letters they exchanged.

As they grew older, college and careers became the focus of the letters. Ghossn went to work for the Suffolk County Water Authority and started performing in musical theater, sending Gertz photos of himself in costume for various roles.

Gertz got a journalism degree, moved frequently and became a writer and marketer. She married and sent Ghossn birth announcements and family photos. Several years ago, her family left the Midwest and moved to Encinitas.

In 2006, their relationship shifted in a more serious direction. Ghossn sent Gertz an emotional letter scrawled on an airplane cocktail napkin about his mothers recent death. With cards and support, she helped him through the first of many losses.

He was there for her as well when the bottom fell out of her world a few years later. In 2003, the Gertzes adopted an infant girl who, unbeknownst to them, was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and severe mental illness.

The child became a danger to herself and others and after years of struggle, the Gertzes surrendered the 7-year-old to foster care in 2010. When the Chicago Tribune wrote about the family, they were publicly vilified.

Those years, which Gertz documented in her 2014 memoir When Mama Cant Kiss it Better, were so traumatic, she doesnt remember writing any letters to Ghossn. But she did. And he remembers.

I couldnt believe what I was reading, he said of those letters. It was just terrible. She wrote me a lot about it. But I think she has blocked it out.

About every eight years, she would send him a letter asking for a meeting without success. Several years ago she helped him establish a Facebook page, though he rarely posted anything, and she begged him to send her emails, but he didnt.

Im just not someone whos computer savvy, he said. I guess I missed the boat on that one.

Then last month, when Jonah was deciding between the colleges hed been accepted to, Gertz decided to take her son to visit Hofstra University in Westbury, N.Y. She sent Ghossn a Facebook message asking if they could finally meet in a hotel near the college campus. To her shock, he agreed.

She worried he wouldnt show up but he did  early in fact  and a hotel clerk using Georges cellphone captured their tearful meeting in the lobby. After they both posted something on Facebook about their long-overdue meeting, it was picked up by ABC News in New York and has since gone viral.

Last week, the TV series Inside Edition asked to profile the pair and flew Ghossn into San Diego Monday night so their cameras could capture another reunion as well as their presentation for 7th-12th graders at The Grauer School.

Ghossn flew home again Tuesday night, but the pair are already making plans for their next reunion. Theyre also talking by phone and Facebook more often. But one thing that wont change is their commitment to writing letters.

Theres a sense of connection you get with someone who has shared their life with you through letters, Gertz said. He gave me the incredible ability to connect with another human and be my authentic self.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com


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Jim Staley is a native Texan now living in Santa Fe. He has been coming to New Mexico with his family since the 1950s. His wife, Ryn Staley, is an avid golfer and writer, having published several books. They live in Las Campanas with their two King Charles cavalier spaniels.
New Mexico chile has been growing on the International Space Station, and now, astronauts get to try it after its first harvest.

According to a KOB 4 report, a technical and horticultural scientist from Espanola Jacob Torres plays a vital role in this project in partnership with NASA.

Torres and the other teams involved joined together on Friday for the first harvest of the New Mexico chile. As indicated in this report, seven "Espanola improved" peppers, a cross between the traditional Espanola pepper and Sandia pepper, were harvested. Four will be stored in a freezer and returned to Earth, where the team of Torres will analyze them.

This report specified that the rest of the harvests would be enjoyed in space, not to mention the first fruit to be eaten in orbit. Torres said the initial space was spicy, and there remain ten peppers left for another harvest slated for December.

ALSO READ: International Space Station's First Plant Transplant Aided by Microgravity





Astronauts Growing Red and Green Chile Peppers in Space

A CNN report in July 2021 said that astronauts were growing red and green chile peppers in space, which, according to NASA, would be "one of the longest," not to mention the most challenging plant experiments "attempted aboard the orbital lab."

Hatch chile pepper seeds, the news site said, arrived at the station in June via a SpaceX commercial resupply services mission.

Astronaut Shane Kimbrough from NASA, a flight engineer who helped grow in 2016 the "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce in space, initiated the experiment by inserting more than 40 seeds on July 12 this year, into the Advanced Plant Habitat or APH.

Moreover, a team with the Kennedy Space Center's Exploration Research and Technology programs planted the said seeds in a device known as the "science carrier," slotting into the APH, one of the tree plant growth chambers on the orbiting lab where the astronauts are raising crops.

Approximately the size of a kitchen oven, the APH is the largest facility for plant growth on the ISS. With 180 sensors and controls for monitoring, it enables the experiment to be controlled in part from the Kennedy Space Center in order for the astronauts to spend a shorter time tending to the crops.

First-Time Cultivation of Chile Peppers

In a news release that also came out in July, NASA said it was the first time for NASA astronauts to cultivate a crop of chile peppers on ISS from seeds to maturity.

According to the project's principal investigator Matt Romeyn, the experiment is one of the most multifaceted plant experiments on the ISS due to the long germination and growing periods.

Romey also said they have previously tested flowering to increase the chance for a successful harvest since astronauts will need to pollinate the peppers to cultivate fruit.

This experiment was carried out after astronauts began to grow zinnias in 2015. This development is called a "precursor to grow longer-period, fruit-bearing flowering crops" by NASA.

Landing on 'Espanola Improved' Pepper

Researchers spent two years analyzing more than two dozen pepper varieties and ultimately landed on the NuMex "Espanola Improved" pepper, as mentioned, a hybrid Hatch pepper from New Mexico.

While astronauts have harvested veggies before, like radishes and lettuce, such an experiment could provide astronauts with something to satisfy their fatigue.

According to Romeyn, crew members may opt for spicy or seasoned food as they can temporarily lose their sense of smell or taste living in microgravity.

Prior to this New Mexico chile harvest, the said CNN report specified that the peppers should be ready for harvesting in roughly three-and-a-half months. After eating, some of the crew are planning to send the rest of Earth for assessment.

Report about the harvest of New Mexico chile in space is shown on KRQE's YouTube video below:

RELATED ARTICLE: Growing Plants In Space: Astronauts Eats First Radish Grown in Space

Check out more news and information on Space on Science Times.
After receiving an offer in 1977 to become the next president of Scottsdale Community College, the late Dr. Art DeCabooter told his wife, Mary: Well, well try it for a year or so. If we like it, well stay and buy a bigger home with a pool. If not, well go back to the Midwest.
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.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)  It once would have been unthinkable for a city to erect a monument to Huey P. Newton.

The Black Panther Party co-founder was feared and hated by many Americans, and party members were dismissed as racist, gun-toting militants  Black avengers who believed violence was as American as cherry pie.

But the unthinkable has happened  in Oakland, the city of the partys founding 55 years ago. In an unrelenting deluge on an October Sunday, Newtons widow Fredrika and sculptor Dana King unveiled a bronze bust of Newton.

It is true that aside from Oakland, where the Panthers were born and Newton was murdered, there are few places where such a bust would be welcome; there is probably no other place in the world that could place his statue at an intersection of Dr. Huey P. Newton Way and Mandela Parkway, named for the late South African revolutionary Nelson Mandela.

And it would be wrong to suggest that the Panthers are enjoying a resurgence, or even a moment; the party disbanded almost 40 years ago.

But it is also true that in 2021, some activists and historians are taking another look at the legacy of the Panthers through a less-freighted lens. The Panthers, they say, were a harbinger of todays identity politics, helped shape progressivism, and have served as grandfathers and grandmothers to the Black Lives Matter movement.

You have the detractors who only see (the Panthers) as a militia, and then you have the folks who are actually happy for that because the times required it, said Robyn Spencer, an associate professor of history at Lehman College in New York City.

Much of the partys story has often been overshadowed by its association with violence. The Black Panther Party has been seen as an organization that sought war with police, a group doomed by infighting, infiltration and corruption among its leaders.

Yet over its 15 years of operation, the party and its politics were a training ground and an inspiration for a generation of Black, Latino, Asian, Native American and white people who hold public office or public platforms today. Some of the partys biggest accomplishments, like its community service programs, helped transform public education and health care.

Fredrika Newton, who co-founded the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation in Oakland, is among those who want to retell the Panthers story for a new generation. She said the bronze bust is just a start of a larger effort to see the Black Power movement take its place in history with other, less confrontational actors of the civil rights movement. Among her goals: recognition of Panther sites by the U.S. National Park Service.

Youre hearing more about the Black Panther Party, and Hueys contributions to (Black) liberation as a thought leader, than youve ever heard before, she said.

___

After meeting at a community college in Oakland, Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in October 1966. Newton was the partys minister for defense and Seale was the party chairman.

Together, they wrote the partys Ten Point Program, laying out the partys beliefs. Among their demands: Freedom to determine the destiny of the Black community, economic empowerment through full employment and wealth redistribution, an educational system inclusive of the Black experience, and an end to brutality and fatal encounters between Black people and police.

The party became famous in its early years for its men and women in matching black berets and black leather jackets, sometimes accessorized by long-barrel shotguns. And there were the Panther formations, marches and patrols, meant as a show of discipline and strength.

In interviews, former Panther members acknowledged that the partys very name drove perceptions that it only operated by force and intimidation. The party eventually dropped for Self Defense from its name. But those words also meant nutrition, health care and political education for the Black community, said Erika Huggins, who was the first woman to lead a chapter of the Panther Party.

Largely due to its Survival Programs, the party was embraced in nearly 70 communities across the U.S. and abroad where it had chapters, opened offices, provided free health care clinics to residents and free breakfast programs for schoolchildren, and published Black Panther newspapers. Also among its 65 programs were pioneering sickle cell disease testing research, free food and clothing distribution, transportation service for families visiting incarcerated loved ones, and escorts for seniors who needed assistance getting to a supermarket or a pharmacy.

Panthers were aggressively surveilled by the FBI, and the agencys infamous and illegal COINTELPRO effort included infiltration and intimidation of Panthers groups across the country. It sowed paranoia, distrust and violence within the party. Whenever the FBI shared intel with police departments, members say, it preceded the assault, torture, arrest, imprisonment and deaths of Panthers across the country.

The narrative continues in places like the Officer Down Memorial Page, a website dedicated to honoring law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

Among those memorialized is John Frey, an Oakland police officer who died of gunshot wounds in 1967 after pulling Newton over. Newton denied shooting Frey but was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 1968. Newtons conviction was overturned two years later.

The Black Panthers is a racist, radical group that professed the murders of law enforcement officers, reads the memorial entry for Frey, which also includes claims Panthers were responsible for the deaths of at least 15 officers and the wounding of dozens nationwide.

The party officially folded in 1982 after years of police surveillance, dwindling national membership, violent infighting, allegations of embezzlement and scandals in which Newton was implicated.

___

In many ways, the old Panthers say, we now live in the Black Panthers world. They tilled the ground and made it fertile for activism against police brutality, mass incarceration, generational poverty and racial wealth gaps. For better or worse, they helped launch the America we see today, broken up into tribes by sex and race and creed.

The Panthers were radical for their time, but their positions are less so today, when social activism based on race or ethnicity, religious faith, queer and transgender identity and political ideology is common. And while armed self-defense is still considered extreme, that has not stopped some whites on the far-right from embracing the concept.

The Panthers also pushed society to deal with Black people as they are, not as racists see them. It was a clear contrast to the respectability politics of the nonviolent civil rights movement.

That has carried over to the Black Lives Matter movement. Protesters adopted tactical confrontation with law enforcement and elected leaders, in response to the deaths of Black boys, men and women at the hands of police and vigilantes: Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Phillip Agnew, a Florida-based activist and early organizer in the Black Lives Matter movement, co-founded Black Men Build, a national group focused on the empowerment and political education of Black men.

The Panthers, he said. are still a model to draw from.

___

News researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed.

___

Morrison, a native of Oakland, is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP)  A historic gem in East Wheeling has operated outside of the public eye for more than a century, but under its new ownership, the Scottish Rite Cathedral is opening a new chapter in its rich history  and is opening its hallowed halls to the public.

Major renovations are underway in the 14th Street landmark, and a handful of public and private events have been taking place over the past several months in some of the eye-popping rooms of the building. Just last week, the Wheeling Rotary Club met in the marble-laden Rotunda room at the entrance of the Scottish Rite Cathedral  now owned by Roxby Development  with Roxby President Jeffrey Morris serving as guest speaker.

Rotarians also got to break up into groups and go on guided tours of the sprawling facility, which for decades since it opened in 1916 has only been seen and utilized by members of a West Virginia valley of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, a council of Freemasonry often perceived as a very private fraternity of community leaders who conduct much of their business in private.

Rabbi Joshua Lief, president of the Wheeling Rotary Club, said the members were very grateful for Roxbys efforts to construct a new future while preserving the treasured past of the historic Scottish Rite building.

We care deeply about our role as stewards of the community, Lief said. When one can combine both historic preservation and economic development  and at the same time looking at our past and building for our future simultaneously  its a very exciting project. We wanted to be supportive by having our meeting here to see everything that theyre doing, and we look forward to the space opening to the wider public coming soon.

The Scottish Rite building is just one of a handful of iconic Wheeling structures Roxby is currently working to renovate and revitalize. Roxby is also the new owner of the McClure Hotel downtown and the Mt. Carmel Monastery in Edgwood, both of which are undergoing major renovations propelled by exciting new visions for their future.

Officials from Roxby noted that as part of their agreement when they purchased the property last year, the Scottish Rite will continue to utilize rooms in the historic building, while more public and private events will also be taking place there, as well. Morris noted that an eye-popping theater that occupies the fifth and sixth floors of the building will soon be in use in the coming weeks.

We have the ability to use it for special occasions, Morris said. Were going to have the symphony here on the 20th.

Roxby is presenting and hosting the Wheeling Symphony Orchestras SoundBites Vol. 3 opening night for its 2021-22 season inside the theater of the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The evening pairs chamber orchestra music with a multi-course gourmet meal and signature cocktail, along with a special guest performer  Grammy winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke.

Morris said Roxby has been working with the Wheeling Fire Department, which in the interim is expected to authorize limited crowd occupancy of around 350 for special events. Renovations will include upgrades and additions to the fire suppression systems and escape routes, which will open the door to events with a larger slate of guests.

The eventual occupancy we want to get is 1,000 folks, Morris said.

Events by local chambers of commerce have already taken place at the site in the Rotunda, and use is also being eyed for a number of eyebrow-raising rooms in the building. Last month, Wheeling Central Catholic High School held its homecoming dance inside the cavernous ballroom.

Despite the cloak of mystery behind its largely nondescript exterior walls over the many decades, the Scottish Rite Cathedral has played host to some big events. The most noted was in 1927, a reception and banquet celebrating the non-stop trans-Atlantic flight of groundbreaking aviator Charles Lindbergh, who was the special guest.

Even smaller rooms in the building boast a wealth of history and character. The library is anchored by a fireplace and is surrounded by walls lined with dozens of oak cabinets full of vintage books. Roxby officials indicated that the library is one of the rooms available for use for meetings, receptions and other events.

There is also a ladies parlor, a first-floor kitchen and a full kitchen adjacent to the ballroom.

Historian Bekah Karelis, who for many years worked with Wheeling Heritage, more recently served as project manager for Adventures in Elegance before it merged with Roxby Development. She now serves as director of historic preservation for Roxby, is working on first-floor renovation projects at the Scottish Rite building and provided an insightful tour of the building to a group of Rotarians last week.

We like sharing the building, Karelis said. Its one of Wheeings gems.

Karelis said Roxby plans to create a restaurant and bar in the area of the dining room  which is adorned with stained glass windows  to likely extend into the billiard room.

Some of the historic elements of the building provide snapshots into the past  so much so that there are plans to showcase many of them. From the bookcases to even the billiard shelves, the functional furnishings themselves serve as artifacts that highlight local history. A wall in the lower level maintenance room boasts a large rack of historic cigar boxes and containers of screws, nuts, bolts and other work materials that itself can be viewed as a mosaic work of art. Karelis said they plan to relocate the workshop rack and showcase it just as it was left by the buildings past custodians.

Also in the basement, the buildings huge, vintage electric control panel  installed by the Gee Electric Construction Company of Wheeling in 1926  is still in service. An historic showpiece on its own, the power panel has recently been encased behind glass as a functioning museum-worthy tour highlight. The mammoth boiler in the basement also boasts echoes of hometown industrial might of the past as it is embossed with the label of its maker, the Schofield-Cowl Company of Wheeling.

ne room used by the Scottish Rite is literally covered in group photos from its members bi-annual reunion gatherings there. The building has served members from all around West Virginia, but the dwindling number of faces in the more recent photos tell an unintended sub-story  one that reveals why the hulking structure changed ownership last year. Black and white membership photos from decades ago are packed with scores of people, while the most recent color photos only show four or five members.

The larger numbers of active members in the past helped support the upkeep of the grand facility, but diminishing resources among the smaller group in recent years has necessitated a call for a helping hand.

Karelis said the agreement with the Scottish Rite not only provides for the Freemasons use of the facility into the future, it also provides needed rehabilitation and maintenance of the facility, as well as protection of the artifacts inside. And moving forward, much of it will be showcased to the public.

Roxby has set up shop in the building and is using various rooms as workshops for not only the Scottish Rite renovations, but also other Roxby restoration projects. New ADA restrooms are currently being installed, and work continues to upgrade many of the spaces inside while maintaining the original character of the building  which over the decades has had great caretakers.

They did such a wonderful job in maintaining this building, Karelis said of the members of the Scottish Rite.
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A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of homicide in a shooting Saturday at a Gilroy City Council members home, police said Sunday.

Benjamin David Calderon of Gilroy was arrested Saturday around 4:15 p.m. when members of the Gilroy/Morgan Hill Regional SWAT team served a warrant at a home in the 7100 block of Church Street, according to a news release from Gilroy Police Department.

Calderon was booked Sunday in the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of homicide, according to police and jail records.

In addition to the person killed, three others were injured in the shooting early Saturday at the home of Council Member Rebeca Armendariz, according to Gilroy police and the citys mayor, Marie Blankley. The property on the 400 block of Las Animas Avenue sits adjacent to Highway 101, with the freeway visible through a cyclone fence from the front door.

Authorities did not identify the male victim who died at Armendarizs home, or any of those injured. The victims ranged in age from 17 to 19, police said Sunday.

Officers arriving at the house discovered a large outdoor party after receiving a 911 call of a shooting at about 12:55 a.m., police said. An altercation had occurred before at least one person firing a gun, according to the police release. According to Gilroy Fire Department radio transmissions reviewed by The Chronicle, two victims were shot in the neck and one in the abdomen.

The death marked the fifth homicide in Gilroy this year, Sgt. Lamonte Toney told The Chronicle. The three injured people were taken to local hospitals. Two had life-threatening injuries. Their conditions were unknown Sunday.

According to the Fire Department radio transmissions, parents of partygoers raced to the scene early Saturday, and firefighters asked police to clear traffic so they could transport the injured victims. Crews also faced difficulties securing a helicopter flight for the most serious patient because of weather that limited where the aircraft could fly that night.

In a statement to The Chronicle on Saturday, Armendariz said she was unable to share details about a shooting on Las Animas because of the active police investigation. She said she and her family were cooperating with police and thanked community members who she said had reached out to her in the shooting aftermath.

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, she said.

Armendariz added that her familys primary concern is for the individuals impacted and their families.

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 hope the Gilroy community will come together with love and support for those touched by yesterdays events at the appropriate time, she said.

Armendariz was elected to the council in 2020. According to her LinkedIn page, she is a former political and community organizer, and a founding board member of CARAS, a nonprofit focused on service and cultural events.

Officials are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Chris Silva at 408-846-0335. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can contact the Gilroy police tip line at 408-846-0330.

Lauren Hernandez, Matthias Gafni and Anna Buchmann are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com, matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com, anna.buchmann@sfchronicle.com
American Airlines canceled nearly 1,600 flights this weekend, including more than 800 on Sunday, due to bad weather and staffing shortages, the company said.

About 20 of the flights canceled Sunday by midday were at two of the Bay Areas largest airports  San Francisco International and Mineta San Jose International  according to airport officials and flight tracking website FlightAware.

The American Airline cancellations began Thursday after severe winds struck the Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport, a major hub for the airline, and cut available runways from five to two, according to airline spokesperson Shannon Gilson. As a result, some crews were stuck out of position, further disrupting flight schedules.

With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences, Chief Operating Officer David Seymour said in a letter to staff members, which Gilson provided to The Chronicle. To make sure we are taking care of our customers and providing scheduling certainty for our crews, we have adjusted our operation for the last few days this month by proactively canceling some flights.

A total of 1,591 American Airlines flights had been canceled nationwide since Friday, Gilson said Sunday morning. The 809 flights canceled by late morning Sunday constituted nearly a third of the airlines schedule for the day, according to FlightAware.

Two of the Bay Areas three major airports reported an impact from the American Airlines cancellations.

At San Francisco International Airport, 12 American Airlines flights were canceled Sunday morning and six on Saturday, said Bob Rotiski, an airport duty manager.

At Mineta San Jose International Airport four American Airlines flights had been canceled between Friday and Sunday, according to Keonnis Taylor, a spokesperson for the airport.

Oakland International was unaffected by the disruptions American Airlines has not operated flights at Oaklands airport since the start of the pandemic, said spokesperson Kaley Skantz.

Airlines have experienced periodic disruptions since the spring as they ramp up operations from a severe pandemic slowdown, according to the New York Times.

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 cancellations came weeks after Southwest Airlines also scratched more than 1,900 flights nationwide, including in the Bay Area. The airline blamed disruptive weather and air traffic control problems, with staffing also an issue, the Associated Press reported.

Seymour said in his letter that American will be prepared for holiday travel,with nearly 1,800 flight attendants coming back from pandemic leave Monday, the remainder returning Dec. 1 and at least 600 new hires in place by the end of December. The airline is also hiring more pilots, reservations agents and other workers, he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for further information.

This story was corrected since it first appeared online.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
Before the pandemic, Claudia Valencia worked at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel as a housekeeper, cleaning rooms five days a week. She liked the work, which paid close to $30 an hour and gave her access to affordable medical care for herself and her family.

When she was laid off last year because of the pandemic she figured it might be for a few months. But a year and a half later, she hasnt been able to return to her old job even close to full time, only picking up one shift since the hotel, the largest west of Las Vegas, checked in its first guests since last year in May.

On Thursday, hundreds of members of Valencias union, Unite Here Local 2, marched in downtown San Francisco and cities across the country to demand a return to pre-pandemic levels of work.

Pictures on social media showed marchers carrying signs that read Full service now! and Hotel room should be cleaned every day.

San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney posted pictures on Twitter of himself with the union workers, and calling out city hotels for cutting back on automatic housekeeping, which he said could lead to a loss of more than 180,000 jobs and over $4 billion in wages lost each year.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Hilton did not directly address questions about what percentage of staff had been hired back or when the hotel plans to return to previous staffing levels.

Staffing levels are informed by market demand, local business environments, as well as recommendations from government and health authorities, the hotel said, adding We look forward to welcoming back our guests and team members.

The citys hotel occupancy has rebounded somewhat from its dismal levels this time last year, but is still only about half of the close to 90% of rooms that were filled in October 2019, according to data from S.F. Travel, the citys visitors bureau.

Occupancy rates peaked at around 47% in San Francisco over the summer, and currently sit at around 45%.

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

But union hotel workers and officials said it isnt depressed occupancy rates that are stopping their members from coming back to work, but a bid by hotels to cut costs and squeeze more productivity out of fewer employees.

Hotel companies are taking advantage of the pandemic to try to cut jobs through increased workloads and automation, said Unite Here Local 2 President Anand Singh in an emailed statement.

Singh said at the Hilton Union Square, occupancy was projected at 75% for the last Saturday in October but that only about 40% percent of housekeepers were scheduled to work that day. Citywide, only around 30% to 35% of our members are back at work, he said.

San Francisco has passed legislation that requires some businesses to rehire people laid off during the pandemic based on seniority, but similar statewide efforts have not gotten past the governors desk.

Statewide, the leisure and hospitality industry led the charge earlier this year in bringing jobs back, but that has leveled off, according to the latest numbers. Hiring seems to have stalled somewhat as the statewide unemployment rate has remained stuck at 7.5% for the past two months, only coming down by fractions of a percentage point since the summer.

Across California the industry added about 23,000 jobs from August to September, about half the increase between July and August.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

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.

Overall job postings are also lagging in California compared with pre-pandemic benchmarks, according to Michael Bernick, an attorney with the law firm Duane Morris and a former director of the states Employment Development Department.

Bernick said for the week ending in Oct. 22, job postings nationwide were 16.8% above January 2020 compared with 0.8% in California, a sign of a sputtering statewide economic engine.

For Valencia, the laid-off housekeeper, that has meant fewer options for good work to replace her missing union wages. Her husband also worked in facilities at the hotel and was laid off. Hes found work as a painter, but the money isnt enough.

Valencia said shes started working part time for Walmart near her home in the East Bay, but the $17 per hour isnt sufficient, and shes had to go on MediCal for her health benefits for herself and her family.

I want my work back, she said. Who survives with $17 per hour?

Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice
Shoppers at the Safeway in San Franciscos Castro neighborhood will see a noticeable change to the store: It now closes at 9 p.m. because of what one supervisor described as out of control shoplifting.

Once open 24 hours a day, the Safeway store on Market and Church streets now has the earliest closing hours of all the Pleasanton supermarket chains San Francisco storefronts, most of which stay open until midnight.

In a series of tweets Friday afternoon, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, whose district includes the Market Street Safeway, said the store is one of the few affordable grocery options for people living in and around the Castro.

A reduction in their operating hours will make it harder for working people to get groceries for themselves and their families, and will have a huge impact on the lives of the stores employees whose hours will be cut, Mandelman said.

Mandelman said theft at the Safeway at 2020 Market St. has been out of control and that he recently met with Safeway representatives to better understand the issues at this store. He said he also planned to meet with the San Francisco Police Department and the office of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin to see what is currently being done to deter theft at Safeway, and to figure out a plan to do better.

Mandelman and a Safeway spokesperson did not immediately respond to inquiries Saturday. The changes to the stores operating hours were first reported by Hoodline.

No other Safeway locations in San Francisco appear to be affected by changes in operating hours. Its unclear when the new store hours at the Market Street Safeway took effect, though it now operates from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

In a statement reported in Hoodline, Safeway spokesperson Wendy Gutshall attributed the locations reduced hours of operation to an increasing amount of theft at the store. The store also no longer has self-checkout stands near its entrance and earlier this year moved all its shopping carts inside after 160 of them were stolen, according to Hoodline.

The changes at the Market Street Safeway follow an intense debate in San Francisco about theft and crime at big-chain retail stores that has attracted national attention.

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.

Walgreens announced plans in October month to close five stores in San Francisco in November, citing concerns about organized retail crime. A recent Chronicle analysis of SFPD data found that the five Walgreens stores scheduled for closure averaged less than two recorded shoplifting incidents a month since 2018, though not all shoplifting incidents are reported to police.

Supervisor Ahsha Safai said on Twitter that the Market Street Safeways reduced hours fuel concerns about retail theft in the city that I have been ringing the alarm about ... for over a year. An ordinance introduced by Safai to be discussed at the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee at 10 a.m. Monday would allow the San Francisco Sheriffs Department to contract with private entities such as retail chains for supplemental law enforcement services.

We need to deter and suppress this type of crime and save our businesses  big and small  our economy and recovery depends on it, Safai said.

Ricardo Cano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ricardo.cano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByRicardoCano
The pandemic mask picture looks noticeably different in parts of the Bay Area as of Monday.

The biggest change is in Marin County where officials at noon lifted all indoor mask restrictions for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Its the first such move in the region after Marin met a set of coronavirus transmission and vaccination benchmarks agreed to by most Bay Area counties.

Meanwhile, Alameda and Contra Costa counties joined San Francisco and Sonoma counties Monday in easing their mask mandates for fully vaccinated people in some indoor settings.

Heres what you need to know about mask rules for all Bay Area counties:

Marin County: Mask rules lifted for fully vaccinated people

As of Monday at noon, fully vaccinated people can go without face coverings in most public indoor settings in Marin County. That includes restaurants, retailers, grocery stores, bars and churches.

Previously, people who had been immunized with either two shots of Pfizer or Moderna or one shot of Johnson & Johnson could take their masks off only in select indoor spaces where everyone present was vaccinated and the same people came in day in and day out.

But Marin County has now met the criteria, set by eight of nine Bay Area counties in September, allowing counties to ease their restrictions: Namely, it has been in the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions yellow, moderate, transmission tier for more than three weeks, has reported low hospitalization rates and has fully vaccinated at least 80% of the population.

Under the new guidelines, individual businesses can still require masks. And under state orders, masks are still required in K-12 schools, on public transportation and in nearly all health care facilities.

People who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated (just one dose of Pfizer or Moderna) still must wear masks indoors.

Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Sonoma: Some restrictions eased

On Monday, Alameda and Contra Costa counties joined San Francisco and Sonoma counties in easing some mask restrictions.

Specifically, people who have been fully vaccinated now are allowed to go without masks in certain indoor spaces where everyone is immunized. That includes offices, gyms, college classrooms and similar environments.

No more than 100 people may be inside, and the same group of people must regularly come to the space.

Operators of such indoor settings can still choose to impose their own face covering restrictions, according to health officials. And in all other public indoor settings, masks are still required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara: Masks still required indoors for all

Masking rules instituted in August in response to the rise of the delta variant are still in place in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Napa counties.

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.

All indoor public spaces still require masks for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

Solano: Masks encouraged but not required

Solano County was the only Bay Area county that did not issue universal indoor masking rules. Masks are still recommended, but only unvaccinated people are required to wear them indoors  except in the cities of Vallejo and Benicia, which issued rules in alignment with the rest of the Bay Area.

How long will it take for the Bay Area to remove all face mask requirements?

The changes in mask mandates are dependent on several criteria, but the hardest to reach has been the requirement that 80% of people in the county must be fully vaccinated.

In lieu of hitting the 80% goal, counties can wait until COVID vaccine has been available to children ages 5 to 11 for at least eight weeks. Most wont qualify under that criteria until late December or early January, experts said.

Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com
COVID-19 vaccines may be the greatest success story of this pandemic.

Developed in less than a year and already administered to more than 200 million Americans, they are remarkably effective at preventing severe illness, keeping people out of hospitals and saving lives. In highly vaccinated places like the Bay Area, they have altered the trajectory of the coronavirus plague.

But we can do better, some scientists say.

The vaccines used in the U.S. are fantastic at inciting a robust immune response to fend off the virus before it can replicate widely and cause serious infection in the lungs and other organs. Theyre somewhat less effective, though, at stopping the virus at its point of entry  usually the nose  and preventing illness entirely.

Around the world and in a few laboratories at Stanford and other major Bay Area research centers, scientists are working on what could be the next generation of COVID vaccines, many of them designed to be inhaled through the nose and from there to mount a frontline immune barrier.

The ultimate goal is whats known as sterilizing immunity: protection so fast and so strong that it blocks the virus before it can cause infection. That level of immunity, or something close to it, would prevent almost all post-vaccination breakthrough cases, and make it virtually impossible for vaccinated people to spread the virus to others. Widely deployed, it would end the pandemic.

Sterilizing immunity may be too high a bar, at least in the near future. But many scientists believe that COVID vaccines can be engineered that will get a lot closer to it, and theyll probably involve beating the virus in the respiratory tract, from the nose and throat down to the lungs.

Especially with the highly infectious delta variant, the current vaccines, though powerful, sometimes cant prevent the eruption of the virus in the respiratory tract, said Nadia Roan, a UCSF immunologist and investigator with the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. What if we had an even better vaccine, that would in theory decrease the number of breakthrough infections that are symptomatic, and more important, decrease transmission rates? Thats a possibility.

Intranasal vaccines are one approach; there are at least a dozen versions for COVID in various stages of development around the world, including some in clinical trials. The idea, simplified, is to prime the immune system in the very locations that are first exposed to the virus.

Inhaled vaccines arent a new concept  theres one for the flu, most often given to shot-averse children  but theyre less studied than traditional vaccines given by muscular injection. The first vaccines developed for COVID are all shots in large part because the world knows how to design and manufacture them on a large scale, fast.

You do things in a certain way and nobody questions, Well, is there a better way? said Dr. Tarik Massoud, a Stanford radiologist who, with colleague Ramasamy Paulmurugan, is developing an inhaled vaccine thats in early animal studies; they published their first paper last week.

Provided by Stanford Medicine

The vaccines currently in use are administered through a shot in the arm that pumps a dose loaded with messenger RNA deep into the muscle tissue. Once in direct contact with muscle cells, the mRNA deliver instructions for building the coronavirus spike protein  a harmless segment of the virus  which triggers a systemwide immune response. The body remembers the spike protein exposure, and its able to rally an aggressive response if it meets the coronavirus again.

That systemic immune response includes fast-acting antibodies to attack the virus on sight. However, the response relies in large part on B cells and T cells that mount a powerful fight to prevent severe illness but are slower than antibodies to react.

The injected vaccines are less effective at triggering the mucosal immune system  the cells in or near the respiratory tract and other parts of the body that come into direct contact with the outside environment, and are generally the site of first contact for viruses and other pathogens.

The systemic immune system is extremely handy if a pathogen gets past our mucosa, said Dr. Joel Ernst, an infectious disease expert and immunologist at UCSF. Thats what defends us against getting extremely sick and helps us clear the infection if it gets established. It doesnt do a great job, though, of blocking entry of the pathogen itself.

Some scientists believe that mucosal immunity may be key to fending off the virus before it can cause more widespread infection. They say the immune cells that live in the nose and along the rest of the respiratory tract are best positioned to attack and kill the virus immediately after someone breathes in droplets or aerosolized particles from an infected person.

Vaccines delivered in the arm trigger some of that mucosal response, but an inhaled version would almost certainly do better, scientists say. It would expose the respiratory immune cells directly to the viral particles meant to prime the body to recognize the coronavirus and attack.

A vaccine given by injection is a roundabout way of developing an immune reaction to a respiratory virus, Massoud said.

The respiratory tract, because its constantly exposed to foreign particles that people inhale, is already loaded with a lot of immune cells, added his colleague, Paulmurugan. If they can be primed to quickly attack the coronavirus when someone breathes it in, you get a much more rapid response, and that is the difference between regular vaccines and ours.

Massoud and Paulmurugan werent setting out to develop a vaccine when they started their work on the inhaled version thats now being studied in mice. The two radiologists had teamed up several years ago to study using inhaled nanoparticles to deliver tumor-busting drugs to the brain.

While studying the technique in mice, Paulmurugan noticed that when the animals breathed quickly, the nanoparticles ended up in the lungs instead of the brain. He and Massoud were intrigued  what if theyd stumbled across a new way to deliver medicine to the lungs?

It was early days of the pandemic then, and though the scientists knew work was already well under way to develop traditional injected vaccines, they decided to shift their focus to making a vaccine of their own.

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.

Provided by Stanford Medicine

It was not what we had intended, but we were completely surrounded in the news about vaccines and how to combat this new virus, Massoud said. It was just a seamless transition to go into vaccines.

Their work is still in very early stages, and they have no timeline yet for testing the vaccine in human clinical trials. They use 50-nanometer particles  a strand of DNA is about 2.5 nanometers, a strand of hair about 50,000 nanometers  made of gold and coated in chitosan, a sticky substance that is derived from the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans and has been studied as a means to help deliver drugs through the skin.

For their first studies, the scientists attached coronavirus spike protein DNA to the chitosan coating; they plan to use mRNA, which may be safer, for later studies.

Theyve found that the nanoparticles are indeed making their way through the respiratory tract into the lungs, and that they are inducing a mucosal immune response.

Roan, whos not involved in their work, said she was intrigued. A key next experiment will be to directly test to what extent this vaccination approach provides better sterilizing immunity relative to intramuscular vaccine inoculation, she said. It will also be important to know how long-lived this vaccine-elicited immunity is.

It may turn out, Roan and other scientists say, that the best approach will involve multiple vaccination methods  perhaps first priming the systemic immune response with a shot in the arm, then boosting the mucosal response with an inhaled vaccine.

Roans research has found tantalizing evidence that hybrid immunity  infection with the virus followed by vaccination  offers the best defense. The reason may be that the initial infection is caused by inhaling the virus, so individuals who contract it through their noses and then get a shot in the arm are getting that double-punch immune response. Vaccination through both the nose and the arm might offer similarly strong protection.

In theory, intranasal vaccination  alone or combined with injections  could elicit a potent enough immune response to fend off future variants or reduce the need for boosters, said Niren Murthy, a UC Berkeley bioengineer who has studied vaccine delivery methods. There are challenges  inhaled vaccines have been known to trigger allergies, and getting the dose past the mucus and into contact with the right cells isnt easy.

But I think its a challenge that could be solved, Murthy said. And I think the benefits could be huge.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday
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.
ROME (AP)  Leaders of the worlds biggest economies agreed Sunday to stop funding coal-fired power plants in poor countries and made a vague commitment to seek carbon neutrality by or around mid-century as they wrapped up a Rome summit before the much larger United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

While Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron described the Group of 20 summit as a success, the outcome disappointed climate activists, the chief of the U.N. and Britain's leader. The U.K. is hosting the two-week Glasgow conference and had looked for more ambitious targets to come out of Rome.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the G-20's commitments mere drops in a rapidly warming ocean. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres agreed the outcome was not enough.

While I welcome the #G20s recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled  but at least they are not buried, Guterres tweeted. Onwards to #COP26 in Glasgow."

The G-20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions, and Britain had hoped for a G-20 bounce" going into the Glasgow COP26 meeting. Environmentalists and scientists have described the U.N. conference as the world's last best hope" for nailing down commitments to limit the global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average.

The summit laid bare the divisions that still exist between Western countries that polluted the planet the most historically but are now seeing emissions decline and the emerging economies led by China whose emissions are rising as their economies grow.

Britain pushed for a commitment to achieve climate neutrality or net-zero emissions, meaning a balance between greenhouse gases added to and removed from the atmosphere, by 2050.

The United States and the European Union have set 2050 as their own deadline for reaching net-zero emissions, while China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are aiming for 2060. The leaders of those three countries didnt come to Rome for the summit.

In the end, the G-20 leaders arrived at a compromise to achieve climate neutrality by or around mid-century, not a set year.

Before leaving Rome, U.S. President Joe Biden called it disappointing that G-20 members Russia and China basically didnt show up with commitments to address the scourge of climate change ahead of the U.N. climate conference.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not expected to attend the conference in Glasgow, although they are sending senior officials to the international COP26 talks.

The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia...and China basically didnt show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change. And theres a reason why people should be disappointed, Biden said, adding: I found it disappointing myself.

Biden comments came in response to a reporters question about the modest pledges made during the G-20 summit.

We made commitments here from across the board in terms of what were going to bring to (COP26), the president said. As that old trade saying goes, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pushed back at the West's target date.

Why do you believe 2050 is some magic figure? Lavrov asked at a news conference. If it is an ambition of the European Union, it is the right of other countries also to have ambitions....No one has proven to us or anybody else that 2050 is something everyone must subscribe to.

Italy's Draghi said the declaration went further on climate than any G-20 statement before it. He noted that it referred to keeping the 1.5-degree global warming target within reach, something that science shows will be hard to accomplish unless the world dramatically cuts emissions from fossil fuels.

We changed the goalposts, Draghi told reporters.

Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau said that G-20 leaders were able to get together was in itself a success given the coronavirus pandemic.

The fact that we have well laid out the table and know where the sharp edges are, and know what work we were going to have to do at COP is a very positive step, Trudeau said.

The future of coal, a key source of greenhouse gas emissions, also proved one of the most difficult issues on which to find consensus for the G-20.

At the Rome summit, leaders agreed to put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021. That refers to financial support for building coal plants abroad.

Western countries have been moving away from such financing and major Asian economies are following suit: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the U.N. General Assembly last month that Beijing would stop funding such projects, and Japan and South Korea made similar commitments earlier in the year.

China has not set an end date for building coal plants at home, however. Coal is still Chinas main source of power generation, and both China and India have resisted proposals for a G-20 declaration on phasing out domestic coal consumption.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

The failure of the G-20 to set a target for phasing out domestic coal use was a disappointment to Britain. But Johnson's spokesperson, Max Blain, said the G-20 communique was never meant to be the main lever in order to secure commitments on climate change, noting those would be hammered out at the Glasgow summit.

John Kirton, director of the G-20 Research Group at the University of Toronto, said the leaders took only baby steps in the agreement and did almost nothing new.

He pointed to the agreement to recall and reaffirm their overdue commitment to provide $100 billion in assistance to poorer countries and to stress the importance of meeting that goal fully as soon as possible instead of stating that they were ready to stump up the full amount.

The agreement to end international coal financing is the one thing thats specific and real. That one counts, Kirton said.

Youth climate activists Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate issued an open letter to the media as the G-20 was wrapping up, stressing three fundamental aspects of the climate crisis that often are downplayed: that time is running out, that any solution must provide justice to the people most affected, and that the biggest polluters often hide behind incomplete statistics about their true emissions.

The climate crisis is only going to become more urgent. We can still avoid the worst consequences, we can still turn this around. But not if we continue like today, they wrote, just weeks after Thunberg shamed global leaders for their blah blah blah rhetoric during a youth climate summit in Milan.

Greenpeace Executive Director Jennifer Morgan said the G-20 failed to provide the leadership the world needed. I think it was a betrayal to young people around the world, she told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Aside from climate issues, the leaders signed off on a landmark agreement for countries to enact a global minimum corporate tax of 15%. The global minimum is aimed at deterring multinational companies from dodging taxes by shifting profits to countries with ultra-low rates where they may do little actual business.

The leaders also said they would continue work on a French initiative for wealthier countries to re-channel $100 billion in financial support to needier countries in Africa in the form of special drawing rights - a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports allocated by the International Monetary Fund and also received by advanced countries.

The leaders said they were working on actionable options to do that and set the $100 billion figure as a total global ambition short of an absolute commitment. Some $45 billion has already been reallocated by individual countries on a voluntary basis.

The commitment reflects concern that the post-pandemic recovery is diverging, with wealthy countries rebounding faster due to extensive vaccinations and stimulus spending.

___ Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report. Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington.
To: Baja California Gov.-elect Marina del Pilar Avila and California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Cc: Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria

Re: Borderlands Assembly

You all can see that the American and Mexican governments are playing politics with the border, instead of governing the region with the respect its people deserve.

So why dont you let borderlands residents govern themselves?

If you work together, you can establish a citizens assembly to represent constituents on both sides of the border. Citizens assemblies are representative bodies of everyday people  often chosen by lot  that deliberate on a particular problem and then make public policy.

Such a body would be novel for California and Baja, but citizens assemblies are being used elsewhere. Ireland created a citizens assembly to resolve thorny social issues  making possible the legalization of abortion and same-sex marriage. France used citizens assemblies to tackle climate change. Finland convened a citizens assembly to address the hottest issue in that cold place  snowmobile regulation.

The idea behind such assemblies is that everyday citizens, uncompromised by the need to win elections and build political careers, are freer to solve difficult challenges that politicians wont tackle.

The U.S.-Mexico border is one such challenge. The nasty national politics around the border have produced mass deportations, child migrant concentration camps, and systematic abuses by unaccountable U.S. agencies and Mexican police and military.

Border residents live with the consequences. They endure intrusive searches, harassment, and violence from authorities on both sides of the border; intrusions on their property; and sanitation, traffic, and crime problems associated with the queuing and confinement of migrants near the border. Residents also suffer long delays in the routine border crossings essential to their family and working lives.

Which is why the four of you should grant residents the power to govern the border themselves.

A citizens assembly should be divided 50-50 between residents of California and Baja living near the border. Assembly members would be selected by lot and would meet in person and digitally. There also should be representation for migrants stuck at the border.

And the assembly should have legislative and oversight power.

The two federal governments wont give up their authority over the border. But you should work to ensure that the assemblies have subpoena power to compel testimony from federal officials, and the ability to recommend changes in federal law. All four of you have the political clout to make this happen, since you are members of the same parties as your countries respective presidents.

At the state and local levels, you should empower the citizens assembly to act directly. Govs. Avila and Newsom should give this assembly lawmaking powers in border matters  subject to override by your state legislatures. Mayors Gloria and Caballero should commit to a similar delegation of authority for border-related city ordinances in San Diego and Tijuana.

With such powers, an assembly might solve many thorny problems. It could devise ways to house and protect migrants left to fend for themselves. The assembly could work to make legal border crossings easier and enact policies to protect local residents from illegal searches and seizures, especially via high-tech tracking tools both national governments use with little oversight.

Your hopes for such cross-border policymaking should be high. After all, the governments of California and Baja California have long cooperated productively on education, environment, trade and law enforcement. And Tijuana and San Diego are as thick as thieves, sharing a border airport, fighting together to open more border crossings and co-hosting events.

Indeed, the current effort by Tijuana and San Diego to be jointly designated the 2024 World Design Capital  which would allow them to host 2024s Olympics of design and innovation could actually be a platform to design such a citizens assembly.

Mayor Caballero, you certainly must remember that, in endorsing this design bid, you celebrated cooperation between ordinary people on both sides of the border and called for more of it. Especially unique to our region are the ways that grassroots groups  networks, communities and extended families  create support systems for culture, business and public transformation, you wrote. I also saw your inaugural address, in which you called yourself a migrant (youre originally from Oaxaca) and promised a new stage of political, cultural and economic transformation.

A citizens assembly would represent such transformation and make real history, but that shouldnt scare any of the four of you. Mayor Caballero and Gov. de Pilar Avila, you are both history makers as the first women elected to your posts. And Mayor Gloria and Gov. Newsom, you are both energetic technocrats who never stop talking about changing paradigms.

So, why not cross one more border  and give both sides a shot at self-government?

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square.
A San Francisco immigration judge took less than an hour on Tuesday to order 23 people deported. But none of the immigrants was present and its unclear whether they knew about the hearing  even as they were ordered deported for missing it.

The proceedings are part of a recently enacted effort the San Francisco Immigration Court says its undertaking to find immigrants it loses track of. Instead, advocates say the court has set up a deportation conveyor belt, one that fast-tracks removal orders before immigrants can make their case to stay in the country.

The practice appears to have started this summer, when immigration attorneys became aware of a subset of hearings being scheduled for immigrants whose mail was being returned as undeliverable. The court was notifying immigrants of the hearings by sending mail to the same incorrect addresses, practically ensuring few would show up.

In immigration law, not showing up at a hearing is enough to be ordered deported on the spot, in whats known as an in absentia order of removal.

According to court data reviewed by The Chronicle, as many as 173 people were given deportation orders because of such proceedings in August and September  a nearly ninefold increase from the 20 similar orders given the previous seven months combined.

ACLU of Northern California attorney Sean Riordan, who has been tracking the issue, compared the situation to a criminal proceeding where, if a defendant didnt show up for a routine step, the judge declared them guilty with limited ability to challenge the verdict. Whats more, he said, the court scheduled the proceeding expecting the defendant not to show.

Our society would not tolerate that, its just grossly unfair, and we shouldnt tolerate something similar happening in the immigration courts, Riordan said. Its especially problematic that the San Francisco Immigration Court is spending significant time and resources to obtain so many removal orders through a special docket in cases where they know people will not be able to appear for their hearings.

At this time, the effort appears limited to the San Francisco court, one of 70 such venues nationwide that hear immigrants cases. But advocates fear other courts may see how many cases the San Francisco bench has closed through in-absentia orders and follow suit, saddling scores of immigrants with unknown deportation orders. The immigration court system is run entirely by the Department of Justice, which also employs the judges.

The Justice Department defended the practice as lawful and suggested it was more widespread than advocates realized, saying immigration courts have long created such dockets for returned mail in the name of efficiency.

Immigration courts throughout the country create dockets in ways most appropriate for each courts caseload, spokesperson Kathryn Mattingly said in a statement to The Chronicle.

Data provided by the Justice Department showed a stark jump in in-absentia orders at group proceedings at the San Francisco court starting in August. From January to May of this year, there were only one or two such orders per month, up to 14 in June. In August there were 63, and in September there were 110. Octobers numbers are probably comparable, as attorneys tracking the docket counted a similar number of scheduled hearings as September, like the one The Chronicle observed on Tuesday.

Constanza Hevia H./Special to The Chronicle

In courtroom number 20, immigration Judge Susan Phan first considered the seven people who appeared before her despite having wrong addresses on file. Each one clarified their correct address and was given a new court date. Then the judge moved on to a stack of blue case files for which no one presented in court.

Grouping the cases by country, Phan opened and closed each file, in the end ordering 23 people from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to be deported in what she called group removal proceedings. The process took less than an hour.

On Sept. 15, in the courtroom of immigration Judge Ila Deiss, a different scene played out. Before the judge sat several immigrants whose notices were returned as undeliverable. Judge Deiss profusely thanked each for attending.

If you didnt show up today you could have been ordered removed, Deiss told one teenager.

When Deiss moved on to the rest of the docket, cases in which no one was in court to answer, she scoured each application for phone numbers  which she then called from the bench. In one case, the man who was supposed to be in court told her that he was told his next appointment wasnt until 2022. Phew! Deiss exclaimed, rescheduling him for January.

When phone numbers didnt pan out, Deiss searched the internet. I like to google addresses to see if it was something in the way it was written, she explained. But in the few cases in which she could not find a working number, nor clarify the address, she entered an order of removal, in absentia.

The use of the returned notice hearings have alarmed advocates because the Biden administration has continued to emphasize a desire to cut down on an immigration court backlog that is nearing 1.5 million cases, according to a tracking database housed by Syracuse University. Though Biden says he wants a fair and humane immigration system, he has also embraced tactics used by the Trump administration to expedite deportations of new migrants and to turn away tens of thousands of people at the border.

Attorneys who have been tracking the hearings say they know of clients who are regularly going to their check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and likely have their correct addresses on file. But ICE, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, does not update addresses automatically with the immigration courts, a division of the Justice Department, an arcane feature of a system where one government agency employs the prosecutors and a sibling department employs the judges.

Attorney Milli Atkinson, director of the Bar Association of San Franciscos Immigrant Legal Defense Program, said the address change requirements are especially onerous for non-English-speaking immigrants. Its a huge bureaucracy and its an outdated system, Atkinson said.

For those navigating the process, understanding exactly what is required of them to stake a claim to stay in the country can be confounding. Many are fleeing brutal gangs or gender-based violence and believe their lives are at stake if theyre deported.

Constanza Hevia H./Special to The Chronicle

H.C. showed up to Judge Deiss courtroom in mid-September despite his mail being returned for an invalid address. (In keeping with its policy on anonymous sources, The Chronicle is identifying H.C. only by his initials because he fears violence from the gangs he fled in Guatemala.)

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.

He had moved to the next apartment and his neighbor had passed on the notice, H.C. told the judge. She thanked him for coming.

There was no interpreter available for H.C.s primary language, the Indigenous Poqomchi, so he communicated in limited Spanish. He was handed a notice in English with his next court date and instructions to change his address with the court if he moved.

When The Chronicle reached him a month later, H.C. had had no luck finding an attorney and was just filing his change-of-address form, weeks late. He didnt know any English speakers to help him, he said. He wondered why the judge or a clerk couldnt have entered his new address into the system while he was in court.

Maria did not change her address with the San Francisco court and was ordered deported in absentia last month. The Chronicle is only identifying Maria by her first name because she now has a deportation order and fears imperiling her case further by speaking out.

In June, Maria arrived at the Bay Area home of a relative with her two small children. She said ICE officers installed an app on her phone and every eight days she receives a notification that prompts her to take a selfie and send it in  a virtual ICE check-in. She has fully complied, she said.

Yet Maria says she experienced abuse where she was staying, so she relocated with her children to a domestic violence shelter in the Bay Area. There, she reached an uncle in Connecticut who arranged for Maria and the children to join him.

Maria continued her selfie check-ins with ICE but didnt inform the San Francisco Immigration Court that she had moved. When she didnt show up to her Sept. 29 hearing, the judge ordered her deported.

Atkinson was in the courtroom that day and remembered Maria from an intake interview. In the hour it took Atkinson to reach Maria, the judge had already ordered her removed. Atkinson pleaded with the judge to do a telephonic hearing, but the judge had moved on. Now Maria has to fight to have her case reopened and contest her order of removal to pursue a claim for asylum.

That procedure, called a motion to reopen, is the only hope for the unknown number of immigrants who have been ordered deported in absentia by the San Francisco court. Its hard without a lawyer, advocates say, which many of them lack.

Judge Deiss acknowledged as much last month, when she reluctantly ordered the removal of an absent person she was unable to reach from the bench.

Hopefully there will be a motion to reopen, Deiss told the one attorney present in her court, Malvina De La Canal, when she objected to the removal. But De La Canal told The Chronicle she worries that most of those being ordered removed wont even know the option exists.

San Francisco Chronicle data visualization developer Nami Sumida contributed to this report.

Tal Kopan and Deepa Fernandes are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com, deepa.fernandes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @deepafern, @talkopan
Nintendo's Bay Area office is closing and employees will be relocated, Kotaku first reported.

Nintendo confirmed it is closing two of its North American offices, one in Redwood City and another in Toronto, and consolidating operations in their U.S. and Canadian flagships.

"Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, WA, and Vancouver, BC," the company said in a statement. "We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, ON, and Redwood City, CA, over time."

Kotaku reports "many of the now-displaced staff were upset over the decision."

The office on Bridge Parkway in Redwood City was comprised mainly of sales and marketing divisions. The company's official website still lists the location, describing it as where "youll find the Sales and Marketing departments, as well as NMI, a dedicated merchandising field team who work with retail stores across the country."

A 2012 YouTube video gives a glimpse inside the bright space, filled with art and knickknacks from its most famous franchises, like Super Mario and Zelda.

ALSO READ: 'Tech is not the problem itself': What tech workers feel is really to blame for SF's tech woes

Although Nintendo did not give a reason for the Redwood City office closure, it joins a number of high-profile companies that have decided against reopening offices after pandemic closures. Particularly in the Bay Area, high real estate prices have made unloading properties a more alluring prospect, especially for companies that are able to indefinitely work remotely.

Nintendo was founded in Japan and its international headquarters are in Kyoto.
As soon as I pulled up to 30th Avenue and Fulton Street for San Francisco's Outside Lands Music Festival, I knew something was off.

I felt dizzy, nauseated and light-headed. The ground acted like a treadmill under my feet, swaying and moving with each step.

My sickness wasn't exactly a surprise. I have a pre-existing condition that affects my gastrointestinal tract and have experienced dizzying moments before. I knew I needed medical attention  and fast.

Within moments of passing through the security gates, I walked with haste to the Rock Medicine tent, located on the southwestern edge of the park, just past the medical popup tent and through the tunnel.

"I have a condition," I told the intake nurse. "I feel so stupid for even be here." (Editor's note: We told Michelle not to be here.)

"You are not stupid at all," she reassured me, completely sans judgement. "We'll help you."

Rock Medicine, which runs the Outside Lands medical station, was founded more than 40 years ago after Bill Graham asked the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics to help out at Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin concerts. It's still going strong today.

The medical care is completely free and confidential. It's staffed completely by a volunteer crew of medical providers. They are the real heroes of Outside Lands.

Within minutes, after listing off my prescription medications and conditions, the registered nurse took my pulse and started hooking me up to an IV. They also gave me anti-nausea medicine.

"It's better you're here than the emergency room," the nurse told me. "You'd have been waiting for three hours."

I couldn't have agreed more. The staff was incredibly friendly and thoughtful. They brought me blankets and came back to take my vitals every 20 minutes or so.

As the IV bag dripped, I started asking questions.

"What sort of ailments do you typically see in here?" I asked my caretaker.

"Mostly alcohol and multi-substance use issues," she said. "But it gets dark, and people trip and fall, so there's various injuries we see as well."

I can't imagine being in better hands than those of the staff at Rock Medicine. My nurse commuted all the way from Rocklin, Calif., a nearly two-hour drive each way.

Rock Medicine is the official medical provider at Levi's Stadium. It can also be found at Napa's Bottlerock, Tahoe's Snowglobe and even San Francisco's Pride Parade and Bay to Breakers. Their ethos is "setting the standard in non-judgmental medical care," a philosophy they displayed in spades in their dealings with me.

After the IV dripped to completion, my nurse returned and asked how I felt. I said, "Just fine. I'm ready to get back out there."

They gave me the green light to do so, but made me promise one thing: "Come back if you start feeling sick again."

More Outside Lands coverage:

Tips from Day One of San Francisco's Outside Lands: Be prepared to cry

The best OSL set of Day One had an awkward 'San Fran' chant

Outside Lands headliners appear to mock SF vaccine rules

The hottest trend at San Francisco's Outside Lands is moo-tastic

Ubers leaving Outside Lands were very, very expensive

Outside Lands performer surprises by playing 'Full House' parody video in San Francisco

Outside Lands artist brings daughter onto stage, crowd swoons

Marc Rebillet cancels Outside Lands show, Reggie Watts take his place and endorses medicinal ketamine
This story was originally published on Oct. 29, 2020.

The city of San Francisco dances to the beat of its own drummer, and its likely that drummer may be wearing a Victorian flumed hat, leather chaps, Catrina skeleton make-up, or all of the above. San Franciscans mourned the loss of Halloween in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but over the decades costumes have become so ingrained in the citys identity that theyre a part of nearly every major event, from Folsom Street Fair to Bay to Breakers.

Halloween may be the most universal of costumed holidays, where everyone has permission and even social pressure to reinvent themselves, but for patrons of the Edwardian Ball or Burning Man attendees, Oct. 31 just one of many opportunities for transformation. If you live here and you only dress up on Halloween, well, you likely havent lived here for very long.

So what is it that makes San Francisco so enamored with costumes? To find out we spoke to costume shops, designers, performance artists, and drag historians about why changing how you look has become such an important part of city identity.

Blair Heagerty / SFGATE

Retail Struggles to Stay In Costume

Costuming on Haight is one of the best places to look for an answer to that question. For more than 30 years, the shop has helped San Franciscans with looks for everything from PRIDE to the Hunky Jesus Contest. But like most every type of brick and mortar store, costume shops have taken a hit due to e-commerce. The Haight St. shop nearly closed in 2018; both the 100-year-old institution SF Party and the A.C.T. Costume Shop shuttered in 2020.

What we say is  we arent a costume shop, were a creative agency. If people know what they want, theyre just going to buy it online, says owner Austin Efurd.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Costuming on Haight temporarily closed in March 2020. They originally reopened by appointment, but are now fully reopened and have had a line out the door on evenings leading up to Halloween. However, theyre no longer renting costumes, only selling them, due to health concerns.

Costumes have a way of livening people up, even in the darkest of times  but can we actually do this in a way in which we arent part of the problem, encouraging people to engage in behavior that puts all of us at risk? Is there a way that we can do this and be responsible and support the community? We think we can do it.

Although the themes of costumes purchased havent changed much, the shop slightly shifted their focus for the pandemic last year, as they were well aware that many Halloween parties took place on Zoom.

We definitely have focused on stuff from the waist up, Efurd says.

Courtesy of Gooch

Out of the Closet

In addition to serving those looking to dress up for special occasions, Costuming on Haight has also been a longtime resource for the citys drag performers and LGBTQ community. Showing ones identity through a choice of clothing, be it with the specific intention of breaking gender norms or simply trying to find ones own identity, has long been a part of the citys queer culture. It can be seen in the leather looks at Folsom Street Fair, the drag activism of the 1966 Compton's cafeteria riots, the revelry of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, or the outrageous on-stage looks of Beach Blanket Babylon, the citys longest-running theatrical production which ended its 45-year run last December.

Queerness is a language. Its sometimes a non-verbal language. It can be a language of gesture, also certainly a language of costume, says Isaac Fellman, reference archivist at the GLBT Historical Society.

One of the most famous designers behind San Franciscos drag scene is Mr. David, AKA Glamamore. Since the late 70s, hes created thousands of looks, many of which were featured in a 2016 exhibit at the de Young Museum. For him, the realms of style and costume intersect almost every day.

Maybe were always playing dress-up in San Francisco he says. I used to do this thing where Id get up on a Monday and say, today Im dressing as a pirate, simply because I wanted to be festive. I think theres less of that nowadays, but how many different colors of hair can you count walking down the street?

For Mr. David, the key to a good drag outfit (and Halloween costume) is to really embody the look.

Its awkward to me when it just looks like youre wearing things on top, instead of feeling it. Some days you can dress like a pinata, and other days youre just like, no, not the pinata today, he says. Its important that you feel it. If you feel that youre acting silly or look stupid, everybody else is going to notice that.



One of Mr. Davids favorite muses, Juanita MORE!, owns literally thousands of pieces he's created. MORE! doesnt consider their daily drag looks to be costumes, but rather a sense of style thats encouraged by the free-thinking attitude of the city.

You could be and wear whatever you want that was you. That was the freedom in San Francisco. I saw that everyone was an individual by style.

For on-stage performances and special events like PRIDE, MORE! has been transformed into everything from a shark in an elegant gown with billowing fin to an extravagant butterfly with black and satin wings. But for Halloween, MORE! keeps it classic.

Halloween costumes are kind of more of a challenge for me, because Im already dressing up all the time. But its funny, I really like the classic little kid costumes, but in drag. Ive been a vampire, a ghost, a mummy, they say.

RELATED: SF Pride Parade 2019: The most colorful costumes and creative signs

Jane Hu

From the Bay to the Desert

Another San Franciscan who can be seen in costume on a daily basis around the city is Anastazia Louise, who performs under the title Bad Unkl Sista. Shes been wearing yarn wigs for 20 years, and sometimes describes her personal style as a live muppet. She has two storage units specifically for housing costumes. For her, dressing up is a profession, as well as a way to invite conversation with strangers.

Once people get over the surprise of how I present myself in the world, then theyre curious and want to talk and its an opening for people. Of course, some people are afraid of me, youll have that as well, says Louise.

Louise is also one of the many Bay Area residents who consider themselves part of the extended Burning Man community. In a way, the festival is a natural extension of other San Francisco counter-culture movements like the beat poets and Summer of Love, in which people expressed their freedom of expression partially through what they wore. The yearly event which began on Baker Beach in 1986 now draws tens of thousands of people from across the world to the Black Rock Desert, nearly all draped in some form of wearable art.

It provides a way to share who you are, to explore who you might want to be, and it also is helpful in knocking one's self off balance, says Steven Raspa, a performance artist and associate director of Burning Man community events. And even [a way of] being playful and silly. Because play and creating an environment where people arent being judged, but instead encouraged, is a huge part of our culture.

As a performance artist, he sees costumes as a way to give yourself permission to express aspects of your personality that you may not normally share, be that testing the grounds of morality as a demon, or throwing on a cliche sexy Halloween costume as a way to explore sexuality.

For some people, dressing up in a sexy outfit is their first step towards being comfortable with their own sexuality. Putting on a piece of lingerie and going out publicly, it doesnt necessarily mean its just a come-on, it can be an act of bravery. Its a loaded world to step into, when are you experiencing sexual liberation and when are you perpetuating sexual stereotypes?

RELATED: Playa style: Fashion portraits from Burning Man 2019

Blair Heagerty / SFGATE

The Finer Art of Dressing Up

San Franciscos rich history of theatre and the fine arts has also contributed to the tapestry of costumes seen throughout the city, both on and off the stage. Every season the SF Opera Costume Shop employs 30 artisans to craft period-specific pieces for their performances, which on rare occasion become available to the general public through warehouse sales.

The sales are unique opportunity to purchase stunning corsets for the Edwardian Ball, plumed hats for gatherings of the Bay Area Regency Society, or vintage tuxedos for experiences like Speakeasy SF (and of course, Burners also flock there). Although these masterfully crafted pieces couldnt be a further cry from the Amazon-purchased red and white suits youll see flooding the streets during SantaCon, the concept behind the costumes are cut from the same cloth.

In San Francisco, its not just about the finer arts, its for everybody, says SF Opera Costume Shop production supervisor Galen Till. Its more of a participatory culture. Its not just for people on-stage to dress up and have fun. Theres a culture of being who you are, expressing yourself, and that comes with dressing up and costumes. You dont have to be one way or another. Its always been a culture of encouraging individual expression.

The Bay Area is also an environment where independent costume designers can flourish. Mia Padua, who crafts ornate headdresses through her business Petals in the Sky, has a large following ranging from the Burning Man community to pandemic-era customers just looking to bring some excitement to their Zoom calls. An army brat who moved around as a child, she considered her arrival in San Francisco a style awakening.

I always liked to dress up and wear different things. I always felt like it didnt really fit in, like it was too much or it stood out, says Padua. But when I moved to San Francisco it was like, oh, thats all youve got?

Her crowns are made bespoke for each individual and vary in price up to $350 depending on the level of detail and size. Although the music festival trend of Indian headdresses has often been criticized for cultural appropriation, Paduas work is rooted in her own imagination, incorporating a multitude of cultures and religions (and she rarely uses feathers). She sees them as a means of empowerment.

Its become this way for people to celebrate being strong and confident and beautiful outwardly, and show how we see ourselves inwardly, says Padua.

Courtesy of Rosa De Anda

Waking the Dead

Costumes also play an important role in cultural parades like Chinese New Year, Carnaval and Dia de Muertos. The Marigold Project, which helps organize the Dia de Muertos festivities, will take their altar project online for the second year in a row, but there will likely still be crowds marching through the Mission in costume. The tradition of skeleton face paint paired with formal wear can be traced to printmaker Jose Guadalupe Prosada, who created the iconography as a critique of the ruling class in Mexico. After his death in 1913, the imagery of the skeleton Catrina became associated with Dia de Muertos. Along with creating altars for ones ancestors, the costume is one of the most important aspects of the holiday. The makeup is a symbolic way to appear more welcoming to ones deceased family members, but also a means to express creativity, which Marigold Project organizer Rosa De Anda sees as a revolutionary act.

Creativity is the soul of a revolution, and I do believe we are in a soul revolution. We know that guns dont work in a revolution. Its a spiritual revolution, where we are being called to change our minds and open our hearts. We are called to do this work. Costuming and building pageantry is how we do it.

Although Dia de Muertos festivities are rooted in Mexican history, they cant help but intersect with San Franciscos other costumed subcultures. De Anda doesnt see that as appropriation, as long as its done with an attitude of respect and not parody.

For us, everything goes now. It is the most fascinating and interesting hybridization of things that could happen. Last year we had this group at [Potrero] del Sol Park that was a mixture of San Francisco Furries, with the skulls. And it was wild!
JOLIET, Ill. (AP)  Two people were killed and more than a dozen were injured in an overnight shooting at a suburban Chicago Halloween party, authorities said Sunday.

A patrol sergeant heard roughly a dozen gunshots after 12:30 a.m. in Joliet, which is about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, according to the Will County Sheriff's Office. The sergeant went to a home and found more than 100 people fleeing a party.
BEHALTO, Ill. (AP)  Two more people have been charged in connection with an August crash that killed three members of a southwestern Illinois family.

Prosecutors allege Blake A. Jones of Worden was under the influence of alcohol, ran a stop sign and struck the vehicle the Cafazza family of Bethalto was driving. They were all pronounced dead at the scene.
GREENSBORO, Ga. (AP)  After more than 20 years of planning, Mamie Hillman completed a lifelong passion and opened an African American museum in Greene County.

Opening day for the Greene County African American Museum in Greensboro on Oct. 16 marked a joyous occasion for all in attendance. But for Hillman, it was the first step in encapsulating the long-overlooked history of Black leaders in Greene County.

It all goes back to when I was a child growing up in White Plains, said Hillman, executive director of the museum. I always wanted to know  how did I enter into history?

Growing up in a segregated school setting, there were very few resources and only the white community had access to a public library. But teachers at her school worked to ensure students saw that Black leaders were making a difference, Hillman said.

I just wanted to feel ownership in my community, she said. As I got older, became an adult and had a family, I started investigating.

Her curiosity led her to read Jonathan Bryants How Curious a Land, which detailed the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction in Greene County. The book introduced her to Abram Colby, one of the first Blacks to serve as a Georgia state senator after Emancipation.

I found myself in that book through the life of Abram Colby, she said, adding his story was empowering.

Similar stories could help to empower youth, Hillman said.

Her family first came up with the idea for a museum due to what they felt was a lack of culture-minded activities in the community.

You have to go into Atlanta for everything, whether its music or shows, Hillman said. If we had a building, we could do that ourselves.

Now, she hopes the museum in Greensboro can serve as a resource for those hoping to learn about Black history and to commemorate forgotten Black leaders in Greene County.

Even though were living in 2021, some things are still happening, and until we understand our history, how can we pass anything on to our children? Hillman said. Thats one thing I want to do. I want to bring encouragement, to bring a voice to those people who came before me.

The newly-opened museum is decorated with photos of historic figures and events as well as news clippings from the past. The grand opening included food, music and many who sang Hillmans praise.

Mamie Hillman is a hero, said Macky Alston, a co-director and co-producer of the film Acts of Reparation. 26 years ago she knew, because of people who taught her and said to her you have to help us keep the stories of our community, to open Greene County African American Museum.

However, honoring those forgotten didnt stop at just the grand opening of the museum. Following the celebration, those in attendance moved to the Penfield Cemetery.

The picturesque Penfield Cemetery is the resting place of the founders of Mercer University. But across a stone wall that outlines the back of the cemetery lies a Black cemetery covered in overgrowth and fallen trees.

Some graves were marked by headstones or markers, while only a depression in the ground signified many other resting places.

Surrounded by friends, family, officials from Mercer University and members of the community, Hillman spoke to the importance of honoring all of those forgotten.

In attendance was James McWhorter, whose great-grandmother was one of the many buried in the Black cemetery. McWhorter said he was introduced to the cemetery through Hillman and Alston.

We made a trip in the fall of 2019 and I was able to find my great-grandmothers headstone, he said. It showed the day she died and the day she was born.

Its one thing to see someones name on paper, McWhorter continued, but when you actually see the gravesite, it really says this was a living soul; this person really lived and because of her Im here today.

Hillman has also initiated an effort to restore the cemetery alongside Mercer University and members of the community. And as part of the ceremony, a chunk of the wall was removed to allow access to the site.

Walls are built to separate; walls are built to keep us apart, McWhorter said. This is a historic site so it needs to be brought back up. It needs to be cleaned and revived. Im hoping that will happen so my childrens children will be able to go back there and see their ancestors.

Lucas Johnson, a member of the On Being Project, a nonprofit media and public life initiative, said Hillman is someone who is really trying to help people understand who they are and what a community can be.

Part of this is by recovering the past and helping us face our history and understand the work we need to do to be a better community for one another, he said.

Johnson, a Mercer University alum, said his college would host trips to Penfield Cemetery, but he was unaware of the Black cemetery across the wall. On one hand, he wants the entire wall removed, Johnson said, but on the other, it was a powerful symbol.

Theres just a little path we can walk through to see the truth, he said. Just a little window between these barriers we erected between each other and between our lives.

Alston, whose ancestor was the first president of Mercer University, said as a kid his family would come out to Penfield Cemetery, unaware of the forgotten history across the wall.

As little kids, the fun game was to crawl along the wall on the cemetery, he said. What I only learned with Mamie was that theres a lost African American cemetery across that wall. So the childs play was so near that history and we were oblivious.

Alston said thanks to Hillmans work, many have been able to connect with their family members resting on the other side of the wall.

To see a day come where folks can have access to their ancestry, have access to their history, have access to their ancestors and the truth, well thats a dream come true, he said.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  Alabama argued in a lawsuit challenging the federal vaccine requirements that many university and state agency employees would leave their jobs if required to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Alabama joined with a coalition of other states in a lawsuit filed late Friday challenging the vaccine mandate on federal contractors. The lawsuit is part of Republican-led efforts to oppose the federal requirements. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall this week also urged businesses, universities and state agencies to consider employees requests for medical and religious exemptions. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey directed state agencies to cooperate with the state lawsuit.

From the moment the White House tried to force this vaccine on to Americans, I have said that Alabama is standing strong against it and that the way to stop this is to go to the courts," Ivey said in a statement this weekend.

In the lawsuit filed late Friday, the state argued that many university and Alabama Department of Public Health employees would quit rather than get vaccinated. Both Auburn University and the University of Alabama have said employees must get vaccinated by Nov. 8 because the campuses all are federal contractors.

Many employees of Alabamas public universities are unvaccinated and would likely quit their jobs rather than receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of further employment," the lawsuit stated.

Marshall issued an advisory this week instructing Alabama-based employers, including public university employers, to liberally interpret in favor of the employee any employee requests for medical and religious exemptions to the vaccination mandate.

Marshall wrote in the memo that many of Alabamas public universities and some state agencies have received notice that they are subject to the federal-contractor vaccination mandate. The memo was co-signed by State Personnel Department Director Jackie Graham and legislative leaders.

When an employee requests a religious exemption, Marshall said state agencies should not inquire into the validity of an employees religious beliefs, including the motives or reasons for holding the belief.

Twelve bills related to vaccinations were introduced in the ongoing special session on redistricting, but key lawmakers said they do not expect to debate the proposals before the winter regular session.

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said Republicans want to fight the mandate but suggested it would be counterproductive to pass legislation that couldnt impact federal law. The U.S. Constitutions supremacy clause is clear that federal law overrides any conflicting state laws.

The last thing we want to do is have a knee jerk reaction on something that may sound good politically, but in substance what does it do. You havent done the people any justice by doing it that way, McCutcheon said.

Businesses with federal contracts could be placed in a uncomfortable situation if torn between conflicting state and federal mandates. Some current mandates  such as a hospital requiring doctors to get yearly flu shots  could be impacted by the proposed bills.

Republican Sen. Arthur Orr of Decatur said there will be ongoing discussions about how to craft legislation that could help the state litigation. Orr has introduced several bills aimed at preventing employers and businesses from discriminating based on immunization status. He said he is hearing more and more stories of people faced with losing their jobs because they are not vaccinated.

It's been tragic, Orr said.

It is very important that were able to make a personal choice if we want to get a vaccine or not, said Republican Rep. Ritchie Whorton of Owens Cross Roads.
PRAGUE (AP)  A cable car crashed in the northern Czech Republic, killing one person Sunday, officials said.

One of the two cabins of the cable car crashed to the ground in the afternoon. The only person onboard, a staff member, was killed, said Martin Puta, the head of the regional government. Puta said he hoped the cause will be investigated soon.

Rescuers said none of the 15 people from the second cabin were injured.

It was the first such accident involving the Czech Republic's oldest cable car, which dates to 1933.

Operated by the Czech Railways, it leads almost to the top of Jested Mountain, near the city of Liberec.

The crash took place the day before the cable car was scheduled to undergo a planned two-week maintenance.
MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (AP)  The Coast Guard says it has rescued two boaters after their small boat capsized off the North Carolina coast.

A Coast Guard news release said the rescue occurred Saturday night near Cedar Island, which is northeast of Morehead City. They had received information from county dispatchers that the boaters needed help after their boat capsized after taking waves over its side.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP)  With the legalization of recreational cannabis for adults and the impending start of retail sales next year, several Connecticut coastal towns are saying no, for now.

Guilford, Madison and North Branford recently put in place measures that stop cannabis establishments from opening for nine months to a year from now and Clinton has made it unlawful for any building, structure or land to be used as a cannabis establishment, producer, retailer or dispensary, the New Haven Register reported.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Daniel Holstein never thought his career as a Las Vegas police crime scene analyst would lead to a lengthy run working in television.

But when CSI: Crime Scene Investigation creator Anthony Zuiker came to Las Vegas in 1999 in preparation for the crime dramas pilot episode, he coordinated with Holstein to help advise the shows actors on some of the ins and outs of the profession.

Holstein became a consultant for all 16 seasons, making sure the science used on the show reflected real techniques investigators utilized in the field.

Now, Holstein is back working as an adviser on the sequel to the long-running series  CSI: Vegas, which airs Thursdays on CBS.

He worked with the cast and crew on-set nearly every day from May through August, just in time to return to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for the start of fall classes. Hes a criminal justice professor at his alma mater.

Since the reboot of the newest CSI installment, Holstein believes the show is creating a ripple effect thats inspiring a new wave to enter the profession.

Were getting a whole new generation, Holstein told the Las Vegas Sun. Ill ask kids, Hey have you seen CSI? Never even heard of it. But now that the show has a reboot, its bringing it to the forefront again. Theres excitement again, and we can educate them and say, Look, heres an opportunity here for you.

Part of the curriculum Holstein crafted at UNLV is Urban Adventure  a scenario-based class that gives students the opportunity to work through a simulated crime scene several times each semester. It was developed with help from several faculty members in the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs.

In a courtyard between the Student Union and Greenspun Hall, 24 students divided into three groups: detectives, leaders and investigators.

Students may play roles as crime-scene analysts, detectives, reporters, public information officers, social workers or victim advocates. The mock scene this day had local actors play victims and volunteers.

We make it as realistic as possible under an educational environment, Holstein said.

But aside from learning to work in conditions similar to a crime scene, the class focuses on five core skills: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, leadership and empathy, said Joel Lieberman, professor and chairman of the UNLV Department of Criminal Justice.

Ultimately, its based on trying to get adaptable skills for a nonlinear career path, Lieberman said. The idea being that in having these adaptable skills, youre going to be able to handle the promotions, which are always scary  or if you get laid off, if you decide its not the job you, in particular, want.

But in all those cases, the idea is that you started out with the skills that allow you to go into different positions throughout life.

The class is a huge hit.

Just being able to put yourself in their position and try to understand how they feel, said Mallory Morris, a junior social work major, thats going to go a long way in my career.

Robert Ulmer, dean of the College of Urban Affairs, said the class is one-of-a-kind in that it brings students from several disciplines to learn from their experiences.

I dont think theres anybody in the country thats doing anything like this, bringing so many schools and departments together, Ulmer said. So much of college is writing and reading, and its detached from reality. Understanding and reading case studies just doesnt do it.

Ciara Klick, a criminal justice major who is graduating in December, didnt take the class but was helping assist students at Holsteins request. Klick is hoping to pursue a career in the industry, so learning from Holstein has been invaluable, she said.

While helping students navigate the course, Klick has noticed certain students sparking a passion for investigative work, or in other fields.

I can see when Im working with students and you can see the light go off and theyre like, This is so cool,  she said. Having this is Urban Adventure really shows them what youre getting yourself into.

Klick credited Holstein for creating a learning environment thats accessible to any learning style. She felt so compelled to learn under Holsteins watch that she approached him about an independent study course about bloodstain pattern analysis  a chance she said she wouldnt be able to get anywhere else.

Hes the best professor, the best teacher, the best instructor Ive ever had in my educational career, Klick said. Ive never had a professor honestly care that much about my education. He really wants us to learn. Hes amazing.
WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP)  A western Pennsylvania prosecutor says he will seek the death penalty in the slaying of a worker gunned down as he was making a sandwich for a customer in a convenience store earlier this year.

Sidney McLean, 32, of McKeesport, and Devell Christian, 32, of White Oak, were formally arraigned Friday in Washington County on homicide and other charges in the Feb. 24 killing of Nicholas Tarpley in Anna Lees Convenience Store.

District Attorney Jason Walsh notified the court that he planned to seek capital punishment if the defendants are convicted of first-degree murder, according to The (Washington) Observer-Reporter.

Authorities said two masked men walked into the store and fired multiple shots at the victim as he had his back turned to the counter while making a sandwich for a customer. Tarpley, 28, of Donora, a co-owner of the store, had six gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. The customer and a teenager girl were uninjured.

The defendants are charged with homicide, conspiracy and firearms counts. Walsh cited the commission of a slaying during another felony and the grave danger posed to people other than the victim as aggravating factors justifying the death penalty.

Authorities haven't cited a motive, although Walsh previously indicated that someone else might have been targeted.

In a preliminary hearing earlier this year, defense attorneys unsuccessfully sought dismissal of the charges.

Christians attorney, Ken Haber, said there was no evidence my client did this or did anything at all. McLeans public defender, Josh Carroll, said no testimony provided during the hearing connected his client to the killing.
Charlie Neibergall/AP

MOLINE, Ill. (AP)  Union workers at Deere & Co. would get wage increases of 10% in the first year and 5% each in the third and fifth years under a tentative contract reached between the farm-equipment maker and the United Auto Workers union.

The workers would get 3% lump sums in the second, fourth and sixth years of the deal. They would also get a ratification bonus of $8,500 and no changes in the cost of their health insurance, according to a summary of the agreement posted Sunday on the union website.
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP)  Authorities in Maryland are investigating after two people died after separate house fires in two counties.

There's no indication the deaths are related.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  The Biden administration has approved two portions of Connecticut's request for a major disaster declaration needed to secure federal funds for recovery from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which caused an estimated $7.2 million in damage in the state.

Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont announced Saturday that renters, homeowners and business owners in hard-hit Fairfield and New London counties  and residents of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations  will now be eligible for federal reimbursement for the costs of uninsured or underinsured storm damage to homes and personal property.

A stunned U.S. East Coast faced surging rivers, record-breaking rain, and dozens of deaths when the remnants of Ida walloped the region on Sept. 1, drowning many victims in their homes and cars. A veteran Connecticut State Police sergeant was killed after his vehicle was swept away by floodwaters.

The storm dumped as much as eight inches of rain on parts of Connecticut and caused heavy flooding. According to Lamonts request, just 8% of damaged homes in New London County and 23% in Fairfield County had flood insurance.

The White House declaration said assistance under the Federal Emergency Management Agencys Individual Assistance Program may also include grants for temporary housing and emergency home repairs to make housing safe, accessible, and secure.

Lamont's request for the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program also was approved. It will help state agencies, local governments, and the tribal nations take steps to reduce or eliminate long-term risk from natural disasters.

Meanwhile, the governor's request for the FEMA Public Assistance Grant Program is still pending, awaiting completion of the FEMA Preliminary Damage Assessment. Lamont said he's hopeful the state will soon receive approval for that program, which provides supplemental grants to state, tribal, and local governments, and certain types of private non-profits so they can recover from a storm or emergency.

Approval of this declaration from President Biden will provide much-needed financial assistance to homeowners, renters, and business owners in the areas that were heavily impacted by the floods from this severe storm, Lamont said in a statement.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A man was shot and killed early Sunday in Indianapolis, a death that moved the city closer to matching the record number of criminal homicides with two months still left in the year, a newspaper reported.

Police responded to a house about 2 a.m. and found a man dead with gunshot wounds. Ron Gee, a member of Cease Fire Indy, said the group had hoped for 72 hours of peace in the city.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Running for a school board seat is getting expensive in Iowa given the current intense interest in how schools are responding to the coronavirus pandemic and teaching history.

The Des Moines Register reports that the 58 candidates running for school board seats in the Des Moines area's seven largest school districts have collectively raised more than $180,000 for the Nov. 2 elections. In the last two elections, all the candidates in those same districts raised less than $35,000.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP)  A first-year Kansas lawmaker, who was reprimanded by his colleagues for abusive conduct before taking office, has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.

Democratic state Rep. Aaron Coleman of Kansas City remained in custody Sunday afternoon, according to Johnson County Jail records. The 21-year-old was arrested at 8:15 p.m. Saturday by Overland Park police on a domestic battery charge.

Police didn't immediately respond to messages Sunday and calls to Coleman's cellphone rang unanswered Sunday. Coleman is not married and details of his domestic situation were not immediately available.

It wasnt immediately clear what consequences Coleman might face in the House after his arrest. He was being held without bond ahead of a court appearance scheduled for Monday.

Given what little we know about the situation, I am concerned for everyone involved, Speaker of the House, Ron Ryckman, said to the Kansas City Star. I know that law enforcement will thoroughly investigate and assess the situation so that we can take appropriate action.

House Democratic Leader Tom Sawyer said Coleman should resign.

This is extremely disturbing news. We are watching closely to make sure we gather all the facts," Sawyer said. "His constituents and the State of Kansas would be better served if he were to resign and get the help he badly needs. However, I want to reiterate again that the House Democratic Caucus does not condone this behavior in any way, shape, or form.

After he was elected last year, Coleman received a written reprimand from a legislative committee about his conduct before taking office.

The House committees investigation of Coleman followed accusations of abusive behavior toward girls and young women. He acknowledged some of the behavior on social media and said he had been a troubled teenager.

Earlier this month, Coleman was also banned from the Kansas Department of Labor's offices because the agency's director said Coleman had tried to improperly gain entry to the department's main office through a secured employee entry and berated a security officer.

At that time, Coleman said he was trying to help constituents deal with the states unemployment system.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP)  Paola Sequeira faced an uncertain future when she was sent from her native Nicaragua at age 8 to live with her aunt and uncle in Brandon.

She came with her 6-year-old sister Javiera and they spoke only Spanish. Their early years had been marred by tragedy  the death of their father, Roberto Antonio Sequeira, during an earthquake in Mexico and a plane crash in Managua that killed their brother and left their mother severely disabled.

But Sequeira forged a path through her new life, excelling at school and graduating first in her class at Brandon High School. She dreamed of becoming a doctor and took her first steps toward that goal at the University of South Florida.

Today, Dr. Paola Sequeira, 47, is an endocrinologist working as an internal medicine specialist serving largely low-income families at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center.

Hers is one of hundreds of stories of Hispanic students with uncertain futures who credit their achievements to a program that helped pay their way through USF.

In the 30 years since it started, the Latino Scholarship Program has done more than pay the bills. It has created a community of support that helps ensure success in life for its recipients.

The program pairs scholars with mentors and offers a monthly professional development series teaching skills such as resume writing, dinner etiquette and networking.

The sense of solidarity that characterizes this scholarship grows every year, Sequeira said. They are like a family.

The latest recipients and those from the past were honored in September during the 30th Latino Scholarship Awards Ceremony in the USF Marshall Student Center.

Its a beautiful initiative, said Jose Valiente, chair of the USF Foundation, which coordinates this and six other scholarship programs. There are other similar programs in the country, but this scholarship is unique because nowadays the scholars give back and share their successes with the community.

Valiente said he understands the importance and impact of the program. Hes a 1973 USF accounting graduate who came from a low-income household and was the first in his family to attend college.

USFs Latino Scholarship Program reflects a core commitment to help our talented Latino students access a world-class educational experience  not only by providing financial assistance, but through mentorship and community engagement, said Rhea Law, the universitys interim president, during the awards ceremony.

The Latino Scholarship Program pays at least $2,000 per semester toward tuition and fees and is renewable for up to 10 semesters.

Each year, the program supports 40 new recipients and 100 returning recipients. All told, more than $4.2 million in scholarships has been awarded to more than 600 students. The money comes through donations, not government grants.

The program is open to graduates of an accredited high school or community college in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Manatee, Pasco, Hernando and Sarasota counties.

Requirements include financial need, a 3.0 grade point average and completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Strong consideration is given to students fluent in Spanish and the first in their family to attend college.

The USF program may be unique among Florida universities for the community of support it provides, but many other financial aid options are available to Hispanic students through public and private sources.

Seventy scholarships of up to $100,000 each are advertised at one website, scholarships.com. And among the largest programs in the country is the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which has given out $650 million in scholarships since 1975 and also provides a broad range of support services.

Hispanic high school graduates entering the University of Central Florida automatically are considered for a National Hispanic Scholarship, awarded to recognize outstanding academic performance and renewable for eight semesters.

Undocumented students are not eligible for the need-based Latino Scholarship Program, but they can apply for merit-based financial aid offered through the USF Foundation such as Status of Latinos or SOL scholarships.

Sequeira, who received a biology degree from USF and went on to graduate with honors from the University of Miami School of Medicine, was the first student to land a scholarship when the USF Latino Scholarship program launched in 1992.

One of the latest recipients is Eddy Antonio Santoyo, 20, of Tampa, who hopes for a career in financial planning. Santoyo, a junior, is majoring in Finance and Studio Art and is in his third year as a scholarship recipient.

It means he doesnt need full-time work to pay for school: It helps because it allows us to get ahead in our studies and achieve our goals.

Santoyos parents, Carmen Cortes and Antonio Santoyo, came from the western Mexican state of Michoacan in 1996. From a young age, Santoyo saw his father struggle to earn a living as a construction worker, sometimes working seven days a week.

They did everything to give us a better life and thats what I want to do for my community, Santoyo said.

His brother, Alexis, 23, also is a former Latino Scholarship Program recipient. He graduated in 2019 with a political science degree. The two are the first in their family to pursue professional careers.

I am very grateful that I can focus on my future, Santoyo said. My responsibility is my studies and I want my parents to be proud of me.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP)  Organizations in Maine are slated to get more than $700,000 from the federal government to help with rural challenges such as high-speed internet, education and health care.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the money will help address the digital divide in rural parts of the country. It's part of a nationwide effort.
PLAINSBORO, N.J. (AP)  A man was charged with killing another man at his home in an attempted robbery after allegedly following him home from a Pennsylvania casino last week.

Middlesex County prosecutors and Plainsboro police said officers and first responders called to the home shortly after 3:30 a.m. Tuesday found 54-year-old Sree Aravapalli with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Local and county investigators said the victim was targeted in Pennsylvania and followed to his New Jersey home, where he was killed during an attempted robbery. Jekai Reid-John, 27, of Norristown, was charged with first-degree murder with other charges pending, authorities said.

Eric Hausler, chief executive officer of Parx Casino in Bensalem, said in a statement that officials were saddened to learn that a customer was killed after returning from a visit to the casino, which is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) away.

We have learned that law enforcement officials have arrested a suspect who followed the victim home from the casino that night," he said. 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."

Authorities said in court documents that casino surveillance footage showed two people around the victim throughout the night, and one used a debit card associated with Jekai Reid-John, The (Allentown) Morning Call reported.

Authorities said a white car was seen entering the Pennsylvania Turnpike after the victim's vehicle and then taking the same exit. Less than 20 minutes later, Plainsboro police received a 911 call about a possible robbery and shooting.

At Reid-John's Norristown address, a white car linked to Reid-John was found and shoes matching those worn by one of the men seen at the casino were found in the back seat.

A black car that entered the parking lot as police were investigating and quickly turned around was found to be occupied by a woman and Reid-John. The woman said the man had been gone all night Monday with the white car and returned early Tuesday, authorities said.

Reid-John provided an audio and video statement to police in which he said he was driving the vehicle on Monday and went to the casino where he purchased food, but asked for a lawyer when questioned about what happened after he left, authorities said in court documents.

Reid-John was being held pending an extradition hearing. It wasnt immediately clear whether he had retained an attorney and listed numbers in his name werent in service.
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  A man has been charged in a Philadelphia shooting last week that left a woman and her 1-year-old daughter wounded.

The woman's boyfriend told officers sent to the southwest Philadelphia home shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday that he had left the house for about ten minutes and returned to find the 33-year-old woman unresponsive in a bedroom, police said.
MESA, Ariz. (AP)  A man has been arrested after leading officers on a high-speed chase with two young children in his car, according to Mesa police.

They say 30-year-old Luis Enrique Fernandez has been booked into jail on suspicion of child abuse, aggravated assault, aggravated DUI and unlawful flight from law enforcement.

It was unclear Sunday if Fernandez has a lawyer yet who can speak on his behalf.

Police say the incident started as a reported domestic violence situation between Fernandez and his girlfriend around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

The woman told police she was injured and Fernandez left in a vehicle with her two children, ages 6 years old and 3 months old.

Police said when officers arrived on the scene, the suspect drove his car at them and tried to ram their vehicle.

Fernandez reportedly sped off, got on U.S. 60 and was driving erratically at high speed, according to authorities.

Police said the suspects car was eventually stopped on Interstate 17 in Phoenix by Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers and he was taken into custody.

The children were not hurt.
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP)  Dozens of scientists, environmental groups, elected officials and agency heads met online Oct. 26 to talk about recent changes to a still controversial plan to govern Lake Okeechobee releases.

Paul Gray, Audubon Floridas director of science, offered a cautionary tale about becoming strictly wedded to policies that dont necessarily make ecological sense.

He recalled a time when lake levels were sufficient so there was zero chance of having inadequate water supply stores, yet because of rigid policy dictates, the Caloosahatchee had been cut off from all water. Gray challenged the then-managers. I could see they were very uncomfortable, but they wanted to follow their policies. His takeaway: Rationing natural systems could get policy makers into trouble in the future.

Army Corps officers started off the meeting by taming expectations, saying a lake release schedule cant solve all of South Floridas mounting water issues.

Theres only so much an operation schedule can do, said Col. James Booth. Ultimately the continued projects we put in the ground are going to meet a lot of expectations in South Florida. But a change to the schedule can make major improvements even if it doesnt get everything we want immediately.

The Army Corps calls the group the Project Development Team, or PDT, and its purpose is to act as a sounding board for Army Corps modelers, planners and decision-makers.

Team members include elected state, local or tribal government leaders, or someone acting on their behalf.

Called the Lake Okeechobee System Operation Manual, or LOSOM, the proposed regulations are expected to govern lake releases until at least 2030.

Eve Samples, Friends of the Everglades executive director, thanked the Corps for delivering a plan less out of balance, compared to the one that spawned disastrous algal blooms in 2018, but she said two things give her nonprofit pause: Were not sure how much a lake recovery mode might increase discharges east and west, and in whats called a conservation mode, she said, We would urge you to send water south in every subzone even when managers are dealing with a shortage.

The Army Corps has spent the past several weeks optimizing the LOSOM plan to address concerns over everything from too much water flowing to the Caloosahatchee River during heavy rain events to holding Lake Okeechobee at levels that will further damage the lakes ecology.

Excess releases to the Caloosahatchee River during the summer will throw off the delicate brackish balance needed to maintain the rivers estuary and will send Lake Okeechobee water to Southwest Florida when blue-green algae blooms are most likely to occur.

Lake levels are currently regulated by the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule, or LORS, which was adopted by the Army Corps in 2008.

LORS typically keeps the surface levels of Lake Okeechobee between 12.5 and 15.5 feet above sea level to provide flood protection and water supply for agriculture, urban areas and natural systems like lakes and rivers.

LOSOM will allow lake levels to get to 17 feet, and many critics say that will further damage the lakes ecology by killing submerged aquatic vegetation.

Nyla Pipes of the nonprofit One Florida Foundation called the meeting incredibly dense. Her main concern: Stakeholders werent given enough time to understand and evaluate some 240,000 model runs to go through and try to make sense of, she said. Im really overwhelmed and I know Im not the only one.

Her recommendation: Tapping the brakes.

The Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers were connected to Lake Okeechobee to drain the Everglades for farming and development.

The Caloosahatchee needs water from the big lake during the dry season to help balance its delicate estuary. People on the St. Lucie side say they dont need or want discharges.

Too much water released during the summer rainy season presents several problems for the Caloosahatchee.

Heavy flows can cause salinity levels to plummet and occur most often during the summer rainy season.

Before the meeting, Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani said the LOSOM plan will deliver a disproportionate amount of harm to the Southwest Florida coast.

I cant get excited about any of the tweaks Ive seen coming from the plan and as long as theres going to be more water discharged to the estuary in the wet season, then its never going to be a balanced plan, Cassani said. It has to (perform better) than what theyre proposing now to be a balanced and equitable plan.

Cassani said the extra water that will come down the Caloosahatchee River under LOSOM should instead go south and into Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.

There needs to be some infrastructure modifications, but I dont see that as a limiting factor, Cassani said.

The final decision for the optimized lake schedule will be released to the public on Nov. 2.

From there the Army Corps will develop whats called an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, in order to assess environmental and ecological impacts to the historic Everglades system.

The draft EIS will be released in April with a finalized version coming in August.

A final record of decision is expected in December of 2022, which is when LOSOM will be implemented.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  The Boise Police Department says a man who was shot by police officers died from his injuries Saturday morning.

His identity will be released by the Ada County Coroner after the next of kin is notified of his passing, CBS2 reported. Boise police said officers were looking for the man after receiving reports that he was threatening to jump from an overpass or tall building.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  Jessi Garman, the mother of 3-year-old twin girls, has been searching for a job while also trying to have a third child with her husband, who's in the military. Optimistic that Congress finally would approve paid family medical leave, she thought the time seemed right.

But that was before opposition by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia torpedoed the proposal. Both having another baby and getting full-time work doesn't seem feasible now, and Garman's hopefulness has turned into anger.

It almost feels personal because Joe Manchin is my senator, said Garman, of Milton.

Supporters of a decades-old proposal to let workers take time off for medical needs including childbirth, surgeries and end-of-life care are dealing with another disappointment in Manchin's home of West Virginia, a poor state with one of the nation's oldest populations.

State activists are still working on Manchin  a pro-leave group planned to rent an airplane and fly a banner over one of his political fundraisers at a resort this weekend, said Kayla Young, a member of the state House of Delegates who also is helping with an advocacy group, Paid Leave Works for West Virginia. They hope some version of paid leave may still be included in President Joe Biden's social spending package.

Its disheartening, but I dont think its over yet, said Young.

Sarah Clemente hopes Young is right, since paid leave would have made things easier with all three of her children. Instead, she said, she had to take off a total of two years and return to work just a week after the birth of her youngest  Penelope, now 6  whom she and husband Ryan adopted from a relative who couldn't care for her.

We followed the textbook on what youre supposed to do to be responsible, successful adults. And while we are there now, there was a lot of suffering and heartbreak, said Clemente, a 40-year-old health care manager. And it's still hard.

Biden initially proposed 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents, people caring for loved ones or people recovering from an illness, but it wasnt included in a $1.7 trillion framework released by the White House on Thursday after Manchins opposition became clear. Manchin, whose support is crucial because of the slim Democratic edge in the Senate, said he wanted to avoid turning the United States into an entitlement society.

Democrats continue lobbying the senator, but he hasn't shown signs of budging despite proposals to trim leave from 12 weeks to four or to restrict it to just new parents. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said she has spoken extensively with Manchin and he asked good questions, but he wasnt focused on specifics of the proposal and had concerns about its cost.

In Manchins home county in northern West Virginia, Amber Gabor allowed that some time off would have come in handy when one of her kids  ages 2, 7 and 9, with another one expected in a couple of weeks  had to stay home for two weeks after a coronavirus case at his school. But 12 weeks of paid leave sounded excessive to her.

I dont see why you would need all that at one time, unless it was a maternity type of leave. But most (work) places offer that anyway, said Gabor, who works from home doing customer service for a power company.

In the rural town of Spencer, dental receptionist Samantha Camp is one of those who say they will continue to get by without a paid leave option just as they always have  with difficulty.

Camp will keep paying about $50 monthly for the disability insurance she buys as a hedge against having to miss work because of a bone problem that resulted in hip replacement surgery last year. After the operation, she felt she had no choice but to return earlier than doctors recommended to her job at a small law firm where she worked at the time.

It was very worrisome being with no income, said Camp, 34. The doctors wanted to put me off for about six weeks. I just knew I couldnt do that financially. I was actually off only two and a half weeks.

Chris Hedges, a partner in the law firm, said it gave Camp all the vacation time it could scrape together and having government-funded leave would have made things so much better.

For small businesses to be able to afford paid leave is just about impossible," Hedges said. The paid leave that would have come about through Bidens bill would have helped. It would have helped us retain employees.

On Charleston's west side, which is home to many working class and poor people, Brittanie Hairston said paid leave would have eased her worries about what would happen if one of her sons, ages 6 and 10, were to get sick with COVID-19 or something else.

I can't go back to work until they're clear, she said.

And Mildred Tompkins, who works with a health and education nonprofit in the state capital, said her own two daughters, who are in their 20s and working in relatively low-paid health care jobs, would have benefited from paid leave.

For people that are just regular, right at the poverty line and working," she said, it would make a difference.

___

Associated Press writers John Raby in Fairmont, W.Va., and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP)  A 2-year-old Alabama girl was injured in gunfire that Birmingham police believe was meant for someone else.

News outlets report that the toddler was shot Saturday.
BERLIN (AP)  German federal police apprehended 23 migrants along the German-Polish border on Sunday morning and detained two suspected traffickers, German news agency dpa reported.

Among the people discovered inside a van during a routine checkup were several children, police said. All the migrants were from Iraq, while the two suspected traffickers were Syrians. The car was stopped near the east German border town of Goerlitz.

The driver of the car and his companion initially fled during the police control but were later detained and the van was confiscated, dpa reported.

Last week, police found found an Iraqi man dead inside a small truck near the Polish border in a suspected people-smuggling effort gone wrong.

Police found the body after officers spotted about 30 people getting out of the truck, also near Goerlitz. The 42-year-old driver of the vehicle is being sought.

Authorities in Germany have registered an increase in people illegally entering from Poland in recent weeks. On some days, officers have picked up several hundred people a day.

Many of those picked up by police are Iraqis and Syrians who flew to Belarus and then crossed into Poland before traveling west to Germany in the hope of claiming asylum there.

In October alone, almost 5,000 people were stopped while crossing the border from Poland into Germany, dpa reported.

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Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP)  Vancouver police arrested a man early Sunday morning after he allegedly kidnapped and killed his 2-year-old child.

Police responded around 12:50 a.m. to a report of threats. A woman reported that the father of her 2-year-old had picked up the child Saturday evening and later called her making threats to harm the child, Vancouver police said in a news release.

Police said they believe the child was killed in Gresham, Oregon, the Columbian reported.

The department issued an Amber Alert around 2:30 a.m., requesting help in locating the suspect vehicle, a silver 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander with Washington license plates. Police warned people not to approach the vehicle if it was spotted.

Police later contacted the suspect, who agreed to turn himself in. He was taken into custody around 4:15 a.m. The child was found dead, the police statement said. The department has not released the suspects or childs names.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP)  Police in North Carolina say a woman's body was found in a vacant restaurant building and that they are investigating it as a homicide.

The Asheville Police Department said in a news release that they were checking a vacant business west of downtown when they discovered the body on Wednesday.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Authorities are investigating a reported shooting at a Halloween party in an Ohio shopping center that wounded a woman.

Columbus police said officers were called to OhioHealth Doctors Hospital after the 19-year-old victim walked in for treatment.

She told officers that she was at a Halloween party in Great Western Shopping Center on the city's west side when she was shot in the left leg.

Detectives found that invitation sent out via social media drew a crowd that was too large to manage. Police said a disagreement between people attending the party led to the shooting.

No arrests were immediately announced. Anyone with information is asked to call Columbus police or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers.
VATICAN CITY (AP)  Pope Francis on Sunday urged people to pray so that the cry of the Earth is heard at the U.N. climate summit getting underway in Glasgow, Scotland.

Francis in comments to the public in St. Peters Square, on Sunday, noted that it was the first day of the crucial gathering. He told the crowd: Let us pray so that the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor is heard by summit participants.
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP)  People questioned during jury selection about the killing of Ahmaud Arbery have said he was racially profiled by the white men who chased and shot him, singled out due to his color and targeted for being a Black person who was thought to have been stealing things.

The statements came in response to blunt questions about race from prosecutors and defense attorneys who are trying to seat an impartial jury for the trial over Arbery's death in the coastal Georgia city of Brunswick. The inquiries elicited some pointed responses.

The whole case is about racism," one woman, identified only as potential juror No. 199, said Thursday in the courtroom. She said the three men charged with murder hunted him down and killed him like an animal.

Another prospective juror, No. 72, told the attorneys: If it was a white guy running through the neighborhood, I dont think he would have been targeted as a suspect."

The comments could signal trouble for defense attorneys, who have often argued for the dismissal of potential jurors who see Arbery as a victim of racial prejudice. Several of them, including No. 199 and No. 72, have been deemed qualified by Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley to remain in the pool from which a final jury will be chosen.

It could be devastating for the defense," said Michael Schiavone, a Savannah criminal defense attorney who isn't involved in the case. I would be very skeptical that they could be fair after they told me their opinion.

Under Georgia law, potential jurors are not automatically disqualified for showing up with preconceived opinions about a case, as long as they pledge to set those opinions aside and remain fair and impartial while hearing the trial evidence. Walmsley has repeatedly cited that standard.

Greg McMichael and his adult son, Travis McMichael, armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting the 25-year-old man running in their neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020. A neighbor, William Roddie Bryan, joined the chase and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery three times with a shotgun.

Defense attorneys say the McMichaels and Bryan had reason to suspect Arbery was committing crimes in the neighborhood after he was recorded by security cameras inside a home under construction. They say Travis McMichael fired his shotgun in self-defense when Arbery attacked him with his fists.

No one was arrested or charged in the killing for more than two months, until the video leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police.

If Im honest, if it was completely reversed, and if the three men were Black and the victim were white, they would be arrested immediately, another potential juror, No. 571, told attorneys during questioning Wednesday. The judge also found her qualified to remain in the jury pool.

If defense attorneys conclude that the jury pool is shaping up to be biased against them, they could ask the judge to halt jury selection and move the trial. Otherwise, before a final jury is seated, lawyers on both sides will have a limited number of strikes that let them cut potential jurors they may feel are unfavorable.

If any of the defendants are convicted, it's possible that the judge's reluctance to dismiss jurors who expressed strong opinions could be used as grounds for an appeal, said Jeffrey Abramson, a law professor at the University of Texas and author of the 1994 book We, the Jury.

It could come back to bite you, said Abramson, though he added that the judge was doing the best job he can so far in a tremendously difficult and delicate situation."

A federal appeals court last year threw out the death sentence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the Boston Marathon bombing after concluding that the trial judge failed to adequately screen jurors for potential biases. That decision is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to rule.

The men on trial for Arbery's death in Glynn County Superior Court are charged with murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and attempted false imprisonment  crimes that do not require any evidence of racist motivation. In a separate case scheduled for trial next year, they face federal hate crime charges in U.S. District Court.

Still, many see the state murder case as part of a national reckoning on how the criminal justice system treats Black victims, much like the April conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd.

One potential juror, No. 475, told attorneys it seemed like when it rains it pours over the last year," referring to the national outcry over racial injustice. He said he felt the deaths of Black people such as Arbery and Floyd had "all been lumped together.

I think its made our town look negative, for sure," said the man, who blamed the defendants for singling out a Black guy in a white neighborhood.

The court has not provided the race of individual jury pool members, and they have not been asked about their backgrounds in open court. Few potential jurors have stated their race while being questioned.

Those the judge has found qualified to serve on the jury all said they could keep an open mind if they are among the 12 jurors and four alternates seated on the panel. Others have been dismissed after the judge concluded that they held fixed opinions about the case.

One woman struck from jury service, No. 164, told attorneys the way Arbery was chased and shot was "almost like a lynching.

Another who was dismissed, No. 485, said: The one thing they were sure of was that he was Black, and he was running.
HOBBS, N.M. (AP)  When a drug user enters the criminal justice system, it only exacerbates the problem, causing a cycle that is hard for the user to get themselves out of.

We dont have an infinite source of funds in the system. However, we have enough that we put enough into prosecuting drug offense. What happens to that drug abuser is after everything theyve been through, they still havent been treated. Theyre still an addict and the next time we see them they now have a mental health problem because they continue to use.

We have not solved anything at all, said Ibukun Adepoju, a public defender for the Fifth and Ninth Judicial Districts. Public safety is no better off than it was when that user was riding his bicycle down the street. So we have to shift our resources from the things that we think are important like arresting a person to treating the person.

This is where the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program (LEAD) comes in, the Hobbs News-Sun reported.

LEAD consists of representatives from the Public Defenders Office, Hobbs Police Department, District Attorneys office, the United Way, and the Guidance Center. It was created as a way to help reduce rates of recidivism while also addressing the drug addiction problem an offender may have.

What it brings to the community is harm reduction, said LEAD Program Director Jessica Owen. The process for participants to get into LEAD is completely at the discretion of the police officer. Outside referrals will not come in at this time, it is strictly through law enforcement. If someone gets stopped and they have say two grams of meth, if the officer believes that person would be a good candidate for LEAD, theyll make that decision to either divert them to LEAD or arrest them.

LEAD works by removing the person before arrest. The officer is then given the opportunity to decide whether they are going to make an arrest or take the person to a case manager.

Once a person is diverted to a peer support specialist, the treatment process begins.

Owen said since it is a harm reduction program, clients arent mandated into treatment.

This is not an abstinence program. (Clients) are not expected to maintain abstinence," Owen said. "Clients are only required to participate with their peer support specialist as needed. If a peer support worker is not able to make contact with that individual within seven days to begin their intervention plan, that referral will then be kicked back to HPD and HPD will move forward with charges.

Exclusions for the program include the amount of drugs involved exceeding six grams; if the individual does not appear amenable to the program; the suspected drug activity involves delivery or possession with intent to deliver, and there is a reason to believe the suspect is dealing for profit above a subsistence income; the person is under 18; exploits minors; is on probation or parole; or has a disqualifying criminal history.

Fifth Judicial District Attorney Diana Luce noted her hope is to see those with substance abuse problems get the help they need while also reducing the backlog of possession cases within the criminal justice system.

They usually have mental health or a substance abuse problem and that is why they are coming into contact with police," Luce said. "Our hope is that this program reduces police involvement, while also reducing some of the involvement of the (district attorneys office) in the whole process of competency and what the person did.

Hobbs Police Chief John Ortolano said he believes the program will bring a different but positive resource to the community.

Itll reduce victimization while also reducing crime rates," he said. "There is a whole lot of misconceptions about programs like these and they either think its soft on crime and it is the exact opposite.

In policing, for decades and decades, we have tried to arrest our way out of problems by saying, okay the more people we arrest itll make the problem go away. Unless we get rid of the root cause we cannot break the cycle. Unfortunately, a lot of the problems with addiction are mental health issues and we werent learning. We were doing the same thing over and over again, but unfortunately funding for mental health and addiction have been reducing. Therefore law enforcement has been coming into contact with these people more and more.

Ortolano went on to explain the issue does not always lie with the individual. Sometimes it has to do with a lack of training for law enforcement, and more times than not it takes a professional to deal with the issues law enforcement meets when encountering a mentally unstable addict or person, Ortolano said.

In his time as an officer, he has noticed the cycle of addiction did not just randomly come about for some people.

They started off seeking professional help, theyre getting professional help on how to move forward in their life and were being prescribed proper medication, Ortolano said. Those people, for whatever reason may have stopped their medication, whether it be due to lack of funding or resources, and they then withdraw from getting professional help and start self medicating using street drugs, which only exacerbated their problem."

He said some of those people then went through the criminal justice system and didnt get the help they needed while incarcerated, leaving them in worse mental health than before.

Officials said LEAD will work to help stop this cycle.
ROSEDALE, Ind. (AP)  There are no stray or space-filling brush strokes in Curt Stanfields paintings.

Each mark has a purpose.

Thats how Rena Brouwer views Stanfields renderings of skies, waterways, cornfields, sunsets, sunrises and mud puddles  mostly painted in one setting at sites within two miles of his rural Rosedale home. Brouwer knows artistic talent. For nearly a half-century, shes painted international award-winning pictures, taught the craft across the United States and now co-owns the popular Opera House Gallery in Delphi, Indiana.

Stanfield started painting three and half years ago, after he retired from carpentry. Hes 59. His impressionist paintings now sell in Brouwers gallery. They attract her patrons attention like a magnet.

His marks upon the canvas speak in a more refined visual language, Brouwer said last week. Ive spent my entire life trying to make my marks distinctive. Hes done it in less than four years.

Adjectives such as rare and remarkable pepper descriptions of Stanfields rise.

Since almost accidentally entering the art field in 2017, Stanfields paintings have received state and national honors and mentions, including from the National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society and American Impressionist Society. He got accepted into the prestigious Hoosier Salon artist-service organization on his first try.

The elite artists of the renowned Brown County Art Guild voted Stanfield into their ranks unanimously last year, which rarely happens, just on his art, said Roberta Chirko, the guilds gallery manager in Nashville, Indiana. He got in right away, and started selling right away.

And, the Indiana Waterways project chose Stanfield as one of five artists to collectively paint scenes from 20 Indiana bodies of water for a book to be published next year and a traveling exhibition in 2023.

Sitting in a chair in his studio north of Rosedale, Stanfield shook his head in amazement as he retraced his path from hanging up his carpenters belt to seeing price-tags of $1,461 on his paintings.

I just have a gift, I guess, he said, as Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon album playing softly in the background. Stanfields T-shirt bore the seemingly incongruous Grateful Dead lyric, The sky was yellow and the sun was blue.

Actually, Stanfield has gained a reputation for his perception of color, as well as his artworks spontaneity.

Part of my success is, Im not basing my art on someone elses expectation, he said. Its a personal thing. You find your own path. I paint like Curt.

His path to notoriety started unexpectedly indeed.

A few years ago, Stanfield and his wife granted their daughters graduation wish with a vacation trip to Vieques, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico  their familys favorite destination. Hed just retired after 26 years in the local carpenters union. Their friends who live on the island coaxed Stanfield into painting a picture of the seaside scenery for a charity auction at the Siddhia Hutchinson Gallery to benefit the local Humane Society.

He hadnt painted since his days in teacher Rod Bradfields class at Terre Haute North Vigo High School. Stanfield earned a bachelors degree in graphic design at Indiana State University and worked 10 years as a design manager at Reuben H. Donnelley in Terre Haute, before joining the carpenters union, but that training and job didnt involve painting pictures.

Nonetheless, Stanfield agreed to paint a seaside picture, did so  using borrowed canvas, brushes and paint  and then went home to Indiana with his family.

Stanfields friends back in Vieques soon told him his painting received third-place honors, a pleasant surprise.

That lit the fuse, Stanfield recalled.

He joined the Rockvilles Covered Bridge Art Association and the Indiana Plein Air Painters Association (IPAPA). Plein air artwork is done outdoors, typically in one setting, just as Stanfield had done on that island beach. Instead of ocean surf, he began focusing on farm fields, woods and roadsides around the rustic remoteness of Parke County.

Stanfield entered a IPAPA competition hosted by the Haan Museum of Indiana Art in Lafayette. I didnt realize these were some of the best painters in the state. I had no idea, he said. I said, I cant do this. These people are too good. My wife made me go pack.

Stanfield won two awards and sold a piece.

After that, its been a crazy circus, he said.

His retirement plans changed quickly. I thought I was going to be able to get all the chores done, he said, along with some woodworking and fishing.

Instead, Im on a dead run, seven days a week, Stanfield added. Im busier now than I ever was when I was working.

So, Stanfield paused his commission work. He paints what he wants, and still its a full-time job. Stanfields art pieces sell on his website at prices ranging from $685 for a 9-inch by 12-inch piece to 24-by-30s at $1,461 each. He travels to exhibitions and shows around the country. Hes studied through a virtual one-on-one connection with Dutch impressionist Roos Schuring and learned alongside gracious Hoosier artists such as Jerry Smith of Crawfordsville, fellow Brown County Art Guild members Jeff Klinker, Brouwer and others.

Yet, most of Stanfields development has come on his own, by going through buckets of paint.

His approach to outdoors scenery stands unique. A vivid, snow-covered farm field provides a perfect example. Its clouds, hazy sunlight and frozen cornstalk stubble look a bit blurry from just inches away, but then blend into a spectacular rural vista at a distance.

If you get close up to my art, its just chaos, Stanfield explained. When you move back, you see it.

He paints in the impressionist style made famous by 19th-century French artists such as Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and noted for bright colors and an emphasis on the use of light. Stanfields subjects can be as humble as a flooded, frozen cornfield or a mud puddle. He often completes them in plein air fashion in a single sitting, outdoors.

I paint the stuff that nobody else pays attention to, he said.

For two weeks, Stanfield set up his easel at a nearby farm every night from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. He painted the same flooded field 14 times in a row. His art palette froze. He developed a sinus infection. A puzzled farmer asked Stanfield what he was doing, to which the artist answered, Im painting.

The resulting paintings catch eyes, though.

I painted the exact same scene every day just to see how it would change, Stanfield said.

His Muddy Reflection painting happened at a moment of self-doubt. His attempts at painting in his studio had gone flat. I was absolutely defeated, he recalled. So, he walked down to the creek bottoms.

I just turned around and saw my reflection in that mud puddle and said, Ive got to paint that, Stanfield said.

He admits to occasionally wondering what mightve happened if hed begun pursuing art in his younger years. Lord only knows where Id be, he said as his gray-flecked beard surrounded a grin.

Hes doing pretty well, nonetheless. Hes achieved what so many artists have tried to attain, said Brouwer, his fellow Brown County Art Guild member and gallery owner in Delphi.

If he continues like hes does now, Brouwer added, Curt could be one of the top recognized artists in the nation.

__

Source: Tribune-Star
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP)  U.S. Air Force veteran Carroll William Joye of Orangeburg loves to fly.

I think its the greatest thing in the world that I ever did, other than give my life to God, the 82-year-old said.

Joye has been doing what he loves for a long time.

He celebrated his 50th anniversary of flying on July 18.

The feat was recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration on Oct. 26.

The agency presented Joye with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. The award is presented to those who have 50 years or more of practicing and promoting safe aircraft flight. Joye has about 30,000 hours of flight time.

It means a whole lot to me, Joye said of the honor. It means I have gone 50 years and have not had a serious incident or accident. It is a big thing.

FAA South Carolina Flight Standards District Office officials, including South Carolina FAA Safety Team Program Manager Lanny Cline, presented Joye with the award virtually through Zoom.

Our heartfelt congratulations, Cline said.

A letter was read from South Carolina FAA District Office Manager Randy DeBerry congratulating Joye for the award.

Your professionalism as an airman has contributed to the safety of our national airspace system and has enabled safe air travel by many Americans for more than half a century, DeBerry wrote. Congratulations on a very successful aviation career.

The letter came with a lapel pin, a certified FAA Blue Ribbon package with Joyes airman records/achievements and an award certificate.

Joyes recognition will be posted on the electronic roll of honor online at the FAA Safety website.

Joye viewed the award presentation at the Orangeburg Municipal Airport, where he was once manager. He was surrounded by his family during the presentation.

During the award presentation Joye recalled his first solo flight out of Madrid, Spain, now over 50 years ago.

I could not get my right leg to stay on the rudder pedals because it was bouncing up and down the whole time, Joye said. I was just nervous until my instructor got back into the aircraft with me. Then it stopped. Everything was good.

His instructors name was Barb Snowden, who was the manager of the Torrejon Air Base aeroclub.

He took me on and taught me flying, Joye said. I will forever be grateful to him.

Joye said he just loves the idea of being in the air.

I have had a chance to fly pretty good-sized jet airplanes and the very smallest of airplanes, he said.

Joye always enjoys the challenge of flight.

You are responsible for getting people in the back from one place to another safely, Joye said. And the weather can make flying tricky.

It is good to be 40,000 and 50,000 feet up in the air, Joye said. I cant really describe it.

Throughout his flying career, Joye has enjoyed flying small airplanes as much or almost as much as I do flying one of those big jets.

When asked if he still flies, Joye said, Oh yeah!

A friend of mine owns a twin engine airplane and I get a chance to fly with him sometimes, he said. I just fly and if I have to sit in right seat, I do. I just like to be there.

Mr. Aviation, is how his wife Beverly describes him. He would rather fly than eat when he is hungry. If you mention airplanes, he is all for it.

She called the recognition awesome.

A lot of pilots dont reach 50 years and hang with it. He is still hanging in there. This is a major honor for him. This man loves to fly, she said.

Joye is originally from Orangeburg but has lived throughout the area, including Branchville, Bamberg and Rowesville.

Joyes love for flying started after he entered the United States Air Force in 1957.

While in the Air Force stationed over in Spain, he learned to fly and later became a flight instructor.

He served in the U.S. Air Force for 22 years.

During his stint, he worked as an aircraft mechanic during the Vietnam War. He went to Arizona after Vietnam, working on F-100s and F-104s.

From there, Joye went to Ohio and helped develop the C-119 and C-130 gunships.

After retiring from the Air Force as a senior master sergeant, he started teaching as an automotive mechanic instructor. He later worked as a corporate pilot and flight instructor, which he still does.

Joye decided to become a flight instructor so he could earn money while continuing to enjoy flying.

I never had any desire to go to work for the airlines, Joye said. I still enjoy teaching.

Joye also worked for Belk Hudson for a time, flying a Piper Navajo.

He recalled getting into the plane in Florida with Mr. Hudson and wondering about a certain switch on the planes panel.

It did not seem to belong in the airplane, Joye said. We could not find it in the POH (pilots operating handbook). We were talking about that thing and Mr. Hudsons mike was shorted out.

The controller down there was listening to everything we said, Joye continued. He broke in and said, You guys ought to learn to fly that airplane and learn about all the equipment it has before you get up in there. That was comical.

Joye has been recognized for his flying experience before.

In the fall of 1995, nominated by former student Raymond S. Graule, Joye was named Certified Flight Instructor of the Year by the FAA.

In 2003, Joye was inducted into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame by the South Carolina Aviation Association.

Joye has two daughters, two sons and two stepsons; 14 grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren. He attends Cope Baptist Church.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP)  A Florida educator was arrested on a charge of child abuse against a student just two days after being named a Teacher of the Year at the school.

Caroline Melanie" Lee, 60, is facing a charge of felony child abuse following her arrest Friday, according to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office jail inmate records.

Lee was arrested after calling a student into her classroom to speak privately and allegedly striking the female student on the face, according to The Florida Times-Union, citing a Duval Schools Police report.

The confrontation was instigated by an Instagram post by Duval County Public Schools on Wednesday of Lee being named Teacher of the Year at Darnell-Cookman Middle/High, according to the police report.

Several comments on the post questioned the win, and on Friday, Lee asked to speak to one of the students who made the comments. When the student got to Lee's classroom, the student said, Lee reached across the table and struck her several times, causing her nose to bleed, according to the police report.

Lee denied physically harming the student, telling a police officer that she only wanted to talk to the student whose Instagram message she perceived as a threat to kill her." But, she added, she was not afraid and did not feel the need to report the message to staff.

School surveillance video showed Lee walking at an aggressive pace to her classroom before the incident and the student, about four minutes later, leaving the classroom holding her face and walking with a low demeanor to a guidance counselors office, where she reported the incident, the responding officer said in the report.

There were no court records filed online yet with the Duval County Clerk of Court, so it was unknown if Lee had an attorney.

Duval Schools Superintendent Diana Greene said in a statement that the allegation was beyond disturbing" and that schools officials will cooperate with all investigations.

What is alleged should never occur  ever  especially in a school setting, Greene said. I have no tolerance for adults who harm children, especially adults in a position of trust."
LOS ANGELES  The University of Southern California acknowledged Friday a troubling delay in warning the campus community about allegations of drugging and sexual assault by a fraternity last month as a rare faculty protest added to mounting criticism about the universitys handling of the crisis.

In a message to the campus community Friday night, USC President Carol Folt said that a university confidential reporting program received five to seven disclosures of possible drugging and possible sexual assault at a fraternity in late September. The information, however, was not shared with the campus community until Oct. 20, when the Department of Public Safety posted an alert that the university had received a report of sexual assault and reports of drugs being placed into drinks at the Sigma Nu fraternity house, leading to possible drug-facilitated sexual assaults.

Six students reported that the alleged drugging and assault took place at Sigma Nu on Sept. 24 and one student reported she was drugged Sept. 27 at an unknown location, according to the departments daily crime log posted Oct. 21. The university subsequently announced it had suspended the fraternity.

Folt said the university decided to take the exceptional step of broadly sharing the information reported to the confidential program, called the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Services  but did so weeks after receiving it.

USC said the confidential campus reporting service, without revealing student identities, shared a general summary of their allegations about Sigma Nu with university safety, health, student affairs and crisis intervention officials on Sept. 30.

We are still investigating what occurred next, but there was clearly uncertainty regarding how to assess and process the information, and it was not immediately escalated to other authorities, the university said in FAQs posted Friday night. The groups shared the information with the Title IX office and scheduled a meeting Oct. 18 to discuss the situation.

But during this time span another USC student reported she was sexually assaulted at the fraternity on Oct. 16.

We now know that there was a troubling delay in acting on this information, and specifically in evaluating it for notification to the community, Folt said in her letter. This has highlighted for me the gray area in our processes when reports come into RSVP, and the challenge of marrying a highly confidential support service, which may have limited details, with the need to inform and warn the community.

As president, I came to USC with the promise to confront what is wrong and lead the effort to fix what is broken, she wrote. As we learn more, there will be some things we can do quickly and others that will take more time. This is too important to not get right.

Criticism over USCs handling of the crisis continued to swell Friday, after the allegations sparked protests by a wide swath of campus groups. In a demonstration organized by faculty in the Gender Studies Department and members of Concerned Faculty of USC, protesters congregated Friday in front of the Bovard Administration Building across from Alumni Park where homecoming weekend check-in had begun. Dozens of faculty and staff were joined by students, calling on the administration to make changes in the wake of the allegations against Sigma Nu.

For some faculty, the allegations were the latest cause for concern and frustration with an administration they believe has been complacent in allowing for bad behavior.

Its literally the tip of the iceberg, Aniko Imre, a professor at the cinema school said. She pointed to the mobilization of faculty that began when allegations of sexual assault emerged against George Tyndall, a former student health center gynecologist who is accused of abusing thousands of patients  a scandal that contributed to the ouster of President C.L Max Nikias and led USC to agree to a $1.1 billion settlement with those alleging abuse. Tyndall is pleading not guilty to dozens of sexual assault charges.

The new administration came in with very good intentions, and new energy. And I feel like the community, especially the faculty, gave them the benefit of the doubt and a great deal of support. And I think the general sentiment is that were not quite seeing the change that we had hoped for, she said. We (the faculty) cant go on managing crises forever. There needs to be some vision of the new normal. And the new normal seems, at this point, a lot like the old normal.

During the protest, dozens of faculty and students confronted Provost Charles Zukoski, asking him what the USC administration is doing in the aftermath of sexual misconduct allegations against fraternity members. Zukoski said that the university is not currently considering the abolition of fraternities and that the issue of sexual assault is not just a Greek society problem.

Im certainly not defending the fraternity and the Greek society, he said. All Im saying is this is a deeply problematic issue for all of our culture and society  it isnt just the Greek system on campus, it is spread throughout our society and its abhorrent.

When pressed for further comment about the possibility of decertification of any fraternity at the center of allegations, Zukoski said such action would not eliminate the problem.

A university decertification  cutting off affiliation between the chapter and the university  does not necessarily dissolve the chapter. Theta Xi, for example, was unrecognized by USC in 2019 but still has a house on Greek Row.

Whats interesting about the Greek system is that these are entities that are legally separate from the university. We dont own the houses and the rules are set up and run by their organization, he said. What we could do is decertify, but that doesnt mean that the organizations go away. Other institutions that Ive been at, when we decertify a fraternity or a sorority, they can continue just fine throwing parties for their members. And so thats one of the reasons why not just USC but other institutions continue to want to work with these groups, because at least if theyre certified by us, we can impose some rules  not a lot.

Showing support for students was a major goal for Karen Tongson, the chair of gender and sexuality studies at USC and a member of the Concerned Faculty group. Tongson, who has been with the university for 16 years, organized a forum prior to the demonstration.

USCs legacy has been tarnished over the course of many years in its handling of sexual assault and sexual violence issues on campus, Tongson said. We, as faculty, felt like we needed to show up and be there for students to support them and to stand in solidarity with them when they felt betrayed, in many respects, by the university in its failure to hold those accountable for sexual violence and sexual harassment.

In her message, Folt invited campus members to post any questions at QandA@usc.edu.

Sexual assault is a serious problem at university campuses across the country, and it is a problem at USC, she said. When it happens, the entire university is impacted. We share in the anger at this violence and compassion for those who are harmed. It strikes at the heart of the community and the care we owe each other.
State Highway 1 through Big Sur reopened Saturday afternoon after crews cleared rock and dirt from the road just north of the line between San Luis Obispo County and Monterey County, Caltrans said.

As of 3 p.m. the road was fully open again following a rockslide that was reported Wednesday a quarter mile north of the county line. The reopening was not expected until this coming Wednesday.

But people may now travel without interruption between the Monterey/Carmel area and the Cambria/Morro Bay area, according to Caltrans.

Crews dislodged an outcrop of rock Friday afternoon and worked until sunset Friday and through Saturday afternoon to remove over 20 truckloads of rock and dirt, according to Caltrans.

Three people were injured and one killed in a shooting police say took place at a Gilroy city councilwoman's home during Saturday's first few minutes.

Officers got a 911 call at 12:55 a.m. Saturday reporting a shooting at a residence on the 400 block of Las Animas Avenue near Murray Avenue -- the residence of Gilroy City Councilwoman Rebeca Armendariz, according to police.

Officers who responded found a large outdoor party at the residence, and learned that an altercation had taken place just before they arrived, according to police.

Four people were shot, police said. One of them 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.

An Oakland man died after he was shot late Friday afternoon in his hometown, police said Saturday.

Police have not yet released the man's name. The shooting occurred just after 4:30 p.m. in the 900 block of 85th Avenue.

Officers were alerted to the shooting by the city's gunshot detection system, according to police. Officers responded along with firefighters and paramedics who provided medical aid.

The victim was taken to a hospital where he died, police said.

One person died and five others were injured in a crash Saturday night in unincorporated Sonoma County near Safari West, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The crash was reported at 9:07 p.m. near the intersection of Porter Creek and Franz Valley roads, CHP Officer James Evans said.

One person suffered moderate injuries and four people suffered minor injuries, Evans said. The CHP reopened the roadway just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

Two people are lucky to be alive though one was arrested for DUI after their speeding vehicle rolled over numerous times and burst into flames Friday afternoon near Interstate Highway 80 and American Canyon Road, California Highway Patrol officials said.

A CHP airplane was over the area in Solano County Friday afternoon when the flight officer saw a BMW speeding on southbound McGary Road.

Suddenly, the BMW overturned numerous times, according to CHP officials. The two occupants were able to walk away from the crash and then the vehicle burst into flames. Neither person was injured, CHP officials said.

BART is offering extended service Sunday night to accommodate trick-or-treaters and people attending the Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco, BART officials said.

Service will extend after 9 p.m. on the lines between Antioch and Millbrae, Richmond and Berryessa/North San Jose, and Bay Fair and Dublin/Pleasanton.

BART is planning to operate one 10-car train across San Francisco Bay each hour. It will be timed to meet up with two other trains in the system.

Trains will stop at all stations except for the San Francisco International Airport station and Oakland International Airport station.

But BART officials warn that service is subject to the availability of train operators, who will be working voluntary overtime shifts. If enough train operators are willing to work, BART may add even more trains to specifically accommodate crowds leaving the Outside Lands festival.

A house fire in Fremont killed one person Saturday night and injured three more, according to the Fremont Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to a 7:17 p.m. report of a fire at 4111 Bacinada Court in the city's Cabrillo neighborhood.

Upon arrival, crews found heavy fire blowing out of the garage of a one-story house, with two vehicles fully-involved and a neighboring home threatened by the flames, according to a social media post by the department at 12:31 a.m. Sunday.

A collision between two vehicles in Concord sent seven people to the hospital early Sunday.

Three were transported to local hospitals by helicopter and four by ambulance, according to an 1:59 a.m. tweet from the Concord Police Department.

The collision was reported early Sunday morning at the intersection of Willow Pass Road and Port Chicago Highway, according to a 12:45 a.m. tweet, which then reported two victims had been airlifted to a local hospital.

The roads will remain closed during the investigation, with no estimate provide when they will reopen, police said.

A stretch of Arnold Industrial Place in Concord has reopened early Sunday, following repairs to power lines downed by a vehicle collision overnight Friday.

Concord police tweeted at 3:29 a.m. Sunday that the roadway had reopened between Peralta Road and Solano Way, after PG&E crews made repairs and restored power.

The National Weather Service forecast for the greater San Francisco Bay Area calls for cool conditions Sunday with partly cloudy skies and calm breezes. Daytime highs will range from the lower 60s along the coast to the middle 60s throughout the Bay Area. Overnight lows will be in the 50s.

Rain should arrive Monday morning and move toward the Central Coast by the afternoon. Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon is forecast to be mild and dry, followed by a chance of light rain Wednesday night into Thursday.

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In the early 1980s, some very funny business took place in front of a historic, double-wide townhouse in Philadelphia.

The stately brick home at 2014 Delancey Place was the residence of Louis Winthorpe (played by Dan Aykroyd) in the 1983 movie "Trading Places."

In the movie, it is outside this lovely home that the well-bred, snooty Winthorpe first encounters the street hustler Billy Ray Valentine (played by Eddie Murphy).

Their chance meeting in front of the home inspires Winthorpe's rich old bosses to make a bet on the subject of nature versus nurture. The men make a wager, hatch a plan, and hilarity ensues.

While the film begins with Winthorpe living in the home, by the second act, Valentine is the home's primary resident. Now, anyone with deep enough pockets can call the place their own.

Built in 1852, the home made famous on the silver screen is now on the market for $6.95 million.

Exterior of Philadelphia townhouse Realtor.com

Staircase Realtor.com

Entry Realtor.com

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A look at property records shows that the current owners purchased the place in 2002 for $1.7 million. They've since restored the showpiece in meticulous fashion.

A grand staircase winds from that arched doorway in the entrance between the multiple stories. A skylight lets in plenty of light above the stairs.

And dont worry, the home has an elevator if you dont want to hike up the four levels yourself.

Interior Realtor.com

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Library Realtor.com

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The home's hardwood floors are original, as are many of the architectural details, like the moldings and fireplaces.

Solarium Realtor.com

Solarium Realtor.com

A true highlight is the three-story solarium with huge skylights, ideal for relaxing and unwinding.

With five bedrooms and five full bathrooms, all the home's spaces have been designed to combine modern touches with historic ambiance.

Outside, the top level features a rooftop deck with wonderful city views. On the bottom level, there's a multiple-car garage, wine cellar, and laundry room.

In between are many levels of luxe living space. A master bedroom takes up most of the second floor, with a large dressing room and two bathrooms. Four more bedrooms can be found one floor up. A library with tall bookcases and high ceilings overlooks Delancey Place.

Rooftop deck Realtor.com

Bedroom Realtor.com

Bedroom Realtor.com

Bedroom Realtor.com

Bathroom Realtor.com

This row of Civil War-era homes, whose street addresses range from 2000 to 2018, are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 2000 block has probably had more screen time than any other residential location in the city. At least six movies have been filmed on the block.

Bathroom Realtor.com

Bedroom Realtor.com

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Interior Realtor.com

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Kitchen Realtor.com

Interior Realtor.com

The post Philadelphia Townhouse Featured in 'Trading Places' Is Listed for $6.95M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
We are standing in the dark at the foot of the Transamerica Pyramid, and everyone is beeping.

Passersby give us odd looks: a dozen strangers standing on a San Francisco street, holding small black EMF meters up to our phones and against our arms, laughing when they chirp. Our tour guide tells us to beware of PG&E boxes and Muni lines, which will give us false positives in our search. And with that, we set off into the city, hunting for ghosts.

Over my many years of going on ghost tours, Ive discovered theres a stigma around them. Ill tell friends about the amazing tour I did and receive chuckles or eye rolls. Perhaps its because walking tours sound like something for old people, the type of thing retirees sign up for on cruise excursions. But Ive wandered ancient graveyards in Edinburgh, climbed a tower inspired by Dante in Buenos Aires, and seen Vancouvers secret Prohibition hideouts, and theyre some of my best travel memories.

Until now, Id never done a ghost tour in my own backyard. So with Halloween fast approaching, I booked a ticket for The Haunt, a walking tour through Chinatown and Jackson Square. It promised something Ive never seen before on a tour: an EMF meter, which measures electromagnetic fields. Theyre meant for contractors working on your house, but theyve been co-opted by every paranormal show on TV as a means of finding ghostly activity.

The gimmick is a fun one. Were told by our energetic tour guide Jade to keep the meters out and ready in case we get a spike while walking through a haunted spot. We head toward Jackson Square first, where she takes us to Hotaling Place, an incredible glimpse of another era. As Jade tells us about the herd of cattle that once charged down the street after escaping a slaughterhouse in the chaos of the 1906 earthquake, I remember why I love ghost tours so much.

Reinier Snijders / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm

Despite my obsession with ghost stories, I dont believe in apparitions. My reasons dont matter. You already have your own. This world is polarized enough as it is; everyone is allowed to be right in their opinions about whether ghosts exist. Ghost tours arent magical because of paranormal experiences anyway. Even the most fervent believer is unlikely to experience much on a busy city tour. The real reason to sign up for an evening of ghost stories is that its an incredible way to absorb the spirit of a city. Our history is written in a million deaths, each telling us something about how people used to live.

As we thrust our EMF meters against walls and into empty air  they lit up joyfully at every turn, but didnt unveil a secret spirit among us, unfortunately  we learned stories about old San Francisco. The pale face that kept appearing in a window night after night, drawing huge crowds of astonished San Franciscans in the late 1800s. The whiskey king, A.P. Hotaling, whose office survived two earthquakes and whose spirit is said to sometimes pour a stiff drink. The massacre at the Golden Dragon, committed by teenagers, that changed Chinatown forever.

Katie Dowd/SFGATE

As with any ghost tour, theres some creative license with the storytelling, but theyre wonderful jumping-off points (A quick search of newspaper archives, for example, showed the face in the window was so popular, it spawned two imitators, one of which was a phantom butterfly). I always leave a tour with my Notes app full of tales to research later. One preteen in our group keeps getting wide-eyed. I see a bit of my younger self in her  a curious little soul, captivated by history  and I hope that excitement never fades for her either.

There is a point in every tour where the world melts away. Its usually after the guide wraps up a monologue in a quiet alleyway and starts leading the group to the next location. Ill hang back, taking in the old brick buildings and soft glow of street lamps.

For a moment, the scene is timeless. Generations of people walked this same patch of earth, carrying their dreams and worries and loves and hates. They are gone, and someday I will be too. But in that moment, we all exist together, our memories swirling in the air, alive.

The Haunt is a nighttime walking tour that runs year-round. Tickets can be booked here.
The discovery, published in the Science Advances journal on Saturday, uses a "high-density microarray patch" (HD-MAP) that, after being applied to the recipient's skin, applies thousands of microscopic projections.

Sydney, Oct 31 (IANS) Scientists from the University of Queensland (UQ) successfully developed a method that can deliver vaccines using a pain-free "patch" without needles.

Lead researcher, David Muller from UQ's School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences said initial testing in mice using an American-made Covid-19 vaccine has shown a "better and faster immune responses," Xinhua news agency reported.

It also neutralizes multiple variants, including the variants first detected in Britain and South Africa, Muller added.

However, the main promise of the technology lies in its ability to be self-administered, vaccinate an individual in a single dose, and be stored at a range of temperatures.

"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," said Muller.

This could present a major boon in the global vaccination rollout, especially in developing countries where the availability of doctors and vaccine cooling facilities are scarce.

Beyond vaccinations for coronavirus, the patch technology could also be applied to vaccines for polio, dengue fever and influenza, he added.

"So basically, the patch is a platform technology, which you can pair with the vaccine you want to work on," Muller told Xinhua news agency.

He said once the technology comes out of trials and its production is scaled up, it is expected to have a cost comparable to a prefilled needle and syringe.

Muller has had no shortage of enthusiasm for the technology, especially among Australians who have a phobia of needles, otherwise known as Trypanophobia, which has presented a very real barrier for those wanting to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

"I get emails weekly, asking 'when will it be available,' 'can we participate in the trials.' The only thing they don't realize is that any clinical trial will involve blood draw."

"It's very innocuous. So, I think for the end user, the experience wouldn't cause a lot of anxiety."

--IANS

int/khz/
Ashleigh Gentle remains the Queen of the Noosa Triathlon, adding an 8th title to her career-long dominance at the event. Gentle overcame a minute-plus deficit after the bike leg with a race-best 34:22 run to take the crown.



Gentle crossed the line in 2:00:36 with a 27 second margin over Milan Agnew and 1:02 over Sophie Malowiecki.



After extending her record Noosa win total, Gentle expressed relief that her late race comeback was successful. It means a lot, sometimes I honestly dont know how I pull it off, she told Noosa media. I felt pretty terrible out there in sections, Milan and Sophie were racing so well so congratulations to them, they did amazing, I was pushed to the very end and Im just pretty relieved actually.



Luke Willian of Brisbane held off a late charge by Nicholas Free to win the 38th edition of this classic event by 6 seconds margin and 10 seconds over third-place finisher Lorcan Redmond.



Im over the moon, you grow up as a little kid watching this race and to win it has always been my dream, its the cherry on top, Willian told Noosa media.



Mens Recap

Willian was in the lead pack all day, taking second behind Matthew Roberts and in a tight pack with Charlie Quinn and Josh Amberger out of the water. The leading pack increased on the bike as Roberts (54:17), Willian (54:12), Josh Ferris (54:13), Caleb Noble (54:09), Amberger (54:12), Simon Hearn (53:59), Steven McKenna (53:50), Lorcan Redmond (54:24) Nicholas Free (54:25), Tim Van Berkel (53:41) and Simon Hearn (53:59) arrived at T2 in a massive bunch.



On his way to a third-best 30:10 run split, Willian battled it out with Lorcan Redmond (29:55 run split), Quinn (30:39 run), Redmond (29:55) and Caleb Noble (30:38) before making a charge to take the win. After a race-best 29:33 run, Free charged into second place at the line, six seconds behind Willian and 4 seconds ahead of third-place Lorcan Redmond.



Willian offered a detailed look at his race strategy: The swim was crystal clear, you could see the rocks at the bottom at the far turn buoy, it was absolutely beautiful, thats why you come to Noosa, Willian told Noosa media. On the bike we had a little group and made sure we were all working hard and we were all pulling real solid turns to keep the gap that we worked really hard on the swim to get. Then on the run we had a bit of a gap but not a lot, at the halfway mark I was starting to sting a bit and I could see that the young guys were coming from behind and looked like they were going to go again and I worked really solid all the way home and held them off and got the job done.



Willian embraced the thrill of winning his first Noosa Its amazing, I love this race, I think Ive raced here for six years now, its been a while since Ive got close to the podium. My first years I got a fourth and a fifth and Ive kind of been a bit fried by the end of the year and missed out in the last couple of years. Its always been the goal to win so to come back after a year off [due to the Covid cancellation] and get the job done is absolutely amazing.



Womens Recap

Australia-based Dutch athlete Lotte Wilms led the women after a 19:43 split for the 1.5k swim, which gave her a 13 seconds lead on Malowiecki, 17 seconds on Agnew and 22 seconds on Gentle.



The four surged to the front and after a womens-best 1:00:39 bike split Malowiecki led Agnew by 7 seconds, Gentle by 1 minute, and Wilms by 1:12.



It was a pretty lonely race for me to be honest because I came out of the water just behind Sophie and Milan, and Lotte and Lauren were 20 seconds or so ahead of us which was really good because Lotte is an amazing swimmer so I was happy with my position, Gentle told Noosa media. But my god Milan and Sophie just went off so fast and I feel like for most of the bike ride we werent actually riding too dissimilar a pace. They just took it out really fast and were really aggressive on the bike and I probably lost a bit of time towards the backend coming back into town. Apart from a couple of little passes I was all on my own so I just tried to keep motivated and hope that they didnt get too much of a gap and tried to keep faith in my run.



On the run, Gentle passed Agnew to take the lead with 3k left, finishing with a dominating 34:22 run split to finish in 2:00:36 with a 27 seconds lead on Agnew (35:28 run) and 1:02 on 3rd place Malowiecki (36:21 run split).



Gentle pointed out that conditions were challenging for everyone. The conditions were pretty tough. On the bike the wind was slowly starting to pick up towards the end and I definitely noticed it was pretty hard going on the run heading out. I know this course well so I tried to use that to my advantage and tried not to panic and just slowly build into it and somehow I found something to take the win.



Gentle discussed how much she enjoyed the return to this locale after the 2020 cancellation due to Covid. I love coming back to Noosa, she said. It makes me very happy and I just love sharing this event with thousands of people racing on the course but also on the sideline so thanks to everyone who gave cheers this morning it makes a difference and you make Noosa Tri what it is, she said.

**

In 1983, the godfather of Triathlon in Australia, Garth Prowd, gathered 180 tri athletes at Noosa. Now, 38 years later, Noosa claims to be the largest Olympic distance triathlon in the world. The 5-day festival, which includes 11 events, hosts over 13,000 competitors with 30,000 spectators on race days.

Noosa Triathlon

Pro Men

Pro Women

Noosa Heads Lions Park, AustraliaOctober 31, 2021S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k1. Luke Willian (AUS) S 18:26 T1 1:23 B 54:12 T2 3:00 R 30:10 TOT 1:47:132. Nicholas Free (AUS) S 18:48 T1 1:29 B 54:25 T2 3:02 R 29:33 TOT 1:47:2193. Lorcan Redmond (AUS) S 18:50 T1 1:20 B 54:24 T2 2:53 R 29:55 TOT 1:47:234. Charlie Quinn (AUS) S 18:26 T1 1:24 B 54:35 T2 2:238 R 30:39 TOT 1:47:445. Caleb Noble (AUS) S 19:03 T1 1:35 B 54:09 T2 3:02 R 30:38 TOT 1:48:306. Steven McKenna (AUS) S 19:16 T1 1:32 B 53:50 T2 3:05 R 31:33 TOT 1:49:187. Matthew Roberts (AUS) S 18:21 T1 1:23 B 54:17 T2 3:00 R 32:28 TOT 1:49:318. Josh Amberger (AUS) S 18:27 T1 1:26 B 54:12 T2 3:07 R 32:37 TOT 1:49:509. Josh Ferris (AUS) S 18:55 T1 1:33 B 54:13 T2 3:03 R 32:09 TOT 1:49:5510. Simon Hearn (AUS) S 19:15 T1 1:31 B 53:59 T2 3:08 R 32:11 T OT 1:50:0615. Tim Van Berkel (AUS) S 19:23 T1 1:36 B 53:41 T2 3:09 R 33:56 TOT 1:51:471. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) 20:05 T1 1:40 B 1:01:09 T2 3:18 R 34:22 TOT 2:00:362. Milan Agnew (AUS) S 20:00 T1 1:36 B 1:00:46 T2 3:11 R 35:28 TOT 2:01:033. Sophie Malowiecki (AUS) S 19:56 T1 1:32 B 1:00:39 T2 3:08 R 36:21 TOT 2:01:384. Jessie Ewart-McTigue (AUS) S 21:18 T1 1:33 B 1:01:33 T2 3:11 R 36:58 TOTR 2:04:345. Ellie Hoitink (AUS) S 20:07 T1 1:41 B 1:02:15 T2 3:19 R 37:49 TOT 2:05:126. Lotte Wilms (NED) S 19:43 T1 1:50 B 1:01:51 T2 3:34 R 39:18 TOT 2:06:187. Kirra Seidel (AUS) S 21:24 T1 1:41 B 1:03:24 T2 3:24 R 37:25 TOT 2:07:198. Georgie Fredricks (AUS) S 20:36 T1 1:30 B 1:04:05 T2 3:08 R 38:27 TOT 2:07:489. Maighan Brown (AUS) S 21:20 T1 1:39 B 1:03:36 T2 3:19 R 38:45 TOT 2:08:4010. Lauren Kenwick (AUS) S 19:51 T1 1:35 B 1:05:52 T2 3:18 R 40:01 TOT 2:10:39
The Commonwealth Bank and the CSIRO are joining forces to investigate how climate change will affect different sectors of the economy, with CBA planning to use the data to drive down the emissions of large corporate clients.

As the Glasgow climate summit puts the spotlight on the challenges facing the financial sector in funding de-carbonisation, CBA and the nations top science body are launching a project aimed at helping financial firms manage climate risks.

CBA CEO Matt Comyn said the bank would play a leadership role in supporting Australias transition to a more sustainable economy. Credit:

Under the partnership, CBA is providing funding and data from a large range of industries that are likely to be affected by climate change, including manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture.

CBA said the CSIRO would use the data to develop scenarios for different sectors, which would help businesses understand the risks they faced and how they could adapt.
If Australia is to have any hope of hitting the governments net-zero commitment, there will need to be fundamental changes in the giants of the financial system: the big four banks.

For years, banks have faced growing pressure from activists and shareholders over their green credentials, especially exposure to coal, oil and gas businesses. Yet despite that justified scrutiny, the climate question hasnt really felt like core business for banks, and has rarely been front and centre for investors when executives deliver their results.

Banks may need to direct more money into corporate lending, instead of mortgages, in a net zero world. Credit:Ryan Stuart

That may be starting to change. Why? Because in recent weeks, the sheer scale of the changes facing financial institutions due to climate change has been rammed home, in three crucial ways.

First, the governments pledge last week to slash greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050 is a blunt reminder of the massive amount of capital that will be needed to be mobilised and pumped into green energy. Yes, Prime Minister Scott Morrisons announcement was severely lacking in detail, and markets were already assuming we were headed for net-zero anyway. But this doesnt detract from the mammoth task for the entire financial system in funding an energy revolution.
Local biotech giant CSL says a ban on Mexican plasma donors in the US could lead to a severe shortage of medicines, as it locks horns with the US Customs and Border Protection in court to overturn new rules which stop Mexican citizens from crossing the border to donate plasma.

CSL, valued at $137 billion, last month took the unusual step of partnering with rival plasma company Grifols to apply for an injunction against US Customs and Border Protection, prompting the agency to retort that the Australian company and its peers should offer US citizens more cash for donations instead of relying on foreign donors

Analysts and investors have been watching plasma collection volumes at companies like CSL closely throughout the pandemic as lockdowns affected collections. Credit:Paul Jeffers.

Plasma, which is the straw-coloured component of blood that holds proteins, is key to the creation of the specialist medicines that CSL and Grifols make. The companies collect donations in centres across the United States, where participants are offered around $US50 for their contributions.

Plasma collection volumes have been watched closely by investors over the past 18 months, with coronavirus shutdowns resulting in a drop in the volume of raw materials collected. CSL has confirmed it has had to increase the cash on offer to donors to entice them back to donate.
The price of buying a home is an unreliable guide to the price of finding somewhere to live. In simple economic theory, if the price of some item rises, the reason should be that demand has outstripped supply. Let supply catch up and the price should return to where it was. If the demand for homes rises by 100, build 100 more homes and the price should be unchanged. But such thinking is grossly oversimplified  especially when applied to something as complex as the housing market. For a start, the simple model is designed to analyse markets for commodities  simple consumer goods or services you buy and soon eat or use up. Homes, however, are assets that last for decades and have a resale value. Most of that value resides in the land on which the home is built, and the land goes on forever.

This means a home is both a consumption good  it provides its owner or tenant with somewhere to live  and an investment good, which should at least hold its value over time and probably increase in value. Growing debt driven by booming property prices could increase the risk of financial instability. Credit:Peter Rae As the Reserve Banks submission to the latest inquiry has pointed out, the growth in the number of homes has pretty much kept up with population growth in recent decades, meaning a shortage of places to live cant explain rising house prices. In any case, the price of buying a home is an unreliable guide to the price of finding somewhere to live since there are two reasons for buying a home: as a place to live and as an investment (a good place to park your wealth). The better guide to the cost of finding somewhere to live comes not from the price of houses and units but from the price of renting. And the figures show that (with the possible exception of Sydney), the cost of renting in capital cities has risen only a little faster than other consumer prices.

This fits with our earlier finding that the number of homes has kept pace with population growth. And it leaves little support for the widely aired claims of people from conservative think tanks that house prices have risen because state and local government planning and zoning regulations are limiting the release of land for housing development or the growth of medium and high-density housing. This argument has been debunked by Dr Cameron Murray of the University of Sydney. Being based on mere modelling, it fails to take account of the empirical fact that zoning regulations have been eased in recent years, specifically to ensure that home building keeps up with population growth. Loading This has happened over many peoples objections to the growth in high-density housing. But, unless we want our capital cities to keep sprawling outward forever, more high-rise housing is an inevitable consequence of businesss demand for  and almost every economists support for  rapid population growth. All this suggests its the strong demand for home ownership, not any inadequacy in the supply of homes thats driving prices up so rapidly. But what, and why? I think house prices are rising strongly because federal government decisions have made housing more attractive as an investment.

Theyve made home ownership more favourably taxed than other forms of investment, such as shares, art and antiques, or fixed-interest investments. This has always been true, but its become more so, first, with the Hawke governments introduction of a capital gains tax in 1985, while exempting the family home. But the biggest change came with the Howard governments move in 1999 from taxing only real capital gains to taxing the full nominal gain but at only half your marginal tax rate. The popularity of negatively geared property investment took off from that time. Ask yourself this: if the number of homes is pretty much keeping up with growth in the number of households, what happens when some homeowners decide theyd like to own more than one home, maybe many more? They use their superior borrowing-power to outbid the other home owners, existing and would-be. The supply of land for housing is limited, but not fixed. Thats because cities can sprawl, or you can pack more households onto to the same bit of land by building up. But both solutions add to costs. The simple demand-versus-supply model assumes the commodity in question is homogeneous  all the same. But with houses and units, it would be closer to the truth to say every home is different. Even two houses of the same design are different if theyre in different suburbs.
Under this hybrid companies require employees to attend the office for a specific number of days each week  possibly two or three - but workers choose when those days are. In some cases firms will require all staff to attend the office on the same day but very infrequently - such as once a month or once a quarter. 3. Workers choice The most flexible, giving employees the choice to always work in the office, always work remotely, or anything in between. A smaller share of firms have opted for this model than the previous two alternatives. 4. Remote work only After experimenting with work from home some firms have chosen to abandon offices altogether. Under this alternative all staff will work remotely. A small share of employers have taken this route.

5. Office work only A minority of firms has opted to call all their employees back all the time. This alternative was prevalent among businesses with a small contingent of office staff that operate alongside a much larger production workforce required to be physically on the premises to do their work, such as a factory. Some of these firms reported they did not want work practices to differ across the business. Combining working from home is becoming more common in Australia. Credit:Illustration: Andrew Dyson Some of Australias biggest companies have adopted hybrid work practices including banks, IT companies, telecommunications firms and miners. A spokesman for the Commonwealth Bank said many of its staff would return to the office for part of the week in the long term, balancing the needs of customers and employee teams.

CBA encourages a balance between working remotely with coming into the workplace for connection, innovation and collaboration, he said. Guidance on number of days is really dependent on individual teams and the way they work. Before the recent lockdown, Sam Downing was working from CBAs Darling Harbour office in Sydney five days a week. He now wants to work remotely for part of the week. He has enjoyed the flexibility including the chance to squeeze in a half-hour yoga workout in the park next door to his Surry Hills apartment. Im looking forward to the hybrid system rather than just working at home all the time because of the lockdown or working from the office all the time, Mr Downing said. Mr Downing, 38, who makes videos and podcasts for the bank, still wants to see his colleagues regularly and anticipates spending two or three days in the office.

Loading It will just come down to what suits me and the team best, he said. Dr Hopkins said many firms are still experimenting with their strategies. Im sure things will change over time, he said. But I expect the majority of firms will end up with some kind of hybrid work arrangement. Head of People and Culture at accounting firm PwC Australia, Catherine Walsh, said it is exploring how it can bring together all flexibility opportunities and embrace a hybrid model in the longer term.

A PwC staff survey last year showed the vast majority wanted to mix working from home with working in the office. It is a similar story at Westpac. A spokeswoman said it was building a hybrid model because staff wanted to keep working from home, while also coming into the office to collaborate with their teams. We are planning to roster people to come into our head offices, so specific teams come together, she said. Kate Hillman from consultancy Ernst and Young (EY) said many staff members had missed the social interaction they get in the office and would return for some or all the time. University of Sydney academic Matthew Beck said he was planning to continue working from his Blue Mountains home for two days a week and return to the office for three days when he settled into a normal routine.
On the face of it, there doesnt appear to be much to worry about being asked to prove your identity when you show up to vote.

After all, throughout the pandemic, we have become accustomed to telling authorities where we are spending time in the name of the public good.

We flash our ID and now even our vaccination status when we go to the pub if we want to take part. Similarly, a generation of younger Australians hardly cares about their privacy if their social media behaviour is any indication.

Yet, the Morrison governments introduction last week of legislation that would require Australian citizens to present identification such as a drivers licence, a Medicare card or a bank statement to vote at the next federal election drew immediate condemnation.

So, what is the problem that the government is seeking to address, and what is the need for change? And what are the likely consequences of such a move?
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on November 2, 1948

ECLIPSE

Only Slight Dimming



Few Sydney people took any interest in the partial eclipse of the sun by the moon yesterday afternoon.

Conditions were ideal for observing the eclipse as the western sky was practically cloudless at the time.

Most people who were asked said they had forgotten about it, and had not noticed anything peculiar about the sunlight.
After escaping the Taliban regime more than 20 years ago, Tahera Nassrat has been knocking on the doors of more recent Afghan refugees who arrived in Sydney with little more than the clothes they wore when they fled Kabul.

Some had tried to bring extra clothes, but had to abandon them after they were drenched in the sewer canal outside Kabul airport where they were forced to wait in large crowds after the Taliban overran the capital in August.

Ms Nassrat, who is the founder and president of the Afghanistan Peace Foundation, has visited more than 100 people including 30 families living in temporary hotel accommodation in south-western Sydney. Her organisation has collected donations of food, clothing, sanitary items, kitchen utensils and furniture which have been distributed to the families in recent weeks. The charity is also providing advice to the refugees on finding employment and long-term accommodation.

Afghan Peace Foundation founder Tahera Nassrat with volunteer Pal Omari distributing food and clothing and other items to help them settle into life in Sydney. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Ms Nassrat said some of the families were too embarrassed to ask male social service caseworkers for help getting some essential items.
More than half a million Australians undergo cosmetic surgery each year, with more procedures per person here than in the United States. As much of the country exits lockdown, a vast bulk of that work is likely to take place in the next few months.

Even without this added pressure, the system is already fraught with risk as it is almost impossible to establish who is adequately trained to perform cosmetic surgery. Revelations made by Four Corners, The Age and the Herald highlight troubling practices and the consequences for patients. Regulation is urgently needed.

Cosmetic surgery is under scrutiny. Credit:iStock

Any medical practitioner can call themselves a cosmetic surgeon. There are three types who do, including general practitioners, plastic surgeons and fellows of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine. Some have received cosmetic surgery training, others have not. This is confusing to patients and regulators.

The college is calling for regulation and accreditation for all doctors who perform cosmetic surgery, as there is for any other specialised field of practice. This is not about self-regulation or a turf war among surgeons. Its about patient safety and an independent overhaul of the system is required, putting patients first, not surgeons.
One of Australias biggest power and gas suppliers is eyeing shale oil reserves likened to large North American basins across a vast swathe of far-west Queenslands delicate Channel Country floodplains.

Applications by Origin Energy for state approval to seek undisclosed fossil fuels across about 225,000 hectares of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin, an area about the size of the ACT, were first reported earlier this year.

Outside dry periods, the free-flowing Cooper Creek floodplain can swell across 80 kilometres and support a vast array of plant and animal life.

New documents released to the Lock the Gate Alliance under right-to-information laws reveal the company wants to drill test wells in four permit areas around Tanbar, Windorah and Jundah  near the South Australian border  citing the known shale oil potential.

They point to recent Geological Survey of Queensland studies identifying the Toolebuc Formation beneath as a potential shale production region, while campaigners criticise state delays in protecting the ecosystem above.
A two-horse race for Gladys Berejiklians north shore seat of Willoughby will suddenly get more crowded this week with Menzies Research Centre managing director Tim James expected to nominate. Members are prepped for fireworks after former brekky tele presenter Kellie Sloane nominated for preselection.

This blindsided members of the Liberal Partys moderate faction who had already thrown their weight behind venerable Willoughby mayor Gail Giles-Gidney as Berejiklians successor. The Liberals are confident of retaining the seat, held on a margin of more than 20 per cent and a primary vote above 57 per cent.

Former premier Gladys Berejiklian returns to her Northbridge home after a walk on Sunday. Credit:James Alcock

But Willoughbys standing among the safest Liberal seats in the state as the party prepares to fight four byelections in quick succession is likely to be a decisive factor determining the preselection winner. Selectors are hyper-vigilant about costs and are looking for value for money, a senior party source said. As a result, members voting in the preselection are being encouraged to prioritise community recognition and familiarity over a candidate who requires a broader campaign to introduce them.

Senior members of the NSW moderates faction were adamant they were 1000 per cent behind Giles-Gidney who has been mayor since 2014. She has also scored endorsements from Berejiklian, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and Chatswood Chamber of Commerce boss Steven Hui.
Melbourne City Council and the First Peoples of Victoria are backing a proposal for a multimillion- dollar development in the heart of the CBD that could house the nations first Black Parliament, become a keeping place for repatriated artefacts and serve as a symbol of reconciliation.

The Age has obtained a copy of a draft proposal from the City of Melbourne, forwarded to the First Peoples Assembly, that maps out the development and construction of a First Nations cultural precinct that would be Indigenous led, owned and operated and provide a platform for lifting the Indigenous community.

The project is estimated to cost more than $400 million and the draft suggests that support for the precinct should be sought from the Victorian government at the development stage, potentially as part of the states Treaty process. Partnerships and funding would be sought from the state and federal governments, business, academic institutions and philanthropic organisations.

It would be financially sustainable after an initial capital and land outlay, and this investment would deliver strong economic and social benefits to the Indigenous community as well as Victoria and Australia, the proposal states.
Last months Supreme Court trial over the alleged murder of Yamatji mother, sister and daughter JC by a WA Police officer in 2019 was historic: the last police officer in Western Australia charged with the murder of an Aboriginal person was in 1926 and related to the Forrest River massacre.

The officer who faced trial in the WA Supreme Court cannot be named. The court issued a suppression order on his identity.

The WA Police officer (blurred), charged with murder over the death of JC (inset). Credit:Nine News Perth/Supplied

This same court also issued a suppression order over the name of the Kalgoorlie man who killed young Elijah Doughty in 2016 and received a road traffic conviction. There were no Aboriginal people on that jury and there were none in the murder trial of the officer who killed JC.

Twenty years ago, I studied the killings of Aboriginal people in WA by non-Aboriginals, observing a pattern of discrimination where appropriate charges were not laid, or if they were laid the accused was found not guilty of murder notwithstanding clear evidence of the crime.
The Australian economy faces significant risks from a net zero future regardless of domestic policies, with a major consulting firm warning the nations exports are more heavily exposed to the emissions policies of major trading partners.

The economy is at a greater risk from a global shift towards net zero than local climate change policies, modelling from major consultancy firm EY shows, with about 85 per cent of the value of Australian exports used for goods that require emissions-intensive production processes. This is up from 55 per cent 40 years ago.

Shipments of coal, Australias second largest export commodity Credit:Peter Davis

EY chief economist Jo Masters said the modelling did not consider the benefits of shifting to net zero, but showed how exposed the nation was to decisions made by other nations governments. On these estimates, 64 per cent of the risks to GDP from the shift to net zero are due to abatement policies from major trading partners, with less of the risk due to local emissions plans.

We need to have a really keen eye on the policies that our trading partners are committing to, the timeframe of those and their plan to get there, Ms Masters said.
He left the classroom as soon as he could, taking up labouring jobs and starting an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner before deciding to finish his schooling. Like a lot of Kooris I went back to the kind of blackfella high school which is NSW TAFE, and did my HSC through there, he laughed. I got into university a bit older, in my 20s, from there I started working in the old Attorney-Generals Department in the court system and realised that working inside the justice system was a powerful way to change it for the better for our people. Hes since served as head of the crime prevention division at the old Attorney-Generals Department and ran the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council. In recent years, hes worked as a deputy secretary at the former Department of Justice, and has been the CEO of Legal Aid since 2017. But its a program he created while at the Attorney-Generals Department nearly two decades ago that seems to inform how he wants to approach his new role. He established the circle sentencing system, an alternative type of culturally appropriate sentencing specifically for Aboriginal offenders offered in 12 local courts across NSW.

A father of young children, Mr Thomas wants to create a more equitable world for their generation. Credit:James Brickwood. The magistrate comes down off the bench, and they sit in a circle with local Aboriginal elders and when the defendant comes to the court they have to talk about what theyve done, and the circle with the magistrate talks about what happened, and they then develop the penalty for that person, he explained. The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has found that offenders sentenced under the system are less likely to be imprisoned or re-offend, and if they do re-offend it takes them nearly two months longer to do so. That court still operates under the same sentencing laws as a regular court, but the way it develops its sentence is a merger of Aboriginal practice and the western legal system, he said. Its a really powerful way in which you can bring Aboriginal communities directly into sharing responsibility and making decisions in the justice system.

Mr Thomas strongly believes that if the government wants to achieve positive outcomes Aboriginal communities must be involved in decision-making processes. He said circle sentencing was an excellent example, and he wants it expanded to all local courts in the state. He also argued that the justice and court systems needed to do more to ensure that Aboriginal people did not breach their bail or community sentencing orders, thereby avoiding unnecessary imprisonment. While helping the government achieve its commitment to reduce the Indigenous incarceration rate by 15 per cent over the next decade will be a difficult task, it is not his only one. Under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, by 2031 NSW has committed to reducing family violence by at least 50 per cent, bringing down the over-representation rate of Indigenous children in out of home care by 45 per cent, and increasing the proportion of First Nations people living in housing that isnt over-crowded by 88 per cent. Attorney-General Mark Speakman said Mr Thomas' experience would be invaluable to helping the government achieve its goals.

Brendans appointment to this important new role will drive us in meeting the National Agreement on Closing the Gap targets across child protection, the criminal justice system, housing and the prevention of domestic violence, Mr Speakman said. But the career public servant is aware that it is far easier to set a target than it is to achieve it. Loading We really need to think about how we deal with family and domestic violence in a way that keeps women and children safe, but that doesnt fill our jails full of Aboriginal men, thats a real challenge, and its a difficult problem for us to get on top of, Mr Thomas acknowledged. A recent BOCSAR evaluation of the state governments Whats Your Plan program, undertaken by Aboriginal defendants issued with apprehended domestic violence orders (ADVO) between 2017-19, found there was no evidence it reduced offending on its own.

Meanwhile, the problem of overcrowded housing recently came to a head after the COVID-19 outbreak in Wilcannia, a primarily Indigenous community in the states far west that was hard hit by the virus. Loading Many COVID-positive people were unable to isolate safely from their families and households due to overcrowded housing, and it took the state government weeks to send additional campervans to address the problem. Mr Thomas said he wanted to bring a level of cultural competency to the way the government deals with its public housing, arguing that many people dont understand homes are often too small to house many larger Indigenous family units. Houses in Australia are built to fit a western nuclear family, not necessarily to fit a broader extended family, not just an extended family but a place where people may come and stay for periods of time and then go and visit somebody else, Mr Thomas said.

Being an Aboriginal voice in a white world is something Ive been doing for the last 20 years. Its challenging and difficult sometimes. Brendan Thomas. Mr Thomas appointment comes after the NSW government recently knocked back several key recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry into Indigenous custody rates. The state government declined to make arrest an act of last resort, saying current practice strikes an appropriate balance between community safety and personal liberty, and it refused to relax legislation around offensive language. It also rejected calls for the independent police watchdog to be able to fully investigate deaths in custody and to achieve parity between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous incarceration rates by 2031 - arguing that it had already committed to a 15 per cent reduction under its Closing the Gap agreement. While Mr Thomas understands the job ahead of him wont be easy, he said he has a responsibility to help build a better world for First Nations people by achieving real outcomes in the justice and community systems.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Upon hearing the recent audio of MP Brison, the UD Board swiftly reacted, stating that this should not surprise anyone, as MP Brison continues to exude narcissistic traits and clearly lacks even a basic understanding of the responsibilities of a leader, especially of the public office of President of Parliament.

This is in the opinion of the UD Board vintage Rolando and this behavior should not be tolerated. Its disgusting to hear the president of parliament insult and ridicule members of parliament in a most objectionable manner. His explanation for this embarrassment is neither here nor there and only shows his utter disdain for the public trust he holds. To berate his own faction leader in such a manner is bad enough, but to boastingly refer to his dealings with coalition ministers and his pledging to third parties have hit a new low, even for him. This behavior only shows callous disdain for anyone not in the presidents inner and complicit circle. He has smeared the name of his coalition partners and his party members and it leaves one to wonder what and who is behind these discussions, of which only one has been made public. How come such answers were not provided in the presidents explanation of the audio?

Its not important if and why someone would set MP Brison up, which is according to the MP. What is scary are the boastful and sinister insinuations from the mouth of the President of Parliament. This does not sound like any isolated or heated discussion. Very evident though was the level of confidence and boastfulness in MP Brisons expletive-laden tirade. Whatever the reason for putting this audio out, the fact is that it reveals a most disturbing and worrisome picture.

It is high time in the opinion of the UD board that all representatives in parliament denounce this behavior and take action.

In the UDs board release, the MP of the UD faction and party leader, Sarah Wescot interjected: I emphatically denounce this behavior and strongly feel that the President of Parliament has lost all credibility and should do the honorable thing by resigning and saving the people of St. Maarten from further embarrassment. We, the people are guided by a moral compass according to what in our view is acceptable or not. This behavior of a member of parliament is most certainly not, from whichever angle it is taken. Worse yet, if this person holds the Chairmanship and thereby represents the entire parliament.
PHILIPSBURG:--- With a digital pre-event centered around the CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority Ms. Ronella Croes, a first step was taken towards the St. Maarten Innovations, Initiatives, and Industries Link-Up Event (SMILE) 2022. The SMILE event focuses on innovation and sustainability while connecting Caribbean companies and NGOs and those from beyond.

Ms. Croes was invited, as her organization is considered a global best practice of public-private cooperation, making the ATA a uniquely successful marketing agency. As per the core themes of the SMILE event series, Ms. Croes elaborated on actions ATA is currently taking pertaining to innovation and sustainability. She addressed how she sees the post-covid (tourism) economy and ATAs view on this unique time period.

The ATA CEO provided a context of how the travel industry witnesses the rapidly changing needs of a new era of travelers, much aware of social, economic, environmental, and health issues of its destination of choice. Digital innovations will play an increasing intermediate role in this changing context and have the focus of the Aruban agency.

Making it a different entity than most tourism bureaus, the ATA was founded on January 1st, 2011 as the Aruba Tourism Authority Sui Generis or an independent semi-governmental organization with a partially private-sector board. The independence of the ATA allows for a long-term sustainable marketing formula, giving back to the destination in the process. Ms. Croes stated how this provides the capacity of swift adaptation to changing circumstances: Our agility allows for swift movement in an increasingly competitive tourism market.

Agility is safeguarded in ATAs key objectives of facilitation of entrepreneurship, a focus on digital development, research and intelligence, awareness of the importance of the tourism industry amongst youth and the community at large. Other key objectives are amongst others facilitating beach quality, hospitality, and safety as core assets, facilitation of natural preservation, and keeping an eye on balanced tourism (carrying capacity).

Over time, the organization developed in 2014 from a destination marketing agency to a destination marketing and management agency. Its goals are put down in a multi-annual strategy. Amongst others, the ATA also involves itself in the management of a crisis fund in case of threats to the tourism industry, currently in use for dealing with the effects of the global Covid19 pandemic.

After her speech, a panel led by well-known St. Maarten entrepreneur John Sandiford discussed what could be learned from ATA by the region and beyond, and what else could be said pertaining to rebuilding economies successfully in the wake of the pandemic. The panel consisted of Ms. Dyane Vis Escalona (ATA), Mr. Jude Houston (Director, St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Mr. Paul Henriquez (President, St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association), Mr. Francio Guadeloupe (Professor of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam), Mr. Ronald Vermeeren (Caribbean liaison Netherlands Enterprise Agency) and Mr. Egon Sybrandy (Director of Opportunities, ShowMe Caribbean).

Panelists underlined the importance of cooperation; seeing how this gives a solid foundation to ATA from a marketing perspective. Mr. Guadeloupe and Mr. Houston stressed the importance of collaboration from a broader societal perspective regarding the economic rebuilding of the tourism-dependent region.

Both the eighty participants and panelists were also able to ask questions to the ATA representatives. Amongst the registrants were interested professionals from Anguilla, Aruba, Belgium, Canada, Curacao, Dominica, Estonia, French St. Martin, Germany, Greece, Haiti, the Netherlands, Saba, St. Maarten, Trinidad, and the United States. From St. Maarten, delegates from the private sector, business associations, government-owned companies, and government (agencies) took part.

SMILE was founded in 2018 with the goal to highlight innovation and sustainability best practices, in the process of connecting companies from both hospitality and trade as well as NGOs from the region. The 2022 event is scheduled for March 25th  26th. At the meeting, the new website smilesintmaarten.com was opened where future pre-events and developments will be listed. A regional call went out for inspiring best practices in innovation and sustainability to be highlighted at the event.

The SMILE event is an initiative of the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association, 360 of Innovation (Aruba), and Antonio Media (St Maarten / the Netherlands). It is supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (St Maarten), University St Martin, and ShowMe Caribbean (Curacao). People interested in participating in the event or to remain aware of developments, travel arrangements or future speakers can subscribe to the SMILE newsletter via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

With a digital pre-event centered around the CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority Ms. Ronella Croes, a first step was taken towards the St. Maarten Innovations, Initiatives, and Industries Link-Up Event (SMILE) 2022. The SMILE event focuses on innovation and sustainability while connecting Caribbean companies and NGOs and those from beyond.

Ms. Croes was invited, as her organization is considered a global best practice of public-private cooperation, making the ATA a uniquely successful marketing agency. As per the core themes of the SMILE event series, Ms. Croes elaborated on actions ATA is currently taking pertaining to innovation and sustainability. She addressed how she sees the post-covid (tourism) economy and ATAs view on this unique time period.

The ATA CEO provided a context of how the travel industry witnesses the rapidly changing needs of a new era of travelers, much aware of social, economic, environmental, and health issues of its destination of choice. Digital innovations will play an increasing intermediate role in this changing context and have the focus of the Aruban agency.

Making it a different entity than most tourism bureaus, the ATA was founded on January 1st, 2011 as the Aruba Tourism Authority Sui Generis or an independent semi-governmental organization with a partially private-sector board. The independence of the ATA allows for a long-term sustainable marketing formula, giving back to the destination in the process. Ms. Croes stated how this provides the capacity of swift adaptation to changing circumstances: Our agility allows for swift movement in an increasingly competitive tourism market.

Agility is safeguarded in ATAs key objectives of facilitation of entrepreneurship, a focus on digital development, research and intelligence, awareness of the importance of the tourism industry amongst youth and the community at large. Other key objectives are amongst others facilitating beach quality, hospitality, and safety as core assets, facilitation of natural preservation, and keeping an eye on balanced tourism (carrying capacity).

Over time, the organization developed in 2014 from a destination marketing agency to a destination marketing and management agency. Its goals are put down in a multi-annual strategy. Amongst others, the ATA also involves itself in the management of a crisis fund in case of threats to the tourism industry, currently in use for dealing with the effects of the global Covid19 pandemic.

After her speech, a panel led by well-known St. Maarten entrepreneur John Sandiford discussed what could be learned from ATA by the region and beyond, and what else could be said pertaining to rebuilding economies successfully in the wake of the pandemic. The panel consisted of Ms. Dyane Vis Escalona (ATA), Mr. Jude Houston (Director, St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Mr. Paul Henriquez (President, St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association), Mr. Francio Guadeloupe (Professor of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam), Mr. Ronald Vermeeren (Caribbean liaison Netherlands Enterprise Agency) and Mr. Egon Sybrandy (Director of Opportunities, ShowMe Caribbean).

Panelists underlined the importance of cooperation; seeing how this gives a solid foundation to ATA from a marketing perspective. Mr. Guadeloupe and Mr. Houston stressed the importance of collaboration from a broader societal perspective regarding the economic rebuilding of the tourism-dependent region.

Both the eighty participants and panelists were also able to ask questions to the ATA representatives. Amongst the registrants were interested professionals from Anguilla, Aruba, Belgium, Canada, Curacao, Dominica, Estonia, French St. Martin, Germany, Greece, Haiti, the Netherlands, Saba, St. Maarten, Trinidad, and the United States. From St. Maarten, delegates from the private sector, business associations, government-owned companies, and government (agencies) took part.

SMILE was founded in 2018 with the goal to highlight innovation and sustainability best practices, in the process of connecting companies from both hospitality and trade as well as NGOs from the region. The 2022 event is scheduled for March 25th  26th. At the meeting, the new website smilesintmaarten.com was opened where future pre-events and developments will be listed. A regional call went out for inspiring best practices in innovation and sustainability to be highlighted at the event.

The SMILE event is an initiative of the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association, 360 of Innovation (Aruba), and Antonio Media (St Maarten / the Netherlands). It is supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (St Maarten), University St Martin, and ShowMe Caribbean (Curacao). People interested in participating in the event or to remain aware of developments, travel arrangements or future speakers can subscribe to the SMILE newsletter via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
The northern lights, or the aurora borealis, are the beautiful dancing waves of light that have captivated people for millennia. But for all its beauty, this spectacular light show is a rather violent event.

Energized particles from the sun slam into Earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph (72 million km/h), but our planet's magnetic field protects us from the onslaught. As Earth's magnetic field redirects the particles toward the North Pole, the dramatic process transforms into a cinematic atmospheric phenomenon that dazzles and fascinates scientists and skywatchers alike.

The history of the northern lights

Though it was Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei who coined the name "aurora borealis" in 1619  after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek god of the north wind, Boreas  the earliest suspected record of the northern lights is in a 30,000-year-old cave painting in France.

Since that time, civilizations around the world have marveled at the celestial phenomenon, ascribing all sorts of origin myths to the dancing lights. One North American Inuit legend suggests that the northern lights are spirits playing ball with a walrus head, while the Vikings thought the phenomenon was light reflecting off the armor of the Valkyrie, the supernatural maidens who brought warriors into the afterlife.

Early astronomers also mentioned the northern lights in their records. A royal astronomer under Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar II inscribed his report of the phenomenon on a tablet dated to 567 B.C., while a Chinese report from 193 B.C. also notes the aurora, according to NASA .

The science behind the northern lights wasn't theorized until the turn of the 20th century. Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland proposed that electrons emitted from sunspots produced the atmospheric lights after striking the Earth's magnetic field. The theory would eventually prove correct, but not until long after Birkeland's death.

A vibrant, green aurora lights up Earth's upper atmosphere in this photo captured by an astronaut at the International Space Station. When this photo was taken on Jan. 22, the station was orbiting 261 miles (420 kilometers) above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North America. Beneath the northern lights is a blanket of marmalade-colored airglow, a type of luminescence caused by ultraviolet light that triggers chemical reactions high in Earth's atmosphere. Auroras, on the other hand, are created when charged particles from the sun ionize or excite particles in the atmosphere. (Image credit: NASA)

What are the northern lights?

At any given moment, the sun is ejecting charged particles from its corona, or upper atmosphere, creating what's called the solar wind . When that wind slams into Earth's ionosphere , or upper atmosphere, the aurora is born. In the Northern Hemisphere, the phenomenon is called the northern lights (aurora borealis), while in the Southern Hemisphere, it's called the southern lights (aurora australis).

"These particles are deflected towards the poles of Earth by our planet's magnetic field and interact with our atmosphere, depositing energy and causing the atmosphere to fluoresce," said Billy Teets, an astronomer and the director of Dyer Observatory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

The bright colors of the northern lights are dictated by the chemical composition of Earth's atmosphere. "Every type of atom or molecule, whether it's atomic hydrogen or a molecule like carbon dioxide, absorbs and radiates its own unique set of colors, which is analogous to how every human being has a unique set of fingerprints," Teets told Space.com. "Some of the dominant colors seen in aurorae are red, a hue produced by the nitrogen molecules, and green, which is produced by oxygen molecules."

While solar wind is constant, the sun's emissions go through a roughly 11-year cycle of activity. Sometimes there's a lull, but other times, there are vast storms that bombard Earth with extreme amounts of energy. This is when the northern lights are at their brightest and most frequent. The last solar maximum, or period of peak activity, occurred in 2014, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) , placing the next one in approximately 2025.

Despite plenty of advances in heliophysics and atmospheric science, much about the northern lights remains a mystery. For example, researchers weren't entirely sure how the energized particles in the solar wind accelerated to their extraordinary speeds (45 million mph) until June 2021, when a study published in the journal Nature Communications confirmed that a phenomenon called Alfven waves gave the particles a boost. Alfven waves are low-frequency yet powerful undulations that occur in plasma due to electromagnetic forces; the electrons that create the northern lights "surf" along these waves in the Earth's atmosphere, accelerating rapidly.

NASA is also on the hunt for clues about how the northern lights work. In 2018, the space agency launched the Parker Solar Probe , which is currently orbiting the sun and will eventually get close enough to "touch" the corona. While there, the spacecraft will collect information that could reveal more about the northern lights.

The auroras are best seen during the winter, when nights are long. Hours of patience by photographer Daniele Boffelli resulted in this image that captures both clouds and auroras in the night sky. (Image credit: Daniele Boffelli)

Are there other types of auroras?

On Earth, the northern lights' counterpart in the Southern Hemisphere is the southern lights  they are physically the same and differ only in their location. As such, scientists expect them to occur simultaneously during a solar storm, but sometimes the onset of one lags behind the other.

"One of the more challenging aspects of nightside aurorae involves the comparison of the aurora borealis with the aurora australis," said Steven Petrinec, a physicist at Lockheed Martin who specializes in magnetospheric and heliospheric physics. "While some auroral emissions occur in both hemispheres at the same magnetic local time, other emissions appear in opposing sectors in the two hemispheres at different times  for example, pre-midnight in the Northern Hemisphere and post-midnight in the Southern Hemisphere."

The hemispheric asymmetry of the aurora is in part due to the sun's magnetic field interfering with Earth's magnetic field, but research into the phenomenon is ongoing.

Another aurora-like occurrence on Earth is STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement). Like the northern and southern lights, STEVE is a glowing atmospheric phenomenon, but it looks slightly different from its undulating auroral counterparts. "These emissions appear as a narrow and distinct arc, are typically purple in color and often include a green picket-fence structure that slowly moves westward," Petrinec told Space.com.

STEVE is also visible from lower latitudes, closer to the equator, than the auroras.

A 2019 study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters discovered that STEVE is the result of two mechanisms: The mauve streaks are caused by the heating of charged particles in the upper atmosphere, while the picket-fence structure results from electrons falling into the atmosphere. The latter process is the same driver of the aurora, making STEVE a special kind of aurora hybrid.

Auroras occur on other planets, too  all that's required to make an aurora is an atmosphere and a magnetic field.

"Auroras have been seen in the atmospheres of all the gas giant planets , which is not surprising, since these planets all have robust magnetic fields," said Jeff Regester, an instructor of physics and astronomy at High Point University in North Carolina. "More surprisingly, auroras have also been discovered on both Venus and Mars, both of which have very weak magnetic fields."

Where and when to see the northern lights

Seeing the northern lights with your own eyes is a bucket-list item for astronomy lovers and travelers alike. Fortunately, they occur frequently. "The northern lights are happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," said photographer Chad Blakely, owner of northern lights tour company Lights Over Lapland . But that doesn't mean they're easy to spot; you need to be at the right place at the right time.

The best place to see the northern lights is any destination in the "auroral zone," the area within an approximately 1,550-mile (2,500 kilometers) radius of the North Pole, according to the Troms Geophysical Observatory . That's where the aurora most frequently occurs, though the phenomenon can creep farther south during particularly strong solar storms. Within the zone, it's best to be as far away from city lights as possible to maximize visibility. But it's pretty tricky to get into the middle of the Arctic wilderness, even with a guide, so it's best to base yourself in a destination with solid infrastructure, like Fairbanks, Alaska; Yellowknife, Canada; Svalbard, Norway; Abisko National Park, in Sweden; Rovaniemi, Finland; and pretty much anywhere in Iceland.

Related: Where to see the northern lights: 2021 aurora borealis guide

The best time of year to see the northern lights is between September and April, when the sky gets dark enough to see the aurora. (Northern locales experience the midnight sun, or 24 hours of daylight in the summer.) The most action usually happens between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., according to the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks . Keep the moon phases in mind, as a bright full moon might fill the night sky with light. Check local weather forecasts as well, because you won't be able to spot the aurora through the clouds.

You can also monitor aurora forecasts from the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute and NOAA, which offers both three-day and 30-minute forecasts .
THE UNKNOWN - With the All-American game approaching Spencer (Daniel Ezra) is feeling uneasy until an old friend says something to him that makes everything suddenly click. Olivia (Samantha Logan) applies for a coveted summer internship with the L.A. Tribune Online, but her test assignment takes a different turn than what they asked for. Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) questions why no one sees him as great and the answer he gets takes him by surprise. Coop (Bre-Z) feels betrayed by Layla (Greta Onieogou) when she learns Layla is looking for a new artist and makes some hurtful accusations. Meanwhile, Billy (Taye Diggs) discusses a new opportunity with Laura (Monet Mazur) that might just be too good to turn down. Ryan Zaragoza directed the episode written by John A. Norris (#404). Original airdate 11/15/2021.
On 29 September 2021, the General Court of the European Union (GCEU) annulled the EU-Morocco trade and fisheries agreements that applied to Western Sahara. "For decades, the concerns of the people of Western Sahara have been ignored and their rights have been violated by the Moroccan occupying power. The EU General Court has made it unmistakably clear that it is high time to talk to and decide with the Sahrawi people and not behind their back. Sahrawi consent must be respected., Andreas Schieder, SPO MEP and Chair of the Intergroup for Western Sahara, a cross-party working group in the European Parliament, summed up. The GCEU invalidated the agreements with Morocco because the EU had failed to secure the consent of the people of Western Sahara, as requested under EU and international law. The Court dismissed the consultations of populations concerned carried out by the European Commission, which could not substitute this fundamental requirement of consent. Through these agreements, the EU has thus been complicit in the unlawful exploitation of natural resources and the entrenchment of the illegal occupation in Western Sahara, and has undermined UN efforts to reach a lasting solution to the long-standing conflict. The Intergroup believes it is now imperative for the EU and its member states to uphold the rule of law, to conform with the decision of the General Court and to ensure that all its dealings with Western Sahara meet the Courts requirements. In this regard, the EU has no choice but to engage with the Frente Polisario as the legitimate and sole representative of the Sahrawi people. Finally, the Intergroup calls on the EU to step up its support to the Sahrawi refugees in Algeria and to the human rights defenders and civil society in the occupied territories.(sps)
The credit history is a report that collects the behavior of people as payers or not, if they requested any credit during their life. In Mexico there are two Credit Information Societies (SIC), the Credit Bureau and the Credit Circle , which are the only ones authorized to monitor our history. However, one of the main concerns for the family of a deceased person is what will happen to the debts left by this person, especially those associated with credit cards and loans.

Although each bank establishes a different process in the event of the death of its clients, the Coru.com financial services platform provides guidance on the general steps that must be known.

Cancel the credit cards of a deceased

In principle, it is important to know that financial institutions are obliged to cancel a credit card when the holder dies, in addition to eliminating the debt. In the case of departmental cards, they do not necessarily eliminate debt.

A debt generally disappears for two reasons: 1) the cardholder acquires insurance at the time of contracting the card that covers the debt in the event of death; 2) the bank forgives the debt on the credit line when the holder dies.

In both scenarios, the family members do not have the obligation to cover the debt that was in the account at the time of death, but they do have to notify the death of the person in the following 180 days.

In the event that there are charges after death, they must be paid, this applies to both the cardholder and additional cards.

What about the debts and credit bureau of someone from a deceased?

Since we started a credit life, all our activity is included in the monthly report of the Bureau or the Credit Circle.

When a cardholder or debtor dies, the bank or finance company issues a notice to the Credit Bureau, and this, in turn, puts an 'observation key' in that person's record so that the information is not misused, for example, in the case of identity theft.

When the debts of the dead affect the living

In the case of joint loans with endorsement, joint obligor, group loan or similar, the debt will appear on the credit history of all those who are co-owners and jointly responsible for the payment, as explained to Coru.com, Wolfgang Erhardt Varela, spokesman for the Bureau of Credit. This means that when someone dies, and was a bad payer, the negative history will be reflected in all the co-owners of that credit.

On the other hand, if the credit that the person had in life is for an asset that can be inherited, the credit agreement can affect, for better or for worse, the heir.

The main recommendation is to know in advance the contracts in the section of death insurance, also called Release of balances due to death , Regime of balance due to death , Insurance on balances or Release of unpaid balance.

In addition, if you have remarried and / or changed legal beneficiaries, it is necessary to update the data in the corresponding banks and credit institutions, so that the debt does not pass to people with whom you no longer have a relationship.

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STAMFORD  After months of campaigning amid a mayoral race that has put a spotlight on Stamford, voters will finally get the chance to have their voices heard as they head to the polls Tuesday.

For mayor, they will pick between Democratic state Rep. Caroline Simmons and unaffiliated candidate Bobby Valentine, a former professional baseball manager and hometown legend.

Simmons appears on two lines on the ballot  for the Democratic Party and the Independent Party. After the Stamford Democratic City Committee narrowly endorsed her, Simmons went on to beat incumbent Mayor David Martin in a primary, which Martin forced by gathering signatures from registered Democrats. She was crossed-endorsed by the Independent Party.

Valentine petitioned his way onto the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate. He has been endorsed by Stamfords police and teachers unions.

Simmons has been endorsed by the citys firefighters union and several local affiliates of the Service Employees International Union. She has also received endorsements from Gov. Ned Lamont and former President Barack Obama.

The two candidates had raised nearly $1 million combined as of the end of September.

The Stamford Republican Town Committee endorsed former police detective Joe Corsello in the race for mayor. Corsello dropped out weeks later and endorsed Valentine.

Stamford voters will also make their choices in races for town clerk, the Board of Finance, the Board of Education, constables and the Board of Representatives.

For town clerk, their choice is between Democratic incumbent Lyda Ruijter and unaffiliated challenger Marilyn Abbazia-Lodato.

There are six candidates running for four seats on the Board of Finance, but only one seat is truly up for grabs.

The Board of Finance operates under a minority representation rule, which stipulates that no more than four of the six members may belong to the same party. Two Democrats on the board arent up for reelection this year.

In one race  a special election to finish out the term originally won by Democrat David Kooris before he took on the role of head of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District  current seat-holder Democrat David Mannis is running unopposed.

With only two Republicans running  current Board of Representatives members Dennis Mahoney and J.R. McMullen  each is guaranteed a spot on the board, replacing two outgoing Republicans.

That leaves one spot available, and the winner will come from a field of three Democrats: Richard Freedman, who currently chairs the board, and challengers Robert Barocas and Leo Zygelman.

Meanwhile, on the Board of Education, three spots are available. The Board of Education also operates under a minority representation rule, which stipulates that no more than six of the nine members may belong to the same party. Five Democrats are not up for re-election this year, meaning only one Democrat can join the board through the upcoming election if they finish among the top three overall vote-getters.

Polling places 1. Recreation Star Center (formerly Our Lady Star of the Sea Elementary School) - 1170 Shippan Ave. 2. Salvation Army - 198 Selleck St. (Betts Avenue entrance) 3. South End Branch Library - 34 Woodland Ave. 4. K. T. Murphy Elementary School (rear) - 38 George St. (entrance) 5. Yerwood Center - Fairfield Avenue/West Main Street 6. Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church - 29 Grove St. 7. Julia A. Stark Elementary School (rear) - 38 Oscar St. (entrance only) 8. Domus (Old Rogers School) - 15 Frank St. (entrance) 9. Westover Magnet Elementary School - 412 Stillwater Ave. 10. Cloonan Middle School (side) - 11 Powell Place (entrance) 11. First Presbyterian Church - 1101 Bedford St. 12. Stamford High School (rear) - 84 Hillandale Ave. (entrance) 13. Roxbury Elementary School - 751 West Hill Road 14. Stillmeadow Elementary School - 800 Stillwater Road 15. Dolan Middle School - 51 Toms Road (front only) 16. Turn Of River Middle School - 117 Vine Road 17. Springdale Elementary School (rear entrance) - 1127 Hope St. (rear driveway at 1197 Hope St.) 18. Davenport Ridge Elementary School - 1300 Newfield Ave. 19. Long Ridge Fire Company Station 1 - 366 Old Long Ridge Road 20. Scofield Magnet Middle School - 641 Scofieldtown Road Voters can find their polling place here: https://www.stamfordct.gov/government/registrar-of-voters/find-your-voting-location. Source: Stamford Registrars of Voters See More Collapse

The rule does not stipulate that the minority representation on the board be all Republican. A candidate running as unaffiliated, or any minority party, would also qualify.

The Democratic candidates are Versha Munshi-South, Michael Hyman and Ben Lee. The Republican candidates are Joe Gonzalez, Josh Esses and incumbent Becky Hamman. Rachel Albone is running as an Independent Party candidate. Incumbent Jackie Pioli is running as an unaffiliated candidate.

Board of Representatives members represent districts within the city. Each district  a total of 20  has two representatives. Sample ballots per district are available on the city governments website: https://www.stamfordct.gov/residents/elections.

Stamford has more than 74,000 registered voters, including more than 31,000 registered Democrats, more than 27,000 unaffiliated voters and more than 13,000 registered Republicans, according to information provided by the office of the Registrars of Voters.

The polls will be open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

As of Friday, the town clerks office had issued nearly 6,200 absentee ballots. About 4,000 had been returned. Voters could use the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for seeking an absentee ballot.

Absentee ballots can be placed in a box in the parking garage of the Stamford Government Center at 888 Washington Blvd. or in a box outside the Harry Bennett library at 115 Vine Road. Ballots will be collected from the boxes for the last time Tuesday at 8 p.m. Mailed-in ballots must be received by the town clerks office by that time as well or else they wont be counted.

Includes prior reporting by staff writer Ignacio Laguarda.

brianna.gurciullo@hearstmediact.com
Hospital beds are full with patients but the staff available to care for them is shrinking, and health care systems say they are paying bonuses and finding creative ways to fill empty positions, particularly in nursing.

While some Connecticut hospitals have let staff go due the workers unvaccinated status, health care officials here say the nationwide labor shortage has hit their industry harder.

The issue is prompting review of recruitment, training options, professional development, compensation and more, officials said.

This year, particularly, all positions I would say have become more challenging and some difficult, said Melissa Turner, senior vice president for human resources for Yale New Haven Health.

With a very, very large volume of open positions to fill, its difficult to find the candidates that we desire, Turner said. The job is more taxing than it has ever been  The job market in general has become a challenge.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

And after 20 months of caring for COVID patients, and with more inpatients now because of delayed procedures, many nurses, respiratory therapists and others are leaving their positions, officials said.

Patients are sicker than they have formerly been when they arrive at our doors, Turner said. All our COVID numbers are down but we have very high volumes, particularly in our EDs referring to emergency departments.

The pandemic also has given people second thoughts about their work-life balance, she said. People are thinking about their lives in a different way now.

Cathy Frierson, chief human resources officer for Nuvance Health, said in an email, The national labor shortage has had a profound impact across the healthcare industry.

Effectively managing staffing challenges and retaining talent has been a top priority at Nuvance Health, Frierson said. We are proactively implementing strategies to ensure we have the resources necessary to care for our patients and the communities we serve.

Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media

Nuvance Health includes Norwalk, Danbury, New Milford and Sharon hospitals, as well as three hospitals in New York state.

What is happening in the industry right now in health care, we are seeing a reset in the labor market, said Amanda Richards, who joined Hartford HealthCare as its first chief nursing officer in January.

Hartford HealthCare includes St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport, MidState Medical Center in Meriden and Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington.

Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

While the employees who have been terminated from health care systems for their refusal to get vaccinated have made headlines, that is a small part of the problem, the health care officials said.

At Yale New Haven, 68 unvaccinated employees across 56 different positions had been let go as of Tuesday out of more than 28,000 employees.

At Hartford HealthCare, 109 employees were let go out of 33,000 employees and staffs of partner organizations, according to spokeswoman Rebecca Stewart.

Both health care systems said the workers could return if they were to get vaccinations.

Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief clinical officer, said 99.8 percent of Hartford HealthCares more than 26,500 employees and 2,200 doctors and nurse practitioners who are not employees but are affiliated with the system have been vaccinated.

Hiring and training

On the other hand, Hartford HealthCare has hired more than 300 registered nurses in the last few months alone, Stewart said, and Yale New Haven Health has hired 1,200.

Im very pleased that we have all these nurses in the pipeline, most of whom will graduate in May and some in December, Richards said.

Charlotte Hungerford Hospital / Contributed photo

Connecticut is doing better than the nationwide average in available nurses, according to Nurse Journal, which counts 12.06 nurses per 1,000 people across the country. Connecticut is 15th of the 50 states and District of Columbia, with 14.75 per 1,000.

Across the nation, everybody is suffering from a nursing shortage, said Beth Beckman, chief nursing executive for Yale New Haven Health.

This one feels a little different in the sense that the pandemic has certainly had a toll on peoples appetite for whats occurred, she said.

Many nurses have chosen jobs with a Monday-to-Friday schedule and not so much wear and tear. Theres been a migration of nurses certainly to traveler jobs, in which they are hired for a short duration, often for higher pay, Beckman said.

Beckman said Yale New Haven is fortunate in having a very tenured staff and a very loyal staff, people who have been here 30-40 years and have stayed with us through the pandemic.

She said nurses also were willing to move from one hospital to others that were overrun by surge. There was such a spirit of generosity around that, she said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Turner said the health system also responded to the limitations nursing students faced during COVID in not being able to train with patients. Much of the teaching was conducted with simulators. We said in the summer of 2020, we have to do something differently, Beckman said.

Yale New Haven worked with the nursing schools in the state and the Connecticut Hospital Association to create a bridge to professional practice. They went to the nursing schools and said, anybody who is a senior student is welcome to join us and well find a spot for you.

The students were trained in COVID safety protocols and worked alongside professional nurses, who served as preceptors, for 60 hours.

We taught them how to don and doff. We made sure they were N95 [mask] fit-tested. The only thing missing from this was they didnt pass medications, Beckman said.

Most of the students worked in the most urgent areas: critical care, emergency medicine, medical surgical units and the operating rooms.

The preceptors couldnt have been more thrilled with the opportunity and the students were grateful for the experience, Beckman said.

Richards said Hartford HealthCare developed pretty robust transition strategies for the nurses it has hired, to allow them the opportunities to practice in specialty areas. Were quite unique where we have the full continuum of care, including seven hospitals, at-home care, skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities and its medical group.

A new graduate nurse residency program helps the transition to professional nursing, assigning a nurse as a supportive mentor to take care of new nurses emotional needs, she said.

Were focusing on the professional development of our nurses, Richards said, including offering assistance for advanced courses. How do we continue to grow them professionally? The focus of the work were doing is to elevate their professional practice.

For nurses, its not a job, its actually a call, Richards said. Our role is to support that growth and development.

She said the pandemic has helped nurses to be recognized for their critical role. It really has been nurses on the front line of care, she said. Its redefining the way we deliver care in the future.

Hartford HealthCare partners with 15 nursing schools. As they are equipping the nurses, we have a role to play with their clinical placements, Richards said.

Compensation

Hartford HealthCare also has created a task force to streamline its recruitment process, to shorten the time it takes from recruitment to starting on the job.

Both health care systems have given bonuses to employees for the additional pressure the pandemic brought. Stewart said every Hartford HealthCare employee received a $1,000 bonus last week and will receive a second one, a success share before the holidays. A tuition-reimbursement program also has been implemented.

Yale New Haven handed out 5 percent bonuses in May 2020, though its annual performance incentives were 1 percent rather than the usual 2 percent because of the financial losses the health system suffered.

Bridgeport Hospital / Contributed

We are aware of current compensation trends and we are in step with those trends, Turner said. There might be incentives for people that are responding to surge, patient care surges. We compensate well for people who are picking up shifts.

She said the health systems leaders showed their appreciation in other ways, including a week of gratitude in May, in which managers spent two hours every day for a week walking rounds with their staff and really walked in their shoes for two hours.

It was tremendously successful, Turner said. People felt heard and seen  and it is a program we are committed to continuing.

Since March 2020, the administration also has held regular town hall meetings, talking about the state of the health system.  They appreciate that level of transparency, she said.

Yale New Havens system includes Yale New Haven, Bridgeport, Greenwich, Lawrence and Memorial and Westerly, R.I., hospitals.

Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)  A 27-year-old woman has pleaded guilty in Spokane County Superior Court to first-degree murder and second-degree assault.

Anne Carpenter killed Danette Kane, owner of the Westview Manor apartment complex, and shot apartment manager Michael Troy, who is now blind in 2017. She was arrested days later armed with a 9mm handgun after a city-wide police search located her near the NorthTown Mall.

Court records say the killing may have been motivated by Carpenters father facing eviction, but the Kane family denied having any knowledge of the possible eviction, the Spokesman-Review reported.

The plea agreement agreement calls for 25 years in prison, plus five years for a firearm enhancement, Judge Maryann Moreno said. The second-degree assault sentence would be served at the same time as the murder sentence.

The mandatory minimum sentence for first-degree murder is 20 years. The maximum penalty for first-degree murder is life in prison and the maximum penalty for second-degree assault is 10 years in prison.

Retired Spokane County Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque, who is representing the Kanes, said the family unanimously agreed that it will not object to the plea agreement pertaining to the murder charge.

Carpenter is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3.
Former Chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania Aurel Vainer has died at the age of 89.

"I have learned with great sadness the news of the death of Ph.D Aurel Vainer, former chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania (FCER) and member of the Romanian Parliament. Dr Vainer was an extraordinary leader who made unremitting efforts to protect the Romanian Jewish community and to bring to the light its history and its contribution to the development of the country. He was also a true friend of Israel, a man in whom I would always find an exceptional partner. We will always appreciate his tireless work in the service of the Jewish community, his close relationship with Israel and his contributions to the continued deepening of this friendship. Blessed be his memory!" Israeli ambassador to Romania David Saranga wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

Vainer was born on January 10, 1932, in Stefanesti, Botosani County.He graduated from the Bucharest School of Economics (ASE) in 1953 and became a Ph.D in economics in 1966. He took several advanced classes in Marketing, Market Research, in Paris (1968), in Commercial Mediation in Paris (2003), according to his CV posted on the website of the Chamber of Deputies.Before 1989, he worked in commerce, statistics and construction: state commerce (1949-1950), Central Directorate of Statistics (1950-1959), construction (1959-1962). Also for a long time before 1989, Vainer carried out scientific research as the main scientific researcher at the Institute of Commercial Research and at the Institute for Research of Internal Trade and Commerce.After 1989, he was part of the management of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania and Bucharest City: deputy chairman (1990-1996), first deputy chairman (1996-2002), deputy chairman (2002-2004), member on the Board of Directors (1990- 2005).He was also an associate professor at the Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Finance and Accounting at Campulung Muscel (2000-2008).During the post-communist period, he was a lawmaker in the national minorities group representing the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania in the 2004-2008, 2008-2012,and the 2012-2016 legislatures. In all three legislatures he was deputy chair of the Committee on Economic Policy, Reform and Privatisation in the Chamber of Deputies.He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Romanian Marketing Association (1996-2004), deputy chairman of the Romanian Statistical Society (2004), a member of the Executive Committee of the European Jewish Congress (2005-2007).He is a 2013 recipient of the Star of Romania in the rank of officer national medal and a 2009 recipient of France's Legion of Honour in the rank of Knight national medal (2009). On December 30, 2016, President Klaus Iohannis awarded Vainer a Star of Romania in the rank of Commander national medal, as a token of "appreciation for the high moral and professional attitude displayed throughout his career, for his decisive contribution to the preservation of the Jewish heritage and improving interfaith dialogue, for its special involvement in combating anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism and Holocaust denial, as well as for strengthening Romanian-Israeli ties and promoting Romania's image in the world.'He was also a prolific writer of research papers (trade economics, marketing), publishing studies and articles on business, as well as internal trade and marketing books.On May 7, 2015, he received an honorary doctorate from the Titu Maiorescu University.
Romania's National Emergency Management Committee (CNCAV) approved at a Sunday meeting Decision 96 authorising the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, via the Emergency Management Department (DSU), to sign an agreement for the transfer to Germany of severely-ill COVID-19 patients from Romania, agerpres reports.

"The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, via the Emergency Management Department, are hereby authorised to sign the agreement for the transfer of severely-ill COVID-19 patients to the Federal Republic of Germany," the decision reads.

The transport of patients will be performed by aircraft of the Romanian Ministry of National Defence or of the German Air Force.
An agenda of the National Liberal Party - Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (PNL-UDMR) government submitted to Parliament on Saturday by Prime Minister-designate Nicolae Ciuca contains short-, medium- and long-term measures to overcome the energy crisis, focused on protecting the household users and supporting the economy, agerpres reports.

"Addressing the energy crisis will be achieved through the implementation of effective measures in the short, medium and long term, aimed at changing the paradigm of household consumption, as well as identifying additional measures to temporarily cap energy prices, subsidise energy bills and postpone payments. The PNL government aims to transform this energy crisis into an opportunity to speed up energy investments in order to secure Romania's energy independence, as well as its transition to green energy and reduced CO2 emissions."

Short-term measures considered:* Identifying and implementing new measures rounding up the existing ones, such as capping, offsetting and deferring payment, so that Romanians will not pay a higher price for energy than in December 2020 to mitigate the risk of energy poverty;* Implementing solutions to support the business community amidst the ongoing global energy crisis.At the same time, a series of medium and long-term measures are put forth:* Promoting energy investment, especially in clean energy, attempting to complete units 3 and 4 at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, refurbish unit 1 and introduce advanced nuclear technologies as part of the Romania-United States intergovernmental partnership, including the development of new nuclear power facilities involving small modular reactors of a SMR type technology;* Implementing reforms and objectives under Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) by supporting power generation;* Making operational a modernisation fund by the end of the current year and drawing up the necessary framework to start a call for projects in the first quarter of 2022 to achieve new energy resources that will lead to reduced electricity imports and Romania's getting back to being a net energy exporter;* Implementing new state-aid schemes to increase energy efficiency and encourage the emergence of prosumers;* Starting a strategic project for the exploitation of Black Sea natural gas to increase energy security, reduce dependence on imported gas and ensure transition to clean energy;* Increasing the storage at ROMGAZ storage facilities and transforming them into multicycle facilities in order to secure the operation of hydrocarbon power plants even in inclement weather;* Funding the extension of natural gas distribution networks under the Anghel Saligny programme.
National chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Kelemen Hunor says late former honorary chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania (FCER) Aurel Vainer, a former lawmaker, was "a true colleague and fighting partner" in Parliament. He represented his community in a "responsible and proud" way, both in the country and abroad.

"Aurel Vainer, honorary chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania (FCER), a former member of the Romanian Parliament, has passed away. He was a true colleague and fighting partner in Parliament who represented his community in a responsible and proud way, both in the country and abroad. He was among those who, unfortunately, had to experience back then the horrible crimes committed by the legionaries, the pure desire to kill directed against his community. All along his life he taught us not to forget the past; he reminded us that we can only be free if those close to us, those around us, are also free. Rest in peace!" he wrote on Sunday in a Facebook post

Former chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania Aurel Vainer died on Sunday morning at the age of 89.
In 1953, catching speeders by police radar was a cumbersome affair. Police had to set their 45-pound transmitter-receiver on the highway shoulder. The bulky black box was connected by wire to a monitor inside a parked patrol car. The monitor provided evidence of speeding with a needle that drew a zig-zag line across a moving roll of paper.

When the needle jumped, the radar operator had to look up, make a note of the speeding vehicle and provide the description over the radio to motorcycle officers waiting up ahead. Even with all those elements of evidence-gathering, few bothered to protest.

RADAR, the acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging, was one of the gadgets that had helped win World War II. In 1952, the United States and Canada began installing a network of radar stations to warn against attack by Soviet bombers over the Arctic Circle. Scott Air Force Base had a new system that could see small planes 30 miles away.

Police said cabbies took to calling it the voodoo box, but the magic worked in court. Of the first 1,000 speeders pulled over by the city radar crew, all but four pleaded guilty. Only two beat the rap.

The first radar sets cost $1,100, or almost one-third of a first-year patrol officers annual salary and the equivalent of nearly $10,000 today. The department quickly ordered two more.
Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Several years ago, I got a call from a rural Missouri Republican asking me to write something negative about him. It was after Thanksgiving, and the lawmaker had been visiting with family, right after I had written something that took his side on a legislative matter.

It made for an uncomfortable holiday. It has long been tradition for Republicans in Missouri, particularly in the far-flung parts of the state, to do battle with the Post-Dispatch. For some, the newspaper is a punching bag, serving as a sparring partner as the GOP goes to battle against liberals, socialists, communists or whoever is their straw-man demon of the moment.

So when this particular Republican found himself being praised, he asked that I balance the scales to a more comfortable existence for him. Take a shot, he said. Hed appreciate it.

That story came to mind when I viewed the latest video advertisement concocted by Uniting Missouri, the political action committee that backs Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican.

Governor Parson is standing up to the fake news media, the narrator says, and is committed to bring to justice anyone who obtained private information. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is purely playing politics.
ST. LOUIS  Once, they were the young lions of the Legislature. Now that theyre retired, they get together every year to reminisce about the past, discuss the present and strategize about the future.

The Royal Order of (expletive deleted) Disturbers, a group of former Missouri lawmakers who first joined the Legislature in the 1960s and 70s, held their annual meeting Saturday to talk about what many of them said they consider to be the best time of their lives.

Mostly Democrats, the group took its tongue-in-cheek name from a put-down by the late House Speaker Pro Tem Patrick Hickey, from Bridgeton, who supposedly had described some of the younger maverick representatives as the (expletive deleted) disturbers.

The group was hosted by Jim Conway, a former state senator and representative who later became mayor of St. Louis from 1977 to 1981. He was joined at his familys company by former Rep. Stan Piekarski of St. Louis and their wives.

Five others from across Missouri and other parts of the country took part by teleconference, including former Rep. Jack Schramm, formerly of University City, who joined from his home near Washington, D.C.
Another neighbor at the meeting, Aaron Mathis, said that after the television news report, hundreds if not thousands of cars came to the street. The cars blocked fire hydrants and driveways, people drank alcohol in their cars and littered, he said.

If there were an emergency, police, fire or EMT workers would not be able to get through the street to do their job, he said.

Also at the meeting, Alderman Don Menkhus argued that because it is a public street, the city does not have the right to shut down a private display just because it causes traffic issues. City Attorney Allison Sweeney said the traffic problems meant it could qualify as a nuisance.

Alderman Steve Markus said he had been to the display the weekend before and had noticed that Lenhard was using electricity from a city streetlight.

Thats not true. Thats completely false, Lenhard said Saturday of the accusation that he was using city electricity to run the display.

Pevely Mayor Stephanie Haas said, Its unfortunate. If we had been made aware of it before it was put together and going, maybe we could have assisted in helping him get it done.
About two-thirds of Sunday's cancellations were due to a lack of flight attendants in the right places, with almost all the remaining cancellations due to a shortage of pilots, according to internal figures seen by The Associated Press.

The nature of the debacle  starting with bad weather in part of the country before spinning out of control  was similar to disruptions at Southwest Airlines in early October. Together, the twin failures raised ominous questions about whether major airlines are prepared for the busy upcoming holiday travel period.

American says it will be.

Seymour said that nearly 1,800 flight attendants will begin returning to their jobs starting Monday and at least 600 new hires will be on board by the end of the year. He said the airline is also hiring pilots and reservations agents in time for the holidays.
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.
The post-Brexit spat over the granting of licenses to fish in Britains coastal waters threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats.

After the 30-minute meeting between Macron and Johnson on the fringes of a Group of 20 summit in Rome, a French top official said both leaders agreed Sunday there was a need to talk to each other in a situation of important tensions. He said measures need to be taken as soon as possible to get to a de-escalation.

Britain, however, denied the leaders had agreed to take steps to de-escalate the spat, saying it was entirely up to France to calm the waters.

The U.K. government said in a statement that during the meeting, Johnson reiterated his deep concern over Frances rhetoric and expressed his hope that the French government would de-escalate.

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. 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.
The U.S. Marine Corps is converting some of their LAV-M 8x8 wheeled armored vehicles to carry an eight cell MCL (Multi-Canister Launcher) that will use the Hero-120 loitering munition, modified for USMC command and control systems. Hero-120 is one of many similar loitering munitions that Israeli firm Uvision has been developing and selling since 2011. The smallest Hero system is a family of small loitering munitions. The latest and largest of them is the Hero 120 that weighs 12.5 kg (27.5 pounds) including a 4.6 kg warhead. Max endurance is 60 minutes and max range of the control signal is 40 kilometers. The smallest is the Hero 20, which weighs 1.8 kg (four pounds) including a 200-gram (7 ounce) warhead, Endurance is 20 minutes and operator range is 10 kilometers. Hero 30 weighs 3 kg (6.6 pounds) with a .5 kg (1.1 pound) warhead, and 30 minutes endurance. Hero 70 weighs 7 kg (14.4 pounds) with a 1.2 kg (2.6 pound) warhead and 45 minutes endurance. All these weapons are stored and fired from a canister and the smaller three are designed to be carried by infantry. All use the same controller and digital camera. All use fold-out wings and an electric motor with the propeller in the rear that provides speeds of up to three kilometers a minute. Cruising speed, to obtain max endurance, is about half that.

The marines plan to use the MCL launcher on other vehicles or on ships. The Hero-120/MCL combination gives the marines a recon/attack UAV that can find and hit boats and other small craft as well as a wide variety of land targets. The MCL can be reloaded with different size cannisters carrying more of the smaller Hero 30s or fewer of the Hero 400.

Uvision has developed and produced numerous Hero munitions in different sizes. All are battery powered except the largest one; Hero 900. This one uses a gasoline engine; weighs 97 kg (213 pounds) and carries a 20 kg (44 pound) warhead. This Hero has seven-hour endurance and a max range (from the operator) of 250 kilometers. In 2015 the Hero 400 was introduced with four-hour endurance, weight of 40 kg (88 pounds) with an 8 kg (18 pound) warhead. This UAV is battery powered and can operate up to 150 kilometers from the operator. In 2017 a new version, the Hero 400EC was released that had improved software and a return and land (using a parachute) capability. All Hero models are reusable and can be sent on longer range missions against a target using the GPS location. This is what made Hero-120 so attractive for the marines: a portable, inexpensive guided weapon with a max range of over 100 kilometers.

The marines have been using the 13-ton 8x8 LAV25 since 1983 and most are personnel carriers (11 crew and passengers) but some have been converted to carry heavy weapons, like the LAV-M mortar carrier equipped with an 81mm mortar.

The marines have already tested use of M142 HIMARs (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) guided rocket vehicles on the flight deck of an amphibious ship. In 2017 the marines found that with a few modifications to the HIAMRS fire control software the vehicle could accurately fire GMLRS (GPS guided MLRS) rockets from the flight deck of one of an LHA or LHD ships. This is nothing new as during World War II U.S. forces fired unguided rockets from ships in support of amphibious operations. But the use of GMLRS meant HIMARS could provide precision fire support from a ship at sea and hit targets up to 85 kilometers away. Each HIMARS carries six rockets. The next version of GMLRS will have a range of 135 kilometers, making the ship-based version even more useful because it can support troops even farther inland. The new GMLRS has already been successfully tested at ranges up to 110 kilometers. This TC-GMLRS (Tail Controlled Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System) rocket is the same size as the current GMLRS rocket. Production begins in 2022 as the GMLRS-ER.
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - October 31, 2021) - Recently, ancakeSwap announced that Doge0Zilla will be launched at ancakeSwap exchange for the first time.

Blockchain has become a hot investment in the world. From the carnival of a few people in the past to the upsurge of the whole people today, blockchain is showing its development potential and broad prospects with facts.

FIgure 1



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7987/101490_bad8997804010ad1_001full.jpg

In October, 2021, NFT and Animal Coin took turns to rise, with an astonishing range. However, there are also many projects that have been withdrawn. The market is chaotic, and a good currency often rises a hundred times after it is known, and the opaque retail investors of the contract mechanism cannot start. These projects have reduced people's trust, led to suspicion and panic, and finally failed one project after another, and projects like Shib can no longer be born! Doge0Zilla was born under such a background.

The goal of Doge0Zilla's birth is to rebuild the security and trust of the market, and like Shib, complete another 26,000 times task. Therefore, Doge0Zilla has created a huge amount of 100,000,000,000,000,000 tokens, making everything start from 0, which is a brand-new social experiment. Doge0Zilla is to see how many zeros true trust can kill! The ultimate goal of Doge0Zilla is to eliminate all zeros, surpass shib's historical record and create an era belonging to Doge0Zilla.

Figure 2



To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7987/101490_bad8997804010ad1_002full.jpg

Can Doge0Zilla create classics?

First of all, in terms of mechanism, the total amount of Doge0Zilla is 100 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000, the purchase tax is 15%, and dividends BNB plus repurchase plus marketing. Whale prevention, buying and selling cannot exceed 1% holding money! Prevent scientists and destroy the market! Automatic bonus BNB, easy to get mainstream currency! Smart repurchase system destroys tokens!

30% tax of protection mechanism: every time you buy back and destroy tokens, you will promote the protection mechanism for one day! Speed up the rise, destroy the zero action! No private placement, no pre-sale, open source fair and just!

Secondly, Doge0Zilla is not a simple model currency. Doge0Zilla will launch Doge0Zilla public chain and create a complete ecological model integrating GameFi+NFT.

Doge0Zilla's goal is not to continue writing legends, but to create legends. Doge0Zilla is truly decentralized from the mechanism, and the stacked gameplay helps the currency price reach its peak, which is bound to bring surprises to everyone. Together with Doge0Zilla, it will witness the completion of a thousand times increase.

Doge0Zilla will be launched in ancakeSwap at 20: 00 on October 31st.

Official telegram: t.me/GorillaDogeZilla

Binance chain contract address: 0x59a56A9C0efa571827eB7B41E2c5e84F2eb37DEf

Media contact

Contact: Tina Su

Company name: Pancakeswap co.,ltd

Website: https://pancakeswap.finance/

E-Mail: pancakeswap@pancakeswap.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/101490
Afghan evacuees board the final flight to the United States from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Oct. 30, 2021. (Milton Hamilton/U.S. Air Force)

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany  The last Afghan evacuees departed Ramstein Air Base on Saturday, the Air Force said, ending the bases role in one of the largest humanitarian airlift missions in U.S. history.

Air Force photos of the last flight showed Afghans bundled up in coats and carrying only one or two pieces of small luggage while boarding a plane in the rain.

Base officials did not say how many Afghans left on Saturday. Around 160 evacuees were still at Ramstein about two weeks ago, including eight evacuees who tested positive for coronavirus and 58 of their relatives, base officials said then. Those that tested positive during mandatory pre-departure screening were kept in isolation with family members until they were cleared for travel.

Afghan evacuees board the final outbound flight to the United States from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Oct. 30, 2021. (Milton Hamilton/U.S. Air Force)

Since Aug. 20, more than 34,900 Afghan evacuees traveled through Ramstein, having fled their homes in the wake of the Talibans swift takeover of the country following the U.S. militarys departure. Most have traveled on to the United States to start a new life.

I remain incredibly proud of the immense work the entire team has done throughout this operation, said Brig. Gen. Josh Olson, the 86th Airlift Wing commander, in a statement Saturday. We ran to our nations call and met multiple challenges that we neither expected nor trained for.

The 86th Airlift Wing shared some numbers to illustrate the magnitude of the operation:

- About 6,500 airmen, soldiers and NATO allies from Kaiserslautern-area bases and other military installations provided direct support and expertise in the areas of logistics, civil engineering, security, sanitation, and medical care.

- More than 2,500 local and host nation volunteers assisted with food service, English language workshops, spiritual welfare, donations and other support.

- More than 1.5 million meals were served to evacuees at Ramstein and the Armys Rhine Ordnance Barracks.

- At the height of the evacuation, about 21,000 evacuees were awaiting onward travel at Ramstein and ROB.

- Thirty- nine babies were born, including one on a U.S. Air Force C-17 moments after the plane landed at Ramstein.

news@stripes.com
Health care workers treat a COVID-19 patient inside the ICU at Chiba University Hospital on Aug. 25, 2021. (Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg)

The coronavirus is on the cusp of having killed at least 5 million people since it first emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Nearly a quarter billion cases of the coronavirus have been reported. Despite the rollout of vaccines, global health experts warn that the pandemic is set to continue.

With almost 50,000 deaths a week, the pandemic is far from over  and thats just the reported deaths, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the World Health Summit in Berlin on Oct. 24.

Vaccines have blunted the worst impact of the pandemic in many countries, though their distribution has been marked by inequities that has meant they have not stopped the viruss spread.

China leads the world in the number of vaccine doses administered, though some other nations have vaccinated a greater share of their population. A number of vaccines were developed and rolled out at record speed, and studies show most have impressive efficacy.

Billions of doses have been administered around the world, far more than the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic  though a large number of cases were probably never recorded, experts caution.

But the vaccine rollout has faced problems with global supply and pockets of opposition in many nations. Covax, a program backed by the World Health Organization to fairly distribute vaccines, only belatedly began distributing doses to low-income nations.

I cant say its surprising, said Thomas J. Bollyky, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, earlier this year. In every previous pandemic where we have our global health crisis, where there has been limited supplies of medical intervention, wealthy nations have hoarded.

The United States continues to have the highest cumulative number of confirmed cases and deaths globally. In early October, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, surpassed 700,000, despite the widespread availability of vaccines in the country.

Behind the United States, Brazil, India, Mexico and Russia have the largest cumulative numbers of cases.

Indias record-setting surge in spring 2021 meant that the country accounted then for about 1 in 3 of all new confirmed cases. The spike, which was blamed on complacency and the lifting of restrictions, along with the spread of variants, saw the countrys health care system overwhelmed amid widespread oxygen shortages. Even after the surge in new cases subsided in mid-May, India still set records for the number of new daily deaths, with more than 4,500 deaths from covid-19 reported in a single 24-hour period.

In India, as in Britain and Brazil before it, the spread of the virus was blamed on fast-spreading variants rampant in the country, including the delta variant that was first identified in India.

Delta, also known as B.1.617.2, has become the dominant variant in many parts of the world. The variant is more virulent than many others and studies have shown that vaccines do not provide the same levels of protection against it, though they do still significantly reduce the likelihood of serious illness.

Some countries have seen success at controlling the virus  at a price.

In New Zealand, which closed its borders and ordered people to stay home as a first wave hit in the spring of 2020, confirmed that infections went down to zero for a time. Taiwan and Singapore have kept their outbreaks far smaller than those in other parts of the world, which some experts attribute to their early responses and sophisticated tracking and tracing.

China, the early epicenter of the crisis, has seen much of daily life return to normal. In the early months of the outbreak, it reported more cases than any other country. Its tally of new infections peaked in mid-February of 2020 and approached zero by mid-March of that year, although questions surround the accuracy of its data.

But maintaining these zero covid policies for almost two years has proved difficult. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said this month that the country would phase out its pursuit of zero coronavirus cases and instead manage the spread of the virus through vaccines and everyday public health measures to keep residents safe.

The Chinese government is keeping a close eye on what is happening overseas to work out whether giving up a zero covid policy requires accepting a spike in cases, Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global public health at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The Washington Post in October. That prospect is not acceptable for China.

Countries that have successfully rolled out vaccines are also seeing gains. Britain, one of the hardest-hit countries in terms of cases and deaths, has excelled in the distribution of vaccine doses. It was the first country to roll out a fully tested vaccine to the general public in December, when it began distributing the vaccine developed by Pfizer.

Data released by Public Health England in March suggested that vaccinations had saved over 6,000 lives among people over 70, if not more.

But vaccinations have not ended the pandemic in Britain. Cases have risen since the country dropped its last remaining restrictions in July, despite high levels of vaccination across the country. Some scientists have suggested waning immunity from doses administered in the spring.

Though the WHO has officially called for a moratorium on booster shots for those already fully vaccinated, many nations around the world have begun rolling out the shots as official policy for at least part of their population  including the United States.

The new demand from high-income countries for both booster shots and vaccines for children has furthered the competition for doses, often leaving low- and middle-income nations further down the line. The WHO-backed Covax effort has struggled with supply and funding issues.

Only five African countries out of 54 are expected to hit the target of vaccinating 40 percent of their population by the end of the year, according to data from the WHO. Experts say the spread of the virus in countries with little protection from vaccines could lead to more variants and prolong the pandemic.

Vaccine inequity is not just holding the poorest countries back  it is holding the world back, Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF, said in a statement released Oct. 27.
As supply chain issues bedevil the U.S. economy because of the pandemic, TRAC Intermodal at the Port of Los Angeles provides extra space for containers to be picked up or dropped off, empty or full. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Melina Mara (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

The pandemic isnt over. But new cases nationally have dropped below 75,000 a day, less than half the number in August. The United States will soon reopen land borders to vaccinated visitors and lift several international travel restrictions. More than 2 million people boarded flights last Sunday, not too far from pre-pandemic travel levels.

Kids, many of them newly vaccine-eligible, are back in school, with no massive surge of new coronavirus infections. Some older students, forced to mask, wear their face coverings as if they were chin guards.

The holidays are coming, and it wont be like 2020 this time. Its already obvious in the Halloween decorations, so over-the-top it looks like people are overcompensating for last years depressed trick-or-treating.

The pandemic appears to be winding down in the United States in a thousand subtle ways, but without any singular milestone, or a cymbal-crashing announcement of freedom from the virus.

It doesnt end. We just stop caring. Or we care a lot less, Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said when asked when the pandemic would be over. I think for most people, it just fades into the background of their lives.

There could still be a winter surge  respiratory viruses thrive when people huddle in heated rooms. Some experts said they expect at least a modest uptick in infections over the next few weeks. Last years brutal winter wave of infections, which peaked in January, was just getting rolling at this point on the calendar. And although aggregate national numbers are lower, many cold-weather states, particularly in the Mountain West, have recently seen a rise in cases and hospitalizations. Alaska, slipping into its dark winter, has the highest infection rate in the nation.

Infectious-disease experts and Biden administration officials are not about to make any definitive predictions about when the pandemic might end. The virus, SARS-CoV-2, is slippery and opportunistic. It is still mutating. It has appeared to lose traction several times over the past year and a half, only to surge anew as it took advantage of more lax behavior and the contagiousness of mutated variants.

Even so, the trends are favorable. With most people vaccinated and infection rates dropping, the United States has entered a new phase of the pandemic in which people are adapting to the persistent presence of an endemic but usually nonlethal pathogen. They really have no choice. The virus isnt going away.

I think its becoming slowly part of the furniture, said Andrew Noymer, a University of California at Irvine epidemiologist. He is still wearing masks in grocery stores, but no longer does he always don one of the highly protective N95 masks. I dont want to wear scuba gear everywhere I go. This is just part of the human environment now.

Thats the view as well of Robert M. Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. Wachter is hardly complacent about the virus: This summer, he took to social media to warn people they needed to renew their vigilance as the delta variant took hold and breakthrough infections became more common.

But hes vaccinated and boosted now and making his risk calculations under the assumption that our current environment is roughly as good as its going to get. And he doesnt want to forgo travel and indoor dining the rest of his life.

My feeling now is that were nearing a steady state where things might get a little better or worse  for the next few years. Its not great, but it is what it is, Wachter said in an email.

Theres no cavalry coming, so decisions now should be predicated on this being something near steady state. To me, particularly once I got my booster, it prompts me to accept a bit more risk  mainly because if Im not comfortable doing it now, Im basically saying that I wont do it for several years, and maybe forever.

The uncertainties over what the virus will do in coming months present a messaging challenge for the Biden administration. The White House needs people to see the pandemic as a real and present threat to public health, one that requires continued precautions and universal vaccination. Officials simultaneously want to be perceived as being on top of the situation.

What they dont want to do is get caught prematurely celebrating the positive trends of recent weeks. That happened earlier this year, when vaccine uptake was going well, infection numbers were dropping, and the Biden administration felt confident enough to project the Fourth of July as the start of a summer largely free of the virus.

Today, were closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus, Biden said in his July 4 remarks. Weve gained the upper hand against this virus. We can live our lives, our kids can go back to school, our economy is roaring back.

Travelers wearing face masks walk down a jet bridge at Springfield-Branson National Airport in Springfield, Mo., on Aug. 5, 2021. (Angus Mordant/Bloomberg)

The delta variant, detected but underestimated, blew the summer of freedom to smithereens. A July 4 party on the South Lawn of the White House became Bidens aircraft carrier moment, in the words of Noymer, the UC-Irvine epidemiologist. Noymer was invoking the episode during the Iraq War when President George W. Bush flew to a Navy ship and spoke under a Mission Accomplished banner even though the war was, as it turned out, years and many thousands of casualties from being over.

A July 4 weekend outbreak among mostly vaccinated partygoers in Provincetown, Mass., rattled the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and by the end of July, it had reimposed indoor mask guidance for the inoculated.

Officials are cautiously optimistic that the recent decline in cases and deaths could continue into the winter. But they also want the public to stay on task  taking precautions to limit viral spread. The vast majority of U.S. counties still have what the CDC classifies as high transmission.

More than 1,000 people are still dying of COVID-19 every day in America. Someday, the coronavirus may be viewed more like influenza, but experts say were not there yet.

Dont you think people in 1943 were tired of World War II? said Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.

For the record, that war lasted until the late summer of 1945.

Somehow, we have to keep convincing people that this is not something being imposed upon them by the government. Its being imposed on them by the virus. And we dont want the virus to win, Collins said.

Administration officials and many disease experts stress that the return to normalcy hinges on when and how many of the more than 60 million eligible Americans get vaccinated.

Delta may be our last major wave of infection as COVID transitions to a more endemic virus, said Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner and Pfizer board member. Itll continue to evolve, probably requiring occasional updates to our vaccines every year or two, and its going to become a part of our lives like a second circulating flu. But we have the tools, if we use them right, and we have enough immunity already in our population now, to substantially reduce the death and severe disease it causes.

Other experts are less confident the pandemic will fade away.

Im incredibly doubtful this is our last surge, and I think some geographic areas are going to be hit again, said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a Biden transition pandemic adviser. Theres this waning immunity issue. Is it or is it not occurring, and how much? Could we be back in the soup again when were in pretty darn good shape today? What will it be like in 12 months?

Meanwhile, the American public, even while resuming many pre-pandemic activities, is keenly aware that normal life hasnt returned. A recent Quinnipiac poll asked when things will be back to normal, and 81% of adults answered about a year or more, including 26 percent who answered never.

The Biden administration is well aware that the presidents approval ratings are in part tied to how Americans perceive his management of the pandemic. Bidens approval ratings, according to Gallup, have fallen 14 percentage points since June, when delta hadnt fully gained traction and the number of new daily cases was at a low point.

Bidens health advisers have told him the most effective way to snuff out the pandemic is to continue to increase vaccinations. So the administrations overriding focus during the next couple of months is to increase vaccinations, particularly through a rule Biden announced in September requiring businesses with more than 100 workers to mandate vaccinations among employees or have them face regular testing. That rule is expected to be finalized and implemented in coming weeks and affect about 100 million workers.

Were following the approach that has served us well from the beginning: keeping our eye on the ball, getting more people vaccinated, said Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator. The virus has proven to be unpredictable, and we cannot and will not let up.

The trajectory of the pandemic is an urgent matter for people making holiday-season plans. Last year, millions of families chose not to gather as they traditionally would have. This year, they have a green light  or maybe a flashing yellow.

I think people should feel comfortable in celebrating the holidays in a reasonably normal way, be they trick-or-treating for Halloween, you can feel the same way about Thanksgiving, you can feel the same way about Christmas, Anthony Fauci, Bidens chief medical adviser for the pandemic, said.

We are still in a pandemic phase, he said, but added, We are inching more and more toward normal.

As long as people are coming into hospitals with severe cases of COVID, the pandemic is all too real for front-line health-care workers. And its very real for the millions of parents with unvaccinated children, Nuzzo noted. Though that anxiety could ease, with Fridays Food and Drug Administration announcement that the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has been authorized for children 5 to 11 years old.

Economic disruptions have eased a bit, but there are huge supply-chain issues, jobs going unfilled, businesses barely staying afloat. Social and political divisions generated by the pandemic and the government response have calcified into anger, conspiracy theories and self-destructiveness.

Experts agree there is virtually no chance of eradicating the coronavirus. But the goal, Fauci said, is to get out of the pandemic phase and get to a control phase. That would probably mean fewer than 10,000 new cases daily, and that the vast majority of people do not face a significant risk from the virus even if they were to contract breakthrough infections.

Some models have predicted a steady decline in cases right through the winter, while others show a rise. The University of Washingtons Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that infections will rise again in November and peak in midwinter, according to Ali Mokdad, epidemiologist at the institute. Any hint that cases are rising should trigger a rapid response, Mokdad said.

The infection fatality rate of the virus is much lower than when it first hit. Thats in large part because of vaccines, and to some hard-to-calculate degree because so many people have gotten sick, recovered and are walking around with antibodies to the virus. New therapeutics and better clinical practices also improve the chances a severe infection wont be fatal.

There is an end to it, Fauci said of the pandemic. I dont think were going to eradicate the virus  weve only eradicated one virus in all of history, and thats smallpox. The good news is were going in the right direction in the deflection of the curve.

Last year, influential public health experts such as Fauci urged people to avoid holiday travel and indoor gatherings. This year is different: Fauci, for his part, hopes at least one of his three daughters will be able to make it home for Thanksgiving.

By Christmas, he hopes the entire family will be together again. He plans to make timpano, a decadent Italian dish shaped like a drum and popularized by Stanley Tucci in the 1996 film Big Night. Its a Fauci family tradition.
Air Force Capt. Danielle Holland, left, an OB-GYN physician at RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, and U.S. Army Lt. Col. L. Rene Key, director of the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center OB-GYN course at Ft. Hood, Texas, provide medical care to an evacuee at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Aug. 31, 2021. A field hospital and medical tent with OB-GYN care is available for expectant mothers and newborn babies in need of emergency treatment. (Taylor Slater/U.S. Air Force)

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany  The conditions in the tent near the flight line as overnight temperatures dipped into the 40s clearly weren't ideal for giving birth.

There wasnt time to get the Afghan woman in labor to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, about 15-30 minutes away by ambulance, depending on traffic.

So we delivered in the tent, said Capt. Danielle Holland, an Air Force obstetrical and gynecological physician.

She was recounting an emergency that occurred early on in Ramsteins mission to support Afghan evacuees after the end of 20 years of war. It was the womans ninth baby and a childbirth shell likely remember fondly despite the harsh conditions.

She told our translator that it was the best delivery experience she ever had, Holland said. I was happy to hear it was the best but also sad that a tent delivery in Germany while being evacuated is your best birth experience.

Tending to the scores of pregnant women who have poured into Ramstein since the first evacuation flight arrived Aug. 20 has been a challenge for U.S. military medical providers accustomed to Western standards of care.

The evacuated women arrive mentally and physically exhausted, often dehydrated and malnourished.

In the field hospital at the base, medical staffers have needed to improvise. For example, they've used examination tables that don't have stirrups and a head lamp for proper lighting.

Buy Photo Capt. Danielle Holland and Maj. Suzanne Stammler, Air Force OB-GYN physicians with the 48th Medical Group at RAF Lakenheath, England, set up an a portable ultrasound device inside a field hospital at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Sept. 10, 2021, to care for evacuees from Afghanistan. Holland and Stammler alternate 24-hour shifts to provide for the health care needs of women temporarily staying at Ramstein and Rhine Ordnance Barracks. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Capt. Danielle Holland and Maj. Suzanne Stammler, Air Force OB-GYN physicians with the 48th Medical Group at RAF Lakenheath, England, are part of a large medical team deployed to Germany to provide for the health care needs of evacuees temporarily staying at Ramstein Air Base and Rhine Ordnance Barracks. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes) Allison Haberstroh, a labor and delivery nurse at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, checks vital signs of Airman 1st Class Ariana Aponte Rodriguez at LRMC on Sept. 9, 2021. LRMC staff has delivered 18 babies of mothers who evacuated from Afghanistan since Aug. 20, 2021. The Army hospital also continued to care for its military population while supporting evacuees at nearby Ramstein Air Base and Rhine Ordnance Barracks. (Marcy Sanchez/Landstuhl Regional Medical Center)

Its hoped that the lessons learned will improve how the military provides health care in similar situations, said Maj. Suzanne Stammler, an Air Force OB-GYN physician.

Humanitarian-wise, in every conflict, theres always women and children, she said.

Stammler and Holland are part of an OB-GYN team that arrived at Ramstein a few days after the first evacuees. Theyre with the larger 68-member Expeditionary Medical Support team deployed from RAF Lakenheath in England to support Ramstein and LRMC.

The EMEDS team early on worked from tents and recently set up a field hospital inside the Southside Fitness Center.

Together with medical personnel at LRMC, theyve delivered 21 babies as of Friday and provided care to women who miscarried or who need basic prenatal or postpartum care, from lactation help to fluids to treat dehydration, officials said.

The ability to provide care is a very big privilege because for these women, not having access to the basic things that we have access to every day is a hard thing to see, Stammler said.

In the first three weeks, the OB-GYN team at Ramstein cared for more than 120 women, a number thats the tip of the iceberg, Stammler said.

I know theres a huge (cultural) stigma for women to even ask for help, she said.

Many of the women have had no prior prenatal care and didnt know how far along their pregnancies were, the doctors said. The OB-GYN team at Ramstein uses ultrasound technology to estimate gestational age and delivery date, but even thats challenging because their babies are generally smaller, Holland said.

One patient told me she continues to breast feed until shes pregnant again, Holland said. Thats her gauge.

Without prenatal or medical records, providers dont know whether a pregnancy is high-risk, said Air Force Maj. Khimea Sayles, the clinical nurse officer in charge of labor and delivery at LRMC.

But so far, deliveries have been smooth and babies have arrived healthy, she said. Eighteen babies have been delivered at LRMC.

The women have all declined narcotics for pain management during labor, she said.

Theyre true rock stars ... they make it look easy, Sayles said.

Many of the women tend to be in poor health when they seek care, a condition exacerbated by their harrowing journey since fleeing home.

Things are just so different for them, and they pull back on everything; they dont drink, they dont eat, Stammler said.

LRMC gives the women a bassinet with diapers, wipes and other items. They've also started giving them bag lunches when discharged to help supplement meals at Ramstein. Still, quite a few have miscarried, Stammler and Holland said.

Its hard to pin pregnancy loss on the physical and emotional stresses the women are enduring versus chromosomal imbalances, the most common cause of miscarriages, Stammler said.

But those cases have been challenging to manage because doctors dont want to send a woman on an eight-hour trans-Atlantic flight if she might miscarry because there is a danger of severe blood loss, she said.

Usually, the women defer treatment decisions to their husbands.

There are exceptions, such as a married, pregnant woman who attended Kabul University and was an English teacher.

For them as a couple, she drove the boat, Stammler said. We recruited her to help translate.

The husbands arent in the delivery room for their childs birth, Sayles said. The men insist that their wives be treated by women only.

At LRMC, nurses have been doing many of the deliveries, with a male doctor standing by in case of emergency.

Some patients have also sought options that werent available to them in Afghanistan.

One patient in her mid-30s said she would like to use contraception after having her ninth baby. Her husband agreed, Holland said.

It was an extraordinary moment, she said.
This story has been corrected

Pumps work on removing water at Marinai housing complex at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)

CATANIA, Italy  Flooding isnt new to Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily.

Its location on the low-lying, flat Plain of Catania is ideal for an airfield. But the September through December rainy season means theres a good chance of localized flooding, especially with two rivers nearby.

Thats what happened in December 2005 when the Dittaino River crested, sending 6 feet of water into the bases Marinai housing complex, said Capt. Kevin Pickard, NAS Sigonellas commanding officer.

Flooding also happened in 2018 and 2020 at the bases airfield site, which is just south of Marinai.

This is not necessarily something that is unexpected or abnormal, Pickard said. It is something that has been a challenge for us since the base was created in 1959.

When NAS Sigonella officials learned from the Navys weather service that heavy rain was heading their way Oct. 24, they believed the base was prepared because of elements like the lift pumps at Marinai, regular maintenance of stormwater drainage systems and a coordinated emergency response.

No one expected the low-pressure, cyclonic storm would dump more than 20 inches of rain on Catania in 36 hours, he said.

What we had was an inundation of rain that was far in excess of any system designed to be able to exit the water off of any installation or any base, Pickard said. It essentially overwhelmed the systems we have on the base.

When the rain started on the evening of Oct. 24, pumps designed to push floodwater over levees and out of the Marinai complex were quickly overwhelmed, said the bases public works officer Cmdr. Jason Christensen.

That happened in part because water on the other side of the berms was as high as the water in Marinai, making it difficult for the pumps to push water out. Quickly rising floodwater overtook the pumps power station and generator, causing the pumps to stop working, Christensen said.

The pumps are designed to pump into free air, he said. When there is additional pressure pushing from the other direction, pushing into the pumps, it just slows everything down. Youre way behind the power curve.

Buy Photo Floodwaters are shown at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)

The problems cascaded. A power station supplying electricity to homes went down. Debris picked up by floodwater clogged the stormwater system. Streets flooded and water crept into homes and cars on the complexs lower, eastern side.

Workers shut down the complexs water supply to protect it from potential contamination. This would later require a cautionary boil water order even though the system was never breached, officials said.

Residents were left in the dark without water or sewage.

Water on roadways, estimated to be as high as 5 feet in some cases, cut the housing complex and NAS Sigonellas two other sites off from each other.

Concerned about the safety of emergency responders, Pickard said he ordered them and other personnel to hunker down unless there was a life and limb emergency. That led to some confusion when residents called the bases emergency services for help, he said.

That lasted until 8 or 9 in the morning (Oct. 25) until we could have free access to the installations, Pickard said.

By then, as much as 2  feet of water had entered 61 homes at the complex, leaving 92 residents displaced. Another seven unoccupied units also were damaged. On the bases airfield site, a mini-mart was damaged by floodwaters.

Powered by a new generator installed overnight by the complexs landlord, Marinais pumps would eventually push out an estimated 7.5 million gallons of floodwater over 12 hours, said Lt. Drake Greer, a NAS Sigonella spokesman.

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. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)

Most of Marinai would be dry by early afternoon Oct. 25, Pickard said.

Electricity was restored to all but about 200 homes by the afternoon of Oct. 25. Power was restored by 1 p.m. the following day to the remaining homes after repairs to two substations were made.

Residents were able to use the water on Oct. 26 after water quality tests came back, officials said.

Pickard, a native of New Orleans, said he understands the devastating impact floods can have. While some personal items cant be replaced, he said the base is committed to ensuring homes are completely renovated and residents concerns and needs are addressed.

This week the base will move forward on the remediation process, but also will turn its attention toward reviewing flood mitigation efforts to see if improvements can be made.

Previous floods have resulted in changes to the way the base addresses flooding, such as the completion of the levee system at Marinai in 2006 and working with Italian officials in 2020 to ensure stormwater drainage systems on Italys side of the airfield are clear and working efficiently.

It goes to the idea of preparedness and what we are doing, and how we are are not sitting on our hands admiring the problem, Pickard said.

Correction This story has been updated to clarify that power was restored to most homes at the Marinai housing complex Oct. 25. Electricity to about 200 remaining homes was restored by 1 p.m. Oct. 26.

Alison Bath
Amin Faqiry and his family arrived in Rhode Island on Oct. 30, 2021, and were met by supporters at T.F. Green International Airport. (Antonia Noori Farzan, The Providence Journal/TNS)

WARWICK, R.I. (Tribune News Service)  Standing by the baggage claim at T.F. Green International Airport, Amin Faqiry and Jonathan Dator hugged for a long time.

The two men had never met in person before. But Dator, a psychologist who works in the counseling center at Providence College, played a crucial role in helping Faqiry and his family flee Afghanistan after the fall of the government this summer.

Now, thanks to Dators help, Faqiry and his wife and four children are among first Afghan refugee families to arrive in Rhode Island since the Taliban takeover.

I told him, dude, were going to feed you so much Afghan food once we settle down, Faqiry joked on Saturday night, shortly after his flight landed.

Faqiry spent close to 10 years working as a combat interpreter for the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan, which meant that his life was in imminent danger when the Taliban took charge. He had already spent years waiting for a special immigrant visa (SIV), which are awarded to Afghani and Iraqi translators who served the U.S. armed forces.

During that time, he had connected with Dator, who volunteered with a group named No One Left Behind. The organization helps former military translators and interpreters to navigate whats often a slow and complicated visa application process.

Dator has never been to Afghanistan, but he learned about the plight of former combat interpreters while living in San Diego. Because he is legally blind, he relies on Ubers and taxis to get around, and many of the drivers he met were Afghans who had received special immigrant visas.

The SIV application process is really a broken system, Dator said on Saturday. By the time Kabul fell, Faqiry had been waiting to leave the country for five years, and was just missing one final piece of paperwork.

Dator lobbied Rhode Islands congressional delegation on Faqirys behalf, asking them to intervene with the State Department.

Finally, in August, Faqiry and his wife and four children were able to board a flight to Qatar, where they were temporarily housed at a U.S. military base. They were then transported to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, where they stayed for several months while being vetted for resettlement.

We went through some bad days, and during those times, Jonathan has been like a family member, Faqiry said. So that meant the world to me.

Faqiry had hoped to end up in Rhode Island so that he could live near Dator, whom he described as being like a blood brother.

Im just so inspired by what he does every day, Faqiry said.

Amin Faqiry and supporters pose with the traditional flag of Afghanistan at T.F. Green International Airport. (Antonia Noori Farzan, The Providence Journal/TNS)

Faqirys wife is pregnant and due to give birth soon, and they have four other children  ages 2, 4, 6 and 10. (He asked that his wife not be named or photographed due to concerns for the safety of her family, who is still in Afghanistan.) Theyll be staying with a host family in the Providence area until they can find a permanent place to live.

My life is going to be like a newborn baby here, Faqiry said. The first priority will be getting the children enrolled in school, and he also hopes to continue his own education. He also wants to bring attention to the plight of other Afghans who are still trapped in the country.

I want to be someone who can help other people, he said, adding that he hopes to find a job that will allow him to send money back to his own relatives and other Afghans who have been unable to leave.

Because of the housing crunch, Rhode Island is not among the top states for refugee resettlement, but the Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island expects to welcome a handful of additional families in the coming months.

The biggest thing with resettlement is housing, Dator said. But Faqiry and his family will also need furniture, clothing, and help getting to his wifes doctors appointments. People looking to help can contact the Dorcas Institute , especially if they have household items to donate.

To me, thats the biggest thing they can do  along with meeting the family and making them feel welcome, Dator said. The other stuff gets figured out when people feel welcome.

Fresh off the plane and ready to take his first few breaths of Rhode Island air, Faqiry said that he and his family couldnt be more thrilled to be here.

We couldnt even feel the bumps, we were so excited, Faqiry said.

2021 The Providence Journal, Providence, R.I.

Visit providencejournal.com .
MetService has issued a severe weather watch for parts of New Zealand.



Severe gales are possible for parts of central and southern New Zealand, and brief heavy rain for eastern Bay of Plenty, says a MetService spokesperson.



A front moves across the North Island today bringing a brief period of heavy rain to the ranges of eastern Bay of Plenty, and followed by strong northwesterly winds in exposed parts of Wairarapa and Canterbury High Country.

Meanwhile, a trough moves over the far south of the South Island this morning and afternoon, with southwest winds possibly reaching severe gale about exposed coastal areas.



People are advised to keep up to date with the latest forecasts in case any changes are made or further areas are added.

Heavy rain watch

Area: The eastern ranges of Bay of Plenty

Valid: 7 hours from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm Sunday

Forecast: Periods of rain, possibly heavy. Rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria.



Strong wind watch

Area: Wairarapa about and north of Martinborough, and the Tararua

District

Valid: 8 hours from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm Sunday

Forecast: Northwest winds may approach severe gale in exposed places.



Area: Canterbury High Country

Valid: 6 hours from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm Sunday

Forecast: Northwest winds may approach severe gale in exposed places.



Area: North Otago, Dunedin and Clutha

Valid: 8 hours from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm Sunday

Forecast: Southwest winds may approach severe gale in exposed places, especially near the coast.



Area: Southland near the coast, including Stewart Island

Valid: 6 hours from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Sunday

Forecast: Southwest winds may approach severe gale in exposed places.



Note, another period of stronger westerly winds is expected on Monday, mostly about Stewart Island.



Watches no longer in force:

Heavy rain watch lifted for: Northland north of Whangarei: Rain has

eased and the Watch is lifted.



Heavy rain watch lifted for: North Taranaki, Taumarunui and Waitomo:

Rain has eased and the Watch is lifted.




Police continue to appeal for help from the public to locate 50-year-old Jason Butler.

Jason was last seen in the Omaio area on Saturday October 23 and his family are concerned for his welfare.

He is about 175cm tall and of medium build.

Police are keeping an open mind as to Jason's whereabouts.

"We are aware that at some stage he has gone into the bush near the Haparapara River, however it is a possibility that he has come out of the bush by now," says a Police spokesperson.

Police would like to hear from anyone who may be able to provide information to confirm this.

"Jason does not have access to a vehicle so if he has left the area it is likely he has received a ride from someone."

Police urge anyone who may have seen Jason or have any information on his whereabouts to call 105, referencing job number P048415575.
Surfing for Farmers is returning for the upcoming summer season with locations running across the Bay of Plenty.

Farmers looking for an escape from rural life can head to Mount Maunganui, Waihi Beach and Pukehina, but Ohope is the first spot across New Zealand to get going for the 2021/22 campaign.

Phil Williams takes the surfing sessions at Ohope Beach, which begin on Tuesday, November 1.

Whilst its an early start, Phil points out that Ohope Beach was crowned New Zealands best earlier this year, with its warmer waters a key reason behind the success.

We are lucky that we have got some warmer water so we can start a little bit earlier, says Phil.

This is the second year we have been the first to start, so we are happy about that.

Surfing for Farmers was launched in Gisborne by Stephen Thomson back in 2018 with the aim of using surfing as a tool to improve mental health in the farming community.

Phil got involved with Surfing for Farmers through his work with sponsors Rabobank. He knows himself how the stresses of work can be overwhelming and believes getting out in the sets gives farmers in the region a chance to get away from the job.

I thought it was a good partnership to start up over here and a good initiative for the local farmers and growers, says Phil.

Yeah it is really just good to bring everyone together really to get out in the water and get away from it.

Budding surfers getting a lesson at Mount Maunganui main beach. Supplied photo.

Ballance Agri-Nutrients are a founding sponsor of the Surfing for Farmers programme, which this year will run at 22 locations, up from last years 16.

Ballance general manager of sales Jason Minkhorst says the company is as committed to ensuring positive health and mental wellbeing for growers and farmers as it is with their own employees.

The pressure from the job does have an impact on their wellbeing and mental health, says Jason.

Suicide rates in the rural sector are 40 per cent higher than urban areas.

Jason says that as one of New Zealands oldest farmer and grower co-operatives Ballance have a culture of care for their clients that is deep-seated.

Farmers are becoming more open about their mental health; however, they still don't have enough support, he says.

We wanted to help, if only for an afternoon, by supporting Surfing for Farmers.

Last year, Surfing for Farmers recorded roughly 3000 surfs nationwide, giving agriculture workers a chance to break up the often all-encompassing work-life relationship.

The learn-to-surf programme provides an opportunity for farmers to step away from what can be an all-consuming business, get fresh air, exercise and interact with other farmers, rural families and industry professionals, says Jason.

Its a fun activity that provides a change of scene and social interaction that farmers dont get on the farm.

Equipment and a feed are provided at events, including the one in Ohope, and Phil says people from Whakatane, Opotiki, Galatea, Taneatua and even Reporoa and Rotorua have attended in the past.

You know some of these kiwifruit growers and dairy farmers they live at work, says Phil.

During their peak season they work seven days a week. Unless you have an excuse, you go out and do that extra job on the farm.

This is something where, it happens weekly, everything is provided and the uptake has been really good.

So it is pretty cool.

The programme aims to give agriculture workers a break from the rigours of the job. Supplied photo.

Surfing for Farmers sessions will begin at Mount Maunganui and Pukehina from Thursday, December 2 and Waihi Beach from Tuesday, December 7.

For more locations and information visit www.surfingforfarmers.com/locations.
A series of large electronic billboards around Tauranga are carrying a simple yet powerful message encouraging people to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

The designs were created by Te Tuinga Whanau chief imagination officer Tommy Wilson as positive relevant messaging aimed at what he calls the challenging sectors of our community.

Tommys passion to connect with and protect every single person within reach of his community has inspired him to create the designs, with the cost of projecting the giant messages covered by sponsors.

We need to get to those marginalised sectors of the community  the gangs and homeless, he says. They are now the most important, and we want to see they get vaccinated.

To do that we need the right messaging to connect and engage with them.

Four large billboards around Tauranga, including sites at Bethlehem roundabout, the corner of Fraser Street and 15th Avenue and at Mount Maunganui, will carry a range of simple messages such as One love two shots, No Covid no cry, The Mighty All Vax, be part of the team, Make it a double, One small prick for man, one giant jab for mankind, and Imagine life without lockdown.

Some of the graphics will also carry the words Shot bro.

Its a positive message, says Tommy. Imagine a life without lockdown. People get that. Its a warmer, lighter message that connects better with those areas and people that we must see get vaccinated.

These are people that Tommys team works with every day, extending love and compassion.

They need to know we care before we tell them what they need to know. We need to sit down, have a kai and a korero with them. Thats when the message will get through. You must take manaakitanga with you in your kete. This is just one of a number of initiatives Tommy is working one. Recently, he announced the expansion of a service that has been helping homeless people for nearly 40 years.

Based at what was previously a hair dressing academy on Anson Street, the Te Tuinga Whanau Support Trust-run hub will operate as a daily centre for Taurangas homeless.

Theres a need for a one-stop-shop homeless hub, says Te Tuinga Whanau Support Trust chief imaginations officer Tommy Wilson.

It will work exactly the same way as we run Te Tuinga Taratoa in Greerton. No one will be living there. It will be very much like a day centre, a wellbeing centre - Whare Oranga.

Read more here.
Sorolla sent this telegram to his wife Clotilde as soon as he arrived at Marina Alta on 7 October, 1896, "Javea is sublime, it's immense, the best [place] I know for painting. I will spend a few days here. If you were here, two months."

He went there for a commission related to vine cultivation but left with the certainty of having found the light he had long sought for his canvases. That is why he would return to the same place three more times to spend long periods there, accompanied by his family.

His last visit was in 1905, a year before he became internationally known. The Carmen Thyssen Museum concentrates on that summer at the beginning of the century, on the shores of the Mediterranean, with an exhibition "small but intense" which demonstrates Sorolla "in his prime."

One's gaze is immediately drawn towards the back wall of the Sala Noble in the Thyssen museum. Here hangs the painting Nadadores, one of the most emblematic paintings of the artist and which has literally been removed from the wall of the museum in Madrid to bring it to Malaga. .

"It is exceptional, we thought about it a lot, " explains the director of the museum and curator of the exhibition, Enrique Varela, aware that it is one of the pieces that the public most want to see when they visit.

Sorolla en Javea and the painting Rocas de Javea y la Bote Blanco, connect the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection with the twenty-six other paintings on loan from the Museo Sorolla Madrid. '

All of them were created in that coastal town, most in the 'happy year' of 1905, and reflect the artist's impression of the natural environment and his taste for family scenes. In Javea, Sorolla found a "small refuge, a paradise far from the noise and his clients," says Varla. Here, he didn't have to paint for anybody, only himself. This allowed him to use modern approaches and experiment with transparencies, with how the body dilutes between the light and the crystalline water.

"One of the great things about Sorolla is that he knew how to transmit the colour and emotion of the landscape to the viewer," says Lourdes Moreno, the artistic director of the Museo Carmen Thyssen Malaga. El Cabo de San Antonio, the Isla del Portichol, the sea and the rocks. It is an "effervescent painting which captures the intensity of the sunset and the emerald sea."

International success

This was a very special time for the Valencia painter. When he discovered Javea in 1896, he had just been awarded the gold medal at the Salon de Paris with La Vuelta a la Pesca. When he left Javea for the last time in 1905 at the age of 42, he was about to triumph at his first, individual exhibition in Paris. "Between taking off and becoming a great international Master he was in Javea where he was free of ties," says the museum director.

The large format works are interspersed with smaller studies and colour notes in which the painter has captured his first impressions with quick, abstract strokes; or sketches of Clotilde and their children.

"They are kind of snapshots on which he worked later," suggests Moreno.

Some of these paintings are usually displayed at a distance from the viewer, high on the walls of the Museo Sorolla which occupies the house in which the artist lived in Paseo del General Martinez Campos. In Malaga however, they can be seen close up.

If in a visit to his paintings in Madrid "the whole is worth more than the unit, here the unit is worth more than the whole," Varela emphasised.

The opening of the exhibition, organised thanks to the sponsorship of Iuris Catedra, Abogados y Economistas, was attended by the vice-president of the Fundacion Palacio Villalon and the mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre; the patron and representative of the Carmen Thyssen Collection, Guillermo Cervera, and direct descendants of the artist.

"They are beautiful, you never get tired of seeing them," said Sorolla's great grandson, Antonio Molla, president of the permanent commission of the Fundacion Sorolla. The collection will be at the Thyssen museum until 16 January 2022.
Why are people so against the 'boom' in solar energy parks? Due to the availability of EU funds, town halls are being overwhelmed by applications for such projects amid concern about their downsides

The Vega de Canete la Real, in the countryside near Ronda, is one of the sites for the mega-parks. / C. C.

Saturday, 30 October 2021, 11:07

There is increasing concern over the number of projects for solar and wind parks which are being presented to town halls in Andalucia, spurred on by the arrival of European funding and with the argument that they are moving towards an energy transition in which renewables are part of the solution because fossil fuels are running out.

Many people are worried about the massive, unregulated, uncontrolled implementation of these infrastructures and are asking for time for them to be planned properly. According to figures from the Junta de Andalucia, in Malaga in June there were 75 proposed projects of this type, of which 17 are in Ronda, says the council there.

In that town, an association called Asociacion Salvemos los campos y los montes Serrania de Ronda has just been created by local residents, and is associated with the national ALIENTE Alianza Energetica y Territorio. Raquel Elia, of the Ronda group, explains why there is so much mistrust about the situation, but she is keen to make it clear that nobody is against renewable energy themselves.

Enormous size "These are mega-parks covering hundreds of hectares"

"We are not talking about small areas of solar panels. These are mega-parks, which would cover hundreds of hectares of land," says Elia, explaining that the larger the size, the greater the impact. She also says promoters are carrying out fragmententation fraud, by dividing the parks up. If they exceed 50 megawatts (MW), the environmental procedures they have to go through are more complicated and pass from the Junta de Andalucia to the government. In Canete La Real, Teba, Ronda and Cuevas del Becerro, for example, there are five projects at 49.9 MW each, all from the same developer.

Loss of fertile land "The top layer of soil is lost"

For Elia, another impact is the loss of fertile land. "When they install a mega-park, you lose the first layer of fertile soil which has taken thousands of years, so the vegetation doesn't grow," she says. The investors normally look for land which is accessible and close to urban centres, and this means that returning it to agriculture would be complicated.

Effects on water resources "These parks need a great deal of water"

In order for the solar parks to operate, says the association, they consume a great deal of water so the effect on supplies is also of concern. "They need a lot of water to keep the solar panels clean and to produce green hydrogen, which uses water and electricity and which would also be produced... if not, then they would go to the Sahara, not here," Elia explains.

High voltage towers "Two are planned in Ronda"

The concern is not only about the mega-parks themselves, but also about the infrastructure that comes with them, such as high voltage towers and substations to transport and divert the energy produced. In the case of Ronda two are planned, says this association. Silvema Serrania de Ronda, Ecologistas en Accion say Benahavis would become one of the reception points, so the cables would cross much of the Ronda region.

Deaths of birds and animals "This is another serious impact"

Another reason people are against all these massive projects is the impact on wildlife, because wind generators are a direct cause of the deaths of birds. The solar panels also eliminate the habitats of other species. It should be noted that the Ronda area is a haven for wildlife. "This is another serious impact," says Elia.

Ruining the landscape "They would affect tourism"

The impact of these mega-parks on the countryside in the Serrania de Ronda is also worrying the association. The area has a vast natural heritage which attracts a large number of tourists and this is vital for the economies of Ronda and the villages in the region. "It would definitely affect tourism," says the association. Even the Regulatory Board representing the Sierras de Malaga and Pasas de Malaga have expressed its opposition to the mega-parks, because many of them would be in the area in which the vineyards are located.

Possible expropriations "You can end up losing the land you rented to them"

The Asociacion Salvemos campos y montes Serrania de Ronda wants to emphasise this point: "This is already happening. These companies are very persuasive and they pay well for the rent (maybe 1,500 euros per hectare a year) but once they have succeeded in having the project classified as being for public utility, they can apply to take over the land. You can end up losing the land you rented to them and even adjoining land that wasn't part of the rental contract," says Elia.

She also points out that investment funds with an interest in speculation are often behind these projects, and that can complicate the agreements over the rental.

Compensation Councils fear compensation claims of millions of euros

On the other side of all this are the councils, who have demanded more tools to enable them to decide on the locations of these mega-parks. They could face claims of millions of euros from the developers if they do not issue approvals on time. That is why they are applying for a moratorium, and the Malaga provincial authority, the Diputacion, is supporting them. Some, like Campillos, are using the modification to their Urban Plan as a way to gain time.

Self-sufficiency "We are looking at a historic opportunity"

The association from Ronda says we are "looking at a historic opportunity" to achieve self-sufficiency in contrast to the constant rise in electricity prices, and that areas such as roofs could be used for the installation of solar panels, managed by the councils or energy cooperatives, among others, against the present energy oligopoly.
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Fearing their children would be blamed for the nations history of racism, cadres of Louisiana parents last summer stormed the usually dry meetings of academics updating curriculum for about 720,000 students in the states public schools.

Monday was supposed to be the end of public comment on the proposed guidelines teachers are to use in the classroom for social studies. But the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education extended public comment into December  meaning it wont be until the new year before a vote on the curricula that was supposed to be in place four years ago.

State Rep. Valarie Hodges, the Denham Springs Republican who led parents to those meetings, said Thursday that while she wanted to see an expansion of Black history, she opposed critical race theory that would focus on blame.

Her efforts were sidelined by the anger over making children wear masks in school. But critical race theory will reemerge in Louisiana and elsewhere after Tuesdays election of a new governor in Virginia.

+3 Louisiana delays update on social studies standards; 'This is politically combustible' A seemingly routine update of Louisiana's social studies standards has been delayed for two months amid criticism from former House Education 

Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe, who had served as Virginias governor from 2014 to 2018, was the prohibitive favorite, with endorsements from Barack Obama to 90s rock star Dave Matthews.

Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin, who had never run for office before, trailed by double-digit numbers until he promised to abolish critical race theory on his first day in office. And while critical race theory is not taught in Virginia, or elsewhere for that matter, Youngkin has so successfully mined parental resentment over the issue that he could win and provide a blueprint for the 2022 congressional contests.

A buzzsaw term in the hands of conservatives, critical race theory actually is an academic framework to ferret out parts of the legal system that had been added during Jim Crow to discriminate against Black people but are now forgotten.

Conservatives' interpretation of critical race theory became a part of the reaction to the protests over the police killing of George Floyd. As president, Donald Trump accused teachers of left-wing indoctrination.

Ed Pratt: Black Americans' history is a miraculous story, worth teaching about all year long Psst! Are elementary, middle and high school students in your town being taught anything about the history of Black Americans this month? What

This isnt the first time Republicans have weaponized the schoolhouse for political benefits.

A few years ago, it was Common Core State Standards Initiative, federally recommended academic criteria that many parents thought should have been proposed locally. Louisiana massaged the wording, called Common Core something else and the storm dissipated after the 2016 elections.

Before that Louisiana passed a law, which until overturned by the courts would have required schools to teach faith-based Biblical theories as the equal of empirically tested science. Then there was Florida orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryants Save Our Children campaign in the 1980s that wanted to forbid hiring of homosexual and lesbian schoolteachers.

Over the spring and summer, 27 state legislatures introduced bills  a dozen of which became law  to restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism, according to Education Week.

Critical race theory has become the key campaign issue in this falls local school board races in Kansas, Wisconsin, Ohio, Connecticut, Maine and elsewhere across the country.

In Lafayette, the Fleur De Lis Republican Women, a grassroots partisan club, caught flack for offering $1,000 college scholarships to high school senior girls who write winning 800- to 1,000-word essays on how the theory undermines our Republic.

+2 Lafayette group offers scholarships for essays on the 'detriment' of critical race theory A local political group has come under fire on social media this week for a scholarship flyer that calls on female high school seniors to writ

The social studies curricula pending in Louisiana, which will decide whats actually taught K-12 students, seems innocuous in light of all the unfounded hand-wringing that White children should have to hang their head in shame because of what some of their ancestors did.

Second graders already study the significance of the flag, the bald eagle, and other national symbols. Under the new guidelines, they would also learn how the diverse cultural makeup of the United States influences Louisiana.

Seventh graders already study the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Dred Scott decision, and other documents. They even are supposed to read the Federalist Papers. BESE proposes to add discussions about William C.C. Claiborne, the first American governor of Louisiana; the pirate Jean Lafitte; and Oscar Dunn, the first elected Black lieutenant governor of any U.S. state.

Given the modest changes to the curriculum, perhaps of more concern should be paid to the delay of four years and counting to approve the updated social studies teaching guide.
Investor confidence in Westpac chief executive Peter Kings turnaround plan has been dented by a cost blowout and a sharp contraction in the lending giants profit margins, sparking a dramatic plunge in its shares.

Westpac on Monday reported full-year cash earnings doubled to $5.4 billion as it also launched a $3.5 billion share buyback, but the results disappointed the market and prompted some analysts to question Mr Kings strategy for the bank.

Westpac chief Peter King said it had been another challenging year for the bank, but it was making progress in simplifying the business, and credit quality had been remarkably good. Credit:Jessica Hromas

Westpacs shares were punished, dropping 7.4 per cent to $23.78, as the market reacted savagely to a 9 per cent jump in expenses and a dramatic decline in the banks net interest margin.

The bank has been in a period of change after being rocked by a money laundering compliance scandal in 2019, which sparked a strategic overhaul including major plan to slash costs. But Mr King, who conceded it had been a challenging year, on Monday faced repeated questions from analysts about the banks expenses, which jumped 9 per cent in the second half, excluding notable items.
On the face of it, there doesnt appear to be much to worry about being asked to prove your identity when you show up to vote.

After all, throughout COVID-19 we have become accustomed to telling authorities when and where we are spending time in the name of the public good and stopping the spread.

The Government has proposed changes to voter ID at elections. Credit:Joe Castro

We flash our ID and now even our vaccination status when we go to the pub. Similarly, a generation of younger Australians hardly care about their privacy if their social media behaviour is any indication.

Yet the Morrison governments introduction last week of legislation that would require Australian citizens to present identification such as a driver licence, Medicare card or bank statement to vote at the next federal election drew immediate condemnation.
Terry Funnell of Parramatta provides evidence that gaols were not the only form of panopticon architecture (C8). My alma mater, St Patricks College, Goulburn, also seemed to be of the same form (a Y shape with a central tower) which now clarifies why its initials SPC were, at times, thought to stand for state prison camp.

The revelation that women do not necessarily lose their love of sexy underwear (C8), or indeed their sexuality, with advancing age may have shocked Caroline Davies of Annandale, but it was her horrified reaction that raised the hackles of some women within the 8th Columnists. Jill Klopfer of Bilgola Plateau showed some restraint This begs the question: how old is Caroline, and at what age does she consider a lady too elderly for sexy underwear? From Rebecca Anderson of Turramurra, not so much. Does Caroline Davies expect older people to be ashamed of their desires and hopes of feeling sexy?

The elderly, and still rebellious, Jan Carroll of Potts Point points out with annoyance that a great many of her generation were rebels, and demonstrated against the Vietnam War and following wars. We initiated womens liberation, but it was not from sexy undies (C8). Not even now.

A word of advice to Allan Garrick from Andrew Taubman of Queens Park. Dont try to make sense of English pronunciation (C8). Soon youll be pondering such names as Featherstonehaugh (fan-shaw) and Cholmondeley (chumly). That way madness lies!

I am no grammatical expert but have been known to make quaint observations from time to time, writes Chris Lockley of Alstonville. It would seem the silent w in place names such as Warwick (C8) occurs after a soft consonant, while the spoken w follows a hard sounding consonant (e.g. d in sandwich).
Telcos will be forced to identify and block text message scams under new rules as the amount of money lost to these rackets hits a record high.

Text and phone call scams have exploded during the pandemic, with the latest data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commissions Scamwatch showing that Australians have reported a record $77.8 million in losses due to these rackets so far this year.

This is more than double the amount reported over the same period last year.

A fraudulent "myGov" text sent in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The number of phone and text scams reported to the watchdog has also increased from around 100,000 to more than 180,000.
Melbourne is the most successful multicultural city in the world. A city of over five million people where 50 per cent were either born overseas or have a parent from overseas.

A city that has welcomed wave after wave of immigrants and helped them establish new lives  while building a high-income economy, maintaining community harmony and creating a rich cultural and social fabric.

Melbourne has a rich cultural and social fabric. Credit:Darrian Traynor / Getty Images

That extraordinary ability has never been more important as our city now needs a massive wave of new immigrants to help get the city back on track.

The population of Melbourne is projected to be 300,000 less by 2025 compared to where it would have been without the pandemic. While Australia will be almost one million people down.
Rome: Visitors from Singapore will be the next foreign citizens to fly to Australia in large numbers under a deal to open the international border to fully vaccinated travellers from the city state from November 21.

The tourists, workers and students will be allowed to visit Australia without needing 14 days in hotel quarantine in states that sign up to the approach, starting with NSW.

Singaporeans will be able to fly to Australia for a holiday from November 28, a couple of weeks after Australians were cleared to fly to the city-state quarantine-free. Credit:Bloomberg

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong finalised the deal on Sunday at the G20 summit to follow new rules that allow fully vaccinated Australians to travel to the regional neighbour under its vaccinated travel lanes system.

Travel to Bali is also on the agenda after Mr Morrison met Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the summit in Rome and discussed allowing fully vaccinated Australians to travel to the island in the months ahead.
Cairo: Tens of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets across the country in the largest pro-democracy protest yet since the military seized control earlier this week.

Three protesters were killed on Sunday morning AEDT 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.

It was the largest turnout since the coup last week, as protesters demanded senior political figures be released from detention. Credit:AP

Pro-democracy groups had called for protests across the country to demand the re-instating of a deposed transitional government and the release of senior political figures from detention.
New Zealand aims to tackle climate change by halving its net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Climate Change Minister James Shaw announced the new goal in a statement on Sunday  a day before the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) would begin in Glasgow.

The pledge is the Governments new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the global push to lower emissions, and is made under the framework first hammered out in the Paris Agreement.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Credit:Getty Images AsiaPac

It is significantly higher than the target set by the National Government in 2015. The country initially pledged to cut emissions by 39 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. But in January, the Climate Change Commission found that the pledge needed to be higher and Ardern previously said the Government would submit a tougher target.
11 Years On; The Politics of Plugging-in - Washingon's Choice Of Future's Fuel - Originally Published October 2010







SEE ALSO: Electric Vehicles - Solution or Diversion?

SEE ALSO: Our "Opium War" With Gasoline

By Steve Purdy

TheAutoChannel.com

Detroit Bureau

DETROIT, MI - October 22, 2010: I recently had an enlightening chat with veteran Congressman, John Dingle, a democrat from Ann Arbor, who has been a staunch supporter of the auto industry for his entire long career. Of course, representing a district in Southeast Michigan, I guess thats a no-brainer. Just prior to making a speech to the assembled industry folks at a conference called The Business of Plugging In a few of us had the privilege of sitting down with the Congressman to ask a few questions.

Much of our questioning had to do with the proper role of government in the development of the electric car business, or any specific industry for that matter, and whether our government is engaged in the most positive and productive way. The answers were mixed.

Congressman Dingle believes you can invest your way out of a financial problem, like the one were digging out of now. He insists the money weve poured into the auto industry, both in rescue funds and stimulus dollars, has been money well spent. We talked about the generosity with which other governments have supported their domestic industries as the reason they are ahead of us in the commercialization of many automotive innovations, particularly the electrification of cars and trucks. Some of our major competitors, in fact, are using our technology to beat us up in the market.

One thing to which everyone at the conference seemed to agree is that we need a national energy policy with enough specificity to guide innovation. That may seem oxymoronic since maximum innovation would seem to require wide-open parameters, but it is important to have some framework that would facilitate investments because there would be more predictable markets. That is, investment capital would become more accessible with more structure.

Congressman Dingle insisted with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek that we have had a national energy policy all along. Our energy policy, he quipped, historically has been to worry like Hell from time to time, then coast. He expressed no optimism that we would be able to establish a comprehensive national energy policy in the foreseeable future.

His message is that government certainly does have a role to play, in fact a crucial role: that of partnering with, and supporting, domestic business. That may seem anathema to our form of capitalism but we must do that to compete in the new world economy. We are now playing catch up to China, Korea and even India in battery production because our competitors in those countries have partnered with their respective governments.

The electrification of our automobiles may or may not be the best solution to the energy and transportation problems we face but that certainly is the way the world is leaning now. Most of the manufacturers agree that in the long term well be driving fuel cell electrics, but thats a long way into the future. In the meantime a lot of effort is going into other iterations of electric propulsion, from mild hybrids to pure plug-ins. No one though was predicting those vehicles would be anything more than niche vehicles in the next 15 years.

We asked our congressman whether he thought the government was reasonably balanced in the distribution of R&D money, or is the government choosing winners and loosers. He thought we are considerably behind in diesel but thought we are doing fine in ethanol and other biofuels. Many would beg to differ, I must report  particularly our publishers here at TheAutoChannel.com who advocate more emphasis on ethanol, an eminently renewable resource.

At Mr. Dingles side through this discussion sat Dr. Ann Marie Sastry who is both an academic and an entrepreneur. In addition to being a distinguished engineering professor at the University of Michigan she oversees a start-up company developing the next generation of automotive batteries. Dr. Sastry agreed that it is incumbent on government to support domestic business if we want to compete with the rest of the world where that is common practice. While the Chevy Volt represents a viable new vehicle formula, though a bit pricey, there must be much more to come. She and the representative from the power company seated next to her were in complete agreement with Congressman Dingle.

More Volt talk came from the GM guy in the parking lot where Doug Parks who is living the dream of driving an average of 90 miles/day and filling his tiny gas tank (about $13 worth) about every 10 days. Of course he has charging stations both at work and at his Warren Tech Center office, which is better than most Volt buyers will have. He rode along with Michigans lame-duck governor, Jennifer Granholm, generally acknowledged as an enthusiastic and somewhat successful cheerleader for the electric car industry. Governor Granholm enthused about her short drive in the Volt describing it as surprisingly smooth, luxurious and conventional-feeling  nothing odd or disconcerting about driving this electric car, she thought.

Our other notable politician at the conference was Michigans senior senator Carl Levin who gave the lunch address on day two. His message and concerns were much the same. Without any expectation of near-term commercial viability the Federal government is pouring great deals of money into the business  but not nearly as much as our overseas competitors.

So, in these couple of days weve had the governor, one senator and a congressman all with the same message, that is, government has a big and important roll to play in the electric car business.

Whether we agree or not. Whether it makes sense or not. Thats the landscape today.

 Steve Purdy, Shunpiker Productions, All Rights Reserved
The Rise & Fall of General Motors and the Subjugation of the Industrialized World







How the perfect storm of commercial forces created the worlds largest corporation, enslaved us to gasoline, and ultimately brought the car maker to its knees

By Marc J. Rauch

Exec. Vice President/Co-Publisher

THE AUTO CHANNEL

It was once said "What's good for General Motors, is good for the U.S.A."

 Have you ever wondered why and how General Motors, the world's largest corporation, could fail and go bankrupt?

 Have you ever wondered why gasoline is the primary fuel for passenger cars and trucks for most of the world?

 Have you ever wondered exactly how and why the United States could owe 50% or more of its national debt to oil producing countries?

Read this story and youll learn how and why.

Originally published April 6, 2012

You can also listen to the podcast of this story

Listen to "Rise & Fall of GM" on Spreaker.

Background  The need for speed and power

In the early years of the automobile industry there was uncertainty as to which fuel, and what type of engine would power the new vehicles. There was steam, electric and internal combustion. Although steam power had proven its viability in the first stationary engines and in the first round of land and sea vehicles or vessels, by the late 1800s diesel was already replacing steam because of its ability to produce higher torque (needed to move heavy vehicles/vessels) and because it simplified the process of locomotion by not requiring a team of men to start the coal or wood fires and keep the water boiling. By comparison, diesel allowed faster starting and required less continuous attention to keep the engine running.

Electric motors could also provide high torque, but the motors required a constant flow of electricity, which could only be guaranteed if the vehicle was tethered to an electrical source. This was okay for light and heavy trains that operated along a fixed roadway, but battery technology and affordability was impractical for personal transportation devices that had the ability to travel in all directions and to non-electrified locations.

The internal combustion engine (ICE) was the solution. There were two types available: spark ignited and compressed hot air ignited. Compressed hot air ignited ICE uses diesel fuel. Spark ignited internal combustion engines are today most commonly associated with gasoline, but ethanol, methanol, natural gas and propane can also work.

Diesel engines were heavier, bulkier and more costly to produce. While they could move heavier loads (torque), they couldnt quickly provide higher speeds. Additionally, diesels required a fuel injector technology which at the time was also more costly and less reliable than fuel-air mix carburetors. Consequently spark ignited internal combustion engines became the dominant engine for passenger cars and light trucks.

At this point the two most available fuels for spark ignited ICE were liquid; either alcohol (ethanol or methanol) or gasoline. Alcohol enjoyed wide support from automobile pioneers, such as Henry Ford and General Motors top scientists, because it could be produced almost anywhere by almost anyone (alcohol distillation technology has been in the public domain for hundreds of years). Alcohol fuels also produced superior performance compared to gasoline. Alcohol-powered engines allowed for higher piston compression, which deliver more speed and power. Gasoline caused a knock in high compression engines that would literally knock the engine to destruction. Only low compression, lower speed engines could safely use gasoline. Early on, as speeds were measured against human walking or horse riding, this was acceptable. But as roads were leveled and paved and consumers wanted bigger faster vehicles this was a huge limitation. One of the solutions to gasoline knock was to blend ethanol into every gallon of gasoline. The alcohol quieted the knock, thereby allowing the gasoline-ethanol blend to be used in better performing engines.

Unfortunately alcohol suffered from two major impediments to universal acceptance as a pure engine fuel. The first was cost. Alcohol production has been heavily taxed since the founding of the United States, initially to raise revenues to pay for the War of Independence. As usually happens with taxes imposed to pay for one specific thing, it is nearly impossible to retire the tax even after the initial purpose has been fulfilled. The extra dollars are just too attractive to politicians who need to fund pork-barrel projects to insure re-election, and there was always another war that had to be paid for. (Prior to Congress passing a national individual income tax 100 years ago, tax on alcohol routinely accounted for as much as 40% of the Federal revenue.)

The Federal tax on alcohol reached new heights during the American Civil War, rising to over $2 per gallon. Needless to say this was a devastatingly high tax. Average weekly wages in the 1860s were about $12  considered in respect to todays average wages that would be like a tax of $129 per gallon (in actuality, the current Federal tax on spirits  drinkable alcohol - is $13.50 per gallon).

Kerosene was also taxed to help pay war costs: A paltry 10 cents per gallon!

The alcohol tax was not retired until Theodore Roosevelts presidency about 40 years later, when the Free Alcohol Act brought the price of corn ethanol down to 14 cents per gallon and molasses ethanol to 9.5 cents per gallon (versus gasoline at 22 cents per gallon).

Now youll recall that I said that there were two impediments to universal acceptance of alcohol as a universal engine fuel. The second problem was, ironically, alcohols easy production and ubiquitous availability; it is too simple and easy to make.

By the middle of the 1800s, as the worlds whale population was drastically declining due to over-hunting, and the price of whale oil was sky rocketing, an alcohol-turpentine blend was used as a less expensive replacement for indoor lighting and heating. But with the development of kerosene in the 1850s, followed by the imposition of the much higher alcohol tax in 1862, a new use was found for the sticky, smelly black goo that freely seeped up from the ground in Pennsylvania (areas of Poland and Azerbaijan experienced the same phenomena). This was the start of the petroleum oil boom. Although kerosene has an obnoxious smell and black smoke, at least it was cheap.

As the worlds interest in the new fangled automobiles soared throughout the world it was found that the kerosene could be used as the basis for engine fuel, and after additional refining the oil pioneers developed gasoline. By this time one man and his company rose to world wide prominence  John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil. His enormous wealth was contingent upon oil and its by-products, and in the time-honored tradition of achieving wealth, he used it to secure political and commercial support of his products.

The political bribes paid by Rockefeller catapulted support for the 18th Amendment to the Constitution (the Volstead Act) over the top, insuring its passage. This Amendment, commonly referred to as Prohibition, outlawed the production of alcohol with almost no exceptions. Consequently, in the crucial period just after World War I, as Americans were adopting a whole new mobile lifestyle, the one fuel that could challenge Rockefellers gasoline on both a cost and performance basis  alcohol  was declared illegal. Ethanol was rendered dead as a competitor on the commercial battlefield.

Before and during Prohibition, Henry Ford expressed his belief that alcohol (ethanol) was the fuel of the future. His Model T, the product that is said to have given birth to moving assembly line production, was designed and built to use ethanol or gasoline by giving the driver adjustable carburetor and spark advance controls that optimized the performance of the fuel used.

Even after Prohibition commenced, General Motorss top scientists, Charles F. Kettering, Thomas A. Midgley and T.A. Boyd, continued their belief that ethanol was the fuel of the future. Considering that it was illegal to even produce the small amounts to conduct tests, alcohol was still being experimented with as the best alternative solution to gasolines knock problem.

However, in 1921, GMs scientists discovered that by adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline that the knock was subdued and the new lead-gasoline fuel could be used in advanced higher compression engines. This was the early days of the Roaring Twenties and in order to really roar, the public needed a fuel to set them free.

The leaded gasoline didnt just give GM the ability to build vehicles with higher performing engines it gave them a unique process that they could patent. GM combined their process with similar processes being tested by DuPont Chemicals and Standard Oil, which gave GM three cents on every gallon of leaded gasoline sold anywhere in the world. They quickly determined that their share of profits in the sale of leaded gasoline would be worth many billions of dollars over the next couple of decades.

The significance to understanding what this meant to General Motors is not just calculated by profits earned, more importantly it explains why General Motors  the worlds largest company and automaker - would come to have no interest in developing vehicles that could get better mileage per gallon of gasoline. It is essentially the same reason why tobacco companies had no desire to lessen the addictive qualities of cigarette smoking. The more gallons of fuel that a vehicle used translated to more profits to GM. In essence, the vehicles could be used as a loss-leader to stimulate gasoline sales.

This new stream of nearly incalculable profits meant that they didnt have to really compete on an even playing field with other auto manufacturers:

 They could undercut competitions products because they didnt need to make profits from their vehicles, thereby driving the competition into bankruptcy.

 They could accept worker demands that they knew the other car companies would not be able to live with on a long term basis.

 Moreover, even if they didnt undercut the price of their competition or permit unrealistic employee compensation packages, the added revenue gave them a marketing war-chest that could not be overcome  also ultimately helping to drive a long list of car makers into obscurity.

Any of the above could have given GM a huge edge over the competition, but together it was impossible for most competitors to withstand.

The Worm Turns

Ironically, however, I believe that it was this exalted position that led to their inconceivable plummet.

The gasoline profits allowed General Motors to become a bloated, inflexible entity, incapable of - and disinterested in - meeting the challenges of new design, technologies, demographic shifts, societal attitudes about the environment, and the up-start band of oil-dictators called OPEC. As the years passed, and as new faces came onboard, the knowledge of this gasoline-profit advantage was lost. They thought they were invinciblethey thought they were successful solely because they built a better car.

Normally a strong market competitor will strive to set a pace via product improvement that catches the competition off guard. Typical marketing thrusts would be to announce new and improved formulations that deliver more for the consumers money, or a longer-lasting ingredient, or better for your health. Up until the mid 1970s, when it was too late, General Motors only promoted bigger or more powerful vehicles. And, of course, bigger and more powerful translated to more gasoline used. American brand competitors followed the lead, tripping over the low bar set by GM. Where GM survived and prospered because of the billions in gasoline profits the other car makers had to try and survive only on product features and benefits, but it wasnt enough for even the most creative auto makers and most innovative efforts.

(The GM team of Kettering and Midgley also invented Freon for refrigeration. Kettering patented a refrigerating apparatus to use the gas; this was issued to Frigidaire, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors. In 1930, General Motors and DuPont formed Kinetic Chemicals to produce Freon. This invention and accompanying profits added to GM's financial stability.)

Now, I will agree that most Americans probably wanted bigger and more powerful vehicles in the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s  much as we still do today during the gasoline-price crisis. However, GM did little or nothing to deliver the bigger, more powerful vehicles while at the same time consuming less fuel. Again, up until the mid 1970s GM mostly scoffed at the smaller more fuel efficient vehicles that were coming from Europe and Japan. If they designed a small sporty car to compete with a foreign import it was still more powerful and it used more gasoline.

At the same time GM filled its executive offices with inept or redundant managers, they allowed the best and brightest new technology or design people to go to foreign manufacturers, they retained for decades the services of advertising and marketing consultants whose only talent was in knowing how to waste more money each new model year, and they built up the walls around themselves until they couldnt see the figurative and literal tsunami that was coming from Japan.

Perhaps, if the 70s gasoline crisis didnt happen, and if the environmental movement failed to take hold, or if the gasoline companies could have continued to lie about the negative effects of leaded-gasoline  and get away with it  then General Motors might have been able to exist without their share of profits from the patents. But the combination of these factors created the perfect storm that set the stage for GMs tumble.

I readily acknowledge that others before me have cited GMs lack of effective action as the cause of their near demise and current shaky existence, but I believe that no one has ever put together and articulated the reason why GM would have permitted itself to fall into this position. Many analysts have opined that GM would be okay if it wasnt for the heavy pension packages that they committed to. Some analysts suggest that as the foreign car makers open factories in the U.S. that they will succumb to the same pension problems and end up struggling like GM. I think that GM might never have survived the competition after WWII if they didnt have those billions of extra dollars. I also believe that Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, Nissan and every other foreign brand that establishes a factory here will not go through the same debilitating pension mistakes because they just dont have the extra financial wherewithal to get themselves into the same hot water. They may fail, but its more likely that they would fail from their own original stupid mistakes.

When General Motors rushed to Washington in 2008 to beg for financial assistance Presidents Bush and then Obama, and all of Congress, should have said no; they should have told GM to get the money from their buddies in the oil industry, which had just experienced a record-breaking profit year. In case theres anyone out there who is uncertain of how the oil industry makes most of their money, it is from the sale of gasoline for automobiles. Instead of the American public being threatened with GM is too big for us to lose, the oil industry should have rightly been assigned that responsibility, particularly since we were already paying for the second and third Middle-East oil wars and providing security for the entire worlds ocean-going oil tankers.

Then, as if Washington didnt already mishandle the GM financial collapse by giving away our money, the car maker was allowed to escape any responsibility to common stock shareholders, a know-nothing maybe bond swindler* was appointed Car Czar, and a member of Exxons Board of Directors was named as CEO of the restructured General Motors. The company continues to be deluded into thinking that their tired brand names have any real market value, they have bet their future on becoming a significant player in a giant communist country, theyre chasing an electric technology fantasy that is still decades away from being meaningful, and they have pretty much abandoned the flex-fuel position that they spent several years and untold dollars trying to establish by finally building more powerful cars that used less gasoline. I was present at numerous GM presentations when they pushed and pushed and pushed E85 and flex-fuel vehicles. If it was a wrong direction  and perhaps it was since GM has made so many wrong decisions  then why are many of the executives that were involved still with the company? Why did they bring Bob Lutz back into the fold, again?

Just Good Capitalism

As a devoted capitalist and marketing guy I have to say that the GM action in seeking an inexpensive, exclusive fuel to power the growth of the automobile age was at first blush a great example of what capitalism is about. The problem is that capitalism allowed to run amuck is nearly as bad as unchecked socialism. It may be a convenient inexpensive capitalist idea to dump waste materials from a chemical plant into the river that flows behind the factory, but if the water is also used for drinking by the community down-river who you hope will buy your products, the free-market idea becomes a dead-market reality. In effect, this was the result of General Motors patented process as the legacy of the leaded gasoline process continues to plague us.

Chained to Oil

We in America and in all industrial nations of the world, no longer drink from an unpolluted spring; we havent for more than half a century. We are addicted to using fuel that robs each and every one of us of our hard earned money. Whats more, over-hyped worrisome economic or political news about oil, and the greedy cycle of oil commodity speculation keeps all segments of the financial markets teetering on the brink of disaster. The richest and most wonderful country in the world has become just another debtor-nation. 50% or more of our national debt is owed to other countries to pay for the oil that we helped discover, subsidize, and then protect through two world wars and several regional conflicts. And we are forced to fund terrorist regimes who would like to see us dead.

We willingly support an industry that has given us mass murder billionaires. Every gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel that we buy props up people like Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Bashar Assad, Osama bin Laden, the so-called Saudi royal family, and even Vladimir Putin. It doesnt matter that three of these men are now dead; the system will continue to churn out new monsters like a well-oiled machine. Their wealth and power is directly derived from our use of gasoline, whether we buy their respective oil or not. The oil and gasoline market is not an open, supply and demand marketplace. It is a tightly closed, tightly controlled fixed enterprise that doesnt permit rogue competitors or independent action. Boycotts or restrictions on the purchase of oil from an especially insidious dictatorship are an irrelevant weapon; to the point that even threatening such action is a joke. If we refuse to buy oil from Iran, for instance, we still have to buy it from someplace. As we pull oil from the new source, a void gets opened that must be filled. So the Iranian oil fills that void, and another country (customer) who doesnt share our sense of moral outrage rushes in to buy the Iranian oil  at the same global market price. The other trick that the oil producers use is to sell and/or ship their oil to a middlemen country, such as Canada or India, where it is re-labeled and invoiced and sent to us. So we, the public, are the only ones negatively affected.

When General Motors lost their way ninety years ago the United States lost its economic and energy independence.

Notes on the story:

*My reason for calling Steven Rattner a no-nothing is best exemplified by the criticism that he recently leveled at Mitt Romney, after Romney criticized the GM bailout. Rattner said, If Mr. Romney disagrees, he should come forward with specific names of willing investors in place of empty rhetoric," Rattner wrote. "I predict that he won't be able to, because there aren't any."

While I agree that there were probably no willing investors to bailout GM  they would have had to be insane to do so  Rattner (Obama) should have forced the oil industry to come to GM and Chryslers rescue. How would he have forced them to do it? Simple, he would have said the following: Either you provide the funds or we withdraw our military and you have to provide your own protection for your oil fields and tanker shipments around the world. In addition, I will give immediate emergency orders to jumpstart a serious alternative fuel program in the U.S. and we will phase gasoline out of use forever.

If this option was ever explored, we should have been told. If the option was explored and the oil industry refused, we should have been told. If Obama appointed someone as Car Czar and he didnt have the imagination to make a suggestion like this, then he never should have been appointed to this position. But then what should we have expected from a president who is without any experience or imagination of his own.
The Hypocrisy of Big Oil and API







hypocrisy

/hpakrse/ (alternate pronunciation /bi oil/)

noun 1.

the practice of claiming standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform.

synonyms: deceit, dishonesty, mendacity

ALERT... Prepare For A Shocking Information Discovery

By Marc J. Rauch

Exec. Vice President/Co-Publisher

THE AUTO CHANNEL







I came across a website titled "FillUpOnFacts.com." It's a website sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute (API) to bash ethanol. The hypocrisy begins with the website's name; the website is filled-up with lies.

This website lists 13 categories, and then links to details that API pretends are facts to support their bashing of ethanol. I provide a list of these categories below, along with my own previously published responses that explain why API is wrong on these issues.

However, without having to go through the 13 categories and my responses, there's a far easier way to prove the duplicity of Big Oil's attacks on ethanol.

For decades - while Standard Oil and other gasoline companies vehemently protested against ethanol fuels in the United States - Standard Oil, Cities Service (CITGO), and other American-based oil companies, sold ethanol-gasoline blends in Great Britain - where they marketed these fuels as being more powerful, cleaner, and cooler running.

In the 1920's, a consortium of scotch whisky distillers began producing and marketing an ethanol-gasoline blend for automobiles called "Discol." A few years later, the Discol name was licensed by another British company (Cleveland Petroleum Products) to sell an ethanol-gasoline blend, provided that Cleveland continued to use the alcohol produced by its distillers for the fuel blend. In the 1930's, Standard Oil (ESSO/Anglo-American Oil) purchased about half of Cleveland Petroleum Products. In 1958, ESSO purchased the remaining shares of Cleveland Petroleum.

The following are some of the print advertisements used to promote Cleveland Discol ethanol-gasoline fuel. The ads span the 1930's through the 1960's:

Here's a British television commercial from 1966 for Cleveland Discol ethanol-gasoline fuel:

Here's two British newspaper ads in the 1930's for Cities Service ethanol-gasoline blend called "Koolmotor."

As you see, the message told to the consumers in Great Britain about ethanol was far different than the story told to the American people, then and now. The benefits mentioned in the Discol ads include:



 Ethanol (alcohol) contributes to a brilliant performance and better mileage

 Engines run cooler and cleaner

 Ethanol has long been used to prevent icing in aircraft and car engines

 Amazing acceleration and smoother running

 More miles per gallon

 Highest anti-knock value

 It's thermal efficiency is higher than non-ethanol gasoline (BTUs are irrelevant)

 Less carbon is produced, ethanol actually removes carbon deposits

Great Britain wasn't the only place in Europe that sold ethanol or ethanol-gasoline blended fuels; alcohol was used extensively throughout Europe, South America, and Asia. Italy's brand was Benzacool, Hungary had Moltaco, Sweden had Lattybentyl, South Africa Natelite, Brazil's big brand was Alcool, and in the late 1930's America had an ethanol-gasoline blend called Agrol.

"The Forbidden Fuel," a book co-authored by William Kovarik, Hal Bernton, and Scott Sklar details the use of ethanol throughout the world. Bill Kovarik expands on all this through his Internet presentations, such as his History of Biofuels at Environmental history / biofuels.

In post-prohibition America, ethanol-gasoline fuels were often sold without all the boogeyman histrionics used by API members in recent years.

For example, in the 1970's, Texaco was producing an ethanol-gasoline blend and selling it in the United States. Here's a TV commercial from 1979 featuring Bob Hope promoting corn alcohol blended with gasoline.

Today, Canadians don't seem to know much about ethanol-gasoline blends. But here are 1984 and 1986 TV commercials from Mohawk gasoline stations in Canada. They sold an E10 ethanol-gasoline blend. It gave consumers "faster starts, more power, and cleaner emissions."

The great significance in all this is that prior to our modern Ethanol Renaissance (and production of vehicles with "ethanol-compatible components" starting in the 1990's) tens of thousands of vehicles... sorry, make that hundreds of thousands of vehicles... no, I mean millions of vehicles in Europe, the Americas, and Asia were powered by fuels that contained ethanol. On top of that, we have to assume other internal combustion engine devices (lawn mowers, chain saws, stationary machines) throughout the world used ethanol-gasoline blends at one time or another.

With all these millions of engines using ethanol-gasoline blends, where are all the newspaper/magazine reports of ethanol causing engine damage? Where are all the stories from the 1920's, 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's screaming about ethanol corroding engine parts? Where are all the stories about ethanol causing less power and fewer miles per gallon? How could there not be hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of published complaints that singled out ethanol as the evil-doer?

Of course, there wouldn't have been such stories sponsored by the oil companies since they were promoting the ethanol-gasoline blends as a superior fuel, but what about all know-it-all ethanol-haters who nowadays haunt and troll every publication and media outlet they can find with ethanol-horror stories. Surely there must have been empty-headed know-it-alls in those days insisting that because of ethanol's lower BTU values that it must deliver less power.

(Incidentally, in all the years up to the 1980's that the petroleum oil companies sold ethanol-gasoline they weren't "forced" to do it, there were no "ethanol mandates." They did it because it was the right thing to do. They did it because they knew that ethanol added power, cleaned the engines, emitted less pollution, and was the least expensive way to mitigate engine knock.)

A Remarkable Revelation

Well, a newly published report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) sheds some light on this subject, and at the same time throws some shade (as the young people say) on a possible suspect for the modern complaints against ethanol. Can you guess who that suspect is?

If you said "petroleum oil producers and blenders" you win a kewpie doll. Imagine, the oil industry causing the very same problems that they blame on ethanol; ain't that a kick in the head?

The report is titled, "Sulfate Salts in Gasoline and Ethanol Fuels  Historical Perspective and Analysis of Available Data." It was published in September 2017, and can be found at https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy17osti/69001.pdf.

Here's the thing, as I often say during my public speaking appearances, all liquids are corrosive, and one of the most corrosive liquids in the world is water. Water is so corrosive that if metals aren't treated or cared for, it could cause our largest aircraft carriers and biggest passenger jets to fall apart. Yet, we drink water, we wash in water, we even bathe new born babies in water. But because the corrosive characteristics of water can be overcome with appropriate materials, babies can go about 60 or 70 years before they start to corrode (yes, you're supposed to laugh at this point).

Gasoline is corrosive, too. Inhibitors are added to gasoline to reduce corrosion. Many, many people think that non-ethanol gasoline is some kind of benign fluid gently caressing engine components, and protecting the metal and rubber parts in some kind of an on-going mechanical love ballet.

Hah! Gasoline is a toxic, caustic, corrosive liquid.

Unbeknownst to most people, especially those ethanol-bashers who wouldn't want to learn any real facts, prior to the invention of leaded-gasoline ethanol was considered the best substance to put in your vehicle's engine during long periods of inactivity. That's right, it was recommended to fill your vehicle's fuel tank and fuel system with ethanol fuel. In his 1919 maintenance manual for the Ford Model T (the world's number one selling automobile for almost two decades), Victor Page wrote, "Denatured alcohol (ethanol fuel) is without doubt the best substance to use as it does not have any destructive action on the metals and rubber hose, will not form deposits of foreign matter, and has no electrolytic effect." No literature of the period was ever published to refute that recommendation.

You can find Victor Page's manual at https://books.google.com/books?id=dqEgAAAAMAAJ. The above quote is located on the top of page 156.

When tetra-ethyl lead was added to gasoline by the General Motors scientists in the early 1920's it worked like ethanol in quieting engine knock. However it was highly corrosive, so they had to add ethylene dibromide to the gasoline-tetraethyl lead fuel mixture. Now they had a poison (gasoline), mixed with another poison (tetraethyl lead) in order to stop the engine knock caused by gasoline, with yet another poison (ethylene dibromide) to stop corrosion caused by tetraethyl lead. It's like a triple-threat poisonous concoction unleashed on the public by a science-fiction madman - except it really happened.

The advent of leaded-gasoline also led to changes in the design and manufacture of engine components to help handle this fuel. These changes probably were at least part of the reason why ethanol may have gone from being the harmless substance described by Victor Page to a potential corrosive fuel.

However, the new report released by NREL introduces the distinct possibility that the modern complaints of ethanol corrosion are the result of intentional or accidental monkeying with the ethanol-gasoline blends by the oil industry (or cronies of the oil industry) to denigrate ethanol.

Could the oil industry or its minions be responsible for this? Would they stoop to doing this?

Of course they would, trillions of dollars are at stake. The petroleum oil industry colluded with the Nazis before and during World War II in order to insure their position of dominance after the war in case the Allies lost. They're responsible for unleashing terrible poisons into our air and water. Oil wars have killed millions of Americans, and untold tens of millions of people around the world. Oil industry carelessness has killed millions of non-human animals of all types.

On the other hand, perhaps it's all just a coincidence? Perhaps the sheer competitive desire by the oil industry to keep their engine fuels the dominant engine fuels, even though there is a superior fuel (ethanol) at hand, just lends itself to circumstantial conjecture?

I can go with circumstantial conjecture. I don't think I need to paint a picture of premeditated death and destruction... as long as everyone understands that everything else I've written here isn't coincidence or circumstantial conjecture. Ethanol was the best fuel to use in internal combustion engines; it was the safest fuel to use in internal combustion engines; it provided the most power for internal combustion engines; and that ethanol is still the best, safest, most powerful fuel to use in internal combustion engines (spark ignited and compression ignited engines).

And now I'll return to the lies posed by the API website

FillUpOnFatcts.com indexes the following 13 issues. My replies can be found under the headings

The RFS Needs Reform

'Reform' suggests an evil act has been perpetrated. No one has committed more evil acts than the oil industry. Read "Why Does AAA and Big Oil Feel They Must Lie to America?" by CLICKING HERE

The Cost of Mandates

The U.S. and our fellow citizens have been kept chained to oil for a century and a half via onerous taxation, an unpopular law of prohibition, military conscription, and never-ending tax-payer subsidies. Read all about oil subsidies in Part 4 of my full-length report "Truth About Ethanol" by CLICKING HERE

The Reality of America's Energy Revolution

API is complaining that cellulosic ethanol hasn't yet come to fruition. Their argument is a ruse. They looking for something to complain about, like Chico Marx' nonsensical add-on complaint in "Night At The Opera." He said, "Yeah, and your ice isn't cold enough."

It's not important that cellulosic ethanol isn't being used more, we have no shortage of ethanol or ethanol-crops. Here's my response to a Big Oil shill who complained that things are moving too slowly: CLICK HERE .

Outdated Supply and Demand Projections

API has built many of it's anti-ethanol arguments on outdated information and production techniques. The oil industry funded studies conducted by David Pimentel and Tad Patzek are rife with rotten data. Read all about the Pimentel-Patzek sham studies in Part 5 of my full-length report "Truth About Ethanol" by CLICKING HERE.

Disconnect Between EPA Mandate and Technology

Read about the real disconnect. Taking On EPA, CAL Air Resources Board, Obama, and Big Oil.

What is the Blend Wall?

The Figurative Ethanol Blend Wall is a Fictional Ethanol Blend Wall.

E15 and Your Car

Big Oil E15 horror stories show up in the most remote places. To read about the debunking I did of one story CLICK HERE.

Fairytale Thinking on E85 and Ethanol Mandates

The fairytale thinking is in believing that E85 is limited to certain vehicles. All gasoline-powered automobiles can use E85, not just flex-fuel vehicles. Consumers can 'splash-blend' their own blend levels to save money and get better MPG results. CLICK HERE to read "Using E85 in Non-Flex Fuel Vehicles Can Save Almost $1 per Gallon and Fight Terrorism."

The RFS is Bad Policy

We use as much corn for ethanol as we do because we grow it for ethanol production. If the ethanol market didn't exist farmers wouldn't grow as much corn as they do. Even with the amount of corn that used for ethanol, we have virtually as much corn for human consumption as we did in the past. There is no shortage of pop corn, corn-on-the-cob for picnics, tortilla chips, or canned corn. Read "Biofuels Are Worth Every Effort and Cost" for more details.

A Bumpy Ride for Motorcyclists

Motorcycles and Ethanol (E10) - The Shocking Truth.

Rising Ethanol Blends Don't Float All Boats

Mercury Marine, the world's largest manufacturer of marine engines likes E10 and thinks it's a better fuel than ethanol-free gasoline. To read/watch Mercury's ethanol webinar CLICK HERE.

Outdoor Equipment and the RFS

One of the oil industry's most pernicious myths about ethanol concerns small engines. To read my take on ethanol and small engines CLICK HERE .

How Has the RFS Evolved Over Time?

You want to know how the RFS has evolved over time? Go to Los Angeles Airport and look north. On many, many days you can see the Hollywood Hills. In Pasadena you can look to the west and south west and see the ocean. This wasn't true in the late 1980's and 90's.

 On February 14, 2018 I had the opportunity to present this paper in speech form at the Renewable Fuels Association NATIONAL ETHANOL CONFERENCE is San Antonio, Texas.

The following is the complete video of that presentation.
2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime Plug-In Hybrid - Review by Larry Nutson +VIDEO

2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime

Performance plus efficiency

By Larry Nutson

Executive Editor and Bureau Chief

Chicago Bureau

The Auto Channel

Back in the Spring in this year of the pandemic I drove Toyotas 2020 RAV4. In closing out my review I wrote a bit more excitement is coming in the form of the 302-horspeower Toyota RAV4 Prime, a 2021 model that will arrive in summer 2020. Itll be the most powerful and quickest RAV4 ever while also being the most fuel-efficient.

Well, its here and I just drove it.

Toyota says the RAV4 Prime can do 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds and says its the quickest four-door model in the Toyota lineup.

Its the first-ever RAV4 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). Specific tuning of the regular RAV4 Hybrids 177hp 2.5L 4-cylinder paired with more-powerful motor-generators provides a total system output of 302hp. With a newly developed high-capacity Lithium-Ion battery and a booster converter, the 2021 RAV4 Prime PHEV yields an 83hp jump in total system output over the RAV4 Hybrid and has the most horsepower in its segment.

An electronically controlled CVT drives the front wheels and a separate rear-mounted electric motor powers the rear wheels for all-wheel drive performance when needed.

Theres an estimated 42 miles of pure-electric driving range. The EPA rating is an estimated 94 MPGe. EPA fuel economy ratings are 40mpg city and 36mpg highway. Center console mounted drive mode controls allow for gas engine only operation to save battery charge, for example for in-city use.

The 5-seat RAV4 Prime is plenty roomy with 33.4cuft behind the rear seat and 63.1cuft with the rear seat folded. The battery is mounted under the floor so that cargo space is not compromised. Theres 8.1in of ground clearance for deep snow or occasional off-road driving. A Trail mode can be engaged making it possible to get unstuck by braking a spinning wheel and sending torque to the grounded wheel.

Two well-equipped trims are offered: the sporty SE priced at $38,100 and the sportier XSE priced at $41,425, plus $1,120 for shipping and handling. Of note, RAV4 Prime customers also may qualify for an $7,500 federal tax credit as well as various state incentives. Look at: https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/state

I drove the XSE trim equipped with the Weather with Audio and Premium Package which added $5,760.

The RAV4 Prime is equipped for the performance driver. With a sport-tuned suspension plus the all-wheel drive (AWD) system driving dynamics are very well balanced. The AWD helps to reduce understeer in corners. Theres a decent level of fun in this SUV.

The 302hp gives you plenty of go-power with AWD helping to launch cleanly. Selectable drive modes provide for normal, economy and sport driving. Theres a lot of performance packed into this hybrid.

Both trims are nicely equipped. If you want leather seating the XSE is the only choice. Plus, it has the unique two-tone paint scheme with the black roof. Also, the optional navigation can only be had on the XSE. However, both trims have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability to use your mobile phone mapping.

Toyotas Safety Sense 2.0 suite of advanced driver-assist safety (ADAS) equipment is standard. The XSE Premium Package adds rear cross-traffic braking and front and rear parking assist with automated braking.

A number of premium features are available including head-up display, JBL premium audio, heated steering wheel, ventilated front seats, heated outboard rear seats, digital rearview mirror, kick-type hands-free power rear hatch, and a 360-degree view camera.

Whats nice about the RAV4 Prime is both trims provide the same level of performance and then its left to the customer to add features as they wish.

More information and details on the RAV4 Prime PHEV can be found at www.toyota.com.

I charged the RAV4 Prime's battery at a free public charging station near my home adding about 26 miles of range in about 2 hours. The battery can be fully charged in about 12 hours by plugging the charging cable into a standard household outlet. (120V 12A) When using a public charging station (240V), RAV4 Prime can be fully charged in as little as 4 hours and 30 minutes (16A), or 2 hours and 30 minutes with the 6.6 kW onboard charger on Prime XSE (32A).

In around-town stop and go driving, regenerative braking works well to restore charge. City-type driving brings out the strength of a hybrid and delivers the lowest overall fuel consumption due to a high percentage of electric driving.

The ideal set-up is to have your own 240v charger at home so the battery can conveniently be charged. One of the hurdles in electrified vehicle ownership impacts those who live in multi-unit dwellings and the need to provide charging ability in large garage complexes or for those who park on the street. The planners are working on solutions.

 2020 Larry Nutson, the Chicago Car Guy
A line of police officers surrounding City Hall on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in Seattle, look towards demonstrators following protests over the death of George Floyd, an African American who died on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.
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1 Dead, 3 Injured After Shooting at Home of California City Council Member

Police are investigating after a shooting early Saturday at a council members home in Gilroy, California, left one person dead and three people injured.

Gilroy Police said in a statement that the department received a 911 call around 12:55 a.m. on Saturday reporting a shooting at the 400 block of Las Animas Avenue in Gilroy. Upon arriving at the scene, they encountered a large outdoor party and learned that there was an altercation where at least one person fired a gun.

Officers determined there were a total of four shooting victims during the altercation. One male victim was pronounced deceased at the scene, while the other victims were transported to local hospitals, two with life-threatening injuries, the department said.

Police determined that the shooting happened at the residence of Gilroy City Council Member Rebeca Armendariz.

Armendariz, in a written statement to media outlets, said that she is unable to share more about the situation as recounted by the Gilroy Police Department because the case is under active investigation.

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, she said. In the meantime, we are giving our full cooperation to the Gilroy Police Department in this investigation.

She added, 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.

It is unclear whether Armendariz was at the residence at the time of the shooting, which marks the citys fifth homicide.

Gilroy police Sgt. Lamonte Toney said he couldnt say whether Armendiaz was present, reported East Bay Times. He added that police were still working to identify a suspect by interviewing witnesses, and that information about the victims are not immediately available while the identity of the person who died was being withheld until their next of kin is notified.

Mayor Marie Blankley said she had sent Armendariz my thoughts and prayers, the outlet reported.

Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact Detective Chris Silva at (408) 846-0335. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call the Gilroy Police Department Tip Line at (408) 846-0330.
Abolish the CDC and NIH

Commentary

Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spends public money to warn of attacks by hordes of zombies? Really. The program is designed to make some demographic groups more receptive to CDC propagandaor rather, messaging.

But spending our tax dollars on zombie posters, a zombie novel, and zombie history are among the lesser problems at the CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Both of these federal agencies are overgrown, unnecessary, arrogant, infused with leftist politics, and unconstitutional. And both should be abolished.

Recent Revelations: Fauci and Walensky

This past week, Americans were stunned to learn that a long-standing charge was actually true: The NIH-funded coronavirus gain of function research at the Wuhan lab in communist China. This revelation directly contradicted repeated reassurances by NIH official Dr. Anthony Fauci that such funding didnt happen.

Apart from the issue of misinforming the public (although thats serious enough), why would a federal agency spend nearly $600,000 in taxpayer money to make a virus more dangerous? Why would it fund anything in communist Chinaexcept, perhaps, resistance to that countrys tyrannical government?

Earlier this year, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky issued a decree rewriting every residential landlord-tenant lease in the country. This was outside of her statutory authority and in defiance of both the Constitution and the Supreme Court (pdf).

Legal issues aside, consider the sheer hubris: Theres nothing in Walenskys background to suggest that she has any expertise on landlordtenant law or management. What made her think that she knew anything about the subject? What drove her to impose her will on millions of people?

Fortunately, the Supreme Court promptly voided her order (pdf).

The Constitutional Issue

Every federally elected officeholder promises to defend the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Outside of the capital district and the federal territories, the Constitution assigns no powers to the central government over civilian health care. Further, the Constitution limits the permissible size of the capital district to 10 miles square, so as to prevent federal institutions from metastasizing into state territory and unduly influencing state policy.

The great Chief Justice John Marshallan advocate of a strong federal governmentsummarized the Constitutions position on health care in his famous decision in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824): Reserved exclusively for the states are health laws of every description, he wrote.

Nevertheless, enabled by rogue Supreme Court rulings issued in panic circumstances during the Great Depression, Congress continues to fund both the CDC and the NIH.

Bureaucracy Run Wild

Over the years, these two agencies have grown into massive bureaucracies. The CDC has nearly 11,000 employees and recently enjoyed a budget of $11.1 billion. That budget is now almost certainly higher. Rather than being located in the capital district, the CDC occupies a campus in Atlanta, Georgia. Except for a museum on the grounds, that campus is closed to the public.

The NIH isnt located in the capital district, either. It occupies a lavish main campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The campus is a federal enclave, which means that although its within a state, its under direct federal control. Its large enough to house several fitness centers and its own fire department. According to its official directory, the NIH contains 27 separate institutes and centers and a National Library of Medicine. It has 20,000 employees, and in 2020, it enjoyed a budget of $42 billion.

The publicity andfor lack of a better wordconceit surrounding these two entities might make you think that theyre the only health agencies in the country. Wikipedia, for example, describes the CDC as the national public health agency of the United States. This makes it sound as if the United States didnt have 50 state public health departments and thousands of local public health departments.

Similarly, the NIH Clinical Center identifies itself as Americas research hospitalas if the United States didnt contain hundreds of other research hospitals funded by state and local governments, as well as by private philanthropy. In addition, the United States has 4,000 degree-granting institutions of higher learning, many of which are involved in health care research, and the pharmaceutical companies also operate a huge health care research sector.

Constitutional issues aside, an objective observer must ask why, at a time when the federal government is essentially bankrupt, are the feds duplicating state, local, and private efforts? After all, with modern telecommunications, research can be coordinated among different entities nationwide. Moreover, to the extent that the CDC and NIH arent duplicating other efforts, why is Congress allowing federal agencies to crowd out programs that might otherwise flourish?

Politicization: Critical Race Theory and Other Leftist Notions

But duplication and waste arent the biggest dangers posed by federal involvement in health care. That particular danger is politicization. When politics infiltrate science, science becomes corrupted, and its application, in turn, becomes inefficient. Corrupted and inefficient medical science can lead to the death of millions of people who might have been saved and prolong the misery of millions of people who might have been cured.

One long-standing example of politicization is the CDCs efforts to become involved in the issue of gun violence. Traditionally, this is an issue for law enforcement and criminologists, rather than for public health agencies. The CDCs intrusion into the area is a classic example of mission creep.

The reason for this mission creep is politics. The CDC started meddling with the gun violence issue during the administration of President Bill Clinton. A major agenda item for Clinton was implementing more regulation over the owners and users of firearms. The CDC apparently was to supply the supposedly neutral science to promote that agenda. Congress had to enact legislation to stop it.

Now Joe Biden is president, and he also wants draconian control of firearms. So, Walensky has announced that she wants to renew CDC gun-violence research.

Another example of politicized mission creep is how the NIH and the CDC have become invested in the lefts poisonous racial politicsincluding structural racism (translation: Youre a racist even if youre not) and the misnamed critical race theory.

Like gun control, race relations are outside of the traditional scope of public health agencies. However, Walensky claims that racism is a serious threat to the publics health. So, the CDC now spends your tax dollars on both a Health Equity Matters newsletter and an Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE).

The latter office recently named Chandra Ford as the Health Equity Champion for Spring 2021. The reason for this distinction was that Ford and another person originated  the Public Health Critical Race Praxis, which is a framework for applying Critical Race Theory empirically.

Just as the CDC is on the lookout for zombies, the NIH is deeply engaged in racial witch-hunting. The agency has assigned nearly 100 highly paid witch-hunters to its UNITE program with the assignment of exorcizing structural racism. The NIH website virtue-signals by affirming that ending structural racism in biomedical research starts now.

The CDC and NIH are also attuned to the wider woke cause. The CDCs celebration of Ford was a two-fer, because she also works on LGBTQ issues. The NIH (like the Department of Health and Human Services, generally), grants federal fundingthats our moneyto writers committed to the leftist agenda. Recent funding opportunities include New investigators to promote workforce diversity in genomics, bioinformatics, or bioengineering and biomedical imaging research and Understanding and addressing the impact of structural racism and discrimination on minority health and health disparities.

All of these are easily accessible examples of CDC and NIH politicization. My long experience in government has taught me that for every easily accessible example, there are many hidden ones. Only whistleblowers can reveal the full extent of the rot within.

A Message to Republicans: Abolish Both Agencies

How can we clean up this mess?

Its not by writing a letter to the president. Its by insisting that the next time Republicans control Congress, they permanently defund the CDC and NIH, thereby eradicating them root and branch.

Radical? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely. History tells us why.

Conservatives and progressives have one thing in common: Conservatives use their own money to fund their political activities, and progressives use the same sourceconservatives moneyto fund theirs. Without constant forced subsidies from hardworking taxpayers (overwhelmingly conservative and moderate), the far left would be an insignificant force in this country.

When Democrats obtain majorities in Congress and the state legislatures, they use public money to create and fund social programs that become (1) mechanisms for social control and (2) bases for leftist political activity. When Republicans regain legislative control, they may trim the programs and reform them. But those changes dont last long, because when Democrats recover their majority, they expand funding, lift restrictions, and render the programs even larger and more powerful than they were before.

If the Republican Party wants to continue as a viable force, it must fully defund these programs and the agencies that administer them. This will eliminate their lobbying power and make it harder for subsequent Democratic majorities to recreate them.

I recognize that permanent defunding is a difficult task. Once accomplished, however, the agency and its lobbyists will vanish, its abuses will be over, and a reliable Democrat base will vanish. This is because, for all their talk about public service, once the money has dried up, bureaucrats dont hang around. As the late California state senator and humorist H.L. (Bill) Richardson often remarked, I never knew a bureaucrat who worked for nothing.

What will happen to the CDC and NIH staff once the funding has stopped? Some will retire on their government pensions. Some will get jobs in state and local health agencies, where their potential to inflict damage is more limited and they may actually do some good.

But most will switch to the private sector, where they no longer have incentive to be nuisances and will become productive and useful members of society.

Robert G. Natelson, a former constitutional law professor and historian, is a senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at Colorados Independence Institute. Hes the author of The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant (3rd ed., 2015). He comes from a medical family and, unlike CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, he has an extensive background in landlordtenant issues.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The justice statue at the Supreme Court of Canada on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 17, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Absolute Hell: Anti-Father Bias in Family Law Needs Reforms, a Dad Says

After going through an onerous and expensive court battle seeking to prevent his children from being moved far away, only to fail in the end, Winnipeg father Frank Mane describes his experience with Canadas family law system as absolute hell.

Mane and his wife split up following 14 years of marriage after his wife had an affair with her boss. They co-parented their son and daughter for two years, but then the mother and stepfather initiated a legal action to move the children to Seattle where the stepfather is from.

There was no reason to go there for employmentit was only for selfish, self-centred reasons. And the process was hell. It was just absolute hell, Mane told The Epoch Times.

The lawyers involved were all about prolonging their take from the conflict. There was an expert report done, and despite that [report] recommending the children stay with me, the judge didnt hear anything, Mane said. The judge clearly was on another planet.

Mane, whose name has been changed to protect his familys privacy, says the children were allowed to leave for Seattle with their mother and stepfather, despite his having spent several hundred thousand dollars to prevent it.

Im a very resilient person with a happy DNA, but it just about killed me. It was devastating to lose my children, he said.

Visits to see his children were scant over the next two years, not only because of the distance and expense, but also due to the reluctance of the mother and stepfather to accommodate such visits. Eventually, Mane landed a job in Abbotsford, B.C., and visits became more frequent. In time, both his daughter and younger son chose to live with Mane, who has since remarried.

Vancouver lawyer Carey Linde, who has practised family law for 49 years, says that the family law system is biased against fathers and that men face an uphill battle.

The courts still, to this day, while things are an awful lot better, are gender-biased at every turn.  There still is a deep-seated bias against dads. Theres also a bias in the question of credibility, Linde said in an interview.

Whenever the father makes a mistake, it is regarded by the courts as sufficient to provide less parenting time with the child, whereas if the mother makes a mistake, its a mistake.

Linde said financial hurdles prevent many fathers from obtaining a reasonable outcome.

Its expensive to be able to fight as much as you have to, he said. In the early rounds of the war, dads can lose a lot of battles, but if they have the willpower and the finances to carry through to a trial, theyll still win the war.

According to a Statistics Canada analysis of seven provinces and territories in the late 2000s, at least 34 percent of all active divorce cases dealt with one or more of the four issues of access, custody, property, and support. Custody was an issue in at least 39 percent of cases, while access was identified in at least one third of divorce cases with an issue. Moreover, divorce cases rarely came to trial.

So Many Men Are Suffering

Christopher Sarlo, an economics professor at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ont., researched the subject after facing custody and support issues following his divorce. In 2014, he penned a paper for the Fraser Institute that gave an unfavourable assessment of the federal child support guidelines. Since then, many fathers have reached out to him with their own stories.

Over the years I have heard from really many, many men who are going through this.  So many men are suffering, Sarlo said.

Theres a lot of pain out there. Theres suicide. Men just dont know where to turn.

Canadas Divorce Act says child support guidelines shall be based on the principle that spouses have a joint financial obligation to maintain the children of the marriage in accordance with their relative abilities to contribute to the performance of that obligation.

But in his paper, Sarlo said that those relative abilities are not considered by the child support guidelines, which rely on a number of unrealistic assumptions that make them unfair. He also said they are gender-biased, noting that they favour mothers at every turn and are punitive to fathers and promote discord and litigation.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had 14 formulas for a fair approach to child support under consideration in the 1990s before picking one in 1997. In consultation with social policy advocacy groups, it chose a formula that assumed the first child added 40 percent to household costs and each additional child added 30 percent. Yet, economic analyses showed that the 4030 model was only accurate when both parents had low but identical pre-tax incomes and both remained single after parting.

Other DOJ analyses showed that for most single-parent families, the first child adds 25 percent to costs, the second 13 percent, and the third 15 percent. A subsequent DOJ report, in 2004, showed that mothers won custody in 90 percent of court-contested cases, meaning it was fathers who were most often paying the arguably excessive amounts.

Last year, Sarlo testified in a case in Alberta in which a father challenged the support guidelines on this basis.

This particular challenge was brought by a fairly well-to-do individual whose wife divorced him, he said. He thought that the way the guidelines were framed was inconsistent with the Divorce Act.

Sarlo said the lawyers involved in the challenge have faced an uphill battle.

At the Department of Justice level [theres] a lot of resistance, and theyre fighting every possible way [against] getting this heard at the highest levels, he said.

I think theres a concern by the Department of Justice, and many of the folks that are in charge of the policy there, that [changes] would be seen as offensive to especially womens rights groups.

Multi-Generational Impacts

Mane says the family law system needs an overhaul, noting that the way things are done currently has far-reaching negative effects, especially for children.

This is the largest-scale abuse of children going on in our country and its enabled by the state. It has devastating, rolling multi-generational impacts on people that our society feels every day, he said.

But he said the political will to change the system isnt there because leaders are afraid to take on womens groups and the legal industry.

Linde and Sarlo both believe that federal legislation should make 5050 shared custody the default outcome if parents break up.

Immediately upon separation, there should be all kinds of things in place to keep mom and dad close enough together geographically, such that the kids can have half-time with both parents, Linde says.

That should be the default position, and if one parent argues that should not be the outcome, the obligation is on them to prove it.

He says the one-size-fits-all child support formula is detached from the real needs of children and too rigid to allow any acknowledgment of the realities of some post-divorce situations.

Mane describes Canadas family law system as the elephant in the room when it comes to our society.

It is just unconscionable whats happening, he says. We have to change the law to stop this madness that is hurting children and everyone else.
Crowds of people show their documents to U.S. troops outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 26, 2021. (Stringer/Reuters)

Afghan Mother Grateful After Reunion With Infant Son Injured in Kabul Explosion

A 19-year-old Afghan mother was reunited with her child in the UK after they were separated in the Kabul airport explosion.

Mohammed Raza, who turned two in September, needed life-saving surgeries after he was injured when a suicide bomber struck the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26.

According to The Sun, Raza arrived at a Royal Air Force station in Oxford on Oct. 29, after being given the medical all-clear to take the 11-hour flight from an undisclosed country.

His mother Basbibi said she never thought this day would come.

I never stopped crying when I was separated from my baby. Knowing that I couldnt be there to help him was the worst, she told The Sun. When the bomb first went off, I was terrified he had died but I was told I had to leave.

Basbibi said she wanted to personally thank Home Secretary Priti Patel for listening to Razas case and granting him a visa.

She also thanked The Sunwhich reported their story after the explosionand everyone else who helped to reunite her with her child.

On Aug. 26, 13 U.S. service members and nearly 200 Afghans were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at Hamid Karzai International Airport, where troops were checking on Afghans trying to evacuate the country. Suspected terrorists then fired shots at Afghans and troops.

After arriving in London a day later, Basbibi told The Sun that she had been waved through a gate en route to an RAF flight leaving Afghanistan moments before the explosion.

Her seven family members were at the other side of the gate at the time, but she wasnt allowed to go back and check on them amid the chaos.

Raza was seriously injured by shrapnel, which also killed his grandfather Sultana 48-year-old taxi driver who had been granted UK citizenship a week before travelling to Afghanistan to get his family out. Razas father, 22-year-old Miraj, was killed by the gunshots following the explosion.

The rest of the family, including Basbibis 5-month-old daughter Kalsoom, were missing after the attack, but The Sun said on Oct. 31 that theyve now been found safe and well, and are waiting to relocate to the UK.

Patel said shes delighted Raza arrived in the UK safely.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said shes proud the UK has been able to reunite Mohammed, an innocent victim of an abhorrent terror attack, with his family in Britain.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged 50 million ($68 million) in humanitarian aid on Oct. 31 to the U.N. Afghanistan appeal.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
An American Airlines agent helps a customer check in at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Nov. 25, 2020. (Kamil Krzaczynski/file/Reuters)

American Airlines Cancels Over 1,500 Flights, Blames Staff Shortages and Weather

Denies any relation to COVID-19 vaccine mandate

American Airlines canceled more than 1,500 flights between Oct. 29 and Oct. 31, citing staff shortages and inclement weather.

In addition to 340 flights being canceled on Oct. 29, 540 were canceled on Oct. 30, and 650 were canceled on Oct. 31, a spokeswoman for the Texas-based carrier told The Epoch Times in an email.

In a letter to employees obtained by The Epoch Times, Chief Operating Officer David Seymour blamed severe winds in the area of its Dallas-Fort Worth hub.

With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences, he said. To make sure we are taking care of our customers and providing scheduling certainty for our crews, we have adjusted our operation for the last few days this month by proactively canceling some flights.

American said it expects the issues to be resolved soon.

The spokeswoman said that the problems arent related to the companys COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Capt. Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American pilots, also said the cancellations arent linked to the vaccination requirements.

Weather was the catalyst, although managemental failure also contributed, Tajer told The Epoch Times in an email.

Management is failing at the most fundamental part of running an airline. Connecting crews to the airplane. Our employees are suffering this failure as much as passengers as crews are stuck out into their days off while scrambling to find hotels, he said.

Mother nature generates a storm and managements failure to properly schedule creates storms days after.

Of the flights canceled on Oct. 30, all but around a dozen were due to the inability to connect workers to airplanes, Tajer said.

American announced its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Oct. 1.

While we are still working through the details of the federal requirements, it is clear that team members who choose to remain unvaccinated will not be able to work at American Airlines, Doug Parker, Americans CEO, said in a memorandum that day.

Executives at the company later said employees must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 24 or be fired.

Most U.S.-based airlines have imposed mandates, some in response to President Joe Bidens plans to force private businesses to either get proof of vaccination from employees or require them to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

The head of the pilots association warned the White House and Congress last month that mandates could trigger chaos in the near future.

Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights earlier this month, leaving many travelers stranded for days. The airline claimed the problems were mostly due to unfavorable weather and not related to the mandate it imposed, although other airlines didnt suffer problems at the same time. The carrier later delayed a plan to put workers who dont comply with the vaccination requirements on unpaid leave.

In addition to the weekend cancellations from American, the airline delayed hundreds of flights between Oct. 29 and Oct. 31, according to the tracking site FlightAware. That included 73 delays early on Oct. 31.

American said that nearly 1,800 flight attendants who were on leave would be returning to work soon and that it was hiring over 600 more flight attendants in addition to working to hire 4,000 workers for other positions.

The hiring of pilots and within tech ops continues to take place, and we already began ramping up hiring in reservations so more team members will be in place for the holiday season, it said.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration told The Epoch Times on Oct. 31 that the agency is aware of the cancellations but directed any inquiries to American Airlines.
President Joe Biden removes his face mask as he arrives to speak in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus on Oct. 14, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Attorneys General in 10 States Join Fight Against Biden Admins Vaccine Mandate

Ten attorneys general in states with Republican governors filed a lawsuit against the White Houses vaccine mandate for federal contractors.

The lawsuit, dated Oct. 29, was filed by the attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. They described (pdf) the Biden administrations vaccine mandate for contractors as a power grab.

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, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said in a statement as the lawsuit was filed.

Schmitt, a Republican, further argued that the federal government should not be mandating vaccinations, and thats why we filed suit today, saying the move is illegal and unconstitutional.

President Joe Biden on Sept. 9 announced sweeping COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal workers and contractors, and set a Dec. 8 deadline. Federal workers and contractors under the mandate wont be able to submit weekly COVID-19 tests and instead have to get vaccinated or seek a religious or medical exemption.

In the same breath, the president said he would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to create a rule for employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccines or weekly COVID-19 testing for employees, affecting some 80 million private-sector workers. Health care staff who work at Medicaid- or Medicare-funded facilities also have to get the vaccine, with no option to submit to weekly testing.

While Biden has said that the vaccine mandates are needed to deal with the Delta variant surge, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data has shown that COVID-19 cases have persistently dropped across the United States in recent weeks. Meanwhile, some trade groups have issued warnings that Bidens mandates on vaccines would trigger significant staffing and supply chain issues nationwide.

The ramifications of the federal contractor vaccine mandate are significant, Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson said in a statement late last week. It will impact countless employees, exacerbate existing workforce shortages, and create economic instability. Most importantly, it puts individual employees who happened to work for federal contractors out of a job if they simply make the personal choice not to be vaccinated.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, names Biden, COVID-19 task force chief Jeff Zients, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, General Services Administration head Robin Carnahan, Office of Personnel and Management Director Kiran Ahuja, and others as defendants. The attorneys general are seeking an injunction against the vaccine mandate.

The lawsuit follows legal challenges on the contractor vaccine mandate that have come from other states, including Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, and others.

COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

White House officials didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo speaks during a Reuters interview at the Department of Commerce in Washington on Sept. 23, 2021. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Biden Commerce Secretary: Delaying Vaccine Mandates Would Be a Mistake

The Biden administrations secretary of Commerce signaled that the White House will not delay its vaccine mandate plans until after the Christmas holiday season despite several trade groups warnings in recent days.

No, I think that would be a big mistake. People want to work in a workplace where they feel safe, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told CBS News on whether its needed to delay the administrations plans to implement COVID-19 vaccine requirements for millions of federal contractors and employees.

Raimondo pointed to United Airlines, which has reported a relatively high vaccination rate among its employees, and claimed that the number of folks applying for jobs is through the roof, adding that the best thing we can do to get people back to work is to make sure everybodys vaccinated.

The commerce secretary then argued that the Delta variant of COVID-19 hindered U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter and said that vaccinating workers is the way to deal with economic shortfalls. Raimondo didnt address recent studies showing that fully vaccinated people can still easily spread the Delta variant.

The quicker everyone gets vaccinated, the better our economy will be back on track, the quicker everybody gets back to work, she said.

Nearly two months ago, President Joe Biden announced that he would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to come up with an emergency temporary standard to either mandate vaccines or regular testing for workers at companies with 100 or more employees. Biden also ordered all federal workers, federal contractors, and most healthcare staff to get the vaccine.

But last week, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients suggested that there would not be mass layoffs over the vaccine mandate.

Were creating flexibility within the system.  There is not a cliff here, he remarked during a press conference.

It came as retail, cargo, manufacturing, and trucking groups sent letters to the Biden administration and warned them that his vaccine mandates would imperil the U.S. supply chain.

Among them, the American Trucking Association (ATA) said it has concerns about the mandate for companies with 100 or more employees.

While much of the country was sequestered in their homes, the trucking industry served its essential function and did so successfully with safety standards developed by public health experts, ATA President Chris Spear wrote in the letter, before he added that such mandates would create significant staffing shortages. The industry could lose up to 37 percent of drivers over firings, attrition to smaller trucking firms, or retirements, Spear added.

The Cargo Airline Association, which represents the likes of FedEx and UPS, offered similar concerns over Bidens rule for federal contractors. UPS and FedEx both have federal contracts, meaning their workers would be subject to the mandate, which doesnt allow the option of weekly testing.

[T]he looming December 8 mandate for having fully vaccinat[ed] workforces creates a significant supply chain problem, it said in the letter. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that we are already experiencing a worker shortage, both in the air and on the ground, and any loss of employees who refuse to be vaccinated will adversely impact needed operations.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Labor, which oversees OSHA, for comment on Raimondos remarks.
Biden Travels to the Vatican Ahead of G20 Meeting

VATICANPresident Joe Biden traveled to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis Saturday prior to attending the G20 summit. For the 46th president of the United States, who has professed himself a Catholic, this would be his fourth time meeting the leader of his church, but the first since he took his position as the leader of the free world.

Press access, however, was not clearly defined in the run-up to the meeting, as only two days prior to the scheduled event, no details had been shared on timelines, and no availability was provided to journalists independent of the Catholic city-state to document the meeting.

Rumors began circulating that, although topics of great importincluding that of the ongoing controversies surrounding Bidens stance on abortion and the public corrections he has received by members of the Catholic Hierarchy, including Raymond Cardinal Burke, once the senior-most authority in Church law and prominent American in the College of Cardinalsmight be discussed, the press (and therefore the public), would not be permitted access.

On Oct. 26, CBS News White House correspondent Sara Cook asked press secretary Jen Psaki if the White House was working to rectify access to the press corps. Psaki stated, What I can assure you of is that we are working through every lever we have to advocate for access for the press when the president visits the Vaticanwe believe in the value of the free press  we are going on a visit, so I cant offer you a guarantee.

In the Vatican, the accredited press had already received word that all live streaming video had been canceled, and the only access for the press would be that within the courtyard upon the arrival of the president, for photos and video recordings for later posting. It was made clear that Vatican state-run media would control the details of the meeting, and issue a blurb as to the discussions between the Pope and Biden, along with some edited video clips and official photos. This censorship led to the White House issuing a public complaint for record.

The Epoch Times contacted Matteo Bruni, head of the Holy See Press Office, as the cancellation sparked rumors that the president would seek to use the media blackout to push for affirmation of his ability to lead as a pro-abortion politician while receiving Holy Communionperhaps from the Pope himself at a private Mass. With U.S. Catholic bishops currently drafting a document that potentially addresses this issue, a move such as this with the head of the Catholic church would be seen as definitively declared by the highest authority. Actions or statements by the Roman Pontiff to the contrary would powerfully undermine the presidents platform for Catholics who support him. The need for clarity, then, was essential to what easily could become smoke and mirrors for the general public, but no response came from the press office.

On Oct. 27, EWTN White House correspondent Owen Jensen asked Psaki to clarify whether such conversation topics listed within press releases for Pope Francis and President Biden, grounded on respect for fundamental human dignity, would include human dignity of the unborn. Psaki stated that, We expect a warm and familiar dialogue. You are familiar with where the president standshes somebody who stands up for and believes that a womans right to choose is important. The Pope has spoken differently.

On the eve of the presidents arrival and in lieu of continued silence from the Vatican, Cardinal Burke issued a lengthy and clearly defined statement on Catholic politicians and the non-admittance to Holy Communion. Outlining the code of law within the Catholic church, binding all ministers to it, he stated that in his own time as a bishop in the United States, I must note that the pastoral action taken had nothing to do with interfering in politics. It was directed to the safeguarding of the sanctity of the Holy Eucharist, to the salvation of the souls of the Catholic politicians in questionwho were sinning gravely not only against the Fifth Commandment but also were committing sacrilege by receiving unworthily Holy Communionand to the prevention of the serious scandal caused by them.

On Oct. 29, The Epoch Times was one of only a few correspondents accredited to the Holy See, permitted within the San Damaso Courtyard to document the arrival of the president. No questions from the press would be permitted, the ceremony and greeting only taking minutes before the president and first lady were escorted inside by Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza for their private audience.

The meeting reportedly lasted over 75 minutes, after which the Vatican state-run media began posting photos and edited video clips on internal forums for press use, with citation. Shortly after, the Holy See Press Office issued a statement on the Vaticans daily Bulletino, outlining the conversation between the Pope and Biden, with no mention of abortion.

Photos and videos showed a relaxed Biden offering gifts, both personal and on behalf of the American people, to the Popeincluding a historical handwoven vestment in the style still worn by clergy who celebrate the Usus Antiquior, a traditional form of liturgy recently restricted by the Pope. The president also was shown handing the Pope a challenge coin, a tradition for U.S. military commanders (or in this case, commander-in-chief) to give to leaders they meet. On the coin was the presidential seal, and a symbol of Delawares Army National Guards 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, in honor of his son, Beau.

Later in the day, the AP published a headlining story that Biden spoke with reporters, revealing the details of his lengthy talks with the Pope as he was greeting Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi in Rome. The president stated that the Pope told him he was happy Im a good Catholic and that he should keep receiving communion. The Epoch Times was among several outlets to immediately contact the Holy See Press Office, asking for a statement to confirm if this was said by the Popeknowing the level of political, moral, and religious implications of such a statementand if any video or audio supported the presidents attribution.

Director Matteo Bruni responded to journalists that I would consider it a private conversation, and the Vatican would only confirm what was said in the public statementleaving the general public to rely upon the veracity of Bidens recollection.

After meeting with a host of world leaders at the G20 Summit Saturday, including French President Emmanual Macron, Biden is set to fly to Glasgow on Sunday for the Climate Change Summit where he is expected to deliver an address on U.S. recommitment to the movement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi (R) meet at an hotel in Rome on the sidelines of the G20 of World Leaders Summit ON Oct. 31, 2021 . (AP Photo/Tiziana Fabi, pool)

Blinken Raises Concerns With China Over Taiwan

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concerns about Beijings actions toward Taiwan during a face-to-face meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Oct. 31.

The bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a summit of Group of 20 leaders in Rome comes as Beijings escalating military harassment toward the self-ruled island, which it claims as its own, has triggered growing international alarm.

Blinken raised concerns that Beijings actions undermine the international rules-based order and that run counter to our values and interests, such as actions related to human rights and Taiwan, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Blinken also said the two countries have areas of common interests, such as climate change, and underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between Washington and Beijing, according to the brief statement.

In a longer readout from Beijings Foreign Ministry, Wang agreed on the need for engagement between the two countries, but blasted Blinken over a range of alleged U.S. wrongdoings, including the Taiwan issue.

Wang said that Washingtons support of Taiwan could cause subversive and damaging effects to U.S.China relations. The Chinese communist regime, which has frequently threatened to seize Taiwan with military force, claims that any international support for the island nation amounts to unacceptable interference in Beijings internal affairs.

While the United States doesnt have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it maintains robust ties with the democratic island under a framework set out in the Taiwan Relations Act, which obliges Washington to provide Taipei with the means to defend itself.

The Chinese regime has stepped up its military pressure on Taiwan recently. At the beginning of October, Beijing sent nearly 150 military aircraft into Taiwans air defense zone over the span of four days, in a record show of force that prompted the islands defense minister to describe cross-strait tensions as the worst hes seen in 40 years.

President Joe Biden later sparked controversy by saying that the United States had a commitment to defend Taiwan if the Chinese regime attacked, a departure from Washingtons long-held policy of strategic ambiguity, wherein its deliberately vague on what it would do in such a scenario.

However, the White House later clarified that Biden wasnt signaling a change in U.S. policy.

The BlinkenWang talks occurred less than a month after White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with the regimes top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Switzerland. During that meeting, the two sides agreed that Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would hold a virtual meeting before the end of 2021.

The two leaders havent met in person since Biden took office in January. Though they had been expected to meet in Rome over the weekend, Xi ended up participating in the G-20 summit via video link, with Wang attending in person on behalf of Xi.
Delays in the transfer of cargo continue in Southern California as vessels line the horizon waiting to offload containers into the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., on Oct. 27, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Carriers Must Move Thousands of Containers Out of Los Angeles Area by End of Halloween: Officials

Shipping companies must move thousands of containers out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach starting Nov. 1, according to port officials, or theyll begin to start facing hefty fines.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Oct. 29 announced a fee on carriers who have containers linger on the docks, and the Port of Los Angeles board approved a similar measure on the same day.

Containers that linger too long on the docks are delaying the berthing of vessels, leading to record numbers of ships waiting off the coast, and consumers and businesses across the U.S. left waiting for crucial shipments, Port of Los Angeles commissioners said.

The new program carries fines of at least $100 per day per container, according to the Los Angeles Harbor Commission in a news release. Executives at the port stressed that the move is not designed to increase ports revenue.

They stated that about 40 percent of import containers on terminals are idling there for at least nine days, and before the pandemic, containers remained in terminals for an average of four days, the news release said.

If progress is being made clearing our docks, I have the discretion to delay the start of fees beyond Nov. 15. Our goal is to see significant improvement on our docks so that we dont need to administer any fees, Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka said in the news release.

Delays in the transfer of cargo continue in Southern California as vessels line the horizon waiting to offload containers into the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., on Oct. 27, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The Marine Exchange of California reported that as of Friday, there were 153 ships at anchor, berthed or cruising off the ports while waiting for dock space.

This is the nations leading cargo gateway, and this crisis has national impacts. We need to take action to facilitate the rapid movement of cargo through the supply chain, and this plan will help, Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero was quoted by KTLA as saying. Combined with our push for expanded hours of operation, more space for containers, and other measures, we are determined to eliminate the backlog.

The fee amount will increase by $100 per day until the container leaves the terminal, officials said last week.

This is the latest step in our collaborative efforts to ensure a more efficient supply chain. Were not doing this to collect revenue  we need those containers to be moved off our terminals promptly, said Steven Neal, Harbor Commission President. We will do everything within our power to help our supply chain partners overcome the current challenges.

But some shipping firms and trade groups last week expressed worry that the new fine would trigger catastrophic results. Some executives warned that the fine will trigger even more increases in prices.

As far as the hyper-demurrage announced in Los Angeles/Long Beach, I think it will be catastrophic, Rich Roche, vice president of international transportation at Mohawk Global Logistics, said during a meeting with other trade groups last week, reported FreightWaves.

And Ken OBrien, president of Gemini Shippers Group, said that what was done this week at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is effectively an indirect tax on the American consumer, the report said.
Chinese paramilitary policemen keep watch at the promenade on the Bund along the Huangpu River in Shanghai on Sept. 24, 2021. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

China Uses Whole-of-Society Effort to Steal From US: Former CIA Officer

China is using a whole-of-society approach to steal its way to becoming a military power, and the U.S. government needs to better defend against such an espionage campaign, according to a retired CIA officer.

U.S. security officials estimate that the Chinese steal between $300 billion and $600 billion a year in U.S. intellectual property, research and development, information, and technology, David Sauer told The Epoch Times sister media outlet NTD on Oct 29.

The United States hasnt been the only target of the campaign, Sauer said. Chinas efforts have also targeted the European Union, South Korea, and Japan since the push began around 2000 to 2001, he said.

Theyre [China] stealing that information and then integrating [it] into their economy and their state-owned enterprises [and] into their military. Some of their military systems look like a carbon copy of U.S. military systems, he said. So it really saves them [China] a lot of time, sweat, and tears in trying to develop that technology.

Sauer served as chief of station and deputy chief of station in multiple overseas command positions in East Asia and South Asia prior to his retirement.

The Chinese regime targets individualswho can be students, academics, or business peopleseeking their cooperation to obtain certain technologies that the regime in Beijing wants to get its hands on, Sauer said.

Now, those people, I bet most of them dont want to cooperate, Sauer said. They think its a little risky, and that they might get caught and ruin their life or their ability to function in the United States.

But they really dont have a choice. Theyre dealing with an authoritarian regime. And theyll risk their future by saying no. So they dont.

Christopher Wray, who has been the director of the FBI since August 2017, said in 2020 that the bureau was opening one new Chinese counterintelligence investigation about every 10 hours. Wray also said that the bureau had more than 2,000 counterintelligence investigations related to China at that time.

One recent FBI investigation involved Zhang Xiaoming, a former civilian professor at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, who pleaded guilty to making false statements to a federal agent regarding his ties with a Chinese municipal official.

According to the Department of Justice, Zhang developed a relationship with the official during one of his trips to China in 2012. Later, he became aware that the official was attempting to use him to gain access to sensitive information that was in his possession.

On Oct. 22, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) began an outreach campaign to warn U.S. organizations in five different sectorsartificial intelligence, autonomous systems, bioeconomy, quantum information science and technology, and semiconductorsabout how they could be targets for foreign counterintelligence operations.

To help achieve its strategic goals, the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] employs a wide variety of legal, quasi-legal, and illegal methods to acquire technology and know-how from the United States and other nations, an NCSC factsheet (pdf) reads.

These methods include academic collaboration, co-opting insiders, joint ventures, talent recruitment programs, and science and technology investments.

The reality is that Chinas using our technology and innovation to build its rise and to build a military that can defeat ours, Sauer said.
A Chinese worker looks on as he walks along a street after work in Beijing on Dec. 28, 2015. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Factory Activity Falls in October, Producer Price Soars to Years High

Beijing said Chinas factory activity shrank for a second month in October, putting it down to power shortages, high raw material prices, and soft domestic demand. Meanwhile, authorities said producer prices have risen to years high.

Oct. 31 data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show Chinas purchasing managers index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector contracted to 49.2 in October, down from 49.6 in September. The 50 mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis and a reading below 50 indicates a decline.

The monthly PMI of September shrank for the first time since February 2020 as the country was in the grip of a power crunch that pushed up coal prices. In addition, factories faced tougher emissions standards.

The supply and demand sides slowed down further, senior NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said in an accompanying statement.

In line with the softer headline PMI, the sub-index for production continued to slip to 48.4 in October from 49.5 in the previous month. Meanwhile, another indicator shows new orders also weakened for a third month.

Raw material prices and producer prices soared, as the indexes were 72.1 and 61.18.6 and 4.7 higher than the previous monthwhere the latter reached a high level in recent years, according to Zhao.

Earlier this month, Chinas NBS released the domestic price fluctuations of goods at the factory gate in September. The increase in the year-on-year Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, hit a 26-year high of 10.7 percent.

Taiwan-based financial analyst Huang Shicong said price increases had not been passed on to end consumer goods.

Manufacturers would see their profits squeezed by increasing cost, coupled with price-capped consumer products, which is not good news for the Chinese economy, he told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times in a previous interview. Huang is also the show host for a stock analyzing program on ETTV News, a cable television channel in Taipei.

He blamed the price control driven by policymakers. The Chinese Communist Party has transferred the pain from the civil society to the enterprises.

A storm of power shortages is hitting Chinese families, industries, and the economy. Over 20 provinces across the nation have experienced power cuts since September. Some factories have been asked to suspend production on certain days or reduce energy usage. Sharply rising coal prices and capped prices also saw producers reluctant to generate electricity at a loss.

In the long run, if companies cant hold up, they may lay off employees, according to Huang.

A worker produces heavy truck engines at a factory in Hangzhou, in Chinas eastern Zhejiang Province on Oct. 18, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Authorities said on Oct. 12 that it will allow coal-fired power plants to charge market-driven prices for electricity from Oct. 15, hoping to ease a worsening power crunch.

Sunday data show the raw material inventory in the manufacturing industry dropped and the supplier delivery time of raw material suppliers continued to be extended; A subindex for employment of manufacturing enterprises was down 0.2 to 48.8 from last month.

Moreover, activity in Chinas services sector grew at a slower pace in October, as the non-manufacturing PMI in October slightly decreased to 52.4 from 53.2 in September.

The official composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and services activity, fell to 50.8 from Septembers 51.7.
In this special report, we sat down with Bradley Thayer, founding member of the Committee on the Present Danger: China. He touched on the significance of Taiwannot just militarily but also from a civilian perspectivewhat it means going forward on the geopolitical stage, and ways Beijing may try to subvert Taiwan.

Thayer said that Taiwan is important, first of all, because it is a democracy. And so what we see in the clash between the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of China is a clash between a brutal dictatorship in the mainland and a democratic government, a free and democratic government, in Taiwan, which is deserving of support. Traditionally an ally of the United States in the course of the Cold War, the Taiwanese fought with the United States and Vietnam, and in other conflicts that the United States had in the course of the Cold War, and ties, if you will, still remain. And that legacy of support still remains. So, Taiwan is a microcosm. Really, the dispositive issue of the 21st century: is totalitarianism going to win? Or is democracy going to win?

As to subverting Taiwan from within, Thayer said that supporters of the mainland or neutral parties or individuals began calling for unification and that opens the door towards Chinese information operations to begin to generate, if you will, international support for the mainlands attack against Taiwan. So thats very dangerous. I think we need to recognize that theres a spectrum of steps that Beijing may take against Taipei.

As for Taiwan becoming a global issue, Thayer said that the dispositive question of this century: Is totalitarianism going to be viable? Are we going to live under totalitarian government? Will that be able to set the rules, the norms, the principles of international politics? Or will the Western liberal international order survive? And so the EU is going to have to pick a side. Theyre either going to have to come down on Chinas sideand theres that economic argument; Chinese investment penetration of EU societies; political penetration of EU societiesor theyre going to have to come down on the standpoint of their values, their principles, democratic liberal values and principles that the EU possesses. We would hope they will come down on the latter sidewith the United States, with Japan, with Australia, with New Zealand,  and Indiarather than siding with a regime that supports Muslim concentration camps, which grossly abuses human rights of their Muslim citizens.

Watch the full episode on EpochTV.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for Children Concerning, Says Epidemiologist

Mandating COVID-19 vaccines for children may not be a good idea at this time because of side effects linked to the shots, an epidemiologist says.

California on Oct. 1 announced that all students in the state will need a jab once the vaccines are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for their age group. Currently, the Pfizer vaccine, the only one to receive approval, is approved for anybody 16 or older.

Around the same time, multiple school boards in California, including the Sacramento City Unified School District, went further and required jabs for all students aged 12 and up.

Im concerned about that, said Dr. Tracy Heg, an epidemiologist and public health expert whose son goes to school in the district.

Heg led a study that examined reports submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and found boys between 12 and 15 with no serious health conditions were up to six times more likely to land in a hospital after getting a second Pfizers shot than after getting COVID-19.

Thats because heart inflammation, or myocarditis or pericarditis, occurs at a higher-than-expected rate post-vaccination in youth, especially young males.

Im afraid that parents who have questions about the safetymaybe they are concerned, they have a son who might be at risk for myocarditiswill then really not have a say in whether or not the child gets a second dose, Heg said.

This is particularly an issue for children who have already been infected, because from what we know, they likely have very strong immunity already to COVID-19. And so Im concerned about the nuance and the discussion being lost, and people feeling like theyre coerced into vaccinating their child in order for them to have a normal life and stay in school, she added.

Heg was speaking on NTDs Wide Angle.

California officials said the mandates would help curb an expected surge in COVID-19 cases in the winter and beyond, and portrayed it as a simple matter of adding another vaccine to the list of shots children already must get to attend school.

The Sacramento district, for instance, quoted (pdf) the California Department of Public Health, which says on its website: Vaccination may stop the spread of coronavirus variants. They can also shrink the pool of people vulnerable to COVID-19. By getting children 12 and up vaccinated, families can be safer as we get back to doing the things we love.

Coronavirus is another name for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizers shot for 5- to 11-year-olds on Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to recommend the jab to all kids in that group after its advisory panel meets on the matter this week.

Heg said that the COVID-19 vaccines do work in preventing severe disease and hospitalization and the authorization is good news in terms of giving access to high-risk children, but cautioned against mandating the shots in children because long-term safety data is not yet available.

Weve had had requirements for vaccines before, obviously, where children are required to get them for school. But this is a little different, because its a very new vaccine. So were still learning about the safety, especially in that 5- to 11-year-old age group, she said, noting that Pfizers study was too small to detect any potential risks of myocarditis associated with vaccination.
Escapee, 64, Sentenced After 29 Years on the Run in Sydney

SYDNEYA 64-year-old fugitive who surrendered to Australian police because a Sydney lockdown left him jobless and homeless was sentenced on Thursday to an additional two months behind bars for escaping from prison almost 30 years ago.

Darko Desic has been back in custody since mid-September when he walked into a police station in the beach suburb of Dee Why and confessed to breaking out of Grafton Prison, 620 kilometers (390 miles) to the north, in 1992.

He pleaded guilty to escaping from lawful custody and was returned to prison to serve the remaining 14 months of a 33-month sentence for growing marijuana.

In Sydneys Central Local Court on Thursday, Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson said she had no alternative to imposing a prison sentence for escaping.

She added two months to his sentence. The offense carries a potential maximum of 10 years.

She accepted that Desic had escaped because of real fears that he would be deported once his sentence was served to his homeland that was then known as Yugoslavia. He feared he would have to serve in the military during the 19911995 wars that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Outside court, defense lawyer Paul McGirr told reporters Desic had recently received a letter from Australian Border Force informing him he would be deported once he was released from prison.

Bearing in mind he doesnt have the same country left to go back to being Yugoslavia, McGirr said. Hopefully someone with a bit of common sense looks at that.

It is not clear to which country Desic could be deported. He is not an Australian citizen.

To escape prison, Desic, 35, used a hacksaw blade to cut through cell window bars. He found bolt cutters in a shed within the prison grounds and cut through a perimeter fence.

He then spent three decades in Sydneys fashionable northern beach suburbs near where he surrendered to police.

Desic committed no further crimes but had lived under a constant burden of not knowing when he might be arrested, McGirr said.

His local community where he had worked as a handyman had grown to love and respect him, McGirr said.

An outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus locked down Sydney from June 26 until Oct. 11, drying up Desics income and leaving him sleeping in sand dunes.

A public fundraising campaign had raised 30,000 Australian dollars ($23,000) in support of his legal costs bills and housing needs since his arrest, McGirr said.

The magistrate said the decades that had passed since his last conviction established that he changed.

He clearly has made an important impact on the community, Atkinson said.

Prosecutor Scott Williams said the case evoked a romantic idea of escape and asked for a full-time custodial sentence.

This was needed to ensure other prisoners contemplating breaking out knew they would be punished no matter how long after escape when captured, Williams said.
Film Review: Spencer: Lady Diana, Great Britains Candle in the Wind

November 5, 2021 | R | 1h 51min

Heres Spencer in a nutshell: Its a tour de force portrayal of a few days in the sad later life of Diana Frances Spencer, later known as Princess Diana of Wales (born July 1, 1961, in Sandringham, Norfolk, Englanddied August 31, 1997, in Paris, France) prior to her tragic car-accident death. Virtuoso acting compliments of Kristen Stewart.

Stewart, having risen to fame via the substantively lightweight but culturally impactful Twilight vampire movie series, has been dogged to this day as having minimal acting chops.



Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart), in Spencer. (Claire Timmons/Neon/Topic Studios)

If you belong to this camp of nonbelievers, you might, if for no other reason, want to consider viewing Spencer to see why it is that Stewart continues to be a world-dominating movie star. One does not simply walk into Mordor or Hollywood. One cannot not have talent and skill and walk the rarified ramparts of the worlds premiere filmmaking castle, which, like it or not, is still Hollywood, for as long as she has.

Another reason to see the movie is to see how the other half livesthe other half being, of course, the British Royals. And a third reason would be to get an understanding of how one can be surrounded by untold riches; mansions and castles; a personal, mobile 5-star restaurant; a personal, mobile, constantly cutting-edge, upscale wardrobe; a huge family; a family history like no other; two healthy children; fame, nobeyond fameprominence on the world stage; peerless security, that is, phalanxes of bodyguards (not to mention the entire British army); physical beauty; and the adoration of the entire worldin other words, the absolute pinnacle of what humans think should definitely, definitely, definitely provide happinessand still be unbelievably miserable.

Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart, L) and Angela (Laura Benson), one of the royal dressers, in Spencer. (Claire Timmons/Neon/Topic Studios)

Spencer: A Long Way From Elizabeth

Theres not much plot. Spencer is not a classic, full-life-spectrum biopic, choosing instead to get inside its subjects head and emotions by focusing on one specific moment in timenamely, a trio of days that are supposed to be a joyful, royal family Christmas gathering at Sandringham Castle, which is the traditional, private home of Queen Elizabeth II. At this time in 1987, Diana was contemplating divorcing Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) for his rumored marital infidelities with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (Emma Darwall-Smith).

Spencer is also a view inside the gilded cage of the British royal institution that favors above all, a painstaking hewing to tradition, regardless of whether certain aspects have not only become outdated but also out-and-out ridiculous with the passing of time.

Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart), in Spencer. (Claire Timmons/Neon/Topic Studios)

For example, theres a Windsor tradition started by some or other King Charles, long deceased, where Christmas holiday guests must be physically weighed before entering the family chambers, on an archaic set of scales. And reweighed again on the way out. Why? If a poundage gain due to feasting is noted, it is, er, scientific proof that the guest enjoyed him- or herself.

Such an inane procedure, kept as it is, in pristine, museum condition, could in and of itself point to problems within the current ruling class, but thats a different article. But now you have the requisite perspective on the free-spirited Dianas mindset in this utterly stultifying, claustrophobic setting. Shes a small bird in a small gilded cage, hung inside the giant gilded cage of the lavish grounds, cavernous rooms, and numerous stiff-upper-lipped relatives populating the Sandringham estate.

A completely lost Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart) flabbergasts the locals by showing up with no bodyguards and asking for directions, in Spencer. (Claire Timmons/Neon/Topic Studios)

Shes Always Late

Hating deeply, as mentioned, the confines and strict royal regimen, Diana passive-aggressively gets herself hopelessly lost driving in her Porsche 911 convertible in the British countryside, instead of showing up for the royal dinner on time. She happens to come across a field with an ancient scarecrow that she herself put up as a child near her childhood home in Norfolk, which is situated close to Sandringham. Its still wearing her fathers faded red coat. She must have that coat, and she hobbles off across the tilled field, in high heels, to fetch it.

Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart), in Spencer. (Christina Zisa/Neon/Topic Studios)

This is the first of many instances of keeping the royal family and the queen waiting. Spencer is essentially a litany of instances of Diana acting out and rebelling against being constantly told what to wear, when to show up for every event, being driven up a wall, and trying to hide her bulimic binging and purging.

She rips a string of priceless pearls off her neck because Charles gave his mistress, Camilla, the exact same present, and shes even made to partake in Sunday church service with Camilla sitting a few pews away.



Diana can only really let her hair down around her sons, princes William (Jack Nielen) and Harry (Freddie Spry), and her royal dresser and confidante Maggie (Sally Hawkins, the lead actress in the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water), with whom she shares her emotional reality and deepest concerns. Royal chef Darren (Sean Harris), who rules the kitchen like a symphony orchestra conductor, also occasionally lends a sympathetic ear. And the former British military man assigned to follow her about and gently chide her, Maj. Alistair Gregory (Timothy Spall), tries diplomatically to impart his hard-won knowledge of how to sacrifice for queen and country.

(LR) Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart), Prince William (Jack Nielen), and Prince Harry (Freddie Spry), in Spencer. (Claire Timmons/Neon/Topic Studios)

And Thats Basically It

Stewart is brilliant in the role, all soulful-eyed, tense-jawed, and wielding the posh Queens English flawlessly. Its an edgy performanceedgy as in someone on the edge of a nervous breakdownhigh-strung and brittle, and it puts us in Dianas head throughout. Princess Di even starts imagining the long dead, beheaded-by-King-Henry-the-Eighth Ann Boleyn, following Di around in period costume, attempting to warn her about what happens to wives in the House of Windsor who dont toe the line.

Stewarts performance is greater than the film itself, and its centerpiece, but theres fascination to be found in Dianas eye view of the yawning royal rooms, the oil paintings of the ancestors, the cornucopia of painstakingly created delectable foods proffered all day long to the family (and largely wasted), and the massive acreage kept specifically for the breeding of pheasants for the royal pheasant shooting. Many of the birds are shotgun-blasted and left to die. In fact, the movies opening shot is a dead-pheasant-in-the-middle-of-the-roads eye view of the royal motorcade arriving at the castle. For me it was a stark case of, Ive seen the Royals job, and I dont want it.

Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart), in Spencer. (Christina Zisa/Neon/Topic Studios)

Having written, prior to this review, about Elizabeth (British Queen Elizabeth Is reign), I find it interesting to see the progression from world-changing, cutting-edge British history and a queen who made a difference, to a time when the monarchy is more-or-less mothballed, mummified, and museum-like. Britains current Queen Elizabeth II is Elizabeth Is first cousin, approximately 14 times removed. Its a perfect example of how the more things change, the more they stay the same, in terms of the pomp and circumstance and family dysfunction.

Director Pablo Larrain, perhaps in homage to Kristen Stewarts vampire movie beginnings, treats Dianas story as somewhat of a horror story. The score often sounds like it could have been done for a vampire movie. Such sounds are contrasted with Dianas (Stewarts) beauty and the unimaginable luxury and privilege surrounding the Windsors, none of whom appear to enjoy any of it in the slightest.

Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart) in her boarded-up and abandoned ancestral home, in Spencer. (Christina Zisa/Neon/Topic Studios)

Spencer certainly provides a context for better understanding the recent tribulations of Prince Andrew (Niklas Kohrt), who is briefly glimpsed in the film. That said, it also provides much food for thought, knowing, as we do, what happened to Diana shortly after leaving Charles.

It seems fitting to end with Elton Johns lyric from his song Candle in the Wind, which was originally about Marilyn Monroe, but which he transposed for Diana:

Goodbye Englands rose

May you ever grow in our hearts

You were the grace that placed itself

Where lives were torn apart

Goodbye Englands rose

From a country lost without your soul

Wholl miss the wings of your compassion

More than youll ever know

Spencer opens in theaters on Nov. 5, 2021.

Movie poster of Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer. (Neon/Topic Studios)

Spencer

Director: Pablo Larrain

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Sean Harris, Timothy Spall, Jack Farthing, Jack Nielen, Freddie Spry, Stella Gonet, Sally Hawkins

Running Time: 1 hour, 51 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Release Date: Nov. 5, 2021

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Artists paint a mural on a a wall next to the Clydeside Expressway near Scottish Events Centre (SEC) which will be hosting the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oct. 13, 2021. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

French President Urges China to Send a Clear Signal for Climate Change

Despite French President Emmanuel Macron calling on Chinas authoritarian leader Xi Jinping to send a clear signal to the world on climate change before the COP26 Scotland summit, China hasnt submitted a clear emission goal, and Xi didnt attend the summit.

On Oct. 26, the French Presidential Palace said in a statement that Macron urged Xi to significantly raise Chinas goals in his efforts to tackle the climate crisis and make concrete progress toward ending Chinas dependence on coal.

China, the worlds largest contributing country to CO2 emissions, has not yet released an emission goal for climate change. China has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and stop increasing emissions by 2030, but it has not yet determined a date when its emissions will reach a peak.

The Chinese regime has not only not made any new commitments in its emission reduction goals, Xi didnt attend the summit. He only joined via virtual conference call.

On Oct. 27, just days before the COP26 Global Climate Summit, the Chinese regime released a white paper on Chinas Policies and Actions to Address Climate Change, claiming that it has exceeded the 13th Five-Year carbon reduction target, and will implement national goals to strengthen greenhouse gas emission control.

The White Paper issued by the Information Office of the State Council of China stated that the response to climate change has achieved positive results. The carbon emission intensity in 2020 reduced by 18.8 percent compared with 2015, basically stopping the rapid growth of carbon dioxide emissions.

The white paper also stated that on July 16, 2021, the national carbon market was officially launched for online trading, making it the worlds largest carbon market. As of Sept. 30, 2021, the cumulative transaction volume of carbon emission allowances in the national carbon market was approximately 17.65 million tons, and the cumulative transaction value was approximately RMB 801 million ($125 million).

Chinas power supply largely relies on coal, and the country is currently experiencing its worst power crisis in 20 years. Concerns surrounding long-term energy shortages and insufficient energy supply this winter are intensifying. The regime faces a dilemma, as it has to respond to international pressure that requires China to speed up its elimination of fossil fuels, but also to maintain a stable domestic energy supply.

Some international media have speculated that Xis absence from the summit could be because he is not prepared to make more commitments to combat climate change or increase national targets for a reduction in emissions.
SpaceX Crew-3 members meet with staff in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Oct. 26, 2021. (NASA via AP/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

ISS Astronauts on Space Tourists, Potential Moon Mission

SpaceX Crew-3 members Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Matthias Maurer are preparing for their trip to the ISS (International Space Station), currently delayed until Wednesday, from Floridas Kennedy Space Center.

Itll be the fourth time NASA has sent astronauts to the ISS using SpaceXs Dragon capsule.

The four are expected to spend six months in orbit, playing host to an assortment of civilian space tourists during their stay.

I think theyre all pioneers, theyre taking risks. And as a result, theyre expanding the boundaries for what humans can do, says NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, wholl be acting as pilot on the mission.

One of these days, we cant just have highly selected folks who train for years to go into space, we do want the situation where people can buy a ticket and go.

This will be SpaceXs fourth launch of NASA astronauts and its fifth passenger flight overall.

NASA turned to SpaceX and Boeing to transport crews to and from the space station, following the retirement of the shuttle fleet in 2011.

U.S. astronauts hitched rides on Russian rockets until SpaceX took over the job last year.

Boeing has yet to launch anyone. A repeat test flight of its Starliner capsule, without a crew, wont happen until next year because of valve trouble.

Crew-3 also includes two astronauts that may one day set foot on the Moon.

In late 2020, both commander Raja Chari and mission specialist Kayla Barron were named among 18 astronauts who will train for NASAs Artemis moon-landing program.

Trying to imagine just standing there in a space suit, looking back at planet Earth just kind of blows your mind. And I think for most of us, we channel that energy into excitement that it could actually be possible for us to return to the Moon and return to stay, says Barron.

For me, I think what Im excited about Artemis is not just to go and come back, but to go and stay. And I think thats, for a lot of us, thats been really the goal from the beginning is to continue moving human presence out, to continue pushing humans and machines further and further off the planet, adds Chari.

The launch will be a first for German astronaut Matthias Maurer.

Once he launches atop SpaceXs Falcon rocket, Maurer will become the 600th person in space, according to NASA statistics.

As is tradition for European astronauts, Maurer will be bringing food from his home country for space station residents to enjoy.

The choice? Not apple strudel, but a venison ragu from where he grew up in south-western Germany.

Its a local specialty and it has a potato soup with it. And a dessert comes afterwards, explains Maurer.

So, itll be a splendid dish, but I will also offer to my crewmates in space just to show them like what we eat back home and to give them a little bit of European flavor.
Man Sentenced for Deadly Kidnapping of Chinese National

LOS ANGELESA 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 Valladares 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 CovinaGuangyao 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.
In his book The Boy Crisis, doctor of philosophy John Gray, says that males today face a quadruple threat of crises in education, mental health, fathering and purpose. File photo

Manhood Lost and Found: Groups Growing Men From Boys

When he was 11, Terrell Blues mom was in prison, his 3-year-old brother had just died, and his dad was in and out of jail.

Knowing he needed a role model, Blues aunt enrolled him in Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, one of the oldest and largest mentoring programs in the nation.

That was in 2010 and it took months for Blue and his Big Brother, 21-year-old Terence Daniels, to form a bond.

But, as Daniels consistently showed up each week, we got closer and closer, says Blue.

Over the next decade, Daniels, a former Little Brother himself, says he worked hard to instill the right values and give Terrell options.

When Blue joined the military, Daniels, whod joined in 2009, offered support and advice.

Terrell Blue (L) and Big Brother Terence Daniels, who has been mentoring him for more than 12 years. (Bigsforkids.org)

When Daniels was named national Big Brother of the Year in 2017, the pair traveled to California together for the ceremony. When Blue suffered devastating family losses in 2018, Daniels was there to talk.

Now, at 23, Blue mentors his cousins, nephews, and nieces while working, attending college classes, and managing a new multi-family property he just bought.

Terence will be forever a part of my life, says 23-year-old Blue today. Even though hes my mentor, I always address him as my brother.

For 15 years now, experts nationwide have been sounding alarm bells on a growing crisis: a lack of mentorship and purpose among boys and men.

Anyone who has their eyes open can look around and say that men are confused about what it means to be a man, says Jason Craig, founder of a Catholic male-mentorship/outdoor-adventure program called Fraternus.

Contributing factors include everything from absentee dads, to drugs and smartphones, but the end results remain the same: boys today are increasingly losing their way.

Secular and religious groups nationwide have taken note and begun building boy-centric programs that emphasize accountability, community, a vision for the future, andmost of allmale role models.

As with Blue and Daniels, the notion of brotherhood is a powerful draw for many boys and men.

Outdoor activities and summer adventures appeal to all those things that drive boys, according to the FOCUS Greek mentoring program. (Focus)

Consider Rashid, a young man who dealt drugs and was struggling after his father was murdered.

Rashid was near dropping out of high school when he met Brandon, a counselor in a male-mentorship program called Becoming a Man (BAM), which launched in 2001 at Chicagos Roberto Clemente High School.

Brandon did what all BAM counselors do, says BAM national director A.J. Watson in an April 2018 speech.

He got to know Rashid, talked to him in the hallways and lunchroom, heard him tell stories about his pending court cases for drug dealing.

Brandon was persistent and just kept checking in with Rashid until he accepted the invitation to his first BAM circle.

Seeing a group of guys his own age sharing their stories, Rashid felt drawn to the space, says Watson.

Ultimately, Rashid joined the group and decided to stop drug dealing and graduate high school, says Watson.

Supported by the BAM brotherhood, he accomplished both.

There are also boys like Lorenzo Cooper, a young man who entered Ashanti Branchs Oakland, California-based Ever Forward Club at age 11. Branch, an engineer-turned-teacher in San Lorenzo, California, founded the male-mentoring program in 2004.

My parents were so in their own world that I had to go three weeks with one outfit that I used to wash in the sink every single day, says Cooper.

Young men are hungry for male role models and connections with each other, according to Ashanti Branch, the founder of the Ever Forward Club mentoring program. (Focus)

Thanks to Ever Forward, Cooper got the clothes he needed and more.

Branch accepted me for who I was, says Cooper, no matter the dirt, the grimy.

When Branch took Cooper and other teens on their first trip outside Oakland, they visited a college campus and spent time at the ocean, an experience that brought Cooper to tears.

Theres not many other clubs tending to the emotional needs of students, he says today.

Some boys, like James Johnson, need help forming a clear vision of what it means to be a successful man.

Johnson says he had the privilege of being in the inaugural class of men of Men, Organized, Respectful, and Educated (MORE).

MORE is a district-wide Cincinnati public schools program, founded in 2008, that uses weekly meetings, community service, and other programming, to teach boys everything from social skills to conflict resolution, time management, and college readiness.

When he was asked to speak of his experience with the program, says Johnson by video stream, I had to run and grab the tie that was given to us when we first started.

I keep this tie because of what it meansit was a great opportunity to be part of an organization that took so many first-generation individuals under their wings.

I knew if you were part of MORE, you knew right from wrong, what success looked like. For many of us, we needed that inspirationwe needed to know that success was possible and obtainable.

Other boys respond to programs that include an element of faith, like Focus Greek, a missionary-based Catholic outreach program for fraternity and sorority members at colleges nationwide. It includes Bible studies, community service, and mission trips.

There isnt a true grasp [today] of: What does it mean to be a man and to lead and to sacrifice? says Connor McCauley, a University of Alabama Focus Greek campus missionary.

But one young man McCauley helped mentor noted that Focus Greek taught me how to be a man and live in excellence.

It taught me how to respect women and grow in faith; to give every moment and situation youre in 100 percent, from the way you talk to a stranger or make your bed in the morning, to school. It also taught me how important community is.

In a video on the Fraternus website, Ryan, one of the groups Captains, describes how his own journey to manhood was closely intertwined with community and faith.

After a life-changing injury, he says, I realized my whole life I wanted to be a real man, [but] I was never encouraged to look to Christ as the perfect model of manhood.

Sometimes a rite of passage is crucial to helping transform boys into secure and confident leaders, says Fraternus founder Jason Craig. (Focus)

Through his faith and participation in Fraternuswhich includes mass, alongside pig roasts, tugs-of-war, rafting, and bonfireshe became friends with like-minded men and learned that real manhood involves using the strength God has given you by receiving his love and giving that strength as a gift to the world.

Trail Life also offers boys the opportunity to grow in faith with a side of adventure.

It was launched in 2013 after CEO Mark Hancock and 50 others noticed the Boy Scouts were abandoning some of their more traditional values.

Trail Life is a church-and-values-based boy-focused mentoring and discipleship journey that includes service, outdoor activities, and summer adventures. The boys age range is from kindergarten through 12th grade.

One of Hancocks favorite success stories is of a North Carolina boy, who joined the program after his father was removed from the household suddenly.

After the young mans first 15-mile hike with Trail Life, he told Hancock: The first day, I was so sore. The second day, I thought I was gonna die. The fourth day, I stood on that summit and realized I can do difficult things.

The boys mom called that experience pure gold, says Hancock, noting it taught her son that there are hard things [in life] that you get through if you dont quit.

Ultimately, says BAMs AJ Watson, the right intervention, at the right time, in the right place, by the right people, can have a transformative impact on boys and young men.

Maybe most important of all, he adds, is understanding that it is not too late for Rashid, or the young men in Chicago, or Boston, or of this country.

They just need the chance to grow and someone to guide the way.
DES MOINES, IOWA - OCTOBER 09: The Iowa State Capitol building is seen on October 09, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. The 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses will take place on February 3, 2020, making it the first nominating contest in the Democratic Party presidential primaries. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

New Iowa Law Guarantees Unemployment Benefit for Workers Fired Over Vaccine Mandate

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed into law a bill that aims to protect workers who lose their job for rejecting COVID-19 vaccination.

The bill, House File 902, on Oct. 28 cleared both chambers of the Iowa Legislature in a one-day special session. It states that any business that has a COVID-19 vaccine mandate must waive the requirement for employees who request for medical or religious exemptions. In addition, if an employee is fired for refusing to get the vaccine, the business must make sure the employee is eligible for unemployment benefits.

The bill included an immediate enactment provision and took effect on Oct. 29, when Reynolds signed it into law.

I am proud to sign this bipartisan piece of legislation today. 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, Reynolds said in a statement. This legislation also gives employees the assurance that they will still receive unemployment benefits despite being fired for standing up for their beliefs.

The new law is Iowa Republican lawmakers latest effort to address a potential federal mandate that could require all employees at private businesses with more than 100 employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or get tested every week. As part of his pandemic response strategy, President Joe Biden in September tasked Occupational Safety and Health Administration to craft the private sector mandate, which has yet to be released.

The Bidens administrations COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers employed by federal contractors is also being challenged in Iowa, as Reynolds leads her state to join a multi-state legal fight against the mandate.

Im announcing that the State of Iowa is joining a federal lawsuit to challenge President Bidens unprecedented use of the government to force every employee of every federal contractor in America, including thousands of Iowans, to take a vaccine against their wishes, she said in an Oct. 29 press release.

The 10-state coalition now includes Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

I believe the vaccine is the best defense against COVID-19, but no one should be forced to choose between making a living or standing up for their personal beliefs, Reynolds said. As long as I am governor, the State of Iowa will always stand alongside Iowans and to be sure their freedoms are protected.
In a still image from a video released by NTD, Ben & Jerrys franchise owner, Stephen Chubbuck, talks to NTD host, Kay Rubacek, about how he uses the social element of ice cream to get all members of the community to talk again. (Oliver Trey/NTD)

New York Fund Divests $111 Million After Ben & Jerrys Boycott in Israel

New York State pension fund revealed Thursday that itd be pulling out $111 million in equity investments from Unilever, the conglomerate parent of Ben & Jerrys following the ice cream makers decision to boycott sales in certain regions of Israel.

Our review of the activities of the company, and its subsidiary Ben & Jerrys, found they engaged in BDS activities, Thomas DiNapoli, the manager of New Yorks $268 billion retirement fund, said in a statement to the New York Post.

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement that claims Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. Supporters of Israel have termed the movement as anti-Semitic and a politically-motivated strategic threat.

According to Ben & Jerrys, if they remain, it will be inconsistent with our values for our product to be present within an internationally recognized illegal occupation. The company will remain in the country through a different business arrangement, and reiterated that their values are neither anti-Israel nor antisemitic.

Back in 2016, the New York Common Retirement Fund adopted the policy that stated there will be repercussions for companies engaged in BDS activities which puts the funds Israeli investments at risk. Owing to this, Liz Gordon, DiNapolis director of corporate governance, wrote a letter to Unilever CEO Alan Jope in July expressing trouble and concern over Ben & Jerrys stance.

If the company fails to respond or fails to demonstrate that it has not engaged in BDS activities, the Funds investment in Unilever will be subject to a detailed review and staff recommendation, which may include investment restrictions, in accordance with the Funds BDS policy, the letter said.

On Aug. 4, Jope replied that Unilever had no say in the social mission of the brands it represents and that the company had a long-standing commitment to doing business in Israel. We employ nearly 2,000 people in the country across our four factories and head office, and we have invested approximately $250 million in the Israeli market over the last decade, Jope said in a letter to Gordon.

New York now becomes the fourth state to sanction Unilever, following Arizona, New Jersey, and Florida. New Jersey began divesting $182 million in September in Unilever stock, bonds, and other securities. Thirty-five states in the country have laws regarding anti-Israel boycotts.

Congratulations and thanks to the State of New York for responding to our request and withdrawing $111 million from its investments in Ben & Jerrys due to the boycott of Israel, Yair Lapid Israeli Foreign Minister wrote on Twitter. We will continue to fight BDS and anti-Semitism everywhere and without hesitation, he said.

In a recent Axios interview of Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, activist co-founders of Ben & Jerrys, Alexi McCammond asked them about their reasoning to boycott regions based on their liberal ideals.

I dont know, Ben Cohen said to McCammond when she asked why the company still sells in Georgia when they were proponents of progressive voting rights. Its an interesting question. I dont know what that would accomplish. Were working on those issues, of voting rights.  I think you ask a really good question. And I think Id have to sit down and think about it for a bit.

When pressed on Texas anti-abortion laws, Cohen replied, By that reasoning, we should not sell any ice cream anywhere. Ive got issues with whats being done in almost every state and country.
Philippine Forces Kill Wanted Muslim Terrorist Leader

COTABATO, PhilippinesPhilippine forces on Friday killed one of the countrys most-wanted Muslim terrorist leaders and his wife who were aligned with the ISIS terrorist group and were blamed for deadly bombings, killings, and extortion in the south for more than a decade, the military said.

Army and police forces raided a hideout of the terrorist group Daulah Islamiya in a remote area of Talayan town in Maguindanao province and killed its leader, Salahuddin Hassan, and his wife in a 30-minute gunbattle before dawn. More than two dozen other gunmen managed to escape, regional military commander Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy said.

Assault rifles, ammunition, and rebel documents were seized by troops at the scene of the battle, Uy said.

Hassan and his group were allegedly involved in a number of bombings aimed at extorting money from businesses and transport companies. One of the most prominent attacks was the 2016 bombing of a night market that left 15 people dead and scores wounded in Davao city, President Rodrigo Dutertes hometown, the military said.

Hassans group was also blamed for the 2014 bombing of a bus in the south that killed 11 people and wounded 15 others. In June, his men burned a bus in Mlang town in southern Cotabato province in an attack that killed four people and injured several others, the military said.

Hassan founded the extortion group Al-Khobar, which was blamed for bombings, extortion, and other attacks from 2007 to 2015. He was trained by a rebel commander, Basit Usman, a notorious bomb-maker, and a Malaysian militant, Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, military officials said. They were among Southeast Asias most-wanted terrorist suspects before being killed by government forces, they said.

Daulah Islamiya is one of a number of small but violent groups which pledged allegiance to ISIS and rejected a 2014 autonomy deal between the largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the Philippine government under a peace pact brokered by Malaysia.

The Moro rebels are now among the administrators of a Muslim autonomous region in the south, homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.

Hassan also allegedly provided bomb-making training to terrorists belonging to the Abu Sayyaf group, according to a former Abu Sayyaf terrorist who has been captured by government forces. The group has been blamed for bombings, ransom kidnappings, and beheadings and is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the Philippines.
DETROIT, Mich.Tradition is something that Shen Yun Performing Arts greatly treasures. Dr. Joel Rosenfeld, a retired ophthalmologist, found Shen Yuns mission to revive Chinas 5,000 years of civilization to be a crucial one for China and the world.

I think that this show is very important worldwide, Rosenfeld said, as an expression of the importance of tradition [and] maintaining tradition so that we can elevate our spirits and that is regardless of ones religion.

According to New York-based Shen Yuns website, Chinas culture is divinely inspired. The Chinese Communist Party initiated the Great Cultural Revolution in China to destroy the culture that took thousands of years to build.

I think its important to express the importance of tradition, that we shouldnt give up on our tradition, just as Chinese society shouldnt give up on its tradition, Rosenfeld said.

Dr. Joel Rosenfeld and his daughter, Raquel Rosenfeld, at Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Detroit Opera House in Detroit, Mich., on Oct. 28, 2021. (Michael Huang/The Epoch Times)

As a doctor, Rosenfeld was struck by the dance portraying the human rights abuse of forced organ harvesting in China under the communist regime.

I enjoyed all the dances. I like the expression of ancient culture and I thought it was important to highlight whats going on in China today, with the live organ harvesting, he said. So the scene with the surgeon really struck me on a human level.

Especially being a doctor, to know that that goes on is very disturbing, he continued. I thought it was important to demonstrate [that] to the American public.

He praised the company in its effort to revive traditional customs that showcase a different approach than todays modernism.

[Shen Yun] is a counterbalance to the modern cultural decline we are seeing right now, Rosenfeld said.

He added that he greatly enjoyed the dance that told the story of love traveling through time. He said that dance shows cultures are not a blockade to people coming together.

I view myself as a spiritual person, so I think theres a connection between generations, and I think we have to appreciate our ancestors, he elaborated.

Rosenfeld said he will consider coming back to see Shen Yun for a second time when they return to Detroit in January.

Reporting by Michael Huang and Maria Han.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
San Diego police and other law enforcement stage near a crime scene in San Diego on July 28, 2016. (John Gastaldo/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)

Search Underway for Offender Who Walked Away From San Diego Re-entry Facility

SAN DIEGOLaw enforcement officials were searching today for a man who walked away from a work-release facility in San Diego.

Antonio Antunez walked away from the Male Community Re-entry Program (MCRP) facility at 2727 Boston Ave. on Friday, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials.

An emergency search began at about 10 p.m. Friday after Antunezs GPS monitor alerted that it was tampered with, and he was seen leaving the MCRP without permission, officials said. The GPS device was found.

Antunez, 28, is 5-feet-5-inches tall, weighs approximately 176 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes.

He was received by CDCR from San Diego County in August 2021 to serve time for burglary and was transferred to the MCRP in October. He was scheduled to be released to county supervision in March 2022.

Anyone who sees Antunez or has any knowledge of his whereabouts was asked to contact law enforcement or call 911.

The MCRP allows eligible participants committed to state prison to serve the end of their sentences in the re-entry center.
Win Htein, one of the leaders of National League for Democracy party, arrives to attend opening ceremony of 21st Century Panglong conference in Naypyitaw, Burma, on May 24, 2017. (Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

Senior Aide to Burmas Suu Kyi Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Win Htein, a senior aide to Burmas ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday on charges of high treason, media and one of his family members said.

Win Htein, 79, is a stalwart supporter of Suu Kyi and a long time political prisoner during decades campaigning to end army rule.

He was arrested in the aftermath of a Feb. 1 coup that has plunged Burma (also known as Myanmar) into chaos and that ended a decade of tentative democratic rule.

Win Hteins daughter, Chit Suu Win Htein, said in a message to Reuters: So this is as we expected. Its not a surprise but its a sad and outrageous thing to hear about the ridiculous sentencing. Perpetrators of this injustice will be held accountable for this  Please hold on people! We will win!

Suu Kyi, who is also on trial, is charged with a litany of offenses, including breaking coronavirus protocols, illegally possessing two-way radios, accepting bribes of cash and gold, incitement to cause public alarm, and violating the Official Secrets Act.

In her first court testimony on Tuesday she denied a charge of incitement in connection with her party publishing a letter in February calling on international organizations not to cooperate with the ruling military junta.

Burmas state media has not reported developments in Suu Kyis multiple legal cases, and one of the only sources of public information on her trialher lawyer, Khin Maung Zawreceived a gagging order from the military authorities earlier this month.

That was after Burmas former president Win Myint said during his court testimony that the military had tried to force him to relinquish power hours before the coup, in comments which challenged the militarys insistence that no coup took place.

The military has said it took power because elections last year that returned Suu Kyis party to office were flawedan assertion the countrys electoral commission has dismissed.

Before she was deposed, Suu Kyi led a civilian government after her party swept a 2015 election, called when the military stepped back from half a century of direct rule.

The coup ended years of tentative steps towards democracy and economic growth in Burma after decades of authoritarian rule and economic stagnation.
She Was My FriendAlec Baldwin Mourns Cinematographer

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.

Baldwin called the shooting incident a one-in-a-trillion event and said he had met with Hutchins husband. He is in shock, he has a 9-year-old son. We are in constant contact with him because we are very worried about his family and his kid. As I said, we are eagerly awaiting for the sheriffs department to tell us what their investigation has yielded.

Investigators in New Mexico where the shooting occurred have said that there was some complacency in how weapons were handled on the movie set but its too soon to determine whether charges will be filed.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza has said 500 rounds of ammunitiona mix of blanks, dummy rounds and suspected live roundswere found while searching the set of the Western Rust.

Detectives have recovered a lead projectile they believe the actor fired. Testing is being done to confirm whether the projectile taken from Souzas shoulder was fired from the same long Colt revolver used by Baldwin. The FBI will help with ballistics analysis.

Souza, who was standing behind Hutchins, told investigators there should never be live rounds present near the scene.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said investigators cannot say yet whether it was negligence or by whom. She called it a complex case that will require more research and analysis.
Ross and Patricia Nicholls attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the William Saroyan Theater in Fresno, Calif., on Oct, 30, 2021. (Gary Wang/Epoch Times)

FRESNO, Calif.A common refrain from many theatergoers who experience Shen Yun Performing Arts is that its absolutely astounding. For Patricia Nicholls, who had come to see Shen Yun at the William Saroyan Theater in Fresno with her husband Ross, it was just that.

Its beautiful, Patricia said, describing Shen Yuns display of traditional Chinese classical, folk, and ethnic dances, as well as a live orchestra.

The story of Chinas ancient civilization is narrated through Shen Yuns diverse dances. One of the dances in this years repertoire told the story of one divine being who returned to earth.

And the story that it told is amazing. So, I found a root in all of humanity, in that we believe we came from a celestial being and we will go back there someday, said Patricia, a retired clinical psychologist.

It was astounding to me to find that connection with such an ancient society in the Chinese history; that today we find a connection with thatcoming from a celestial life and coming down to earth, she said.

I believe that He had to come down and create earth in the first place. And it was beautiful, she added.

The scenery, the dancing was superb. I was in the first row. These are truly amazing, young people, and Im so thankful that they shared their talent with us, Patricia continued, expressing her admiration for the performers.

Her husband Ross agreed, I thought it was an amazing performance. I really enjoyed it.

Im very much in tune with  the mythology and Chinese culture. I related to a lot of the stories that I heard, he said.

The couple expressed sadness that Shen Yun could not perform in mainland China, where it has been banned by the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Shen Yun Is Very Inspirational

Also in the Fresno audience, Nicole Ozburn had seen commercials and posters advertising Shen Yun for several years while traveling around California and finally decided that now was the moment for a cultural experience.

It was so amazing and beautiful, she said. And its so emotional, we can feel the emotion through the dance and the music. Its very inspirational. It helps us understand other cultures  it helps us better understand that we are all connected and that there is a divine being at work  so that we are not alone in this universe.

Shen Yun Performing Arts at the William Saroyan Theater in Fresno, Calif., on Oct. 30, 2021. (NTD Television)

Melinda Moore was also impressed by Shen Yun, which she said was absolutely beautiful.

The reputation of Shen Yun [has preceded it] throughout North America  we could not resist coming, she said.

Moore was impressed by the overall presentation of Shen Yun. It wasnt just sharing the Chinese culture, but it was also sharing the dance, the aesthetics of it. I was very impressed to listen to some of the vocal performances as well.

The 3D digital aspect was absolutely phenomenal. It was breathtaking and it [definitely added] a dimensional element to the performance, she said.

I thought they did an absolutely beautiful interpretation of some of the Chinese culture, not just historical, but also some current events as well. I thought that was very educational.

Shen Yun Performing Arts curtain call at Fresnos William Saroyan Theater on Oct. 30, 2021. (NTD Television)

In reviving Chinas ancient culture, Shen Yun is alsothrough its dances and musicsharing messages of timeless wisdom and divine justice. The persecution of the ancient spiritual practice of Falun Gong in China today is portrayed in several dances.

I think it connects to reality very well. I also really enjoyed the theological, the religious aspect of it as well. Especially with the lyrics of the music, and how they were displayed out on the screen, and the religious symbolism of it was very accurate and very beautifully done, Moore said.

Ill definitely be back for next years performance, she said.

Reporting by Gary Wang, NTD Television and Diane Cordemans.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Southwest, American Airlines Suffer Widespread Disruptions as Passengers Fume

Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines saw significant cancelations over the weekend, according to flight-tracking websites, although both carriers said the cancelations were due to weather and staffing issues.

American Airlines, as of Sunday at 1 p.m., saw 735 cancelations27 percent of its flightsand 164 delays, according to FlightAware. The tracking website also showed that on Sunday, Southwest canceled 187 flights, or 7 percent of all its flights, and delayed 280 moreabout 10 percent of its flights.

American Airlines was forced to cancel about 1,000 more on Friday and Saturday, the tracking websites data shows. Southwest hasnt experienced the same number of cancelations, but the Dallas-based carrier scrapped about 2,000 flights earlier in October, leading to $75 million in losses.

Southwest said in a statement the delays were a result of the severe weather across parts of the country which youll notice on Fridays weather map  including heavy rain, low cloud ceilings, and gusty winds for the eastern half of the country where we have large bases of operations.

The Epoch Times has contacted Southwest for comment. Previously, Southwest and its main pilots union, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Southwest Airlines, and the Federal Aviation Administration denied that COVID-19 vaccine mandates were the reason for the staffing shortages and cancelations earlier this week.

American Airlines, meanwhile, blamed poor weather conditions and staffing issues, according to a letter to employees that was obtained by The Epoch Times over the weekend.

With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences, American Airlines CEO David Seymour said in the letter. To make sure we are taking care of our customers and providing scheduling certainty for our crews, we have adjusted our operation for the last few days this month by proactively canceling some flights.

Similarly, a spokesman for the American Airlines pilots union, Capt. Dennis Tajer, said that poor weather conditions and poor management were to blame for the cancelationsnot the vaccine mandate.

On social media over the past week, apparent passengers sharply criticized American Airlines and Southwest Airlines for the cancellations, with some saying they are now stranded overnight at the airport. The American Airlines Twitter account has been responding to most criticism thats been lodged on its page over the weekend.

Writing to American Airlines Twitter page, one passenger wrote that he was stranded overnight in [OHare Airport] last min cancel but issue known well known in advance  now will be here for days!! Cant even go back to NYC.

Another passenger wrote that the carrier canceled our flight to our honeymoon after delaying only a couple of times. Turns out it was cancelled because it of missing ONE flight attendant.

My guitarist Lou Franco has been in Key West FL since Friday, tweeted one user to the company. American lost his luggage including his gear. Theyve not been able to get it here as of yet. Hes missed out on 2 gigs. Ill have to cancel our upcoming week of gigs if they dont locate it

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration told The Epoch Times on Sunday that the agency is aware of American Airlines cancelations but diverted any inquiries to the carrier.
Supreme Court Defies Biden Administration, Accepts Immigration, EPA Cases

The Supreme Court decided on Oct. 29 to hear two cases that the Biden administration didnt want to come before the courtone aimed at reviving a rule that screens out potentially government-dependent immigrants and another that could roll back the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The courts decisions come as migrants continue to illegally cross the U.S. southern border and the Biden administration develops a strategy for dealing with climate change. The decisions also come as the court prepares to hear high-profile cases in the coming days dealing with a Texas law strictly regulating abortions and a New York law that strictly regulates gun use.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear Arizona v. San Francisco, which concerns the so-called public charge rule. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, was pleased that the high court will hear the case.

When other federal officials wont defend the law, I will, Brnovich said in a statement. The Public Charge Rule is a commonsense policy based on a real inconvenient truth. Overrunning our welfare programs right now would be like pulling back the last safety net for Americans who need it most.

In the case, the Republican attorneys general of Arizona and 12 other states are asking the high court to be allowed to defend in court a Trump-era rule designed to screen out would-be immigrants unable to support themselves. Enforcing the immigrant self-sufficiency rule could save states billions of dollars each year.

A federal appeals court struck down the public charge rule and the Biden administration refused to defend it in court. Separately, President Joe Biden has also rescinded the rule. Among the respondents in the case are the U.S. government and the states of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.

Arizona and the 12 other states accused the governments on the other side of colluding to prevent this important case from being heard by the Supreme Court.

Without any prior warning, the existing parties sprung an unprecedented, coordinated, and multi-court gambit, Arizona and other states said in their petition (pdf). Through it, they attempted to execute simultaneous, strategic surrenders in all pending appeals involving the Rule. That included the Second Circuit appeal that this Court had already agreed to hear, as well as the pending petitions for writs of certiorari in this case and the Seventh Circuit case.

Over vehement opposition, the Trump administration breathed new life into the rule, which had fallen into disuse. Although critics say that the extensively litigated pro-taxpayer rule is xenophobic and discriminates against poor aliens, the public-charge principlethe idea that immigrants should have to prove that they can survive without becoming wards of the governmenthas been part of the American experience for centuries.

The Supreme Court also decided to hear West Virginia v. EPA, which it consolidated with three other appeals.

Energy-producing states and coal companies are accusing the EPA of a power grab, claiming that it has exceeded its authority to limit carbon emissions, which environmentalists allege contribute to climate change. A ruling in 2020 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit gave back to the EPA some of the authority the Trump administration had taken away from it.

According to petitioners, the appeals court held that a rarely used, ancillary provision of the Clean Air Act grants an agency unbridled powerfunctionally no limitsto decide whether and how to decarbonize almost any sector of the economy, the petition (pdf) reads.

Five years ago, the EPA claimed to find similar powers in the same provisionauthority to reshape the nations utility power sector by mandating standards impossible for coal and natural gas power plants to meet without limiting operations, shutting down, or subsidizing investment in alternate electricity generation that EPA preferred.

The Supreme Court took the extraordinary step of staying EPAs Clean Power Plan rule even before the lower court finished its review, strongly signaling that EPA (and by extension the court below) were wrong.

The agency repealed the rule in 2019, but the appeals court insisted that EPA had more statutory power than the agency had originally claimed, and gave it new and wildly expansive authority.

The agency now can set standards on a regional or even national level, forcing dramatic changes in how and where electricity is produced, as well as transforming any other sector of the economy where stationary sources emit greenhouse gases. Power to regulate factories, hospitals, hotels, and even homes would have tremendous costs and consequences for all Americans.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, welcomed the courts decision to hear the case.

This is a tremendous victory for West Virginia and our nation, Morrisey said in a statement.

The decision indicates a significant portion of the court realizes the seriousness of this case and shares our concern that the D.C. Circuit granted EPA too much authority.
I knew that I would wake up in the morning and not have a clear conscience.

Medical ethics professor Aaron Kheriaty filed a lawsuit back in August challenging his universitys vaccine mandates on behalf of himself and others who have natural immunity. Natural immunity results from contracting and recovering from COVID-19. Dr. Kheriaty was suspended, and the school put him on investigatory leave.

In this two-part interview, we discuss the rise of what Dr. Kheriaty describes as medical coercion, perverse incentives in the vaccine rollout, and why he thinks the overwhelming majority of vaccine mandates exclude natural immunity.

Dr. Kheriaty is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California Irvines School of Medicine and Director of the Medical Ethics Program at UCI Health.

This is part one of a two-part series. Watch part two HERE.

"We're treating perfectly healthy people as though they're a real & imminent threat." Medical ethics professor @akheriaty on how the unvaccinated are being treated as if they were "unclean," even though many have natural immunity. WATCH PART 2: https://t.co/be7wL25hkF pic.twitter.com/BsfSDt439Y  Jan Jekielek (@JanJekielek) November 2, 2021

Jan Jekielek: Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.

Dr. Aaron Kheriaty: Thank you, Jan. Its great to be with you.

Mr. Jekielek: You have a very interesting role at UC Irvine. You play a few different roles. Tell me a little bit about what you do, because itll be very relevant to the rest of our interview.

Dr. Kheriaty: Im an academic physician. Im a professor of psychiatry at UCI. About half my time is spent teaching and administrative work, supervising residents and medical students in psychiatry. And, of course, seeing patientstreating patients in the outpatient setting, on inpatient units, and in our main hospital.

The other half of what I do is Im the director of the medical ethics program at UCI Health at our hospital. That involves running our ethics consult service. So, 24/7being available for doctors, nurses, other healthcare team members, or for patients and families to reach out to us if theyre facing a difficult decision. Maybe an end of life decision or a decision that has significant ethical or legal implications, and the doctors are not quite sure how to proceed, or the patient and family are not quite sure how to proceed.

That ethics program work also involves teaching. I teach the required ethics course for all the first and second year medical students. We do continuing education for our physicians, some public-facing work in bioethics as well, and distinguish lectures and other events for healthcare professionals and professional bioethicists.

Mr. Jekielek: Through your work in the hospitals, you actually contracted COVID. Subsequently, you got natural immunity through it. Tell me a little bit about that process.

Dr. Kheriaty: Sure. In July of 2020, I did get COVID, confirmed by two independent PCR tests from two independent labs, two days apart. All the classic symptoms, except for shortness of breath. I didnt have to go to the hospital, but I had the loss of taste and smell and all the systemic and respiratory symptoms that everyone has now seen on that symptom checklist that were frequently asked about.

My symptoms lasted about 48 hours and I recovered. I became sick pretty quickly and I recovered pretty quickly. My wife and my five children also got COVID. Fortunately for the children, the illness was very mild, but it was confirmed by antibody testing. I believe I acquired the illness in the community.

One of the things that hasnt been highlighted during the pandemic is that hospitals have not really been a site for the spread of COVID. When the personal protective equipment that we use in hospitals is used correctly, its very effective.

Even prior to the vaccines, we saw very little to no transmission of COVID in our hospital systems where doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other staff were trained to don and doff the appropriate personal protective equipment, including N95 respirators.

Mr. Jekielek: The N95s with this tight seal, you saw people that had worked for a while with these imprints on their faces.

Dr. Kheriaty: With the use of masks, they have to be used correctly. Otherwise, they can do more harm than good. The general public is generally not trained to use masks correctly. We dont need to get into debates about the utility of masks or whatever. So yes, I acquired and recovered from COVID.

It was for me, actually, a very liberating experience afterward because I didnt have to worry about the illness anymore. I knew the science on natural immunity. I knew that at that point, I was among the safest people to be around. I didnt have to worry about transmitting the infection to my patients.

I still took all the precautions, of course, with personal protective equipment and other things that I was asked to do at the hospital, just as an additional safeguard. But I was confident at that point. I was in a situation in which I didnt have to be subjected to the same kinds of worries that a lot of folks were still living with about,  what if I get infected with this virus, or what if I get an asymptomatic infection and go and visit grandma, whos frail and elderly, and inadvertently put her at risk?

Mr. Jekielek: It sounds like youre saying the science around natural immunity existed early on, even though theres been numerous studies that have actually gone into looking at this in the COVID context.

Dr. Kheriaty: Its basic immunology 101, that for the vast majority of viruses, after an infection with a virus, you dont get reinfected with the same virus again.This is a basic principle that any parent of a child whos had chicken pox understands. Even prior to the vaccine that was available for that particular virus.

We know from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Its closest cousin is the original SARS coronavirus. Seventeen years after that original outbreak, we know that individuals have continued robust, very effective natural immunity. Memory B cells, memory T cells, and the B cells in the bone marrow and still circulating to some degree in the blood. Those are the cells that turn into the cells that make antibodies when you encounter the virus again.

T-cells, which are sort of involved in the other branch of our immune system, the cellular immunity CD4 and CD8 cells that are involved in attacking infected cells once we get infected with a virus, those things stick around for years. We know that vaccines have a role, obviously, in fighting infections. Thats clear.

But what vaccines try to do is they try to mimic and recreate as much of the response as theyre capable of recreating that we would have, if we were infected with the original virus. At least thats how a traditional vaccine works.

So the gold standard of vaccine immunity is always natural immunity. Vaccines aim to recreate the response that our immune system has when it encounters the virus, but without having us get really sick. Of course, evidence began to emerge to confirm the notion that natural immunity for this coronavirus would work the same as natural immunity worked for previous coronaviruses.

Now, we have an enormous amount of very good research, at least as much if not more research on natural immunity as we have on vaccine immunity for COVID. We know that natural immunity is very effective, 99 percent effective against reinfection in most studies. The lowest estimate of any published study would put that at 95 percent effective.

We know that its durable, meaning that it doesnt wane over time. Were 20 months into the pandemic now, and we havent seen it decline. It seems to be on the same trajectory as the 17 year old natural immunity to the original SARS virus.

We have evidence in terms of whats happening with our cells in the lymph nodes, and in the lungs, in the bone marrow. That the elements in our immune system that stick around and can respond to the virus very quickly even after circulating antibodies have declined. Antibodies always decline after an infection or after a vaccination.

Theres this notion out there that my level of immunity necessarily correlates with my level of circulating antibodies, and thats just not true. Our body cant maintain circulating antibodies to every pathogen that its ever encountered. If that happened, there would be so much protein in our blood, it would be like sludge, and the energy requirements of that are just too great. Thats not actually how our immune system maintains immunity over the long term.

Weve got clinical evidence now, specifically for this virus, that with time and with new variants, natural immunity is not diminishing. And thats good news. The vaccines remain effective against severe symptoms and against hospitalization.

But their efficacy now is clearly declining. It starts to decline at about four months. By six to eight months, the efficacy against so-called breakthrough infections is for some of the vaccines below 50 percent.

So natural immunity is certainly at least as good. What we know now is that for this particular virus, its superior to vaccine immunity. You could say that without denigrating the vaccines or denying their usefulness, especially for individuals that are vulnerable to severe illness, hospitalization, or death.

Theres the whole question about vaccinating individuals that already have natural immunity. What we know about that question based on the largest study that looked at this question from Israel is that the bump that you get in immunity from someone whos are already had COVIDif you immunize them, and you compare that group to individuals that have already had COVID but dont get vaccinatedhow do these two groups fare in terms of reinfection?

Basically with the addition of the vaccine on top of natural immunity, you go from 99.7 percent efficacy against reinfection to 99.8 percent efficacy against reinfection. Its not clinically meaningful or clinically significant in terms of the improvement. This is a study of tens of thousands of people from Israel that made that direct comparison.

Those numbers, that slight bump in efficacy was only against asymptomatic infection. If you look at symptomatic infection, at hospitalization or deathclinically meaningful outcomesthere was no difference between those two groups. No statistically significant difference in a very large population-based study.

The other issue though, with the idea of vaccinating individuals that already have natural immunity is, not only are you not going to benefit them, youre not going to benefit anyone else. Youre not going to reduce their odds of transmitting the virus to anyone else.

But there are now about five independent studies that strongly suggest that individuals that already have natural immunity, when you vaccinate them, the risk of vaccine adverse events or vaccine side effects is higher for that group.

Theres also a hypothesis out there that, I think, is still not well established, its not proved. Theres some evidence suggesting that vaccinating that population might actually diminish their immunity, and the reasons for that are complex. I dont know that we need to get down into the weeds on that debate.

So its not going to help these folks. They have higher risks of side effects from the vaccine. Its not going to help the people around them because natural immunity already is sterilized. Natural immunity is as close to 100 percent effective as anything gets in medicine.

Not only does it prevent me from getting the virus and getting sick again, but it also prevents me from asymptomatically transmitting the virus to other people. Unfortunately for these vaccines, we dont yet have any COVID vaccines that offer sterilizing immunity.

They dont prevent you from getting a symptomatic or asymptomatic breakthrough infection, and subsequently transmitting the virus to other people. We saw a lot of this during the Delta variant surge that vaccinated individuals, while the vaccine offers them some personal protection against severe illness, they can still get infected and they can still transmit the virus to other people.

We have some vaccines that are sterilizing that prevent transmission. The measles vaccine would be a good example of that. Thats very fortunate for us because measles is extremely contagious, way more contagious than COVID is.

So if an individual gets the measles vaccine, theyre protected against severe symptoms of measles. Theyre also protected against transmitting measles. So far for the current COVID vaccines that have been approved, or that are authorized for emergency use, we dont have any vaccines that can do that.

Mr. Jekielek: At this point, were at 20, 21 months into the pandemic. What do we actually know about the prevalence of natural immunity in society?

Dr. Kheriaty: One of the current failures of our public health establishment in this regard is that we dont have a really solid answer to that question, 21 months into the pandemic. We certainly have the means to do the necessary studies to figure out how many Americans have already been infected with COVID.

We have some estimates from the CDC that are many months old now. I think the last estimates they published were back in May. At that time, it was well over 30 percent of Americans. But that was before the Delta variant surge that we saw subsequent to that during the summer.

Most people estimate that probably more than half, somewhere between 50 and 60 percent of Americans have already had COVID and recovered, and have natural immunity, including many Americans that are already vaccinated.

There are several reasons the answer to that question is so important. One is that the two most basic numbers in epidemiology when were trying to get a handle on a disease, any disease, whether its an infectious disease or some other illness are incidence and prevalence.

Incidence is how many people over a given period of time will be newly diagnosed with the disease? How many new cases of COVID are there per month? Prevalence is how many total cases are there during a given period of time?

So, 21 months into the pandemic, we should know because its one of the two most basic statistics in all of epidemiology. Its the first two stats every medical student learns about every illness that they study. We should know how many people have already had COVID.

Randomly sampled population-based testing, either serial testing of a cohort over time with PCR testing or antibody testing, would give us an answer to those questions. But also, theres a T-cell test available now that can detect T-cells, some of those memory cells that I mentioned earlier, even after antibodies have declined.

Randomly sampled T-cell testing could tell us how many, and specifically which Americans have already had COVID, and therefore have natural immunity to this illness. That should obviously be taken into account when were doing a risk assessment, when were thinking about the whole issue of herd immunity and population-based risk.

I think its also important as we discuss the vaccine rollout policy. The notion that we vaccinated millions of people that already have immunity thats superior to the vaccine, rather than allowing those vaccines to go to places in the world or to people that havent received their first dose yet. I think thats a major failing and shortcoming of our public health response, and of our vaccine rollout policy.

What Ive done in 2021 since January is work on vaccine allocation policiesagain, first at the university. The university had a policy back when the demand for vaccines was outstripping the supply. In the early days of the vaccine rollout, we had more people wanting the vaccine than we had vaccine doses.

I was on the universitys committee that devised the policy for which people, and among the healthcare professionals, which of those ought to be first in line to be vaccinatedbut also with the county. Within the constraints allowed by the state, how do we get the vaccines to the people who need it most?

I advocated publicly in the LA Times and other places that vaccine allocation should be based on peoples personal risk of bad outcomes from COVID. Age being the most important risk factor in that regard.

Making sure that the elderly were not deprioritized for the sake of some other interest group, including the idea of vaccinating healthcare professionals who could transmit the virus made sense back when we didnt know that these vaccines didnt offer sterilizing immunity. There were arguments about whether we vaccinate healthcare professionals first, or people who are likely to die of COVID first? I advocated that the people most at risk should get the vaccine first.

I advocated that the poor and underserved should have easy access to the vaccines. We didnt set up a system here in the county that would somehow limit their access to vaccines. So I was deeply involved also in the whole question of vaccine allocation.

One of the things that never made sense to me during that whole process was why arent we paying attention to natural immunity? Are we wasting up to half of our vaccines on people that are not going to benefit from them when these things could be going out to people that need them morethat are at much higher risk of having a bad outcome if they get COVID, and much higher risk of getting infected with COVID because they dont have natural immunity?

I see that as also one of our failures and the failures of the public health establishment. I wish I would have been more vocal at that time about raising this whole question of natural immunity in the vaccinated.

Mr. Jekielek: It seems like in terms of the public policy as its being implemented, this question of natural immunity which youve outlined is of critical importance for all sorts of reasons. It doesnt seem to be factored in at all.

Dr. Kheriaty: I think there are at least three reasons why the CDC has dragged its feet on this question of natural immunity. Its a question that in a recent interview, Anthony Fauci indicated he did not have a good response to why are we vaccinating people with natural immunity. Why arent we recognizing that natural immunity is equivalent to vaccines in terms of giving those folks the same kind of freedoms, and access to the workplace, and so forth that vaccinated individuals are now afforded?

I think the first reason, if you look at the public health messaging, is that there is worry that if we acknowledge natural immunity, theres a fear that people are going to go out and deliberately try to get infected with COVID rather than getting vaccinated.

I dont think thats a worry that should stop us from being honest about the science. I think the real issue on natural immunity right now is not in relation to people that have not had COVID, and what kind of behavior they might engage in if you give them accurate information.

I think the question is what about all the people, probably more than half of all Americans who have already recovered from COVID? What kinds of risks and benefits are we subjecting those individuals toward?

What kind of discriminatory policies do we have in place that are excluding someone like me from the workplace when Im 99.8 percent protected against reinfection, whereas someone who got the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, by the companys own data that they submitted to the FDA, the J&J vaccine is 67 percent protective against COVID infection.

Somebody whos 67 percent protected can go back to work at the university. [While] I, who am 99 percent effective, have been banned from campus and put on investigatory leave. Soon, I will be placed on unpaid suspension because I havent been vaccinated. So this worry that people are going to go out and deliberately get COVID is one of the things, I think, getting in the way of an honest accounting and assessment of this in relation to policy making.

The second reason has to do with efficiency. The public health establishment during the vaccine rollout was very concerned that nothing got in the way of getting a needle in every arm. Any step in the process, like getting antibody testing, or lets ask for a previous record of someones COVID infection before we decide whether or not to vaccinate them. Or give them the option to opt out if they already have natural immunity. That was seen as cumbersome.

That was seen as something that could slow down what should be a highly efficient turn-style medicine process of moving as many people through the vaccine administration as possible, as quickly as possible. So many people have voiced concerns that this might slow down efficiency.

I think the obvious answer to that is it doesnt have to slow down your system at all. If people want to opt out on the basis of natural immunity, put the burden of proof on them. Just have them go get the testing on their own time. You dont have to administer the T-cell test or the antibody test.

You dont have to go dig up their old medical record establishing that theyve already had COVID. Just ask them to bring that in, and their work can sign off on that as a kind of immunity passport. Rather than dividing people into the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, lets divide them into the more immune versus the less immune in terms of assessing risks.

Thats another reason, but I think the answer to that is very simple and straightforward. We can address that concern about efficiency by just putting the burden of proof on the individual whos going to opt out of a vaccination on the basis of natural immunity.

The third reason has to do with the public health establishments worries about their own credibility. Many worry, I think incorrectly, that if we acknowledge natural immunity, the obvious next question is how many people have it? So we have to do the population-based testing to see that 55 percent of Americans have natural immunity.

Many in the public health establishment will see that as an admission of policy failure, especially for the policies of 2020. Many Americans made huge sacrifices, including the loss of their businesses, a loss of income to stay locked down at home for months on end.

To practice social distancing, to wash their hands, scrub surfaces, put up plastic barriers, and do all kinds of things that most people willingly did as a sign of solidarity with others out of a well-meaning desire to protect other people from infectionto protect their loved ones especially. That was very noble.

But in my view, and youve talked to others on this program whove shared the same view, I think those policies were misguided. A more targeted approach wouldve been much more effective, done far less harm to people, including harm to peoples health.

There are always risks to medical interventions, however small the risks might be. We know that the risk of myocarditis, for example, is real. Its higher, especially for younger people and younger men. We know that there are other risks from these vaccines. Again, some evidence that individuals with natural immunity may be at higher risk than the general population for side effects from the vaccine.

So were proposing using this intervention on individuals that dont need it, that wont benefit, or it wont benefit other peoplewhere those individuals will assume some degree of unnecessary risk. This does not make sense from a public health perspective. It certainly doesnt make sense from the perspective of medical ethics.

Its especially egregious when individuals are subjected to mandates, when their right of informed consent and their right of informed refusal to a medical intervention is taken away. And theyre facing a choice about getting vaccinated under threat of losing their job, losing their livelihood, being shut out from their ability to travel, or to access certain public or social goods or venues.

The ethics of vaccination in this case are very clear. Because the vaccines do not prevent infection and transmission, then we have to look at individual risk benefit analysis. We have to inform individuals of what the risks and benefits are.

This is a central principle of medical ethics. The right of informed consent, and the right of informed refusal for this intervention is being taken away from millions of Americans that are now subjected to vaccine mandates. Soon, the right of parents to consent or refuse on behalf of their children will also be taken away.

This to my mind is very concerning. This was, ultimately, the thing that as I saw it unfolding around mefirst at the university and then spreading to other institutions in societyI decided that I had to stand up and try to do something about it.

Thats what led to my legal challenge of challenging the university, and the state of California Department of Health on their vaccine mandate on behalf of individuals that have natural immunityindividuals that are similarly situated to me to nudge the university and the state to recognize the scienceto go through the careful fact finding process that you get when you take a case to court, and to require these institutions to answer for the reasons for their policy.

In my case, challenging the policy on constitutional grounds, on Equal Protection grounds. My legal argument is that this violates my Equal Protection rights under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. I think its a strong argument on the merits of the empirical evidence that we have available.

Mr. Jekielek: As someone who is obviously intimately familiar with and dealing with all sorts of ethical questions around medical, end of life, and vaccine administration scenarios, you are faced with precisely one of these scenarios and have to feel compelled to act on it. I want to get a little more insight into your thought process here. I think theres a lot of people out there who are asking these sorts of questions.

Dr. Kheriaty: Right. So several months ago, after our vaccine mandate at the university was promulgated and failing to get much traction in trying to engage the leadership in having an open and meaningful discussion, debate, conversation about the policy, I decided to publish my views on the university mandates in the Wall Street Journal. I co-authored a piece with Professor Gerry Bradley at Notre Dame, whos a law professor.

We made the case that the mandates which were being rolled out at many universities were unethical. In response to that, I had many people at my own university, at UC Irvine and other UCs, UCLA reaching out to me. Students, faculty members saying, Thank you for making this argument in the public square. I agree with you. And Im very worried about this mandate. They were worried for different reasons.

Some students reach out to me saying, I have conscience based reasons that I dont want to receive the vaccine, but Im not a religious person. And I cant in all honesty submit a religious exemption, which would probably be upheld, because I dont want to pretend that I have religious beliefs or convictions where I dont. But I have moral concerns. I have ethical concerns about these vaccines that struck me as very legitimate concerns.

I worried about those folks, and the folks that were seeking legitimate medical exemptions, but could not get them. So I published a piece in The Federalist critiquing the narrowly-construed medical exemptions for these vaccines, and arguing that this was going to do harm.

It was not giving physicians sufficient discretionary latitude to make judgements about the risks and benefits of these particular vaccines for their patients, some of whom had rare conditions that might not be listed on the CDCs list of contraindications, which was never meant to be comprehensive or all inclusive.

But if mandates were constructed such that if it wasnt on the CDC list or in the FDA package insert, then your exemption didnt count. That was problematic for medical reasons.

But then a month or two later, I received a letter that every physician in California received from the state medical board saying that if you, as a physician, write any inappropriate exemptions for masks or for other COVID interventions, and we read that to include vaccines, your medical license could be subjected to investigation and discipline.

In my 17 years of being a licensed physician, I have never received a letter like this from the medical board, and the colleagues Ive talked to said the same thing. This was an extremely chilling kind of communication. I mean, to threaten a doctor, to threaten his medical license is not just to threaten him with the loss of his job at this hospital. Its to threaten his entire livelihood. So that was scary.

As a response to that, physicians have decided in California not to write medical exemptions. Its virtually impossible. I challenge your viewers to find a counterexample of this. Its virtually impossible to get a medical exemption, even if you have an appropriate condition for a vaccine in California.

I have one patient who went to his rheumatologist, and the specialist told him, Based on your autoimmune condition, I recommend that you dont get the vaccinetaking account of your young age and low risks of a bad outcome from COVID, and risks from what Ive seenthat this vaccine could actually harm you.

The same patient, immediately after the doctor advised him of this, said, Okay, can you write me a medical exemption for work? The same doctor said, No, I cant, because I might be at risk of losing my medical license.

So I saw this unfolding in California, and I began to realize that people were going to be harmed by not just the mandate policies, but by the pieces and the infrastructure that had been put in place to make sure that these mandates were enforced.

I started to imagine myself in January, in February when I teach the required ethics course for all of the medical students. II tried to imagine myself standing in front of the whole first and second year class in the lecture hall or on Zoom, if thats the casetalking about integrity, moral courage, and doing the right thing under pressure.

I know that youre at the bottom of the hierarchy in the hospital as a medical student. But if you see something unfolding around you that could harm patients, you have to step out and say something, even if youre afraid.

I tried to imagine myself trying to say those things to students. If six months prior, I had seen something unfolding around me that I was convinced was wrong  Not just wrong, but in many respects egregiously wrongviolating core tenets of medical ethics that Ive taught to medical students for years, principles of informed consent, for exampleI knew that I would wake up in the morning and not have a clear conscience.

I said, Okay, six months from now, I can wake up with a clear conscience because I stood up and tried to do something, even though I knew that it was going to cost me when I did that. Or I can put my head down and just try to take care of myself and get through.

It was a hard decision, but my familys been supportive. Im convinced that Ive done the right thing in trying to mount this legal challenge. It has cost me professionally, very dearly. Ive been at the university my whole career. I did my residency training there, and joined the faculty immediately upon graduating. I have beloved colleagues there for whom I have nothing, but goodwill.

I have no resentment towards any individual at the institution. I miss them. I miss this month, not being able to work with the students and the residents, and my fellow attendees. It has cost me, but I wake up every morning with a clear conscience. Its hard to put a price on that.

Mr. Jekielek: You describe some potentially egregious ethical violations. You mentioned one of them, this issue of informed consent. I have two questions. One is what are the egregious violations that you see? Can you outline them for me?

The other question intertwined into this is that these violations are obviously contingent on the scientific realities of the disease, how it affects people, the way the vaccines affect this. How would a different scenario affect the ethics of this?

Dr. Kheriaty: Youre right that the circumstances matter a lot when were talking about public health ethics, and when were talking about clinical ethics. So if we had vaccines that did a better job at preventing infection and transmission, if we had sterilizing vaccines for COVID, the argument, Well, you might not benefit much from the vaccines, if at all, but do it for the sake of other people, that public solidarity argument would be more persuasive.

It would carry more weight. It wouldnt necessarily be decisive. I mean, you have to weigh that against the fact that youre potentially taking away peoples rights of informed consent and informed refusal. I think it would complicate the ethics in certain respects and make the balancing between competing goods more challenging.

The whole issue of risk stratification has been ignored during the pandemic. So the risks of COVID to a five year old are 1,000 fold different than the risks to an 85 year old, actually more than 1,000 fold different. Those kinds of distinctions seem to be lost with most of the public health messaging.

One of the big picture ethical problems that Ive seen from the beginning of the pandemic, and certainly continuing on into the present day, is that the public health establishment has not seen its role in terms of how do we take complex science and emerging science, and make it comprehensible to the average American. Communicate it clearly to the public so that people can make good informed decisions based on their own reasoning and assessment, and consultation with their healthcare provider about how to proceed and what to do.

That requires a certain trust in the intelligence of the average American and their ability to make sensible decisions that not only benefit them individually, but also contribute to the common good. I think that should have been the approach, but unfortunately the approach is very often that the public health establishment begins with a particular behavioral outcome that they want to seeeveryone staying at home during lockdowns, or a needle in every arm.

Everyone gets the vaccine, and any form of vaccine hesitancyanyone raising their hand and asking questions that complicate the kind of simplistic, safe, and effective public messaging around vaccinesis seen as a problem to be overcome rather than a legitimate issue to explore, or a legitimate question that needs a good answer.

Its one thing to simplify complex science so that people can readily understand it, who havent studied virology, immunology or biology. Its another thing to give information in such a way that the purpose of the information is to make you behave in a certain way.

That very quickly slips into propaganda. That slips into well, even though its true that some people are harmed by these vaccines, we cant mention that truth out loud because itll increase vaccine hesitancy, or itll scare people, or they will exaggerate the risks, or whatever.

Whether or not its intended, it comes across as an elite establishment that has contempt for the average American, that looks down on the ability of the average American to do their own research and to read these studies.

Many people out there are now very motivated to learn more about this virus, to learn more about immunity. They have access to research studies, and to people that are helping to accurately explain research to them. Theyre often well informed, sometimes more well informed than even many of my colleagues in medicine. I think thats a good thing.

The American public should be well informed. They should have access to accurate information. They may not be able to put their finger on exactly what it is that youre not telling me or exactly what it is that youre doing to try to sway me to behave in a particular way. But they know when theyre being manipulated, and they quite reasonably dont like it.

One state in the Midwest published a public service announcementa commercial explaining that there are fewer ingredients in the COVID vaccines than there are in a candy bar, and saying theres lipids, fats, proteins and so forth in this vaccine. Comparing it to eating a candy bar, with a suggestion that somehow taking a vaccine is even simpler and safer than eating a candy bar, which is completely absurd.

I think your average American who sees a commercial like that and feels manipulated, maybe somebody who is inclined to get the vaccine and was perfectly happy to do it begins to wonder why all this pressure on me? Why all this kind of suppression of information about potential downsides, potential adverse effects, or differentiated risk based on age?

That erodes public trust. What were seeing right now with vaccine mandates is coercion. When you threaten people with the loss of their jobs, and threaten people with the inability to go visit a loved one who lives in Canada or lives in another state, that is coercive. No institutional review board would greenlight a human subjects research study that involved that level of coercion. It would be totally contrary to federal law, The Nuremberg Code, and all kinds of otherthe World Medical Associations Helsinki Declaration.

These landmarks of 20th century medical ethics are being violated by many of the policies that are being put in place right now. Theres a lot of Americans who maybe cant explain it in scientific, technical, or philosophical terms. Theyre not a trained bioethicist, but they know something is unfolding around me thats not okay.

Mr. Jekielek: Theres this perception among a significant number of people, this comes up regularly, that the risks of the vaccines are being downplayed a lot. Some of this wanders very much into what you would call conspiracy theory. But, theres just a lot of people that are deeply concerned that the risks are not being conveyed to them, even by people who arent supportive of mandates or arent supportive of coercion. What are your thoughts?

Dr. Kheriaty: Im likewise concerned about our level of monitoring of risks. These were very short clinical trials of these vaccines. Phase three, the last phase of the clinical trials process at the FDA, was only a couple of months long for these vaccines before they received emergency use authorization. Even the Pfizer that received full authorization had data that was minimal, especially in terms of the length of time, and the number of people enrolled.

But after a few months, the clinical trial was stopped so that the vaccine could be rolled out on a mass scale. When you have a small number of people enrolled in a clinical trial, and a short clinical trial, and that clinical trial is stopped earlier than it would be for most vaccines which take years, typically, to go through the FDA approval processbetween when theyre developed and when theyre given approval and licensureits a very long process.

This one was obviously shortened. We can understand the reasons why people wanted to shorten the process of getting these approvedto get them out there as quickly as possible. But as a result of that, whether that was the right decision or not, to shorten the length of the trial. Immediately after the trial was stopped, the placebo group, the control arm, the comparison arm in that clinical trial was eliminated because everyone was offered the vaccine.

Rather than continuing to follow that same cohort out as the vaccine was being rolled outand simultaneously having a group that was getting the vaccine and a group that was not that could be compared, studied, and followed rigorouslywe lost the comparison arm, or whats called the control arm in the study. Thats a very significant problem because the level of safety monitoring during phase three trials is very rigorous.

Youre following the same people over a period of time to see what happens to them. Youre following them closely so that if they develop a medical problem, you can assess whether or not this may have been related to the vaccine. You can look at their medical records very carefully. If you start seeing a safety signal show up in the trial, you can make sure that youre on top of it right away.

Once the trial is stopped, were left with these passive surveillance systems, which have been widely sighted and also widely critiqued. I think both sides in that argument are right in terms of these are important for safety monitoring, but they also have limitations. Their limitations are one of the current problems.

The VAERS system, which lots of folks are now familiar with, nobody had heard of it years agothe Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. There are others both in the United States and abroad that do this. By passive surveillance, I mean that if something happens to someone, and they or a healthcare professional believes that this may be a vaccine side effect, they can voluntarily report to the VAERS system.

Its an arduous process. It takes at least 30 minutes, and thats when you know what youre doing and there are no glitches in this system. It takes 30 minutes to report. The studies looking at how many cases are actually reported to VAERS uniformly show that cases are underreported.

One study from Harvard estimates that the actual number of vaccine adverse effects may be as much as 40 to 100 times higher than the numbers that we actually see in VAERS. So what happened in the early rollout of these vaccines is that we saw huge spikes in this VAERS system and in other systems abroad, suggesting that there may be safety problems with these vaccines, including potentially serious problems, including deaths.

Now, the response to that is always to say, Well yes, these are unverified cases. The CDC then has to subsequently investigate to see were these deaths actually related to the vaccine or were they not? That takes a lot of work, and a lot of human resources to dig through the medical records and to establish that this is not just a random correlation. There may be a causation role between the vaccine and the negative outcome.

That was done for myocarditis. The CDC did confirm theres an elevated risk of myocarditis with the vaccines. But we still dont know how serious that risk is. Because if you just look at the numbers in VAERS, its clearly statistically significant.

But if VAERS is potentially 10, 40, to 100 times underreported, we dont know. Is the real number 10 times the confirmed cases? Is it 50 times? Is it 100 times? The answer to that question is we dont know. And the fact that we dont know is a problem. When were looking at vaccine risks and benefits, and we dont know quantitatively how great are these risks 

We know that certain risks of thrombosis, myocarditis, and other adverseGuillain-Barre syndrome, a kind of autoimmune neurological syndrome that can cause paralysiswe know that these are happening, but we dont know with any precision, like we would if we were still doing the clinical trial. We dont know with any precision how many people may be adversely impacted by a side effect like that. Thats a problem.

So we can criticize VAERS. But then we also have to say okay, well, if thats not an adequate surveillance system for vaccine safety, what other safety systems are we putting in place? What are some more active surveillance systems where were continuing to follow a cohort with a control group at the same time to monitor medium-term risks, long-term risks to begin quantifying some of the known risks? Thats not happening.

So unfortunately, the answer to a lot of the pending and dangling questions that reasonable people have is we dont know. What are the long-term risks of the vaccine? We dont know. Are there fertility related risks? The answer to that is we dont know. Theres certainly a lot of reported cases of menstrual irregularities.

The public health establishment is quick to reassure women that there are no known risks of fertility problems with these vaccines. But the absence of evidence isnt evidence of absence. In other words, we dont have evidence that its harmful, but we dont have proof that its not harmful either.

So the NIH has set aside $1.5 million in grant funding to study this precise question. They wouldnt have set aside that grant funding if there wasnt still a question to be studied. People are being reassured that this is safe in this regard, when in fact the answer they should be given is we dont know. There are unknowns regarding the risks.

When there are unknowns regarding the risks, then its all the more important to allow people to make their own personal risk assessment and decide whether or not this is the risk of COVID versus the risk of vaccine, which of those risks would I rather assume?

We need to be honest both about what we know, but also about what we dont know. Informed consent involves telling people both what we know and what we dont know. And this happens all the time in medicine.

Under the kind of precautionary principle, its standard practice in medicine when there is more than one option available to advise using a medication thats been around longer, where we just have more clinical experience and more clinical data thats accumulated over time, that this older medication appears to be safe in pregnancy because its been given to thousands of pregnant women.

But with a new medication, we have to inform a pregnant woman that the risks of this medication are still pretty much unknown. That kind of honesty and transparency is absolutely necessary, I think, for the trust of the public. Especially when youre asking, nudging, or in this case, in many instances, forcing people to do something that they may have very legitimate questions about.

Mr. Jekielek: Based on what youve said, what studies that arent being done are of the most immediate importance to initiate, to answer some of these unanswered questions?

Dr. Kheriaty: There are many. The population-based randomly sampled testing of Americans in different regions of the country and stratified into different age groups, to know how many people in various categories of age, and so forth, have already had COVID. We need to answer that question about natural immunity.

Thats very important for the overall big picture understanding of where were at in this pandemic, and in terms of getting on top of a virus that is eventually going to become endemic. That means that everyone, eventually, will be exposed to COVIDwhich doesnt have to be a big, scary thing.

Because if youre exposed at a young age, you have very good outcomes, and you develop very good natural immunity to the virus. We need to make sure that, obviously, the elderly and other people who are at risk of bad outcomes are protected in any way that we can, including deploying vaccines as appropriate for that purpose, and developing new and hopefully better vaccines for that purpose.

We need to answer the question about natural immunity, especially now that it looks like the FDA is soon to approve the vaccine for five to 11 year olds based on what I consider to be very inadequate and thin data. We need rigorous, prospective, forward-looking research on vaccine safety in different populations.

The vaccine safety questions that could have been answered in a longer, rigorous clinical trial, we very likely cant get as good as a clinical trial wouldve been. Its unlikely at this point that we would be able to randomize people to a vaccine arm versus a placebo arm, which is helpful for the gold standard research that you want on drug or vaccine safety and efficacy.

So we cant randomize people, but we could have whats called a naturalistic study of the people that choose to get vaccinated, and the people that choose not to get vaccinated. We match them according to age, gender, and co-occurring medical conditions. Then we compare the outcomes across time.

We follow the same cohort across time to carefully monitor with regular testing and checkups, and not just wait for them to choose or not choose to report if something bad happens that might be related to the vaccines.

We cant get up to the gold standard that we should have had during phase three testing, but we can try to get as close to that as possible and continue to study medium and long-term potential adverse effects of these vaccines so that they can be quantified. The efficacy of the vaccines could also be very profitably studied in that way.

We know now that vaccine efficacy, particularly against infectionnot so much fortunately against severe symptoms and hospitalization, but efficacy against infection and transmissionis declining with time and with new variants.

As additional variants emerge, some of which, unfortunately, might be able to better escape vaccine immunity, it would be really good to have a rigorous cohort thats being studied across time in terms of whats happening in those who are vaccinated, those who are not vaccinated. Those, of course, with natural immunity as well, to have that as the benchmark of comparison for the other two groups.

Mr. Jekielek: So you contend that coercion in this scenario is unethical. Is there any scenario that you might imagine where coercion, and I dont mean forcing a needle into someones arm, but the type of coercion weve discussed would be appropriate from an ethical perspective?

Dr. Kheriaty: I dont think you could ever forcibly inject someone with a drug or a vaccine against their will if they are a competent adult. Its one thing if you have a cognitively disabled person, you have another individual consenting on their behalf. We do that routinely in medicine for children, or for adults who dont have the ability to understand the risks, benefits, and alternatives to the proposed treatment. But for a competent adult, its a form of assault. Its never okay.

Now, if someone chose not to get something and thats putting themselves and especially putting others at undue risk, could there be an emergency situation in which those folks might be restricted from certain activities? Yes. I think that may be warranted. But those circumstances certainly dont obtain right now during the pandemic.

There is no emergency for children in COVID right now, even though the committee that advises the FDA, just yesterday, made a recommendation to authorize the vaccine for five to 11 year olds under the Emergency Use Authorization.

The condition for what counts as an emergency has never been defined by the public health establishment. Thats another problem that has occurred during this pandemic. Thats a very important question thats never been answered. That question is also necessary to knowwhen is the pandemic as a defined public health emergency over, right?

The threshold for that always seems to be receding over the horizon. Lots of Americans can sense this. We were promised two weeks to flatten the curve. Then it was basically lock down till we get a vaccine. Then we rolled out the vaccine, and its this threshold for herd immunity. That threshold keeps moving up, and people start worrying for perfectly legitimate reasons that what counts as an emergency is always left fuzzy. These emergency powers are not being relinquished.

The Italian philosopher, Giorgio Agamben, talks about this. He cites Schmitts definition of the sovereign. The sovereign is the one who really  The locus of real political authority in any society is the person who is authorized to declare what he calls the state of exception or the state of emergency.

If you think about that, well yeah, that makes sense. If this guy whos appointed by whoever has the authority to declare a state of emergency, thats an enormous amount of power. Thats a real locus of power. What are the checks and balances on that power? I think these are real concerns of the relationship between public health authority during a state of exception or state of emergency, and our governing powers in a representative democracy.

[Narration]: Next week on American Thought Leaders.

Dr. Kheriaty: Pharmaceutical companies convinced the federal government that they shouldnt be liable for any harms or vaccine-related injuries that their products cause.

Mr. Jekielek: The ethics of testing COVID-19 vaccines on children.

Dr. Kheriaty: No sane society should ever subject children to risks to try to shield adults.

Mr. Jekielek: And the rise of a two-tiered society.

Dr. Kheriaty: There are mechanisms being put in place for biosecurity surveillance.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Wade Kitner looks at the northern lights as he fishes in Ventura, Iowa, on June 23, 2015. (Arian Schuessler/The Globe Gazette via AP)

To Star Gazers: Fireworks Show Called Northern Lights Coming

CHICAGOA 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 Sunday.

Parts of Canada, Alaska and Russia might see the finale of a weekend lights show Sunday that started when a large solar flare erupted Thursday and became visible to Earth starting Saturday, forecasters said.

Many parts of the northern United States had foggy, rainy, or overcast skies that hindered views of the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, meteorologists said.

But Aurora may be visible at high latitudes, i.e., northern tier of the U.S. such as northern Michigan and Maine, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Space Weather Prediction Center said Sunday. Weak power grid fluctuations can occur.

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. Thats heading toward Earth, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue a warning about a potentially strong geomagnetic storm.

It might sound like something from a science fiction movie. But really it just means that a good chunk of the northern part of the country may get treated to a light show called the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.

Geomagnetic storms as big as what might be coming can produce displays of the lights that can be seen at high latitudes. It could also cause voltage irregularities on high-latitude power grids as the loss of radio contact on the sunlit side of the planet.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report
DETROITMotor City is abuzz this weekend as patrons attend Shen Yun Performing Arts, which came to the Detroit Opera House for the first leg of a two-part run.

Shen Yun is a New York-based performing arts company that highlights the best and most poignant moments of Chinas 5,000-year history, much of which has been lost under the current communist regime. Through classical dance and live music, Shen Yun has been able to revive stories and themes stemming from Chinas deep spiritual-cultural legacy.

J. J. Spaulding is a theater teacher at Renaissance High School in Detroit. He teaches theater for production, acting, and theater history, and is also a playwright. He attended Shen Yun on the afternoon of Oct. 30.

I love to see the different elements of the Chinese culture brought into our world through the dance and the choreography, he said. And I love the way they integrate the technologyintegrate the modern theatrical productioninto the classical Chinese dance and [the] production itself.

Spaulding referred to Shen Yuns use of animated digital backdrops that turn the proscenium into scenes from other eras, or worlds. The dancers interact with it, extending the stage into an infinite and imaginative expanse.

The contrast between Chinese society as we know it today and the society of the past as depicted in Shen Yun stands out to many viewers, as it did for Spaulding.

At one point during the show, I wondered how the old Chinese empires and dynasties evolved into something like [todays China under communism], he said.

For the reason that it revives a culture that the Chinese regime seeks very hard to eliminate, Shen Yun cannot perform in China, the emcees explained to the audience.

Luis Sfeir, with his wife, Maria, and daughter, attended the performance again this year, having seen it for the first time last year.

I thought that seeing it for the second time, maybe this was not going to be as exciting and exhilarating and funny as last year. But in fact, I enjoyed it, even more, this time than last time. So we look forward to doing it again, Sfeir said.

Luis Sfeir and his daughter at Shen Yun Performing Arts in Detroit, Mich., on Oct. 30, 2021. (NTD Television)

Sfeir is a sociology professor.

I think I was impressed by multiple things, he said. The colors, the music, the way that all the scenes were connected in some way, they flowed very well, one from another.

In each one of them, you elicit different kinds of emotions. So we felt sad, angry, in danger; we were very happy, with romantic notions of love. So I think the variety of emotions, the variety of colors and dancesand I also put a lot of attention to the dresses that people worethey were just very well done. Very beautiful.

I think we come because we feel very spiritually enriched by the experience.  Maria Steir

Mrs. Sfeir indicated that the performance had a deep meaning for her. This is important to our inner lives, I think we come because we feel very spiritually enriched by the experience: the beauty, the message, the way its done, she said through her husbands translation.

But also, the culture of the Chinese is different [from] our culture here in the United States and our cultures being Latinos in the United States, Mr. Sfeir added. And so, they were places where we connected a lot.

Shen Yun will return to Detroit in January 2022.

Reporting by Sherry Dong and NTD Television.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Western Australia is further tightening its border, banning unvaccinated travellers from Victoria, NSW, and the ACT from this week.

With bubbling coronavirus cases going alongside lockdown easing in the southeast of the country, WA Premier Mark McGowan has added an extra condition of entry for approved travellers from those areas.

His government will introduce a full COVID-19 vaccination policy for travellers arriving from medium, high, and extreme risk jurisdictions from Friday.

Victoria and New South Wales are currently deemed extreme risk, while the ACT is medium risk.

The policy will be extended to low risk states and territories from Nov. 15, although none currently fall within that classification.

A very low risk rating is in place for Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.

Children under the age of 12 and those with a recognised medical condition will be exempt from the double-jab rule.

McGowan said the new travel requirement would better protect WA after Victoria, NSW, and the ACT collectively reported 1,600 new local COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

Our border controls have worked and have kept us safe but wont be here forever, he said in a statement.

As we get our vaccination rate up, we need to remain cautious and vigilant, and take every precaution.

Read More Unjustified Mandatory Vaccinations: Australians Freer Under Colonial Rule

McGowan has previously refused to reveal when WA will abandon border closures as other states and territories cement their plans.

He has promised to provide further clarity once WAs full vaccination rate exceeds 80 percent.

Some data analysts predict that may not occur until early December, with 62.6 percent of the states 16-plus population currently having received both doses.

Australia is expected to next week eclipse the 80 percent double-dose milestone, a key pillar in the national reopening plan.

The latest federal health department figures show 76.8 percent of Australians 16 and over are now fully vaccinated and 88.1 percent have had at least their first dose.

Reaching the 80 percent threshold across the country will trigger the third stage of the national plan, which was previously slated to exempt the fully vaccinated from all domestic restrictions and signal the end of broad lockdowns.

By Callum Godde
Chinese leader Xi Jinping speaks at a meeting commemorating the 110th anniversary of Xinhai Revolution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Xi Pushes G-20 Leaders to Recognize Chinas Vaccines, Complains About Virus Origin Tracing Efforts

Chinese leader Xi Jinping pushed world leaders to accept China-made vaccines while lodging complaints about Western efforts to trace the origins of the COVID-19 virus during a virtual address at the Group of 20 summit in Rome.

Speaking on Oct. 30 via video link, Xi boasted about the countrys vaccine outreach, which has resulted in 1.6 billion doses of Chinese vaccines being distributed around the world, adding that Beijing is working with 16 countries to jointly manufacture COVID-19 shots.

He called for countries to treat different vaccines equally and advance mutual recognition of vaccines based on the World Health Organizations emergency use list, which includes two developed in China.

The broadening of vaccine terms would allow vaccines from Sinovac Biotech and Chinas state-owned Sinopharmapparently less effective than their Western counterpartsto be brought into wider use.

Xi, who chose to skip the first in-person G-20 meeting in two years, hasnt set foot outside of the country for 21 months since mid-January 2020, the longest stretch of any G-20 leader.

His speech came a day before the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow, Scotland. He had also brought up the subject with Britains Boris Johnson during an Oct. 29 phone call.

The Rome meeting also drew global legislators as well as political exiles from Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang, who urged G-20 members to hold China accountable for its human rights abuses.

Uyghur human rights activist Rahima Mahmut (L) and Hong Kong activist, politician, and chairman of the Demosisto political party Nathan Law, stand by a replica of the Pillar of Shame, a statue commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, during a demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in Rome, against the Chinese governments dismantling of Hong Kongs democracy and autonomy ahead of the G-20 World Leaders Summit in Rome, on Oct. 27, 2021. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)

The one subject they dont appear to be discussing at the G-20 is really the elephant in the room, which is  the terrible misbehavior of arguably one of the most important nations of all, which is China, said former British Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith a day ahead of the summit.

As interest in the pandemics roots continues to mount, Beijing has rejected the World Health Organizations plan for a second look into the virus origins, which would include examining the possibility that the virus had emerged from a Chinese lab.

Stigmatization of the virus and politicization of origins tracing run counter to the spirit of solidarity against the pandemic, Xi said on Oct. 30, just one day after U.S. intelligence agencies said they remain divided on the most likely source of the virus.

All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident, the report said.

China, even after having vaccinated over three-quarters of its population, has been reckoning with a highly contagious Delta variant that is now bringing a new surge in outbreaks.

A child undergoes a nucleic acid test for the COVID-19 in Xiamen, in Chinas Fujian province, on Sept. 18, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Over the past 14 days, at least 14 provinces have reported local infections. Mi Feng, a spokesperson for Chinas National Health Commission, said on Oct. 30 that the outbreak is still developing rapidly, and the outbreak control situation is severe and complicated.

In the past week, Beijing also began telling children as young as 3 years old to get vaccinated, prompting concern from many Chinese parents who question the vaccines safety.

Im so scared my child will be made a guinea pig, one mother surnamed Zhao from Guangdong Province told The Epoch Times. She said shes been alarmed by domestic vaccine scandals that have become a source of national uproar in recent years.

Those children were able to walk and run, but became disabled after one tainted dose, she said, adding that some parents told her, Its better to inject mineral water because at least its safe.

Zhang Zhongyuan contributed to this report.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP)  Wole Soyinka, Nigeria's Nobel-winning author, sees his country's many problems  misgoverning politicians, systemic corruption, violent extremists, and kidnapping bandits  yet he does not despair.

At 87, he says Nigeria's youth may have the energy and the know-how to get the troubled country back on track.

It is up to the new generation to decide whether they want to keep going along the same chugging one-track train, or chart a new course, Soyinka told The Associated Press.

Soyinka credits young Nigerians  about 64 million between 15 and 35 years of the countrys more than 200 million people  for trying to fundamentally reform the country. He cites the Oct. 2020 #EndSARS protests against police brutality, comparing it to the positive watersheds of resistance during the years of military rule Nigeria endured for nearly 30 years.

Although the protests one year ago ended in shootings and the deaths of more than 30 protesters, Soyinka says the widespread demonstrations organized on social media show the promise of the young to achieve change.

The kind of energy and intelligence which created the #EndSARS movement is one, for instance, that can be used on a much broader scale to involve masses of people, he said.

In his first novel in nearly 50 years, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, published in September, Soyinka has created a fictional Nigeria rife with crime, corruption and chaos with an oppressive ruling party called the People on the Move Party (POMP). And the population is anything but happy, although there is an ironically-named annual Festival of the People of Happiness.

The satirical novel depicts a trade in human body parts  by a company named Human Resources  and a pastor of a megachurch who preaches Chrislam  a mix of Christianity and Islam. Yet Soyinka's unsparing portrait of Nigeria is also mixed with a hopeful spirit.

From the Freedom Park in Lagos, Soyinka spoke to AP about his views of his country. Similar to the setting of his novel, Soyinka said he feels the current system in Nigeria is not a working, productive one.

In 2015, Soyinka endorsed presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari and asked Nigerians to forgive the leader of his past as a former dictator who ruled Nigeria from 1983 to 1985. Now Buhari is president and Soyinka is critical of him.

Right from the middle of the first round of his government, it has failed on many levels and it is up to Nigerians to wake up and reverse the direction in which they are being taken, the author said of 78-year-old Buhari's administration.

He said Buhari has a record of putting people in crates when they do not agree with him, including separatist leaders Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu, currently in the custody of Nigeria's secret police.

Soyinka says Nigeria started going in the wrong direction back in 1955 when the West African giant started to get unearned and undeserved wealth from oil.

We didnt manufacture anything from the oil, we just used it raw for what it is, sold it, took the money and wasted the money, Soyinka, who in 1986 was the first Black author and the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Productivity went down and the little economies which sustain a people  began to disappear, he said.

Although the enormous wealth from exporting crude oil made Nigeria one of Africa's largest economies, its people continue to grapple with poverty and underdevelopment.

Ten years after Nigeria discovered oil in vast quantity, it suffered its first military coup in 1966, opening the floodgates for a succession of dictatorships that occupied Nigeria for nearly all years until 1999 when democracy was restored.

It was during one of those military regimes  in 1994 under the late Sani Abacha  that Soyinka, a thorn in the flesh of military heads of state, went into a self-imposed exile after leading pro-democracy protests.

It has been more than 22 years since Nigeria returned to democracy but Soyinka believes the nation has never really recovered from those dictatorial years. Moreover, he feels much of the changes he fought for are yet to materialize.

What weve had again is reinventing the wheel," he said. "Each ruler comes and says, Oh yes, I am listening to people. And they want to change. Therefore, lets meet and tinker with the constitution.' Rather than going deep inside and creating a totally different society from what is there. Once they get into power, its the same result.

In the northeast part of the country, a 12-year war against the Islamic extremists of Boko Haram and their offshoot the Islamic State West Africa Province, extremists continues to hold the region to ransom, banditry that had led to the killing of thousands and abduction of many including schoolchildren rages on in the northwest and central states while a violent separatist movement is emerging in the southeast.

Soyinka feels things would have been different if leaders did not pretend that what was happening was just a blip on the screen, whereas it was very deep inside the society.

They refused to take action at the right time. They compromised. They appeased. They excused. They even rhetorized the danger, the reality. And in the process we lost our humanity completely, he said ruefully, his face suddenly solemn.

So, each time we point a finger to the state, those in governance look at us and they see themselves as a reflection of the rest of the society. Pot calling the kettle black. (They say,) Come and chop small. We are the same. And, of course, we move in and chop with them. That is what has happened to us as a people  Everything has lost value.

Soyinka says to reverse the trend Nigeria must undergo a brutal and marathon soul-searching in which we call ourselves names and tell ourselves the truth without any compromise. The country needs a leader who will take the bull by the horns and acknowledge that so far, so bad, he said.

Soyinka is traveling internationally to promote his novel and he keeps up a constant commentary, often calling out leaders in successive governments. He, however, admits he is not as strong as thought.

I am really tired, he said with a chuckle. I just live a normal life as I can. No special recipe or anything of the sort. Just take each day one by one.

He is also tired of reading his own obituaries. In Nigeria, fake news reports about Soyinkas death are rampant on social media, the most recent one in mid-October. He said he has probably read the news of his death more than he has read his own works.

I am getting bored with dying, he said, flinging his two hands as though he is giving up on death itself. There is nothing creative about it. I am just bored each time I read my obituary. Its been going on for years.
The three-bedroom colonial-style house where Jessica Stephenson has lived in Milwaukee for the last six years bustles with activity on any given weekday, filled with the chattering of children in the day care center she runs out of her home.

The U.S. Census Bureau says no one lives there.

They should come and see it for themselves, Stephenson said.

From her majority-Black neighborhood in Wisconsin to a community of Hasidic Jews in New Yorks Catskill Mountains to a park outside Tampa, Florida, a method used by the Census Bureau for the first time to protect confidentiality in the 2020 census has made people and occupied homes vanish  at least on paper  when they actually exist in the real world.

It's not a magic trick but rather a new statistical method the bureau is using called differential privacy, which involves the intentional addition of errors to data to obscure the identity of any given participant.

Bureau officials say it's necessary to protect privacy in a time of increasingly sophisticated data mining, as technological innovations magnify the threat of people being re-identified through the use of powerful computers to match census information with other public databases. By law, census answers are supposed to be confidential.

But some city officials and demographers think it veers too far from reality  and could cause errors in the data used for drawing political districts and distributing federal funds.

At least one analysis suggests that differential privacy could penalize minority communities by undercounting areas that are racially and ethnically mixed. Harvard University researchers found that the method made it more difficult to create political districts of equal population and could result in fewer majority-minority districts.

The Census Bureau, for its part, argues that the data is every bit as good as in past censuses and that the low-level inaccuracies don't present a large-scale problem.

What's certain is that the method can produce weird, contradictory and false results at the smallest geographic levels, such as neighborhood blocks.

For example, the official 2020 census results say 54 people live in Stephensons census block in midtown Milwaukee, but also that there are no occupied homes. In reality almost two dozen houses occupy the car-lined streets, some dating back more than a century. Forty-eight of the residents living in the block are Black, according to the census, though its difficult to know for sure, given the whimsy of differential privacy.

In another case, the census lists no people living in the Flatwoods Conservation Park outside Tampa, even though it says there is a home occupied by people. According to Hillsborough County spokesman Todd Pratt, two county employees live there while maintaining security for the park.

And in an enclave of Hasidic Jews located in Kiamesha Lake, New York, 81 people are recorded as residents, but the census officially says there are no occupied homes. Sullivan County property records show almost a dozen homes whose residents have ties to the Vizhnitzer Hasidic community.

The unreliable data has created headaches for city managers and planners of small communities who worry that it may not be valid for decision-making. Eric Guthrie, a senior demographer at the Minnesota State Demographic Center, said he has been contacted by a half-dozen city managers from around the state who were concerned about potential impacts to state and federal funding.

I explain to them theres not a method for correcting it, that its not an error in the traditional sense, Guthrie said. The bug is there by design.

The scale of the changes become clearer when viewed through a broader lens. For Florida, the nations third most populous state with more than 21 million residents, the 2020 census listed 15,000 neighborhood blocks as having a total of 200,000 residents but no occupied homes. On the flip side, 1,200 of the state's 484,000 blocks were listed as having occupied homes but no population, according to Rich Doty, geographic information system coordinator and research demographer at the University of Floridas Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

We expected these anomalies, as we were warned about this by the Census Bureau and other states, Doty said. We just didnt expect this many."

Ahead of the release of census data used for drawing congressional and legislative districts in August, acting Census Bureau director Ron Jarmin warned that its application could produce some fuzzy figures at the neighborhood block level and urged data users to combine blocks to get accurate results. But the bureau also says that despite the implementation of differential privacy, the quality of the 2020 data isn't any worse than previous censuses based on measurements of data quality.

That claim is hard to evaluate since the raw data without the application of differential privacy is not being made public, said Stefan Rayer, a University of Florida demographer.

We have to take their word for it, Rayer said.

Using test data, the Harvard researchers found that differential privacy was more likely to undercount mixed-race and mixed-partisan precincts, yielding unpredictable racial and partisan biases," because it prioritizes the accuracy of the population count for the largest racial group in a given area.

Our findings underscore the difficulty of balancing accuracy and respondent privacy in the Census," they said in a report.

The Census Bureau disagrees, and so far the courts have found no reason to stop it.

Differential privacy was unsuccessfully challenged by the state of Alabama earlier this year. In a declaration for that lawsuit, the Census Bureaus chief scientist, John Abowd, called the data extremely accurate and said the use of differential privacy showed no bias regarding racial or ethnic minorities.

Redistricters can remain confident in the accuracy of the population counts and demographic characteristics of the voting districts they draw, despite the noise in the individual building blocks," Abowd said.

Not everyone believes the technique is the right way to protect confidentiality.

Two University of Minnesota researchers wrote in a recent paper that a Census Bureau experiment failed to show genuine threats to confidentiality and that any risks of re-identification were similar to random guessing of households characteristics.

One of them, demographer Steven Ruggles, said during a presentation this month that the Census Bureaus fear of re-identification and the resulting justification for using differential privacy could undermine confidence in the census data.

It should not justify the degradation of the statistical infrastructure of our country, Ruggles said. The whole thing is likely to backfire.

___

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
BEIRUT (AP)  Lebanese politicians scrambled to resolve a diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations on Saturday, after comments by a Cabinet minister about the war in Yemen stoked their ire.

Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates followed the Saudis with measures against Lebanon, increasing pressure on a crisis-hit country badly in need of foreign assistance amid a crippling economic and financial crisis.

The row is one of the worst rifts between the Gulf nations and Lebanon in years. Relations have been strained over growing Iranian influence in the small nation, where Saudi Arabia has traditionally been a powerful ally.

On Saturday afternoon, Saudi ambassador to Beirut Waleed Bukhari flew home after he was recalled by his government, according to airport officials in Beirut. Bukharis departure came a day after Saudi Arabia ordered Lebanons ambassador to Riyadh to leave within 48 hours and banned all imports from Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia has for decades been a huge market for Lebanese products.

The moves came as the Arab League chief expressed concerns about the deterioration of ties between Lebanon and wealthy Gulf countries over statements made by Information Minister George Kordahi.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement: We urge that all diplomatic channels remain open between the parties to ensure meaningful dialogue on the pressing issues facing Lebanon.

Lebanons Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib said Prime Minister Najib Mikati is in contact with foreign officials who asked him not to think about resigning. The minister added that he is in contact with the Americans to help solve the crisis.

Lebanon's Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi told the U.S.-based Arabic-language Alhurra TV that Mikati has asked the international community, specifically the U.S., to help solve the crisis, and to open room for dialogue with Saudi Arabia over all pending issues.

Kordahi described  on a TV program filmed in August and aired this week  the war in Yemen as an aggression by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He called the war absurd, saying it must stop because he is opposed to wars between Arabs.

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured the capital, Sanaa, and much of the north of the country. That forced the internationally recognized government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try to restore the government to power. Despite a relentless air campaign and ground fighting, the war has deteriorated largely into a stalemate and spawned the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

On Saturday evening, Kordahi visited Cardinal Bechara Rai, the head of Lebanons Maronite Catholic church, to consult him on the matter but gave no comments afterward. Kordahi, a former show host on a Saudi-owned TV station, had earlier refused to apologize, saying his comments meant no offense to the kingdom.

Earlier in the day, Kuwait followed Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by ordering the Lebanese charge daffaires to leave the emirate within two days.

Later Saturday, the United Arab Emirates state-run WAM news agency said that it would withdraw its diplomats from Lebanon in solidarity with Saudi Arabia. It added that the consular and visa section at its embassy in Lebanon will continue working.

The UAE also said Emiratis would be prevented from traveling to Lebanon.

Qatars Foreign Ministry followed with a statement offering its astonishment and denunciation of the remarks, urging Lebanon to calm the situation and hasten to heal the rift. Oman, long an interlocutor between Iran and the West, called on all to to exercise restraint and work to avoid escalation and address differences through dialogue and understanding.

In Beirut, several government officials met Saturday to discuss the crisis that is likely to have major repercussions on Lebanon. The meeting was briefly attended by the U.S. embassys Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Michaels at the foreign ministry in Beirut, according to Bouhabib.

They can help in solving these problems, Bouhabib said about the United States.

Bouhabib canceled his visit to Glasgow, Scotland, where he was supposed to attend a U.N. climate summit, to deal with the crisis with the oil-rich Gulf nations. He said Mikati will go to Glasgow, where he will discuss the crisis with foreign dignitaries.

President Michel Aoun said in a statement Saturday that Lebanon wants the best relations with Saudi Arabia and its neighbors.

Kordahi made the comments on a TV program before he was chosen for the post in September. Kordahi is close to the Christian Marada Movement, an ally of the militant Hezbollah group.

In Cairo, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said the crisis caused by Kordahis comments has led to a great setback in Lebanons relationship with the Gulf countries.

He urged Lebanons president and prime minister to take necessary steps to ease the tension, especially with Saudi Arabia.

Aboul-Gheit also called on Gulf officials to review measures that could have negative consequences on Lebanons already battered economy.

___

Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
An agreement between Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois will provide mentoring and educational opportunities, summer camps and potential scholarships for junior high and high school students and encourage them to pursue STEM careers.

On Oct. 25, Austin Lane, chancellor of SIU Carbondale, and Loretta Graham, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois, signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA), which will help diversify STEM fields. Nationwide, women made up 29% of those employed in science and engineering occupations in 2017.

The MOA fits well with SIU Carbondales Imagine 2030 strategic plan, which include pillars to foster student success, support diversity, equity and inclusion, and build partnerships, Lane said.

With this agreement, we can reach out to them as young as junior high and plant the seed early, he said. We hope they will see that a world-class education, personal attention and unique, hands-on learning opportunities are in their backyard.

This is SIUs fifth agreement this year with a school district or youth organization. It is similar to those with Carbondale Elementary School District No. 95, Girls Inc. of St. Louis, East St. Louis School District 189 and Cahokia Unit School District No. 187.

One of every seven school aged girls in Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois 40-county mostly rural jurisdiction is a Girl Scout. The four pillars of Girl Scouting are STEM, life skills, entrepreneurship and the outdoors.

Through this partnership, we are building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place, Graham said.

The agreement includes:

SIU Carbondale will provide virtual or in-person educational and mentoring opportunities for Girl Scouts in junior high and high school members in any academic areas of interest with a special emphasis on STEM-related programs.

Girl Scouts will have opportunities to attend summer camps, including leadership, STEM-related and aviation camps.

High school sophomores to seniors can participate in on-campus Experience SIU Day opportunities.

SIU will work to establish scholarship opportunities for student members who meet established criteria. Qualifying students from Illinois are also eligible for the Saluki Commitment, the universitys pledge to close financial gaps in tuition.

High school seniors in the program will receive a personal visit from the SIU chancellor during the fall of their senior year.
One of the big questions hanging over the Essex Crossing mega-project has always been the viability of around 350,000 square feet of office space located in two buildings on Delancey Street. This week there was at least a partial answer. Verizon has signed a 20-year lease for 143,000 square feet at 155 Delancey St., with an option to take the remainder of the office space.

According to the New York Post, Verizon will move hundreds of employees, including its marketing team, from the telecommunications giants building at 140 West St. to the third through 5th floors of the mixed-use building called The Artisan. The deal includes use of a private outdoor terrace on the sixth floor. You will soon see Verizon branding on the building facade. The Post reported, The parties declined to comment on terms of the long-term deal but other real estate sources pegged the cost of the 20-year lease at roughly $80 per foot with over $130 per foot towards work in Verizons space.

Verizon will need to decide by late next year whether to take the remaining 35,000 square feet at 155 Delancey St. and another 175,000 square feet at 145 Delancey St.

Years ago, a community task force hashing out plans for the former urban renewal site chose to prioritize commercial/office development as part of the project. They saw it as a way of revitalizing daytime commercial activity on the Lower East Side with foot traffic from office workers. While 350,000 square feet may not be a game changer, there were hopes that a high profile office tenant at Essex Crossing could spur more commercial development in the neighborhood.

Yet there have always been concerns about whether big firms would make the move to the LES. This was the case long before the pandemic, which hobbled New York Citys office market as a whole (its started to show some signs of life in recent months).

Essex Crossing developers have pitched their project as an ideal playground for young, creative professionals who would find amenities like the Essex Market and the Market Line appealing. The outdoor space was also likely a big draw in the post-pandemic environment.

The next big challenges for Essex Crossing: launching phases two and 3 of the Market Line (only one section below the Essex Market has opened) and filling a lot of ground floor retail spaces in buildings stretching from Ludlow Street to Clinton Street. The team has also yet to redevelop the remaining sites north of Delancey Street, the former home of the Essex Street Market.
Direct Phuket flights from Kazakhstan resume

PHUKET: The first regular scheduled flight service from Kazakhstan to resume since the COVID-19 tourism shutdown was brought into effect last year landed in Phuket this morning, bringing 165 tourists entering the country under the Phuket Sandbox scheme.

tourismtransporteconomics

By The Phuket News

Sunday 31 October 2021, 11:51AM

The Air Astana direct flight departed Almaty, Kazakhstans former capital which remains a key business city for the country, at 00:25am and landed at Phuket International Airport at 8:12am today (Oct 31).

Present to welcome the disembarking passengers was Nantasiri Ronnasiri, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket office.

Among those on board the flight was Bella Tormysheva, Vice-president of Corporate Communications of Air Astana, who arrived to discuss further flights and tours coming to Phuket.

Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries are another potential market for people traveling to Phuket. It is also a new market group to watch as well. This is a great opportunity for Phuket to welcome this group of tourists, Ms Nantasiri said.

Air Astana has arranged for a maximum of four flights a week to Phuket in November, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand has received reports that there are still six more airlines waiting to resume flights to Phuket in November, she added.
Health insurance not required for Thai returnees

BANGKOK: Entry rules for Thai returnees will be basically the same as those for foreign arrivals, except for the health insurance requirement, once the country reopens on Monday (Nov 1), the government says.

COVID-19Coronavirustourismhealth

By Bangkok Post

Sunday 31 October 2021, 10:11AM

Suvarnabhumi airport staff take part in a drill for the handling of international arrivals on Oct 27, ahead of the official reopening of the country to foreign visitors on Monday. Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb / Bangkok Post

Expats living and working in Thailand with a valid visa or residential permit are also exempt if they can produce a Social Security card or certified letter from their employer, reports the Bangkok Post.

Otherwise, they are required to provide proof of health insurance coverage in Thailand, according to a detailed Q&A on the reopening process from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Deputy government spokeswoman Ratchada Dhnadirek said on Saturday that, like foreigners, fully vaccinated Thais may enter the country without quarantine if they are travelling from any of the 46 places on the list announced by the government on Oct 21.

One of the conditions is they must have stayed in those countries for at least 21 consecutive days.

She said the exception is short-term travellers  Thais who normally live in the country but have left for those countries for a short period.

In this case, they do not need to have stayed in the countries for 21 days to qualify for an exemption from quarantine, provided they have not been anywhere else before returning.

Like foreigners, they must also take pre-flight RT-PCR coronavirus tests no more than 72 hours before boarding.

They are also required to reserve and pay for accommodation overnight at SHA+ hotels or alternative quarantine facilities and stay there for one night while waiting for the Covid test results.

If the results are negative, they are free to go everywhere in Thailand.

Unlike foreigners, Thais are not required to have health insurance for coverage of at least US$50,000 since they are already covered by universal healthcare.

For fully vaccinated returnees who do not come from the 46 places or have not stayed in any of them for 21 consecutive days, the Sandbox rules will apply.

They will have to book and pay for rooms at SHA+ hotels for seven days. They will be tested first on arrival and then on day 6 or 7. After seven days, they can go to other areas.

For Thais who have not been vaccinated or are not vaccinated in full, they will have to be in quarantine for 10 days if they arrive by plane and 14 days at predefined facilities if they come by car.
Phuket officials briefed on Nov 1 arrival rules, TAT sums up changes

PHUKET: Phuket officials have received direct instructions and guidelines on how the country in general and the island in particular are to welcome tourists from next month.

tourismCOVID-19Coronavirushealth

By The Phuket News

Sunday 31 October 2021, 01:57PM

Phuket has received final instructions on what to do from Nov 1 onwards. Photo: PR Phuket

The Governor of Phuket, Narong Woonciew, and top ranking officials from various government agencies joined an online meeting with the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to be briefed on what terms and conditions the country will be accepting foreign tourists from Nov 1 onwards.

The online meeting was held last Friday (Oct 29) just two days before the new rules were to come into force. Yet The Phuket News reported the new policy on Thursday (Oct 28) citing the announcement by the Department of Consular Affairs.

At the meeting, it was concluded that the readiness of Phuket is considered to be very high, because Phuket was the first province to open its doors for foreigners in July with the Phuket Sandbox project. So for the island the next relaxation of entry restrictions is just another logical step along the known route.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) presented its own summary of the new rules highlighting three vectors of the scheme and providing tourists with what they call user-friendly checklists of points covering before, during, and after travelling to Thailand under the three programmes: Test & Go (Exemption from quarantine), Living in the Blue Zone (Sandbox), and Happy quarantine nationwide

TEST & GO: Exemption from quarantine

Requirements

Travel by air from the approved countries/territories (see list here*) where travellers must have stayed for 21 days or more.

Returning Thais and foreign residents, who previously travelled from Thailand, are exempt from this requirement.

Applying for a Thailand Pass

(1) Register for a Thailand Pass at https://tp.consular.go.th (available from 1 November, 2021). Until then, apply for a Certificate of Entry (COE) at https://coethailand.mfa.go.th.

(2) Upload the required document (along with the valid visa/re-entry permit, if required), and allow 3-5 working days for the approval process. Wait for the approval of the Vaccine Certification and paid accommodation, including the RT-PCR test.

(3) Confirm the approval, and receive a Thailand Pass QR Code (or COE).

Arrival in Thailand

(4) Present the Thailand Pass QR Code (or COE) to the Health Control to carry out checks, then proceed through the Immigration procedures.

(5) Undergo the RT-PCR COVID-19 test at the reserved accommodation, or the pre-arranged test centre.

(Children aged under 6 years have a saliva test.)

(6) Proceed to the hotel by the pre-arranged airport transfer. (Distance from the airport within 2 hours.)

(7) Download and install the MorChana application at the hotel.

During Your Stay

(8) Wait for the test result within the hotel room.

(9) If testing negative for COVID-19, you will receive an Antigen Test Kit (ATK) for COVID-19 self-testing on Day 6-7.

(10) Get an alert for the self ATK testing on Day 6-7, and to record the result in the MorChana application.

(11) Practice the D-M-H-T-T-A precautions: D  Distancing, M  Mask wearing, H  Handwashing, T  Temperature check, T  Testing for COVID-19, and A  alert application.

When You Are Leaving

(12) Free to go anywhere in Thailand or leave Thailand to other countries. However, travellers are advised to follow the guidelines and measures announced by the respective province/country of their destination.

*The original list has been expanded from 46 to 63 countries and territories

SANDBOX DESTINATIONS: Living in the Blue Zone

Before You Arrive

Requirements

Travel by air from any country around the world.

Stay the first 7 nights within one of the 17 Blue Zone Sandbox destinations if planning to continue the journey to other destinations in Thailand.

Required Documents

A Certificate of Vaccination (fully vaccinated) with an approved vaccine at least 14 days before travelling.

Those previously infected within 3 months must have received 1 dose of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before travelling.

Travellers under 18 years of age, travelling with parents or guardians, are exempt from the vaccination requirement.

A Medical Certificate with an RT-PCR lab result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected issued no more than 72 hours before travelling (all travellers).

A confirmed payment for SHA+ accommodation, and RT-PCR test.

An insurance policy with coverage no less than US$50,000.

Applying for a Thailand Pass

(1) Register for a Thailand Pass at https://tp.consular.go.th (available from 1 November, 2021). Until then, apply for a Certificate of Entry (COE) at https://coethailand.mfa.go.th.

(2) Upload the required document (along with the valid visa/re-entry permit, if required), and allow 3-5 working days for the approval process. Wait for the approval of the Vaccine Certification and paid accommodation, including the RT-PCR test.

(3) Confirm the approval, and receive a Thailand Pass QR Code (or COE).

Arrival in Thailand

Present the Thailand Pass QR Code (or COE) to the Health Control to carry out checks, then proceed through the Immigration procedures.

(5) Undergo the RT-PCR COVID-19 test at the reserved accommodation, or the pre-arranged test centre. (Children aged under 6 years have a saliva test.)

(6) Proceed to the hotel by the pre-arranged airport transfer. (Distance from the airport within 5 hours.)

(7) Download and install the MorChana application at the hotel.

(8) Wait for the test result within the hotel room.

During Your Stay

(9) Stay at least the first 7 nights within one of the 17 Blue Zone Sandbox destinations if planning to continue the journey to other destinations in Thailand.

(10) If staying less than 7 nights, you must leave Thailand immediately on a direct flight to another country. *All travellers are subject to 2 required COVID-19 tests: the first test upon arrival by an RT-PCR method, and the second test on Day 6-7 by self-testing ATK. (Effective on 1 November, 2021 onwards)

(11) Practice the D-M-H-T-T-A precautions: D  Distancing, M  Mask wearing, H  Handwashing, T  Temperature check, T  Testing for COVID-19, and A  alert application.

When You Are Leaving

(12) After having completed a 7-night stay in one of the 17 Blue Zone Sandbox destinations, you are free to go anywhere in Thailand or leave Thailand to other countries. However, travellers are advised to follow the guidelines and measures announced by the respective province/country of their destination.

ALTERNATIVE QUARANTINE: Happy quarantine nationwide

Before You Arrive

Requirements

Travel from any country around the world.

If fully vaccinated, 7-day quarantine.

If unvaccinated or partially vaccinated,

10-day quarantine for air and sea arrivals.



14-day quarantine for land arrivals.

Required documents

A Medical Certificate with an RT-PCR lab result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected issued no more than 72 hours before travelling (except Thai nationals).

A confirmed payment for AQ accommodation.

An insurance policy with coverage no less than US$50,000. [or Thai Social Security coverage]

Applying for a Thailand Pass

(1) Register for a Thailand Pass at https://tp.consular.go.th (available from 1 November, 2021). Until then, apply for a Certificate of Entry (COE) at https://coethailand.mfa.go.th.

(2) Upload the required document (along with the valid visa/re-entry permit, if required), and allow 3-5 working days for the approval process. Wait for the approval of the Vaccine Certification and paid accommodation, including the RT-PCR test.

(3) Confirm the approval, and receive a Thailand Pass QR Code (or COE).

Arrival in Thailand

(4) Present the Thailand Pass QR Code (or COE) to the Health Control to carry out checks, then proceed through the Immigration procedures.

(5) Undergo the RT-PCR COVID-19 test at the reserved accommodation, or the pre-arranged test centre.

(Children aged under 6 have a saliva test.)

(6) Proceed to the hotel by the pre-arranged airport transfer. (Distance from the airport within 2 hours.)

(7) Download and install an alert application.

(8) Wait for the test result within the hotel room. If testing negative for COVID-19, travellers can enjoy activities within the designated areas of the accommodation.

During Your Stay

(9) Must complete the required quarantine period if planning to continue the journey to other destinations in Thailand.

If fully vaccinated, 7-day quarantine (RT-PCR test on the first day and Day 6-7).

If unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, 10-day quarantine for air and sea arrivals (RT-PCR test on the first day and Day 8-9), and 14-day quarantine for land arrivals (RT-PCR test on the first day and Day 12-13).

(10) Practice the D-M-H-T-T-A precautions: D  Distancing, M  Mask wearing, H  Handwashing, T  Temperature check, T  Testing for COVID-19, and A  alert application.

When You Are Leaving

(11) After having completed the required quarantine period, you are free to go anywhere in Thailand or leave Thailand to other countries. However, travellers are advised to follow the guidelines and measures announced by the respective province/country of their destination.
EDWARDSVILLE  Three people were charged Friday in connection to an Oct. 10 Godfrey burglary.

Ricky R. Carter, 53, of Wood River, and Christopher C. Martin, 48, and Bennie L. Thompson, 52, both of the same address in Cottage Hills, were each charged with residential burglary, a Class 1 felony.

In addition, Thompson and Martin were charged with aggravated offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 1 felony, and Carter was charged with unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 3 felony.

The cases were presented by the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force.

According to court documents, on Oct. 10 the three allegedly entered a home in the 6100 block of Godfrey Road to commit theft. Martin and Thompson allegedly were found to have a stolen 1941 Chevrolet.

Carter allegedly was found to have four 20-gauge shotgun shells. He has a 2019 Madison County conviction for offenses relating to motor vehicles.

Bail was set at $75,000 each.

Other felony charges filed Oct. 29 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Sofka H. Gunter, 28, of Granite City, was charged with residential burglary, a Class 1 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On Oct. 29 Gunter allegedly entered a home in Granite City to commit theft. Bail was set at $75,000.

 Cole S. Brayton, 25, of Granite City, was charged with offenses relating to motor vehicles, a Class 2 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. On Oct. 17 Brayton allegedly was found to have an Apollo Model 125 TTR motorcycle. Bail was set at $60,000

 Donald G. Gibson Jr., 34, of East Alton, was charged with retail theft over $300, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On Oct. 28 Gibson allegedly took a Halloween mask and watches valued in excess of $300 from the Godfrey Walmart. Bail was set at $20,000.

 Brandon A. Jeffries, 32, of Belleville, was charged with unlawful possession of a fraudulent identification card, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. On Oct. 28 Jeffries allegedly was found to have a fake Texas drivers license. Bail was set at $20,000.
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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Millions of employees are jumping ship as a result of their experiences at work during the pandemic, a new survey suggests.

As many as 29 per cent of workers plan to change employer - or have already done so - since the start of the pandemic, rising to 40 per cent for those aged 18 to 34.

Seeking out a higher salary was the most common reason, followed by a better company culture and a more generous benefits package.

Employment trends: In the three months to September this year, there were 1.1 million job vacancies in the UK

Of those looking to move, 20 per cent said they were unhappy their current employer did not support their mental health sufficiently during the pandemic, the survey by employee benefits provider Unum UK found.

As many as 46 per cent said they would resign or want to resign if their employer asked them to come back to the office full time after working from home during the pandemic.

However, workers surveyed were twice as likely to be happier at work now than before the pandemic.

Workers in the US have been quitting their jobs in droves in a trend that has been branded the Big Quit or the Great Resignation. The survey findings suggest a similar movement may be playing out in the UK jobs market.

In the three months to September this year, there were 1.1 million job vacancies in the UK - the highest number on record.

Last week, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that unemployment as a result of the pandemic would peak at 5.2 per cent.

It had previously predicted at the pandemic's height that unemployment would hit 12 per cent.

That means more than two million fewer people will be out of work than previously feared.
Rolls-Royce is working with Qatar to launch a new fund that will funnel billions into UK green engineering projects.

The Qataris are plotting to build a science hub in northern England where companies will be able to build and test new technologies.

Building for the future: Rolls-Royce will allow firms receiving funding to use its sites

The scheme aims to create five so-called 'unicorn' companies  which are worth more than $1billion (731m)  by 2030 and create 10,000 jobs in Britain in the coming years.

It could be announced as soon as this week to coincide with the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow.

Qatar Airways, the country's flag carrier, is one of the biggest customers of Rolls' Trent plane engines.

Rolls will allow firms receiving funding to use its sites. It will also take stakes in some of the businesses.

Qatar is in talks with venture capital and private equity firms to back the project, the Sunday Times reported.

The Gulf state will provide funding through the non-profit Qatar Fund. Qatar is already a major investor in the UK  with stakes in Heathrow, Sainsbury's and British Airways-owner IAG.
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Trick-or-treating is generally safe because its an outdoor activity, allowing people space to social distance and air to ventilate.
SCHENECTADY - Students from the Gloversville High-Altitude Achievement Club visited Innovative Test Solutions on Kings Road in Schenectady last week to observe testing on an educational satellite being launched into orbit as part of the Teachers in Space Program.

Teachers in Space is a national nonprofit that uses space exploration experiences to get students interested in science and math. Its name was inspired by NASAs Teacher in Space program that picked New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe to become the first school teacher to go into space. McAuliffe died along with the rest of her crew when the Challenger Space Shuttle broke up during launch in 1986.
Emily Kusaywa starts her workday at 3:30 a.m. After a solid four hours of work, she stops to get her first-grader off to school and run her very active 19-month-old son through a daily routine.

When her son goes down for a nap at noon, shes able to knock out a couple of meetings for her freelance administrative work. But before long hes up again, demanding her attention as are daily chores. She tends to him several more hours until her husband comes home from work and relieves her so she can finish her work day.

Its 7 p.m. by the time she looks up.

I try to balance it, but in like the last month, especially, it's been almost impossible, the Ballston Spa mother said.

Cranking out work before the sun has risen and working through the night are some of the adjustments Kusaywas made since being unable to find child care. Her toddler had been enrolled at a day care, but she pulled him out in June due to the cleanliness there. She reignited her search for care in August but has had no luck yet.

The child care scene is facing a myriad of problems trickling down into centers and homes across the Capital Region that federal and state legislators are hoping to address as part of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda. The bill is still the subject of much debate among Washington lawmakers and what relief it will ultimately provide to families is not yet known.

Jessica Klos, director of policy and community education at the Early Care and Learning Council boiled it down to two issues: availability and affordability.

It is an industry that it's not very affordable for parents, just because of the cost model of it, she explained.

The cost for child care is dependent on the ratio of caretakers to children and infants. And day care centers fostering more of a classroom environment tend to cost more than home-based venues because of differing overhead costs and ratios.

Abbe Kovacik, executive director of the Capital Region-based Brightside Up child care referral agency, explained that the ratio of children to caregivers is determined by age group. State guidelines call for child care centers to staff one adult for every four infants and a group size no larger than eight. Every five toddlers require one adults supervision and groups are capped at 10.

Kusaywa remembers paying anywhere from $55 to $65 a day for her older son to be looked after at day care. Now, shes being quoted at nearly $100 a day for her toddler.

Shes tried the alternative of finding a part-time nanny to help for a few hours a day a couple of times a week, but with people asking for $20 an hour, it doesnt balance out for her either. At that rate, she would be working just to cover the expense of having someone come in.

It's insane to do that, she said. That's just too much for a kid, like I can't afford to do that.

I mean, $350 (or) $400 a week, who has that? That's the whole mortgage payment for some people, she added.

Kovacik believes paying for an infant in day care is more expensive than sending a student to a state college. Her agency found families are spending anywhere from $150 to $300 a week for care.

Family child care, based in a caregiver's home, tends to be less expensive but can run a family about $200 weekly in the Capital Region. A report from the states Child Care Availability Task Force concluded that one year of infant care at a center was more than double the cost of tuition at a four-year state university. The average family is expending $15,394 a year for infant care in the state.

The Build Back Better Act introduced by the federal House of Representatives Committee on Education is seeking to defray the costs associated with child care. A report from the committee suggested its programs could save thousands of dollars every year for families.

Their estimates indicated the typical New York family of four with an infant in day care could save $11,380 annually and families needing day care for an infant and second child could save $22,560 a year under the plan.

Kusaywa has reached the point where she would pay a full days price even though she only needs a few hours worth of care. But its no longer an option seeing that many facilities around her dont have capacity to take on another child.

Kovacik said the region was losing family child care providers faster than they could be recruited long before the pandemic started. In 2017, Brightside Up reported the Albany, Renssealaer and Schenectady counties suffered a 69 percent decrease in the number of registered family child care and school-age programs since 2008.

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The problem was exacerbated by the crisis.

Many low-paid child care workers up against the risk of contracting coronavirus at work fled the industry to take jobs in other sectors that pay better and provide benefits, according to Kovacik. The mass reshuffling resulted in a shortage of workers and closed day care classrooms, which disrupted ratios and further limited availability.

Klos often finds herself telling parents to try and get on a day care waiting list when they get pregnant because there's a serious scarcity of open slots. And in 2020, Brightside Up received 2,260 referral requests for child care across six counties.

The organization follows up with about 5 percent of clients seeking care regularly. Between July 1 and Oct. 29, 2021, Brightside Up recorded 246 families who sought out the nonprofit's help, about five percent of their requests during that period. Only 136 of those families found care. About 15 others no longer needed care, but the rest were either still searching or had no luck.

Data from the Center for American Progress in 2020 determined 64 percent of New Yorkers live in a child care desert  a census tract housing more than 50 children under the age of 5 with either no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children than slots for care in the area.

Brightside up analyzed the Capital Region's supply and demand for child care in 2019. It found numerous child care deserts across 10 counties  Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington  many of which were in low income or rural communities and common among families of color or families with nontraditional work schedules.

Data indicated a "significant shortage of child care in the Menands and Cohoes area, large areas of rural communities without a single child care program in Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties, 50 children per single child care slot in South Troy, and overall shortage of infant and toddler care in Schenectady County," the report concluded.

Here is a breakdown of the number of child care deserts per county in the Capital Region.

The state task forces report has also called on leaders to allocate capital funding toward these deserts and expand options and open slots for families. The reports writers acknowledged the compounded child care problems affecting families would take years to remedy but said it should at least start by establishing the vision forward.

Capital Region 'child care deserts' by county The Capital District Child Care Council identified dozens of Census tracts as "child care deserts" because the neighborhoods have so many children and so few licensed child care slots. Here is a breakdown of the number of Census tracts in each county considered a "desert." Albany: 41

Columbia: 12

Fulton: 11

Greene: 10

Montgomery: 12

Rensselaer: 23

Saratoga: 34

Schenectady: 24

Warren: 15

Washington: 13 See More Collapse

The long-term fix still wouldnt address families current needs, like those of Kusaywa. So, looking out at the bleak landscape for child care, she has one question: What am I supposed to do?
Times Union Historic Images

Saratoga Jewish Community Arts, with a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and sponsored by Temple Sinai, presents a zoom panel discussion of the documentary "Partisans of Vilna," produced by Aviva Kempner in 1986, on Monday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m.

This Holocaust documentary focuses on Jewish resistance against the Nazis. Kempner, a law school graduate, became involved with several causes while working for a law firm in Washington, DC, where she met a number of documentary filmmakers.

I got more interested in the power of film, especially to show political events, she said. It was there she decided that she had to make a film about Jewish resistance, reopening her own familys wounds of pain, hardship, and loss.

"Partisans of Vilna" is a sensitive and powerful interweaving of interviews with more than three dozen former partisans and witnesses from Vilna.
* If youre unsure if male enhancement pills are right for you, please contact your primary care provider.

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The best male enhancement pills contain natural ingredients that nourish the male reproductive system to provide benefits such as harder erections, improved stamina, increased libido, more pleasure, and greater overall sexual performance.

But not all male enhancement pills are created equal. Some male enhancement supplements contain shoddy ingredients or low-dose formulas that are nothing more than a glorified sugar pill.

To help you find the best sex pills for men, weve reviewed the most popular male enhancement pills on the market. We rated each male enhancement product based on factors such as ingredients, dosage, price, reviews, and effectiveness.

If youre ready to boost your sexual performance and increase your confidence in the bedroom, here are the best male enhancement pills to buy in 2021.

Top 7 Best Male Enhancement Pills of 2021

#1. Performer 8: Best for Improved Sexual Performance

Performer 8 is among the top male enhancement supplements since it improves various aspects of male sexual health. Are you looking to treat erectile dysfunction, boost your sex drive, or prevent premature ejaculation? Performer 8 is among the best sex pills for you to consider.

Advertised Benefits

The advertised benefits of Performer 8 include its ability to:

Increase testosterone secretion naturally

Enhance sexual performance

Help you achieve more intense orgasms

Prevent premature ejaculation

Promote the development of lean muscle mass

How Does It Work?

Performer 8 is a male enhancement pill that improves your overall and sexual health in several ways. First, taking Performer 8 can promote blood flow throughout the body and improve the health of your blood vessels. The result is a healthy blood supply to your muscles and erectile tissue.

Using Performer 8 can improve all aspects of your sex life. When taking this male enhancement pill, youll find it easier to become aroused and get rock-hard erections. Your energy levels and sexual stamina will also improve significantly.

Ingredients

The Performer 8 formula, which was created based on extensive research, contains various healthy, natural ingredients. Each ingredient plays a unique role in promoting male sexual health. Performer 8s ingredients include:

Muira puama bark extract

KSM-66 ashwagandha

Maca

Ferrous bisglycinate

Panax ginseng

Grape seed extract

Horny goat weed

Pine bark extract

Glucuronolactone

Who Is This Product For?

Performer 8 is the best male enhancement pill for men who suffer from multiple sexual health issues. For example, if you have erectile dysfunction and low libido or anxiety in bed that causes premature ejaculation, Performer 8 is for you.

Performer 8 is suitable for all men, regardless of their age, lifestyle, or health conditions. You can take Performer 8 if youre a young guy struggling with obesity or a man nearing his 70s looking to spice things up in the bedroom.

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#2. VigRX Plus: Best for Harder Erections That Last Longer

VigRX Plus is a male enhancement pill that improves overall sexual health and performance. However, this products formula makes it the best male enhancement supplement for obtaining harder erections, which hundreds of reviews confirm.

If you have erection problems due to high blood pressure, diabetes, or erectile dysfunction, consider VigRX Plus. This male enhancement pill will help you get longer lasting erections, improving you and your partners sex life and relationship.

Advertised Benefits

The advertised benefits of VigRX Plus include its ability to:

Improve blood vessel health and blood flow

Increase natural testosterone production

Improve sexual stimulation and arousal

Enhance erection quality and duration

Boost confidence levels in the bedroom

How Does It Work?

Conditions such as diabetes or heart disease affect your blood flow, which is necessary to get an erection. Erectile dysfunction, excessive alcohol consumption, and aging have similar effects.

The VigRX Plus formula can trigger the instant, unrestricted release of nitric oxide from nerve endings into the bloodstream. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, which means it widens the blood vessels to increase blood supply to the erectile tissue. The increasing blood flow relaxes penile muscles so you can get an erection for longer.

Ingredients

VigRX Plus contains healthy, natural ingredients to improve erections and remedy other forms of sexual dysfunction. The ingredients in the VigRX Plus formula include:

Epimedium leaf extract

Cuscuta seed extract

Ginkgo biloba leaf dxtract

Asian ginseng root

Saw palmetto berry-fructus serenoae

Muira puama bark extract

Catuaba bark extract

Hawthorne berry-fructus crataegi

Tribulus terrestris

Who Is This Product For?

VigRX Plus is among the best male enhancement supplements for men who want bigger, harder erections. Whether your erection problem results from erectile dysfunction, low testosterone levels, or an underlying medical condition, VigRX Plus is the ideal solution. In addition to treating erectile dysfunction, this male enhancer can also improve sexual function and desire.

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#3. Max Performer: Best for Lasting Longer in Bed

Max Performer is a male enhancement supplement that improves sexual performance by boosting your testosterone levels, energy levels, and sex drive. If you want to put the spark back into your relationship, Max Performer is the enhancement supplement for you.

The advertised benefits of Max Performer include its ability to:

Increase testosterone secretion naturally

Enhance blood flow for bigger, harder erections

Promote arousal and increase sex drive

Increase energy levels and sexual stamina

Improve ejaculation control and confidence in the bedroom

How Does It Work?

Max Performer is a male enhancement product made to improve sexual performance in men. The ingredients in the Max Performer formula work together to boost testosterone production by the adrenal glands and Leydig cells in the testes. As your testosterone levels increase, so will your energy levels, sexual stamina, and semen volume.

Max Performer promotes blood flow to improve your erection quality. You can also gain control over ejaculation, which promotes self-confidence and sexual satisfaction.

Ingredients

Max Performer contains ingredients that improve your sexual function. In addition, this formula offers leading-edge health benefits. The Max Performer ingredients include:

Horny goat weed

Maca root

Selenium

Pantothenic acid

Cordyceps

Bioperine

Red korean ginseng

Pyridoxine HCI

Zinc and iron

Who Is This Product For?

Max Performer has a male enhancement formula for better sexual performance, and it is suitable for all men over the age of 21. In addition to sexual enhancement, Max Performer offers leading-edge health benefits.

By improving blood flow, these male enhancement pills can alleviate cardiovascular health issues. In addition, the increase in testosterone production makes this product ideal for men who want to see better results from their workouts. If you experience chronic fatigue or low stamina in bed, you should also consider these male enhancement pills.

Click Here for the Lowest Price on Max Performer

#4. ProSolution Plus: Best for Preventing Premature Ejaculation

Premature ejaculation is not an indication of a severe underlying condition. However, this type of sexual dysfunction can significantly impact your relationship and confidence levels in bed.

Prosolution Plus is the best male enhancement pill for men who struggle to control their ejaculations. This is effective for ejaculation control and sexual enhancement. However, unlike many other male enhancement formulas, Prosolution Plus offers ejaculation control without affecting sexual desire.

The advertised benefits of Prosolution Plus include its ability to:

Boost testosterone levels naturally

Enhance your confidence levels during sexual activity

Trigger sexual arousal upon stimulation

Improve overall health and sexual function

Promote sexual performance and stamina

How Does It Work?

The causes of premature ejaculation are often psychological. Depression, poor body image, and a history of abuse often play a role. In addition, fear of premature ejaculation can affect your control. Biological causes of premature ejaculation include a hormone imbalance and abnormal levels of neurotransmitters.

ProSolution Plus stimulates the release of testosterone by the testes and adrenal glands. Boosting testosterone levels improves your self-confidence and stamina, addressing almost all psychological causes of premature ejaculation. In addition, the increase in testosterone levels helps rectify biological causes, such as a hormonal imbalance.

Ingredients

ProSolution Plus contains various natural ingredients to promote the natural secretion of testosterone in the body. ProSolution Plus ingredients include:

Withania somnifera

Asphaltum exudate

Tribulus terrestris

Mucuna Pruriens

Asparagus adscendens

Asteracantha longifolia

Curculigo orchioides

Who Is This Product For?

ProSolution Plus is the best male enhancement supplement for men who have difficulty with premature ejaculation. This product promises to improve your control over ejaculation, regardless of the original cause of the problem.

Click Here for the Lowest Price on Prosolution Plus

#5. Volume Pills: Best for Sexual Pleasure

Sexual activity is supposed to be a rewarding aspect of your relationship. However, the pressures of daily life, sexual health issues, and low self-esteem can have a significant effect on your sex drive and satisfaction.

Volume Pills is a popular male enhancement supplement that improves sexual desire and pleasure. Taking this product will increase your libido and help you achieve more intense orgasms. Volume Pills is also a natural male enhancement supplement that increases your semen volume.

The advertised benefits of Volume Pills include its ability to:

Increase nitric oxide production

Initiate the physiological process of sexual arousal

Improve your sexual stamina and energy levels

Enhance the quality of your sex life

How Does It Work?

During sexual activity, the physical sensations your body experiences travel through the nervous system to the brain. Then, the brain releases chemicals in the bloodstream to heighten your sense of pleasure. However, when something goes wrong with the signaling of pleasure sensations or the release of feel-good chemicals, the pleasure you get from intercourse can diminish.

Low testosterone levels, a reduction in sperm production, and chronic stress are common reasons you may stop enjoying sex.Volume Pills boosts your T-level and sperm production and helps you relax. This combination of effects increases sexual satisfaction.

Ingredients

Volume Pills has a unique formula to enhance sexual performance and increase your semen production. The ingredients of these sexual enhancement pills include:

Sea oak (fucus) bubble extract

Zinc

Japanese tinder fungus extract

L-arginine

Cinnamon

Mucuna extract

Curculigo extract

Apigenin

Who Is This Product For?

Volume Pills is one of the most effective male enhancement supplements to help you enjoy sexual activity. If a busy lifestyle, chronic anxiety, or an underlying health concern diminish your sexual satisfaction and overall function, this product is for you.

In addition to improving your sex life, Volume Pills will increase your sperm production naturally. If you and your partner are trying to get pregnant, try Volume Pills first.

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#6. Viasil: Natural Formula for Erectile Dysfunction

As you get older, you undergo regular physiological changes that can affect your sexual function and health. Common sexual conditions among aging men include erectile dysfunction, low libido, and diminishing sexual stamina. Lower testosterone levels can also affect your sexual performance in several ways.

As one of the best male enhancement pills for men over 40, Viasil gives you the sexual energy performance you had when you were in your 20s. Taking this enhancement product will restore your libido and help you get and maintain erections.

The advertised benefits of Viasil include its ability to:

Restore an active, fulfilling sex life

Promote the health and function of blood vessels

Boost testosterone secretion in the body

Increase nitric oxide levels in the bloodstream

Improve sex drive and libido

How Does It Work?

Like many other male enhancement formulas, Viasil stimulates the production of testosterone by the testes. As your testosterone level rises, it regulates your sex drive, promotes optimal fat distribution, and increases red blood cells and sperm production. Testosterone also promotes the development of lean muscle mass and bone mass.

The increased blood flow resulting from higher testosterone also improves sexual function in several ways. As your blood vessels open, the blood supply to the erectile tissue increases, making it easier for you to sustain erections.

Ingredients

The Viasil formula contains proven ingredients that are safe for older men. The most notable ingredients in this product include:

Horny goat weed

Citrus sinensis

Ginkgo biloba

Zinc

Panax ginseng root

Tribulus terrestris

Pomegranate leaf extract

Who Is This Product For?

Viasil is a male performance supplement that improves overall sexual function in men over 40. If you notice a gradual decline in your sexual stamina or if your workouts no longer produce the results you want, Viasil is the male enhancement supplement for you.

Click Here for the Lowest Price on Viasil

#7. Male Extra: Best for Increased Sex Drive

When you lose interest in sexual activity, you have a low libido. It is normal for your libido levels to go up and down. However, if you have been making excuses to your partner for more than a month, consider Male Extra.

Taking Male Extra will boost your sex drive and put the chemistry back into your relationship. Whether the cause of your low libido is medications, hormone problems, or depression, Male Extra is the solution.

The advertised benefits of Male Extra include its ability to:

Increase testosterone secretion in the bloodstream

Boost nitric oxide levels to widen blood vessels

Trigger sexual arousal

Enhance sexual desire

Prevent erectile dysfunction

How Does It Work?

The primary cause of a low sex drive is a decrease in testosterone. As your testosterone drops, so does your libido. Causes of low testosterone levels include aging, medications, restless leg syndrome, and chronic illness, such as Type 2 diabetes.

Male Extra is a supplement containing various ingredients to increase T-levels, reversing the effect of aging and medications. Male Extra also promotes blood flow to the penile tissue by increasing your nitric oxide levels, making it easier for you to get and maintain an erection.

Ingredients

Male Extra contains natural ingredients, including:

Pomegranate extract

Cordyceps

L-arginine HCL

Zinc

Niacin

Methyl sulfonyl methane

L-methionine

Who Is This Product For?

Male Extra is the male enhancement pill for men experiencing low libido for longer than a month. This product works for low libido, regardless of the cause. For example, if your low libido is due to medications, a medical condition, or restless leg syndrome, this pill can provide an effective way to get results.

This product is also a viable option for men who want to enhance their sexual health in general. Whether you want to boost your energy levels, prevent erectile dysfunction, or control ejaculation, this supplement will work for you.

Click Here for the Lowest Price on Male Extra

How Do Natural Male Enhancement Pills Work?

Each male supplement has a unique formula to address a specific sexual health-related concern. However, the most popular supplements work by triggering the release of testosterone by the Leydig cells in the testes and the adrenal glands. Increasing testosterone in the bloodstream goes a long way towards promoting sexual function.

Male enhancement supplements also work by increasing nitric oxide secretion by body cells. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator that widens the blood vessels to increase blood flow and lower blood pressure. By promoting blood flow and maintaining blood vessel health, male enhancement supplements alleviate erection problems.

Most high-end male enhancement products contain vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, such as zinc. These ingredients promote your overall health and prevent conditions that can affect your sexual wellbeing.

Things to Look for When Buying the Top Male Enhancement Supplements

The list of male enhancement supplements on the market is endless. As someone looking for an effective product to improve your sexual wellbeing, the wide selection of products available may be overwhelming.

Unfortunately, male enhancement scams are common. Knockoffs and low-quality products may appear to deliver results quickly. However, the results will fade in the long run, and the ingredients can even be harmful to your health.

How do you know if a male supplement is safe and effective? Below, we look at critical considerations you should consider when shopping for supplements.

Quality Ingredients of a Male Enhancement Pill

When shopping for the best male enhancement pills, the formula is the most crucial buying factor. High-quality male enhancement pills, such as the ones in this guide, contain safe, natural ingredients. Clinical researchers are constantly researching the ingredients in sex pills to determine their efficacy and safety.

Reputable male enhancement brands, such as Performer 8, carefully consider the results from these studies when formulating their products. If you are new to male enhancement supplements, some of the ingredient names may sound strange. However, ingredients such as horny goat weed and ginkgo biloba are among the most effective components of natural male enhancement pills.

When shopping for a male supplement, be on the lookout for the following ingredients:

Horny goat weed

Maca root

Pantothenic acid

Red Korean ginseng

Zinc and iron

Pomegranate leaf extract

L-arginine HCL

Methyl sulfonyl methane

L-methionine

Citrus sinensis

Ginkgo biloba

Tribulus terrestris

Most ingredients play a unique role in the formula, such as increasing testosterone, while others promote general sexual wellbeing and libido.

Clean Labeling

Clean labeling means the manufacturer of a product includes a list of all the product ingredients. Unfortunately, many sub-par companies remove ingredients, such as preservatives, artificial dyes, and chemical compounds, from their list of contents. In other words, when you buy from these brands, you dont know what you are putting in your body.

With clean labeling, manufacturers are honest about what goes into their products. This practice allows you to research each ingredient and decide whether it is something you want to consume.

In some cases, a brand may list a synthetic compound in the product. When this happens, you can find the potential side effects of the ingredient and weigh the risks against the rewards.

Money-Back Guarantee

In some cases, men are apprehensive about the financial risk of buying male enhancement pills. High-end supplements are effective, but they have a significantly higher price tag than products at the low end of the quality spectrum.

When weighing two products against each other, find out if the suppliers offer a money-back guarantee. If you dont see results from using a supplement, a money-back guarantee allows you to get a full refund.

Also, pay attention to the terms and period of the money-back guarantee. Ideally, you should have 60 days or longer, since thats how long it takes to see results. A 30-day money-back guarantee is generally not sufficient to determine if a supplement is right for you.

Positive Customer Reviews

Unbiased reviews often provide valuable information about male enhancement supplements effectiveness and safety. By reading reviews, you will also learn more about discreet delivery, ease of use, recommended dosages, and customer service.

People who bought and used a product are generally objective, and they want others to learn from their experience. Consumer sites and online forums on male enhancement pills are valuable sources of customer reviews.

When reading a customer review, keep in mind that the reviewer may have a different reason for using the product than you. For example, someone who tried an erectile dysfunction supplement to boost semen production may be disappointed in the product.

Made in the USA

Only considering US-made products goes a long way towards ensuring that the supplement you choose is safe and effective.

The consequences of selling low-quality products can also be severe. Brands in the United States maintain high quality and safety standards to mitigate their risk of civil suits and legal claims. However, when buying products from manufacturers in other countries, you dont necessarily have the same level of protection.

All the products in this guide are from US-based manufacturers.

What Type of Results Can You Expect from Male Enhancement Products?

The results you can expect from taking male enhancement pills vary, depending on their formulas. Generally speaking, the most common result is a testosterone increase. This male hormone plays several crucial physiological roles, including its ability to:

Increase your sperm production and fertility

Promote the growth of body and facial hair

Develop muscle mass

Increase your libido

Alleviate sexual conditions, such as erectile dysfunction

Develop bone mass

Improve energy levels, concentration, and confidence

By stimulating the release of nitric oxide, male enhancement pills can also increase blood flow throughout your body, lower your blood pressure, and help you maintain harder erections.

Other results from male enhancement pills may include:

More satisfaction from sexual activity

Better control over ejaculation

Counteraction against the effects of aging

How Much Do Male Enhancement Pills Cost?

When shopping around, youll find cheap male supplements with product descriptions promising results within a few days. However, price is your primary indicator of quality and efficacy, and we dont recommend making your decision based on price alone.

High-end male enhancement products are expensive, and you can pay $100 or more for one bottle. If you have budgetary restrictions, consider saving the money and buying the pills later. Some brands offer bulk discounts, and you can save by buying multiple bottles at the same time.

You can also save on your supplement costs by watching for coupon codes and offers for free shipping.

Alternatives to Male Enhancement Pills

If you dont want to buy male enhancement pills, you can find other alternatives. The goal of male enhancement supplements is to improve your sexual wellbeing and general health. However, if you are purely looking for a penis enlargement solution, a male supplement is not your best option.

When considering products or methods to increase your penis size, pay careful attention to safety. Cheap penis enlargement devices or pills can cause injury or long-lasting adverse effects. However, the best penis enhancement pill can safely increase your penis size.

Below, we look at viable alternatives to male enhancement pills.

Penis Extenders

Penis extenders are penis enlargement devices that increase penis length and girth by applying traction. The tension creates micro-tears along the penile shaft, and the scar tissue that forms adds to the penis size. You have to wear the penis enlargement device for a few hours per day for several months for the best results.

Most penis extender devices have memory foam padding and other features to make the process as comfortable as possible.

Penis extender devices typically feature traction settings you can adjust. Ideally, you should start at the lowest setting and increase the traction gradually over time. According to some penis extender reviews, wearing a penis enlargement device is effective and safe, and you might consider it to increase your penis size.

Jelqing

Jelqing is not a product but a method to increase your penis size over time. This exercise involves moving the blood from the base to the tip of your penis while applying pressure with your thumb and index finger. Scar tissue may start forming over time, which is the goal of jelqing.

According to some medical professionals, this exercise is relatively safe, but there is not enough evidence that it is effective. However, if you do it more than once per day or apply too much pressure, you may start experiencing pain and irritation.

Testosterone Boosters

Testosterone boosters are similar to male enhancement pills, but they have specific formulas to boost testosterone secretion in the body. When taking supplements to increase testosterone levels, you may experience all the effects of a testosterone increase on the body. However, these products don't aim to promote your sexual wellbeing.

Anabolic steroids also fall under the category of testosterone boosters. However, these products contain hormones, and the sale of these products without a prescription is illegal. Potential adverse side effects of anabolic steroids include:

High blood pressure

Blood clots

Heart attacks and stroke

Artery damage

Breast enlargement

Male-pattern baldness

When shopping for testosterone boosters, stick to products with safe formulas from reputable brands.

Things to Avoid When Buying Male Enhancement Supplements

When buying and using male enhancement pills, avoid the following:

Product descriptions offering results within a matter of days

Formulas containing harmful ingredients

Product claims that are too good to be true

Supplements containing hormones

Knock-off or fake brands

Products from foreign countries

Products from brands using strange or unsolicited advertising methods

Before buying a supplement, do extensive research to ensure that the product is not harmful. If something seems off about the product or its brand, the product may be harmful or ineffective.

If you are not sure whether a supplement is safe to take, schedule a consultation with your doctor. Seeking a professional medical opinion is crucial if you take prescription meds or have an underlying medical condition.

Can Sexual Enhancement Tablets Increase Penis Length?

Male enhancement pills are not penis enlargement solutions, and taking them will not increase the size of your penis permanently. However, you can expect to get a bigger, harder erection when taking male enhancement pills because of the increase in blood flow.

If you are still in your teens, the increase in testosterone may speed up the development of your penis and testes. However, while taking male enhancement pills may speed up the development process, dont expect your penis size to increase in the long run.

If you are looking to increase your penis length, consider another product, such as a penis extender or penis enlargement pill.

Can You Buy Penis Enhancement Pills Over the Counter?

You can go to a pharmacy or supplement store and buy male enhancement pills over the counter. However, products you buy over the counter have relatively low potency, and they dont deliver the same results as supplements you can buy online.

The best male enhancement pills in this guide have relatively high potency, and you can expect them to produce results within a month or two. However, despite their high ingredient concentration, they are perfectly safe to take as alternatives to Viagra in terms of enhancing sexual performance.

Final Thoughts  Are Male Enhancement Pills Right for You?

We have reached the end of our guide on male enhancement pills. Hopefully, you now have the information you need to make an informed purchasing decision.

Male enhancement pills contain ingredients to promote testosterone and nitric oxide secretion. The benefits of taking these products include increased energy levels, better erections, higher sex drive, and control over ejaculation. Taking these pills will not only alleviate dysfunction or the effect of a medical condition but also enhance your overall sexual wellbeing.

If you are over 40 or if you suffer from an underlying health condition, taking male enhancement pills can improve your sexual health significantly. These products also work for men with unhealthy lifestyles.

The supplements in this guide are safe and effective. If you are looking to improve your relationship and quality of life, these products are a viable option.

Related Content:

*This article is provided by an advertiser. Statements made are not meant to offer medical advice nor to diagnose any condition. Any studies cited here may be preliminary, and may or may not be peer reviewed, and may or may not have sufficient participants to be statistically relevant. Anecdotal accounts should not be taken as scientific results. Products discussed in this article are not designed to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. The FDA does not evaluate dietary supplements. Consult your doctor about possible interactions, allergies, and if you are considering using a natural and/or dietary supplements for any condition. Individual results will vary.
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.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

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.
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Intelligencer.
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Baltimore Sun.
[October 30, 2021] Sceye Demonstrates Broadband From Stratosphere

Sceye, a material science company and manufacturer of High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS), announced today that it successfully connected a 4G antenna with 3D beam forming from the stratosphere. Sceye's unmanned stratospheric platform launched at 8:55 a.m. MDT from its New Mexico facility and landed safely at 1:05 p.m. MDT. Today's launch was part of Sceye's test plan to demonstrate the feasibility of extending high-speed internet services to unserved and underserved populations bridging the digital divide. Sceye is performing these demonstrations for its clients, which include one of the world's largest private telecommunications carriers, the State of New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD) and a consortium of telecommunications carriers focused on providing 100% connectivity across the Navajo Nation. "We've reached another milestone in proving broadband inernet connectivity is possible from the stratosphere," said Sceye CEO and Founder Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen. "And with the connectivity achieved today, we're confident we can use our height and long range to expand broadband coverage to the underserved."



The demonstration proved the system and infrastructure are network-ready and demonstrated that the HAPS can successfully connect to devices on the ground. This is the first time an active array antenna with 3D beam forming technology connected directly from the stratosphere to a smartphone on the ground. While airborne, the company conducted a round of tests to improve upon the data connection range of its systems. Standard LTE (News - Alert) technology allows for a range of 100km. Sceye's systems have exceeded that standard and previously connected the active array at 140 km from a helicopter. Successfully repeating the long-range test from the stratosphere is important due to the unique low pressure and low temperature environment. Sceye is also partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EDD, and New Mexico Environment Department on a five-year study to monitor air quality in the State of New Mexico. Sceye's HAPS will track methane emissions with a 1-2 m resolution, allowing them to determine pollution levels as well as pinpoint individual emitters.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211030005020/en/

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A Kansas City, Kansas Catholic cleric has been a critical of Prez Biden and his public declarations of faith that contradict the doctrine of The Church.



Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas and Catholic leaders from across the nation debated policy on denying communion to so-called Catholic leaders who supported abortion.

Amid a battle to deny communion to all pro-choice politicos, the local faith community honcho also directly challenged the faith of the Prez.

The president should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic, and acknowledge that his view on abortion is contrary to Catholic moral teaching, Naumann told The Catholic World Report.

Nevertheless, it seems that Pope disagrees with these assessments.



In fact . . .



El Papa, as the Mexicans call him, was rather forgiving of Prez Biden and didn't really address criticism from conservative American Catholics.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

Biden slammed by Catholic priests for meeting with Pope Francis, taking communion President Joe Biden received Communion at St. Patrick's Church during Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after saying Pope Francis told him he should continue to partake in the sacrament, prompting negative reactions from Catholic priests upset that the president's position on abortion is not in line with Church doctrine.

Biden is America's most prominent Catholic. The church's most conservative wish he wasn't. WASHINGTON - When President Joe Biden met Friday with Pope Francis at the Vatican, he presented the pontiff with a 100-year-old handspun cloak from a church in the nation's capital with a long history and a liberal bent. But it wasn't the priestly attire that sent the strongest message.

Bidens attend Mass in Rome, a day after meeting Pope Francis Joe Biden and his wife Jill attended Mass on Saturday evening in the American church of Rome, a day after the U.S. president met Pope Francis and said later that the pontiff had told him he is a "good Catholic" who can receive communion.

Developing . . .
Allow us to posit theory about local traffic in much the same way that amateur urban planners often share insight on every street project in Kansas City . . .

ARE BIKE/WALK ACTIVISTS ARE MAKING TRAFFIC MORE DEADLY BY POLITICIZING CAR ACCIDENTS!?!

Over the past few years, regardless of fault, nearly every car crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian has been decried as an injustice and used as support to finance unwanted local bike lanes and other transit projects of questionable merit.

OF COURSE . . . Nobody likes car crashes.

But blaming people without context is unproductive.

During the pandemic we noticed Bike/Walk activists slowly walking back this tactic.

The reality is that EVERYONE should want safer streets for pedestrians, cyclists AND drivers.

And so, shaming drivers without any investigation is unproductive.

However, even drivers who feel persecuted aren't absolved for leaving the scene of an accident. Here's a glimpse at how authorities are targeting this increasingly common and illegal practice . . .



Police say they have a lot of ways to track hit and run drivers these days, cameras, car parts, but often the best identification comes from eyewitnesses. They are asking anyone with information, including the drivers themselves involved in these crashes, to come forward or call the TIPS Hotline at 816 474-TIPS.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Kansas City police investigating series of hit-and-run crashes involving pedestrians KANSAS CITY, Mo. - There's no official data tracking hit-and-run crashes, but police agree they certainly seem to be on the rise in Kansas City. That especially has been the case in October for hit-and-run crashes involving pedestrians. Just after 7 p.m. Wednesday, a 61-year-old woman was killed not far from her home.

Widow of man killed in hit-and-run outside Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium wants safety improved WICHITA, Kan. - It has been nearly three weeks since 66-year-old Steve Hickle was killed in a hit-and-run outside Arrowhead Stadium. It happened on Oct. 10 as the Chiefs hosted the Buffalo Bills. Steve's wife, Laurie, still doesn't know the people responsible for hitting her husband, running him over and driving away.

Developing . . .
The reviews for Mayor Q's recent junket to the wrong side of the Show-Me State were dismal.



However . . .

One KICK-ASS KANSAS CITY INSIDER shares this worthwhile perspective on an MSM image that didn't make the KCMO news.

Check the money line . . .



"Looks more like a date than seeing how a bigger murder capital does their police work?!"



The joke hits home because most people in KC don't believe we have any thing to learn from a much more violent, divisive and crumbling town like STL.

Moreover, this reminds us that Mayor Q remains intensely and understandably private. So far we haven't seen a single image with his new wife and baby . . .

This sneak peek reveals they make quite an attractive couple . . .



Still, we're happy that the mayors of the two biggest cities in KCMO seem happy and in good spirits despite gunfire overshadowing any hope for municipal unity across Missouri.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .
The pandemic changed everything and there's never REALLY any going back.



And so . . .

Consumer air travel, the backbone of the industry continues to be an increasingly sketchy proposition.

Take a look . . .



"The company blamed the move on air traffic control problems and limited staffing in Florida as well as bad weather, saying getting its operations back to normal was "more difficult and prolonged" because of schedule and staffing reductions implemented during the pandemic."

Fact is . . .

The smaller and more "complex" New KCI might not meet the demands of an industry that's clearly in flux.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .
Prog blogs highlight a local blame game following a tragic spate of gunfire.



Check the premise . . .



Security guard Frank Randle saw a man with a Draco AK-style rifle firing into a crowd of people waiting to get into the nightclub. The shooting killed a young woman and injured 16 people.



At that point, I had done security work for many different venues for 15 years, but that one night, that was just the one that was the most unreal one I have ever been a part of, said Randle, who has since stopped working security because he no longer felt safe after that night . . .



In the days after the shooting, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker pointed out it might never have happened if not for rollbacks in Missouri gun laws.

The quote and the post are mostly political theater that overlooks Kansas City club life context that was exceptionally volatile before this shooting and a problem establishment which endured a history of violence.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .
Terre Haute, IN (47803)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 38F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 38F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
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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
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.
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.

Baldwin called the shooting incident a one-in-a-trillion event and said he had met with Hutchins' husband. He is in shock, he has a 9-year-old son. We are in constant contact with him because we are very worried about his family and his kid. As I said, we are eagerly awaiting for the sheriffs department to tell us what their investigation has yielded.

Investigators in New Mexico where the shooting occurred have said that there was some complacency in how weapons were handled on the movie set but it's too soon to determine whether charges will be filed.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza has said 500 rounds of ammunition  a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and suspected live rounds  were found while searching the set of the Western Rust.

Detectives have recovered a lead projectile they believe the actor fired. Testing is being done to confirm whether the projectile taken from Souzas shoulder was fired from the same long Colt revolver used by Baldwin. The FBI will help with ballistics analysis.

Souza, who was standing behind Hutchins, told investigators there should never be live rounds present near the scene.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said investigators cannot say yet whether it was negligence or by whom. She called it a complex case that will require more research and analysis.
TRUMBULL  It was about time, the Rev. Tim Hare said.

Hare, 48, is the pastor of Trumbull Congregational Church, which bills itself as the oldest established church in Trumbull. On Sept. 19, the churchs roughly 150 adult members voted on whether to become open and affirming. That is the term used by the United Church of Christ (which the Trumbull church is part of) to denote that a church is welcoming and inclusive of all people, specifically including members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The members approved the change, with only one dissenting vote, and posted a message on its web site declaring itself as such.

In a way, we were overdue for this, Hare said. Too many people in the LGBTQ+ community have felt rejected from the church. We wanted to stand up and say that they are of sacred worth. They are made in the image of God and they are loved.

He said hes aware of other Congregational churches in the area that have declared themselves open and affirming, and this is a movement that seems to be growing within the greater United Church of Christ community.

According to the web site for the Open and Affirming Coalition for the United Church of Christ, more than 1,500 churches and other ministries in the United Church of Christ welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer members, and more than 350,000 members of the UCC belong to open and affirming churches.

Trumbull Congregational Church was first established in 1730, and its current building, at 3115 Reservoir Ave., was dedicated in 1899. Its policy is congregational, meaning every member has a say in most major decisions involving the church.

Hare has been pastor since 2014, and said he has thought about making the church open and affirming for some time. He said hes aware of at least one same sex couple who are members of the church, but the idea was to reach not just people who are already part of the church, but everyone in the community.

This says, essentially, to members of the LGBTQ+ community that this is a safe place, he said. And that they can trust us to welcome them as we would anyone else who shows up at our door.

The vote on whether to become open and affirming was done both in person and virtually, for those who couldnt physically be at the church, Hare said.

According to the statement posted on the churchs website, the Trumbull Congregational Church welcomes people of any age, race, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, economic status, marital status, physical, emotional and mental capacity, and those in traditional and non-traditional families as equally valued members of our community and unique expressions of Gods image.

Hare said the churchs plan now is to get the word out.

The next steps are finding ways not just to be welcoming, but to be inviting, he said.
The dry season for 2022 is shaping up to be drier and warner than usual.
Ben Veghte is director of WA Cares Fund. Starting in January, most workers in Washington will see a 0.58% payroll deduction on their paychecks that will go toward funding the states first-in-nation public insurance program.
Registered nurse Katie Hammond talks on the phone in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at Harborview Medical Center, which is part of Seattle-area health care system UW Medicine, in Seattle.
Punjab Minister for Industries and Commerce Mian Aslam Iqbal held an open court here at Quaid-i-Azam Industrial Estate (QIE), Kot Lakhpat, on Saturday and listened to the problems of industrialists

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2021 ) :Punjab Minister for Industries and Commerce Mian Aslam Iqbal held an open court here at Quaid-i-Azam Industrial Estate (QIE), Kot Lakhpat, on Saturday and listened to the problems of industrialists.

The minister expressed displeasure over grant of permission for setting up of educational institutions on the estate premises and asked the QIE Board management about it. The minister ordered for investigating the matter and finding out those responsible for the illegality.

He also ordered for improving the sanitation system in the estate and ensuring the dengue spray. He said that benches should be installed in the park for the convenience of the workers.

The minister directed the Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) chief executive officer (CEO) to resolve all complainants within next three days.

It is a responsibility of the PIEDMC and QIE Board to provide facilities to industrialists, he added. The problems of industrialists must be resolved within the stipulated time period, he added.

QIE President Arif Qasim, Tariq Siraj Jaffery and other board members were also present. The industrialists thanked the provincial minister for holding an open court and helping resolved their issues.
Rome, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Oct, 2021 ) :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 "tomorrow".

Erdogan has had a rocky relationship with Biden, whom he last met on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels in June.

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.
Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2021 ) :US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Sunday in Rome with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the State Department said, in only their second face to face session amid acute tensions between the two powers.

The meeting in Rome, where both diplomats were attending the G20 summit, is listed on Blinken's public schedule for Sunday.

It will be the first between Blinken and Wang since a stormy session in Alaska back in March during which the Chinese delegation berated the American side as tv cameras rolled.
Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2021 ) :Japan's ruling coalition is on track to retain power but lose seats in parliament, media predictions said after polls closed in Sunday's general election, the first major test for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The 64-year-old, who took office a month ago, said the forecasts based on exit polls showed the public has "trust" in his long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito.

But as the votes were counted, analysts warned that a poor showing could raise questions within the LDP over the prime minister's popularity and leadership ability.

Public broadcaster NHK predicted the coalition would win 239-288 of the 465 seats in parliament's lower house.

TV Asahi said the coalition was expected to win 280 seats, down from its previous total of 305 -- weakening the dominance of the LDP, which has held power almost continuously since the 1950s.

"If the ruling coalition is given a majority, the government is given trust. It is a big deal," Kishida said in televised comments.

He added that he hoped to issue a fresh stimulus package by the end of the year to counter the impact of the pandemic on the world's third-largest economy.

"As far as economic measures, upon receiving the results of this election, I would like to draft them as soon as possible." He had previously said the package would be worth tens of trillions of Yen.

- 'Economy is suffering' - Kishida was voted LDP leader after Yoshihide Suga resigned just a year into the job, partly due to public discontent over his response to the Covid-19 crisis.

He has not enjoyed a political honeymoon, however, with approval ratings around 50 percent, the lowest in two decades for a new administration in Japan.

Cases have dropped precipitously since a record wave this summer that pushed the Tokyo Olympics behind closed doors, and voters in the capital said the pandemic was a major factor in their decision.

"The economy is suffering because of the coronavirus, so I compared the politicians' responses," said Chihiro Sato, 38, a housewife and mother of a toddler.

But engineer Hiroyasu Onishi, 79, said he was more concerned by "the military threat from China".

Kishida has outlined plans to tackle inequality heightened by the pro-business policies of Suga and his predecessor Shinzo Abe.

He has vowed to distribute wealth more fairly under a so-called new capitalism, although the details remain vague.

Kishida had set a comfortable target of winning 233 lower-house seats, a simple majority including LDP and Komeito lawmakers.

The LDP previously boasted a commanding majority of 276 seats on its own.

NHK predicted the party would hang on to between 212-253 seats on Sunday, while tv Asahi said it would win 243, still a simple majority without Komeito.

- 'Key test' to come - In recent decades, votes against the LDP have been split between multiple major opposition parties, but this time five rival parties boosted cooperation in a bid to dent its stranglehold.

"It's a defeat for Kishida as his party loses seats, but he is still able to secure his premiership for now," Shinichi Nishikawa, a professor of political science at Meiji University in Tokyo, told AFP.

"He avoided the worst scenario in the election but he may lose his influence," Nishikawa said, adding that an upper house vote next summer will be a "key test" of Kishida's longevity as leader.

Tobias Harris, senior fellow for Asia at the Center for American Progress, said that at the lower end of the exit poll predictions, "there will be debates within the LDP about the vision for the party going forward".

"There are going to be questions about his leadership ability, his popularity", he told AFP.

As well as vowing to tackle the pandemic and working to boost the middle class, the LDP has said it will aim to increase defence spending to counter threats from China and North Korea.

But Kishida has so far distanced himself from social causes such as same-sex marriage and allowing married couples to have different surnames.

Kishida said that if his win was confirmed, he wanted to attend the COP26 summit in Glasgow as his first overseas engagement after the election.
Wellington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2021 ) :New Zealand set itself an ambitious new emissions reduction target Sunday, with a pledge to halve its net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The new target, announced as world leaders gather in Glasgow for the critical COP26 summit on climate change, is substantially higher than the previous goal of a 30 per cent reduction set as part of the 2015 Paris agreement.

New Zealand's enhanced contribution to the global fight on climate change "represents our fair share, and is in line with what's needed if we are to avoid the worst impacts of global warming," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

Emissions are currently about the same as they were in 2005 and Climate Change Minister James Shaw described the next decade as "make or break" for the planet.

"To stand a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C, the science shows we now have about eight years left to almost halve global greenhouse gas emissions," he said in a statement.

"That's eight years for countries to make the necessary plans, put in place policies, implement them, and ultimately deliver the cuts."Under a complex system for determining the contribution to fighting climate change, the cuts will include arrangements helping other countries reduce their emissions, drawing criticism from the opposition National Party.

"National supports using global carbon markets to achieve our targets, but there is no sense in setting a target that over-reaches and simply signs New Zealand up to a huge bill as we buy units from overseas," the party's climate change spokesman Stuart Smith said.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Rome, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2021 ) :The French and British leaders agreed on Sunday to defuse days of sniping over post-Brexit fishing rights, according to Paris, potentially averting a full-blown trade war that would embroil the entire EU.

President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Boris Johnson met for about 25 minutes on the margins of a G20 summit in Rome, aides said, a day after Johnson complained to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen that French threats to trigger reprisals over the row were "completely unjustified".

They agreed to work on "practical and operational measures" to resolve the dispute in the coming days, Macron's office said.

They were united on the need for a "de-escalation" with concrete action to come "as soon as possible", it said.

There was no immediate comment from Downing Street.

Johnson has been stressing at the G20 that all sides must focus on the bigger picture of climate change as he prepares to host more than 120 world leaders at the COP26 summit from Monday.

But both the UK and French governments had been intensifying their angry rhetoric, and France last week detained a British trawler that was allegedly fishing illegally in its waters.

The two sides have also been at loggerheads over a nuclear submarine alliance involving Australia, Britain and the United States, dubbed AUKUS, that left France in the cold.

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 since Brexit took full effect at the start of 2021.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2021 ) :The 884 MW Suki Kinari Hydropower Project, being constructed with US $ 1.9 billion cost under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be operational by 2022.

According to the schedule, Suki Kinari hydropower plant is expected to be completed by the end of next year, an official source told APP.

The run-of-the-river project is being established alongside the Kunhar River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

It is also one of Pakistan's largest private sector power development projects and is being constructed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor's `Early Harvest' projects.

The project is being developed on the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model  which implies that the Chinese Company would operate it for 30 years after which the project would be transferred to the KP government.

Once completed, the project would add 884 megawatts to the national grid and all four units would become fully operational by 2022.

The completion of this hydro power plant will play an important role in promoting Pakistan's industrial development and economic recovery.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2021 ) :Azad Pattan Hydropower Project having capacity to annually generate 3064 GWh cheap and environment friendly power would be completed by 2026.

The 700 MW project is located on Jhelum River roughly 7 km upstream of Azad Pattan Bridge in the Sudhanoti District, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and 90 km from Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, said official source of Ministry of Water Resources.

The project's $1.5 billion investment agreement was signed between Chinese state-owned China Gezhouba Group and Pakistan in July 2020, in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan and senior government ministers in July 2020.

Height of run of the river dam is 90 m (295 ft).

1124 MW Kohala Hydropower Project is likely to be completed by December 2025 with the cost of $2.4 billion.

The annual generation capacity of run-of-the-river project is 4800 GWh,said an official source.

The diversion dam site is on Jhelum River near Sarran Village 40 km upstream from Muzaffarabad and a 20 km long tunnel connects to the powerhouse which is located at Barsala 7 km upstream from Kohala Bridge.

The Kohala hydroelectric scheme will have a gravity, roller-concrete compacted dam on the upper branch of the Jhelum, 40 km from Muzaffarabad.

The powerhouse, on the lower branch of the Jhelum near Barasala, will house four 281-MW Pelton turbines.

The Kohala Hydropower Project is Chinese state owned hydropower developer, namely China Three Gorges Corporation's (CTGC), largest investment in Pakistan. It won the right to develop a hydroelectric dam in Pakistan on January 7, 2015.

The high head project of 316 meters that is located near Kohala, in Azad Kashmir.

In 2020, the project's agreement was signed. The signing ceremony was witnessed by the Pakistani Prime Minister, and Chinese ambassador.

A 300 megawatts coal-fired Gwadar Power Plant would start functioning from October 2023, said official sources.

The power plant would cater the needs of some 150,000 people of Gwadar by the end of 2023 under the 2050 Master Plan of Gwadar.

The power plant of independent power producer, is one of the key energy projects on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The project aimed at improving reliability on local power supply would help gradually solving the problems in current economic development and urban construction in Gwadar region being restricted by the shortage of power.

"We are currently spending millions of Dollars per annum to generate electricity from diesel generators. I hope the plant would be operationalise soon to solve the port's power scarcity issues. The power plant is of great significance to deepening the energy cooperation between China and Pakistan, boosting the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, improving the overall power structure of Balochistan, and promoting local economic development in Gwadar Port.

All major projects under CPEC in Gwadar, including Gwadar Power Plant, the New Gwadar International Airport Project, the China Pak Friendship Hospital, China-Pak Technical and Vocational Institute in Gwadar, the Gwadar East-bay Expressway Project, Gwadar Free Zone, and Gwadar Port would become a shining pearl in the region.

The dam's feasibility study and detailed engineering designs were performed by SMEC.
PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2021 ) :Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser Sunday said that Pakistan is playing crucial role in the establishment of durable peace in Afghanistan and urged the world community to promote cooperation with it in all sectors including trade.

Addressing a public meeting at Marghuz, district Swabi, the Speaker National Assembly said that the restoration of peace in Afghanistan will usher progress and development in the whole region. He said that our businessmen will get access to the market of Central Asian States and help promote business activities.

Besides, CM Mahmood Khan, Federal Minister, Murad Saeed, Provincial Ministers Shahram Khan Tarakai, Taimur Saleem Jhagra and MPA Aqibullah were also present on the occasion.

Speaker NA said, a new era of progress and development has begun in the country and now Pakistan will give a changed look. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan the country has been put on track of development.

He said that the present government was inherited numerous crisis that was battled by it bravely.

He said that the completion of projects initiated under the auspices of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will increase economic activities and people will get employment opportunities. He said that during the present government district Swabi has been given unprecedented funds.

Asad Qaiser said that before the present government, no big ministry was given to Swabi and for the first time the district was given such important representation. He said that he had remained Speaker of KP Assembly for five years and since the last three years, he is the Speaker of the National Assembly.

He said that for the first time, Pakhtuns have been given honour and the representatives of the province were given big posts. He said that the journey of the development of Pakhtuns has begun and now they are not behind anyone in any sector.

Speaker said that Pakhtuns have voted for Imran Khan twice and will vote for him in future too. He said that he is in politics for the service of his area and people of the district.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2021) American Airlines canceled over a thousand flights on the past weekend, according to the FlightAware aviation data platform.

On Saturday, American Airlines called off 543 flights, which makes up one fifth of its schedule.

As many as 553 flights were canceled on Sunday.

The company faced problems on Thursday due to wind gusts, which caused flight disruptions in the Texas airport, according to American Airlines Chief Operating Officer David Seymour. Crew members also were out of position for the next flights over severe weather conditions.
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MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2021) US President Joe Biden expressed concerns over the Russian-made S-400 missile system at Turkey's disposal, during the talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on G20 sidelines on Sunday, the White House said.

"President Biden reaffirmed our defense partnership and Turkey's importance as a NATO Ally, but noted U.S. concerns over Turkey's possession of the Russian S-400 missile system," the press statement said.

Russia and Turkey concluded a contract on S-400 missile defense system in 2017, and the equipment was shipped in 2019.
(@FahadShabbir)

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2021) The report made by the US intelligence community on the origins of COVID-19 is politicized, unscientific, and unreliable, and Washington is obsessed with political manipulations that can damage the global efforts in fighting the pandemic, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Sunday.

On Friday, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a report which elaborates on two possible origins of coronavirus, the natural and the laboratory-associated ones. The US intelligence community considers both options plausible, but does not believe that COVID-19 was developed as a biological weapon, the report said.

"In August, when the US special services published a brief version of a declassified report on the so-called research of COVID-19 origin, the Chinese side strongly opposed it.

The lies repeated thousand times still remain lies," the diplomat said, as quoted by the foreign ministry.

The spokesman added that the fact that the special services were engaged in the research proves that the issue is politicized.

"It can do more harm to the global scientific community in the field of COVID-19 origin research, undermine the international cooperation in fighting with the pandemic, and lead to more human casualties," the official said.

In spring 2021, the World Health Organization issued a full report on COVID-19 origin, stating that the leak from laboratory is an unlikely origin of the virus.
Damascus has denounced the decision of the Turkish parliament to extend Ankara's military presence in Syria and Iraq, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday

BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2021) Damascus has denounced the decision of the Turkish parliament to extend Ankara's military presence in Syria and Iraq, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The Turkish parliament extended permission for the use of Turkish Armed Forces in Iraq and Syria by two years until October 2023 at a session on Tuesday. This decision was supported by lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party, as well as the nationalist Party of the National Movement. The opposition Republican People's Party and the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party were against the decision.

"Syria vigorously denounces the decision made by the Turkish parliament a few days ago to extend permission by Turkish President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) to use the armed forces in Iraq and Syria by two years," the ministry said in a statement.

The Turkish leader's policy creates a threat to the stability and security in the region and the entire world in connection with the ongoing attacks in Syria in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, the statement added.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2021) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a call with his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu, to discuss energy security and further cooperation in the field.

"President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu. The main topic was energy security," a statement published on Zelenskyy's website on Saturday said.

Sandu thanked Zelenksyy for the help provided during Moldova's energy crisis and for Ukraine's supply of gas and electricity.

On October 22, Moldova's parliament introduced a state of emergency due to the energy crisis to quickly allocate funds from the budget for the purchase of additional volumes of gas to maintain pressure in the gas pipeline. On Thursday, Moldova signed a contract for a trial purchase of 52.

9 million cubic feet of gas immediately from the Ukrainian company Naftogaz.

Further areas of bilateral cooperation where also discussed by Zelenskyy and Sandu. Zelensky said that Ukraine was ready to provide Moldova with even more energy supply if needed.

"The parties agreed to hold relevant consultations in Ukraine in the near future at the level of energy ministers of the two countries. The heads of state also exchanged views on topical issues of bilateral cooperation, in particular on the progress in the implementation of the project on building a bridge across the Dniester," the statement added.

The presidents also discussed possible cooperation in regard to European integration and mentioned that it was vital for the Eastern Partnership Summit, which will take place in December 2021, to achieve effectiveness.
MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2021) Spain expects to have donated 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to other countries by the first quarter of next year, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

"Spain will reach 50 million donated doses in the first quarter of 2022. But donations are not enough: we must increase vaccine production in the world and find balanced solutions to the patent debate," Sanchez wrote on Twitter on Saturday, during the G20 summit.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard urged G20 leaders on Saturday to agree on the universal recognition of vaccines against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented a six-point Global Vaccine Cooperation Action Initiative at the G20 summit on Saturday. The proposal envisions work on vaccine research and development cooperation and encourages to provide more vaccines to developing countries to meet the global vaccination target for 2022, as set by the WHO.
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TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 31st October, 2021) Polling stations have opened in Japan where elections to the lower house of parliament are taking place on Sunday.

The polling stations opened at 07:00 local time on Sunday (22:00 GMT on Saturday ) and eligible voters will be able to cast their ballots until 20:00 local time on Sunday (11:00 GMT).

Voter turnout in the first three hours of Japan's general election amounted to 6.32 percent, according to the Japanese authorities. This is 0.83 percentage points lower than in 2017.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is expected to retain the majority of seats in the lower house with the party's candidates likely to occupy at least 233 out of the total 465 seats (289 single-member districts and 176 elected under proportional representation).

A total of 1,051 candidates from nine parties are competing for the parliamentary seats. The general election has already set two records. This is the shortest period between the election of a prime minister, which Fumio Kishida won on October 4, and the dissolution of parliament, which took place on October 14. Moreover, the election campaign this year was the shortest in the post-war history of Japan.
Haitians have also been hit by a fuel shortage amid the wave of escalating violence

Pope Francis expresses his closeness to people hit by flooding in Vietnam and the Italian island of Sicily, urges civil authorities in Haiti to protect people as gang-related violence spikes, and hopes COP26 will produce effective solutions to climate change.

By Devin Watkins

As he does most Sundays, Pope Francis turned his thoughts to current events following the Angelus prayer with pilgrims in St. Peters Square.

His first appeal was for flood-hit populations in Vietnam, where at least one person has died and over 7,000 people have been evacuated.

Prayers for flood victims

My prayers and thoughts go out to the many families who are suffering, as well as my encouragement for the civil and local Church authorities who are working to respond to this emergency, said the Pope.

The flooding in central Vietnam was set off by Tropical Depression Invest which moved across the Southeast Asian nation.

Pope Francis also expressed his closeness to people on the southern Italian island of Sicily, which has seen bad weather over the past week.

A medicane  or Mediterranean hurricane  tore through the eastern part of Sicily, and left at least three people dead.

Do not abandon Haiti

The Pope then turned his attention to the Haitian people, who are living in borderline conditions.

I ask the authorities of various nations to help this country, and to not leave them alone, he urged, asking everyone to pray for the people of Haiti.

Let us not abandon them, the Pope repeated.

Violence and gang-related activity has spiraled out of control in recent months, following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

In one instance, 17 Christian missionaries have been kidnapped by a powerful gang in the capital of Port-au-Prince, which is demanding a ransom of US$17 million. Negotiations for their release are ongoing.

COP26: Hear cry of earth and poor

Pope Francis also recalled the opening on Sunday evening of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Over 30,000 activists, political leaders, journalists, and others are gathering in the Scottish city to kick start efforts to combat climate change and limit global warming.

Let us pray that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor might be heard, said the Pope. May this encounter give effective responses, offering concrete hope to future generations.

He then mentioned a Laudato si-themed photographic exhibition which opened on Sunday in St. Peters Square and features the work of a photographer originally from Bangladesh.

New Spanish Blesseds models for priests

Finally, the Pope recalled the four new Blesseds who were beatified in the Spanish city of Tortosa on Saturday.



He said Francisco Castor Sojo Lopez, Millan Garde Serrano, Manuel Galcera Videllet, and Aquilino Pastor were killed in hatred of the faith during the Spanish civil war.

During the religious persecution of the 1930s, they remained faithful to their ministry even at great risk to their own lives, said Pope Francis. May their witness be a model especially for priests.
A new case study unveiled in a major money laundering inquiry in the Canadian province of British Columbia revealed an instance of a Chinese national purchasing $32 million in real estate in the Vancouver area despite declaring to customs officials that his annual income was barely more than $40,000 CAD.

The 165-page study is part of the Cullen Commission, spearheaded by BC Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen, announced in May of 2019 to provide the public with a certain level of examination into the trend of organized crime money laundering in Canadas westernmost province.

The Case Study, which is heavily redacted, says that in 2016, Canada Border Services Agency began an admissibility investigation into an individual cloaked as Person A, who immediately filed for leave and judicial review in the Federal Court of Canada. The document says that in March of this year, five years later, the Federal Court issued a confidentiality and sealing order over the file.

The documents were produced by the Cullen Commission nonetheless because they were public filings and obtained before the sealing order was issued.

The Study says Person A was steadily employed from 1983 to 1995. From the year 1998, Person A showed steady annual income peaking at the equivalent of $40,615. Person B was employed as a clerk with undisclosed income. Together they were able to amass the equivalent of CAD 1.26 million to come to Canada.

The documents include a FINTRAC disclosure from UBS Bank (Canada) arising from a series of deposits into an account held by Person As mother, in 2011. Person A held power of attorney over their mother. The series of 10 suspicious transactions originated from four entities based in Hong Kong and amounted to $2.1 million USD and $5 million CAD.

A second FINTRAC disclosure shows a second series of ten deposits originating from a different four entities based in Hong Kong in 2010 deposited in Person A and other family members accounts, amounting to more than $14 million USD.

The inquiry found that starting in 2007, Person A and their family members made a total of four high value real estate purchases. The first transaction in 2007 was a property worth at least $2 million CAD. The next was a 2012 purchase worth at least $14 million, a 2016 purchase worth at least $15 million, and a second 2016 purchase worth $1 million.

The buyer for the $14 million property was registered as living at the address in the original 2007 purchase and declared her occupation as a student.

Additional documents show that Person As mother was the principal of a Bahamas-based corporation defined as Company A that received more than $33 million CAD, $75 million USD, 250,000 Euros, and $18 million HKD between 2006 and and 2014 through its UBS Bank (Canada) account.

A number of the USD and CAD payments were issued from the Bank of China Hong Kong. The receiver claimed they were the result of a property sale in mainland China.

The Commission queried 11 Canadian financial institutions for records related to the Hong Kong depositors between 2009 and 2020, finding a total of almost $167 million CAD brought into the country, Business in Vancouver reports.

Overall, the commission found limited open source information about these depositors, despite the large amounts of cash flowing into B.C. One operated in an obscure building belonging to an auto repair shop.

The article continues, Depositor Hing Wah China + HK Renminbi Exchange Co., which made the most deposits to B.C. accounts, was found to have shareholders named Fang Jinghua and Hing Wah. Those two were accused of operating an underground bank in a Chinese court dispute but were determined innocent of the allegation. Fang, who owns a number of Hong Kong businesses with his family, has also faced charges of assault and criminal damage.

The report found Fangs family was co-shareholder with a man named Fong Siu Lok on several jewelry shops.

BIV summarized the data as, Lok has a somewhat higher public profile than other Fang Family members. He became head of the Hong Kong Lions Club in 2017, and in 2011 and 2012 was one of Hong Kongs delegates to the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) of Fengkai, a region of Guangdong just north of Hong Kong.

The CPPCC is a United Front Work Department entity, the arm of the Chinese Communist Party tasked with co-opting and corrupting overseas businesses, governments, institutions, and individuals to import the Partys culture and operational methodology.

Lok was also tied in the report to a woman named Szeto Yuk Lin, described as a gaming tycoon widely reported to have close connections to organized crime, particularly Wan Kwok-koi, a.k.a. Broken Tooth Koi, a leader of the 14K triad.

Canadian mainstream journalist Sam Cooper documents the exploits of Broken Tooth Koi and the 14K Triad in Macau, Hong Kong, and British Columbia extensively in his book Wilful Blindness: How a Network of Narcos, Tycoons and CCP Agents Infiltrated the West.

Coopers book is based on his years of investigative reporting and chronicles an elaborate scheme employed by the CCPs Triad, another UFWD arm, to launder the proceeds of a lucrative fentanyl and heroin business through BCs government-run casinos under the direct auspices of Beijing and a tendency by Canadian officials at all levels of government and law enforcement to look the other way.
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.
Civil war has displaced many in Ethiopia's Tigray region and there is no end in sight to their misery. VOA's Heather Murdock travels to the largely cut-off conflict zone, as well as refugee camps in neighboring Sudan, to bring the story of a complex political situation and the growing humanitarian disaster.
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Tens of thousands of people marched, Saturday, October 30, in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to protest this week's military coup, calling for a restoration of civilian rule. (Reuters)
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Thousands of Sudanese from across the US attended a march in DC on Oct. 30, 2021, to protest a recent military coup in Sudan. VOA's Nabeel Biajo was there.
Cameroonian authorities are urging thousands of villagers who fled northern Cameroon after a violent conflict between herders and fishers this week to return home. The villagers fled across the border into neighboring Chad after clashes over resources left farms and villages destroyed.

Cameroon says the conflict between cattle ranchers and fishermen has displaced people in Logone and Chari villages, but residents are reluctant to return due to concerns of ongoing violence in the countrys northern border with Chad.

Midjiyawa Bakari is the governor of Cameroons Far North region, where the Logone and Chari Division is located.

Bakari insists that Mousgoum fishermen and Arab Choua cattle ranchers are fighting over water resources to maintain control over their natural habitats. He wants all civilians to know that Mousgoum fishermen also clash among themselves over water in fishing areas. He adds that the Arab Choua cattle ranchers have informed Cameroon government officials on several occasions that their peers allow cattle to stray out of ranches in search of water, causing tensions between Arab Choua cattle ranchers.

Bakari said Mosgoum and Arab Choua communities are not fighting to chase each other from territories they have been living in for decades.

Last week, the central African nation reported at least 11,000 civilians were displaced by conflicts between Mousgoum fishermen and Arab Choua cattle ranchers over water usage. Cameroon said 10,000 civilians jumped across the Logone river separating Cameroon and Chad to Chadian border towns and villages.

Kamssouloum Abba Kabir is an Arab Choua community leader and a lawmaker in Cameroon National Assemblys lower house of parliament. He says peace is gradually returning to both communities.

He is pleading with displaced Arab Choua community in Cameroon and Chad to return home, he says, seeking peace and hoping to reconcile. He has called on the Arab Choua community members in Logone and Chari, an administrative unit on Cameroons northern border with Chad, to drop their weapons for peace and return.

Cameroon President Paul Biya held a 5th crisis meeting in Kousseri, the capital of Logone and Chari Division Monday. During the meeting, it was reported that 43 people have been killed and more than one hundred wounded in the clashes, including 40 villages burned.

Dougmbe Ahamat, a fisherman and spokesperson of the Mosgoum community, says civilians fear returning because their livelihoods have been destroyed.

"It is difficult for displaced Mosgoum fishermen and their families to return when their villages have been burnt down and fishing lands destroyed," he said. "The social and economic consequences of the clashes are enormous, and many men were killed, and their wives and children do not know who to rely on."

Bakari said the government will be sending assistance to the victims but did not say when. He, however, distributed food and matrasses to at least 200 displaced people who returned on Monday.

Mahamat Bahar Marouf is a traditional leader also known as Sultan of Logone-Birni, in another town in Logone and Chari Division.

Marouf says the Mosgoum and Arab Choua communities should learn to settle their disputes peacefully because they will forever live in Logone and Chari. "Fighting instead of exploiting limited natural resources in a sustainable manner will only bring misery to both communities, deepen poverty and underdevelopment," he said.

Cameroon says it will send government officials, cleric and traditional rulers to Chad in the coming days to encourage people to return home.




Cameroonian officials say hundreds of people have fled its northern border with Chad after an ongoing conflict over water between cattle ranchers and fishermen killed 18 people and wounded 70. The wounded have been rushed to hospitals in Kousseri, a Cameroon border town and the neighboring Chadian capital, Ndjamena.

Mouhamadou Evele, a 54-year-old fisherman, says he is a victim of clashes between cattle ranchers and fishermen in Cameroons Logone and Chari division on the northern border with Chad.

Evele spoke through the messaging platform WhatsApp from the Kousseri government hospital where he says he has been receiving treatment from machete wounds for five days.

He says three men armed with bows and arrows and machetes attacked him while he was fishing in a river near Kousseri, a northern town on the border with Chad. He says he does not know the whereabouts of his three children, who were abducted from the fishing ground and taken away on a motorcycle by the attackers.

Evele said but for a deep wound on his right shoulder, he would have left the hospital to look for his three children. He said he was rushed to the hospital on another motorcycle by two people he did not identify but described as well-wishers.

Cameroon says Evele is one of 70 victims of bloody clashes between cattle ranchers and fishermen in Logone and Chari. The government says the clashes started in July with cattle ranchers attacking and beating up fishermen with sticks. Within the past week, though, the situation has degenerated into an armed conflict between fishermen and cattle ranchers.

Saturday, Cameroonian President Paul Biya sent a delegation led by Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon's Far North region, to Kousseri. Bakari says the ranchers are angry because their cows, sheep and donkeys are falling into holes dug by fishermen to conserve water and lure their catch.

Bakari says 12 bodies were discovered in the conflict zone. More than 40 houses have been torched, dozens of cows killed, and food destroyed in farms and homes.

"We have been instructed by the hierarchy [Biya] to go in the field, to talk about peace," Bakari said. "To sensitize [educate] Mousgoum fishermen and Arab Choua cattle breeders [ranchers] to lay down their weapons, to revitalize vigilant committees [militias].

Frequent conflicts occur between the Mousgoum fishermen and Arab Choua cattle ranchers over water from the Logone river separating Cameroon from Chad.

The Logone and Chari Division is part of the Lake Chad Basin. Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger and Benin, member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, say the lake's water resources have diminished by 70% within the past 50 years.

Cameroon says the advancing desert has pushed farmers, fishermen and cattle ranchers to settle along the Logone river for survival.
Cameroons government has sent Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo, to the border between the English- and French-speaking regions amid increasing English-speaking separatist incursions into French-speaking towns and villages.

Officials say many businesses have been abandoned and construction work on government buildings halted due to the increased separatist attacks.

Scores of people watch as members of the Cameroon military display military weapons in Foumban, a French-speaking town on the border with Cameroons English-speaking North-West region.

Warrant Officer Bouba Dawanga Syraye, the ranking officer at the military post in Foumban., says the weapons were seized from suspected rebels.

He says government troops arrested 10 suspects and recovered guns, ammunition and several locally made explosives. He says all the suspects and their accomplices have denied accusations of arms trafficking.

The military says arms proliferation in the French-speaking West region, where Foumban is located, has been on the rise since 2017. The military says English-speaking rebels fighting to create an independent state they call Ambazonia in French-majority Cameroon infiltrate French-speaking towns and villages with weapons.

The government says at least 40 deadly separatist incursions have been reported in the West region since 2017. Bamboutos, Noun and Menou administrative units, also known as divisions, bordering the North-West region are the hardest hit by the separatist fighters.

Awah Fonka, the governor of Cameroons West region, says the fighters attack and kill government troops, loot shops and destroy schools. He says the rebel incursions and killing have halted work on some government projects.

"We have recorded attacks at the level of several projects which would have helped in the development of the region," said Fonka. "The case of Babadjou, Bamenda, Bambotos [road projects], as well as the road leading from Kuikong to Bandjoun and especially the divisions bordering the [English speaking North-] West region and the South-West region."

Fonka said the military has been deployed to protect engineers on roads whose construction has been abandoned. He pleaded with civilians to help stop separatist incursions by reporting strangers in their towns and villages.

Fonka did not say how many government troops, rebels and civilians have been killed, but said the military was deployed this week to stop the incursions.

On July 15, Cameroonian officials said anglophone rebels were disguising themselves as military troops and launching attacks on villages and towns in the West region.

This week, Cameroonian President Paul Biya sent Assomo to lead a high-profile military delegation to French-speaking areas bordering the English-speaking North-West and South-West regions.

During a meeting with local military officers and governors of the North-West and West regions on Friday, Assomo said he was asked to encourage troops fighting the separatists. He said the government adopted a new strategy to fight the rebels but did not say what the new strategy entails.

Rodrique Sufor, who sells chicken in Mbouda, where Assomo and his delegation visited, says he is one of the many people who have relocated their businesses from the town of Galim because of regular separatist incursions and killing there.

"When we hear Ambazonians [separatist fighters] beheading soldiers, the situation cannot leave [allow] us that we can stay in peace, so we want the government to take the situation seriously by reinforcing the security around the area," said Sufor.

Sufor says many people have also fled from the town of Babadjou to safer French-speaking towns.

The government is asking the fleeing civilians to return and assuring them that the military will assure their security and safety.

Cameroons separatist conflict has cost more than 3,000 lives and forced 550,000 people to flee to French-speaking regions of Cameroon or into neighboring Nigeria, according to the United Nations.
American Airlines Group said Saturday it has canceled hundreds of scheduled flights over the weekend because of staff shortages and unfavorable weather conditions.

The airlines said it has so far canceled 500 flights Saturday and more than 300 flights for Sunday, in addition to 376 flights canceled Friday.

"With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences," the airlines said in a statement.

The company expects to get through this period of irregular operations soon, it said.

Heading toward the busy holiday travel season, carriers are trying to hire more employees.

American Airlines said it is increasing its staffing across all operations, with nearly 1,800 flight attendants returning from leave and more than 600 newly hired flight attendants coming on board by the end of December.

Southwest Airlines also said it was hiring aggressively, with the aim of having about 5,000 new employees by the end of this year.
White House officials say U.S. President Joe Biden had very constructive talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Rome Sunday amid simmering tensions and strategic disagreements between Washington and Ankara.

The President made clear his desire to have constructive relations with Turkey and to find an effective way to manage our disagreements, a senior Biden administration told reporters.

The official said topics of discussion included Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, the South Caucuses, climate, human rights as well as Turkeys request to purchase U.S. F-16 fighter jets.

On the subject of the jets, Biden was very clear that there was a process underway that we had to go through, the official said.

In 2019, during former U.S. President Donald Trumps administration, the Pentagon kicked Turkey out of the F-35 program because of its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. Now Ankara wants to buy 40 F-16 fighter jets made by U.S. company Lockheed Martin and nearly 80 modernization kits for its air forces existing warplanes.

U.S. lawmakers have urged the Biden administration not to sell F-16s to Turkey, saying Ankara has behaved like an adversary."

This meeting is important for President Biden to send some messages to Turkey about what is and is not acceptable behavior from a NATO ally, said Rachel Ellehuus, deputy director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She said Biden will convey his expectations for Turkey as a partner in a range of issues including security challenges following U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, its role in the Black Sea region and performance in NATO.

Bilateral relations between the two NATO allies have also been strained over human rights. As president, Biden has pledged to restore human rights and democracy as pillars of U.S. foreign policy. In August of last year, before taking office, then-Democratic presidential candidate Biden advocated for a new U.S. approach to the autocrat Erdogan. Ankara slammed the comment as interventionist.

Since then, the two leaders have taken a more pragmatic approach to maintaining a relationship. Biden is keen to avoid another escalating flashpoint in the region following the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, while Erdogan is embattled politically at home.

The Turkish economy is faltering, he [Erdogan] is actually losing in popularity, Ellehuus said. Whether he'll admit it or not, I think he needs to be perceived as having at least a cooperative relationship with President Biden.

This is the second in-person discussion between the leaders under the Biden presidency, following a June meeting in Brussels, on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
At least eight people were killed by a car bomb Saturday in Yemen's southern city of Aden, 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 Aden's international airport in the Khormaksar neighborhood, 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 Yemen's civil war.

The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States, to try to 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.

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.
China has reactivated a direct air trade link with Afghanistan in a bid to assist the war-ravaged neighbor's new Taliban rulers in dealing with a deepening economic and humanitarian crisis.



A cargo plane carrying 45 tons of pine nuts Sunday flew out of Kabul for Chinese markets, marking the restoration of the commercial corridor after the Islamist Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August.



We hope the commercial activity will continue and boost our trade ties with China, Bilal Karimi, a Taliban government spokesman, told VOA.



He said the export of pine nuts was an outcome of recent wide-ranging good discussions between Kabul and Beijing, anticipating progress in other areas of bilateral trade in coming days.



Todays export of pine nuts in particular marks a new good beginning (in relations between the two countries), Karimi added.

The income reaching hundreds of millions of U. S. dollars, [is] greatly benefiting many Afghan farmers, tweeted Wang Yu, the Chinese ambassador in Kabul after seeing off the cargo flight.

The little pine nuts bring happiness to Afghan people and good taste to Chinese people, and pine nut air corridor is the important bond of friendship between our two countries, the ambassador wrote.



China, one of the largest importers of Afghan pine nuts, launched the air freight corridor in November 2018 to help Afghanistan increase its exports of dry and fresh fruits to Chinese markets and address a massive trade deficit.



Officials at the time estimated the trade link would enable Afghan exporters to dispatch 23,000 tons of pine nuts annually to China, bringing home up to $800 million in revenue.



The initiative boosted the Afghan pine nut industry as Chinese importers last year reportedly were contracted to purchase more than $2 billion of pine nuts over the next five years.



Beijing has long seen bilateral economic cooperation as a way to stabilize Afghanistan and deter anti-China militants from using the country as a launching pad for terrorist attacks, particularly in the western Xinjiang border region.



China has been actively working in coordination with neighboring and regional powers to help the Taliban stabilize the country since the United States and NATO allies left Afghanistan in August after nearly 20 years of war.



Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held two days of talks with senior Taliban leaders in Doha, the capital of Qatar.



A Chinese post-meeting statement quoted Wang as telling Taliban interlocutors that Beijing has been concerned about the potential outbreak of a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.



Once the security situation in Afghanistan is stabilized, China will discuss with Afghanistan the cooperation in the field of economic reconstruction and support the country to boost its connectivity with the region and its capability to seek independent development, Wang said after his meeting in Doha.



China has already announced more than $30 million worth of humanitarian aid for Afghanistan. Wang announced an additional $6 million cash and material assistance after last weeks talks.



Washington and the global community at large have not granted legitimacy to the Taliban administration. The U.S. has blocked its access to about $10 billion in Afghan assets parked largely with the U.S. Federal Reserve, even as Afghanistan faces the humanitarian crisis and prospects of an economic meltdown.



The sanctions stem from concerns over human rights and terrorism under the Taliban rule.



China, along with Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Russia, have been urging Western nations to unfreeze Kabuls assets abroad and send urgent humanitarian assistance to Afghans.



While Washington and European nations have so far ignored calls for recognizing the Taliban government, they have announced urgent humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.



The United Nations says more than half of the countrys population of nearly 40 million people will face acute hunger this winter unless urgent aid arrives.
As the U.S. Congress and criminal justice system pursue accountability for those involved in the January insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, a court in North Macedonia has sentenced several former officials for their roles in a 2017 assault on the parliament in Skopje.

Both legislature attacks were aimed at disrupting the democratic process. Rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers inside were meeting to certify the results of President Joe Bidens election victory over President Donald Trump.

The assault in Skopje involved protesters who supported the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party seeking to prevent the election of a new parliamentary speaker and opposing a proposed coalition government between the Social Democrat party and ethnic Albanian parties.

Among those sentenced Monday were former parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski, former senior intelligence official Vladimir Atanasovski, and government ministers Mile Janakieski and Spiro Ristovski.

The officials were all from the VMRO-DPMNE party, and their sentences range from six years to six-and-a-half years on charges of endangering constitutional order and security.

The court said that on the day of the assault Veljanoski intentionally prolonged debate inside while Janakieski and Ristovski communicated with protest organizers outside.

Zoran Zaev, who led the Social Democrats at the time and is now prime minister, accused the attackers of attempted murder. Zaev was injured in the assault, along with dozens of journalists and lawmakers.

A judge said in explaining the verdict Monday that organizing an intrusion of the legislature and attacking lawmakers was neither democracy nor patriotism.

Former VMRO-DPMNE leader and prime minister Nikola Gruevski was also accused of being one of the organizers of the attack but has not faced trial. He resigned in 2016 after 10 years in power, and after being sentenced to two years in prison on corruption charges, he fled to Hungary, where he was granted political asylum.

Gruevski said at the time of the attack he deplored the violence and that the other parties were responsible for instigating the attack by attempting a power grab.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and AFP
G-20 leaders meeting in Rome have agreed to work to reach carbon neutrality by around mid-century" and pledged to end financing for coal plants abroad by the end of this year; however, they failed to agree on phasing out coal domestically.

While I welcome the #G20's recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled  but at least they are not buried, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote on Twitter.

The leaders issued their final communique Sunday at the end of a two-day summit, ahead of talks at a broader U.N. climate change summit, COP26, this week in Glasgow, Scotland.



They also addressed efforts to reach the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, in line with a global commitment made in 2015 with the Paris Climate Accord to keep global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5 degrees.

"We recognize that the impacts of climate change at 1.5C are much lower than at 2C. Keeping 1.5C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries," the communique said.



U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking at a press conference in Rome on Sunday, said while people were disappointed that Russia and China leaders didnt show up with commitments about climate change, the leaders who did attend made significant progress.



I think you are going to see we have made significant progress and more has to be done, he said. Its going to require us to continue to focus on what Chinas not doing, what Russia is not doing and what Saudi Arabia is not doing.

The grouping of 19 countries and the European Union accounts for more than three-quarters of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

In October, two dozen countries joined a U.S.- and EU-led effort to slash methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.

Coal, though, is a bigger point of contention. G-20 members China and India have resisted attempts to produce a declaration on phasing out domestic coal consumption.

Climate financing, namely pledges from wealthy nations to provide $100 billion a year to support developing countries efforts to reduce emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change, is another key concern. Indonesia, a large greenhouse gas emitter that will take over the G-20 presidency in December, urged developed countries to fulfill their financing commitments both in Rome and in Glasgow.

Also on Sunday, the U.S. and EU announced an end to Trump-era tariffs on EU steel, resolving a dispute that saw the bloc impose retaliatory tariffs on American products including whiskey and power boats.

"Together the United States and the European Union are ushering in a new era of transatlantic cooperation that's going to benefit all of our people both now, and I believe, in the years to come," U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.



Global supply chain

Biden held a meeting to address the global supply chain crisis with 14 other members of the group of 20 countries. The 20 members in the summit account for more than 80% of world GDP and 75% of global trade.

The U.S. urged other countries to help reduce supply chain problems and announced new measures to make supply chains more resilient in the United States. The main points of this new effort include streamlining U.S. stockpiling efforts, increasing funding for trade facilitation activities to cut red tape, and organizing a summit for next year with multiple stakeholders and foreign counterparts.

Notably absent at this meeting was China.

Referring to the global dependency on Chinese goods, Biden urged countries to diversify their supply chains, so that we're not dependent on any one single source that might cause a failure."

Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country is considered to be the worlds factory, did not attend the summit in person. In his virtual speech to G-20 leaders, Xi proposed holding an international forum on resilient and stable industrial and supply chains.

Addressing global commerce disruptions has been a key focus for the Biden administration, which is concerned that these bottlenecks will hamper post-pandemic economic recovery. To address the U.S.s supply chain issues, the administration recently announced a plan to extend operations around the clock, seven days a week, at Los Angeles and Long Beach, two California ports that account for 40% of sea freight entering the country.

Whether you're talking about medical equipment or supplies of consumer goods or other products, it's a challenge for the global economy, said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Some of the concrete measures to alleviate global supply chain pressure points may need to be longer term, such as shortening supply chains and rethinking dependencies, said Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the U.S. and the Americas program at Chatham House, a research institution in London.

Those are not quick fixes, she said. But the G-20 is historically set up really to be dealing with short-term crises. So, I think that there will be considerable effort made to ... come to terms with that.

Some information in this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters
Pope Francis called on world leaders Sunday to hear the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, while urging them to develop efficient responses to global warming and give hope to younger generations.

The pope made his appeal in Rome, where leaders attended their first in-person G-20 summit since the coronavirus pandemic swept the planet. The politicians, however, struggled to secure a climate breakthrough, a likely harbinger of the difficulties a United Nations climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland will face in the coming days, some diplomatic observers warn. The Glasgow event, known as COP26, runs from October 31 through November 12.

The G-20 leaders from the worlds major economies finally agreed on a communique closely mirroring pledges made in Paris in 2015, namely, to hold the global average temperature increase well below 2 C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.

After all-night wrangling by officials, there were no agreed concrete steps on how to do this, to the disappointment of some climate action campaigners. They did strike agreement on developed countries ending public funding of coal-fired power stations in developing nations, a key aim of the Biden administration; but they did not set a target for phasing out public financing of coal production by governments in their own countries, something China and India oppose.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the G-20 summit host, urged his fellow leaders in the final hours of the two-day event in Rome to set both long and short-term goals. We also need to make sure that we use available resources wisely, which means that we should become able to adapt our technologies and also our lifestyles to this new world, he said.

Draghi had hoped to get a commitment on the specific target date of 2050 to achieve net zero carbon emissions  a deadline scientists say is vital to stave off disastrous climate change and disruption. But in their final document ahead of the COP26 talks, G-20 leaders agreed on climate neutrality by or around mid-century.

The G-20 countries, which produce around three-quarters of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions, also agreed to scale up their commitment to provide $100 billion annually to help poorer countries cope with the impact of climate change and to adapt to changing weather. In 2009, wealthy governments agreed to increase climate financing for vulnerable countries to $100 billion annually by 2020. Under the Paris climate agreement, they said they would negotiate a higher amount that would kick in from 2025. They have so far not reached the $100 billion goal.

Britains Prince Charles addressed the G-20 Sunday morning and urged leaders to listen to young people who are inheriting the warming Earth, warning, It is quite literally the last-chance saloon.

A longtime environmental activist, Charles said public-private partnerships were the only way to achieve the trillions of dollars in annual investment needed to transition to clean energy sources.

Officials at the G-20 summit, though, said they believe the gathering had achieved enough to maintain momentum going into COP26. The decisions we are making today will have a direct impact on the success of COP26 and our ability to address the climate crisis, Draghi told the attendees.

Climate activists said they remained disappointed by the G-20 meeting. In a BBC interview Sunday, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg complained of world leaders making climate statements because it makes them popular, it makes them sound good.

Thunberg was speaking as the first of 25,000 diplomats, climate activists, scientists and politicians from nearly 200 countries started arriving in Glasgow Sunday for COP26. Alok Sharma, the president of the COP26 climate summit, called on global leaders to banish ghosts of the past and step up with new pledges to lower emissions.

Sharma told British broadcasters he could not say with certainty that the two-week gathering would end with a deal to keep alive the prospect of maintaining a global average temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius.

We know from the IPCC [the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] that we are already at global warming of 1.1C above pre-industrial levels. At 1.5C, there will be countries in the world that will be under water and thats why we need to get an agreement here on how we tackle climate change over the next decade, he said.

British officials say they expect a fierce debate at COP26 among advanced and developing nations over the funding poor countries say they should get to help them introduce green technologies needed to replace their coal- and oil-burning power stations. Arab states are also expected to come under pressure over continued drilling for oil.

Abdulla Shahid, president of the United Nations General Assembly, told COP26 delegates in Glasgow Sunday, We are facing an existential crisis. We are simply not doing enough. We must be honest about this with ourselves, with each other and with the rest of the world.

British officials say they hope to get an early groundbreaking deal on stopping the destruction of the worlds forests  an agreement that would see poor nations paid not to fell trees and developed nations halting the importing of food grown on illegally cleared land. We are seeking to get an agreement to halt the loss of forestry around the world by 2030 and get as many countries as possible committed to that, according to George Eustice, Britains environment minister.

Eustice told reporters in London that success is within reach with dozens of countries already agreeing to sign up in what could be one of the big surprises from the summit. He told The Times newspaper that on Tuesday he hopes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be able to announce a historic agreement on deforestation. Details, however, are still being debated. We think weve done really well to get good engagement, Eustice said. But its not in the bag.
The G-20 heads of state from the worlds major economies will discuss climate change Sunday on day two of their meeting in Rome.

Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi welcomed the heads of state, including U.S. President Joe Biden, to the Italian capital, where they discussed issues of mutual concern, including the pandemic recovery.

The G-20 leaders supported a sweeping global tax deal agreed to by 136 finance ministers earlier this month, including a minimum 15% global corporate tax rate for companies with annual revenues of more than $870 million. It still needs to be implemented within each member countrys legal framework.

On COVID-19, G-20 health and finance ministers announced the formation of a new panel to improve future pandemic preparedness, proposed by the United States and Indonesia, but did not specify funding for it.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met on the sidelines with Biden and said they support Bidens pledge to return the United States to full compliance with the Iran nuclear deal, so long as Tehran does the same. Talks are scheduled for November.

This years meeting is the the first face-to-face G-20 meeting in two years. Notably absent were Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who joined virtually, citing pandemic concerns at home.

"Despite the G-20 decisions, not all countries that need them can have access to vaccines, Putin said. This happens partly because of dishonest competition, protectionism and because some states, especially those of the G-20, are not ready for mutual recognition of vaccines and vaccination certificates."

Activists marched Saturday through the streets of Rome protesting the lack of action by G-20 leaders in tackling climate change, before the leaders move on the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
Polls opened in Japan's general election on Sunday with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hoping to win over a pandemic-fatigued public with spending promises as his long-ruling conservatives seek a fresh start.

Kishida became leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) a month ago after Yoshihide Suga resigned just a year into the job, partly due to public discontent over his response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Following a record wave of infections that pushed the Tokyo Olympics behind closed doors, cases have now plummeted and most restrictions have been lifted.

While this may ease some voters' frustrations, the LDP  which has held power almost continuously since the 1950s  is likely to lose seats and may have trouble retaining its commanding majority, analysts say.

Kishida, 64, has pledged to issue a fresh stimulus package worth tens of trillions of yen to counter the impact of the pandemic on the world's third-largest economy.

He has also outlined plans to distribute wealth more fairly under a so-called "new capitalism," although details so far remain vague.

But Japan's 106 million voters have "struggled to get excited about the new prime minister," said Stefan Angrick, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics.

"Kishida faces headwinds from weak ratings and a more coordinated opposition, but an improving COVID-19 situation and economic outlook are factors in his favor."

Across Japan, 1,051 candidates are standing for election to parliament's lower house.

In recent decades, votes against the LDP have been split between multiple major opposition parties, but this time five rival parties have boosted cooperation in a bid to dent its stranglehold.

Nonetheless, the LDP enjoys "great advantages" in Japan's political arena, Michael Cucek, assistant professor of Asian studies at Temple University, told AFP.

"The electoral system is tilted in their favor," he said, as the party boasts a strong network of supporters nationwide.

The LDP wants to put a tumultuous year behind it, but "the fact that they are still having to fight so hard is, for them, highly embarrassing", Cucek said.

Revolving-door risk

Kishida has not had a political honeymoon, with approval ratings around 50%, the lowest in two decades for a new administration in Japan.

He has set a comfortable target of winning 233 of the 465 lower-house seats  a simple majority including lawmakers from the LDP's junior coalition partner Komeito.

However, such a result would be seen as a setback for the LDP, which previously held 276 seats on its own.

Even if the party wins, a poor showing could lead to losses in next summer's upper house vote, risking a return to Japan's history of revolving-door premierships, analysts warn.

If Kishida "leads the party into a loss of seats, a clock starts ticking in the minds of his rivals," Cucek said.

Since World War II, only five politicians have hung on to the prime minister's office for five years or longer, with some lasting just two months.

Suga's predecessor Shinzo Abe was the longest-serving prime minister in Japan's history, in power from 2012 to 2020 after his first one-year term.

Angrick of Moody's Analytics said Kishida needs to show he can do more than just provide stability.

"Kishida will need to convince the public and younger members of his party that continuity does not mean status quo, but rather maintaining what has worked and improving on what has not," he said.

As well as vowing to tackle the pandemic and working to boost the middle class, the LDP has said it will aim to increase defense spending to counter threats from China and North Korea.

Meanwhile, some opposition parties have emphasized their support of social issues that Kishida has so far distanced himself from, such as same-sex marriage and allowing married couples to have different surnames.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday that the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic is less than 4,000 short of the 5 million mark. The 4 million tally was reached a little more than four months ago.

Indias prime minister told world leaders at the G-20 summit in Rome that India will produce 5 million COVID-19 vaccines by the end of next year for use in his country and around the world.

Narendra Modi said Saturday, however, that the 5 million doses would be easier to produce if the World Health Organization were to approve Indias Covaxin vaccine and place it on the WHOs emergency use list. Covaxin is produced by Indias Bharat Biotech.

Meanwhile, Xi Jinping, Chinas leader, told the summit Saturday, via a video platform, that China has already produced more than 1.6 billion COVID-19 vaccines that have been distributed around the world.

New York City municipal workers rushed last week to receive COVID-19 vaccines to fulfill the requirements of a mandate that they show proof of being inoculated with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Friday. One in six, or more than 26,000 workers, however, remain unvaccinated. The unvaccinated workers will be placed on unpaid leave.
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 spokesperson 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 spokesperson 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.
Sudanese anti-coup protesters on Sunday manned barricades in Khartoum a day after a deadly crackdown on mass rallies, as a defiant civil disobedience campaign against the military takeover entered its seventh day.

Tens of thousands turned out across the country for Saturday's demonstrations, marching against the army's October 25 power grab, when top General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency and detained Sudan's civilian leadership.

The move sparked a chorus of international condemnation, with world powers demanding a swift return to civilian rule and calls for the military to show "restraint" against protesters.

At least three people were shot dead and more than 100 people wounded during Saturday's demonstrations, according to medics, who reported those killed had bullet wounds in their head, chest or stomach. It takes the death toll since protests began to at least 11.

Police forces denied the killings, or using live bullets.

"No, no, to military rule," protesters carrying Sudanese flags chanted as they marched around the capital and other cities, as forces fired tear gas to break them up.

More than 100 people were also wounded on Saturday, some suffering breathing difficulties from tear gas, the independent Central Committee of Sudan's Doctors said.

Sudan had been ruled since August 2019 by a joint civilian-military council, alongside Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's government, as part of the now derailed transition to full civilian rule.

Soldiers on the streets

Hamdok and other top leaders have been under military guard since then, either in detention or effective house arrest.

U.S. President Joe Biden has called the coup a "grave setback", while the African Union has suspended Sudan's membership for the "unconstitutional" takeover.

The World Bank and the United States froze aid, a move that will hit hard in a country already mired in a dire economic crisis.

But Burhan -- who became de facto leader after hardline ex-president Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019 following huge youth-led protests -- has insisted the military takeover was "not a coup."

Instead, Burhan says he wants to "rectify the course of the Sudanese transition."

Demonstrations on Saturday rocked many cities across Sudan, including in the eastern states of Gedaref and Kassala, as well as in North Kordofan and White Nile, witnesses and AFP correspondents said.

As night fell Saturday, many protests in Khartoum and the capital's twin city of Omdurman thinned out. But on Sunday morning protesters were back on the streets, again using rocks and tyres to block roads.

Shops remain largely shut in Khartoum, where many government employees are refusing to work as part of a nationwide protest campaign.

Soldiers from the army and the much-feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were seen on many streets in Khartoum and Omdurman.

Security forces have set up random checkpoints on the streets, frisking passers-by and randomly searching cars.

Phone lines, which were largely down on Saturday, were back apart from intermittent disruptions. But internet access has remained cut off since the army's takeover.

Sudan has enjoyed only rare democratic interludes since independence in 1956 and spent decades riven by civil war.

Burhan was a general under Bashir's three decades of iron-fisted rule, and analysts said the coup aimed to maintain the army's traditional control over the northeast African country.
A Texas abortion law that was signed in May by Governor Greg Abbott is considered the most restrictive abortion legislation in the country. After the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in September to at least temporarily uphold the law, the court is once again hearing arguments regarding the case on Monday.

Texans across the state, meanwhile, are vigorously debating the new law themselves.

It obviously violates Roe v. Wade, said Rose MacKenzie, a San Antonio resident and musician in the U.S. Air Force Band. Its restrictive to women who need care when we should actually have control over our body, well-being, and quality of life.

While a poll conducted this month by The Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston found 69% of Texans believe the law is too restrictive, only 45% said they opposed it. Many residents said they still supported the law despite preferring, for example, that it included exceptions in cases of rape and incest.

Abortions just feel so horrific and wrong, said Danielle McCormick, also from San Antonio. If nothing else, the new law will keep more children safe from voluntary termination.

While Mondays arguments are focused on the structure of the Texas law, it could kick off one of the most important months for abortion-related legislation at the Supreme Court in 50 years. This stretch will culminate when the justices hear another abortion case, this one from Mississippi, on Dec. 1, that could challenge the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which has acted as the legal precedent for all abortion laws in the United States since 1973.

US abortion history

For decades, Texas  where the Roe v. Wade case originated  has been near the focal point of contentious abortion debates. The issue hasnt always been so polarizing, however. Even the Roman Catholic Church, now one of the most adamant abortion opponents, decided in the 13th century that abortion should be allowed until approximately 16 weeks into pregnancy, when the movement of the fetus could be detected.

That view held until 1869, when Pope Pius IX wrote that any woman who had an abortion would be censured. In 1917 the church clarified its stance and eliminated the distinction between early abortions and those performed later in pregnancy by prohibiting all abortions from the moment of conception.

For more than a century, changes in U.S. abortion law roughly shifted in sync with the churchs opinion. Connecticut was the first state to place restrictions on abortion, criminalizing them in certain situations in 1821. By 1900, every state had abortion legislation.

Delivering the opinion of the court in the case of Roe v. Wade, Justice Harry Blackburn noted, the restrictive criminal abortion laws in effect in a majority of States today are of relatively recent vintage. He also wrote of the seemingly absolute convictions that abortion inspires, but those convictions have only become more absolute  particularly among lawmakers  in the decades since the landmark case.

While the Roe v. Wade decision set the precedent of protecting the right to an abortion until approximately 24 weeks into a pregnancy, or when the fetus could survive outside the womb, the new Texas law draws the line at six weeks, when the fetal heartbeat can be detected.

Its the first law in the United States to set such an early limit. Experts like Mary Ziegler, a legal historian and professor of law at Florida State University, acknowledge this is in contradiction to the legal precedent set in the past, but also believes thats being done intentionally.

Theyre trying to run out the clock, she explained. Republicans are banking that soon enough Roe v. Wade will no longer be the law of the land. With this law theyre trying to stop as many abortions as they can until that happens.

Procedural questions

The law is written in a way thats been very difficult to successfully challenge, Ziegler said, and until it is challenged, abortions in Texas have come to a virtual halt.

Abortion providers in the state have said, since the law took effect in early September, at least 80% of abortions previously provided are now prohibited. This forces patients to continue an unwanted pregnancy, to drive to neighboring states for an abortion, or to pursue more dangerous methods.

Texas Republicans have accomplished this by creating a law that leaves enforcement to private citizens rather than to the state itself. Under the new legislation, a citizen can sue anyone who performs an illegal abortion or who facilitates one (by, for example, driving a patient to a clinic) for a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages.

Mondays hearing is very important even though its not specifically about the laws position on abortion, Ziegler said. If the Supreme Court decides to allow the law to continue  even if it ultimately gets stricken down in the future  then states will see they can have some success temporarily passing laws with this type of procedure.

Ziegler suggested other states might use this method to, for example, temporarily halt the sale of guns or to restrict voting. This, she said, could have real consequences.

Weve seen in the past that when an abortion clinic is forced to close because a law changes, they arent always able to reopen for financial reasons. Even if the law is overturned, getting an abortion will likely be more difficult for Texas women because it was passed.

Shifting the debate

Ziegler also believes the unique way in which Texas Republicans designed the law could affect how some Texas residents define their views on abortion.

Americans abortion views on when they believe life begins or if they think exceptions should be made in the case of rape dont actually change much over time, she told VOA, but what does change is whether people classify themselves as pro-life or pro-choice. That tends to shift based on what the two sides have done lately. A lot of Texans  even Republicans  seem to have issues with how this law pits citizens against each other for enforcement. It might be seen as overreach.

Gallup recently aggregated polling over the last decade to show where Texans stand on abortion. The results showed 18% of the states residents believe abortion should always be legal, 26% believed abortion should never be legal, while a majority (54%) believed abortion should be legal under certain circumstances.

Its called the 'Mushy Middle and thats where most Americans, including Texans, sit, Ziegler said. If voters perceive one side is pushing too far in one direction, public opinion might move against them.

Kimberly Malloy is an example of this. A resident of San Antonio, Malloy said in some ways shes pro-life, but admitted she also takes issue with many aspects of the new law.

I think if a woman has to have an abortion, it should be done in the first 10 weeks of the pregnancy, she explained, but I don't see how six weeks is fair. Most women dont even know theyre pregnant then, and they still need time to schedule the abortion. Also, how can you expect a woman to keep a child in the case of rape? They didnt even consent to sex. Its crazy.

Ziegler said whats considered legal and illegal when it comes to abortions could soon be redefined.

Its a very important month, she said, and it starts on Monday.
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 country 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.
The latest round of climate talks are getting under way Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. They are billed as the most important since the Paris conference six years ago. Here are some of the main goals of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26.

Keep 1.5 alive

Negotiators pledged in Paris that they would aim to keep the planet from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

Scientists have warned that the goal is slipping out of reach without drastic cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming greenhouse gases.

The planet is already more than 1 degree warmer than it was in the late 1800s, producing more intense heat waves, stronger storms, deeper droughts, bigger wildfires, rising sea levels and more. The higher global temperatures go, the worse things will get, scientists say.

The plans that countries have submitted will not keep the world below the 1.5-degree goal. According to the latest United Nations Emissions Gap Report, current pledges put the world on a path to a disastrous 2.7-degree temperature increase.

Some experts are cautiously optimistic, however.

While 2.7 degrees of warming is dangerous, the world was headed for 3.7 degrees or more before the Paris conference, they note.

Plus, dozens of countries have pledged that by 2050 they will produce "net-zero" emissions. That means slashing carbon-generating sources and balancing the remaining emissions with carbon-absorbing measures such as planting trees.

Following through on these pledges would limit warming to about 2.2 degrees, according to the U.N. report  still too much, but getting closer.

"The Paris agreement is working, but it was never meant to work in one step," Kaveh Guilanpour, vice president for international strategies at C2ES, a climate policy analysis nonprofit, said in a call with reporters.

Under the agreement, countries update their plans every five years, with the expectation that they will make deeper cuts. After a COVID-19-induced delay, COP26 will be the first chance since Paris to formally revisit those plans.

Most countries have increased their ambitions, with some important exceptions. China has not submitted a new plan. Nor has India, the world's third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter. Russia's new plan is no more ambitious than its old one. And Mexico and Brazil backslid.

Guilanpour does not expect negotiators to get to 1.5 degrees by the end of Glasgow. But all is not lost. "COP26 will be an important step, but not the last one," he said.

Pay up

Developing countries are angry that industrialized nations have fallen short on a 12-year-old pledge to help them fight climate change.

They say they have little to do with warming the planet but are suffering the effects. Since industrialized nations caused the problem by burning fossil fuels as they developed, they say, these nations should take responsibility by helping developing nations pursue a low-carbon development path and adapt to a warmer planet.

Back in 2009, developed countries agreed. They pledged to commit $100 billion per year to developing countries.

They have not. Funding reached $79.6 billion in 2019, according to the latest available data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"These failures to deliver on the commitments agreed to by developed countries undermines trust and confidence in the multilateral system," said a sharply worded statement from a group of 24 developing countries including China, India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

Last week, developed nations announced a plan to reach $100 billion by 2023, which did not satisfy critics.

Developing countries are also calling for additional financing to cover loss and damage from extreme weather disasters and other climate impacts.

The United States has vigorously opposed any language that suggests liability.

Other developed countries oppose separate funding, too. The European Union prefers to include it under adaptation. It's not clear that there will be any movement on this front in Glasgow.

Can the US deliver?

U.S. President Joe Biden will be attending the World Leaders Summit at the start of COP26. Biden aims to present a much different approach than his predecessor, Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement.

Biden rejoined the agreement on his first day in office. He has quadrupled the U.S. commitment to climate finance. And he has pledged that the United States will be at net-zero emissions by 2050.

Political realities are complicating his goals, however.

Congress has stripped key provisions from a major bill addressing climate change. The bill is still under negotiation.

The mood going into Glasgow is fairly downbeat.

"Progress on these issues will not be easy," Lorena Gonzalez of the World Resources Institute Finance Center told reporters. Many of the agenda items "have been put off in years past because they're among the most complex issues that negotiators are trying to tackle."
The United Nations discussed possible steps forward with ousted Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok Sunday, a day after hundreds of thousands of people marched in protest of last weeks military coup.

Volker Perthes, the U.N. special representative to Sudan, said that Hamdok is doing well but remains under house arrest in his residence.

Protesters remained in the streets Sunday, many of them manning barricades and blocking roads after large demonstrations on Saturday turned deadly.

Three people were shot dead by security forces in Khartoums sister city of Omdurman Saturday, bringing the number of civilians killed since last Mondays coup to 14.

Despite some protests and roadblocks, Khartoum returned to relative quiet as strikes in various sectors continued in defiance of General Abdel-Fattah Burhans seizure of power and declaration of a state of emergency.



The October 25 move dissolved a transitional government established in August 2019, after months of deadly protests following the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir.



Since then, the U.N. and United States have frozen aid to Sudan  a move likely to have a devastating impact on the country which is already suffering an economic crisis.



International condemnation of the military takeover and demands to restore the transitional government echo the calls of hundreds of thousands of protesters in Sudan.



Images and video footage from Khartoum and other cities Saturday showed crowds carrying Sudanese flags and banners denouncing the military government. Chants and songs that were sung in 2019 when protesters demanded al-Bashir's ouster have been revived in the latest demonstrations.

Protests took place around the world as well, with thousands of Sudanese from across the United States marching through Washington Saturday.



The military takeover occurred after weeks of escalating tensions involving military and civilian leaders over Sudan's transition to democracy.



But even after the landmark power-sharing agreement in 2019, in which Hamdok was named the countrys leader, protests 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 transitional government was necessary to avoid a civil war.

Some information in this report came from AFP and Reuters.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, she said in a statement, adding she had last seen President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Psaki, 42, who stated she was vaccinated and experiencing mild symptoms, said she and the president sat outside more than 6 feet (1.8 m) apart and wore masks on Tuesday. Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday, said a person familiar with the matter.

I am disclosing todays positive test out of an abundance of transparency, Psaki said.

Psaki, the main spokesperson for the White House, is the most high-profile person in the Biden administration known to have contracted COVID-19 since he took office in January.

Psaki decided not to join Biden on his trip to Rome and Glasgow this week because a member of her household tested positive for the virus, after which she quarantined, she said.

She has been in quarantine since Wednesday and repeatedly tested negative before testing positive on Sunday, she said.

Psaki planned to return to work at the end of a 10-day quarantine period following a negative rapid COVID-19 test, she said in the statement.

The White House has been struggling to get the pandemic under control, with millions of Americans declining to take life-saving vaccines.

Psaki said earlier this year that Biden, who is fully vaccinated, is tested randomly every two weeks as surveillance, at the request of his physician, Kevin O'Connor. Biden, 78, has received three Pfizer Inc./BioNTech COVID-19 shots, including a booster last month.

The White House has declined to disclose the number of breakthrough COVID-19 infections that have occurred among staff.

Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, eschewed masks and played down the seriousness of the virus in its early stages. He contracted COVID-19 in the waning stages of the 2020 presidential campaign and many of his staff, including former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, came down with the illness.
Eight people believed to be prophets have drowned in Zimbabwe while attempting to retrieve a holy stick from a flooded river in the countrys Mashonaland Central province.

According to the state-controlled Herald newspaper, the prophets from an Apostolic Faith group known as Vadzidzi VaJeso, were taking part in a ritual to select a baptist in Rushinga communal lands.

The newspaper quoted the regions provincial development coordinator, Timothy Maregere, as saying all the deceased were men and their bodies have been retrieved.

The Herald said only two of the prospective baptists survived. The deceased have not yet been identified.

Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi was unavailable for comment as he was not responding to calls on his mobile phone.
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.
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.
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One U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer aircrew flew a presence patrol mission in the Central Region that included several partner nation air forces today.

The bomber task force mission  the fifth in U.S. Central Commands area of operation this year  was intended to deliver a clear message of reassurance, said the commands top general.

We are stronger together, said Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander, U.S. Central Command. Military readiness for any contingency or mission  from crisis response to multilateral exercises to one-day presence patrols like this  depend on reliable partnerships.

Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia joined the patrol with fighter escorts over their respective airspaces. The five-hour, non-stop patrol originated in the Indian Ocean, flew over the Gulf of Aden, Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Red Sea, Suez Canal, Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman before departing the region.

McKenzie said these types of missions can achieve a range of effects and are an important part of the commands force posture.

CENTCOM has coordinated four similar patrols  three in January and one in March  since the beginning of the year.
Photo: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for National Geographic

Alec Baldwin addressed for the first time on camera the fatal incident on the Rust production that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, as seen on TMZ. Baldwin and his family were being followed by reporters and paparazzi in Vermont, according to the site, which led Baldwin to address the group to get them to leave his family alone. Baldwin stated multiple times that he could not comment on the active investigation but reiterated he has been in contact with Hutchinss family. Alec mentioned firearm safety on film sets, stating that there are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this. Baldwin spoke about being an advocate for tightening safety measures during production and how he is not an expert on this topic. When a member of the paparazzi forgot Hutchinss name, Hilaria Baldwin criticized them for not knowing her name. If youre spending this much time waiting for us, you should know her name. Her name is Halyna, Hilaria said. He also stated that he doesnt believe production on the film would resume any time soon and refused to answer any questions about his future projects, wanting to keep the focus on the late Hutchins.
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.
Ider Police Chief Buddy Crabtree has passed away after a monthlong battle with Covid-19, according to Ider Mayor Wendy Lassetter.

Chief Crabtree passed away around noon Saturday after being admitted to the hospital Oct. 2.

Wendy provided a statement to WAAY 31, saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Chief Buddy Crabtree. He was a huge part of our town and was loved by so many. As mayor, I was blessed to have worked with a chief that cared so much for his people and worked countless hours. He was a wonderful teacher and mentor. He will be greatly missed."

DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said first responders across the U.S. have been hit hard by the virus, adding they haven't even had time to mourn their own losses.

The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office also released a statement, saying, "Chief Crabtree gave many loyal years of service to his town. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. Our jobs as law enforcement officers require us to continue to serve even if it means risking our own health. Please pray that this virus leaves us soon. We have lost too many good people."

DeKalb County EMA wrote in a Facebook post, "You will be greatly missed, sir. Condolences to friends and family."

Tri-Community Fire Department Station 5 said, "Our condolences and prayers for the family of Ider Police Chief Buddy Crabtree who passed away earlier today. Rest in Peace 901."

Crabtree was 65. He had been with the Ider Police Department since 2011.
Alabama has joined several other states in suing the Biden administration in an effort to stop the federal Covid-19 vaccine mandate.

WAAY 31 spoke with an attorney to see what the likelihood is that the lawsuit will be successful.

Governor Kay Ivey joins lawsuit to against Biden administration Governor Kay Ivey joins lawsuit to against Biden administration

Alabama is an at-will employment state; meaning, employees can quit their jobs at any time, and employers can fire their employees with or without reason. Because of this, Huntsville attorney Eric Artrip said this lawsuit most likely won't be successful.

Its very unlikely to succeed given that would in essence change hundreds of years of employment law," he said.

Alabama is now one of more than 10 other states who have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Gov. Kay Ivey made the announcement Saturday, saying, "I have joined a lawsuit to fight back against the outrageous, overreaching Biden vaccine mandates.

Artrip said he doesn't believe the lawsuit will bring much change.

The lawsuit, in my opinion, has a very low likelihood of success," he said. "However, bringing it certainly has certain political connotations."

Biden's vaccine mandate requires all federal contractors and subcontractors to be vaccinated by Dec. 8. Artrip said even with the lawsuit's "very low likelihood of success," under certain circumstances, things could change.

They would have to do away with at-will employment and say that mandates on certain vaccinations and things like that would be dispensed," he said. "It would overturn or go against a great weight of previous authority, spanning back into the late 1800s.

Artrip said that would mean a reversal of many years of court cases, and that's not likely to happen. Even if a judge does decide to see this case moving forward, it would most likely be after the deadline of Dec. 8, he said.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 41F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 41F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 54F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy in the evening, then off and on rain showers after midnight. Low near 40F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 54F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of light rain late. Low 41F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Mostly clear early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 33F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 33F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 41F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 41F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Mostly clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 34F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 34F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
The origins of tiramisu are traced back to Treviso restaurant.

Ado Campeol, hailed by the Italian media as "il papa di Tiramisu", has died aged 93.

Campeol was the owner of the historic Alle Beccherie restaurant in Treviso, northern Italy, where tiramisu is said to have been invented in 1969.

The creation of the dessert, which would go on to achieve global stardom, happened by chance during the making of vanilla ice cream when a little mascarpone cheese ended up in the egg and sugar mixture.

After tasting the concoction on coffee-soaked savoiardi biscuits (also known as lady fingers), the recipe was perfected by Campeol's wife Alba Di Pillo with chef Roberto Linguanotto.

Ado Campeol and his wife Alba Di Pillo at Le Beccherie restaurant in Treviso with their tiramisu.

The culinary creation was christened "Tirame Su'' (which became Tiramisu), a name that translates as "pick me up".

The dish was added to the restaurant's menu formally in 1972 however it did not appear in print until it featured in a 1981 issue of Veneto, a quarterly magazine dedicated to food and wine.

In his Veneto column, gourmet Giuseppe Maffioli wrote about tiramisu, identifying Campeol and Le Beccherie as the source of what at the time was a little-known dessert.

The invention, which would be claimed by others over the years, was never patented by the Campeol family, and this favoured the flourishing of various recipes and other versions of its origins.

The enormous international success of the dessert gave rise to a commercial battle over its paternity, in particular between the Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto regions of northern Italy.

But according to the Tiramisu Academy, its "almost certain" origins can be traced back to Alle Beccherie in Treviso.

The governor of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, expressed his condolences to the Campeol family on Saturday, saying: "Treviso loses another star in its food and wine history."
However, one day  later rather than sooner, we hope  bulletins from the Palace will declare something akin to what they said for her grandfather George V (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.
Whatever happens in Virginia, the Biden administration is going to need to pivot sooner or later. The public mood has changed. The simple fact of the matter is that the next big round of elections a year from now is going to be much more driven by the national political climate than the Virginia governors race. And those campaigns  435 in the House, 34 in the Senate  will be fought on terrain that is much more skeptical of the modern Democratic Party than Virginia.
I am not afraid to say it has taken its toll on me. I've felt withdrawn and depressed  not to the point of self-harm at all, but I just feel down and grumpy, starting from the moment I open my eyes in the morning.


Donald Trump stares at the stage as comedian Seth Meyers makes fun of him at the 2011 White House Correspondents Association dinner. (Image from C-SPAN )

Regarding the vast mystery that is Donald Trump, one question eclipses all others: Why is the billionaire reality star running for president?

I dont know. You dont know. But a handful of armchair psychoanalysts  reporters for major news organizations, no less  have decided that it all began at the 2011 White House Correspondents Association dinner, where Trump was the butt of jokes by President Obama and Saturday Night Live comedian Seth Meyers.

Trump was so humiliated by the experience, they say, that it triggered some deep, previously hidden yearning for revenge. That evening of public abasement, rather than sending Mr. Trump away, accelerated his ferocious efforts to gain stature in the political world, wrote the New York Times last month.

Aside from the questionable premise that the Republican front-runner has ever had an unexpressed thought, theres the problem of speculation based on nothing but YouTube clips of the night. The only person who knows definitively when or why he decided to run is Trump.

Its such a false narrative, Trump told me this week. I had a phenomenal time. I had a great evening.

I was there. Seated directly behind him, in fact, so that when I turned my chair to listen to the speeches, my head was precariously close to The Donalds left ear and that golden blow-dried confection he calls his hair. In C-SPAN videos, I can be seen arching my head back rather than nuzzle his neck. Yes, I was thatclose, and the ballroom was that crowded.

So heres a novel concept: Lets talk about the facts of the evening. How he ended up at the dinner. Why he was in the news. And yes, lets go to the videotape.

It helps to understand that the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner had devolved from a little-known media evening into a black-tie mash-up of the Super Bowl, the Oscars and Davos, Washington-style  thanks primarily to the presence of the president, which confers a gravitas that the evening no longer deserves, and an influx of Hollywood stars and corporate rubberneckers looking for free publicity. Now its a red-carpet conga line for anyone with enough power, fortune or fame to land a ticket.

[Five myths about the White House Correspondents Dinner]

Trump, the Celebrity Apprentice star, was a natural for the dinner: wildly popular, gregarious, huge. He came at the invitation of writer Lally Weymouth. The daughter of The Washington Posts legendary Katharine Graham and mother of then-publisher Katharine Weymouth co-hosted the Washington Post-Newsweek reception for years and always invited her famous New York and D.C. friends as guests of the newspaper.

In 2011, however, Trump had become more than a television star. He was one of the leaders of the birther movement, a loud campaign that insisted that Obama had not been born in the United States and was not eligible for the presidency. Although the claim was discredited, Trump (publicly toying with a presidential campaign) remained unconvinced of the presidents citizenship. The story was everywhere; Hawaii released Obamas original long-form birth certificate just days before the April 30 dinner.

Word that Trump was attending as a guest of The Post landed in the newsroom with a thud. Inviting a reality star was fine. Inviting a leading voice of the birthers was a problem for many reporters, who were concerned that it appeared as though one of Americas most respected newspapers was giving Trump (and by extension, birthers) credibility.

Trump arrived with his wife, Melania, at his side. He was gracious and engaging as he greeted, charmed and flattered his way through the endless security line, recalled Marcus Brauchli, The Posts executive editor at the time. Reporters asked Trump whether he expected any jokes to come his way. Sure, he told them: Im fine with this stuff.

President Obama and comedian Seth Meyers skewered Donald Trump at the 2011 White House correspondents' dinner. From the birther movement to his potential run for president, here's a look back at some of their jabs. (The Washington Post)

Thus commenced the annual ritual  introductory speeches that no one listened to, aggressive schmoozing, photo ops and other strange encounters. By the time the president got up to speak, the crowd had been drinking for more than three hours.

Obama opened his speech with a recording of the Hulk Hogan theme song Real American and his birth certificate pulsating on the video screen. He threw one-liners at VIPs in the crowd before turning to Trump halfway through the 19-minute routine.

Now, I know that hes taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald, Obama said. And thats because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter  like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?

Then he turned serious: But all kidding aside, obviously, we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. For example  no, seriously, just recently, in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice  at the steakhouse, the mens cooking team did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks. And there was a lot of blame to go around. But you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And so ultimately, you didnt blame Lil Jon or Meatloaf. You fired Gary Busey. And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir. Well handled.

[Barack Obama, the first alt-comedy president]

What no one in the crowd knew until the next day was that even as he joked, Obama had authorized the secret raid that took out Osama bin Laden.

Then it was Meyerss turn. The SNL veteran launched into what was essentially a 20-minute Weekend Update segment, with withering jabs at all. By the time he got to Trump, he was lobbing jokes like grenades:

Donald Trump has been saying he will run for president as a Republican  which is surprising, since I just assumed he was running as a joke.

Trump owns the Miss USA Pageant, which is great for Republicans, because it will streamline their search for a vice president.

Donald Trump said recently hes got a great relationship with the blacks. Unless the Blacks are a family of white people, I bet hes mistaken.

[The VIPs attending the 2016 White House Correspondents Association dinner]

With cameras aimed at him, Trump smiled at Obamas jokes and waved at the crowd. His response to Meyers was less lighthearted: As the comedian hammered him, the billionaire didnt crack a smile.

The president was making jokes about me, he recalled this week. I was having a great time. I was so honored. I was actually so honored. And honestly, he delivered them well. But as for Meyers: I didnt like his routine. His was too nasty, out of order.

Had I been sitting anywhere else, I probably would have giggled at more of the jokes. But I felt that, personal opinion aside, Trump was a guest of The Washington Post and deserved to be treated with respect. I wasnt going to laugh to his face. (Okay, his ear.)



The Washington Posts Lally Weymouth, left, with Donald and Melania Trump at the 2011 dinner. (Clint Spaulding/Sipa Press/AP Images)

At the end of the dinner, Trump was swarmed by reporters demanding to know what he thought. He told them hed had a great time and was honored to be skewered by the president. And then he headed to the airport to jet home. Pundits took that as yet more proof that he was upset, but some VIPs stick around for the after-parties, and some beeline to their private jets  which is why, Trump says, he didnt linger.

The next morning, the newspapers had a different version that boiled down to Trump humiliated. Trump says he was baffled by the headlines, because that wasnt his take on the night. I didnt know that Id be virtually the sole focus, and I guess when youre leading in most of the polls, that tends to happen, he told Fox & Friends the next morning. I thought Seth Meyers, frankly, his delivery was not good  hes a stutterer and he really was having a hard time.

In retrospect, Trump broke the classic rule of political humor that says that the only response to a joke about you is to laugh harder than anyone else in the room. Whatever he was thinking, Trump looked unhappy and gave pundits a reason to pounce.

[What do his Palm Beach neighbors think of Donald Trump?]

Never one to let facts get in the way of a good story, the New Yorkers Adam Gopnik decided that this was the night that changed everything. Not only, as we did not know then, was President Obama in the midst of the operation that would lead shortly to Osama bin Ladens killing, he wrote last fall, it was also the night when, despite that preoccupation, the President took apart Donald Trump, plastic piece by orange part, and then refused to put him back together again.

Based on his seat a few tables away, Gopnik was not only able to observe Trump but apparently also believed that he could read Trumps mind. On that night, Trumps own sense of public humiliation became so overwhelming that he decided, perhaps at first unconsciously, that he would, somehow, get his own back  perhaps even pursue the Presidency after all, no matter how nihilistically or absurdly, and redeem himself, he wrote last fall.

This narrative flies in the face of actual history: Trump mentioned running for president as far back as the 1980s, so the notion that this dinner was the single catalyst for this presidential campaign is absurd. He frequently used humor as part of his self-promotional tool kit and was the guest of honor at a 2011 Comedy Central roast just two months before the correspondents dinner  an X-rated drubbing that made Obama and Meyers look like weenies. As a developer, Donald Trump has done so much damage to the New York skyline, instead of calling him The Donald they should call him the 20th hijacker, joked comedian Gilbert Gottfried.

Trumps rebuttal? Whats the difference between a wet raccoon and Donald J. Trumps hair? A wet raccoon doesnt have seven billion f---ing dollars in the bank.

Trump returned to the correspondents dinner last year, creating a stir when he threw an arm around national security adviser Susan E. Rice and whispered into her ear as cameras flashed.

Any lingering scars from 2011?

There are many reasons Im running, he told me. But thats not one of them.
He noted the states high vaccination rate  74 percent of adults have had at least one shot and 66 percent are fully vaccinated  but said thats not enough given the threat of the delta variant, which can sicken even vaccinated people, although not as severely as the unvaccinated.
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He came in and talked to my family for a considerable amount of time, 10 or 15 minutes, about my son Beau, Biden recounted of the popes visit to the U.S. six years ago, when he said the wounds were still raw following Beaus death. He didnt just generically talk about him  he knew about him, he knew what he did, he knew where he went to school. . . . It meant a great deal.
She added that some things have changed less than she would have liked. Theres still an effort by the fossil fuel industry to slow down progress, she said. Its not as overt as it used to be, when there was an international association lobbying against emissions cuts and challenging the science of climate change. Today, its done in a different way, its not as full on, its the oil industry announcing net-zero targets, but then opposing legislation, she said.
Will Smith portrays Richard Williams  better known as Venus and Serenas father. (Chiabella James/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Will Smith's role in King Richard, in theaters and on HBO Max, delves into fatherhood and the power of family in a way Black characters aren't often afforded.
The Swedish teenager, who is something of a rock star for climate campaigners worldwide, is among thousands of activists descending on Glasgow for the 12-day U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties, known as COP26, which kicked off Sunday. They are calling on world leaders to take bold action to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels.
Washington, IN (47501)

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Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 31F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
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Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 41F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

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MARY RUTH WAGLER  The funeral for Mary Ruth Wagler was held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, at First Mennonite Church, with Chris Raber, Gaylon Sommers and David Lee Stoll officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.
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.
Money can buy influence. As can celebrity. So, when you have both, greasing the wheels of influence in its many forms becomes something of an art form.

A couple of weeks ago I received a tip that mining mogul Andrew Twiggy Forrest, most recently estimated to be worth $27.2 billion on the Financial Review Rich List, had hosted a small dinner in a private room at Sydneys swanky dining establishment Rockpool, a place where you can order caviar on toast for $675.

That in itself was worth at least a paragraph for a gossip columnist. But then I discovered his guests were a line-up of some of Sydneys most influential media executives and personalities, starting with Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon. My appetite was whetted.

A man of influence: Billionaire Andrew Forrest.

But trying to find out what had been discussed, let alone what they ate or even what the actual purpose of the gathering was, I kept hitting walls of deafening silence.
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.
ANTLERS 

MA, 100 minutes

Trauma has become a cliche of American cinema, horror in particular. But it could hardly be said the theme has gone out of date. Scott Coopers murky but interesting Antlers gives us a double dose, starting with the heroine Julia (Keri Russell) a schoolteacher who has recently returned from California to the Oregon mining town she fled long ago.

Paul (Jesse Plemons), the brother she left behind, has become the local sheriff, maintaining in his abashed way that no one else much wanted the job. With the pair once more living side by side in the house where they grew up, its as if nothing has changed since childhood, despite the death of their monstrous dad (Andy Thompson).

Keri Russell and Jeremy T. Thomas have plenty to be concerned about in Antlers.

The town itself seems stuck in time, though its also in a state of visible decay. Coal remains the main industry, with the winding back of environmental regulations announced on a radio that broadcasts nothing but bad news. But the meth and opioid trades are also flourishing; even Paul is hooked on pills of some sort, though Cooper lets us observe this for ourselves rather than making it a major dramatic issue.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Even in film circles, John Farrow is pretty much unknown in Australia. But almost 60 years after his death, the product of Marrickville in Sydneys inner west remains easily the countrys most prolific filmmaker in Hollywood. He directed almost 50 movies, produced six and wrote more than 25 screenplays  winning an Oscar  before dying from a heart attack in 1963. Dynamic, driven and prone to telling spectacularly tall stories about his life, Farrow is part of a famous Hollywood family. Driven, dynamic and enigmatic: Hollywood director John Farrow who grew up in Marrickville and went to sea at 15. Credit:Ronin Loading When he married actress Maureen OSullivan, who played Jane to Johnny Weissmullers Tarzan, they had seven children including actress Mia Farrow and author Prudence Bruns, who inspired John Lennon to write Dear Prudence. Their grandson is famed investigative journalist Ronan Farrow. Outside movies, Farrow wrote eight books, including a collection of poetry and a history of the Popes. He became a Commander in the Canadian Navy during World War II. He won an OBE and a Papal knighthood. And, despite being a staunch Catholic, he was a Hollywood playboy whose romancing of a series of Hollywood actresses apparently continued through two marriages.

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When Australia won its first Oscar for Ken G. Halls documentary Kokoda Front Line in 1943, Farrow collected it. The fact that someone so accomplished is so little known in this country fascinated filmmakers Claude Gonzalez and Frans Vandenburg when they discovered a shared affection for Farrows critically acclaimed film noir The Big Clock (1948). Director John Farrow (left) with John Wayne and Lana Turner on the set of The Sea Chase. Credit:Ronin Now, after more than a decade of detective work and interviews, they reveal his brilliantly colourful life in the documentary John Farrow  Hollywoods Man In The Shadows that is screening at the Sydney Film Festival. Wed always loved 40s cinema, Gonzalez says. We loved The Big Clock and got into a discussion about how good and vibrant a work it was, then we found that there was really nothing written about Farrow. Vandenburg adds that they were fascinated to discover he was Australian and that he had made so many Hollywood movies. John Farrow, Maureen OSullivan and their children. Credit:Ronin

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As well as directing movies starring Boris Karloff, Lucille Ball, Robert Mitchum, Lana Turner, Bette Davis and John Wayne, Farrow won an Oscar for co-writing the comedy Around The World In 80 Days (1956) after an earlier nomination for directing the war drama Wake Island (1942). His best-known movies also include Five Came Back (1939), Two Years Before The Mast (1946), Night Has A Thousand Eyes (1948), Alias Nick Beal (1949), Where Danger Lives (1950), Hondo (1953), The Sea Chase (1955) and John Paul Jones (1959). Farrow was a stylish director who told engaging stories with a constantly moving camera. Credit:Getty Gonzalez describes him as a stylish director who told engaging stories with a constantly moving camera. Hes always creating a wonderful pace and energy to his filmmaking, he says. You can also see a humanism that is very much part of his style. He always cares about not just the hero but the secondary and the third person in the story ... the unheard voice of a female protagonist or the underdog. The documentary shows that Farrows father worked for a tailor and his mother was a dressmaker until her death aged just 26, when he was three, in what was then called Callan Park Hospital for the Insane. While not diagnosed at that time , it is now thought she had post-natal depression. While Farrow later claimed to have studied at Newington College, near his home, he really went to the more humble Newtown Boys.

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According to a relative living in Engadine in the southern suburbs, 88-year-old Jim Farrow, the family talk was that John was a rascal and a scallywag as a child. While Farrow later claimed to have studied at Newington College, near his home, he really went to the more humble Newtown Boys. He used to walk around with a white coat on and a stethoscope pretending he was a doctor, he says. We knew he used to exaggerate stories and that carried on after he left Australia. While the retired hospital courier never met his first cousin twice removed, his family research was invaluable for the documentary. Can you imagine making, on average, 15 films per decade?: Frans Vandenburg (left) and Claude Gonzalez, who directed the documentary John Farrow - Hollywoods Man In The Shadows. Aged 15, Farrow borrowed money from his aunt and left Sydney as a crew member on the RMS Makura in 1919. The destination was Vancouver via Fiji and Hawaii. He later claimed to have fought in revolutions in Nicaragua and Mexico before arriving in the US in 1923, though the documentary-makers believe that was a colourful fabrication. Just like his claims to be related to Englands kings, to have written an English-French-Tahitian dictionary and to have studied at Winchester College in England and the US Naval Academy.

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He just ran away to sea, had these adventures, began writing and jumped ship in San Francisco, Vandenburg says. Thats how he arrived in America: as an illegal alien. Around a year after landing, Farrow married the daughter of a mining magnate, Felice Lewin, and they had a daughter. There is a tall story behind that marriage as well. A report with the headline Divoce looms for Cinderella Boy about two different sides of John Farrow in The Oakland Tribune in 1927. Credit:Ronin In 1927, The Oakland Tribune carried a story headlined Divorce looms for Cinderella Boy that reported Jack Farrow had been living a lie when he won over Lewin. Working as a Coast Guard seaman swabbing the decks during the day, he had been wearing a monocle and spats, claiming to be a British Lord known as the Honorable John Neville Burg-Apton Villiers Farrow, to mix with appreciative debs and dowagers at night. She wanted a divorce on the grounds of cruelty. Working as a Coast Guard seaman swabbing the decks during the day, he had been wearing a monocle and claiming to be a British Lord at night. Arriving in Los Angeles that same year, Farrow started to gain recognition as a poet and short story writer. He worked as a script consultant and caption writer on silent seafaring movies then graduated to writing dialogue when talkies began.

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Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson has opened the UN climate summit in Glasgow, following a bagpipe performance and a poetry recitation.

He reprised the words of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, who described the words of world leaders who arent committing to climate action as blah, blah, blah.

Boris Johnson opens the UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Credit:AP

Addressing an audience that includes US President Joe Biden, Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sir David Attenborough, Johnson said the world is facing a James Bond-like doomsday scenario where the clock is ticking down on life as we know it.

The longer we fail to act the worse it gets and the higher the price when we are eventually forced by catastrophe to act, he said.

Its one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock and we need to act now.

He told world leaders they needed to deliver on the promises they made in Paris in 2015 to arrest global warming.

All those promises will be nothing but blah blah blah, to coin a phrase, and the anger and the impatience of the world will be uncontainable unless we make this COP26 in Glasgow the moment we get real about climate change, and we can, Johnson said in his opening speech.

He says it will be too late for our children tomorrow if the world does not act now.
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.
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.
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.
Rome: Political leaders from the worlds largest economies are in dispute over a collective goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, dimming the prospects for an agreement ahead of a United Nations climate change summit due to start on Monday.

The negotiations at the G20 summit in Rome appeared to soften the target to cut emissions to net zero by removing a reference to 2050 as the preferred deadline and replacing this with a mid-century timeframe.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison walks towards a bilateral meeting during the G20 Summit in Rome on Saturday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor ruled out taking a more ambitious 2030 target to the public at the upcoming federal election on ABC Insiders on Sunday morning.

Mr Taylor, speaking from Rome, said the Australian people had already been asked at the last election when the Coalition proposed a 26 to 28 per cent reduction target and Labor promised 45 per cent reductions.
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.
Louisville, KY (40203)

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Cloudy with occasional showers. Low 42F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

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Louisville, KY (40203)

Today

Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

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Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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.
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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. Norways U.N. Ambassador Mona Juul, who sponsored the resolution with Niger, told the council after the vote: For the first time, the Security Council has adopted a resolution uniquely dedicated to the protection of education."
U.S. President Joe Biden has told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that their countries must cooperate more and better manage disagreements after their partnership was tested by Turkey's threat to no longer recognize the American envoy and its purchase of a Russian missile defense system
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Ruth Hultz, a retired educator, holds a BA in History, an MA in Learning Disabilities, an MA in School Administration and is a certified Glasser Institute Reality Therapist. Ruth is a volunteer for Quincy Area Habitat for Humanity and HSQAC.

The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County is preserving the Governor John Wood Mansion, the History Museum on the Square, the 1835 Log Cabin, the Livery, the Lincoln Gallery displays, and a collection of artifacts and documents that tell the story of who we are. This award-winning column is written by members of the Society. For more information visit hsqac.org or email info@hsqac.org.
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ROME (AP)  Britain is naming a thinning Antarctic ice mass the Glasgow Glacier, to symbolize the vast implications for the world of a climate conference that starts Sunday in the Scottish city.

ROME (AP)  Britain is naming a thinning Antarctic ice mass the Glasgow Glacier, to symbolize the vast implications for the world of a climate conference that starts Sunday in the Scottish city.

More than 120 world leaders will join British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Glasgow for the COP26 summit. Britain is calling the gathering one of the world's last chances to keep alive the goal, agreed in Paris in 2015, of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Scientists from the University of Leeds in England have studied a chain of glaciers in the Getz basin of Antarctica, and found their journey from land to ocean sped up by an average of 25% between 1994 and 2018 due to climate change, shedding 315 gigatonnes (347 billion U.S. tons) of ice and contributing to rising global sea levels.

The glaciers, which lie in the British Antarctic Territory, will be named after cities that have hosted climate conferences, reports or treaties, including Rio, Kyoto, Paris and Glasgow.

Johnson said that by naming this glittering giant of nature after the city where next week humankind will gather to fight for the future of the planet, we have a stark reminder of what we are working to preserve.

Urging leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, meeting this weekend in Rome, to raise their carbon-cutting commitments, Johnson said the Glasgow meeting represents our best chance to keep the goal of 1.5 degrees alive.

Johnson has been pressing leaders from some of the G-20's biggest carbon emitters  including India, Australia and China  to make quicker and deeper cuts to their emissions. But he had little in the way of firm commitments to show for it as he prepares to head back to the U.K. and said he rated the chances of success for the Glasgow summit as 6 out of 10.

___

Read more of APs climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/Climate
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP)  With the legalization of recreational cannabis for adults and the impending start of retail sales next year, several Connecticut coastal towns are saying no, for now.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP)  With the legalization of recreational cannabis for adults and the impending start of retail sales next year, several Connecticut coastal towns are saying no, for now.

Guilford, Madison and North Branford recently put in place measures that stop cannabis establishments from opening for nine months to a year from now and Clinton has made it unlawful for any building, structure or land to be used as a cannabis establishment, producer, retailer or dispensary, the New Haven Register reported.

The law signed in June by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont law allows individuals age 21 and older to possess or consume up to 1.5 ounces (42.5 grams) of cannabis plant material and up to 5 ounces (141.7 grams) in a locked container in a home or in the trunk or locked glove box in the persons vehicle. Retail sales of recreational cannabis in Connecticut are not expected to begin until the summer of 2022 at the earliest.

Clinton town manager Karl Kilduff told the Register that at a public hearing in September on the issue, 15 of 17 people spoke against allowing cannabis establishments in the town. The town's police chief also expressed concern about a black market developing alongside the legal market.

Guilford's moratorium lasts through next June but allows for more community discussion, First Selectman Matt Hoey told the newspaper. Madisons moratorium is for nine months or until the commission adopts zoning regulations, and North Branford's lasts until next October, which town officials said gives the commission time to digest the law and come up with its own regulation.

Paige Checci, a Guilford resident who spoke at a recent public meeting, said the moratoriums deny opportunities to local entrepreneurs.

I dont think we should be saying no to jobs, commerce and good business, Checci said in a recording from the meeting. A billion-dollar industry is building in Connecticut so why should Guilford say no while other towns and municipalities say yes and reap the benefits?
TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Rogers corporate head office and headquarters seen from Ted Rogers Way in Toronto on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Evan Buhler

TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Rogers v. Rogers:

Canadas most closely watched corporate intrigue saga is expected to begin a new chapter on Monday when opening arguments are heard in Edward Rogers v. Rogers Communications Inc. at the B.C. Supreme Court. Scion Edward Rogers is battling his sisters and mother for control of the telecom giants board of directors.

Air Canada results:

Air Canada is set to hold a call to discuss its third-quarter results on Tuesday. The airline joined other travel industry companies earlier this month to support the federal governments vaccine mandate for travellers, but said a standardized proof of vaccination system across the country needs to be developed quickly.

Toronto home sales:

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board is scheduled to release October home sales figures on Wednesday. The board recently reported that the market kicked off the fall selling season with an 18 per cent year-over-year decrease in homes sold in September and a 34 per cent drop in new listings.

October jobs numbers:

Statistics Canada is set to release its labour force survey for October on Friday. The agency reported last month that Canadas economy marked a milestone in September as employment returned to pre-pandemic levels for the first time, recouping the remainder of three millions jobs lost over a year ago with a gain of 157,000 jobs in the month.

Enbridge earnings:

Enbridge Inc. plans to release its third-quarter results before markets open on Friday. The company recently filed court documents outlining how Michigan's efforts to shut down Enbridge's Line 5 cross-border pipeline have ``directly and significantly'' impacted the relationship between Canada and the United States.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2021.
ROME (AP)  Leaders of the worlds biggest economies agreed Sunday to stop funding coal-fired power plants in poor countries and made a vague commitment to seek carbon neutrality by or around mid-century as they wrapped up a Rome summit before the much larger United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

Demonstrators carry a makeshift globe of planet hearth during a march in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, the day a Group of 20 summit started in the Italian capital. Factory workers, climate activists, antiglobalization campaigners, unions, feminist groups, vaccine skeptics and political extremists are seizing the opportunity to voice anger while world's leaders are gathering in town for the first time in presence since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

ROME (AP)  Leaders of the worlds biggest economies agreed Sunday to stop funding coal-fired power plants in poor countries and made a vague commitment to seek carbon neutrality by or around mid-century as they wrapped up a Rome summit before the much larger United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

While Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron described the Group of 20 summit as a success, the outcome disappointed climate activists, the chief of the U.N. and Britain's leader. The U.K. is hosting the two-week Glasgow conference and had looked for more ambitious targets to come out of Rome.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the G-20's commitments mere drops in a rapidly warming ocean. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres agreed the outcome was not enough.

While I welcome the #G20s recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled  but at least they are not buried, Guterres tweeted. Onwards to #COP26 in Glasgow."

The G-20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions, and Britain had hoped for a G-20 bounce" going into the Glasgow COP26 meeting. Environmentalists and scientists have described the U.N. conference as the world's last best hope" for nailing down commitments to limit the global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average.

A demonstrator marches with a makeshift globe of planet earth in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, the day a Group of 20 summit started in the Italian capital. Factory workers, climate activists, antiglobalization campaigners, unions, feminist groups, vaccine skeptics and political extremists are seizing the opportunity to voice anger while world's leaders are gathering in town for the first time in presence since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

The summit laid bare the divisions that still exist between Western countries that polluted the planet the most historically but are now seeing emissions decline and the emerging economies led by China whose emissions are rising as their economies grow.

Britain pushed for a commitment to achieve climate neutrality or net-zero emissions, meaning a balance between greenhouse gases added to and removed from the atmosphere, by 2050.

The United States and the European Union have set 2050 as their own deadline for reaching net-zero emissions, while China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are aiming for 2060. The leaders of those three countries didnt come to Rome for the summit.

From left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Premier Mario Draghi, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stand at the Trevi Fountain during an event for the G20 summit in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit concludes on Sunday, the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)

In the end, the G-20 leaders arrived at a compromise to achieve climate neutrality by or around mid-century, not a set year.

Before leaving Rome, U.S. President Joe Biden called it disappointing that G-20 members Russia and China basically didnt show up with commitments to address the scourge of climate change ahead of the U.N. climate conference.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not expected to attend the conference in Glasgow, although they are sending senior officials to the international COP26 talks.

Activists from Extinction Rebellion block a road during a demonstration outside the G20 summit in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit concludes on Sunday, the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Signs on shirts read 'Governments have failed'. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia...and China basically didnt show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change. And theres a reason why people should be disappointed, Biden said, adding: I found it disappointing myself.

Biden comments came in response to a reporters question about the modest pledges made during the G-20 summit.

We made commitments here from across the board in terms of what were going to bring to (COP26), the president said. As that old trade saying goes, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Activists from Extinction Rebellion use bike locks to chain themselves to a fence while holding signs during a demonstration outside the G20 summit in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. The two-day Group of 20 summit concludes on Sunday, the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Signs read 'Climate and Biological crisis' and 'Governments have failed'. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pushed back at the West's target date.

Why do you believe 2050 is some magic figure? Lavrov asked at a news conference. If it is an ambition of the European Union, it is the right of other countries also to have ambitions....No one has proven to us or anybody else that 2050 is something everyone must subscribe to.

Italy's Draghi said the declaration went further on climate than any G-20 statement before it. He noted that it referred to keeping the 1.5-degree global warming target within reach, something that science shows will be hard to accomplish unless the world dramatically cuts emissions from fossil fuels.

President Joe Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen talk to reporters about pausing the trade war over steel and aluminum tariffs during the G20 leaders summit, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, in Rome. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

We changed the goalposts, Draghi told reporters.

Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau said that G-20 leaders were able to get together was in itself a success given the coronavirus pandemic.

The fact that we have well laid out the table and know where the sharp edges are, and know what work we were going to have to do at COP is a very positive step, Trudeau said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the G20 summit via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Oct. 31, 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. (Evgeniy Paulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The future of coal, a key source of greenhouse gas emissions, also proved one of the most difficult issues on which to find consensus for the G-20.

At the Rome summit, leaders agreed to put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021. That refers to financial support for building coal plants abroad.

Western countries have been moving away from such financing and major Asian economies are following suit: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the U.N. General Assembly last month that Beijing would stop funding such projects, and Japan and South Korea made similar commitments earlier in the year.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson listens to a question during a press conference at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. Leaders of the world's biggest economies made a compromise commitment Sunday to reach carbon neutrality "by or around mid-century" as they wrapped up a two-day summit that was laying the groundwork for the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

China has not set an end date for building coal plants at home, however. Coal is still Chinas main source of power generation, and both China and India have resisted proposals for a G-20 declaration on phasing out domestic coal consumption.

The failure of the G-20 to set a target for phasing out domestic coal use was a disappointment to Britain. But Johnson's spokesperson, Max Blain, said the G-20 communique was never meant to be the main lever in order to secure commitments on climate change, noting those would be hammered out at the Glasgow summit.

John Kirton, director of the G-20 Research Group at the University of Toronto, said the leaders took only baby steps in the agreement and did almost nothing new.

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi gestures during a press conference at the La Nuvola conference center for the G20 summit in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. Leaders of the world's biggest economies made a compromise commitment Sunday to reach carbon neutrality "by or around mid-century" as they wrapped up a two-day summit that was laying the groundwork for the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

He pointed to the agreement to recall and reaffirm their overdue commitment to provide $100 billion in assistance to poorer countries and to stress the importance of meeting that goal fully as soon as possible instead of stating that they were ready to stump up the full amount.

The agreement to end international coal financing is the one thing thats specific and real. That one counts, Kirton said.

Youth climate activists Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate issued an open letter to the media as the G-20 was wrapping up, stressing three fundamental aspects of the climate crisis that often are downplayed: that time is running out, that any solution must provide justice to the people most affected, and that the biggest polluters often hide behind incomplete statistics about their true emissions.

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at the conclusion of the G20 leaders summit, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, in Rome. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The climate crisis is only going to become more urgent. We can still avoid the worst consequences, we can still turn this around. But not if we continue like today, they wrote, just weeks after Thunberg shamed global leaders for their blah blah blah rhetoric during a youth climate summit in Milan.

Greenpeace Executive Director Jennifer Morgan said the G-20 failed to provide the leadership the world needed. I think it was a betrayal to young people around the world, she told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Aside from climate issues, the leaders signed off on a landmark agreement for countries to enact a global minimum corporate tax of 15%. The global minimum is aimed at deterring multinational companies from dodging taxes by shifting profits to countries with ultra-low rates where they may do little actual business.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, centre right speaks to the Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte, at the G20 Summit at the La Nuvola conference centre in Rome, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP)

The leaders also said they would continue work on a French initiative for wealthier countries to re-channel $100 billion in financial support to needier countries in Africa in the form of special drawing rights - a foreign exchange tool used to help finance imports allocated by the International Monetary Fund and also received by advanced countries.

The leaders said they were working on actionable options to do that and set the $100 billion figure as a total global ambition short of an absolute commitment. Some $45 billion has already been reallocated by individual countries on a voluntary basis.

The commitment reflects concern that the post-pandemic recovery is diverging, with wealthy countries rebounding faster due to extensive vaccinations and stimulus spending.

___ Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report. Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington.
ROME - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the G20 needs a sense of "urgency" to address the growing threat of climate change Sunday, as the leaders' summit kicked off its second day with a session on climate action.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland arrives to hold a press conference at the G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

ROME - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the G20 needs a sense of "urgency" to address the growing threat of climate change Sunday, as the leaders' summit kicked off its second day with a session on climate action.

"Climate change cannot be denied," he said on Twitter. "And climate action cannot be delayed. Working together with our partners, we need to tackle this global crisis with urgency and ambition."

But negotiators working through the night did not appear to have made much headway on securing agreement to phase out coal power more quickly or hastening plans to get to net zero emissions.

Italian Prime Minister and G20 host Mario Draghi made a last-ditch effort to urge the leaders of the world's biggest economies to accept the reality of the situation.

"We face a simple choice," he told leaders at the table. "We can act now, or regret it later."

Repeated attempts for Trudeau and Draghi to have a bilateral meeting in Rome were scuttled by time limitations. Saturday's planned meeting was cancelled by Italy because Draghi was running too far behind. On Sunday the rescheduled meeting was first on, then off because the morning climate session went long. Another round of rescheduling and cancellation then took place when Trudeau's scheduled meeting with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez interfered.

Canada did get some positive feedback on its climate policies from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen. According to Canadian officials, Merkel told Trudeau it was bold to introduce a carbon price as an oil-producing country.

Von Der Leyen met with Trudeau for a one-on-one discussion Sunday morning at his hotel.

"I want to thank you for being such a strong, dedicated ally in the fight against climate change," she told him. "I think this is the topic of not only today, but also the century, of maximum importance."

The United Nations reiterated warnings this week that with the current policies promised by parties to the Paris climate agreement, the Earth will warm more than 2.7 C by the end of this century.

The Paris agreement aimed to keep it below 2 C and as close to 1.5 C as possible. The G20 was debating how to reword that target to make 1.5 C more critical.

"Scientists tell us that under current policies, the consequence of climate change for the environment and the world's population will be catastrophic," said Draghi. "The cost of action, however, high it may seem, is trivial compared to the price of inaction."

The prospect of progress at the two-day summit at the Rome Convention Centre dimmed in the days before the summit when China submitted its new targets to the United Nations with barely any increase in ambition.

China still plans to keep growing emissions until 2030, and isn't agreeing to move its net zero target up from 2060. It was slightly more specific about using more renewable energy and planting more trees.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was also not at the table, choosing to send his foreign minister Wang Yi instead.

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Saturday that Xi's absence wasn't ideal, but wouldn't comment on what impact she thought that may have on the climate talks.

"The G20, of course, is most effective when all the G20 leaders are at the table," she said. "Having said that, I do think we also need to recognize that the fight against COVID is not finished yet and different countries will take different decisions about international travel while we're still finishing the fight against COVID."

Xi was one of five G20 leaders who didn't make the trip. The leaders of Russia, Mexico, Brazil and Japan also sent officials and participated themselves only virtually.

But China's importance to the G20 negotiations on ending coal-fired electricity made Xi's absence potentially the most troublesome. He is also not attending the COP26 summit, which kicked off in Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday.

Trudeau and Draghi had both hoped for a strong, united message on climate from the G20 to carry into COP. The G20 isn't just responsible for 80 per cent of global economic output, it also produces about 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2021.
ROME - Canada wanted a stronger and more ambitious agreement on climate change to emerge from the G20 summit but leaders still managed to make progress by committing to address some key issues, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday.

ROME - Canada wanted a stronger and more ambitious agreement on climate change to emerge from the G20 summit but leaders still managed to make progress by committing to address some key issues, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday.

His remarks came as he wrapped up two days in Rome at the G20 leaders' summit, where the leaders' final communique saw them agree for the first time in writing that limiting global warming to 1.5 C would be better for everyone.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with President of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

But the document also watered down numerous parts of a previous draft version, including replacing specific deadlines to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and eliminate coal power by the end of the 2030s, with net zero by "mid century" and eliminating coal power "as soon as possible."

Language promising to reduce methane emissions was changed only to recognize that curbing methane is a cost-effective and relatively easy way to reduce emissions.

"There's no question that Canada and a number of other countries would have liked stronger language and stronger commitments on the fight against climate change than others," Trudeau said at his closing news conference.

"But we did make significant progress on recognizing 1.5 degrees is the ambition we need to share."

A quarter of the G20 leaders skipped the weekend's events, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trudeau suggested that affected the language on coal and net zero emissions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference during the G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

"These are the kinds of things that Canada's going to continue to push for, alongside all our colleagues," he said. "Not everyone around the table was there today and we're a group that works on consensus as much as possible. But we're going to continue fighting for a better future for all."

China, which is in absolute terms the world's biggest emitter, is still very dependent on coal for electricity, as is India. Both have expressed an inability to reduce coal power at this point. China has also only set a goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2060, rather than 2050.

Trudeau's assessment was similar to that issued by G20 host and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who said it's easier to propose than execute difficult things.

Draghi said he felt the G20 was working more co-operatively than it has for the last several years.

But United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he was leaving Rome "with my hopes unfulfilled." He said he's now looking to the UN COP26 climate talks in Glasgow for that hope.

His disappointment was echoed by environment advocates.

"If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines," said Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan in a statement.

"Their communique was weak, lacking both ambition and vision and simply failed to meet the moment."

Eddy Perez, international climate diplomacy manager for Climate Action Network Canada, applauded the G20 leaders for finally realizing the importance of aiming to keep global warming to 1.5 C.

"But the credibility of the largest global economic bloc lies more (than) on just an agreement of principles. With no ambitious and detailed plan to close the climate finance gap and to accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels, we won't be able to build a more equitable and fair future that ends all expansion of coal, oil and gas."

Most of the G20 leaders, including Trudeau, are headed to Glasgow directly from Rome for two days of negotiations to finally finish crafting rules for how the Paris climate agreement will measure progress and run carbon-emissions trading markets.

The hope had been for strong language from the G20 as motivation for COP26, when all of the parties to the Paris agreement will be represented in some fashion.

Trudeau said COP will keep putting pressure on governments to do more to slow global warming, even though the same leaders missing in Rome are expected to skip Glasgow too.

"It is a challenging process to shift the trajectory of the world off of fossil fuels and onto more renewables and reduce our carbon emissions," he said. "But it is hard work that is being done by people here today, by people in Scotland, by people all around the world, that we are committed to as a G20 and as a world.

Trudeau also said just having the G20 talks was progress.

"Any time the leaders of the world are able to gather, particularly after this pandemic year, once again in person, and actually get into it together and talk about this existential threat to all of us that is climate change is itself a win," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2021.
Incident 1156

When: Sept. 6, 2021

Where: First block of Edmonton Street

A man gained access to the common area of a residential apartment block by smashing a window with a rock. When confronted by the caretaker, the suspect fled on foot without further incident.

Incident 1156

Incident 1157

When: Sept. 7, 2021

Where: 600 block of Portage Avenue

A man entered a drug store and began to select and conceal merchandise in his pocket. He was confronted by store staff and produced a syringe and made threatening gestures. The employees backed away, giving the man an opportunity to flee, which he did.
Downtown Winnipeg flooded with valiant knights, battle-weary soldiers, Disney royalty and all manner of strange creatures Saturday  and it wasnt just the early Halloween crowds.

Downtown Winnipeg flooded with valiant knights, battle-weary soldiers, Disney royalty and all manner of strange creatures Saturday  and it wasnt just the early Halloween crowds.

After two years of waiting, Winnipegs Comiccon festival returned this weekend, bringing a colourful celebration of comic book, science fiction, TV, movie, anime and video game characters to the RBC Convention Centre. The festival was cancelled in 2020 owing to pandemic-related concerns.

Long rows of tightly-packed booths boasted art from some of Canadas premier illustrators along with collectibles, apparel, and more. The family-friendly event played host to special guests like Lord of the Rings Billy Boyd, Star Treks John de Lancie and The Walking Deads Laurie Holden, who spoke at panels, signed autographs and posed for pictures with the excited crowd.

But the real highlight of any comic con celebration is the fans, who came decked out in cosplay  costumes depicting favourite characters from a variety of beloved pop-culture references  and relished in the chance to meet their idols, and mingle with their fellow comic fans.

For the real-life couple Dalton James Yeomans and Jazmin Lynch, a last-minute costume decision made for a full-circle romance moment.

Two Spidermen have a little fun at the comic con. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press)

Dressed in picture-perfect Beast and Belle costumes (from the Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast) the couple twirled across the floor outside the main auditorium Saturday morning.

"Believe it or not, when we first got together roughly four years ago, she got us these bracelets that said 'his beauty' and 'her beast' and then we were randomly trying to find a costume last minute and when she suggested we just do this I reminded her about the bracelets," said Yeomans.

"She was like 'Oh my goodness, it came full circle!'"

Brendan Hart and his family drove all they way from Saskatchewan so he could show off his massive Mordekaiser costume. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press)

The couple, who drove in from Kenora, Ont., for the event, had yet to even enter the main event space before taking photos with at least a dozen other attendees dazzled by their attire.

"It's exciting to be out with people in public, being close to people and taking pictures," said Lynch. "That is awesome. I'm excited for the event to even be happening, and I hope lots of people show up and support it."

The dazzling couple werent the only ones who travelled from out-of-province to make it to this years Comiccon; Brendan Hart, his brother and his parents drove several hours from Regina to Winnipeg to show off his towering League of Legends costume.

Dalton James Yeomen and Jazmin Lynch waltz as Beauty and the Beast. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press)

"You are witnessing the powerful might of Mordekaiser," Brendan Hart said, his voice laden with pomp and showmanship, from behind a small screen cutout in a nearly eight-foot tall faux-metal cosplay.

Hart is clearly in his element. With a faux-metal club as tall as he is, a flowing red cape and a carefully-constructed and detailed suit of the same material, he lumbers mechanically with each step, fully immersed in the performance.

It's a showstopper of a costume, and his parents and brother (who have dubbed themselves "Crew Mordekaiser") stand by ready to facilitate photo opportunities, hold the giant club, and chat up those who stop in awe at his outfit.

Mark Halcrow dresses up as one of his favourite movie characters, the Joker. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press)

"It's very good to come back to comiccon and actually witness my costume in action," Hart said.

Hart said he spent a couple years, off and on, building the costume, which he plans to take to any and every con he can.

Hart's mother, Carolyn Gray, says the whole family came out to Winnipeg to support him.

Reptar from Rugrats gets some fresh air outside of the RBC Convention Centre. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press)

"He's been incredibly enthusiastic about participating at the comic con. Just because of the size he needs a little bit of help maneouvering," Gray says with a chuckle.

"He's put a lot of effort into putting together this costume, to scale, with a lot to the details."

At another family affair , Mark Halcrow, his son Corbin Mader, and his brother Nathan Halcrow drove eight hours from Cross Lake Friday to attend the weekend event. Mark, dressed as the Joker, said it was his first time attending the festival. He and his son, dressed as Goku from Dragonball Z, were thrilled to meet new people and spend time among the crowds.

Michael Meyers walks amongst costume-cladded comic con attendees. (Mike Sudoma / Winnipeg Free Press)

"I'm feeling good, feeling like a villian, it feels awesome," he laughed. "It feels good, it's our first ComicCon, but we'll come back for sure."

Winnipeg ComicCon began Friday and continues today. The event is in compliance with public health orders, and attendees must wear masks (bonus points if they match the costume) while at the event.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
Something is going wrong in a country called Sudan, Mekki Mohamed cried into a microphone on the front steps of Manitobas legislature Saturday. We want democracy back.

"Something is going wrong in a country called Sudan," Mekki Mohamed cried into a microphone on the front steps of Manitobas legislature Saturday. "We want democracy back."

As Mohamed spoke, the nearly 60 people gathered below him cheered, affirming their support for citizens of a country torn apart by a violent military coup this week. Sudanese and Canadian flags waved high together above the crowd, as Sudanese-Canadian families and their supporters chanted "Action, action for Sudan."

On Monday, Sudanese military leader Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan dissolved the countrys tenuous transitional government  where military and civilian leaders had shared power since ousting Omar al-Bashir in 2019  by arresting civilians, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his wife, and opening fire on civilian protesters.

Monday morning, Sudanese Canadians woke to the disturbing images of violence, "widespread arrest and torture" of civil protesters in their home country, Sudanese immigrant Hassan Babiker told the crowd gathered in Winnipeg Saturday.

"Were trying to campaign Canadians and the government of Canada to support the wishes of the Sudanese people for democracy, peace and equality in the country," Babiker said.

The crowd condemned the military leaders "responsible for well documented crimes" against Sudanese civilians and called on the Canadian government to reject the military leadership.

"We call on our Canadian government to immediately condemn the actions of the two generals, and demand immediately that they step down and hand the government back to civilians led by Prime Minister Hamdok," Babiker told the crowd, adding they are urging the United Nations not to recognize a military-led government in Sudan.

Telecommunication and internet services were disconnected in Sudan most of Monday, Babiker said, "making it very challenging for members of the Sudanese Canadian community to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their loved ones back home in Sudan."

In Sudan, millions of people took to the streets in the capital city Khartoum Saturday to reaffirm their support for the civilian government leaders and advocate for their freedoms, Babiker said in an interview during the rally.

They were joined by rallies across the world  including in several major Canadian cities  each showing solidarity with the Sudanese peoples push "to protect their dreams of a democratic and free nation."

Shahd Mekki, 13, came out to the rally with several family members to show support for her family back home in Sudan. She held up a sign emblazoned with bright blue paint to read "#WpgStandsWithSudan."

"Were raising awareness here for our country back in Sudan because theres a military coup there and theyre abusing a lot of human rights," Mekki said.

"We want people here to know about whats happening in Sudan and to support us."

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
Unsure about what their courses will look like in the coming days, as a faculty strike deadline nears, students at the University of Manitoba are frustrated about the prospect of their instructors walking off the job amid continuous learning disruptions.

Unsure about what their courses will look like in the coming days, as a faculty strike deadline nears, students at the University of Manitoba are frustrated about the prospect of their instructors walking off the job amid continuous learning disruptions.

The union that represents more than 1,200 professors, instructors and academic librarians at Manitobas largest post-secondary institute recently set both a bargaining and strike deadline, for Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, respectively.

"Students are being held hostage and we really have no way to do anything about it," said Erik Rogalka, a final-year student enrolled in U of Ms post-degree education program.

The faculty association, known as UMFA, has repeatedly cited the schools low salaries  in part, a product of the Progressive Conservative governments public sector wage mandates  for its ongoing challenges with retention and recruitment.

For weeks, academics have been calling on the province to stop interfering in collective bargaining and withdraw its most recent mandate. Meantime, the government claims it has a responsibility, as a steward of public funds, to provide guidelines for salary hikes.

For Rogalka, the ongoing mediation scenario is a familiar one. The 25-year-old was an undergraduate student in the fall of 2016 when professors went on strike for three weeks amid a bargaining deadlock. Last fall, he was adjusting to remote learning when UMFA held a strike vote, before an agreement was reached to provide staff with a one-time stipend to address their work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I know the bargaining process can create tension and stress for many in our community; we all feel this," wrote Michael Benarroch, U of M president, in a recent public bargaining update.

Benarroch said the universitys proposal recognizes its commitment to make salaries more competitive while providing stability for staff and students.

Moira Kennedy, a third-year native studies student, said shes stressed out about a potential strike, but it was an easy choice for her to support faculty members demands  especially given her university had a surplus upwards of $94 million last year.

The 22-year-old is among the volunteers involved with Students Supporting UMFA, which has been organizing events and campaigns to promote education around the labour dispute. The group was founded on the premise that faculty working conditions are student learning conditions.

"Were supportive of UMFA because weve seen the harmful effects of this labour dispute... Weve seen the longer wait lists and less one-on-one time with professors," said Kennedy, noting student learning suffers when talented professors leave U of M for better paying positions elsewhere.

Academic wages at the U of M are currently the lowest of all comparable English-speaking universities in Canada. The floor salary for a full professor at the University of Saskatchewan was $135,145 last year  nearly $30,000 more than the same position pay at the U of M.

"I have a lot at stake in this strike," said Mads Meyer-Parr, a third-year sociology student, who is also a volunteer with Students Supporting UMFA. "Im essentially going to see all of my classes freeze and I will be left to navigate that without any help from my profs."

Meyer-Parr, 20, said it's frustrating to feel so powerless in the situation, given the province is seemingly preventing a quick deal with a mandate.

In Rogalkas view, no side is blameless in creating a stalemate that could affect students who are already experiencing high levels of anxiety as the pandemic wears on. Students are being unfairly used as bargaining chips, he said.

"The hope is they can get a deal done quickly and that we can get things back on track," added Rogalka. "Its just unfortunate that students have to deal with this, and it seems like its on a yearly basis now."

Over the weekend, UMFA leadership called on the province's next premier to cut ties with former leader Brian Pallister's legacy of restricting wages during bargaining talks.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
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.

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 you're 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 Blake's 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 city's 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 don't 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"  a longstanding practice in his courtroom  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.

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Rolf Wegenke, who has led the state association of private colleges and universities for the past three decades, plans to retire from his post next summer.

Wegenke, 73, became president of the Wisconsin Association of Private Colleges and Universities, also known as WAICU, in 1992. The Madison-based organization represents 23 private nonprofit schools and their nearly 54,000 students. WAICU members include Edgewood College and Marquette University.

I think were in a very good place, he said. The presidents have been very entrepreneurial during the pandemic and the last recession and the recession before that.

Among Wegenkes biggest challenges has been confronting the public perception that private colleges are a much pricier alternative to public universities. A focus on financial aid has been a big factor in cutting through that belief.

The average annual sticker price for a student attending a WAICU school is $33,422, he said, but the average financial aid package is $29,007. That means the average out-of-pocket cost for a student is $4,415.

How we can tell that story and get people to listen is hard, he said, especially in more recent years when a growing share of the public is questioning the value of a college degree.
Heads and large intestines go for $175 each.

A set of eight bloody foot prints can be had for $105, while a half-eaten arm is just $80.

There are decayed dogs, sides of beef, a wide selection of bones, skulls and full skeletons, and a whole assortment of scary clowns.

None of it is real, of course, but the fake props have created a gory, successful business model for Dapper Cadaver, a company founded in Los Angeles but for the past year located in an industrial park on Madisons South Side.

Halloween season may be at its end, but the family-owned business remains busy year-round providing realistic items for movies, television shows and plays; props for escape rooms; and products that can be used to help train first responders, forensic scientists and coroners.

We serve multiple industries, said Eileen Winslow, who founded the company in 2006 with her husband, BJ. It gives us a unique product line, and part of why we do that is because in terms of working it keeps it balanced and we have something new every day. If youre working on like large training products its nice to have a zombie head in there every once in a while just to keep things lighter.
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The largest lakes in the world can be found spread over a variety of countries. From the Great Lakes of North America, to massive lakes across south east Africa, and the giant Baikal in Russia, these lakes are impressive examples of the Earths geography and longevity. From freshwater sources to habitat communities, these lakes play a key role in the healthy working of our planet Earth.

1. Caspian Sea - 371,000 km2

Oil platform off the Caspian sea coast near Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water on earth and the largest lake in the world. It borders Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran. The Caspian Sea is truly impressive and has a surface area of 371,000 km2 and a volume of 78,200 km3. It is an endorheic basin, which sits 27 meters below sea level. The water in the lake is slightly saline, but only about a third as salty as other open seas or oceans.

Read MoreCaspian Sea

2. Lake Superior Lake - 82,100 km2

Lake Superior waves roll onto the shoreline at Split Rock Lighthouse.

Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, with an area of 82,100 km2. It sits along the border between Canada and the United States of America, and has shorelines in the province of Ontario, as well as the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan. Lake Superior also has the greatest volume of any of the Great Lakes, and in fact contains more water than all of the other four great lakes combined for a volume of 12,100 km3.

Read MoreLake Superior

3. Victoria Lake - 68,870km2

Fishing in Lake Victoria.

Lake Victoria is the third largest lake in the world, with an area of 68,870km2, making it the largest lake in Africa. The lake borders the countries of Uganda, to the north, and Kenya and Tanzania to the East and South. The lake is known for its wildlife, and a number of fish species can be found in its freshwater, such as tilapia, perch, and many endemic species of cichlids. Some of these species are popular for fishing, though environmental concerns have begun to threaten the health of the lake.

Read MoreLake Victoria

4. Huron Lake - 59,570 km2

Woman paddles a blue kayak around Lake Huron's Turnip Rock near Port Austin Michigan, on a clear summer day.

Huron is another of the North American Great Lakes, which is located between the state of Michigan in the United States, and Ontario in Canada. It has a total surface area of 59,570 km2. Huron is one of the cleaner and clearer lakes within the Great Lakes system, and as such is home to a variety of fish species such as walleye, lake sturgeon, Alewife, Lake trout, and Lake whitefish. Lake Huron also contains some 30,000 islands, including Manitoulin Island, which is the world's largest freshwater island, and is home to more than 12,000 residents.

Read MoreLake Huron

5. Michigan Lake - 57,757 km2

Lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Lake Michigan measures roughly 57,757 km2 in surface area, and is the third largest lake in North America. It borders several of the United States including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, and is the largest lake found entirely within one country (the U.S.). Several major cities sit along its shores, including Milwaukee and Green Bay in Wisconsin; Chicago in Illinois; the city of Gary in Indiana; and Muskegon in Michigan. The lake is also home to the protected areas: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Warren Dunes State Park.

Read MoreLake Michigan

6. Tanganyika Lake - 32,600 km2

Women washing their clothes on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Editorial credit: Yury Birukov / Shutterstock.com

Lake Tanganyika is located on the continent of Africa, and borders the countries of Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the longest freshwater lake in the world, with a length of 676 kilometers, and the third largest of any kind by volume (18,900 km3). The total surface area of the lake is 32,600 km2. It is also thought to be the second-oldest freshwater lake. Tanganyika is home to a large population of Nile crocodiles,various types of terrapin, cichlids and a wide variety of other fish, some of which are endemic to the area.

Read MoreLake Tanganyika

7. Baikal Lake - 23,600 km3

Lake Baikal in winter.

Lake Baikal is located in a mountainous area of Russia, north of the Mongolian border. It has an area of 31,500 km2. It is also the deepest lake at 1637 meters, and the worlds largest lake by volume at 23,600 km3. Baikal is truly huge. It contains roughly 23% of the world's fresh surface water, which is more than all of the North American Great Lakes combined. It is also thought to be the worlds oldest lake, and it is estimated it dates back some 2530 million years.

Read MoreLake Baikal

8. Great Bear Lake - 31,000 km2

The Arctic community of Deline on the shores of the frozen Great Bear Lake. Image credit: mattcatpurple https://www.flickr.com/photos/ntlibrarian/via Wikimedia Commons

Great Bear Lake has an area of 31,000 km2, and is the largest lake entirely in Canada. It can be found in the Boreal forests of Canada's Northwest Territories, at a latitude which crosses the Arctic Circle. This lake is often frozen, and is covered in ice from November to July. The lake also has large populations of northern fish such as Arctic grayling, Lake trout, Lake whitefish, Arctic char, which provide food sources for many in the local area.

Read MoreGreat Bear Lake

9. Malawi Lake - 29,500 km2

Kayakers exploring Lake Malawi.

Lake Malawi has a surface area of 29,500 km2. The lake borders three different countries in south east africa, namely malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. Malawi is an African Great Lake and is also the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, meaning it is quite deep (706 meters at its deepest point). Lake Malawi is an extremely important lake due to its ecosystem. The lake is extremely high in biodiversity, and has more species of fish than any other lake in the world. Because of this, the lake is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and protected by law.

Read MoreLake Malawi

10. Great Slave Lake - 27,000 km2

House Boats in the Yellowknife Bay of the Great Slave Lake.

Great Slave Lake is actually the deepest lake in North America with an average depth of 41 meters, but a maximum depth of 614 meters. In terms of surface area, it is the tenth largest in the world, at 27,000 km2. It is located in the northern part of Canada, in the Northwest Territories. More than half of the population of the Northwest territories live in five main communities around the lake, including in the territories capital, Yellowknife. The area is rich with wildlife, and fishing is important here commercially and locally for food. Species found in the lake include Arctic grayling, Lake trout, Northern pike, and Lake whitefish.

Read MoreGreat Slave Lake

30 Largest Lakes In The World
Zambezi River, sometimes spelled as Zambesi or Zambeze, is Africas 4th longest river and the continents longest east-flowing stream. The river rises from the Central African Plateau in Zambia and flows for about 2,574 kilometers through Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique before emptying into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi is a Tonga word for Great River. The river is known for several notable waterfalls, including Victoria Falls, one of the worlds largest waterfalls, and the Chavuma Falls on the Zambia-Angola border. The Cohara Bassa and Kariba Dams, two of Africas major hydroelectric power sources, are located along the Zambezis course.

Elephants crossing the Zambezi River.

Zambezi River is a major stream in south-central Africa that either forms the boundaries or crosses up to six countries, namely Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Mozambique. It is Africas 4th longest river and the worlds 32nd longest river system. It flows for approximately 2,574 kilometers from its source in Zambia to its mouth in the Indian Ocean. It drains an area of more than 1.39 million square kilometers, with Zambia accounting for the largest drainage area (41.6%). Besides the six countries, the Zambezi Basin also covers Tanzania and Malawi. The river has a mean discharge of 3,400 cubic meters of water per second. The rivers course is divided into three sections: upper, middle, and lower Zambezi River.

Course Of The Zambezi River

Source And Upper Zambezi

Zambezi River Rises in a shallow wetland area (dambo) in Ikelenge District, North-Western Province, Zambia, about 1,500 meters above sea level. The source area is designated as an Important Bird Area, forest reserve, and a national monument and is protected as Zambezi Source National Forest. The Upper Zambezi River flows southwest for about 32 kilometers before entering Angola. In Angola, it flows for over 280 kilometers and receives several tributaries, including Chifumage and Luena. Then the river re-enters Zambia and flows rapidly until it reaches Chavuma Falls.

The Zambezi River forming the Victoria Falls.

The Zambezi covers approximately 400 kilometers from the source to the falls. In Zambia, the Zambezi is joined by tributaries such as Kabompo, Lugwebungu, and Luanginga Rivers. The Zambezi River receives Luanginga a short distance from Lealui, then turns south-southeast and enters a steep stretch between Ngonye Falls and Katima Mulilo Rapids. Then, the river runs on the Zambia Caprivi Strip (Namibias extension) border for about 128 kilometers until its confluence with the Cuando River. It proceeds to Victoria Falls, where the Upper Zambezi ends.

Middle Zambezi

Zambezi River flowing through the Batoka Gorge.

Below the Victoria Falls, the Middle Zambezi continues eastwards for about 200 kilometers, flowing through a basalt wall and Batoka Gorge. After the gorge, the Zambezi flows rapidly in rapids which end about 240 kilometers from Victoria Falls. Then the river enters Lake Kariba, the worlds largest artificial lake by volume, completed in 1959 and formed by the Kariba Dam. The river continues its flow northeastwards, then turns east at the confluence with Kafue River. Then it receives Luanga River as it enters Mozambique. The Middle Zambezi ends as the stream enters Cohara Bassa.

Read MoreVictoria Falls

Lower Zambezi

The Lower Zambezi River flows for about 650 kilometers from Cahora Bassa to the Indian Ocean. This section of the river is generally shallow, especially during dry seasons, since it spreads out and flows through a broad valley. It receives Shire River about 160 kilometers from the mouth. The Zambezi River forms a delta as it approaches the Indian Ocean. It splits into four main distributaries, Timbwe, Luabo, Chinde, and Kongone, with sandbars obstructing each of the four branches.

Wildlife In The Zambezi River Region

A boat loaded with tourists views a herd of hippos on the Zambezi River. Editorial credit: SAPhotog / Shutterstock.com

The Zambezi Delta comprises swamp forests, savannas, and grasslands. The delta and the entire river system are home to a large population of eland, reedbuck, cheetahs, leopards, spotted hyena, and lions. Bird species found in the region include saddle-billed stork, African Openbill, garganey, pintail, wattled crane, and white pelican. The river supports reptiles like hippos, monitor lizards, and Nile crocodiles. The Zambezi is home to several fish species, including tigerfish, catfish, cichlids, and yellowfish.
The Supreme Court on Friday denied a request to block a Maine rule that requires certain health care employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
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Decade of action needed to tackle climate crisis and achieve a Net Zero Wales

First Minister Mark Drakeford and Climate Change Minister Julie James have called for a decade of action to tackle the climate change crisis as they publish a new Net Zero Wales plan.

The plan focuses on the Welsh Governments second carbon budget (2021-2025) but also looks beyond towards net zero by 2050 so that, by then, the amount of greenhouse gases Wales adds to the atmosphere would no longer be more than it takes out.

The plan contains more than 120 government policies and proposals, covering every area from peatland restoration to active travel, and from green skills to renewable energy.

It shows how the Welsh Government will do everything from building 20,000 new low carbon homes and increasing community tree planting through 30 new woodlands, to legally abolishing single use plastics and helping develop green skills in businesses.

But it also is clear that Government cant tackle this challenge alone. Everybody has to play their part.

For example, by March 2023 all public sector organisations will report their emissions and publish their plans to achieve Net Zero, with the aim of collectively achieving Net Zero across the Welsh public sector by 2030.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: The advice from the Climate Change Committee is clear, this must be a decade of action for Wales.

We need to make more progress in the next ten years than we have in the last 30 years, this will be difficult but we will do it by working together. The challenges faced in coming decades cannot be under-estimated, and we must all work together to realise the opportunities available.

In this plan, we also call on the UK Government to take the action which is needed to unlock a green future in Wales.

While the UK cannot reach its targets without Welsh action, we cannot reach our ambition without the UK Government playing its fair part.

We believe that by working together and taking collective action we can deliver a stronger, fairer and greener Wales for future generations.

Net Zero Wales contains 123 government policies and proposals, including: Building 20,000 new low carbon social homes for rent

Investing in travel options that encourage people to use public transport more and support walking and cycling.

Increasing tree planting  including how Welsh Government will support communities to create 30 new woodlands and connect habitat areas.

Legislating to abolish the use of more commonly littered, single use plastics.

Introducing an extended producer responsibility scheme to incentivise waste reduction by businesses

Ensuring wide scale peatland restoration and sustainable management through our National Peatland Policy Ambition

Supporting innovation in new renewable energy technology

Planning for a national energy grid that is fit for a renewable future, working with network operators

Developing green skills in businesses  Upskilling and training employees to take advantage of the potential economic opportunities for Wales through decarbonisation, such as in manufacturing and housing.

Working with the public sector so that by March 2023 all public sector organisations will report their emissions and publish their plans to achieve Net Zero, with the aim of collectively achieving Net Zero across the Welsh public sector by 2030.

Climate Change Minister Julie James said: This plan runs to almost 90,000 words showing the extent to which tackling the climate and nature emergencies have permeated our thinking but it is merely a snapshot in time.

Our policies need to be delivered, our proposals need to grow and need to be shaped in conversation with the people of Wales.

Net Zero Wales sets out both the action we will take and the things we are already doing.

From creating places for nature to giving the poorest people in Wales warmer, more energy efficient homes, as well as the things we want to take forward in this Government term and in this carbon budget, like a reformed sustainable farming scheme and creating a national forest.

We recognise we havent got all of the answers  we want to work with and learn from people across Wales to find innovative solutions to the challenges we face and this is why, along with Net Zero Wales, we are also publishing another document today.

Working together to reach Net Zero showcases some of the excellent work that is already taking place in Wales and I would like to thank everybody who has contributed.

We really need everyone to work with us on this and, although this document contains just some of the examples of commitments and good work already taken place, we wanted to share it in the hope of inspiring others.

There are things we have to do to meet the climate emergency, but these things can also be opportunities  I look forward to working with you all to find solutions that bring benefits to Wales, enhance our communities and grow our local economies.

However the first minister has been accused by Senedd Conservatives of setting up excuses and passing the buck before he has even begun to tackle climate change after publishing a plan on how Wales will meet net zero emissions.

Welsh Conservative Shadow Climate Change Minister Janet Finch-Saunders MS said: While there is much to be commended in this plan to reach to cross-party goal of net zero by 2050, there are also some proposals that are, at best, unrealistic and, at worse, economically harmful.

Reaching zero emissions is vital to ending climate change, but if it cannot be done with public consent and in a way that brings growth, it will only make the goal less popular and harder to reach.

Most troubling of all is the First Minister is already back-peddling on the commitments, setting up excuses for later and passing the buck to the Conservative Government before he has even begun to put the plan in action.

This First Minister cannot have his cake and eat it when it comes to Conservative Government action in Wales  either he is for or against it. It seems hes only in favour when he knows his own inept administration is not up to the job.
Ruabon-based sewing machine business praised for their huge local success

A local businesses has been highlighted in the House of Commons as an example of a local Welsh business in Clwyd South that successfully exports many of their products.

Simon Baynes MP recently visited AE Sewing Machines in Ruabon and praised them for their huge success over the last decade.

Mr Baynes visited the Ruabon-based business for a first-hand look at how the company runs, which included meeting with staff and a tour of the factory. During the visit, he also met with Rhys Gerrard, the Commercial Director, and Ellis Gerrard, the Marketing Director.

AE Sewing Machines was founded in 2010 by John and Fay Gerrard and, over the last 11 years, has gone from strength to strength, expanding the services that they offer.

Their core business is the manufacture and repair of sewing machines but, recognising a gap in the market for bespoke automation solutions, they have developed their business accordingly.

One of the biggest purchasers of their automated machinery is the NHS which, for instance, equipped their Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing Hub making PPE equipment in Seaton Delaval with AE Sewing Machines products and received a visit from the Prime Minister in February 2021.

Mr Baynes previously praised the team at AE Sewing Machines in the House of Commons Chamber, citing them as an example of a local Welsh business in Clwyd South that successfully exports many of their products.

The companys brand is recognised around the world including in the US, China, Australia and Poland.

Simon Baynes MP said: It was great to get to meet with Rhys and Ellis Gerrard and staff at AE Sewing Machines to see their impressive set-up for myself and to get a better idea of how the business is run so successfully.

I was impressed to hear of how they have played a big part in manufacturing machines to make PPE equipment  especially for the NHS  by supplying a wide range of high-quality, bespoke sewing equipment that covers every aspect of textile manufacturing.

And it really is amazing to see the business going from strength to strength with customers including Bentley Motors, Aston Martin, Levi Strauss, Harrods and Ruth Lee Ltd.

AE Sewing Machines is a fantastic example of how a Clwyd South business is demonstrating our ability here in the UK to manufacture products locally and to reinvest profits in new equipment and in reducing their carbon footprint.

I wish Rhys, Ellis and the whole team all the very best for the future.
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - A long night ahead for state lawmakers as the special session focused on COVID restrictions continues. However, some changes being made to bills with a mega project for the state on the line.

Friday afternoon, Gov. Bill Lees office said it's received concerns from several manufactures, including Ford Motors. The automaker plans to build a multi-billion dollar facility near Memphis.

As of 9:30 p.m., lawmakers remained at the Tennessee State Capitol. They have been working on several bills to send to the governor.

State lawmakers return to Nashville for special session focusing on COVID-19 mandates NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV)  A special legislative session focusing on COVID-19 mandates will begin on Wednesday. Some Tennessee lawmakers have file

The House and Senate are fighting about details of HB9077, like whether private businesses should be exempt. Now, the bill prohibits things like vaccine passports and mask mandates. For more on the bill, click here.

The bill passed the House 62-20 before heading to the Senate. But the House approved an amendment on Friday night that would exclude private businesses from that.

This comes after big companies like Ford expressed concern about the state prohibiting companies from requiring masks.

On Friday, Ford said that masks are what's kept their facilities running through the pandemic.

Some lawmakers said Friday night that if mandates are made illegal. It may cause businesses to rethink coming to Tennessee. Both speakers appointed a conference committee to hammer out details and come to an agreement. This bill also addresses whether people should be able to collect unemployment if they're fired because they aren't vaccinated, among other COVID-related issues.

Bill that would ban showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination advances in special session NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV)  Showing proof of your COVID-19 vaccination is becoming more common when you go to a concert or when you apply for a job

Lawmakers said the special session could be over tonight.

State lawmakers were just here last week for another special session. They approved nearly $900 million. The $500 million of that would be an incentive for Ford.

The rest would go toward infrastructure like roads and bridges along with a new Tennessee college of Applied Technology. The project is expected to bring in 5,800 jobs for west Tennessee.

We have heard from a number of businesses, including Ford and other (manufacturers), regarding concerns with proposals and encouraged them to reach out to legislators directly, Laine Arnold said in a statement.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - This weekend may be Halloween, but Dia de los Muertos is just right around the corner, and one local church is celebrating early!

Saint Benedict Catholic Church started their Dia de los Muertos also known as "All Souls Day" procession Saturday evening.

Parishioners gathered to celebrate the lives of their loved ones by decorating an ofrenda in their honor.

Family members brought pictures, objects, and some memorabilia to place on the altar.

Organizers say its so important to remember those who came before us...

"All I want to do is just share with the young people of this church the value of celebrating our history, and our culture, and our loved ones," Middle School Catechist Veronica Rogers.

Dia de los Muertos is on November 2nd.

Rogers says if you want to start an ofrenda at home -- all you need is a picture, a momento, and be sure to leave a glass of water so that they can have a drink before they part.
(CNN) -- President Joe Biden's first day at the Group of 20 Summit began Saturday with the President achieving one of his core objectives for the global conference -- an endorsement of a 15% global minimum tax from world leaders.

The tax is a chief priority of Biden's that the White House believes would end the global race-to-the-bottom on corporate tax rates. The new rule will be formalized when the leaders release a final G20 communique on Sunday, when the summit ends.

All leaders of the G20 came out in support for a global minimum tax during the summit's first session, a senior US administration official said.

"The President emphasized the importance of this historic deal during his intervention," the official said, referring to Biden's turn to speak during the meeting. "The President also mentioned that while we don't see eye to eye on every issue, we can tackle shared interests."

Each individual nation must pass its own version of the tax, and it may take some time to implement worldwide. One hundred thirty-six nations agreed to such a tax in October, and Saturday's endorsement from 20 of the world's largest economies is seen as a step toward worldwide implementation.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the leader of this year's G20, said in remarks at the summit's start that the agreement was proof of the power of multilateralism.

"We reached a historic agreement for a fairer and more effective international tax system," Draghi said, adding, "These results are a powerful reminder of what we can achieve together."

The measure would tax large multinational companies at a minimum rate of 15% and require them to pay taxes in the countries where they do business. The Biden administration breathed new life into the global initiative earlier this year and secured the support of the G7 countries in June, paving the way for a preliminary deal in July.

"In our judgment, this is more than just a tax deal. It's a reshaping of the rules of the global economy," a senior administration official said.

Aspects of Biden's recently unveiled spending framework would enact part of the global minimum tax scheme, though the fate of that measure remains uncertain as Democrats haggle over timing. Biden administration officials have downplayed the effect that Democratic infighting has on Biden's ability to rally foreign leaders.

"These world leaders really are sophisticated. They understand. There's a complicated process in any democracy to do anything as ambitious as we're pursuing in our domestic agenda," the senior administration official said. "These are multigenerational investments and, of course, we're trying to reform the tax code to pay for it. And so, you know, I think there's going to be a broad understanding that takes time."

While the day started off with a win for Biden, he's facing a more skeptical global audience than he found the last time he trekked to Europe to meet with world leaders.

Divisions within Biden's own political party are threatening to derail his entire economic agenda back home, and Biden himself has acknowledged the credibility of the United States and the future of his presidency are on the line. Despite urging lawmakers to give him a legislative win to tout on the world stage -- especially the climate change measures that would give his presence at next week's United Nations Climate Summit extra weight -- Biden has shown up in the Eternal City without a done deal. Added to that complication are the questions coming from some nations about Biden's commitment to working cooperatively on global issues in the wake of the US' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The President arrived at the summit site Saturday morning, stepping from his car and greeting Draghi. Biden posed for a family photo with the G20 leaders, along with Italian medical workers who joined the heads of state on the platform.

World leaders also spent Saturday afternoon discussing the Covid-19 pandemic, global supply chain problems, high energy prices and combating the climate crisis, among other topics.

Biden spoke during the meeting and "reminded G20 Leaders that new pandemics can arise any time so it is important that we strengthen global health systems and do more to create the global health security infrastructure to make sure we are prepared against the next pandemic," the official said.

"The President stressed the need for balanced, well supplied, and competitive global energy markets so we don't undermine this critical moment of economic recovery," the official said.

The official said Biden also "underscored his commitment to ending the global pandemic and securing an inclusive global economic recovery, including by supporting developing countries through debt relief."

A separate senior administration official said on Friday Biden would stop short of getting directly involved in OPEC decisions about ramping up supply: "We're certainly not going to get involved with the specifics of what happens within the cartel, but we have a voice and we intend to use it on an issue that's affecting the global economy."

"There are major energy producers that have spare capacity," the official said. "And we're encouraging them to use it to ensure a stronger, more sustainable recovery across the world."

Energy policy was top of mind for the President in a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Merkel's likely successor. Per a senior administration official, Biden "made the point that we need to see adequate supply of energy in this moment as we make the long term transition to a carbon free economy" during the sideline meeting.

The President is expected to hold additional bilateral meetings with world leaders while in Rome, though the White House has yet to make any firm announcements.

The-CNN-Wire

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Today, Halloween, has a rich past.

Originally, the Celtic people believed that dead souls, fairies and other such entities roamed the Earth on this night, in advance of their new year, our November 1st, called Samhain. In order to placate them, people would leave little cakes out so that the creatures would be satisfied and leave them alone. Eventually, the custom of regular people dressing up and asking for treats became popular. Of course, thats how we celebrate the day today. Historically, however, we owe the entire Halloween custom to the Celtic people.

There may also be a darker, even more ancient connection which is astronomical in nature. Its true that ancient calendars noted this time of year, October 31st to November 2nd, as a cross-quarter. That is, the mid-point between the beginning of autumn and the beginning of winter. October 31st has been traditionally regarded as the official cross-quarter day. But, before the Gregorian calendar was devised, there was another way of marking this time of year.

The beautiful star cluster the Pleiades is at its zenith, meaning overhead, at about midnight on the 31st. This recognition of the Pleiades is noted globally and there are many ancient ceremonies designed to commemorate the event. But why?

A man named Robert Grant Haliburton researched the question in the late 1800s. He wondered why the honoring of the Pleiades in mid-autumn seemed to be a global happening. Further, he noted that the ceremonies centered on the dead. Additionally, the rituals often involved the lighting of bonfires. The very old customs seemed to recall something that had to do with death and the Pleiades.

Mexican natives told their Spanish invaders of a time when falling hairs fell from heaven with the Lord of the Dead. This tale had been passed down to them for generations from the mists of ancient times.

Randall Carlson relates what might be the origin of this strange tale. He quotes an astronomer, Stansbury Hagar, who in 1931 speculated that the position of the Pleiades in late October was associated with a meteor shower. Specifically, the Taurid meteor shower. With a little imagination, the light streaks of a meteor shower can resemble falling hairs.

The Taurids are known to produce large, slow moving meteors and fireballs. The Taurids appear to come from a place in the sky associated with the constellation Taurus. And thats where we find the Pleiades in late October.

The speculation is that sometime in the very ancient past, a very large meteor from the Taurid stream struck Earth and caused a tremendous cataclysm, widespread death and darkness. Perhaps nearly all human life on Earth came to an end.

Each year, the few survivors would look to the night sky, see Taurus and the Pleiades and watch the falling hairs return. Filled with terror, they started fires to ward off darkness and remembered those who perished in the tragic event, praying that nothing like that long-ago devastation would ever happen again.

Is this the true origin of Halloween? Its a fascinating story.
TUPELO, Miss (WTVA) - Family and friends gathered at First United Methodist Church to honor the late Embra Knox Jackson, Sr. with a Congressional Gold Medal. U.S. Congressman Trent Kelly presented the medal to the Jackson family.

"I think there's nothing more important than those people who serve this great nation and especially right here about Veteran's Day, it's extremely special to recognize those."

Jackson joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943 as one of the first African Americans. Jackson's son, Reverend Dr. Embra Knox Jackson, Jr. said he is honored to receive the award on his father's behalf.

"It's just interesting and God sent that things have changed that much so he could be honored in this way," he said. "It means a lot to me and my family."

Jackson faced discrimination during the war, but his son said that is one thing that made him a stronger soldier.

"In order to pass a legacy along so they will know that even though you have obstacles to overcome, with God's help you can overcome them."

The Congressional Gold Medal is the nation's highest civilian honor.
Dancers perform during an event to mark Iran's National Day of Nuclear Technology in Tehran, April 8, 2008. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

The Biden administration has said more than once that it wants to tailor US sanctions to avoid unintended harm.

Despite that goal, many people, including 84 million Iranians, still suffer under US sanctions despite technical exemptions.

Mani Mostofi is the director of the MIAAN Group.

Last Monday, the Biden administration published its 2021 sanctions review, intended to guide the administration's use of sanctions moving forward.

In the report, the administration claims it must begin "calibrating sanctions to mitigate unintended economic, political and humanitarian impact." Sound familiar?

We also heard this same sentiment from then-presidential candidate Biden on the campaign trail calling for the US to put divisive politics aside and fulfill its obligation to provide humanitarian relief to countries - most specifically Iran.

But the reality is much different. Even though humanitarian trade is technically exempted from US sanctions, millions of people continue to suffer at the hands of sanctions regimes, particularly the 84 million citizens of Iran.

It's time for Biden to turn his rhetoric into action. As one of the Democrats' chief sanctions architects confirms, sanctions are causing massive shortages of medicines, limiting access to food, and gutting the livelihoods of ordinary citizens in Iran, and hurting women most of all. Trump's maximum-pressure policy and the Covid pandemic has only exacerbated the situation.

A pharmacist hands a bag of medications to a customer in a pharmacy in Tehran, February 20, 2020. Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images

After all, Iran has experienced one of the highest Covid infection and death rates in the world, with roughly 5.7 million known infections and over 122,000 deaths. There is no doubt about it - Iran's own internal turmoil has absolutely complicated the nation's ability to combat the virus, especially after the Supreme Leader decided to ban Western-made vaccines earlier this year, only to reverse it months later.

But let's be clear, a major hurdle that Iran faces in reversing the impact of this deadly virus are the sanctions. US sanctions have significantly driven up the cost of COVID treatment making it hard for everyone to access, alongside limiting supply of rare and vital medicines to fight other serious diseases like cancer.

Story continues

And the few actions the Biden administration has taken to facilitate any aid to Iran have had little to no impact. While the US Treasury Department has exempted humanitarian trade from sanctions restrictions, it's not enough because international banks and companies have been deterred from engaging for fear of running afoul of the myriad US sanctions laws against Iran.

In June, the Treasury Department took another step and issued a general license ostensibly allowing Covid related aid to flow to Iran, but while it looks good on paper, it still has not solved the reluctance of institutions to step in given the lack of clarity around whether banks are actually permitted to facilitate payments.

An employee works with her laptop at Takhfifan company in Tehran, January 19, 2016. Thomson Reuters

Luckily, there are quick steps Biden could take to get much needed relief to Iranians and make good on his promises.

First, the United States should provide clearer, public assurances to financial institutions, companies, and governments alike who engage in humanitarian trade with Iran, including through comfort letters as well as whitelisting acceptable Iranian financial institutions that this type of trade will not be penalized.

Second, the administration should greenlight Iran's request for a $5 billion emergency IMF loan to combat COVID, which Trump blocked last year.

And finally, the US must begin to unfreeze some of Iran's foreign assets so that they can begin to meaningfully use the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement channel (SHTA), set up in coordination with the Trump administration, and the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchange (INSTEX), both of which remain the best conduits for COVID relief.

This way Iran can begin purchasing food, medicine, and medical supplies through mechanisms that guarantee these funds are used for humanitarian purposes only.

Iranians in Tehran, February 29, 2020. Reuters

Remember, the current administration has already shown a willingness to unfreeze similar funds when it did so to allow the Islamic Republic to pay its dues to the UN. As important as UN voting rights are, medical supplies and Covid vaccines should receive at least the same level of attention.

All of these actions can be done quickly with the stroke of a pen, and without them ordinary Iranians are facing a long and deadly road out of this pandemic.

Why, then, is the current administration so hesitant? With the JCPOA talks currently stalled, it could be that Biden wants to use humanitarian relief as a pressure point to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.

Some may argue that Biden fears taking any measures that could be construed by Iran-hawks as a "concession" to Tehran. But rather than a "concession," the decision to facilitate humanitarian trade mechanisms should be seen as an affirmation of the US's commitment to lead on Covid relief and mitigating the harm of sanctions.

The Iranian people's wellbeing should not be held hostage to the toxic politics between Tehran and Washington. The Biden administration has a chance to step in and take action beyond the same old rhetoric.

Mani Mostofi is the director of the MIAAN Group.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham was uninvited from inauguration ceremonies for the new president of Samford University after students protested his involvement with Planned Parenthood.

Representatives for Samford University did not immediately respond to TheWraps request for comment, nor did Meachams book publicist.

President Beck Taylor wrote in a letter to the university community on Oct. 27 that due to objections, including from elements of Samfords Student Government Association, the Soul of America author will be rescheduled at a more appropriate time to an event not so closely connected to the symbolism of the inauguration, as first reported by Baptist News Global.

This recommendation simultaneously recognizes the potential distraction the event may cause from next weeks celebrations and the importance of free expression and the exchange of ideas, Taylor continued.

Meacham  2009 Pulitzer Prize winner for a biography about President Andrew Jackson and author of works about Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt and George H.W. Bush  was invited to speak at an event on Nov. 3 to honor the universitys new president and reflect on the importance of civil discourse, according to the university.

A student started a Change.org petition to Prevent Jon Meacham from speaking at [an] inauguration event for Dr. Beck Taylor, citing Meachams involvement in Planned Parenthood as a conflict with the schools values.

Jon Meacham is significantly involved with the Planned Parenthood organization. He has spoken at their fundraising events, his book is used for the Planned Parenthood fundraiser, and overall his beliefs and core values do not align with those of Samford University, as it is a Southern Baptist institution, the petition reads. Mr. Meacham is involved with raising money in support of an organization that does not value life in the same way the Christian faith does. As Samford is the top-ranked Christian University in Alabama, the invitation for Mr. Meacham to speak is not only disappointing, but alarming for the future of Samford.

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In a press release that announced Meachams invitation, the school described him as: a skilled orator with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion and current affairs [who] brings historical context to the issues and events impacting our daily lives.

In an email obtained by Baptist News Global, Taylor told students that Meachams original invitation to Samford wasnt a reflection of any university position on abortion. He also said that Meacham wasnt planning to speak about abortion.

It has come to our attention that Mr. Meacham has previously spoken at a Planned Parenthood chapter event, Taylor wrote. Some in our community have assumed erroneously that Samfords invitation by extension endorses any perspectives or viewpoints Mr. Meacham may have about the sanctity of life and abortion rights. I can assure you that no such connection should be inferred. Mr. Meacham is not planning to discuss these issues in his remarks.

Taylor said he valued free expression and civil discourse at the university, but felt that moving forward with a Meacham appearance would take away from the purpose of the inauguration.

Our mission as a Christ-centered institution of higher learning is to stand boldly at the intersection of society and the church and to convene important conversations about how to live faithfully in the world, he wrote. That mission calls us to invite speakers and artists to campus who challenge our perspectives and who share wisdom and insights. Samford is a diverse community made up of faithful people who disagree on many important issues. Lets enter those conversations courageously with a goal of learning from one another and extending the love of Christ to all. I believe we can do that well.

Although I am disappointed by the narrative that has combined important conversations about pro-life issues and Mr. Meachams planned appearance at Samford, it is vitally important to me that next weeks events unify and draw our community together to celebrate the history and future of Samford University, a place we love and for which we all care deeply, Taylor continued. Unexpectedly, Mr. Meachams planned lecture has become a divisive issue, one that takes attention away from our opportunity to celebrate Samford.

In a statement obtained by AL.com Friday, a university official wrote, Mr. Meacham, who is a noted historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer, has been invited to our campus to highlight his work in analyzing the current state of civility and discourse in our country. We look forward to hosting him at a later date.
Kim Kardashian West kicked off Halloween weekend with Pete Davidson.

The SKIMS mogul, 41, was spotted with Davidson, 27, on a rollercoaster at Knott's Scary Farm in Buena Park, California, on Friday. In exclusive photos obtained by PEOPLE, the pair can be seen holding hands while on the ride with friends.

They were joined for the outing by Kim's sister Kourtney Kardashian and her fiance Travis Barker. Davidson and Barker, 45, know each other through their mutual friend Machine Gun Kelly.

"They hang in the same circles so they will be together from time to time," an insider tells PEOPLE. "It's just friends hanging out."

For more on Kim Kardashian West and Pete Davidson, and other top stories, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

Kardashian West recently shared an onscreen kiss with Davidson in a sketch when she hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time earlier this month. Years prior, they hung out at Kid Cudi's birthday party in January 2019, along with Timothee Chalamet and Kim's husband Kanye West, with whom she's currently going through a divorce.

Reps for Kardashian West and Davidson did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment.

Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian

Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian

RELATED: Kim Kardashian's Transformative Year Leading Up to Her 41st Birthday

Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians alum began dating Kanye, 44, in 2012 and they wed in Florence, Italy, in 2014. Following a challenging period in their relationship last year, the mother of four filed for divorce from the rapper in February after six years of marriage.

They've remained amicable as they focus on co-parenting their kids: daughters North, 8, and Chicago, 3, plus sons Saint, 5, and Psalm, 2.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian

Recently, West was seen in New York City where he supported his estranged wife during her SNL debut. She previously attended some listening events for his 10th studio album Donda in August.

"Kim and Kanye are friends, but that's it. She is still moving forward with the divorce," a source told PEOPLE this month. "She loves having Kanye's support though. They were not in a good place around the time Kim filed for divorce. She is so happy that things are better now. It's all very beneficial for the kids."

Davidson has previously dated Cazzie David, Kate Beckinsale, Margaret Qualley, Kaia Gerber and Phoebe Dynevor, and he was briefly engaged to Ariana Grande in 2018.
Motherwell FC v Rangers FC - Cinch Scottish Premiership

Craig Foy  SNS Group

With the country opening back up, Halloween 2021 might be one of the first holidays since the pandemic that Americans feel they can fully enjoy without (most) restrictions. Halloween originated as a Celtic festival where attendees would dress up in costume to ward off ghosts while celebrating the end of the harvest season in what is now Ireland. Since then, America has sort of claimed it as its own. Its the largest country after China that celebrates the spooky holiday, according to World Population Review.

The beauty of Halloween is that it has a little something for everyone. From trick or treating as a child to attending bar crawls during college and eventually being the one handing out candy as a parent, theres a reason and a way to celebrate old Hallows Eve from the crib to the grave. Cities across America pull out all of the stops for the festive day. Whether youre looking for some adult fun or family-friendly activities, weve got you covered with these interesting Halloween events happening across the country.

Dia De Los Muertos at Hollywood Forver Cemetery

While the event itself isnt entirely terrifying, it does take place on the grounds of the iconic and spooky Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Families with children can attend the daytime event for a cheerier version of this ticketed event celebrating Dia De Los Muertos, and those who dare can buy tickets for the nighttime event and enjoy food vendors, altars, arts and crafts and live performances amidst real gravestones. Find more information here.

All Hallows Eve Late Skate In Chattanooga, Tennessee

If you love to skate and you love Halloween festivities then this special night that marries the two is for you. The Chattanooga Skate Park is hosting an All Hallows Eve Moonlight skating event. There will be $7 rentals available, a beginners skate lesson from 6pm to 7pm, two costume contests for individual and group costumes respectively, food trucks, drinks, DJs and raffles. While you must be 18 years or older to rent skates, the event is open to skaters of all ages. From 7pm to 11pm there will be a late skate event.

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Portrait of female roller skaters in urban area

MoMo Productions

Brunch With Bardi Halloween Brunch In Atlanta

October 31, 1:00  4:00 PM EST

Cardi B & Lil Nas X

Source: (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage) / (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

Atlanta, Georgia is known for its fabulous Sunday brunches and Halloween Day is no different. This hip-hop inspired Halloween brunch invites attendees to dress up as Cardi B or any other iconic rap star. Theres food and drink to be had at the events popular location, The Suite Lounge in downtown Atlanta. There are gift bags, too.

New Yorks Village Halloween Parade

October 31, 7pm to 10:30pm

Competing with the West Hollywood parade for the top must-see costume parade in America is the New York Village Halloween Parade which travels up Sixth Avenue north up Spring Street up to 16th street. Time Out New York reports that over 50,000 people show up to the parade each year. This year, the theme will be Lets Play to honor the inner child in everyone and the parades Grand Marshal will be comedian Randy Rainbow. In addition to the 50,000 or so marchers, over two million spectators gather around to catch this remarkable event. Because it was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, you can expect enthusiastic costumed characters to be out in full force this year.

2016 Annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade

Source: VIEW press / Getty

Balcony Party On Bourbon Street In New Orleans

October 30-31, 11pm to 2am

New Orleans is another city that goes all out with the costumes for Halloween and its always-buzzing Bourbon Street becomes even more alive on this spooky night. Being shoulder to shoulder and on your feet for hours isnt for everyone on Halloween. If you want a way to observe the crowds, judge some costumes and throw some beads without having to fight for space on Bourbon Street, buy tickets to the Halloween Bourbon Street Balcony Party. Your ticket includes three hours of a top shelf open bar on one of the citys largest balconies overlooking one of its most famous streets.

U.S.-LOUISIANA-NEW ORLEANS-HALLOWEEN

Source: Xinhua News Agency / Getty

Fremont Las Vegas Halloween Bar Crawl

October 30 and 31, 1pm to 12am.

You could visit the famous Las Vegas Strip for Halloween and face the hiked up tourist prices and cover charges, but those in the know head over to downtown Las Vegas  particularly the bustling and funky Fremont Street. The Fremont Street Experience is something worth catching any night of the year but is especially entertaining on Halloween. Your ticket to this pub crawl gets you drink and food specials at participating venues so you can sip and snack at a discount while taking in all of the creative costumes, street performers, live bands and more. Fremont Street feels a bit like Halloween even when it isnt, making it especially active and unique on the actual holiday.

Fright Factory In Philadelphia

The Travel Channel called this one of the scariest haunted houses in America. Located inside the basement of an over 100-year-old factory, this experience features over 25,000 square feet of horrors that have been divided up into three scary themes. Fright Factory brings the experiences to life with moving floors, odors, special effects, terrifying actors and even controlled climates (no flip flops allowed).
Health bosses are investigating a new COVID-19 variant labelled the 'Delta plus' (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

The numbers of a new variant of the Delta strain of COVID-19 are rising in the UK, new data has revealed.

AY4.2 is a sub-lineage of the Delta variant and some experts fear that this Delta plus variant, as it has been labelled, appears to be more transmissible.

Government figures published on Friday said that AY4.2 cases account for a "slowly increasing proportion of cases in the UK".

The data shows AY4.2 accounted for 8.5% of Delta cases in the week ending 10 October. Preliminary analysis suggests this could have risen to 10.3% of all Delta cases for the following week and 11.3% the week ending 24 October.

Critically, initial analysis does not suggest the new variant causes a "significant reduction" in vaccine effectiveness. However, health chiefs are carrying out more comprehensive testing to confirm.

The Health Security Agency (HSA) moved the AY4.2 into the category of Variant Under Investigation (VUI) on 21 October, adding that it was expanding and on an increasing trajectory.

As a VUI the strain will undergo a risk assessment with the relevant expert committee, after which it could be designated Variant of Concern (VOC).

As cornavirus cases rise in the UK, heath experts are investigating new variants (Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images)

The AY4.2 strain has been detected in 33 countries across the world, but the overwhelming majority of cases are in the UK, according to cov-lineages.org, a website that documents the lineages of the virus.

Denmark, Germany and Ireland have also reported cases of the Delta plus as well as the US, Israel, Russia and India.

The HSA has said AY4.2 does not appear to be causing more severe disease or render vaccines any less effective, however, work has already begun on a modified version of the Oxford vaccine to target the Delta coronavirus variant.

The number of coronavirus cases has been creeping up since August and has reached around 39,000 new cases each day (JHU COVID data)

Experts have said that the variant's secondary attack rate  the probability of an infection occurring in a group of people  is around 12.4 per cent for a household in the UK, while it is 11.1 per cent for the Delta variant, meaning there is a greater chance of infection spreading within a household if one person is infected with Delta plus.

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The UK has experienced a marked rise in COVID cases in the past few weeks, though that increase has tapered off in recent days.

On October 23 there were 44,985 new cases recorded in one day, the highest figure since the January peak, but on Thursday the number had dropped slightly to 39,0006.

On Thursday, Sir Patrick Vallance said that waning immunity and the public's behaviour will be the main factors that determine whether the UK sees further spikes in cases of COVID.

Nobody is really clear which direction this is going in, but they are clear about the two big variables that could change that," he told BBC Breakfast.

One is waning immunity; so if immunity wanes faster than expected, youll see a bigger increase, and thats why its so important to get booster shots going in the vulnerable and the elderly in particular.

The second is the behavioural change, how quickly we return to pre-pandemic behaviours if you aggregate the models, most are saying: Actually, it looks fairly flat, dont expect the very big peaks weve had in the past, it looks fairly flat, but at a very high level at the moment.

So, the high level remains a concern and from a high level you can go up quite quickly.
Twenty-somethings rolling their eyes at the habits of their elders is a longstanding trend, but many employers said thereOs a new boldness in the way Gen Z dictates taste. (Jeff Hinchee/The New York Times)

As a millennial with a habit of lurking on TikTok, Jessica Fain understood that skinny jeans and side parts were on the steady march toward extinction. But when Fain, who works as a product manager at a large tech company, heard that some of her favorite emojis might also be confronting retirement  namely that laughing-sobbing face  she decided to seek the counsel of her junior colleagues.

I heard that using this emoji isnt cool anymore, Fain, 34, said she wrote in a water-cooler-type Slack channel.

Yeah I only use that emoji at work for professionalism, she recalled a younger employee replying. H8 2 break it to 2 u Jess.

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Fain is old enough to remember when millennials determined what was in vogue: rompers, rose pink, craft beer, Netflix and chill. Now, she gets the foreboding sense from colleagues that her AARP card awaits. Subtly yet undeniably, as generational shifts tend to go, theres a new crop of employees determining the norms and styles of the workplace. And they have no qualms about questioning not just emoji use but all the antiquated ways of their slightly older managers, from their views on politics in the office to their very obsession with work.

I feel very sure that Im uncool, said Andy Dunn, 42, who co-founded the upscale apparel brand Bonobos, once the uniform for a subset of millennial men. Ive come to accept that.

Its a fault line that crisscrosses industries and issues. At a retail business based in New York, managers were distressed to encounter young employees who wanted paid time off when coping with anxiety or period cramps. At a supplement company, a Gen Z worker questioned why she would be expected to clock in for a standard eight-hour day when she might get through her to-do list by the afternoon. At a biotech venture, entry-level staff members delegated tasks to the founder.

And spanning sectors and startups, the youngest members of the workforce have demanded what they see as a long overdue shift away from corporate neutrality toward a more open expression of values, whether through executives displaying their pronouns on Slack or putting out statements in support of the protests for Black Lives Matter.

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These younger generations are cracking the code and theyre like, Hey guys turns out we dont have to do it like these old people tell us we have to do it, said Colin Guinn, 41, co-founder of the robotics company Hangar Technology. We can actually do whatever we want and be just as successful. And us old people are like, What is going on?

Twenty-somethings rolling their eyes at the habits of their elders is a trend as old as Xerox, Kodak and classic rock, but many employers said theres a new boldness in the way Gen Z dictates taste. And some members of Gen Z, defined as the 72 million people born between 1997 and 2012, or simply as anyone too young to remember Sept. 11, are quick to affirm this characterization.

Ziad Ahmed, 22, founder and CEO of the Gen Z marketing company JUV Consulting, which has lent its expertise to brands like JanSport, recalled speaking at a conference where a Gen Z woman, an entry-level employee, told him she didnt feel that her employers marketing fully reflected her progressive values.

What is your advice for our company? the young woman asked.

Make you a vice president, Ahmed told her. Rather than an intern.

Gen Z doesnt hesitate

Starting in the mid-aughts, the movement of millennials from college into the workplace prompted a flurry of advice columns about hiring members of the headstrong generation. These young people tell you what time their yoga class is, warned a 60 Minutes segment in 2007 called The Millennials Are Coming.

Over time, those millennials became managers, and workplaces were reshaped in their image. There were #ThankGodItsMonday signs affixed to WeWork walls. There was the once-heralded rise of the SheEO.

Millennials point out that for a generation of workers who entered the office during and after the 2008 financial crisis, and felt lucky to land any type of work, its unsurprising to see a premium placed on hustling. Gen Zers, meanwhile, are starting their careers at a new moment of crisis  in the midst of a pandemic that has upended the hours, places and ways were able to work. A fall 2021 survey of Gen Z job candidates from recruitment software company RippleMatch found that more than two-thirds wanted jobs that will indefinitely stay remote.

The generational frictions are now particularly apparent in companies run by and catering to a largely millennial demographic.

Gabe Kennedy, 30, founder of the herbal supplement brand Plant People, noticed as he recruited Gen Z employees that some had no interest in the rigid work habits that felt natural to his mostly millennial 10-person team. He and his co-founder were accustomed to spending late nights in the office obsessing over customer feedback and sharing Chinese takeout. His youngest employees preferred to set their own hours.

Kennedy interviewed a Gen Z candidate for a full-time position who asked if she could stop working for the day once shed accomplished the tasks shed set out to do. He responded that her role was expected to be a nine-to-five.

Older generations were much more used to punching the clock, Kennedy mused. It was, I climb the ladder and get my pension and gold watch. Then for millennials it was, Theres still an office but I can play Ping-Pong and drink nitro coffee. For the next generation its, Holy cow I can make a living by posting on social media when I want and how I want.

Ali Kriegsman, 30, co-founder of the retail technology business Bulletin, wasnt sure, in the past, how to respond when her Gen Z employees insisted on taking days off for menstrual cramps or mental health: Hey I woke up and Im not in a good place mentally, went the typical text message. Im not going to come in today. Instinctively Kriegsman wanted to applaud their efforts to prioritize well-being  but she also knew their paid time off could undercut business.

As an entrepreneur, I want to call out of managing my team sometimes because my period is making me super hormonal, she said. But Im in a position where I have to push through.

Managers, like Kriegsman, understand the instinct Gen Zers have to protect their health, to seek some divide between work and life  but some are baffled by the candid way in which those desires are expressed. Theyre unaccustomed, in other words, to the defiance of workplace hierarchy.

Lola Priego, 31, CEO of the lab-testing startup Base, had to laugh when a Gen Z employee sent a Slack message assigning her a task to complete. Priego interpreted this as a welcome signal that her 15-person staff doesnt find her intimidating, but another member of upper-level management was horrified.

Polly Rodriguez, 34, CEO of the sexual wellness business Unbound, said: When I was entering the workforce I would not have delegated to my boss. Gen Z doesnt hesitate to do that.

These are political tomatoes

Has anyone checked in on the kids? Theyre talking differently, texting more, wearing the wrong clothes, still texting. Do they ever put down their phones?

Researchers call this the kids these days effect  and note it has been happening for millenniums. Its a natural thing that people tend to complain about everyone younger than them, going back to the Greek philosophers, said Cort Rudolph, an organizational psychologist.

Each new generation, christened by marketers and codified by workplace consultants selling tips on how to manage the mysterious youth, can strike the people who came just before them as uniquely self-focused. First came the me generation, then the me, me, me generation.

Still, many managers feel that ignoring the divide between young and the slightly less young isnt an option. It shapes hiring. It shapes marketing. And over the past year, it has shaped the way companies respond to a country in tumult.

In June 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests swelled across the country, the Slack channels of corporate America faced their own form of reckoning. For Rodriguez, it started with a Saturday morning phone call.

Rodriguezs co-founder at Unbound, which sells vibrators, called to say that their social media manager, a younger employee, wanted to know what the company planned to do to support the protests. Rodriguez didnt usually receive calls on the weekend; she knew that for her employees this signified a state of emergency. But she also wanted time to plan the teams response. Within days, her company hired a diversity, equity and inclusion firm to offer employee trainings and started a fundraiser for a group supporting sex workers of color.

Rodriguez is one of many managers who recalled her Gen Z employees being the first and most vocal in urging companies to demonstrate their support for the protests after George Floyds killing.

Tero Isokauppila, 37, president of a food business, heard from junior staff asking if his company would post a black square in solidarity with the movement on Instagram. Elaine Purcell, 34, co-founder of the maternity care startup Oula, got a Slack message from one of her youngest workers after the shootings at Atlanta-area spas in March asking what the team could do in solidarity with Asian Americans.

To many corporate leaders, this invites a welcome correction after decades when businesses were largely silent on racial inequities both within and outside their offices. But some managers are also struggling to balance the demands of their employees for political engagement with their own sense of whats appropriate for their brands.

You talk to older people and theyre like, Dude we sell tomato sauce, we dont sell politics, said Kennedy, co-founder of Plant People, a certified B corporation. Then you have younger people being like, These are political tomatoes. This is political tomato sauce.

Many are aware, too, that a misstep can lead to backlash, or call-outs from staff: Some young former employees are much more willing to burn bridges, Rodriguez said. To me its shortsighted. Is it worth the social clout of getting gratification on social media but then trashing someone who could continue to help you professionally?

Dunn, who left Bonobos and is now founding a social media company, hired a Gen Zer to read a draft of a book hes writing and notify him of any potentially insensitive or inflammatory language. Within a day, she had left 1,100 comments in the document. Dunn has also begun trying to monitor his gendered language in the office  instead of guys, saying people, or better yet yall.

Im like, Lets go yall, even though Im from Illinois, Dunn said. I had a wake-up around Juneteenth when someone was like, Hey are we off? I was like, Oh, of course were off. But I hadnt thought about that.

For Dunn, it was a reminder of how much he relies on his youngest employees. Hes fluent in millennial, but that doesnt mean he knows all the sensibilities of Gen Z.

He realized that knowledge matters for his bottom line. Entry-level employees might scold him, but they also know what their peers like. You want to be close to the culture, Dunn said.

At many businesses, Gen Z employees are given increasing leeway to drive internal culture, too. Emily Fletcher, 42, who runs Ziva Meditation, noticed that at her company retreat the junior people were the ones who were most comfortable stretching the bounds of what is considered professional conversation.

This became apparent when the staff participated in an exercise she calls the Suffie Awards: sitting around a campfire and sharing personal sources of suffering from last year, trying to one-up one another as corny award show music played in the background. It was the Gen Zers, Fletcher said, getting the most vulnerable by speaking about partners cheating on them or the loneliness of a solo quarantine.

They celebrate human emotion, instead of having an outdated framework of what corporate should be, Fletcher said.

Her company culture has relaxed even more, she added, since the departure of her oldest employee, who was 48. Now everyone feels safe to be a little more weird.

As the millennials have made clear through their own workplace ascent, one generations weird can quickly become the new normal.

I think its already happening, said Ahmed, the Gen Z consultant. Do I think we already control the power? No. But were pushing the envelope.

And for his part, he confirms that the laughing-sobbing emoji is dead: Its an ironic thing, its kitschy. I would usually just say LOL.

 2021 The New York Times Company
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden tried to convince world leaders the U.S. is taking bold action on global warming  without any major climate legislation firmly in hand to match his promise  at a pivotal climate summit Monday in Scotland.

Biden, who has repeatedly called for a "code red" on climate change, used a speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to pressure other countries to make new commitments to tackle the global crisis. Yet Congress hasn't passed key portions of his domestic climate agenda, renewing questions about U.S. reliability on the world stage amid dire warnings from scientists about the pace of global warming.

During an 11-minute speech, the president warned the world only had a brief window to "raise our ambitions and to raise to meet the task" of confront climate changing, vowing the U.S. was "back at the table" to lead by power of example. But he acknowledged doubts about U.S. commitment to the issue.

"I know it hasn't been the case," he said. "And that's why my administration is working overtime to show that our climate commitment is action, not words."

President Joe Biden arrives at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow gathers leaders from around the world, in Scotland's biggest city, to lay out their vision for addressing the common challenge of global warming.

Ahead of Biden's European trip, Democratic divisions in Congress scuttled plans to pass the White House's $1.75 trillion spending package that featured $555 billion in climate provisions. That would have enabled Biden to show some progress on his pledge to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, at the global summit, known as COP26.

Though Biden has made climate change a focus of his administration  a marked departure from the Trump-era rollbacks on climate regulations  experts say the president is expected to face questions about his ability to deliver meaningful climate policy in one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters.

"A lot of credibility discussions were seen during (the U.S. withdrawal from) Afghanistan, but I would point to to climate as actually the more important credibility question," said Sarang Shidore, director of studies at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. "The normative aspect of global action still originates more in the U.S. than anywhere else, and that's the reality of the world we are in."

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What is COP26?: Your quick guide to United Nations climate change summit in Glasgow

More on COP26: Urgency pervades COP26 climate change summit as US grapples with environmental justice

Is a budget framework enough?

Hours before leaving for his five-day diplomatic jaunt, Biden urged Democrats on Capitol Hill to pass a pared-down version of his social spending package, nearly a third of which is dedicated to climate programs.

The proposed framework includes $320 billion to expand tax credits over the next decade for utility and residential clean energy, clean passenger and commercial vehicles, and clean energy manufacturing. It also includes incentives for buyers of electric vehicles that would help de-carbonize the single largest sector of the economy contributing to global warming. Other funding would go to "resilience" programs to mitigate extreme weather events and a Civilian Climate Corps designed to deploy a force of young workers to help communities address the threat of climate change.

More: What's in Biden's latest budget offer: Climate programs and universal preschool, but no paid leave

The plan left out an aggressive proposal  known as the clean electricity performance program  that would require electricity suppliers that do not transition fast enough to clean energy to pay penalties, a key provision that was killed by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who hails from coal country.

But it includes proposed fees on American oil and gas companies to pay for excess methane as part of a $775 million Environmental Protection Agency incentives program, a move that bolsters a U.S.-led global pledge to cut the heat-trapping gas by at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. The U.S. is one of the biggest emitters of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that scientists say contributes to climate change.

Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, dismissed the idea that Biden's credibility would be damaged if he showed up in Glasgow without a climate deal in Congress and said the president "intends to make good" on his commitments.

I think youve got a sophisticated set of world leaders who understand politics in their own country, and understand American democracy, and recognize that working through a complex, far-reaching negotiation on some of the largest investments in modern memory in the United States  that that takes time," he told reporters last week.

Some experts and lawmakers note the a big portion of Biden's framework is dedicated to climate programs, making it the largest climate investment in U.S. history.

"There are some really impactful and transformative things in there," said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., a progressive climate advocate. "Once we get this bill a little better understood, the climate benefits are going to be more appreciated."

But Shidore pointed out the half-billion in climate spending is across 10 years, which is not enough to address transformational shift needed to limit global warming to around 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, compared to pre-industrial levels  a global goal that was established in the landmark Paris climate accord in 2015.

"It's not enough, not by a long mile," he said.

Without some of the ambitious provisions like Biden's clean energy program enshrined into law, the administration will have to rely on more executive action and regulations that could be reversed by a future administration.

And while Biden wants to pressure other big greenhouse gas emitters like China and India to step up, his message rings hollow without any definitive measures taken by the U.S., according to Anatol Lieven, senior research fellow on Russia and Europe at the Quincy Institute.

"That not only helps to give an excuse to other leaders to not to turn up to Glasgow but allows countries like China and India to refuse to come up with new, concrete plans," said Lieven, author of "Climate Change and the Nation State."

"The failure on the part of the United States also strengthens still further the emotional resistance not just on the part of leaders and governments but also of elites and, indeed, populations to respond to climate change."

Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton White House climate adviser now with the Progressive Policy Institute, conceded the framework is not as ambitious as Biden's initial plan but said it's enough for Biden proclaim U.S. leadership at the summit.

"While it doesn't have all provisions climate advocates had hoped, the domestic clean energy and infrastructure measures in the deal announced by the president will be by far the most important actions the United States has ever taken to combat the climate crisis," Bledsoe said.

"If he is able to gain congressional approval, this will put Biden in a much stronger position to compel additional action from other major nations in Glasgow, and beyond."

Climate politics shift

Biden is hardly the only Democratic president to try to enact climate legislation. Former President Bill Clinton floated the idea of an energy tax that faced stiff opposition in Congress, while the Obama administration attempted to push through a bill to cut carbon pollution that languished in the Senate. Instead, Obama pursued regulations that were largely unwound by former President Donald Trump or snarled by legal challenges.

Joseph Aldy, a former climate adviser to Obama who served as a negotiator at the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen, said he sees some similarities between the Obama and Biden administrations.

Both Democrats came to office eager to enact climate policy after GOP administrations that largely sidelined leadership on the issue and both presidents attended a major climate summit while their key climate bills remained "in a bit limbo" on Capitol Hill.

But Biden's "whole of government approach" on climate is a lot more ambitious than Obama's and doesn't entirely rely on congressional action, Aldy said. Biden can use the EPA's regulatory authority to complement the incentives established in his climate and social spending plan.

"Part of it is knowing you have a number of tools at your disposal. There are tools you can use with Congress  if you can get Congress to come along  but you stand prepared to move quickly on all of your options," Aldy said. "I think that's part of what the whole of government approach that the White House is pushing."

EPA administrator Michael Regan told CNN Friday the agency would release a new "aggressive" regulation looking at both new and existing methane sources from the oil and gas sector "in the coming days, if not weeks."

Regulations, however, come with legal risks. The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a challenge to the EPA's power to limit carbon emissions, which stem from Obama's 2015 effort to significantly reduce power sector emissions to address climate change.

More: Majority in US concerned about climate, new poll finds

More: Climate change is 'first and foremost' a health crisis, new report finds

Public attitudes have also shifted as climate disasters have devastated several regions of the country. The U.S. has dealt with record flooding, droughts, intensified wildfires and heat waves, which scientists say have been exacerbated by climate change. Last year saw 22 separate weather and climate disasters across the country that cost at least $1 billion each, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A recent survey found about 6 in 10 Americans believe 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. The same survey found 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.

And the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council recent report assessing the risks that climate change poses to the U.S. financial system underscores that even the business sector is getting more serious about climate policy, according to Aldy.

"It signals how climate is going to be an enduring part of how businesses operate and how investors operate," he said. "Which allows Biden to address not just what are you doing to make progress on your ambitious 2030 goal but how you can assure it's going to survive the end of this administration."

Still, the U.S. domestic dynamic is critical to spur international action, Lieven said. And the world is watching to see what meaningful action the U.S. is taking to address Biden's day one promise to combat climate change.

"They are watching this very closely and I have to say, among American allies, with a considerable amount of dismay," Lieven said. "This is not just a test of the Biden administration's climate change policy, it is also a test of the competence and the efficiency of the American state and its ability to get things done."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US, Biden climate credibility in question at UN COP26 summit
The United States has already taken orders from doctors, clinics and pharmacies for millions of child-sized doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, so the nation can be ready the moment shots for children 5 through 11 are authorized.

The vaccine, which could be authorized as soon as Tuesday evening or Wednesday, will be immediately shipped "to tens of thousands of pediatricians, family doctors, childrens hospitals, community health centers, rural health clinics, and pharmacies," White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said this week.

As with adults, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be delivered in two shots, three weeks apart. The child dose is one-third as large as for adolescents and adults, and it will be shipped in an orange-labeled bottle to distinguish it from the purple-labeled adult dose.

States and localities began placing orders for the child-sized doses last week, though they won't be shipped until the vaccine is authorized for children. The minimum vaccine order is for 300 doses, so the first orders have tended to be for larger health care providers, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers.

Stay connected: Subscribe to Coronavirus Watch, your daily update on all things COVID-19 in the USA

"Most are focusing on pediatric practices, but some are focusing on health departments or schools or large-scale clinics," Hannan said.

Because not all pediatricians will immediately have the children's dosage of the vaccine, parents should call their health care provider to see if they will have them available, she said.

Children will be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine in multiple settings, depending on where they live and local availability, but for many it will be at their doctor's office, said Dr. Lee Savio Beers, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said.

"The younger a child is, the more likely the family is to get their vaccine at the pediatrician's office," she said.

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Colin Sweeney, 12, gets a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as his mother Nicole pats his shoulder at the First Baptist Church of Pasadena on May 14, 2021, in Pasadena, Calif.

Families should be aware that not everyone will be able to get their shots immediately.

"The health care workforce is stretched right now, and theres a lot of staffing shortages. A lot of sick kids who need to be cared for right now. Its all hands on deck," Beers said.

Another potential venue will be pharmacies. More than 400,000 American pharmacists are trained and legally able to administer shots to people "across the lifespan," said Mitchel Rothholz, chief of governance and state affairs for the American Pharmacists Association.

For adults, pharmacists have been a major provider of COVID-19 vaccine. More than 70% of shots have been given in pharmacies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many pharmacies have already ordered the children's dosages. "They're prepositioning and now waiting until they're authorized to give it," Rothholz said.

When COVID-19 vaccines were first made available, many people stood in line for hours to get shots. Today the system is much more built-out and smoothly functioning, Rothholz said.

Tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution by state: How many people have been vaccinated in the US?

"Much of what we do now is appointment-based, to even out the flow of people," he said. It's a good idea to bring books or toys or other playthings to keep kids occupied while they are waiting for their shots and during the mandatory 15-minute observation period afterward, he added.

"If your child is into electronics or books, bringing along something that distracts them can help," Rothholz said.

The timeline for availability of kids' shots began Tuesday when a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted to recommend the vaccine be authorized for children.

Next, the FDA must sign off on an expanded emergency use authorization, which is expected within the next few days. Then an independent panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will review data on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine on Tuesday. If it gives it a thumbs-up, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky must add her support before vaccines become available.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Doctors, pharmacies rush to prepare, give COVID vaccine to young kids
(Photo: Illustration: Damon Dahlen/HuffPost; Photos: Getty)

RICHMOND, Va.  The final days of Virginias 2021 election have brought waves of anxiety and anguish for Democrats across the commonwealth, as tightening polls suggest the party could lose control of a state that has provided some of its most resounding and important victories over the last four years.

Polling averages between Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who was governor from 2014 to 2018, and Republican Glenn Youngkin, a career private equity executive, show either a deadlocked race or Youngkin with a slight lead. A Fox News poll that had given McAuliffe steady leads  a 5 point advantage just two weeks ago  showed an 8-point Youngkin lead on Thursday; a Washington Post poll, by contrast, found the race virtually deadlocked but statistically unchanged from a month ago.

Youngkin and the state Republican party have launched a full-scale culture war in an attempt to sway independent voters. Hes run ads stoking fears about critical race theory in schools, including one where a woman obliquely complains about the teaching of a classic Toni Morrison novel. Theyve also lied about a sexual assault in a Virginia school in order to stoke anti-trans panic. Theyve adopted  or at least winked and nodded toward  some of former President Donald Trumps most dangerous lies about the 2020 election, and even spread their own.

If the polls are correct (and they may not be), the strategy might just work.

Both parties are focused on the national implications of Tuesdays result. Virginias gubernatorial contest is the first major swing state election since Joe Biden won the presidency last year  a fact Youngkin was slow to acknowledge during the Republican primary  and massive test of whether Democrats can replicate their success in once-red suburban areas with Trump out of the White House, if not out of the picture entirely. A Republican win, meanwhile, will boost the GOPs hopes of big victories in key House, Senate and gubernatorial races in next years midterm contests.

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Whether Virginia is actually a bellwether is unclear  the results there in 2009 and 2017 presaged big gains for the victorious party in the ensuing midterm elections, but the governors race in 2013 did nothing of the sort. Regardless, the lessons each party takes away from the race are likely to reverberate across the country in 2022, and a GOP victory would force Democrats to reckon with a terrifying reality: that Trumpism can win even in a place Trump himself could not.

Former President Barack Obama campaigned for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe in Richmond last week, in an effort to energize Democratic voters in the closing stages of a tight election. (Photo: Win McNamee via Getty Images)

More immediately, the outcome will have serious and direct consequences for the state of Virginia.

Over the last eight years, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and McAuliffe before him have approved major legislation to expand voting rights, abolish the death penalty, strengthen gun laws and roll back restrictions on abortion. Democrats seizure of the state legislative majority in 2019 handed the party total control of Virginia for the first time in a quarter century, a result that not only paved the way for a similar Democratic takeover of Congress and the White House a year later, but seemingly broke the Republican Party in an important Southern swing state.

Now, just two years later, Republicans are eying a resurgence that could see them oust Democrats from the governors mansion and win back the majority in the House of Delegates, the sort of victory that could either blunt McAuliffes agenda, should he win, or significantly boost Youngkins hopes of enacting his own regressive plans.

Republicans must flip six seats to regain majority control in the House of Delegates, the lower chamber of Virginias legislature in which all 100 seats are up this year. (The state Senate, where Democrats hold a 21-19 majority, wont hold elections until 2023.) And while generic polls have shown Democrats holding a slim lead in legislative contests, anxieties about the top of the ticket  and a national focus on the governors race  have generated familiar concerns that Democrats may be overlooking the importance of holding the majority.

The narrow margin in Virginia is yet another reminder that if the people who care about protecting democracy in this country overlook state legislatures, we will lose, said Simone Leiro, a spokesperson for the States Project, a progressive group that focuses on state legislature elections.

Nationally, Democrats have long faced allegations that they under-prioritize state legislatures, a claim fueled by their loss of nearly 1,000 legislative seats during Barack Obamas presidency. (Obama himself came to Richmond to campaign for McAuliffe and the Democratic ticket last week, in an effort to drive up enthusiasm and turn Virginians out during the early voting period.)

Holding the majority was always going to test Democrats nascent strength in Virginia, maybe even more so than the gubernatorial race. In 2019, they flipped several districts that had long favored Republicans, and had voted for Trump just three years prior. The GOP has keyed in on many of those races in hopes of a rebound, but Democrats remain quietly confident they will emerge from the Nov. 2 with their majority intact, even if they ultimately lose a seat or two.

This election is about so many things, but the most important thing its about is, Can we have a small-d democracy and can everyday people participate? That is what is at stake.U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)

Much like McAuliffe, Democrats down the ballot have argued to voters that theyve delivered on their promises. And they have painted state legislative races as vital to enacting the most ambitious parts of McAuliffes agenda, including paid family leave, a $15 minimum wage and investments into public education.

Some of that confidence is rooted in the GOPs list of challengers, which includes numerous candidates who have questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election, downplayed the COVID-19 pandemic, and called for laws that would essentially outlaw abortion, a position at odds with Virginia voters writ large. Democrats prospered in the suburbs of northern Virginia, the Richmond area and along the southeastern coast in 2019, and they argue that the Republican candidates are too extreme to woo those voters now.

The candidates the Republicans are running in the House of Delegate races are not the kind of individuals that are going to win those voters back, said Christina Polizzi, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the partys state legislative campaign arm. They are, by and large, in the same vein as Donald Trump. That is reflective of where the base of the party is, but its not reflective of where swing voters in Virginia are.

That radicalism has also heightened the stakes, and the nerviness, of the fight for the legislature. On the stump, Democrats have warned that Republican control could lead to Georgia-style voting rights restrictions, a Florida-style approach to the pandemic, Texas-style abortion laws, and the passage of the sort of anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans statutes that have swept through GOP-dominated legislatures  which have served as an incubator for the extremism that fueled Trumps rise and the GOPs hard rightward turn  this year.

They want to dismantle all the progress that we made on voting rights and all the progress we made making Virginia more open and more welcoming, Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, the Democratic speaker of the House of Delegates, said at a Richmond campaign rally in October. They will try to strip away everything we have done to protect womens health care and to reduce gun violence and to make our commonwealth better for workers and businesses. What they really want is the legislature and the governor who defers to Donald Trump, but we wont let that happen.

A GOP victory, Democrats argue, could even put the countrys democracy at risk.

This election is about so many things, but the most important thing its about is, Can we have a small-d democracy and can everyday people participate? U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said at the rally. That is what is at stake.

Since taking control of the Virginia House of Delegates in 2019, Democrats have expanded voting rights, abortion access, and LGBTQ protections, and acted as aggressively as any other state legislature in advancing the party's major priorities. (Photo: Jonathan Drake via Reuters)

Both Republicans and Democrats say they have emphasized legislative races, even as the major statewide contests garner the most attention. Five of this years contests rank among the top 10 most expensive House of Delegates races in Virginia history.

Youngkins PAC has contributed $533,250 to GOP legislative candidates, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. The Republican State Leadership Committee, a PAC focused on state legislatures, said in August that it planned to spend $1 million in concert with the Republican Party of Virginia in an effort to target 12 key House of Delegates races.

The Democratic Party of Virginia, meanwhile, said in September that McAuliffes campaign and the Democratic National Committee had allocated $11 million to a coordinated campaign that includes legislative races.

A Democratic spokesperson did not clarify how much of that budget is specifically devoted to legislative campaigns, but more than half of the partys organizers and volunteers are working in targeted House of Delegates districts, according to a September memo. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and its affiliated groups have spent more than $3 million in Virginia this year.

Losing Virginia would be devastating for Democrats, especially after a crucial cycle in which the party failed to flip a single GOP legislative body ahead of this years round of redistricting. Of the eight chambers Democrats did turn during the Trump years, none was a bigger deal than Virginias, which gave the party a foothold in the South and seemingly cemented the states transition to solid blue. A Republican return to power would strip Democrats of control of a legislature that has perhaps done more to aggressively advance the partys major priorities than any other over the last two years.

Virginia Democrats successfully expanded Medicaid in 2018, after a cycle in which they drastically shrunk the GOPs majority. That has allowed more than 500,000 Virginians to access health care through Medicaid, according to state figures.

Since regaining majority control of both chambers, Democrats have expanded abortion access and insurance coverage of abortion procedures and contraception. They have approved criminal justice reforms, enacted new protections for LGBTQ Virginians, made investments into teacher salaries and pre-kindergarten programs, passed new gun control laws, and created programs to transition Virginia off of fossil fuels entirely by 2050.

This year, they abolished the death penalty and passed one of the nations most expansive voting rights laws.

Steve Bennett, a Democratic voter from the Richmond suburbs, said that he was excited to vote to help the party protect those gains, particularly on voting, abortion, gun laws and health care. But he also worried that Democrats are struggling to find the energy necessary to turn out in big numbers against a Republican ticket led by Youngkin, a first-time candidate who has essentially run two separate campaigns.

In TV ads and appearances, Youngkin has pitched himself as a Bush-era Republican everyman focused on sizable tax cuts, salary hikes for teachers and police officers, and funding for 20 new charter schools. But at campaign events, he has tossed red meat to the Trump base, entertaining voters election conspiracies, campaigning with state lawmakers whove argued the 2020 election was stolen and that the Virginia governors race could be, touting his proposed Election Integrity Task Force and support for restrictive voter ID laws, and hinting that hell push for harsher anti-abortion policies as governor than he does on the trail, where he knows such positions could cost him votes.

Im hoping the enthusiasm will pick up on the Democrats side, Bennett, 68, said. Youngkin pretends to be a country club Republican, but hes pretty radical.

GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin has pitched himself as a moderate outsider focused on tax cuts and charter schools  while also weaponizing

The state legislative majority will likely come down to a handful of key races that were decided by close margins two years ago. In Virginia Beach, Del. Alex Askew (D) won by 800 votes in 2019. Del. Roslyn Tyler (D), who has represented her southern Virginia district since 2006, won by 500. And Del. Nancy Guy (D), whose district includes parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, defeated a GOP incumbent by just 27 votes in 2019.

Republicans also spot pickup opportunities in districts that had larger Democratic margins: Del. Wendy Gooditis (D) won her contest by roughly 5 percentage points, but Youngkin and the GOP have poured resources into her area of northern Virginia, where they have pushed some of their most aggressive rhetoric about the supposed threat of critical race theory, which isnt actually taught in Virginia public schools, and tried to play into some parents anger over in-person schooling closures during the pandemic.

The GOP has also taken aim at Dels. Chris Hurst in Blacksburg, Joshua Cole in northern Virginia, Rodney Willett in suburban Richmond, and Kelly Convirs-Fowler in Virginia Beach, all areas of the state where Republicans once thrived before losing ground under Trump.

Democrats, meanwhile, have eyed their own pickup opportunities, particularly in two suburban Richmond districts, that could blunt the effect of any GOP victories. There are also competitive races for open seats, including in Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Haya Ayalas northern Virginia district, that could help determine majority control.

The GOP has focused its campaigns on tying Virginia Democrats to the national party, and ran ads early in the cycle linking them to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). After initial attempts to tie Democrats to activist calls to defund the police seemingly failed to motivate voters, Republicans shifted their focus to education, blasting Democrats for school closures, accusing them of waging a war on parents and leaning into the broader conservative fight to ban schools from teaching about racism  or, in GOP parlance, objectionable content and racially divisive curriculum in schools.

Perhaps even more so than Youngkin, who took months to acknowledge Bidens victory and has repeatedly refused to denounce conservative conspiracy theories about voter fraud from the stump, the GOPs candidates in key legislative races highlight the partys increasingly anti-democratic stance on elections.

Mike Cherry, a Republican running for an open seat that Democrats have targeted, defended three GOP delegates who were stripped of their committee assignments after they petitioned former Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results of Virginias results in the 2020 election.

Karen Greenhalgh, the Republican challenging Askew, suggested at a campaign event that the GOP didnt do enough to ensure election integrity in 2020, and that as a result, we dont really know what happened during the contest. She has launched an Election Integrity Program as part of her campaign, adopting the euphemism Republicans nationwide have used to nod toward Trumps election conspiracies and roll back voting rights.

Tim Anderson, who is running against Guy, and Tim Cox, who is challenging Democrat Briana Sewell for Ayalas old seat, have both adopted the election integrity mantle to call for more aggressive voter ID laws and other voting restrictions.

Anderson, Cox, Cherry and Nick Clemente (the GOP candidate challenging Gooditis), also all lent support to a new audit of voting machines to ensure that no illegal manipulation of votes occurred in the 2020 election in a candidate survey. Virginias state elections board has already conducted an audit of the machines, and confirmed the result of the race.

Several GOP candidates, including Cox, have also said on candidate surveys that they favor bills prohibiting abortion from the moment of conception.

Democrats say strong early vote totals have bolstered their chances of winning the governors race and major statewide contests, and of holding the legislature: As of Friday, Virginians had cast more than 1 million early and absentee ballots, five times more than in 2017. Virginia voters do not register as members of a party, but models suggest that Democratic voters have cast 54% of those ballots.

But they are still trying to motivate Democratic voters, whom polls have shown are less enthused about the election than their Republican counterparts.

Were in the battle for the future in the soul of this commonwealth, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney (D) told voters at a rally last week. And we need your help.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Hailakandi: After a "high explosive" blast was reported near the Baicherra border output (BOP) in Assam`s Hailakandi district, early on Saturday, tension erupted along the Assam-Mizoram border. As per Hailakandi district Superintendent of Police (SP) Gaurav Upadhyay, a Mizo Indian Reserve Battalion (IRBn) personnel was arrested by Assam police, after the clash in the district.

"Yesterday morning at 1.45 am, it was reported that there was a high explosive blast using detonating cord near Baicherra BOP under Ramnathpur PS, done by some Mizo miscreants," the SP said.

He informed that on preliminary investigation, it seemed that some "Mizo miscreants and others entered and carried out this blast using high explosives in the close vicinity of Assam Police outpost."

"During the investigation, one Mizo person named Laldintwanga, aged 23 years, resident of Bhairabi, Kolasib district who was found suspiciously moving near the site was apprehended," said Upadhyay. He added that during the interrogation, the arrested accused revealed he was a "Mizo IRBN Personnel".

"He was arrested and forwarded to Judicial custody under case vide Ramnathpur PS, under sections 120(B)/447/427 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) right with section 4 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and section 3 of Explosive Substance Act, that has been registered with reference to the incident," he added.

Further investigation into the case is underway.

On July 26, the border dispute between the two states escalated and a fierce gun battle between the forces of the two states resulted in the death of six Assam police personnel and one civilian. At least 50 people were injured in the incident.

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New Delhi: Matchsticks used to cost 25 paise almost 40 years ago, then jumped to 50 paise a decade or two later. The last time matchstick box prices reached a high point was in 2007, when the price was raised to Re 1. The price has been doubled for the first time in more than a decade, and each box will now cost Rs 2.

The Indian population is littered with matchboxes. It could be for domestic motives, religious reasons, or personal reasons. What used to be a cheaper alternative to loose change is now worth twice as much.

The All-India Chamber of Match Industry unanimously agreed that the price should be raised, citing rising raw material costs as a reason. Retailers are currently selling a 600-large bundle of matchboxes with 50 matchsticks each for Rs.270-300. With the revised rates in effect from December 1, the same package will now cost Rs 430-480, representing a nearly 60% increase. Furthermore, this rate does not include the 12% GST or transportation costs.

Matchstick production is concentrated in the country's southern regions, with Tamil Nadu accounting for about 90% of total production. Women and men in the surrounding area rely on these manufacturing plants to make a living, with the former outnumbering the latter in terms of population.

The cause of the price increase is the rising cost of raw materials in the current economy. A total of 14 raw materials go into making matchsticks. The highest climb is seen in the prices of red phosphorus, i.e., from Rs 425 to Rs 810 per kg. Following this, wax is now Rs 80 as compared to the initial price of Rs 58. Similarly, inner and outer boxboard prices have increased from Rs 36 to Rs 50 and Rs 32 to Rs 58, respectively. In addition, increasing diesel prices have also burdened the cost of matchboxes, VS Sethurathinam, secretary, National Small Matchbox Manufacturers Association, told The Times Of India.

Like matchsticks, the Matchbox industry is fading away. According to a TOI report, in 2015, the industry experienced a huge 25% drop, resulting in the closure of over 8,000 manufacturing units till the time of the study. India currently exports matchsticks worth Rs. 240 crore, a figure that is steadily declining.

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New Delhi: The Odisha government announced full exemption of motor vehicles taxes and registration fees on electric vehicles (EVs) in the state, as per an official notification.

The decision was taken to encourage faster adoption of EVs, it said.

In the notification, issued on Friday, the state government announced a 100 per cent exemption on motor vehicles taxes and registration fees for battery-operated vehicles.

The exemption, granted under the Odisha Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, is applicable till 2025. Also Read: 5G smartphones under Rs 15,000 to buy this Diwali: Poco M3 Pro 5G, Redmi Note 9 5G, check others

Further, the state government has proposed to extend a slew of incentives for the buyers, manufacturers, batteries and charging stations of electric vehicles under the Odisha Electric Vehicle Policy, officials said. Also Read: Sabyasachi gets 24-hour ultimatum from MP minister over 'objectionable' mangalsutra ad

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New Delhi: On October 31, petrol and diesel prices were raised for the fifth day in a row, bringing rates to their highest levels in the country. In Delhi, fuel rates were raised by 35 paise per litre, bringing the price of petrol to Rs 109.34 a litre.

In the national capital, a litre of diesel costs Rs 98.07.

In Mumbai, petrol hit a record high of Rs 115.15 a litre, while diesel hit a new high of Rs 106.23.

A litre of petrol costs Rs 109.79 in Kolkata, while diesel costs Rs 101.19 a litre.

In Chennai, a gallon of petrol now costs Rs 106.04, while a litre of diesel costs Rs 102.25.

Fuel prices vary from state to state, based on the amount of municipal taxes imposed.

Meanwhile, in Odisha, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has called for a series of rallies across the state, targeting the BJP-led Central government over the skyrocketing prices of fuel and other necessities.

BJD officials and members will sit on a dharna in front of Raj Bhawan on Sunday as part of the agitation and submit a memorandum to Governor Ganeshi Lal, addressing it to President Ram Nath Kovind, according to the party leaders.

The BJD leaders described the massive price hike as sad and unforgivable, pointing out that gasoline prices had risen by 30% since the BJP regained power at the Centre in 2019, indirectly pushing up prices of vital commodities by 40% to 100%.

The regional party attributed the spike in petrol, diesel, cooking gas, and other vital products on the central government's poor economic management.

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New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday (October 31) accused BJP-led MCD of troubling the Safai Karamcharis by not regularising them for around two decades.

Deputy Speaker of Delhi assembly Rakhi Birla alleged that BJP is conspiring to break the spirits of the Valmiki community, the Safai Karamcharis and other MCD employees. She said that the BJP-led MCD is plotting to weaken them financially and mentally.

Safai Karamchari leader Santlal Chavandia said that he and his coworkers will ensure that the BJP is thrown out of power if their demands are not fulfilled.

Calling it a raging problem of Delhi, MLA Kuldeep Kumar said, As you all know that in the last 15 years, BJP has been ruling the MCD, in which the BJP has crossed all bounds of corruption. Building on this, the BJP-led MCD has left no stone unturned in troubling the Safai Karamcharis. In the recent House proceedings, our council members and leader of opposition have consistently raised the issue pushing for the regularisation of these Karamcharis. BJP has been promising regularisation in their manifesto since 2012, but when we point out their hypocrisy - we have come to find out that the official agenda in the Standing Committee is that of regularising a mere 500 of these employees. This number is extremely reprehensible given the 6,646 Karamcharis working in the MCD, to whom the BJP has repeatedly promised regularisation. A promise they are ruthlessly breaking. We are here to shed light on how mercilessly unjust the BJP-led MCD is with its employees, especially the Safai Karamcharis.

Rakhi Birla said, As Kuldeep ji has mentioned that the North MCDs Standing Committee has slyly proposed the regularisation of only a handful of Karamcharis. While on ground, there are almost 7000 such employees hoping to get regularised since 2003/2006. But BJP is incessantly misleading the people and their own MCD employees, conspiring to financially and mentally weaken them. This new proposal is another move exposing this BJPs narrow mindedness and its plot to weaken the Valmiki community. We, at Aam Aadmi Party, are repeatedly advocating for the financial, mental and physical health of the Safai Karamcharis, to help strengthen them. In 2018, for the first time in Delhis history, under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a session was held in the Vidhan Sabha regarding this. Following which, a proposal urging the MCD for the regularisation of Karamcharis working since 2003-2006 was passed with consensus in the House, along with paying off the backlog due to these employees. It had also been sent to the Lieutenant Governor. Any and all workers, leaders, etc. of the Aam Aadmi Party are raising their voices for the Safai Karamcharis from the streets, all the way to the Legislative Assembly. And today as well, we warn the BJP-led MCD that all the praises you wish to gauge through this small act of regularising only 500 employees will not work. It will not be tolerated, and we will expose your real motives to the people of your constant exploitation and harassment of the Valmiki community, Safai Karamcharis and MCD employees; all your shallow promises in 2012, 2017 manifestos. Once again you are dangling a lollipop in front of the exploited classes. We staunchly condemn this action - and demand an indiscriminate, scam-free regularisation of all 6,646 employees. All those suffering at the hands of the BJP-led MCD have the Aam Aadmi Partys unwavering support.

AAP MLA from Trilokpuri, Rohit Mehraulia added, BJPs corruption has once again let down the employees hoping to get regularised for some 2 decades now. The ploy of 500 regularisations that the Mayor and Standing Committee of the BJP-led MCD have brought about is very reprehensible. It will prove to be nothing but an election gimmick for the 2022 MCD elections. It is a ruse to garner votes from the Valmiki community and the Safai Karamcharis. But today the Karamcharis have seen through BJPs charade and are fed up with their continuous exploitation. People come to us with their grievances and seek help, empathy for their community which they do not get from the BJP. They tell us how the same children that they would leave as 1-2 year old babies back home at 6 am to clean have now reached marriageable ages, but we are stuck. It is a shame for the BJP that they have compelled their employees to work like slaves. Even of the 500 employees to be made permanent, we have been informed of instances that BJPs Dalal brokers are going door-to-door harassing them, demanding money - signalling a major scandal. And so it is our demand that without any corruption, their regularisation to be ensured along with all their backlog being paid off.

Santlal Chavandia said, In the last 15 years, the BJP-led MCD and its leaders have completely failed. All the protests and strikes held in Delhi are due to this failure. This new 500-regularisation proposal is another gimmick that my coworkers and I are opposing strongly. Our demand is to regularise all the remaining employees as well, otherwise we will ensure that the BJP is thrown out of power in the upcoming elections. Our campaign will therefore continue from the streets to the House.

Adding to this, AAP senior leader Kuldeep Kumar concluded, If the demands for the indiscriminate regularisation of Safai Karamcharis are not fulfilled, then the Aam Aadmi Party will carry out a major campaign against the BJP-led MCDs exploits - all the way from the streets to the MCD House to the Vidhan Sabha. The current proposal of the BJPs is the equivalent of Khoda Pahad, Nikli Chuhiya - where the Karamcharis had high hopes for their regularisation, but all they received was an election gimmick. I still want to say that there are 5-6 months for the BJP even now - that if they want to really make a change for the better, they must not wait for any manifesto and act now.

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Raipur: In the wake of scuffles in public involving Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday (October 31) said such incidents were unfortunate and asked the party to take cognizance of them.

On Saturday (October 30), Sushil Sunny Agrawal, former secretary of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) was suspended from the party's primary membership after a scuffle broke out between him and a colleague over vehicle parking at Rajiv Bhavan, the party's state office here.

State unit chief Mohan Markam as well as media persons were present during the brawl. Talking to reporters at Swami Vivekanand Airport Raipur before leaving for Uttar Pradesh, Baghel said, "The incident was unfortunate. It should not have happened. The organisation should take cognizance."

Saturday's incident was the latest in a series of clashes between ruling party leaders in public. Last week, a clash took place between Congress leaders during a party convention in the Jashpur district over a purported power-sharing agreement between Baghel and state health minister TS Singh Deo.

In another incident last month, a Congress unit in Bilaspur had demanded expulsion of a party MLA after he protested against the registration of a police case against a supporter of Singh Deo.

Briefing reporters about his UP tour, the CM said there was resentment towards the Yogi Adityanath government among people there.

"I will attend a farmers' rally (to be addressed by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) in Gorakhpur. Paddy is being sold at (low rate of) Rs 800 to Rs 1200 per quintal and there is no proper arrangement for procurement. Farmers there are upset and are looking at agriculture welfare schemes of Chhattisgarh with great hope," Baghel said.

"They have been demanding that works being done in the interest of farmers in Chhattisgarh should be replicated in Uttar Pradesh. There is resentment among all against the UP government, he added.

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New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday (October 31) hit out at the BJP accusing them of selling the assets built over the last 70 years. Gandhi said that Congress established the railways, airports and roads whereas the BJP is selling them.

Congress established Railways, airports, roads. They're selling all of them. They ask what we did in 70 years. They've wasted efforts of 70 years in just 7 years, Gandhi said addressing a rally in Uttar Pradeshs Gorakhpur.

She highlighted unemployment as a key issue in the state. There are 5 crore unemployed youths in UP. Three youths die by suicide every day due to unemployment, she said.

She alleged that the UP government under CM Yogi Adityanath was exploiting people of all castes and classes.

Dalits, weavers, OBCs, the poor, minorities and Brahmins have been exploited. Yogi Adityanath Ji is running the Govt against the teachings of Guru Gorakhnath. This Govt is attacking people on a daily basis, said Gandhi.

She denied allegations of Congress working in collusion with the BJP for the UP polls.

They (SP and BSP) say Congress is working in collusion with BJP. I want to ask - Why don't they stand with you in your tough times. Only Congress is fighting. I will die but never have any kind of relationship with BJP, she asserted.

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New Delhi: The Delhi University on Saturday released its fourth cut-off list, with 'unreserved' category seats already filled in some much sought-after colleges like the Hindu College and the Shri Ram College of Commerce in the previous lists.

Since the first cut-off list was declared on October 1, a total of 63,504 students have secured admission by paying their fees.

While many courses were closed, BA (Honours) Economics and BCom (Honours) are still available at some popular colleges in the university with the required marks being on the higher side.

At the Hansraj College, BA (Honours) Economics, BA (Honours) History and BCom (Honours) courses are still open for admission, while most of the other courses are closed for the unreserved category.

The Hindu College had closed admissions to BA (Honours) Philosophy after the first cut-off list, but it was opened under a special list with a cut-off of 97.75 per cent.

Meanwhile, the minimum marks required for admission has come down by 0.25 per cent. Admissions to all other courses at the college have been closed.

At the Kirori Mal College, BA (Honours) Economics, BA (Honours) History and BA (Honours) English and BCom (Honours) courses are still open for admission.

The Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) has closed the admission process for BCom (Honours) and Economics (Honours) for 'general' category aspirants.

At Miranda House, admission to courses such as English and Political Science are closed, while Economics (98.75 per cent), History (99 per cent) and Philosophy (96.75 per cent) are still up for grabs.

At Gargi College, there are seats available in four courses like B.Com (Honours) (97.25 per cent), Political Science (97.5 per cent), Economics (Honours) (97.75 per cent) and English (Honours) (96.75 per cent) in the 'unreserved' category.

The admission under the fourth list will commence on Monday. The fifth cut-off list of the varsity is expected on November 8.
Kochi: The mega project of constructing Indias first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (to be commissioned in 2022 as INS Vikrant) has resulted in immense learning and capacity building for Indian industry and state-run entities, said Admiral Karambir Singh, Indias Navy Chief. He also added that the previous and ongoing trials of the Aircraft carrier were going extremely well. The Navy Chief and Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister for Ports, Shipping was on a short visit to the 40,000-tonne vessel that is undergoing its second sea trial off the Kochi coast.

Referring to the first sea trial of the IAC-1, Admiral Singh said that the ship had performed at 100% power in a short duration and had undergone tests for its endurance, hull and sea-keeping. He expressed confidence that the Navy could take delivery of the carrier in April 2022 and Commission it by August. Commending the IAC project and its implementation thus far, the Chief said that the carrier was 76% indigenous, had been realized within budget, had involved 550 Indian industries, provided work opportunities for 13,000 persons, besides the main shipbuilder, state-run Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).

Zee Media queried the Navy Chief regarding the key learnings from the IAC project and also the overall production timelines of ships facing delays and whether India could catch up to Chinas speed of shipbuilding. The Navy Chief replied, There was a very steep learning curve and we learnt fairly quickly and learnt a lot. We developed important capabilities. We have a dry dock meant for 65,000tonne class ships coming up, we have mastered the indigenous DMR249 ship-grade steel and all our upcoming ships are built using it. There have been delays, but there are many payoffs as well.

He added how Indian industry and shipbuilders picked up modern techniques including integrated construction and had seen the immense growth and success of the Navys Directorate of Naval Design. Additionally, he pointed out that almost all of the 42 ships that were ordered by the Indian Navy (Ministry of Defence) are made indigenously. Notably, the Chief emphasized that India could cut short the timelines of ship production in the coming years, owing to the experience gained thus far.

On the role of the Aircraft Carrier, he said that the Carrier Battle Group (Carrier and its accompanying vessels) was central to naval operations. Submarines are key to sea-denial (to enemy) and carriers are key to complete control and domination of a region. Nearly 90% of Indias trade is via the sea route, hence carriers are crucial to protect our maritime interests and to prevent enemy from reaching and interfering (in our waters and sea lanes of communication).

Queried on the Indigenous fighter Aircraft LCA Tejas Naval variant being used on Indias carriers, the Navy Chief replied that the LCA had already landed on the operational carrier INS Vikramaditya and served as a technology demonstrator. He elaborated the landing on a carrier deck and landing on shore were different and how carrier-borne aircraft needed to be built differently from their land counterparts. He also added that the Indian Navy was looking for a twin-engine deck-based fighter aircraft. However, when queried if approval was granted for the much-talked-about third aircraft carrier, the Navy Chief replied that it wasnt granted.

Minister Sarbananda Sonowal shared his immense gratitude towards the Indian Navy, Cochin Shipyard Limited and all other stakeholders, ancillary units for realizing such a mega project, within the country. He said that Indias shipbuilders had developed the ability, confidence, infrastructure and team spirit, for serving the nation. He added that Cochin Shipyard Limited having built Indias largest ship opens up more opportunities for the state-run shipbuilder and also to the private sector, owing to the growing push for Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India).

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (October 30, 2021) attended the G-20 Summit session in Rome and during his address, he said that India is preparing to produce over 5 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses next year. PM Modi in his intervention at the session on 'Global Economy and Global Health' also flagged the issue of facilitating international travel and talked about the mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means of achieving this.

"India has always been serious about its global obligations. Today, on this G-20 platform, I want to tell you all that India is preparing to produce more than 5 billion vaccine doses for the world next year. This commitment of India will go a long way in preventing this infection. Therefore, it is necessary that Indian vaccines be recognized by WHO at the earliest," the Prime Minister said.

During the first in-person G20 Summit since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, PM Modi said that to fight COVID-19, we all have put forward the vision of 'One Earth - One Health' and to deal with any such crisis in future, this vision can become a huge force in the world.

During my remarks, I highlighted aspects relating to Indias contributions in the global fight against COVID-19, the vision of One Earth, One Health, furthering innovation in healthcare, need for resilient global supply chains and leveraging technology for human empowerment.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 30, 2021

He also expressed satisfaction over the G20's decision to come up with a 15 per minimum corporate tax to make the global financial architecture more 'fair'.

The decision, notably, is aimed at ensuring that companies pay a certain amount of tax in the countries they are located in.

"I myself suggested this in the G-20 meeting in 2014 and I would like to thank the G-20 for making concrete progress in this direction. An increasing international movement is necessary for economic recovery. For this, we have to ensure mutual recognition of vaccine certificates of different countries," PM Modi said.

He stated that India played the role of the 'pharmacy of the world' and delivered medicines to more than 150 countries.

"Along with this, we also put our full strength in increasing vaccine research and manufacturing. In a short span of time, we have administered over one billion vaccine doses in India. By controlling the infection in one-sixth of the world's population, India has also contributed to making the world safer, and has also reduced the chances of further mutation of the virus," PM Modi added.

The Prime Minister also invited G-20 countries to make India a trusted partner in their economic recovery and supply chain diversification.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to attend the second session of the G20 Summit on climate change and the environment on Sunday. He is also expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday (October 31, 2021) informed that India reported 12,830 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. With this, the country's active coronavirus caseload has dropped to 1,59,272, which is the lowest in 247 days. A decline of 2,283 infections has been recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The Health Ministry stated that the active cases account for less than 1% of the total cases and is currently at 0.46%, the lowest since March 2020.

India also saw 14,667 fresh recoveries and 446 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The country has so far recorded 3.42 crore infections, of which, 3.36 crore have recovered, while 4.58 lakh have succumbed to the virus.

So far, India has conducted 60.83 crore tests and the weekly positivity rate currently stands at 1.18 per cent.

Meanwhile, more than 106.14 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far across the country. The Health Ministry informed that over 13 crore balance and unutilized vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered.

Earlier on Saturday, during G-20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is preparing to produce over 5 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2022. PM Modi in his intervention at the session on 'Global Economy and Global Health' also flagged the issue of facilitating international travel and talked about the mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means of achieving this.

During my remarks, I highlighted aspects relating to Indias contributions in the global fight against COVID-19, the vision of One Earth, One Health, furthering innovation in healthcare, need for resilient global supply chains and leveraging technology for human empowerment.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 30, 2021

The Prime Minister said that to fight COVID-19, we all have put forward the vision of 'One Earth - One Health' and to deal with any such crisis in future, this vision can become a huge force in the world.

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Rome: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met the German Chancellor Angela Markel on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Italy. Chancellor Merkel is preparing to hand over power to a new coalition leader in Germany. She was the first woman Chancellor from the conservative party and has been the Chancellor for 16 years from 2005 to 2021.

Earlier in August, PM Modi had a telephonic conversation with Merkel where they discussed the unfolding security situation in Afghanistan and its implications on the region and the world.

The two leaders also discussed issues on the bilateral agenda, including cooperation in COVID-19 vaccines, development cooperation with a focus on climate and energy, and fostering trade and economic relations.

PM Modi today visited the Trevi Fountain on the second day of the G20 Summit in Rome along with several heads of the states.On Saturday, PM Modi met various leaders including Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

PM Modi had a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican City which lasted for an hour and invited him to visit India.The Prime Minister arrived in Italy on Friday to participate in the two-day G20 Summit.The theme of this G20 meet under the Italian Presidency is centered around 'People, Planet and Prosperity'.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a review meeting on November 3 with district magistrates of over 40 districts having low COVID-19 vaccination coverage, the PMO said on Sunday.

The meeting, which will be held via video conferencing, will include districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of the vaccine, it said.

The 40 districts are spread across Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Meghalaya among other states, and chief ministers of these states will also attend the meeting.

Modi will be holding the meeting immediately on his return from abroad after attending the G20 and COP26 meetings, the PMO noted.

Highlighting the need to accelerate the pace and coverage of vaccination, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had recently stated that there are more than 10.34 crore people in the country who have not taken the second dose of the vaccine after the expiry of the prescribed interval.

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Chandigarh: Ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, the political parties in Punjab have focused their attention on religion, castes, and sub-castes to woo the voters of particular communities in their respective fold - oblivious of the fact that exploiting the fault lines will only deepen the divide with time.

Not just the traditional political parties like Indian National Congress, Bhartiya Janta Party, Shiromani Akali Dal (B), but the new entrants like Aam Adami Party or Shiromani Akali Dal- Sayukat are also playing the same vote bank politics.

Insiders in Punjab Congress are of the view that the party has no doubt played its Dalit' trump card ahead of 2022 assembly elections and has taken a lead by appointing Charanjit Singh Channi as chief minister while other political parties have been making announcements and promises to appoint a Dalit as chief minister or deputy chief minister if voted to power.

But the moot question remains whether the Congress will be able to galvanize the Jat votes while contesting the assembly elections under the leadership of Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit, especially when the SAD(B) that claims to be the only Panthic party having the support of the majority of Jats and are betting on Dalit votes riding on the support of Bahujan Samaj Party with whom they have stitched an alliance in recent past.

Pressure lies more on the shoulders of disgruntled Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Navjot Singh Sidhu, a Jat Sikh, who had spearheaded the drive to topple the former Chief Minister Amarinder Singhs citadel, to repeat the Congress partys victory in Punjab since he is held responsible for the partys condition in Punjab.

BJP has nothing much to lose after SAD(B) severing ties with the saffron party in Punjab but it can cause much damage on the political front to other parties and have made its intentions clear with the launch of its poll campaign with a catchphrase Nava Punjab Bhajpa Dae Nal. Believed to have its vote bank spread across urban Hindu Punjab, the BJP is now going all out to woo the Sikh voters in its fold by propagating the opening of Kartarpur Corridor, scrapping of a blacklist of Sikhs living abroad etc.

On the other hand, AAP is trying to make inroads into the vote bank of traditional political parties in Punjab by self-promoting its Delhi model, which the majority of Punjabis are not aware of, and announcing to get the state rid of inspector raj and making promises of doling out freebies.

All the political parties have launched multi-pronged strategies in Punjab to woo the voters, making new alliances and underhand promises claiming a thumping victory over the rival political parties.

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New Delhi: Zydus Cadila has agreed to bring down the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to Rs 265 a dose following persistent negotiations by the government but a final deal is yet to be reached, sources said on Sunday.

Zydus Cadila's ZyCov-D is the first vaccine cleared by India's drug regulator for inoculation of those aged 12 years and above. To administer the needle-free vaccine, a disposable painless jet applicator costing Rs 93 is required for each dose, which would take the price to Rs 358 per dose.

The Ahmedabad-based pharma company earlier had proposed a price of Rs 1,900 for its three-dose regimen, sources said.

"The company has brought down the price to Rs 358 for each dose which includes Rs 93, the cost of a disposable jet applicator, following repeated negotiations by the government.... A final decision in the matter is likely to be taken this week," a source in the know of developments told PTI.

The three doses are to be administered 28 days apart, with each dose comprising a shot in both arms.

The indigenously developed world's first DNA-based needle-free COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D received emergency use authorisation from the drug regulator on August 20.

Meanwhile, the government is still waiting for the recommendations from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) for introducing ZyCoV-D in the inoculation drive for adults and children with co-morbities.

NTAGI will provide the protocol and framework for the introduction of this vaccine in the COVID-19 immunisation drive.

Official sources earlier had said that the pricing of ZyCoV-D would be different from that of Covaxin and Covishield as apart from being a three-dose vaccine, it requires a special pharma jet injector that has to be used for administering the vaccine.

That pharma jet injector can be used for administering around 20,000 doses.

"The jet applicator helps the vaccine fluid to penetrate the skin to enter cells of the recipient," the source said.

Zydus Cadila can provide around two crore doses in November, a source had said. The government is currently procuring two other vaccines -- Covishield at Rs 205 per dose and Covaxin at Rs 215 per dose -- for the national COVID-19 immunisation programme.

Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V are being given to only those above 18 years of age and unlike ZyCoV-D, these are two-dose regimens.

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Indian Navy Recruitment 2021: The Indian Navy is seeking recruitment to sailor posts under Matric Recruit (MR). Candidates need to have completed a minimum of Class 10 to be eligible to enroll for sailor posts.

Candidates can apply for the post of Sailor for Matric Recruit (MR) online by November 2, 2021. To apply for over 300 vacancies by visiting Indian Navy's official website, joinindiannavy.gov.in.

Indian Navy Recruitment 2021: Selection process

- Candidates can fill out the application form for the post and attach all the required documents online.

- The selection of the candidates will be on the basis of Written Test and Physical Fitness Test.

- It will be a state-wide selection process and around 1500 candidates will be called in to appear for the tests.

- The cut-off marks will be released as per the state.

Indian Navy Recruitment 2021: Education qualification

Candidates who have cleared Class 10 from Boards of School Education recognized by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, can apply for the post.

Indian Navy Recruitment 2021: Age criteria

Age limit- Candidates should be born between April 1, 2002, and September 30, 2005.

Indian Navy Recruitment 2021: Salary

A stipend during initial training period of Rs 14,600 per month will be given. After the initial training period, the candidate will be placed in Level 3 of the Defence Pay Matrix (Rs. 21,700- Rs.69,100). In addition, they will be paid a total of Rs. 5200/- per month plus DA, the official notification stated.

Indian Navy Recruitment 2021: Here's how to apply

* Register at official site joinindiannavy.gov.in

* Login with the registered email ID and click on the current opportunities, then click on Apply.

* Fill up the form upload all required documents

* Upload a good quality photograph with blue background.

* Click on submit

* Take printout for future use



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Mumbai: Zonal Director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai unit Sameer Wankhede`s wife Kranti Redkar Wankhede on Sunday said the "safety of her husband and family is in jeopardy" and asked for security.

Speaking to ANI, Redkar said, "The safety of Sameer Wankhede and her family members is in jeopardy. Three people conducted a recce of the house some days back. These people are very dangerous what they can do, have no clue about that.

"The National Commission for Scheduled Castes Vice Chairmen Arun Haldar also visited the residence of NCB officer Sameer Wankhede who is in charge of the investigation in the drugs-on-cruise case. Redkar said Arun Haldar came here to see some original documents. Now the investigation will be conducted against the people who were making allegations against us, she said.

Speaking on her family safety, Sameer Wankhede`s wife said, "We will provide the CCTV footage to the police. Security should be provided to the family.

"My children are very young, the safety is very important in that perspective. When we (Sameer and I) are not home who will take care of their safety? she asked.

Earlier in the drug-on-cruise case, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik had accused Sameer Wankhede of favouritism. Along with this, he also made serious allegations like extortion and has also raised questions on Wankhede`s birth certificate and marriage.

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 Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan`s son Aryan Khan, have been arrested so far in the case.

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New Delhi: Ending days of trial and tribulations, Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan was granted bail on Thursday in the drugs case but the latter was released on Saturday from the Arthur Road jail.

Citing the reason behind the delay in release, Arbaaz Merchants father, senior advocate Aslam Merchant shared that it happened as the paperwork got delayed at sessions court and couldnt be submitted within the time frame.

Sharing more details to ETimes, he shared in an interview, Paperwork was delayed at sessions court and when the release memo was being typed, the electricity of the entire court was tripped for almost 25 to 35 vital minutes.

For the unversed, Aryan Khan was arrested in an alleged drug case on October 3 after getting detained a day earlier in a cruise ship. The 23 years old was granted bail on Friday (October 29) by the Bombay High Court. He walked out of the Arthur Road Jail a day later owing to documentation work being submitted to the court. Many fans rejoiced Aryans release outside SRKs residence Mannat.

As per PTI, a special court on Saturday granted bail to alleged drug peddler Aachit Kumar and six others arrested in a drugs seizure case, in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is one of the accused.

Special court judge V V Patil, hearing cases related to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, granted bail to the seven accused.

With this, 12 of the 20 arrested accused have got bail in a high-profile case so far.
New Delhi: Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is known for his nuanced acting skills has announced that he will not star in any OTT show. The actor who has won applause for his critically acclaimed performances both in films and web series like Gangs of Wasseypur, Manto, Sacred Games, Raat Akeli Hai etc., says that OTT space has now become dhanda where star culture has now emerged.

The platform has become a dumping ground for redundant shows. We either have shows that dont deserve to be seen in the first place. Or sequels to shows that have nothing more to say, Nawazuddin told Bollywood Hungama in an interview.

The actor spoke about the drastic change in the OTT space from the time he worked in it to now. When I did Sacred Games for Netflix, there was an excitement and challenge around the digital medium. New talent was being given a chance Now that freshness is gone. Its become dhanda (racket) for big production houses and actors who are now so-called stars on the OTT platform. Major film producers in Bollywood have cut lucrative deals with all the big players in the OTT field. Producers get whopping amounts to create unlimited content. Quantity has killed quality, shared the actor.

Talking about how star culture has crept in the OTT space, the actor concludes, Yeh star system bade parde ko kha gaya (this star system killed the big screen). Now we have so-called stars on OTT claiming big money and throwing tantrums like Bollywood A-listers. They forget. Content is king. Woh zamana chala gala. When stars ruled. Before this lockdown and the digital domination, A-listers would release their films in 3,000 theatre across the country. People had no choice but to see them. Now they have unlimited choices.
New Delhi: Bollywood diva Shilpa Shetty channelled her spooky side as she turned out as a 'zombie bride' from Halloween 2021.

Taking to her Instagram handle, Shilpa shared a reel video of herself in which she could be seen revealing her extremely spooky look for this year's Halloween.

Shilpa could be seen unveiling her face from her 'zombie bride' look that made her unrecognisable.

Sharing the video, Shilpa wrote, "Happy HaLLowEen... #halloween2021 #boo."

The post went viral within a few minutes of being posted and accumulated thousands of likes on the photo-sharing platform.

Shilpa is one of the most active celebrities on social media. She took a little break from the virtual world after her husband Raj Kundra was arrested in the porn racket case.

The 'Hungama 2' actor recently celebrated her first Karva Chauth after Raj was granted bail in the porn racket case.

The couple ceremoniously tied the knot on November 22, 2009, following a big fat wedding function in Khandala.

Shilpa and Raj are parents to two children, eight-year-old Viaan Raj Kundra and one-year-old daughter Samisha Shetty Kundra.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Shilpa was recently seen as a judge at the reality show 'Super Dancer 4', alongside Geeta Kapur and Anurag Basu. The reality show had its last episode aired on 9 October 2021.
New Delhi: The Aadhaar card is one of the most crucial papers because it is required for practically all official and bank-related transactions. And, in the post-COVID era, when people are moving away from paper to digital, having a digital copy of your Aadhaar card is always useful, especially when making certain online payments. It is critical to have your Aadhaar eSign confirmed while using your Aadhaar digitally.

eSign is an online electronic signature service that would allow an Aadhaar bearer to digitally sign a document, according to NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-Gov), a licenced Certifying Authority (CA). This means that after biometric/one-time-password authentication, an Aadhaar bearer can now sign a document, eliminating the need for a paper-based application form or papers.

Benefits of eSign on Aadhaar

The electronic signature makes record administration easier and more convenient for everyone. The online service is likewise safe because the keys are deleted immediately after use. But that's not all; eSign has a number of advantages, including a) time savings, b) cost savings, c) remote access and improved user convenience, d) legal recognition, e) verifiable signature, f) signatory, user privacy concerns addressed, and g) environmental friendliness because no paper is wasted. Also Read: PF Update: EPFO warns PF account holders against online frauds; Heres how to stay safe

Here's how to eSign the Aadhaar online:

Step 1: Open any web browser and type https://uidai.gov.in/ or https://eaadhaar.uidai.gov.in into the address bar.

Step 2: When you're on the website's homepage, right-click the "Validity Unknown" indicator.

Step 3: The Signature Verification Status window will now appear on the screen.

Step 4: Select 'Signature properties' from the drop-down menu.

Step 5: The option to "Show certificate" will then appear on your screen. Select it by clicking on it.

Step 6: Select NIC Sub-CA for NIC 2011, National Informatics Centre' from the drop-down menu.

Step 7: Select the 'Add to Trusted Identity' option from the 'Trust' menu.

Step 8: Now proceed to the next stage and select the 'Validate signature' option.

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New Delhi: The Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) published a caution on its social media pages warning its members about internet frauds and scams. EPFO has asked members not to share any information about their PF account over the phone or on social media, even if the other party pretends to be a representative of the organisation. EPFO stated that it never requests personal information such as Aadhaar, PAN, UAN, Bank Account, or OTP over the phone, WhatsApp, or social media.

The EPFO encouraged PF account holders not to reply to calls demanding personal information, stating that it never requires them to deposit money in order to use its services.

https://twitter.com/socialepfo/status/1451801813645156356?s=20

Account holders should contact EPFO via https://epfigms.gov.in or call the toll-free number 1800-118-005 for more information and grievance redressal. EPFO members can use the UMANG app, a government-run platform, to look for information on connected services. Also Read: Petrol, Diesel Prices Today, October 31: Fuel prices hiked again, Petrol crosses Rs 115 in Mumbai--check prices in your city

By disclosing personal information, hackers may be able to get access to your EPF account and jeopardise its security. Several recent examples of fraud have been recorded, in which hackers accessed the fraud victim's PF account and withdrew the sum without their knowledge. People who have recently changed jobs and have yet to transfer their EPF account to the new employer are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

During the shutdown last year, the number of such EPFO phishing assaults and bank frauds increased. Several rackets involved in such schemes were busted by law enforcement officials.

You can report such calls to EPFO or other law enforcement organisations if you have an EPFO account.

The EPFO's Employee Provident Fund scheme is one of the world's largest social security plans. Every company with 20 or more employees is subject to the EPFO system. Under this programme, employees earning more than Rs 15,000 per month must contribute a portion of their salary (12%) to the EPF account, with the employer contributing the same amount. At the time of retirement, the employee receives an accumulated quantity of money from his EPFO account, as well as any appropriate interest. There are other options to take this money out before it matures.

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New Delhi: Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has now allowed Aadhaar eKYC as an additional option to onboard more customers under its flagship pension scheme Atal Pension Yojana. With the latest change, the pension fund regulator is letting subscriber enrollment through physical, net banking and other digital modes.

"Now in order to further increase the outreach and simplify the process of subscription, CRA (Central Recordkeeping Agency) would be providing digital onboarding based through Aadhaar eKYC as an additional option. These processes are paperless," the PFRDA said in a notification.

After the account opening, customers can receive additional services related to their investment schemes from their respective APY-SP (Atal Pension Yojana-Service Provider).

Moreover, the PFRDA is also seeking to link Aadhaar with all the existing APY accounts. For this, APY-SPs can collect customers Aadhaar details after taking their consent to share details with CRA for seeding.

"All APY-SP banks are encouraged to provide an e-APY link in their respective corporate website for the benefit of their customers and facilitate them with ease of onboarding, PFRDA said in a statement.

"CRA is advised to engage with all APY-SPs for system-level integration so as to provide the functionality e-KYC based APY on-boarding and consent framework for Aadhaar seeding at the earliest," PFRDA added.

Introduced on June 1, 2015, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) aims to provide social security to workers employed in the unorganised sector. The ambitious project aims to create a Universal Social Security system for all Indians, especially the underprivileged and workers with limited means. Also Read: THIS 50 paise coin can fetch you Rs 1 lakh; heres how

As of August 31, 2021, the number of subscribers under APY stood at 304.51 lakh, according to the latest PFRDA data. Also Read: Diwali 2021: Planning to send a gift to your loved ones? Check out THESE tech products

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New Delhi: Superstar Rajinikanth who recently underwent a carotid artery revascularisation surgery returned home on Sunday after being discharged from a Chennai hospital.

Rajnikanth had been admitted to the Kauvery Hospital in Chennai on Thursday.

Taking to his Twitter handle, Rajinikanth updated his fans about the news by sharing a picture of himself praying in front of his home temple.

Sharing the picture he wrote, "Returned home," and added a folded hands emoticon to it.

Rajinikanth, 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 Kauvery hospital for a routine checkup, where he later had to be admitted. He was admitted on October 28.

According to a medical bulletin issued by the Kauvery Hospital, the Padma Bhushan awardee underwent carotid endarterectomy which is a surgical procedure that removes plaque from the inside of a patient's carotid artery in order to restore normal blood flow to the brain.

Earlier, in December 2020, the star had been admitted to the Apollo hospital, Hyderabad, due to fluctuating blood pressure and exhaustion.

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.

The 70-year-old star has featured in South Indian and Bollywood movies and has a humongous fan following.

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 slated to release on November 4.
New Delhi: The latest WhatsApp upgrade is set to go live tomorrow, November 1, 2021, and it contains some extremely terrible news for a large number of users - potentially millions. The new WhatsApp upgrade will bring a lot of changes, one of which will affect users who have old phones with outdated operating systems.



These phone owners' WhatsApp support will be halted, and they will be unable to use their devices. They will have no choice but to get a new smartphone as a result. Even though their present phone is in good working order, this will entail a significant financial investment. Another option for these customers is to attempt updating their phones to a higher OS version that complies with WhatsApp's criteria.



While some phones may be capable of doing so, the most majority will not be able to reach the necessary high levels, resulting in a WhatsApp restriction. This will happen not only to Android phone users, but also to Apple iPhone users.

There are two methods for determining whether or not you are safe. The first is readily answered by this WhatsApp announcement on which smartphones it will support. According to WhatsApp, "The following devices are supported and recommended by us: Android versions 4.1 and up are supported. KaiOS 2.5.0 and newer, including the JioPhone and JioPhone 2. iPhone running iOS 10 and newer KaiOS 2.5.0 and newer, including the JioPhone and JioPhone 2." WhatsApp will not work on any phones that do not have these or higher software versions.

The second option is to look through the list of phones that will be blocked by WhatsApp, which is supplied below.

Smartphones on which WhatsApp will stop working:

Samsung: Galaxy Trend Lite, Galaxy Trend II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy S3 mini, Galaxy Xcover 2, Galaxy Core and Galaxy Ace 2.

ZTE: Grand S Flex, ZTE V956, Grand X Quad V987 and Grand Memo.

Sony: Xperia Miro, Xperia Neo L, and Xperia Arc S.

Others: Alcatel, Archos 53 Platinum, HTC Desire 500, Caterpillar Cat B15, Wiko Cink Five, and Wiko Darknight, Lenovo A820 UMi X2, Run F1, THL W8.

LG: Lucid 2, Optimus F7, Optimus F5, Optimus L3 II, Dual Optimus L5, Best L5 II, Optimus L5, Dual Best L3 II, Optimus L7, Optimus L7, Dual Best L7 II, Optimus F6, Enact Optimus F3, Best L4 II, Best L2 II, Optimus Nitro HD, Optimus 4X HD and Optimus F3Q.

Huawei: Ascend G740, Ascend Mate, Ascend D Quad XL, Ascend D1 Quad XL, Ascend P1 S, and Ascend D2.

Apple: iPhone 6, iPhone 6s plus, iPhone SE

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New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday (October 31, 2021) offered waters from Afghanistan's Kabul river and the Ganga at Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya. A girl from Afghanistan had sent water from Kabul river to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be offered 'at the site where a temple of lord Ram is being constructed'.

Adityanath said it had been decided that waters of pious rivers from across the world will be offered at the temple construction site, and this girl from Kabul has displayed an exemplary gesture of devotion.

"A girl from Afghanistan capital Kabul had sent water of the Kabul river to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for offering it at the spot where the massive temple of lord Ram is being built," the chief minister was quoted as saying by ANI.

WATCH:

#WATCH | A girl from Afghanistan had sent water of Kabul river to PM Modi to offer it at Shree Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. Accordingly, I am going to Ayodhya to offer it to Lord Rama: UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/UM7VU0leiq  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 31, 2021

"I have come to Ayodhya to offer the water of the Kabul river and the Ganga at the 'nirman sthal' (construction site) of the Ram temple", he says in the video.

The chief minister hailed the gesture terming it a part of her rich religious feeling attached with the Ayodhya temple. He said "(even) in such a situation the gesture of the girl of sending the water for offering at the Ram temple deserves praise".

The state has announced that 12 lakh "diyas" (earthern lamps) collected from all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh would be lit in Ayodhya this year as part of Diwali celebrations.

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New Delhi: West Bengal BJP leader Rajib Banerjee returned to the TMC on Sunday (October 31, 2021) during a rally in Tripura. He officially joined the party during TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee rally in Agartala at around 2pm.

Rajib said he "repents" joining the BJP ahead of the state assembly elections despite being asked by the West Bengal chief minister not to leave TMC. "I am sorry and repentant now. I will work under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee," he was quoted as saying by PTI.

The former minister in the Mamata Banerjee's government, was named BJP's national executive committee member and he unsuccessfully fought the assembly polls from Domjur in Howrah district. He lost to TMCs Kalyan Ghosh by more than 42,000 votes.

"I realised that I cannot accept the politics of hatred and divisive ideology propagated by BJP. I cannot accept the anti-people policies of the BJP. I had often aired my opinions to the BJP leadership and criticised the personal attack and slander on Mamata Banerjee but no one listened," he said, as per a report by PTI.

Notably, Rajib was absent from BJP events after the election results were announced on May 2, and he often criticised the BJP leadership publicly.

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